//------------------------------//
// Proluge: And so the ride begins 
// Story: How far would you go? 
// by Areos 
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Lightning arced through the grey clouds, a bright spark among the dark downpour from above. I glanced down at the path, already slick with mud from the downpour. I started on down the path, hoping to reach my destination before the cold set in, my current shirt and pants already soaked through.

I followed the same beaten track, past the old oak, through the playground and over the hill that had a gorgeous view of the ocean. I looked out, to get a glimpse of anything out on the water, but no luck. The rain surrounding me was so thick; I wouldn't have been able to see a tsunami.

The sound of footsteps reached my ears, guess someone followed me again. From the sound of , it was a group of at least two, maybe three. I glanced upwards, seeing if there would be a break in the downpour, or if I'd be forced to take action in wet conditions.

I sighed, guess it's another one of those days.I looked down to see three boys, around high school age, standing in front of me cracking their knuckles. I lay my school bag on the ground, careful to make sure it was out of harm’s way for what was about to happen.

"Alright boys," I shouted, "I'll give you one minute, that's all I can spare for you low-life's!"

They snarled at that. The tallest, stepped forward and pointed at me.

"Hey! Who are you calling a lowlife?" he shouted. 

"And here I thought it was obvious," I sighed, "don't blame me when you get hurt."

I lowered myself into my usual stance, waiting for one of them to make the first move. I didn't have to wait long, the leader charged up the hill, ignoring the fact that he was at a disadvantage. I remained still, waiting until he was 1 meter away before striking. The boy’s face changed from smug to shock as my leg hit him straight in the stomach. The boy dropped to his knees, writhing in pain. Taking my eyes of the first one, I looked back at the other two, both with stunned looks on their face.

"Well then," I rubbed my hands together, "guess I won’t need a minute to finish this!"

The boys glared up at me. I took a second to readjust my stance before they charged me. I grabbed the one on the left's wrist, twisting it to the right, dragging the rest of him with it. The boy slammed into his friend, knocking both of them down for a little while. I turned back around, expecting the leader from earlier to still be on the ground, only to find nothing but grass.

Damn! Where did he go? Something fast in the corner of my eye. Acting from instinct alone, I raised my palm, stopping the fist a few centimeters short of my face.

"You really," I grunted, "don't know how to take a hint, do you?"

I drew my arm back, tensing for what was about to happen. He started to say something, the words barely formed in his mouth. I slammed my fist straight into his stomach; same spot as last time, a snarl of pain the boy’s only response.

I lifted up the hand, checking to see that the owner of it hadn't passed out. I grabbed his collar in my other hand, pulling him up to my eye level.

"Now tell me," I asked, "what was the reason this time?"

The boy tried not to make eye contact. "Those damn eyes," he panted, "always changing."

I scowled, always the eyes, they couldn't make fun of something I could change; it had to be them.

I lifted myself back to my full height, dragging the boy with me and pulled him by his collar so he was eye level with me.

"I'll say this once," my voice laced with hatred, "if you ever make fun of anyone about their appearance again, I swear you’re going to be thankful a beating is all you got off with! Understand?"

The boy nodded furiously, shaking with fear. I slackened my grip, allowing him to fall to the ground.

I walked over to where I had left my bag, still not a scratch on it, and began the slow trek back home.

She's going to murder me when I get home.

                                                                                                                                                                                     

"What do you mean!?" the voice thundered, "You beat three people up!"

I tried to cup my hands over my ears, but my attempts to escape the bombardment of sound were destroyed quickly by a swift pair of hands. I looked up to see my mother looking at me with a glare so mean, it would probably make a lion cringe, directed straight at me.

"Don't you try and get out of this one!" she shouted, "You are going to tell me why you did it!"

"Mum..." I began, my lips trembling, "I-I'd prefer not to really talk about it..."

"Areos, I swear if I don't have an explanation within the next five minutes, something will be broken!" Mum's voice rose to an even higher level, "And it better be a damn good one!"

Sighing, I drew myself up to full height, just a few centimeters taller than Mum. You'd think talking down to someone taller than you would cause problems; Mum continued to glare daggers at me, despite the height difference.

"Mum….why are my eyes this way?"

Her gaze softened, toning down to loving caring mode.

"Honey," she began, a lot quieter now, "I know they make you stand out a lot, but that's no reason for you to get in fights."

I strode straight past Mum, reaching straight for the handle that lead to my room.

"Areos," Mum begged, "Please wait a minute-"

Whatever she was going to say was cut out as I slammed the door behind me. I locked it just in case, and then slowly flicked the lights on.

