Chapter 4

Even though Emeric was running as fast as he could, he made virtually no sound. The distance between him and the Elite grew smaller at a brisk pace, and before Emeric could second guess himself, he drove his shoulder into the Elite's lower back.

The Elite leader had heard Emeric a second too late and there hadn't been any time to react. The force of Emeric's momentum carried them both to the ground where they landed in a tangled mess of arms and legs.

Emeric, miraculously, considering that his arms were bound behind his back, was the first to his feet. As the Elite pushed himself up, Emeric swung a deafly kick aimed at the Elite's head. Had the attack made contact, the Elite would have been out for days, if not worse...but the man had lightning instincts.

When Emeric's foot was about to strike it's target, the Elite grabbed Emeric's ankle and gave it a vicious twist. The sudden offensive move caught Emeric off guard, the twist of his foot sent him to the ground.

As he hit the floor, a painfilled cry of agony escaped his lips, much to his disliking...The Elite twisted his foot in an excruciating manner that stretched muscles and tendons...A crippling injury that would need time to recover.

Emeric kicked the Elite's hand away with his other foot before desperately dragging himself away...which seemed rather difficult considering that he only had one useful limb...

As the Elite approached, Emeric got to his feet, but his moment of triumph didn't last as his injured ankle gave way under him and he went down with a sickening crash.

It was then that Emeric realised that he had underestimated his opponent. The large man that slowly strode closer evidently was an experienced warrior, much more skilled than the men that Emeric had faced earlier. Even if Emeric had not been at a disadvantage he would have had a tough time defeating the large man.

When the man came to a stop over Emeric, a menacing face, void of any expression was what he saw.

Somehow, this sent more chills through Emeric than an angry, even fuming expression would have. The man had defeated Emeric, and the latter had nowhere to go and no way of defending himself. The Elite knew that and the notion filled him with satisfaction.

The Elite bent forward and roughly grabbed Emeric by the collar of his shirt. Emeric felt himself being lifted off of the ground effortlessly, as if he weighed little more than a leaf. The man lifted Emeric high enough so that their eyes were level.

"You dare attack me." The man said in a deadly, yet soft spoken voice that sent shiver crawling up Emeric's spine.

Emeric, however, did his best to hide the fear that was eating him up. He would not allow his captor to see him in a decreased state. His pride would not allow it.

The Elite slammed Emeric back into the ground with extreme strength that forced a grunt of jarring pain out of Emeric's chest. And then the fists came.

Emeric did his best to try and tuck his head into his chest protectively, but the act seemed to do little to ease the power of the blows.

The pain was worse than Emeric thought possible. It was as if his head was about to burst open. He grit his teeth to try and ignore the metallic taste of blood as he accidently bit his tongue after a rather oppressive blow.

Gradually, Emeric started loosing consciousness. In the faint background he heard his father's pleas for the onslaught to stop...

He lay there in the dust...bloodied and bruised...

The Elite glared down at the broken figure on the floor with menace...A young man, not in his twenties yet had managed to defeat six of his warriors...Some of the injuries permanent and crippling. With a grunt of dismissal he walked away...

*****

Rayhan felt useless as he watched his son receive a horrid beating...he despised the man delivering it. No matter how much he pleaded or begged, the fists kept flying. He would have jumped up to try and stop the onslaught had his ankles not been tied together, hindering any thought of walking...

After what felt like an eternity, the Elite finally left Emeric laying in the dust. From the distance it was hard to tell in he was still alive or not. Fear swept through Rayhan as he realised that the possibility of him being alive could be lingering in the lower side. An intense beating to the head was very dangerous and often ended up with some sort of permanent default. Two beatings worsened all the chances of his son waking up mentally unscathed.

The pain that went through Rayhan as he watched his unmoving son was on a different level...Something he hadn't felt since the day he had lost his dear wife. A horrid day indeed. Now a fear was worming its way to his head. He knew that the chances of them getting away was close to zero and just the thought of loosing his son, the only person he had left in the treacherous world, broke him...He couldn't go through that grief again.

Hour after hour slowly trudged by and Emeric did not move even a millimeter. The fear in Rayhan grew with every minute that slowly passed. As the six Elite's who had gone to capture Emeric's 'brother' returned, Rayhan knew that more trouble was sure to arise.

They immediately reported to the horrid Elite who had beaten Emeric. His face told more than words could. The men had not found any traces of another Rogue and they realised that they'd been fooled. The leader of the Elites shot a deranged glare in Emeric's direction. He ordered something to the men, but they were too far away to hear what was being said.

