《Unknown Tale》 Chapter 1 A bright summer morning in a small town, filled with the laughter of children playing in the roads and the light sound of wind blowing through the trees surrounding the town. Despite the small size of the town, it is still filled with the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life. The town filled with people carrying baskets of food and clothing, shop owners trying to gain the attention of passersby, and simple parents peacefully watching their kids play in the streets. As the children play the parent¡¯s mouths are curled into smiles, as the parents watch the children one of the children suddenly stops and-¡± CLANG!¡± The sound appears to silence the entire town as many of the adults look deeply unsettled by something, acting as if an overcast has suddenly covered their hearts. Every inhabitant looks towards the empty entrance of the town when another ¡°CLANK!¡± is heard. Upon the sounds of the noises becoming louder and more frequent the hustle and bustle of the town is replaced with a sudden urgency to get inside: parents usher their children into their homes before locking the doors, merchants close up shop and shut the curtains, and the many people in the streets quickly disperse. As the sounds get closer it becomes clear what the noise is, the sound of rattling chains, hundreds of chains rattling at once. As the sound of clanking chains and rickety wagons riding across the dirt roads finally enters the town it is finally clear what the sounds are coming from. The Chained-Ones come in all shapes and sizes: tall, skinny, muscular, young, old, children, with many even having animal limbs on their bodies such as ears, tails, or most commonly random patches of fur across their body. The chained are led into different tents depending on their race, age, and physical strength. While the chained are given temporary rest in the tents; the ones in the caged wagons appear sick and weak as they are hauled down the winding roads through the town¡¯s desolate streets, long cleared out upon the sound of chains, for fear of becoming just like them. Inside one of the tents sits a young girl no older than twelve rubbing her beet red blister covered feet. Her hands cracked and dirty from some time of neglect. Because of the dirt it is hard to tell whether the girl¡¯s hair is naturally a dark red or simply has been discolored by dirt and grime; the hair is rather long as well, reaching close to her ankles and partially covering her face. Albeit hard to see at a surface glance, a keen eye would notice the slight pokes of black tipped orange hair at the top of her head, they are animal-like ears, resembling what appears to be a red fox¡¯s ears. She is rather uneasy while sitting on the wooden chair, her tail causing her to awkwardly sit cockeyed as she lightly shakes from the pain in her feet. Her dark forest green eyes behind the thick red hair appear listless and lifeless: more closely resembling a corpse¡¯s than a living person. The other children, mostly ¡°beast-people¡± like the girl, but some not, look just as depressed as the girl. Many shivering in fear, while others crying in the arms another, and many with red puffy eyes; all wondering the same thing ¡°Why?¡± Suddenly a rotund man wearing a shiny black leather coat and dark pants enter the room. As soon as the children notice his existence, they go silent, an action that appears to have been distilled into them with fear as shown by the many pain stricken and hate filled glares despite their continued silence. As the man walks in front of the children he speaks, his voice nasally and rough ¡°I¡¯m so happy today you little runts. You want¡¯a know why?¡± The man gives a sickening smile as he rubs his hands together before speaking again ¡°I¡¯ll answer for you seeing as how you are all too slow to understand basic human speech. As you are common-borne roaches from the zoo kingdom. I am so happy today because today is the day I finally sell you overgrown roaches off! Today is the day where you all will live the rest of your miserable existences with some highborn and more importantly. The day where I get filthy rich because of you pitiful things!¡± The man¡¯s voice filled with excitement and condescension towards the many children before him as he walks around animatedly while he speaks. ¡°And I¡¯m telling you zoo animals this, so you are on your best behavior. Because if you mess up even a single sale! Lose me a single coin and I¡¯ll beat you so bad your whole body will look like a mers!¡± The man laughed, if you could even call it laughter. His mouth was joyously open, but his smile did not reach his eyes, and the sound was a poor imitation of the real thing. Suddenly the sound of a bell toll reverberates across the town as the man¡¯s smile grows even wider ¡°Now remember those words insects.¡± The man says as he turns and leaves, leaving the dejected children alone in the tent. One of the children, a small, skinny girl with dark black hair equally as long and unkempt as the red-haired girl with similarly shaped ears at the top of her head as well, the only difference being her ears are a dark black like her hair rather than a lighter orange; sits on the floor slightly distancing herself from the other children. The midnight haired girl while sitting on the dirt floor suddenly says with a rather somber and depressive tone ¡°We aren¡¯t ever going home, are we? I miss you mom...¡± Her voice is weak and fragile while she calls to her mother. The other children look in her direction, but most decide to ignore her, except for one. Another young girl with a head of hair similar to a fluffy cloud and a tail of the same appearance with a noticeable lack of dirt and grime when compared to the other children walks up to the dark-haired girl and slightly crouches down. She stares into the jet-black haired girl¡¯s dark amethyst-colored eyes. The black-haired girl stares back into the intruder¡¯s light pink eyes questioningly before the cloud haired girl¡¯s soft melodious voice rings through the tent ¡°I know how you feel... But you can¡¯t lose hope so soon. We...¡± Her voice breaks as she speaks ¡°We can still make this better. We are still alive which means that there is still hope.¡± As the girl speaks another voice escapes from the crowd ¡°What''s the point of hope when we all know what''s going to happen next? We are going to be shipped off to who knows where, sold to some rich geezer and live a life of servitude.