My room was pretty bare, a few decorations, a lamp, and my bed. I placed my bag in the corner, barely realizing I'd still had it on, and flopped down onto the bed.

Maybe she's right, maybe I shouldn't fight just because I'm different. True that my eyes are different, but the rest of me is the same as everyone else, I think.

Nothing left to do but hit call it a night I guess.

My eyes began to close, my mind breathing slowed. A light flared in the center of my room, I barely took any notice, must be the power playing up again.

                                                                                                                                                                                     

My eyes opened slowly open; I hesitated at first because of a bright light... Wait a minute! My light isn’t that bright and it isn’t yellow either! I flung my eyes open drinking in all that surrounded me.

A small grove, trees that reached a few meters tall, covered me from all angles. A thick layer of dust coated the ground surrounding me. 

"Wait a minute, what's going on here? Where am I!"

As soon as the words left my lips, something growled behind me. I turned, glancing left and right for any movement in the darkness.

A pair of red glowing eyes appeared out of the darkness, a glare so intense I felt it burn my skin. I stepped back on instinct; the eyes matched my movement, what was connected to them slowly emerged from the trees.

Whatever the thing was, it sure as hell wasn't from Earth, standing around 5 foot tall, the eyes were part of what appeared to be a lion’s head, complete with snarling fangs. Attached to the head was a normal lion’s body, normal so far, that's when something towards its rear caught my eye, a tail! Not just a normal lions tail, a 2 foot long scorpions tail. My eyes were drawn to its chest as it flared a pair of wings, bat wings to be precise. I'd heard myths about these things, a Manticore.

Keep calm it won't be able to hurt you, this is all probably just a dream. As soon as I had those thoughts, the growling stopped replaced instead by a thick silence.

I realized what the creature was up to; I turned back around, my heart pounding in my chest. I took off,  , the beast following me.

"Someone please help me!!!" I screamed as I ran through the forest, somehow ahead the beast of nightmares.

An arc of pain raced down my back. I cried out in pain, almost stopping as blood poured through my shirt. I ignored the pain, continuing my mad dash through the trees.

A light appeared a head, growing closer by the second. I put the last of my energy into my sprint, bursting through the last of the trees, my feet dragging me a few meters before my body came to a halt

I dropped onto my hands and my knees, taking deep breaths to calm myself; I glanced around to see if anything else dangerous was around, only to be greeted by a field of daises.

After I caught my breath, I stumbled forward, dazed from the blood loss. Looking further right, I could see what appeared to be a village. My brain went into survival mode, focusing only on the problem at hand. I need to get this wound treated, I’m bleeding a lot.

I struggled out of the field, my feet moving from the soft flowers to the harder dirt track. I trudged down the path, reaching what appeared to be the edge of the town. The town appeared to be a bit strange, the houses weren’t made of bricks like the ones I was used to seeing, they were a cream coloured wood, darker oak support frames stuck out of the sides and hay covered roofs to top it all off. Almost like a medieval town. Better than nothing.

I limped past the first houses, looking down the streets for signs of anyone only to be greeted by silence. I continued like this for some time, empty streets, signs that people had been there. Great, of all the towns to find when I need help, it’s the empty one!

My head swirled, the blood loss finally catching up to me. I ran my hands down my back, trying to check how bad the injury was. My fingers worked down my back, over my shoulder blades, stopping just below my ribs. I sucked in breath, preparing for the pain that was coming. I brushed the edge of the wound; pain arced through my back, my legs giving way. I put out my hands to stop myself, ripping off a few layers of skin. Note to self, deep wounds are better left alone.

I struggled back to my feet, trying not to cry out from the pain. My legs carried me through the next few streets, my eyes searching for any sign of help. After a minute of nothing, I stopped, leaning on the wall, calming myself.

A flash of pink caught my attention. I turned; I expected to see a person, someone that could help me. What I found wasn’t a person, just a horse, a very small one at that, it barely reached my waist height. The horse was a light cream, almost the same colour as the houses. A pink mane ran down its neck, part of it hiding the left side of her face, its face was full of worry.

“Um…” a small voice squeaked, “Are you okay? Oh my, you’re bleeding a lot. Let me help you.”

That… That horse just talked… No time to question that, I need a doctor “I...” I started coughing, raising my hand to my mouth, feeling something wet hit it, “I need help… Please…”

My legs buckled, unable to support my weight any longer. My head smashed into the ground, my vision fading to a small circle before fading completely.