KOL
I presently find myself floating in endless darkness, staring down at the world. My body is lying on the
ground, cold and unmoving. A silver dagger rests deep within its spine, its wielder standing tall. He’s a
blonde-haired shit whose spine is worse than that corpse’s. Unfortunately, he’s sure to get away with this
since he’s the son of a bloody baron.
But like hell I’m gonna let him get away with it. I was so close to having it all. Just one more minute, and I
would have freed the djinn from the box the junior baron is now holding, and it would have granted my
desire. Now I’m forced to watch him depart with it.
No. Not like this. It might have been a shit life, but this is not how I go. Not in a million years. Not even if I
have to crawl out of Hell itself.
I float downward, my soul reuniting with my body. How? I have no fucking clue. Not about to complain
about it, though. A second chance is a second chance. And vengeance is vengeance.
Nothing hurts. I can’t feel the dagger at all. Why? Did it leave my body? No, that can’t be right. I’d still be
feeling the wound, either way. This is something else.
I reach back and yank the dagger out, feeling absolutely nothing as it goes. There’s no blood on it, either –
just sand. Lovely. Am I some sort of freak now? I better not be a zombie.
I take the dagger with me, marching through the forest. That asshole Dent took both horses with him as he
went, so I can’t catch up to him for now. I’ll get him someday, though. He can be sure of that.
The forest should be cold, but I feel none of it. After a while, I decide to ditch my shoes entirely, since
they’re only getting in the way. I press on, none of the forest beasts bothering me. Must be because they can
smell what I am. Animals have a knack for the supernatural. Their senses make ours seem decrepit.
It takes me several god damn days to get back to the village. I didn’t sleep or eat once through it all, and
don’t feel the need for it now. However, instead of the usual village guard waiting for me, it is instead a girl
with reddish hair and blue eyes. Her blue cloak sure as hell isn’t something she picked up in this shithole. A
noblewoman? But why the hell would one visit this dump?
“Took you long enough,” she says like she knows me. “I was beginning to think you’d gotten lost.”
“Had a long day. Who the hell are you?”
“The one who brought you back, of course.”
I stop moving, eyeing her. “You’re a sorceress?”
“Indeed.”
“Why?”
“I use magic.”
“Not that,” I snap. “Why did you bring me back?”
She pretends to think for a moment, glancing toward the cloudy sky. “Not big on betrayal, or on the Monberg
line. Figured I could help a guy out and screw the baron over while I’m at it.”
“Such a multitasker.” I continue walking, brushing past her as I enter the village. There are a few kids
playing with a jumprope, all of who scatter as they see me. Yes, yes. The freak has returned. Everyone, run
for your lives!
I am used to the looks they’re giving me. I grew up with them. That said, they still hurt. For twenty fucking
years, I’ve lived among these people, but I was never one of them. Doesn’t matter how well I get along with
any of them. As long as I have this thing on the left side of my body, I am a monster.
“Have you done something to anger them?” the sorceress asks, keeping up with my long strides. “It looks to
me like they’re afraid of you. I mean, fuck, they weren’t even that scared of magic.”
“You used magic in a shithole like this? Trying to get yourself stoned to death or something? There are easier
ways to go.” Though their success rate is greatly exaggerated.
“I am Adrianne, by the way. What’s your name?”
“Doesn’t matter. You won’t get a chance to use it much.”
“Well, aren’t you sociable. Where are you headed? Gonna collect the baron’s bastard’s head?”
I turn to look at her. “Dent is a bastard?”
“Oh, yes. The baron’s wife is quite infertile. I was there when my mentor diagnosed her as such. He’s doing
his best to keep it under wraps. Be such a shame if word spread through.”
“So get to it.” I want the asshole at rock bottom when I cut his throat.
“Hello? I raised you as the instrument of my revenge. You go do it.” For a moment, I feel something tugging
on me. Not my body or mind or anything like that – more like on my very being. Like somebody wants me
to go somewhere. Is this what people feel like when they claim to hear the voice of God?