Two of the Elite's dragged Emeric back towards Rayhan. As they carelessly dropped him by Rayhan's feet, Rayhan finally saw the extent of the attack and the injuries it had brought with it...He was filled with dread.

Emeric's chest was weakly rising and falling, a sign that he was still alive, but just barely. Rayhan sadly shook his head as he looked down at his son. If only he didn't have such a desire to protect what he cared for. The favorable characteristic seemed to be Emeric's downfall.

Rayhan felt ready to murder any Elite who dared get too close. "How dare they do this to my boy!" He thought bitterly. His kind hearted kid who couldn't kill a fly did not deserve this pain. He didn't deserve the scorn of the world. The war had been before Emeric's time which meant he had nothing to do with the consequences. He did not deserve to suffer the wrath of the world just because he looked different. Just because his pitch black hair and blue eyes marked him as a Rogue.

Rayhan marvelled at how unfair life seemed to be. How it sent favour to some and defeat to others. They had suffered the brunt of it.

*****

Long after night had fallen and the Elites had built a large bon fire, a groan snapped Rayhan's attention to Emeric. He was slowly blinking his eyes open, but his face was set in a grimace of pain. He tried sitting up, but instantly let his head drop back to the ground when a throbbing hammered at his scull.

"Take it easy." Rayhan instructed softly. Emeric frowned as he drew in a few deep breaths, "I sh...should have listened to you." he said gloomily. Rayhan sighed with relief...Emeric sounded alright. "You did what you thought was right." Rayhan explained, but it didn't ease the pain Emeric was experiencing.

"At least I can say that I did everything I could." Emeric stated, more to reassure himself than to make amends for what he'd done. Rayhan nodded his head, "I'm proud of you, you know. Handling the situation the way you did." Emeric looked at his father with surprise.

"But I couldn't get away, I couldn't save you...All those years of training and I still wasn't able to be useful." Emeric said in a deflated voice. Rayhan surprisingly felt anger as he listened to Emeric.

"Listen to me very carefully," He stated in that, I'm your father and I'm giving you a speech now, tone of voice, "Neither of us could have predicted that this would happen. No matter how hard you trained or how good you are, you were up against the Elite, exceptionally good warriors, and you beat them senseless... Did you see the dent you put in their forces? Emeric, what you've been able to do today has surpassed anything I expected out of you. You are truly a son to be proud of."

The words eased some of the emotions that were swirling through Emeric. "Thanks Dad." He said after a while, feeling more accomplished.

"How bad is it?" Rayhan questioned after a few seconds of silence. Emeric knew what Rayhan was referring to and assessed himself, "I'll live." Was all he said after a while.

Emeric tried shifting into a more comfortable position and that was when he felt a stab of pain through his ankle. As he glanced down at the limb, swelling could be seen, even through the clothing. "Is it broken?" Rayhan asked with concern. Emeric shook his head, "I don't think so...I hope not."

'Can this day get any worse?' he thought hatefully.

It could and it did.

A few of the Elites moved closer, obviously in a good mood after having a few too many drinks. They stood staring down at Emeric and Rayhan. "I see the little rat finally woke up from it's afternoon nap." One mocked..."But I happened to realise that it's his bed time again." another one chimed.

Holding up a threatening fist, the third one remarked, "Why don't we help him fall asleep?"

Emeric felt dread claw at him. One more punch to the head and he'd be dead...literately, not figuratively.

He was unable to move and laying on the floor made him an easy target.

The Elite that had spoken first seemed to ponder over his comrade's suggestion, but then shook his head, "No, he doesn't deserve a nap... how about something more...permanent?" As the last word left his lips, he drew his sword from a scabbard by his hip.

Emeric's breathing picked up as he watched the blade reflect the growing flames of the fire, making it look even more menacing.

All the muscles in Emeric went tight with tension as he watched the Elite slowly move closer.

"Don't you dare touch him." Rayhan said venomously. The Elite laughed, "I've heard that parents love watching their children sleep...Now you can do it for the rest of his life." The Elite gestured to Emeric as he spoke. "Don't." Rayhan said threateningly...But the Elite had already turned back to Emeric.

Emeric shot a fearful glance in his father's direction their eyes meeting for a heartfelt second as the Elite raised the sword up...

And in the blink of an eye, it came sailing down...down to the figure sprawled on the floor...unable to defend himself from the blade that would end his life...