The Brigade's Secret Prologue- Escape from Sector Nine

Sector Nine, 3:05am, Midwinter
Somewhere west of Arazar City.

The baby, nearly two months old, cried as it was carried through the narrow halls of Sector Nine. The sector, hidden deep underground, was unusual and strange for many, and there were only a rare few that knew it even existed. The hooded figure carrying the baby made a sharp turn and barely avoided an arrow as it rushed past his face. He snarled beneath his breath. This figure was the famous Ravelo, one who had saved Sector Nine many a time from a great doom, saving the lives of many men and women. Now, he had to get the child to safety. The baby, with its wild chestnut hair and frightened green eyes, cried out its protests and he hurried to silence it. "Shh baby," he whispered, cradling the child. "Please, you have to be quiet...both of our lives depend on you being quiet..." the child hadn't a name, nor a family to claim it. The family, he knew, had been executed just mere moments before, and he had barely had enough time to save this youngster. He knew little about the child, and didn't care to find out, not at this moment. Right now all he cared about was getting the hell out of here alive. He gulped as he rounded another corner, coming face to face with two large figures of which guarded the elevator. They hadn't spotted him yet, but he knew they would. Huffing out a breath, he lunged forward, running into the two of them and knocking them to the ground. The baby cried in his arms, and he heard shouts as more men hurried after him. His eyes wide, he lunged into the elevator and immediately took to pushing the buttons. "C'mon, c'mon..." he urged the door to close, but it seemed to take a lifetime. He saw five men round a corner and head toward him, and his eyes widened as he backed up against the far wall, sliding to the ground, holding the child in his arms protectively. "Close!" he cried, and thrust his arm up, shielding his eyes.

Spears and arrows were aimed at him, but just as they fired, the door slid closed, and he heard the sound of the weapons hitting the outside of it. Letting out a breath of relief, he looked at the child. "See? We made it..." his voice trailed off suddenly as the elevator door was pried open. His heart dropped and he uttered a simple "No" as spears poked through. The elevator struggled to surge up to his destination, but the men were strong and were determined to hold it back. "No...pleas..." he got to his feet and hid the child in the corner, his back to the door as he gripped at the kid. "You'll be okay," he whispered. He felt the elevator begin to move up, and his hopes soared. Maybe they'd make it out of here after all...

He screamed in pain as a sudden pain coursed throughout his body, and went down to his knees, nearly dropping the kid in the process. His eyes, hazy with pain, noticed the spear protruding through his stomach from his back. A shaky, raspy breath escaped his throat, and he knew he wasn't going to make it. The elevator shot up as the men lost their grip on it, and the doors slide closed. Already, his blood was seeping onto the elevator floor, and his chest heaved as he gasped for air. The baby cried, and he weakly tried to sooth it. Dimly, he was aware of the elevator moving upward, and the 'ding' it made when it reached the top was what finally got through to him. Shakily, he rose to his feet as the door opened, and he stalked out into the night. The corridor he walked through was dark, and the air seemed dusty. He coughed and wheezed as he gasped for air, making sure to hold the child away from his chest to keep the blood off of it. He quickened his pace when he heard the sound of the elevator going back down, and rounded a corner to the door leading out of the Trai Brigade. He stumbled into the fresh air and landed on the dirt, crawling away toward the trees. Gasping, his chest heaving slowly, he knew he had to make it. For the kid.

Just when he made it to the cover of the trees, he collapsed, dropping the baby onto the dirt covered ground. Coughing, his eyes only half open, he gazed at the child and reached for it, but his arm was far too weak to stretch the length to travel. It dropped back to the ground, and he huffed out a shaky breath, his heart fluttering. "I'm sorry kid..." he uttered breathlessly, and his eyes slipped closed. The baby cried, but he was too weak to move.

"What's this?" a voice asked suddenly, and his eyes snapped open as he snarled beneath his breath, his eyes immediately darting to the kid, making sure that it was okay. The child was fine; someone else had spoken. He looked to his other side and saw a figure standing there, shielded by the shadows. He frowned, his eyes questioning. The figure seemed to sense his questions, and said, "Do not worry, human. I will not hurt you. You wish to save this kid, yes?" at his nod the figure continued. "I can save the child, but you will die. I'm not a healer, and I do not care for your kind. But the child can stay; I will take it in and give it a home. Or it can die with you. Which do you prefer?"

"...Save..." he whispered.

"Very well. I will take the kid. But to take the child I must have a bargain with you."

"...What...do you want?" he asked weakly, his breaths rushed and labored.

"Give me your life force, and I will use it to help the child learn the ways of our kind. Life is a powerful magic; it can be quite useful. But in taking it, you will die a painful death, even worse than what you are dying from right now."

He frowned. He was in so much pain right now, he couldn't imagine anything worse. "Okay," he wheezed. "I'll do it."

The figure nodded. "Okay. Very well." for a few seconds nothing happened, and just as he was about to relax, the pain attacked him head on, and his breathing rushed to a sudden halt as the shock came. The pain ate away at him, and he screamed in complete agony. The pain didn't last long though, as he had been dying anyway. Gasping, the pain died away, and everything began to go black. "I will take the child now, and leave you to die in peace, human." The figure came from the shadows and he got a glimpse of it. It was a male, pretty tall, with short tan hair and gray eyes. The male smiled at him and picked the child up, disappearing back into the trees.

He gasped for breath, moving slightly to ease some of the pain but it only brought more. 'He's safe...' he thought to himself. 'He's safe...I got him out...' with that thought in his mind, his eyes slipped closed, and he felt his heart stop. Gasping, no more breath reached his lips. He gazed silently into the night as he felt his life leave.

His eyes staring blankly at something in the distance, they glazed over and went dark and unseeing, and the famous Ravelo was dead.

But the child was free.