it is best to avoid the beginnings of evil

Larkspur D'Angelo · 05-09-2010, 03:37 PM

[html]

The boy could be taught. He was afraid, but he was not stupid. There was potential in his open expression and wide eyes, in the darkness that marked his coat and had potential to reach his soul. Lark’s eyes, Jack-O-Lantern orange and burning hellishly, sought to swallow the boy whole. He tilted his head, messy hair falling into his face, and smiled in that all too peculiar way. Everything. “There’s a lot,” he admitted, and scratched the back of one hand. “But if yer willin’ to learn, then I kin teach ya.”

Then, abruptly, he laughed. It was a harsh sound—a carrion crow’s cry, dry branches in an October breeze, dead leaves against asphalt—one that sounded as if he had never laughed before in his life. One ear flicked at gnat, and then the D’Angelo shifted his weight and began speaking again. “There’s great power in what yer gonna learn. T’begin with, Khalif ain’t just a place, it’s our way of life. Our faith, our traditions. Everything. There’s three main forces in the world—two of ‘em good, one evil. They choose our family when they’re born, the three of ‘em. Those that’re marked black are cleansed by fire.” His eyes turned harsh, and his face turned to stone. That would have been him, if not for his Aunt-Mother. Destroyed, cleansed, pulled apart in order to be saved.

Faith was a terrible thing.

Login




Remember me Lost Password?