Beyond MxB

Prologue

The forest was eerily quiet, as always. Only the whispers of the adults voices, the soft whine of a newborn piercing the air before it was hushed by several others disrupted the silence.

My eyes quickly looked at the source of the sound before scanning the group of humans I was traveling with. All of them wore the same cautious expression, glancing at the environment with each step they took, speaking to each other as quietly as possible. Everyone's clothes were in tatters; those that were lucky and brave enough had found some less weathered clothes in an abandoned shop.

It wasn't always like this though; life had been good for mankind at one time, according to the tales. We had everything we could ever want but it came at a price. Man always wanted more and more, their greed pushing beyond the limits of what was possible.

Can you actually believe that they didn't care that they were polluting the Earth, as long as they made a profit out of it? I've found shreds of old newspapers, where each and every attempt of stopping the global warming had come to a halt as the nations' leaders had pushed the deadline further away, placing the responsibility in the hands of people who still had to be born.

My hand touched the warped bark of the large oak tree, the bark of it rough to the touch and extremely thick. The whole forest felt doomed as my eyes peered through the light twilight provided.

It probably was, if the elves didn't find this place soon. The whole forest was blackened from a past fire, the trees reaching up with twisted, leafless branches that creaked in the wind, adding to the ominous feeling. 

"What was that?" One of the women gasped, causing a wave of agitation to run over the rest of the groups as everyone froze on the spot to find out if they were in danger or not. I relaxed instantly, shaking my head so they knew it was nothing before I moved slightly away from them so I was on the edge of the woods.

The fear clung to the air, the scared look in the kids eyes a constant reminder that we aren't safe. You see, our ancestors had kept pushing and pushing the Earth until she couldn't take it anymore.

The climate changed drastically, the polar caps started to melt, tropical storms became harsher and longer until scientists came with the ultimate deadline; There was nothing humanly possible to save the Earth from self-destruction.

It was then that the fate of humankind had been decided; you see, mankind had searched time and again for any life in the cosmos beside ourselves, spending insane amounts of money and precious recourses to find out if we were all alone.

I sneered in disgust, shaking my head at the stupidity of our ancestors. They never had to go so far; supernatural beings lived right under our noses as they tried to co-exist with humans, since they gave us the right to live on the same planet as them.

It was them that saved the earth, for the first time in their history united for a common goal as they took over governments and managed to save most of our planet. Forty percent of Europa washed away and several parts of the USA had been cut off due to raging storms and volcanic activity.

That was a millennium and half ago and still...when the planet was saved, everything out there turned to us and demanded answers, answers that our ancestors couldn't give them. Eventually we turned from the most prospering race to the most hated and now we were pushing the limits towards extinction.

"Thorn!"

The sharp snapped call made me turn around, ripped of my musings as one eyebrow rose angrily at the way I was spoken to. I was not a dog or a slave to be called to heel. Henry managed to stand tall under my stare but I could tell he was nervous.

"We need you up front." He simply spat out, staring at me in disgust before he went back to the group. His wife, Carla, managed a weak and shaky smile in my direction before I averted my eyes and sighed.