Age of Darkness

Chapter 1: An Unexpected Hero (Edited)

WARNING:

This is simply the sample of Age of Darkness. The full, edited, novel is published on Amazon. It is available in e-book and paperback versions! You can find it here:

https://www.amazon.com/Age-Darkness-Book-Brandon-Chen-ebook/dp/B00Q759S9Q

or you can just google: "Age of Darkness!" 

Any recommended tips or anything are also welcome! Vote for the story if you end up liking it! It helps get publicity and you guys can help me get noticed! :). Well! Enjoy ! Hopefully you'll share it with your friends/family ! 

Note: Some of the spacing might be off because of the pasting from my word document to wattpad.

The boy was dazed. The world seemed to spin, turning his peripheral vision into a hazy white mess as he hit the tiled school floor. A fresh red bruise, the result of a powerful punch, bloomed on his cheek, and the young boy grunted, his breath heavy. Long, spiky black hair fell over his face, shadowing his dark brown eyes. He was only fourteen, yet this harsh treatment was normal for him. Salty blood gathered in his mouth, and he realized that he had bitten his tongue when he had fallen.

His name was Keimaro, and he abhorred every part of his dull, abusive life. Each day was the same, dragging on and on with his tormentors and the townsfolk always putting him down for no particular reason, as if he were some kind of monster.

Even his own father—of whom he wasn't exactly fond—ignored him. In fact, whenever he came home with a bloodied nose, a split lip, or a bruised cheek, his so-called father pretended not to see anything. It was as if his injuries didn't matter at all.

Nevertheless, Keimaro was forced to face the cruelty of his harassers, and their punishment was brutal. He would've run away from this terrible village, but something stood between him and his freedom. Surrounding the village was a massive force field—a giant invisible bubble encasing the entire village of Bakaara. It allowed nothing to come in and nothing to leave. He had heard rumors that it had been placed there a couple of weeks before Keimaro was born and that it was originally meant to contain him. Though, he knew that those were merely lies. The village elders had set up the force field as a giant ward to prevent beasts from invading and killing the inhabitants of the village.

Outside of the village was the Forbidden Forest, where dangerous beasts dwelled in silence, waiting for night. Then, they would slither out from the shadows and hunt, eager to break through the wards. Few had ever seen these beasts before, but there were rumors of shadow beasts that fed on the flesh of human children. Again, those were only rumors. The forests' enormous trees that stretched to the very clouds dwelled in the distance, creaking and groaning at night. Sometimes it seemed as if the forest itself were alive, trying to reach for the village. However, the force field had been up for fourteen years. There was no reason for it to come down.

The force field was comparable to a jail cell—at least, for Keimaro, it was. He felt confined, like a caged animal, incapable of seeing the world. What was the point in educating himself if he wasn't even allowed to leave? Besides, staying in the village seemed like suicide. Everyone hated him. He didn't even know why, and he found no valid reason for the disrespect that he received from those around him. He had learned to adjust to this, but he simply felt segregated as an individual. Isolated. Hated.

Keimaro pushed himself up from the dusty ground, brushing grit from his cheek with the back of his hand as he sniffed back tears. He was grasping his diaphragm, which had taken several blows from the boys at his school, trying to refill his lungs with air. He glanced at the teacher,who had simply watched the spectaclewithout stirring to stop the bullies from attacking him. Instead, the teacher gazed at the scene before her with profound interest, her arms folded as if she were actually enjoying the display.