In the evening, it was time for their execution.
Kael didn't sit back at home, he went to the witch plate in the town square where they showed everything and he stood there with his brother among the crowd that had gathered to watch.
Their parents appeared on the plate, released into an open field with Aetherglimpse following their every move.
"Run as far as you want," Councilor Thorne's voice echoed through the speakers and his smile was visible even on the grainy broadcast. "Let's see how far omegas can get."
Kael's mother stumbled first and his father caught her arm to steady her before they both started running. The crowd around Kael laughed and someone threw pebbles at the plate like this was entertainment instead of murder.
His brother's hand gripped his shoulder so hard it hurt but Kael couldn't look away from the plate where his parents ran through the streets of Ironhaven while people locked their doors and pulled their curtains shut.
"They're heading home," his brother whispered.
The aetherglimpse followed them all the way to their small house at the edge of the district and Kael watched as his parents reached the front door only to find it wouldn't open.
His father pounded on the wood and turned to look behind them but the crowd was already there with torches. Someone threw the first one through the window and flames erupted inside.
Kael's father barged inside protecting Elena. But, the mob followed still until an unknown force stopped them and they all had to stay outside.
Kael's legs were moving before his brain caught up and his brother ran beside him. They pushed through the streets and ignored the people who yelled at them to stay back and watch the show.
By the time they reached their house, smoke was pouring from every window and the front door was blocked by a wall of neighbors who'd decided this was justice.
"Mom!" Kael screamed and his voice cracked. "Dad!"
His brother shoved past the crowd and Kael followed him around to the side of the house where a window hung open. The heat hit him like a physical force when he climbed through but he kept moving and called out for his parents through the smoke that burned his lungs.
They found their mother in the hallway near the stairs and she was lying on her side with blood on her temple. Her eyes opened when they knelt beside her and she reached up to grab Kael's brother by the collar.
"Take this," she gasped and pressed something into his palm. A locket on a thin chain. "Keep it safe. Promise me."
"Mom, we need to get you out," Kael's brother said but she shook her head.
"Protect Kael." Her eyes found Kael's face and she tried to smile. "No matter what happens. You protect him."
"Where's Dad?" Kael asked and the words came out broken.
His mother lifted a shaking hand and pointed toward the back of the house. "Garden. He's in the garden, fighting the demon king."
The demon king? Kael had heard about the demon king, but has never seen him before.
Then her hand dropped and her eyes went empty and Kael felt something inside him die with her.
"Mom!"
He yelled as he dragged himself on the floor. His brother pulled him to his feet and dragged him through the burning hallway toward the back door. The garden was an inferno and flames climbed the fence and consumed the small vegetable patch his mother had tended every morning.
Through the smoke, Kael saw a figure kneeling in the center of the yard with his back turned toward them.
"Dad?" Kael choked out.
Then he saw the other figure standing in front of his father and this person was tall and wore dark clothes that seemed to absorb the firelight. Kael couldn't tell if this was a man or woman because the features were smooth and ageless and wrong in a way that made his skin crawl.
"Dad!" He yelled.
The stories called beings like this the Demon King and Kael was seeing it for the first time and the person the Demon king will be killing was his father.
The Demon King raised a sword and the blade caught the light from the flames.
"No!" Kael screamed and lunged forward, but his brother caught him around the waist.
"Are you stupid? That's the demon king! We need to run!" His brother said above a whisper.
The sword came down and his father's scream was worse than anything Kael had ever heard. It wasn't the sound of someone being cut but of someone burning from the inside out and the agony in that cry made Kael's knees buckle.
"We have to go," his brother said and his voice was in Kael's ear but it sounded far away.
"Dad!" Kael yelled as he gestured his hands forward. "Drop me!" He yelled again, hitting his brother, but he didn't stop walking.
The Demon King turned and in the space of a heartbeat crossed half the distance between them with speed that shouldn't be possible. His brother stopped, noticing they couldn't outrun the demon king. He shoved the locket into Kael's hand and pushed him toward the side gate.
"Run and don't stop," his brother ordered.
"No." Kael shook his head and tears blurred his vision. "I can't lose you too!"
"You won't." His brother smiled but his eyes were afraid. "I'll be right behind you. Just run."
The Demon King was getting closer and his brother turned to face the approaching figure. Kael's feet moved without his permission and carried him through the gate and into the alley beyond. He heard the sound of metal cutting through air and then his brother made a noise that would haunt Kael for the rest of his life.
Don't turn around, Kael thought. Just keep running. Don't turn around.
