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Pearl flattened her back against the tree and shut her eyes, hoping people wouldn’t see her. If she stayed still long enough maybe they’d miss her. Her red cape was muddy and torn and her face was scratched and bloody.
She poked her head around the tree.
She’d lost them. Finally.
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Martyn stared at the corpse on the ground, his hands shaking and covered in blood. Had he just… did he just… was he…
His mouth was dry and his heart was pounding.
In fear, he ran.
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<2 weeks after Part 1…>
The moon was round and red in the sky. The air was eerily still, like it was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.
Pearl woke to someone banging on her door. Urgent knocking that dragged her from her bed, still in her pyjamas.
She pulled the door open to reveal-
“BigB,” she greeted, rubbing sleep from her eyes, “What are you doing here?”
BigB’s eyes were wide with fear, “They're coming for you Pearl. You have to run.”
Pearl froze.
“Who are?” She asked.
“The town, everyone! They're all coming, you have to go Pearl, now!” BigB grabbed her hand and tried to drag her from the house.
“Why?” Pearl pulled away, “If I'm going, I at least have to pack-”
“You don’t have time!” BigB cut her off, “You have to get out of here before they find you! They’ll kill you if they catch you! They think you’re a witch Pearl!”
Pearl went stiff with shock and fear, “What?”
“After the village cows went missing this morning they held a meeting. They thought you were a witch and the culprit! They’re coming to capture you and then execute you!” BigB explained hastily as Pearl grabbed her scarlet cloak and flung it over her shoulders.
“Then you have to run too,” Pearl argued, packing a tiny bag with some supplies, “If you’re caught associating with me they’ll kill you too!”
BigB nodded, “I’ve already packed.”
He took Pearl’s arm, “Pearl?”
She turned around to face him, “Yeah?”
“Stay safe. Please. I don’t want to lose my best friend,” His soft brown eyes were full of tears.
“I won’t,” Pearl pulled him into a hug, “I promise. Thanks for warning me.”
BigB nodded, pulling away and running out the door, waving as he did so. Pearl waved back and then double checked she wasn’t leaving anything important. Her dog Tilly was running in circles around her legs.
“Come on Tilly, we gotta go,” she whispered. She could hear shouts and spot torches glinting in the darkness of the forest. She had to hurry or they’d catch up with her and find her. She went sprinting into the dark, her hair rushing behind her. Adrenaline shot through her as she ran, her cloak swirling around her legs.
She understood why she was being branded a witch but it was unfair really. Just because she lived alone in the woods with wolves and a blood red cloak and had a slightly unhinged laugh didn't mean she was a witch. Injustice stung at her chest.
There was the bright light of a torch off to her left and a cry, “She’s here!”
Pearl’s heart jolted harshly as something whizzed past her head. An arrow. She bit back a scream and ran as fast as she could into the woods. Breathing heavily, she hurtled through the forest, hearing people start to follow. She had to get out of here before she got seriously injured. She sprinted for cover. Maybe if she hid behind a tree…
Pearl flattened her back against the tree and shut her eyes, hoping people wouldn’t see her. If she stayed still long enough maybe they’d miss her. Her red cape was muddy and torn and her face was scratched and bloody.
She poked her head around the tree.
She’d lost them. Finally.
SLAM!
Someone hit Pearl hard across the face. She screamed and tumbled to the floor.
“Got her!” A townsperson had spotted her and knocked her to the ground.
“She’s over here!” They cried.
Pearl pushed herself against the tree, trying to make herself smaller, but to no avail. The person pinned her to the floor with their foot on her chest and drew a sword to finish her.
This was the end.
Pearl flinched back-
An arrow tore through the air and hit the townsperson through the back of their head. He slumped to the ground in front of her. She gasped, Tilly barking like crazy and tearing at the dead man.
Pearl stared in amazement as another few townsfolk fell, then one signalled for the rest that there was another attacker.
Just as a sharp blade sliced him down.
Holding the blade was a man who looked about Pearl's age, with sandy blonde hair, wearing a threadbare red jumper and black jeans. On his back were the biggest pair of avian wings Pearl had ever seen in a deep purple.
“Are you ok?” He asked, offering Pearl a hand.