What a crock of shit.
“I’ll get to Dent when I get to him. Beat it.”
Adrianne falls behind, a look of confusion on her face. When I glance back to see if she’s following, she’s
gone. Just as well. If Dent tells people he killed me, he will look a fool for it. If a witch confirms it, it will
just be another reason for the village to hate me.
I walk up to the door of my house and try to push it open. The door won’t budge, however. Since when do
they bother locking it?
I try to use my keys to open it, but they can’t get them in. What the hell? Why don’t they fucking fit?
I bang on the door a few times, which brings my father storming out. He’s a middle-aged drunk with a big
belly and a balding head. I can tell by the red of his face he’s already downed a bottle of two. “The fuck you
want?”
“To enter my own home, if you don’t mind. Why the fuck did you change the locks?”
He takes a moment to become stable on his feet, then snorts. “You don’t fuckin’ live here anymore. I’m sick
of you embarrassing me.” The usual shit, then. He’ll try to make me do some nasty shit soon, like cleaning
the outhouse or tossing away the goat manure.
“I need a nap. Move.”
I try to walk in, but the old man pushes me back. “You fuckin’ deaf? You don’t live here anymore!” He takes
a few steps outside, and I find myself wincing as I step back. “The freak has returned! Run to your houses!
Hide your children!”
“You’re drunk,” I mutter, already a master of keeping the tears in. “Go to bed.”
He backhands me across the face, knocking me to the filthy ground. I’m used to that, too. Too used to it.
Every time he waves his hand, I find myself shying away.
“Get the fuck outta here!” he yells, emphasizing his feelings with a kick to my gut. Somehow, he stumbles
his way back into the house, which he locks immediately. Slowly, I get back to my feet, and turn to see the
neighbourhood staring. A few, I think, feel pity, but most just want me out of here. They probably talked the
old bastard into getting rid of me.
What a lovely fucking day this has been. My own murder was not the worst thing that happened to me. How
fucked is that?
I start walking through the village aimlessly. What do I do now? I have no place to life, and no money. I
should have kept my shoes. Bet I could sell them to someone.
“You seem awfully calm,” Adrianne says, suddenly walking side by side with me. “That was not an easy
thing to witness.”
“Poor you. Must have been so hard.”
The sorceress grimaces, giving me a small smile. “Sorry. That came out wrong.”
“No, it didn’t. You said what you meant to say. Everyone hates a mangy mutt, but no one likes watching it be
beaten.”
“And you’re a… mutt?”
“To these people, I am.” I stop walking and fully face her. “Why bother bringing me back? You have power –
real power. You could do away with the baron any way you like, but you chose to revive me. Why?”
She reaches forward, but before she can touch me, I step back.
“Let’s leave physical contact to a minimum, thank you.”
She raises both hands slowly, showing surrender. “I didn’t just happen upon you in the forest. I sensed you.
You’ve got some magic in you, too. That’s why I brought you back.”
I stare at her, looking for signs of a joke. Me? Magical? If I was, I would have made my life better a long
time ago. “You’re wrong.”
“I am not.”
I start walking again, but the witch follows. “You can’t run from who you are, Kol.”
“Watch me.”
“You’re a very frustrating man, you know that?”
Without many people lining up to talk to me, I have to confess to being a bit rusty socially. I’m aware my
bluntness is a defense mechanism. Piss people off before they get a better look at you, and they leave
thinking you’re an asshole rather than a freak.
I trip over something, planting my face into a ball of hay. Laughter resounds around me, and when I look up,
I see it’s the people I went to school with. The one laughing the loudest is Ivan, the usual ringleader. I’m
assuming he’s also the one who tripped me.
“Watch your step, freakshow.” Hilarious.
“Not today, Ivan. I’m not in the mood.”
I try to walk away, but the group follows me, quickly cutting me off. All are guys, since the girls were in a
class of their own. I sure as shit would have preferred theirs to swordfighting.
