A/N: IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ:Please go back and skim Chapter 1. I added some stuff, and it gives you a better idea of the setting.

Okay, eventually I'll go back and edit everything, but for now, ima just write everything… raw. Sorry, some of the parts here are pretty weird and I probably messed up a lot, again, I'll fix it later. And it's hot here, and I don't like hot weather, so I don't feel like editing anything. …bwahahha…. I want a sundae. A sundae generator or something. …I gotta start writing earlier in the day, guys. This isn't good, lol.

"Morana, what's troubling you?" Magdelene said, setting her soupspoon down. When I returned from collecting Queen Iris' bowl, Magdelene had finished cooking our dinner.

I shrugged and sipped my chicken soup. I didn't want Magdelene to know I had been eavesdropping, she'd be furious.

"Don't give me that." She said before gulping the rest of her soup. "I know that look. What's the matter?"

She's not going to let it alone, is she?

"Am I ugly?" I said, putting on my best "innocent girl" face. Magdelene wasn't buying it.

"Honestly, dear? How well do you think I know you?" Magdelene knew I would never be concerned with that.

"I'm just dreading doing the dishes." I lied, eating more of my soup.

"Hmm," she didn't seem to believe me, but her questioning ceased. Magdelene sat at the table as I scrubbed the plates. She fell asleep when I finished scraping dried custard off a silver platter. I carefully turned off the sink and crept from the kitchen. I had ten minutes to prepare for the execution.

I pulled up the hood of my executioner's robes and double-checked that my mask covered my face. It was a simple design, hiding all of my facial features. There was a small hole for my mouth so I could breathe and holes for my eyes.

Executions took place a few miles from a swamp that was only ten minutes away, by carriage. I usually stood on a small wooden platform, beside Prince Bleddyn. The condemned would place their neck over a stone block and I would erm… chop and the head would fall into a basket. I always made sure to behead them in one stroke, so they wouldn't suffer too much.

Veilen wasn't full of particularly bloodthirsty people, but more generally turned up if the crime was intriguing. On this night, there were more than I had ever seen. All of their voices were strangely hushed and not raucous like I was used to.

Since I was standing beside Prince Bleddyn, I could see how his left hand twitched, which occurred whenever he was nervous. He usually stood with a contained graveness that always seemed to bleed onto me.

"Bled—Your Highness?" I said, making sure my voice was low, in case someone could hear us. Prince Bleddyn nodded toward me in acknowledgement.

"What did he do—" I was interrupted by the condemned name's being announced.

"Miss Laverna Vaughan, age seventeen, tonight you are hereby sentenced to death for trying to obtain confidential information."

A girl was being led toward the platform, two guards on either side of her. She stared directly at the wooden platform, barely blinking. Laverna's auburn hair was pinned back with a glossy butterfly hairpin. I braced myself for the waterworks, but as she approached her expression remained the same. The crowd's whispers flowed to my ears like a river.

I had only executed a woman once before, but she hadn't been this young. Killing young girls was rare, which explained the massive crowd. But as I scanned the crowd and found no sympathetic faces, I began to wonder if it was the crime the girl had committed that drew everyone.

What "confidential information" had she been trying to take?

Laverna calmly kneeled in front of the stone block, even carefully rearranging her hair to expose her tanned neck.

I bit my lip, looking at Laverna's tall form. Could I really execute someone just for trying to get information? What if the information could help someone? On the other hand, was it even right for me to judge who died and who lived?

Before I could voice my concerns, a white light enveloped my vision, as if lightning had been shot straight into my eyes. Luckily, it didn't hurt… but what did hurt was the blow to my face. My mask! I thought as said mask flew off my face and my back slammed into the platform. My fingers lost their grip on my axe and it landed with a thunk. To my horror, the light immediately dispersed, and I could see again.

I stood immediately, throwing my hands over my face. Maybe they won't notice? Maybe they'll think I'm just a girly boy!

Through the cracks in my fingers, I could see Laverna, now standing. She was grasping the hand of another hooded woman. Both were staring at me, mouths slightly open. The crowd's whispers ceased and suddenly there was a shout,

"A woman!"

"The law has been broken!"