But his body wanted to turn around and look and make sure his brother was okay even though he knew what he would see. His legs kept pumping and carried him through streets he'd known his whole life and they all looked different now through the tears and smoke.
He collided with something solid and hands grabbed his arms. Pentagon guards in their black uniforms surrounded him and one of them pulled out chains that glowed with a sickly green light.
"I got him!" the guard said and snapped the chains around Kael's wrists. The metal burned cold against his skin.
"My family," Kael gasped. "Please, my family."
"You pathetic beasts. Your family were scentweavers," another guard said and spat on the ground. "You're all dangerous and you deserve to die!"
Scentweavers were real? Why do the Terrans believe they were just a myth?
"I'm not," Kael said but they weren't listening. "I can't even feel my wolf. I'm just an omega!" He replied amidst tears.
They dragged him to a holding cell and left him there overnight with the magic chains cutting into his wrists.
Kael curled up in the corner and stared at the wall while his mind replayed his father's scream and the sound of the sword cutting through his brother.
*
*
*
Morning came too fast and they hauled him out into the square where a crowd had gathered again. The Demon King stood waiting in the center with that same sword hanging loose in one hand.
"The demon king announced that they didn't only commit a crime, they are all scentweavers too!," Councilor Thorne announced. "So! Let's finish this bloodline for good."
The Demon King walked toward Kael with measured steps and raised the sword. Kael closed his eyes and waited for the pain that would end everything.
Kael begged the moon goddess that no matter what, he'd reincarnate and come back to hunt every one of them.
The blade came down and fire exploded through his chest and spread through every nerve in his body. He screamed and fell to his knees and waited to die like his family had died.
But the pain faded and when he looked down, the wound was closing. His skin knit itself back together and left nothing but blood on his shirt.
The crowd went silent and Thorne stepped forward with his eyes screaming anger.
"Bring the blood!" he ordered.
Someone brought a vial filled with dark red liquid and forced Kael to drink it. The taste was copper and magic and it slid down his throat like oil.
Nothing happened.
No burning, no transformation, no proof that he carried scentweaver blood.
Thorne felt frustrated. And due to law, he was bound to be released. "Release him." He ordered.
They took off the chains and Kael stumbled away from the square while the crowd parted around him like he carried disease.
He walked back to what remained of his house and found nothing but blackened wood and ash. The walls had collapsed and the roof was gone and everything he'd ever known was erased.
He had nowhere else to go so he lay down in what used to be the living room and pulled his knees to his chest as he asked himself a few questions.
Were the myths true?
Scentweavers existed and his family had been some of them and they'd hidden it from him his whole life? They'd died to protect that secret and to protect him.
As the myths said, scentweavers are one of the strongest supernatural beings in the veil. Bitten by a vampire or a werewolf? They have its powers, a witch tries to kill them? They take its powers and become twice as strong.
Only a demon king or a Kaelith could kill a scentweaver. But to Kael, the myths are too fake to be true.
Sleep found him eventually and pulled him under into dreams of fire and screaming. Then something jolted him awake and his wolf stirred in the back of his mind for the first time in months.
"Danger," it whispered. "Run."
Kael sat up and heard footsteps approaching through the ruins. Multiple sets moving fast and spreading out to surround the house. He scrambled to his feet and ran toward the back where the garden used to be and vaulted over the broken fence.
Voices shouted behind him and he heard the sound of pursuit.
His legs burned and his lungs screamed but he kept running through the dark streets and away from Ironhaven. The territory boundaries blurred together and he crossed into areas he'd never been allowed to enter before.
The forest rose up ahead and Kael plunged into the trees without thinking. Branches tore at his clothes and his feet caught on roots but he didn't slow down. The footsteps behind him were getting closer and he could hear them calling to each other about which direction he'd gone.
Then he burst into a clearing and skidded to a stop. The Demon King stood in the center with arms crossed and that terrible sword strapped to one hip. The person who'd killed his entire family looked at Kael with eyes that reflected the moonlight.
"Please," Kael gasped and hated how his voice shook. "Please help me."
The Demon King tilted his head and listened to the sounds of pursuit getting closer. Then without a word, the Demon King reached out one hand toward Kael. It was an offer and a trap and the only choice Kael had left.
He took the hand and let the Demon King pull him into the shadows just as his pursuers reached the clearing. No one would follow them here. No one dared cross into the Demon King's territory.
Kael was safe.
But he was safe with the person who'd murdered everyone he loved and that thought made him want to laugh and scream at the same time.