FM Prologue

https://exiledrebelsscanlations.com/fractured-moonlight/

The city bus was loud, extremely loud. The bus driver was yelling into his radio, his old pale face red with his emotions. A young couple was making out against the wall behind the driver. Obviously they didn’t care about his pension either. On the last seat at back of the bus a young woman was clutching her baby as he fed. The young woman smiled at her baby boy, and he smiled and cooed back.

“Aren’t you mama’s boy?” The baby reached his tiny fists up and clutched at his mother. The woman smiled and let her baby stand on his own feet. The baby began to giggle as his mother bounced him.

The mother didn’t notice as the bus stopped once again, she just continued to let her little boy smile. The young mother may not have noticed the bus stopping but she did notice the cloaked figure approaching her. She watched him (she suspected it was a male because of the lean but muscular build) as he sat down with only a few feet between them. The man didn’t say anything just looked out the window with his chin in the palm of his hand.

Her baby began to cry uncontrollably, the mother tried to calm her screaming child, murmuring soft reassurances. Soon the baby boy was whimpering instead of screaming, his lower lip quivering. The mother turned to the man who was now looking at her with very dark eyes.

“I’m sorry,” the mother said to the stranger. “He’s usually such a happy baby. It must be the long bus ride that has gotten to him.” The mother held her son securely and kissed the top of his head. The baby calmed down more, and then he looked over at the man beside his mother.

The man froze and leaned in so slightly that the mother didn’t notice. The man had a narrow jaw with a sharp birdlike face, his eyes were a strange orange brown as if there was a fire burning behind them.

The man’s finger twitched at the baby’s unnerving gaze. The baby had one vibrant green eye and a silvery blue eye. The baby seemed to captivate the stranger, he reached out to touch the child but pulled back as if shocked. The man knew in that moment that he had found the right child. Inside he smiled, outside he reached his hand out again and offered it to the mother.

“I’m Conner and who is this beautiful darling?” The mother smiled at the compliment but his eyes never broke contact with the child’s.

“His name is Malakai.” The mother answered with a smile still tilting her lips. Conner smiled with straight white teeth.

“Named for his father, isn’t he?” Conner muttered only loud enough for the mother to hear. The mother’s smile disappeared, leaving a frightened look instead

“Who are you?” She whispered. Conner’s smile widened and he reached out and placed his hand on Malakai’s head before he answered.

“A messenger.”