¡± The white-haired girl turns around before saying lightly as her hands tighten into fists ¡°We don¡¯t know that yet... Maybe our parents will save us. Maybe a nice stranger will save us. As long as we are alive there is always hope for a better life!¡± Her voice gets progressively louder and more resolute as she speaks. The voice, coming from a young orange haired boy looks at her before simply shaking his head and saying dejectedly, ¡°There''s no point in hope. Hope no longer exists after my last master gave this to me for not walking fast enough.¡± He says in revulsion his tone laced with venom while he pulls up his sleeve to show a large scar on his right shoulder. The girl stares at him before looking down and whispering some words so softly not a soul in the room heard it. The boy looks as if he''s about to say something when suddenly armored guards walk into the room and yell with hoarse voices ¡°In line NOW!¡± All of the children get into line silently as the guards rechain their hands and tell them to go outside. The now chained children are brought down some stone stairs that send chills through their shoeless feet with every step and walk into a dark room where they are stopped and told to wait. The knights start to seemingly grab the children at random and take them away, some of the children silently go along, while others kick and scream, as the remaining ones are left to wonder when they are next. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Eventually all that remains is four children, three girls and one boy, curiously all of them appear to be fox-people. They are the same girls mentioned before, and the boy has dark grey shoulder-length hair with a similar pair of green eyes as the original girl. They also all look rather malnourished with ghostly pale skin; the boy being the only one with a slight tan. As the four wait another knight comes, but unlike the others who wore plain iron armor this one has a blue gem inserted onto the top of his gauntlet and his chestpiece is engraved with what appears to be a golden sun. As his mouth opens an inhuman and cold voice echoes out through the halls, ¡°You four are a package. Come.¡± The children wonder what that means as they follow the man through the dark stony halls. The soldier brings them to a large ornate door, with golden engravings lining the edges and five figures etched into it¡¯s wooden surface. The right side displays a roughly humanoid figure whose lower body flows into a river. The one to the left of the flowing one appears to be a mountain with a woman¡¯s face on it, the next one is a tree in the shape of a human, and the last one to the left appears to be a woman made of webs. Finally, there is a sun that resides above the rest and a human figure within that sun. The knight knocks on the door and someone from the other side pulls open the large door. A blue light leaks out as the door creaks open and finally reveals the room beyond. It is a dark hall with four columns reaching up into a dark void, the walls are lined with small blue gems just like the one in the knight¡¯s gauntlet. The path forward has a silky red carpet with what appears to be words engraved with gold, but none of the children recognize what the strange symbols mean, and at the end of the hall lies a simple stone pedestal with a stone bowl on top and a strange woman stands behind the pedestal. The woman has golden blonde hair and wears a white cloth veil that covers her eyes with golden lines on all the edges and another blue gem that resides in the middle of the veil. She wears a short-sleeved white dress with white gloves that cover her hands and stop before the elbow; the ends of the dress are highlighted with a light blue and a light blue eye is drawn on the chest of the woman¡¯s dress. As the kids stop just before the altar the woman¡¯s ears start to glow a faint blue. The light seems to cascade from golden ear cuffs wrapping around the outer edge of her ear like a vine wrapped around a tree that drops at the earlobe into a blue gem on both ears. As the light slowly fades the woman¡¯s ethereal almost unnatural voice softly moves through the large room, the voice being the same volume regardless of distance, ¡°They all have affinity towards World Energy and the one in the middle¡± The woman points at the red-haired girl ¡°Has an affinity for internal energy as well.¡± The children are bemused by the woman¡¯s comments but stay silent in fear of retribution. The woman¡¯s melodic voice moves through the room once again, ¡°What are your names children?¡± They stay silent for a few seconds before the gray boy speaks up cautiously, fear evident in his voice, ¡°Ma-M-My name is Fang.¡± He stutters. The black-haired girl speaks next with a little more confidence than Fang but her voice still soft, ¡°I am Hollie.¡± Next the red-haired girl speaks up ¡°My name is Kumiho.¡± The white-haired girl speaks last and most confidently, ¡°My name is Sune.¡± The woman smiles, her smile nothing like the man from before, a smile that radiated warmth and love, ¡°Such beautiful names you all have. I¡¯m sorry if that man has treated you poorly, but he is the best smuggler willing to work with-CRASH!¡± A loud noise reverberates through the hall as the four children turn around to see a man with silvery hair and glowing blue eyes. The knight upon seeing the man draws his sword and dashes with inhuman speed towards the man. As the knight goes to severe the strange man¡¯s head from his body the knight¡¯s right hand suddenly disappears and the sound of iron clanking to the ground resonates through the hall; the sword now on the ground stained in a pool of blood. As the knight clutches where his hand used to be the strange man grabs his head and the knight¡¯s body suddenly explodes into a mist of red, covering the floor and his fallen armor in blood. The strange man continues to walk; the left side of his body now drenched in the fallen knight¡¯s blood. The man stops a little ways away from the children and stares coolly at the priestess before saying, ¡°Wow you zealots sure have been busy. I see you¡¯re getting rather desperate as well to start resorting to using children.¡± The man¡¯s voice is casual but is tinged with anger at the mention of the children. ¡°And who are you to question the acts of God?¡± The woman tries to speak coldly back but her anger is thinly veiled. The man responds just as casually as before, ¡°If what you are doing is an action our Gods allow. I don¡¯t think I want to worship them.