Hawk Heart

Prologue

"Name?"

I flinched at the strange man's harsh tone. Should I tell him my name? Was there any guarantee that he wouldn't hurt me if I did? If I dared to talk, my voice would tremble. If they knew my fear, that would only make things worse. I looked into his cold blue eyes, feigning confidence.

"Name?" he snarled at my silence, his upper lip curling maliciously to reveal a row of rotten teeth. The scar below his right eye seemed to resurface, the hastily sewn stitches clearly visible.

A stifled cry escaped my mouth. I bit my lip, struggling to keep myself from bawling. "A-As...As-" I stuttered, biting my tongue painfully.

"Ass?" The man on the left laughed, slapping the blue-eyed guy's shoulder as he barked, "What an interesting name!"

Their raucous laughter echoed through the narrow, dark alley as I hugged myself, moving farther away till my back touched the freezing wall behind me. The pungent smell of garbage from the container beside me was overwhelming. My stomach turned. Maybe throwing up on them would give me a chance to escape?

I forced myself to stare at each of them in turn. Defiant. There were three of them, I could ward off atleast two if I tried really hard. The one in the center atleast, seemed scrawny enough. The large, bald guy on the right would be much harder to fight off.

I took a deep breath and stood up straight. "Aster."

"Aster what?" the bald guy barked.

"Lightwielder," I replied, injecting pride I didn't have into the words. "Aster Lightwielder."

Their laughter died down. I finally glanced up at the rusty haired, scrawny man towering over me. His eyes had widened, his skin pale. Had it worked? Was he scared of my dad's position?

"We got ourselves a Lightwielder. That's gotta be big," he leaned over me, reaching for my chin and grabbing it roughly. I collapsed to the floor, shivering as utter terror paralyzed me. I shut my eyes, disgust at his callous touch. My skin crawling as he studied my face.

"Could be problematic," the bulky guy whispered. "If found out we could be in serious trouble."

"Then better not be found out," the rusty-haired one hissed. "Hey kid, your father, which one is he?"

I opened my eyes and gazed at the three of them, pondering my options. I could lie, letting them know I wasn't as important as they were hoping. They could lose interest and let me go, something that my dad had always suggested me for situations such as these. Or I could tell them the truth, and hopefully that might deter them from hurting me out of fear of repercussion.

"Hoy! What the fuck did I ask?" the rusty haired guy spat on the ground, his features contorted in anger.

Before I could figure out anything, or even defend myself, I was pulled roughly from my place on the ground and banged against the wall. The man's filthy hands found the scruff of my tshirt as he crouched down to look me in the eye, his foul breath almost making me gag. My blood turned cold and I blurted out the truth.

"Apex. Apex...Apex Arden Lightwieder."

The man's eyes widened as he staggered back, letting me drop to the floor where I crumpled, coughing.

"We're in the big leagues now, boys," the man laughed deliriously. "Bet he'll pay some good Luxes for his boy."

"Y..You'll get in trouble!," I stuttered. Even if they let me go, my dad would almost surely kill me. But the only way I could get out of there was to pretend that I wasn't scared. "My dad knows where I am. You won't get away with this."