"Never mind that, they're escaping!" Laverna and the woman had bolted, sprinting toward the swamp. I turned to Prince Bleddyn.

Run he mouthed, and I saw his arms twitch, as if he was aching to push me forward.

"Catch them, kill her!" He yelled and after the words left his mouth, he whispered, "Run!"

I pushed the image of Magdelene's smile from my mind and obeyed.

Since I had nowhere else to go, I decided to follow Laverna and the woman. The ground became muddier as we ran, squelching under my shoes. I discarded the heavy robes after I tripped over the hem twice, my whole front covered with mud. Thankfully, I was wearing pants and not a skirt.

During executions, three guards, four at most, accompanied Prince Bleddyn. Three guards were present at Laverna's execution. They were only armed with short swords and they weren't stupid enough to throw them. They stomped back to the palace, cursing, after they toppled into a large mud puddle.

Laverna and the woman stopped at the edge of a grove of trees that surrounded the swamp. I hesitated ten feet from them, holding up my arms to show I was unarmed.

"What are you doing here?" Laverna shrieked, eyes wide.

"They'll kill me if I go back! I was just—"

Laverna shook her head, "I know you Executioners. Now I'm sorry but—" She accepted a knife the hooded woman handed to her. "We can't have you following us."

"I'm never going back! I swear!" I held my hands in front of me. "And what do you mean by 'you Executioners'?"

"Bloodthirsty idiots," Laverna dropped the woman's hand and walked toward me.

"I was only appointed the job to not get on Magdelene's nerves. I do not derive… pleasure from killing people."

"What was Prince Bleddyn thinking? Appointing such a young girl to be an Executioner?" Laverna seemed to have completely shut me out of the conversation. She continued to mutter to herself as she stepped closer to me.

"I'm seventeen too! I'm not…. That short! And I have breasts!" I screamed, balling my hands into fists.

Laverna stopped and stared at me. "You're seventeen? You look thirteen!"

"Thanks," I mumbled.

A deafening, booming cry suddenly surrounded us. It sounded like a million trumpets, blaring all at once, along with five hundred claps of thunder occurring simultaneously… but a thousand times louder.

I stuffed my fingers in my ears, hoping it would stop. When it did, my ears were ringing and throbbing.

"Oh no," said Laverna, staring at the swamp.

"What?" I said. And then I saw it.

Its body was of a thin man, with weeds tangled in its hair. Its feet were grotesquely turned backwards and a long, glistening crocodile tail protruded from its backside.

"What the hell is that?" I said.

"Bunyips," a low voice said. I jumped and turned around. The woman was lowering her hood and stepping out of… his robes.

"You're a boy!" I yelled. His hair fell past his bottom, a periwinkle blue. He wore close-fitting, black clothes, showing the minimal muscle he had. At first glance, he certainly looked like a very pretty girl.

His lips were full for a man's and his high cheekbones made his face look delicate. But on closer inspection, anyone could see he was indeed, male.

"You're seventeen!" He mocked, straightening the collar of his shirt. He stared at me, smirking.

That's when I noticed his eyes.

His left iris was a shocking turquoise; his right was the color of black spinel.

Life Warlocks, Warlocks who can give life to inanimate objects, have turquoise eyes. Death Warlocks can, obviously, take away life and have black eyes. As far as I knew, they had died out long ago and nobody knew much about them. Despite this, Death Warlocks were still the subject of children's stories; "A Death Warlock will sneak into your bed and eat you if you don't go to bed!" Magdelene would often tell me.

"Then I'll hit him!" was my usual reply.

I didn't think it would be wise to hit this one.

"Echo, are you sure you can handle this?" Laverna said, grasping his arm. The Bunyips began to lurch toward us, hunger in its eyes.

"Easy," Echo replied, tying back his hair. "Just…don't let go of that knife."

A/N, Again: Alright, so I made up this whole Life and Death Warlock thing on the spot, I know, it's lame! But remember, Morana basically knows nothing, so that's why it's not explained too much so it'll possibly get.. less lame…plus, I need to work some stuff out about it. And I Googled spinel… I needed something black, haha. It's a… mineral, that's hard and glassy, I think.

So…what do you think of Echo? My friend wants him XD. I know girly boys aren't all that popular, and that you just met him but… I like him XD.