¡± As the man finishes his sentence, he suddenly disappears and appears behind the priestess. ¡°Sorry you have to see this kids.¡± He says remorsefully as his right hand grabs the back of the priestess¡¯s head and many-colored lights suddenly emit from his hand; wrapping around the woman like the many strings of a spider¡¯s web wrapping around its prey. As the lights fully encase her a bright light flashes and all that remains when sight is restored is a pool of red and a scarlet painted dress in front of the man. The midnight-haired girl, Hollie, slowly backs away with her mouth agape and her body shaking in fear as her black tail whips wildly back and forth to the same rhythm of her beating heart. The cloud-haired girl, Sune¡¯s entire body is frozen in fear as her hands grip the ends of her shirt and her white fox ears flatten. While the grey-haired boy, Fang, averts his eyes from the bloody scene and as he does notices the red-haired girl, Kumiho, walking towards the man. His eyes widen in surprise as he reaches his hand out and takes a step forward yelling, ¡°Wait stop!¡± Kumiho ignores him and continues walking, her tail slowly moving behind her. As she reaches the man, she simply looks up at him. The man¡¯s glowing blue eyes slowly dim as his hand reaches forward to touch her forehead. Kumiho knowing what happened to the others upon his touch, stiffens and closes her eyes shut. While engulfed in darkness waiting for the inevitability of her end, she suddenly feels her body engulfed in warmth. Not an uncomfortable warmth but a soothing one. As the warmth spreads through her body, she feels all her aches and pains go away. Her feet that had long since gone numb to the cold suddenly regain feeling, her body feels light, and she feels her lost strength returning to her. As she opens her eyes and looks down at her hands, she sees them free of grime and dirt. She grabs a piece of her hair noticing that it as well has been cleaned and returned to it¡¯s natural reddish-orange hue. She looks up at the man tears in her eyes and hugs him, not knowing what else to say, but ¡°Thank you.¡± The man¡¯s arms awkwardly move away from the girl as he looks down at her, obviously not expecting the action. After a moment of hesitation his body glows a dim light and all the blood coating him disappears as he lightly pats the head of the girl. The other children at first terrified from seeing Kumiho be surrounded in the same strange light as the now dead priestess are filled with a sudden wave of relief and happiness at seeing her healthy form hug the man. Relief that Kumiho is alive, and from the knowledge that someone has finally come to save them in their time of need. Chapter 2: Changing Course The four children follow behind the strange man through the winding halls; Fang slowly scratching the jagged scar on his left wrist. As they walk the man¡¯s white hair is suddenly covered in dim multi-colored lights and the children watch in shock as his hair changes from a silvery white to a dark black. Sune decides to speak up about this change, ¡°Why did your hair change color?¡± She asks quietly as if she''s afraid of something. The man gives a sidelong glance back at the kids, showing some noticeable changes in his face as well before casually stating ¡°That woman probably sent a mental image of my body to her sisters before she died. Things could get annoying if I have to deal with the church constantly breathing down my neck.¡± The children notice the man avoiding the ¡°how¡± his hair changed and decide not to press on the issue. As they walk up the familiar cold steps from before, the children are greeted with a bright sunny day and many people walking through the streets. Seeing the other children playing in the streets reminds the children of their old life before the fall of Dongwu and before they were thrown into this foreign land away from their family and friends. The man stops and turns to look at the children. ¡°Make sure to stay close and not wander. Despite the peaceful exterior some real rats live in the walls.¡± The man says with an uncharacteristically serious tone as the kids subconsciously get a little closer to the man. The man starts walking down the streets while the kids follow close behind and look around, noticing all kinds of unknown words and characters in a language they don¡¯t understand. They notice the different ways people dress from the poor rags of a beggar, to the brown leather of a commoner, and even notice a few people wearing black leather coats and other fancier attire. As the children walk and experience all the noises the man stops at a nearby store. The children can¡¯t read the sign, but are able to guess it is a clothing store by looking through the green tinted window made of many smaller pieces of glass connected together by thin wires of metal and seeing all the wooden mannequins and clothing behind the glass. As the man opens the door and enters a bell that was attached to the door chimes announcing his arrival. A frail old white man looks up from the parchment he was reading and gives the man and the children a sidelong glance before going back to his paper in silence. The children simply stand there looking around at all the fancy clothing, many of which are dyed in fantastical and unique colors showing their expensive nature. The blue eyed man looks oddly at the kids for a second before asking questioningly ¡°Why aren¡¯t you looking for clothes to wear? Are none of them good? Because we can go to another store if you don¡¯t like them.¡± The kids all look up shocked at the man before Sune wide eyed gets up close to the man and asks ¡°Really? You mean we can choose out whatever we want?¡± Sune¡¯s light pink eyes shimmer as she stares into the man¡¯s glimmering blue ones. ¡°Yeah of course. Why else would I bring you to a clothing store? I mean unless you want to keep those old rags you all are wearing.