VERY MANY YEARS AGO (SIDE STORY) <VARZIEL'S POV>

It was cold.

Very cold.

A little boy lay on a rough piece of cloth, his body wrapped by a pair of feathery black wings. His stomach growled in protest, reminding him of the many days he had gone without food.

The wind howled outside the ruined shelter; it's icy breath slipped through the cracks in the crumbling walls. He tightened the grip on his wings, drawing them closer around his frail frame in an attempt to protect his body from the biting cold. 

It had been days since he had seen his father, but the memory of the older man's warm stare and embrace was slowly fading like a dream he could not quite grasp. Varziel's father had promised he would return, but each passing day without him chipped away at that promise, leaving behind only a hollow ache in the middle of Varziel's chest.