“See, I have this theory about why you keep bumping into shit.” Ivan pokes me in the shoulder, where he
knows some of the scales are. “Snakes aren’t used to having feet, so it’s only natural you’re a clutz on them.”
I try to push past him, but he grabs one of my arms, while Dimitri grabs the other, and they pull me back.
“Aw, c’mon. Why in such a rush? We know you’ve got nowhere to be.”
“Daddy kicked you out, huh?” sneers Dimitri. “Should’ve done it years ago.”
“Should’ve left him out in the snow with the cripples,” one of the others – I don’t catch who – adds, and the
group erupts into merry cheer. They push me around a bit, like they usually do, until I eventually tumble
down and hit the ground. Ivan steps on my side, digging his heel in.
“Who’s gonna protect you now, Scaley? No one in your corner anymore.”
They laugh some more, add another kick, then go about their way. Adrianne chooses the moment they’re all
gone to show herself. “Not a big fan of your village so far.”
“Welcome to the fucking club.”
“You don’t have to take that, you know.”
I pull myself to my feet, clutching my side. Everything’s starting to feel human again. I’m cold and hungry
and tired, and every joint in my body screams as I try to move. “Fuck. Yes, I do. What the fuck can I do
about it?”
“Hello?” She leans sideways, smiling. “Magic? You can make them pay.”
“I thought you weren’t allowed to use it on civilians.”
“Well, we’re not. But most people don’t know jack about magic, so we can fuck with them if we want to, and
they’ll be none the wiser. Want me to give the tall blonde one pubic crabs?”
“Please. Crab away.” I try to move, but can’t straighten my back fully, and my knees are about to give out.
“Fuck.”
“I can heal you. Let me-” Adrianne tries to touch me, but I push her away. “I am trying to help.”
“You want to fucking help me?” I slowly turn to face her, almost falling over. “Get me a new fucking life. A
new fucking body, without these fucking things.” I rip my robe away, showing her the snake pattern
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
spreading across my ribs, right side of the neck and right upper arm. “Get me a family that doesn’t try to
exchange me for a pair of pigs – only for the fucking pighearder to say I’m not worth it. Can you give me
that? Can you give me all that?”
She stands there, silent and unmoving.
“I thought so.”
“Maybe they can be removed.” I keep moving despite her words. “I am serious. Those look like a curse. No
natural ailment can do that. And any curse can be broken.”
“Fuck off.”
“Come with me. Come to Albion. The different isn’t feared there.” Yes. Different. Like I have oddly-colored
eyes or something. “You can learn magic from the Council. You have a lot of power in you. It would’ve
taken anyone else weeks to return to life. You did it in days.”
“I said, fuck off.” It’s just another sham. So many doctors looked at me, tried to cut the skin off or peel it
away. They burned me and drowned me and fed me all sorts of bullshit. There’s no fixing this.
“So is this what you are? A sad old cat heading to die in an alley?”
“What the fuck else can I do!?” I scream. Slowly, the wind is beginning to pick up, bringing an even bigger
chill with it. “Look at me! Look at my fucking life! You should have let me die in that fucking forest! At
least then I might’ve been able to get some sleep!”
I rush away from her, heading to the abandoned barn where old man Wilkis used to live. The house has a
new family now, but they haven’t had the chance to bring in their livestock yet, so I’m able to huddle in the
corner, by the hay.
Happy to be alive, my ass. I should’ve known things wouldn’t be any fucking different. Born wrong, lived
wrong, and now I’ll die wrong. Happy fucking birthday to me. Should not have bothered coming back. Hell,
I even did that wrong.
In the morning, Arianne comes to visit, somehow able to track me down. “This is a sad sight, you know.
You’re like an old dog that’s been kicked too many times. It just can’t bring itself to trust people.”
“So fuck off before I bite.”
“I don’t think you will.” She steps closer. “I don’t think you have the spine for it. I mean, for fuck’s sake,
those guys are just playground bullies, and you couldn’t even stand up to them. What’ll you do before a
sorceress?”