¡± Sune springs up with glee as a little squeal of happiness leaves her mouth as she leaps into the store with speed. Hollie slowly walks the same path as Sune at a much slower pace but there is a noticeable pep in her step and a small smile graces her lips. Fang seeing the other two leave wanders into the store and gives a small glance at Kumiho as if asking an unsaid question which she just responds to with a simple shake of her head. Kumiho after the small exchange begins her slow walk into the small wooden clothing store¡¯s cramped aisles of clothes but doesn¡¯t appear to be really looking at any of the clothing in particular, simply giving each of the fancy dresses and skirts curt glances. As she wanders, suddenly she feels a tap on her shoulder. The tap causes her to spring up and quickly turn around only to notice the blue-eyed man staring at her. ¡°Sorry if I scared you little one, it¡¯s just that I couldn¡¯t help but notice your lack of enthusiasm as compared to the others.¡± His kind voice questions her. Kumiho slightly looks down at the ground, her face churning into sadness before she softly speaks up ¡°it¡¯s just that...¡± Her voice seems to get caught in her throat as she continues to speak ¡°My mom always made the clothes I wore and I was happy with whatever she made because she stitched them together by hand just for me. But now... I-I don¡¯t really know what to do.¡± Kumiho has issues getting her point across but the man¡¯s eyes gleam with understanding. ¡°You mean you have issues picking out your own clothes? If so, I can pick them out if you want. But just a note, I¡¯ve never had any girls in my life so I might not be good at picking them.¡± His voice is soft and quiet with noticeable playfulness and warmth to it. Kumiho stops looking at the ground and looks up at the strange man who saved her as she quietly nods her head in silent affirmation of his question. ¡°Alright then let''s go.¡± Even though the man tries to hide it, his voice and demeanor exude a sense of happiness that only seems to grow with every step. As the man walks around, he shows Kumiho all sorts of outfits: from dresses, to skirts, simple dark pants, and even some more strange clothing that the girl has never seen before, like a bizarre shirt seemingly entirely made out of green feathers. But eventually both Kumiho and the man agree on a simple red short sleeve shirt that compliments her reddish-orange hair and is made with a relatively soft fabric. With brown baggy leather pants and a matching pair of tight leather gloves. Lastly, they chose simple light brown leather boots. Both Fang and Hollie chose relatively simple outfits as well: Fang chose a dark blue long sleeve shirt with a brown leather vest over it and simple brown cloth pants that reach to his ankles, and lastly wore dark brown shoes. Hollie went for a gray long sleeve undershirt with a black cloth cloak and black pants; ending it off with black leather boots. Sune unlike the rest went above and beyond to pick the prettiest dress she could find. Buying a beautiful long sleeve white dress with very light gold accents in the form of intricately woven designs all throughout the dress with white silk shoes for footwear. The man looks at Sune¡¯s dress with a shocked expression seeming to be at a loss for words. Sune notices his gaze and begins to stare at the floor as her eyes start to lose their excited luster. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Did I pick something too expensive?¡± Her voice so soft it is almost a whisper. The man continues to stare at her before voicing his interjection ¡°No of course not, it is a perfectly fine price. I just wasn¡¯t expecting it after seeing the other children¡¯s rather simple clothing is all.¡± he waves his hands in front of him as his voice raises several octaves. Sune¡¯s eyes brighten again as she looks up at the man and gives a vibrant smile ¡°Oh, than-thank goodness I thought I had made a mistake... The other mister always hit me when I made mistakes.¡± Her voice softens and her smile fades as she thinks about the large man from before. But, before her smile can fade completely the man kneels down to her level. ¡°I¡¯m not like that man. I will never hit you for making a mistake or hit you at all for that matter. You see my old man once told me, ¡®You shouldn¡¯t punish a mistake because that will make them fear mistakes. And if you fear mistakes, how will you grow?¡¯¡± His voice is clear as he tries to reassure Sune that she is safe. Sune¡¯s eyes start to water as she wipes the tears away and looks up at the man before giving him a tear smeared smile and whispers a very small almost indiscernible ¡°Thank you.¡± The man smiles back as he slowly stands up and pats Sune¡¯s fluffy head of hair; slightly rubbing her small spiky ears before he begins to walk to the counter. The old man at the counter looks at the man and then looks at the children behind him before waving his hand towards the counter and saying with a raspy voice ¡°Put all the clothes on the counter and you can be on your way.¡± The children look at the clerk with befuddled gazes, only Sune¡¯s eyes flare with recognition right before the blue-eyed man quickly repeats what the clerk said in a language they can understand. Fang, Hollie, and Kumiho all place their clothing with no fuss from themselves or the old man. That is until Sune practically prances up to the counter, placing the dress upon it with the delicacy of a nice summer breeze and causing the clerk to raise an eyebrow at her actions ¡°You sure you want that dress little lady?¡± Sune takes a second to understand the man as he speaks in her non-native tongue before responding in a rather awkward manner as she tries to remember how to speak his language ¡°I am... Sure, that I want this dress¡± The old man gives Sune an odd look before looking at the black-haired man and noting in his native tongue towards the man ¡°Such a fancy dress may give you trouble if you run into any highborns.¡± The man¡¯s eyes glow a slight blue as they become chilly and he voices his response ¡°If any highborns give us trouble I¡¯ll make sure to deal with them as a fellow highborn.¡± The old man tersely nods and drops the subject to state the price ¡°All the clothes and shoes will be 123 silver Aelfs and 53 copper Aelfs.¡± Fang looks to Sune and softly whispers ¡°You can speak Imperial?¡± Sune proudly whispers back ¡°Yes. My dad made sure me and my siblings understood the language because we might need it in the future.¡± Fang¡¯s eyes widen has he excitedly asks ¡°How did your dad know so much about their language?¡± Sune smiles proudly as she puts her hands on her hips and gives an exaggerated pose, her voice much more confident than before ¡°My dad was the leader of our village and we commonly did dealings with the humans. And even though I didn¡¯t want to become the leader of our village my parents still believed I should know about the human¡¯s language, their currency, and even history.