“Yes, thank you,” Pearl took it gratefully and the man pulled her to her feet.
Another volley of arrows came flying past the tree, chasing the townsfolk further away.
“I think I've scared them off,” said a voice. Another person came round the other side of the tree. They had cyan hair and sharp elven ears and were holding a bow, an arrow strung and ready to fire.
“Who are you?” Pearl whispered.
The two men looked at each other, and then back at Pearl.
“I’m Grian,” The one in the red jumper replied.
“And I’m Scott,” The elf said, “Who are you?”
“I’m Pearl,” Pearl answered, “But… wait, why did you save me?”
“That town’s trouble,” Scott explained, pulling his arrows out of the corpses around the ground, “We saw them with torches and weapons and figured something was up. And when we saw that they were attacking one unarmed person for seemingly no reason, we couldn’t just stand around.”
“What did you do to upset them so much?” Grian asked, cleaning the blood of his blade with a handkerchief he’d stolen from one of the dead townsfolk.
“I- I don’t know!” Pearl protested, “They thought I was a witch and tried to kill me. I’m innocent, I swear!”
She felt tears pricking at her eyes, “And now I have nowhere to go.”
Grian and Scott looked sympathetic, and had a quick whispered conversation that Pearl couldn’t hear. Eventually, Grian turned back to Pearl.
“If you like, you can come live with us,” Grian said, “We’ve got a huge cabin more than big enough for the three of us. We’re both runaways too, so you’re in safe company."
Pearl stared in amazement.
“You’d really let me stay?” She asked breathlessly.
“As long as you don’t try anything stupid like killing us, sure,” Scott shrugged.
“Yes! Please, yes!” Pearl beamed, tears of happiness lurking in her eyes, “Thank you so so much!”
“It’s no problem,” Grian smiled, “Come on, we’ll clean up here and then head back home. Here, make yourself useful,” He threw her a small shovel, “Help us bury these guys and then we’ll get going.”
Pearl nodded, taking the shovel and getting to work, smiling.
Things were looking up.
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<3 days later…>
A comet zipped across the sky as Martyn dangled his feet in the cool waters of a rockpool. It was a quiet starlit evening on the beach and he was enjoying the evening, watching the light dance on the water and the little fish in the rockpool swim around his ankles. He loved evenings like these. It had been a long hard day at work and he was happy to relax and enjoy the scenery.
“Heya Martyn,” A voice said. Martyn spun round to see his best friend Ren standing behind him.
“Hey Ren!” Martyn greeted cheerfully, “What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you,” Ren chuckled, “I checked your apartment but the door was locked. I took a guess at where else you’d be and clearly got lucky.”
“I’m just that predictable, huh?” Martyn grinned. Everyone who knew him knew he loved the ocean, and so it wasn’t a complete stab in the dark that he would have been there.
Another comet darted across the sky and Martyn frowned. Another one? There wasn’t supposed to be a meteor shower tonight was there?
But the minute it appeared, Martyn felt a feeling tear through his body, almost like a lightning bolt. His vision went bright white for a few seconds and then faded back to normality. He yelped and leapt to his feet, Ren following suit, looking concerned.
“Dude, are you ok?” He asked.
“I… don’t know,” Martyn said, shaking a little, “I just felt like I got electrocuted.”
Ren frowned, “That’s bizarre. You feeling alright? Like, did it hurt you?”
“I don’t think so,” Martyn flexed his hands, his fingers tingling. His ears in particular were stinging and buzzing and he felt a little light headed, “I think I need to sit down though.”
“You do that,” Ren nodded, reaching to help Martyn sit down.
He shouldn’t have.
The minute he touched Martyn, something changed. A feeling in Martyn’s bones, something rushing through him, like… like a power.
“Ren,” Martyn’s voice was shaky with fear, realising something was about to happen, “Get out the way.”
“What?” Ren’s brow furrowed, “What’s the matter?”
“Get out of the way!” Martyn yelled. The feeling was getting stronger, shooting through his arms, into his hands-
WHOOSH!
A bright beam of power shot from Martyn’s hands, almost like a really bright beam of light. Martyn screwed his eyes shut, screaming as the light forced itself through him.
When he opened his eyes, he wished he hadn’t.
