Reversal of Fortune [malexmale]

Prologue

Prologue

"Don't do it!"

Despite the cry, laughter rose up from around a large oak tree with branches jutting out in all directions. At the base, four children of various ages stood around staring up into the tree. High up in the branches, a black cloaked teen gripped one branch, hoisted himself up and leapt for another one.

"And he's supposedly the oldest of us," said one of the females with a smirk, her thin arms folded over her chest. Her skin as dark as coal, her eyes as brown as chocolate, her black hair a lovely waterfall of tight curls. Her cloak was made of bright vibrant red. At her side, another female simply shook her head, eyeing the teen, who was only so many years older than her, yet similar in appearance from her dirty blonde hair to her dark eyes, but whereas her sister was slender and trim, she was big-boned and sturdy. She wore a pale blue cloak.

"Let him have his adventure," their brother said from beside them, grinning as he put his hand up to shield his eyes while gazing up into the tree to admire the bravery of their eldest sibling. He was on the small side, stocky, his skin a shade lighter than that of the sister who'd spoken, his dark curly hair trimmed short, his eyes a piercing shade of blue. His cloak lay discarded in the grass, a fierce shade of orange.

And in the shadows on the other side of the tree, a pair of vibrant green eyes glowed in the darkness and gazed up into the tree, black hair falling in long silky tresses over his shoulders, his body cloaked with a thin green cloak that matched his siblings'.

"You are all infants," called their brother from the tree as he hoisted himself onto yet another branch. He sat for a moment with his legs dangling over his thick perch, reaching up and throwing the hood back from his face to reveal long dirty blonde hair and bright dark brown eyes glittering with mischief. He smiled with all teeth before looking up into the tree.

"What say we make a bet that should I reach the top, I get to sleep in the same bed as father tonight," he announced, looking down. His sisters wrinkled their noses.

"You always get to sleep by him, Death, that's not fair," his blonde sister snorted.

"Yet we are the infants," his dark-haired sister drawled, turning to her brothers, who grinned at the comment. Death stuck his tongue out before he rose to his feet again. In the shadows, those glowing green eyes tracked each movement. Watched each hand reach out, grip the rough bark, and heaved his weight up. Every so often, he would leap for the branch over head, hook his arms around it and swing himself aloft.

He moved like a monkey, he thought with a smirk. He'd always admired Death, like his siblings, Plague, Famine, and War. They tended to spend the most time together. There were certainly others, but some of them preferred solitary and some of them were simply too mature to be spending time with the so-called naughty ones, as Geara had often teased them.

"Be careful, Death," Famine called out, narrowing her dark eyes on the branches, "Should you fall, you will break a bone." Plague grimaced at that, rubbing at her arms, as if the very thought made her skin crawl. War glanced at them, then shrugged and looked up.

"That which does not kill us will only make us stronger, is that not what we always say, brother-mine?" He called up. Death's laughter.

"Are you not to say something?" Famine asked Nhyt, who remained in the shadows by the trees. Nhyt shook his head and lifted his eyes back to the tree. Famine sighed.

"Nhyt, you cannot agree to every which thing he says, lest his ego become bigger than Joxeia's," she said, to which Nhyt smiled sheepishly. He liked their uncle, Joxeia. He was incredibly smart, devastatingly beautiful, and adored just about everyone he ran into. He didn't have an inflated ego; he just knew the truth, of himself and others. Nhyt could never hide a secret from his uncle.