¡± Fang excitedly stares at her, his eyes gleaming ¡°That''s so cool!¡± As the children chat the man places the coins on the table and finalizes the deal. The old man quickly counts the coins with practiced ease and nods his head once he confirms there is enough. The blue-eyed man nods back and turns to the children before clapping to get their attention ¡°Alright kids now that everything¡¯s paid for you can go to the changing rooms over there and get rid of those dirty rags.¡± As he points to the small changing booths Sune instantly rushes into the booth as the rest briskly follow; despite their underwhelming speed compared to Sune there is still an obvious increase in their speed of walking and their large smiles betray their nonchalant actions. The children all walk out of their respective booths. With the replacement of the old ragged garbs with the newly bought clothing the children¡¯s pallor skin and disheveled hair becomes much more apparent; the man¡¯s magic from earlier seems to have only removed the children¡¯s dirty and malnourished appearance but had no effect on the skin or hair. Sune excitedly twirls around as she scrutinizes her entire body in the dress. Hollie and Fang look down at their clothing with a perplexed look on their face. Whereas Kumiho doesn¡¯t even bother looking at her clothing and just stands there with her head and back slightly arched forward. The man notices the children''s odd behaviors but decides not to mention it and just waves them out of the store, Sune giving a happy wave to the old clerk at the desk before turning out the door. The man calmly explains to the children that they are going to the barber next to get their hair situated where they can have any hairstyle they want and after that they will get some food before calling it a day. Sune after having her snow-white hair cut up to her hips starts to show some slight waves within the mess of clouds that was not visible in her hair before. Fang simply has his long ash colored hair cut short, not even reaching past his ears as it fully hangs down. Kumiho gets her hair cut to the middle of her back, but her hair stays relatively straight only slightly curling near the ends. Lastly, Hollie has her hair cut to the middle of her back as well, but instead of letting it fall like Kumiho she puts it up into a ponytail at the back of her head after the haircut. After confirming that all the children are happy with their haircuts, he brings them out of the store and they continue down the dirt roads through the town. As they stroll down the road, they notice two finely dressed pale white individuals; a man with dark black hair and dark pink eyes wearing a dark blue leather jacket with a scale like pattern and dark blue linen pants with sparkling brown shoes. And a woman with dark brown hair and similar dark pink eyes wearing a light blue midi dress that falls to the middle of her thigh and wraps around her collar, leaving her shoulders bare and wearing similarly blue heels. As the man and the two affluent individuals'' gazes lock the man''s eyes start to gleam an unnatural blue unlike any blue the children have seen before and the two people¡¯s eyes glow a similarly unnatural dark pink color. ¡°Ah, if it isn¡¯t a filthy gemang and a skulk of dressed up Reynards pretending to be human.¡± The woman voices in a mocking tone while bringing her hand in front of her mouth, not even trying to slightly stifle her light chuckle and a poor attempt if at all at hiding her smile behind her pale white hand. Chapter 3: Minor Hiccups The four children stare at the wealthy brunette in confusion: not understanding why the woman is acting so hostile and also because most of them can¡¯t understand her language. Their strange savior¡¯s eyes glow a deep alien blue as he mockingly bows towards the two individual, ¡°And to what do I owe the displeasure of meeting elves so far from their nest?¡± The woman¡¯s eye twitches as she angrily responds, ¡°You will best watch your tongue cur, but I can see why you would surround yourself among other mutts just like you.¡± She stares daggers at Sune specifically but before she can say another word the man standing next to her puts a hand in front of her and begins speaking. ¡°Sister there is no reason to be confrontational with this half-breed, we have more important endeavors.¡± The blue-eyed man smiles and begins to mock her with faux solicitude ¡°You should listen to him, as your family knows best, sis.¡± The woman¡¯s eyes widen as she flies into a rage and is held back by her brother ¡°No common gemang is a relative of mine. And you¡¯d best remember that.¡± she barks while trying to pull away from her brother¡¯s grasp. ¡°Ah. Did I strike a nerve with that statement elf? Do you not accept me as another highborn?¡± The man continues to mock the woman. The woman begins to open her mouth, but no words come out as her sibling whispers something into her ear, and she promptly stops her resistance. ¡°Tsk¡± she clicks her tongue and turns to walk away as she spews a few empty threats and pointless insults before her brother drags her off onto some unknown road. The black-haired man sighs before turning to the kids and speaking tiredly ¡°I¡¯m sorry about that. I was hoping we wouldn¡¯t run into anyone who recognized my eyes or Sune.¡± Sune¡¯s tail and ears droop like a wilting flower as she asks quietly ¡°Is there something wrong with my dress that caused us problems?¡± The man smiles at her and pats her head ¡°Didn¡¯t I already tell you? I think your dress was a wonderful choice. Just some people in this world hate wonderful things. It was not your fault.¡± Sune¡¯s eyes arch up towards his smiling face. ¡°Sorry... I just don¡¯t want to be a burden to you after everything you¡¯ve done.¡± The man takes his hand off her head as he reminds her ¡°Why are you saying sorry? You did nothing wrong so you have nothing to apologize for. Just put your head up and ignore their pointless remarks.¡± ¡°Bu-¡± the man quickly cuts her off ¡°No buts!¡± She opens her mouth to retort but is interrupted by a stifled laugh from behind. As she quickly spins around, she notices Fang with his hands on his hips with the most condescending smirk he can muster. Sune can¡¯t help but chuckle at his poor attempt at imitation and suddenly feels the sorrow in her mind slowly burn away: watching Hollie try and fail to stop her laughter and the ever-quiet Kumiho¡¯s lips slightly curl upwards. Suddenly a voice whispers in her ear from behind, ¡°See? It wasn¡¯t that big of a deal.