“Is this the plan?” I chuckle. “Find me when I’m angry, then provoke me into attacking? I’ve read about
magic before. I know people awaken it through their emotions. Your mistake is thinking I feel angry.”
“How do you feel, then?”
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit.” She comes even closer. “I think I have you pegged right. You’re full of anger. Angry at your
parents for hating you. Angry at the villagers for fearing you. Angry at Dent for murdering you. You just
don’t yet realize there are things you can do about it.”
I look her in the eye, and realize immediately something is wrong. She’s… different, somehow. Her eyes are
a lighter hue – a creepier hue. They’re that soulless blue that creeps me out. It’s like a Husky’s eyes. Her hair
is longer, too. Not to mention that she feels wrong. Don’t know what that’s about. It’s a sixth sense or
something. Every person has a different feel to them, and this girl before me is not Adrianne.
“Who are you?”
She smirks, taking off her gloves. “Clever boy. What gave me away?”
I reach for the pitchfork I was sleeping next to. “Tell me who the fuck you are.”
“The younger sister, Neneah. Also the pretty sister. And who are you?” She offers me her hand, but
something tells me not to touch it. “My, you sure have an accurate Truesight for one so new. You could be a
sensory mage one day. If you live.”
With a flick of her wrist, she sends sparks flying all over the barn. They quickly ignite, setting fire to all the
hay in here. The flames spread much faster than normal flames, and by the time I’m on my feet again, the
witch is gone.
I limp through the smoke and fire, but before I can get to the door, a wall of flame erupts before me. I turn
toward the backdoor, but the wall there begins to crumble, also cutting me off. In only seconds, it’s too
smoky in here for me to breathe properly. I can hear screaming from outside, but don’t recognize the voices.
Fuck. Is this it for real? Survived one murder attempt, only to be killed again soon after. Seems about right. I
guess Dent will be getting away with it, after all. And Ivan. And Dimitri. And my cunt of a father.
Like hell they will.
I run straight through the wall of fire, which twists and bends as if to grab me. I throw my tattered cloak into
it, then jump over it, my leg giving out as I land. I can’t help but scream from the pain.
“Somebody’s in there!” I hear a person from outside yell, but when I open my mouth to yell back, nothing
comes out. My throat is scorched to hell, like I haven’t had water in days. I try to crawl across the barn, but a
chunk of the ceiling breaks off and lands on me. I hear something crack in my lower back, then lose the
ability to move.
Fuck! How much shittier can a situation be!?
“You know what to do to escape,” a girl’s voice – maybe Adrianne’s, maybe Neneah’s – says from behind
me, from the fire. “Use your gift. Snuff the flames out. It’s a simple matter.”
“F-Fuck...you.”
“Come on, boy. We didn’t go through all the trouble of tracking you down just to have you die like a rat. You
can do it. You know you can.”
I might if you told me how, you arrogant bitch. What did she do to start it? Flicked her hands a bit. I try to do
the same, but the flames just keep spreading. Within moments, they reach my legs, and my clothes ignite.
Even though I can’t move them, I still have feeling in them, and can’t help but scream as the fire slowly rises
up my body, searing the clothes into my flesh.
What do I do!? Do I beg!? She can put the fire out. Yes, she can…. No. No, fuck that!
I turn my head to see the witch. She’s standing there, her arms crossed, completely unafraid of the fire.
Fucking asshole. You should burn, too. The people of the village might be cunts, but none of them ever tried
to burn me alive.
I feel something rush through me – like the adrenaline rush you get when you’re close to being caught doing
something you shouldn’t be doing. A wind blows through the barn, putting out the flames covering me. I
look down and see how horribly burned my legs are below my knees. Fuck. FUCK! Am I gonna be able to
walk again!?
The witch’s eyes widen, and she’s suddenly staring at her hand. The skin on it begins to twist and tear, until it
looks just like mine. She doesn’t even scream as it is done to her, instead creating a ball of fire in her other
hand. “You little shit. I should-”
A second gust of wind blows through, cancelling out the fire she’s using. She tries the same hand motion
again, but nothing happens this time. Finally, she jumps back, disappearing in a swift swirl of dust.
