The Orb of Destiny

Cayn

I don't exactly remember how and when I got home, but all I know is that my parents were hauling me inside the house before I could have the time to take off my boots. 

My mother was the first to hug me, bringing her hands to my face and squishing my cheeks. Perhaps to get a better look at me, or look into my eyes, it didn't matter. 

Next, it was my father, who just simply slapped his big hand on my back, making me nearly cough out the drink I had with Higo. Then, my three sisters and two brothers came at me with their young and older auras, making me nearly feel bad about myself and showing up drunk in front of my siblings. 

Now, we're sitting at the dinner table, eating a roasted duck that mother hunted for in the woods herself. Using the metal fork in my hand, I toss around the small piece of meat left on my plate with disinterest, the hunter I had no longer with me.

"Cayn? Is everything all right?" Mother asks, placing a hand on my arm.

I look up from my plate to stare into her pitch-black eyes. I always thought them to be small holes depicting the void and how close it was to the oblivion beyond. 

When I was younger, my father would make jokes of how I deeply resembled my mother, but when it came to staring her down in a contest, she always won because, according to him, she was simply better at giving pitch-black stares. 

To be honest, I never really understood why he said that about her. Her stares aren't just pitch-black. If you look closely, you can see small specks of gold underneath all of that darkness.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Just thinking, that's all." I say, shoving the small piece of duck in my mouth.

Placing my hands on the edge of the table, I chew the remnants of my meal and look at my siblings, inspecting each of their features like it's the first time I'm seeing them. 

My three sisters, Cala, Mina and Hati, all sit on one side of the table across from me. They all have the same black hair as I do, and except for Hati, who has brown eyes like my father, they all have Mother's pitch-black eyes. 

Looking to my left, I observe my brothers, Gavin and Hayden, their hair brown like my father's and their eyes pitch-black like my mother. 

Out of the entire family, I am the only one with the odd eyes. I've always been teased for it, and bullied for no other apparent reason than me having different coloured eyes than the rest of my family. People thought it strange, how I was the odd one out. 

But I guess, it wasn't necessarily up to me to decide what I had. 

Speaking of which, I glance down at my arms and the tattoos that mark each and every inch of skin on them and run up my neck. Just trailing my fingers over my forearm has me shivering, despite the fact that it's warm inside the room. 

My thoughts go back to the glowing-eyed thief, and how her attention went to my arms, and how she called me a 'tattoo boy'. 

Did she know why I had these markings? Did she even care? 

And yet, there was something in her gaze that suggested that she knew more than she let on. 

Before I can think even further, a rumble has multiple plates cluttering and dust to fall from the ceiling. The candles in the room flicker but don't go out, even as the open window slams open and shut as the wind from outside picks up.

"Strange. The wind isn't supposed to penetrate the inside." Mother says, frowning as she looks up at the ceiling with her pitch-black eyes.

I glance at my father, whose hands are currently in fists. Suddenly, he gets up from his seat and starts making his way outside. I get up from my own seat and start following after him, despite the numerous shouts of protests from my mother and siblings.