¡± She turns to see the man with a cordial smile on his face. ¡°Yeah, but they can¡¯t even understand what that woman said.¡± She pouts. The man in response simply keeps smiling and pats her on the shoulder before walking past her and making silly imitations with the kids. Sune watches his actions dumbfoundedly. After the whole ordeal is over, the children find themselves in a quaint little restaurant filled with the many scents of spices, meats, and cooking food. A waitress greets them and leads them to a fine wooden table covered in a red tablecloth with two seats on both sides and one seat on the far end of the table. The man chooses the end seat with Hollie and Sune on his right and Fang and Kumiho on his left. The waitress then asks the five what they want to eat. Sune at first orders stamppot but after being told it isn¡¯t a dish they serve she begrudgingly asks for sausage and mashed potatoes. Hollie orders bread and baked beans with a side of sunny side up eggs. Fang orders grilled mutton chops. Kumiho orders seasoned ox liver. They all get water as their refreshment and the black-haired man orders steak with an odd red liquid none of the kids recognize. The waitress surprisingly knows a little of the children¡¯s language and is able to properly write down all their orders before walking into the kitchen. As they wait, the children talk amongst one another and Oswin teaches them how to play I spy, only Kumiho refraining from playing. . . . As the blue-eyed man finishes his fantastical tale of strange beasts and a hero of old the waitress finally comes and serves them their meals. They continue to talk and eat for the rest of the day, savoring their first real meal in what feels like forever and they might¡¯ve done this all night as well if the store didn¡¯t close before sundown. The children follow the man through the darkening streets only illuminated by the orange light of torches and the receding sunset as they are brought to a large wooden building. Uproarious laughter and raucous voices cascading out the open door of the building. The man tells the children to stay near him, but his voice is almost drowned out by the wave of noise as they enter building. They enter a large room filled to the brim with tables and people on all sides. Men drink foaming liquids from wooden mugs as they talk loudly, waitresses go to and from tables, constantly filling the different table¡¯s mugs and passing out food to whoever asks. Some of the men look towards the group as they enter with curious gazes but most are too engrossed in their conversations to notice or care about the strange group of children. The man leads the children through the filled room with practiced ease, smoothly moving through the crowd with no effort. Only tapping or pushing the occasional man who gets too close to the children, some turn in drunken rage but almost always stop upon seeing the children or the man¡¯s cold blue eyes. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Finally reaching the desk where a young woman stands, the man politely speaks with the woman, ¡°Hello madam, we would like a room for the five of us.¡± He says with a charming smile. The woman smiles back and pulls a key with a paper tab tied to it that has the letter seven on it before stating ¡°It is five copper a night for one person, so...¡± She pauses to think for a second ¡°That¡¯ll be thirty-five copper a night.¡± The man hands her one silver coin and five copper coins ¡°We will be staying for just a few nights.¡± The woman politely takes the coins and hands them the key before giving the kids a sweet smile and waving them towards the stairs in the corner of the room. As they enter through the simple dark brown door, a room with four beds evenly spaced apart and a small window behind each is revealed. Other than the beds there is a door on the right wall and a small desk on the left with a candle on the right edge of the desk. As soon as they enter the man closes the door and pulls out a strange grey cube with red glowing cracks covering it. As he twists the top of the cube, a red glow spreads through the room and suddenly all noise from the tavern below and the sound of wind blowing through the streets disappears. The room becomes deathly quiet, only the light breathing from the five of them being heard; the windows that used to show the twin moons and the neighboring buildings suddenly only show a strange red glow that blocks any and all sight of and from the outside world. The man¡¯s voice suddenly rings through the silent room as he speaks ¡°I¡¯m sorry my introduction is so late, but I didn¡¯t want to risk any rats listening in. My name is Oswin but when we are in public, please call me Aldwin because my real name has become rather synonymous with some unfavorable things in this empire. Now I know you are confused and most likely worried as well, so I will try and explain everything to you now.¡± He pauses to look at the children before continuing ¡°Now I will try and keep it simple and brief because you are all far too young to hear these things, but I still think you should know regardless. As you all might have heard you four have an affinity towards World Energy which in layman''s terms means you all can do magic with enough practice. This affinity is why you all were left out from the rest of the kids, as you lot are more... Valuable.¡± Oswin has trouble finding the correct words to use towards the children but continues anyways ¡°They were going to use you kids specifically for a particularly nasty project that I won¡¯t go into detail on but would certainly at the minimum leave you kids...¡± The man completely stops for a long moment, his face twisting and contorting into numerous ugly expressions before choosing to continue. His voice is noticeably less refined and perfect: breaking and stopping at random intervals ¡°It would leave you... At the least mentally crippled and at worst a... A breathing doll, so to speak, left without a mind.¡± The children stand there listening to the man¡¯s statements with numerous emotions swirling on their faces: horror, disbelief, terror, and more all at once; their eyes all shaking in a cacophony of thoughts. Fang shakily asks, ¡°Wha-Why would they want to do that?