I look down at my legs, and see… nothing? They’re – they’re perfectly fine. What the fuck!? That’s….
That’s not right. How…?
You can philosophize later, you dimwit. Time to get out now.
I escape the barn just as it fully collapses. There’s a crowd of people gathered outside, all of them watching
the spectacle. My father is among them, and he walks away as soon as we make eye contact. Love you too,
you prick.
“What the fuck did you do!?” yells an old man with a long beard, running up to me. “You fucking freak,
what the fuck did you do!? My farm!” He’s throwing his arms around, and I suspect I’d be intimidated on
any other day. Right now I’m just tired as fuck. “You are fucking paying me for this one! Where’s your
father!?”
“That thing ain’t no sun of mine!” I hear my old man yell, still walking away. “He can pay himself!”
“And he will! And you will!” The man approaches me, waving his finger in my face. “What the fuck is
wrong with you!? Are you inbred!? Is that it?! Or has God himself cursed this village by putting you here!?”
Suddenly feeling just fine, I try to walk past him. The man grabs my arm, but I give him a good shove. He
doesn’t just fall – he flies, landing a few feet away from me. The crowd gasps, the man staring up at me with
fearful eyes.
“Monster!” a woman yells. “Freak!” another adds. In moments, they’re all campaigning for my head.
“Should’ve drowned you the moment you were born!”
“He has the plague! Kill him before it spreads!”
“Look what he did! Look what he did! Strong, like a troll!”
“He’ll burn the rest of the village down! He’ll kill us all!”
Now, there’s an idea.
I raise my hand, toward them, and they all fall silent. I look a few of them in the eye, remembering them all.
Marcie refuses to sell my family bread, not wanting to contribute to feeding me. Gerald once got his three
dipshit sons to throw stones at me, trying to force me to run off into the forest. Natasha coined the name
Scales.
Those three suddenly turn pale – paler than a human could ever naturally be – even paler than I am. Their
faces freeze in shock and fear, then they drop to the ground.
“Gerald? Gerald! Someone help! He’s had a heart attack!”
“He did this!” someone yells, but I’m already walking away. “Monster! He’s a warlock! Look what he did!
Murderer!”
“We know you’d do this eventually!”
“Arrest him! Throw him into the jailhouse!”
I stop walking, giving them a look over my shoulder. “Those that follow me will die.”
The crowd is perfectly silent as I walk away, not stopping until I’ve left the village. I don’t know where the
fuck the northern road leads, but any place is better than this. I need a fresh start – some place where no one
knows about the thing.
“That was no minor thing,” Adrianne says, walking beside me. “The murder of civilians is prohibited by the
Council.”
“I’m not on the fucking Council.”
“They won’t care about that. The villagers will talk. They’ll send word to the nearby lords, asking for a price
on your head. You’ll be a wanted man soon.”
“Then they can fucking die, too.”
“So is that the plan?” She grabs my forearm before I can react. “Murder your way into a better life? Do you
really think that’s how it works?”
“Well, it certainly fucking works like that for your sister.” I pry myself free, then keep walking as she stares
with surprise.
“How do you know about her?”
“Who the fuck do you think set that fire?”
“Neneath is here!?” The mage runs up to me, stepping before me. “What did she say? What did she want?”
“The same thing as you,” I snap. “Get out of the way.”
“If Neneah tried to kill you, you’d be dead. How are you-”
“I fucked her hand up. Get out of the way.” I try to push past her, but she pushes me back with a single hand,
surprisingly strong.
“This is no longer a simple matter of recruitment. You’re coming with me.”
I open my mouth to respond, but dust is suddenly dancing all around us. In a moment, the world goes dark,
then light, then dark again – and then all the colors are blending together, the sky itself a spinning blur in my
eyes. It all lasts just a moment, but also forever. Once I can see normally again, I’m somewhere else entirely.