He hadn’t heard Ren screaming. Hadn’t seen that he hadn’t jumped out of the way. And now, Ren was on the ground, face pained.
And a smoking hole through his chest.
“REN!” Martyn cried, rushing to his friend and dropping to his knees next to him. His hands stained red with Ren’s blood.
“No, no no no no!” Martyn tried to cover the wound, but he could feel that Ren’s heart had stopped.
He jumped to his feet, gazing in fear at his hands. He’d just shot pure light from his hands. And he…
Martyn stared at the corpse on the ground, his hands shaking and covered in blood. Had he just… did he just… was he…
His mouth was dry and his heart was pounding.
In fear, he ran.
Everything passed in a blur, but he woke up in the forest on the outskirts of town. He didn't know how he’d got there, but he assumed he’d just run until he’d passed out from exhaustion.
He curled up on himself, tears streaming down his face. Ren was dead. And it was his fault. He just hoped someone would find the body and give him a proper burial.
But how? How had he suddenly gained magical powers and killed his best friend. He tried to force the feeling back into his hands, but he couldn’t summon that light again.
There was one thing he knew for sure. He couldn’t go home. But if he stayed out here, he’d die.
Maybe he deserved to, after what he did to Ren.
Suddenly there were footsteps and a cry of, “Grian! Scott! Over here!”
Someone knelt down in front of Martyn: a young woman in a long red cloak. She had a kind face and a little dog that kept running around her.
“Are you ok?” She asked gently. Martyn didn’t reply, just hugged his knees closer to himself.
“We’re not going to hurt you,” She assured him, “I’m Pearl, what’s your name?”
Martyn knew he shouldn’t give his name to strangers, but he was tired and distraught and the lady seemed so nice that he didn’t think.
“Martyn,” he replied.
“Who’s that?” Another voice asked. Martyn looked up. There were two men with her, an avian with blonde hair and an elf with blue hair. It was the blue haired one who’d spoken.
“He’s called Martyn,” Pearl said, “And Tilly seems to like him.”
Indeed, Pearl’s dog was licking at Martyn’s hands enthusiastically.
Martyn pushed her away gently, “I don’t want to hurt her. Or you. You should leave.”
The three people looked at each other confused.
“Why not?” The avian asked.
“Because… I don’t know!” Martyn shouted, making them all jump, “I was just with my friend and then next thing I know, I’m shooting light out my hands and I accidentally kill him! And I was scared and I ran and- and-”
“Light?” The avian’s face became unreadable.
Martyn nodded.
“There was a meteor shower last night, wasn’t there Scott?” The avian asked the elf.
“Yes Grian, there was,” The elf - Scott - nodded.
Grian crouched down to look Martyn in the eye, “Martyn, have you ever heard of the Listeners?”
Martyn shook his head, “No. Who are they?”
“They’re a collection of cosmic entities that are scattered around the world and are tasked with destroying another type of cosmic entity called the Watchers,” Grian explained, “And I have a feeling you’re a Listener.”
Martyn froze. There was no way he was secretly a cosmic entity, no way in a million years.
“You experienced the light powers during the meteor shower right?” Grian continued, “Meteor showers are when Listeners choose their successors. And did you feel anything odd happen to your ears?”
“Come to think of it, they were buzzing and stinging,” Martyn contemplated, then shook his head, “But no, there’s no way I’m a ‘Listener’!”
“I think you are,” Grian nodded.
Martyn groaned, sinking his head into his hands, “Then how do I stop myself from killing everyone I meet?”
“I can help with that,” Grian said, “I assume you need a new home now you’ve run away from your old one. You can come and stay with us and I can teach you. I know a bit about cosmic energy myself.”
“You do?” Pearl questioned, “You never told us!”
“I haven’t told many people,” Grian countered, “It’s supposed to be a secret, but since the cat’s out of the bag, I thought I’d say something.”
“Well, we should start heading back,” Scott said, offering Martyn a hand to get to his feet, “Come on, we’ll take you back to our house.”
Martyn nodded and took Scott’s hand. Honestly he was just tired and hoping they could give him some food and somewhere to stay for the night.
And if it came with training his brand new unexpected powers of death and destruction, well.
That was just a bonus at this point.