¡± Oswin gives a sullen smile as he responds tiredly ¡°For the same reason why man does any evil: for power, for wealth, and any other selfish goal they have. I¡¯m just sorry you kids had to be roped into something like this, something only adults should have to shoulder.¡± Fang looks down in contemplation while the rest of the kids stand still or tremble softly, letting the information sink into their minds thoroughly. As they stand in a daze suddenly Oswin claps and while holding his hands together show a cheerful smile, ¡°I know this isn¡¯t something any of you wanted to hear but I don¡¯t think I should leave you all in the dark just because you are kids. Especially since this is something so dangerous. But regardless let''s just forget about it for now, okay? Leave it as an issue for tomorrow while we talk about something happier.¡± The children all instinctively nod at the man¡¯s question, but their foggy eyes show that they aren¡¯t truly registering his words. Oswin sighs as he takes out another strange cube from his jacket pocket. The cube glows a faint purple through the web of cracks in its grey surface. As he twists the top of the cube, it begins pulsing with light as all the cube¡¯s walls push outwards, breaking apart from the cracks. The pieces float in the air in a roughly cube shape around the violet-colored core. Lines of ethereal purple connecting to each of the floating pieces and leading back to the glowing violet cube in the center. Then suddenly, all is disturbed as Oswin pushes through the pieces and his hand goes directly into the core, completely disappearing within. He appears to rummage around inside the cube; oddly enough his entire forearm seems to easily fit within the small fist sized cube and occasionally his arm goes right up to the elbow into the small cube. After twenty seconds of rummaging, he makes a little ¡°Aha!¡± sound as he pulls something out slowly. The last of his hand comes out and a stack of four identical leather books are revealed. As he holds the books in his right, his left idly sits under the violet core as the pieces are slowly pulled back together by the purple strings. And when everything fully comes back together, the cube falls into the man¡¯s palm as he quickly pockets it into his coat. He hands each of the children a leather book, giving them ample time to examine the books more thoroughly. The leather surface of the book is in a scale pattern and in the center is a golden sigil; a hollow circle that has a blade, a book, and a staff all within it, engraved in the same gold as the encompassing circle itself. The children turn and flip the books over and around, looking over its leather scales curiously and intently while occasionally rubbing the center sigil with their hands or fingers. The man smiles at their curiosity and interest before opening his mouth to speak. ¡°These are books commonly used to teach foreign people words in this kingdom¡¯s language. If you open the book, you will notice that the words will shift and change to be understandable regardless of your actual language or reading abilities. I¡¯ve even heard of some people¡¯s books being filled with pictures because they can¡¯t read at all, but I digress. I want you kids to read it at least once a day or night so that you can become better at speaking and reading this kingdom¡¯s language because unfortunately going back home at the moment would be rather difficult and in some of your cases, impossible. And if you¡¯re going to stay here longer, you need to learn the language.¡± He finishes the final few sentences with a gloomy tone of voice, but still tries to keep a smile for the children. Sune excitedly mumbles some incoherent words that show her excitement, whereas Hollie and Kumiho are far less excited over the prospect of studying and simply stare at the books¡¯ covers. Fang looks at the book with even more sparkles in his eyes than Sune and they begin to fawn over the idea of learning new words together as they sit by one of the windows and read while talking. Kumiho and Hollie on the other hand simply walk over to the beds and lay down. Hollie opening the book and at least pretending to read; Kumiho simply staring at its surface while other thoughts pass through her head. As the night goes on, eventually Oswin decides it¡¯s time to sleep and says two of the children will have to sleep together because of the lacking beds. Which Sune promptly agrees for Hollie that they will sleep together, much to Hollie¡¯s obvious dismay. Kumiho stares through the lightly green tinted window behind her bed, watching the swirling galaxy of colors and lights and the twin moons floating in the sky. The moons are both a pale glowing white but whereas one is bare and simply covered in dark splotches; the other has what appears to be a large grey blade piercing through its center and out the other side, making the moon look like a giant celestial kebab. With thoughts of the events of the day still swirling through her mind, she slowly drifts off into sleep. Chapter 4: Flowers A red desert bathed in the light of a red sun stretches out infinitely. Kumiho sits alone in a fetal position on the red sands with dark eyes. As the wind blows red sand around three figures appear before her: An older woman, older man, and a teenage girl all with black hair, their faces are blurry from the sand and incomprehensible. Kumiho stares at the figures before the wind blows in her eyes. While her eyes are shut from the wind she starts to hear voices. Yelling. Screaming. And banging all resounding in her ears in a cacophony of noise before all of it is silenced by a large crackle of thunder. Her eyes quickly open and she finds herself in a gray room with a black-haired female teen¡¯s head resting on her lap, staring at Kumiho with cold eyes and a hole in her head. The blood pools over Kumiho¡¯s lap and she looks at her shaking red stained hands with trembling eyes. The only perceptible sound being Kumiho¡¯s rapid breathing before another crackle of thunder rings out and her vision is covered in yellow. Kumiho quickly sits up straight on her bed clutching her chest and her breathing rapid and broken; her breath occasionally catching and retching within her throat as she stares at her trembling hands. Her breath slows and so too does the trembling before she completely calms down and drops her hands, clutching and clawing at the sheets in a continued effort to calm her racing heart. She looks around taking in all the room¡¯s details: Fang is sleeping soundly to her left and Sune is practically laying on top of poor Hollie as they sleep, but the strange man, Oswin, is gone, his bed empty and Kumiho suddenly hears a noise from outside. She sneaks out of bed and slowly tiptoes to the door, opening it ever so slowly with a low creaking sound. Walking down the steps into the quiet tavern, she scopes the area out for any stragglers, but the room is dark and motionless. She continues on out the side door and looks down a dark alley at a cloaked man with scarlet red eyes being pushed against a wall by a black-haired man. ¡°Who sent you after me?¡± The black-haired man asks in a rough voice that Kumiho barely recognizes as Oswin, but his face and body are so different she has trouble seeing the two figures as the same person. ¡°I-I-I was sent by some rich guy down in the scraef. Said he would pay a large sum to anyone who gave him the whereabouts of a black-haired gleamer in the area. Thats all I know I swear!¡± ¡°What did he look like? The guy who wanted my location.¡± Oswin asks as he pushes his forearm harder into the man¡¯s neck. ¡°I don¡¯t know man! He wore some strange white mask with a fanged face on it. Other than that, he was just a basic wealthy man. I swear that''s all I know; you have to believe me man.¡± Oswin sighs and takes his forearm away from the cloaked man¡¯s neck before talking in an exacerbated tone ¡°Tell that guy to just send a letter next time he wants to talk to me, and that we can meet in one week''s time at this address.¡± He writes down an address on a piece of paper and hands it to the man before sending him off with one last piece of advice ¡°Oh and kid, maybe you shouldn¡¯t take jobs like this anymore. This could¡¯ve gone much worse for you if I hadn¡¯t bothered to question you.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know who you¡¯re calling a kid when we are both twenty something, but I think I agree that I¡¯m in way over my head. So, thanks for not taking my head.¡± The man speaks quickly and erratically before running with a little too much enthusiasm through the dark alleys. Oswin laughs at the young man¡¯s actions and turns around just in time to notice Kumiho¡¯s forest green eyes staring at him from behind an open door as an audible ¡°oop!¡± can be heard from her direction. Oswin stares at her small face as his own face slightly falls before asking ¡°How much of that did you see...¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t really see much. Just you well, threatening some cloaked guy pressed on a wall before writing something down and letting him go. But I don¡¯t know what either of you said.¡± ¡°Oh... Well would you believe me if I said I was threatening him for a good reason?¡± Oswin asks with a playful voice. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t care.¡± Kumiho answers tersely with her face not changing even a little bit. ¡°My family weren¡¯t very friendly to strangers either.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t care that I was beating some guy up in an alley? Not even a little bit? He could be innocent and I was just taking my anger out on him.¡± Oswin retorts with a bemused voice. ¡°No, not at all really. You saved us from harm, and even if you are lying about the Church wanting to hurt us; I still wouldn¡¯t like them just because they worked with that ¡®man¡¯.¡± Kumiho¡¯s voice stays quiet and steady but strong disgust starts to show in her final words. Oswin stands there shocked by her words left without knowing what to say as the young girl says one final sentence ¡°I don¡¯t see why it is such a big deal I saw you beating someone up when you turned two people into paste in our first meeting.¡± She says casually, as if she was just mentioning the weather. Oswin awkwardly chuckles ¡°I¡¯m sorry about that, I just don¡¯t have any cleaner methods of... Taking ¡®care¡¯ of people and I didn¡¯t want to let those guys live after what they were planning to do.¡± Kumiho merely nods in response and turns back into the tavern and walks up the steps back into the room. Oswin stands out there for a while in thought before his body is covered in multicolored lights as his body returns to ¡°normal¡± and he enters the building. He seems to want to say something as he enters the room but the words die in his mouth as he sees Kumiho has already gone to sleep in the few minutes he was out; lightly shaking his head and smiling he goes to bed as well. . . . Morning rays shine through the window as Kumiho¡¯s eyes open and she gets up with a big stretch of her arms. As she looks around, she notices Oswin sitting at the desk reading a book and Hollie leaning against the wall while sitting on a little white pillow on the floor, watching something with amusement. Kumiho looks in the direction Hollie is and notices Fang holding a pillow high above his head doing some starter swings right above Sune¡¯s sleeping form. He swings the fluffy pillow down onto her sprawled out form and hits her right in the stomach. As the pillow hits, a loud ¡°ACK!¡± sounds from Sune¡¯s lips as she is startled awake and looks around in confusion. As she takes stock of the room, she notices Fang sitting on the ground laughing with a pillow in his hand and quickly realizes what has awoken her. In retaliation, she pounces from her bed onto Fang¡¯s laughing form and a tussle involving lots of rolling around and laughter ensues from the two. After the morning shenanigans are finished, Oswin asks all the children to gather around as he explains his plans for the future. ¡°I will be putting you kids into a private language course over the next couple of months with a friend of mine who works at a local school. And after that I¡¯m going to enroll you guys into a school for mages. Though you are a little young to be learning¡ªfor commoners at least and usually the school wouldn¡¯t allow you in at all because of your bloodlines, but I should be able to pull some strings.¡± Oswin makes little gestures and exaggerated movements during his little speech to the kids. Hollie and Kumiho simply nod at the man whereas Sune and Fang in sync yell ¡°Okay!¡± ¡°Oh and, the language classes start today and will last... I¡¯m not sure how long but I¡¯ll come and get you when class is over for today. So, let¡¯s go to your first day of class with Mrs. Smith!¡± Oswin says with some enthusiasm as he leads the kids out the door and down the stairs. ¡°When will you be returning Sir? If you don¡¯t mind me asking.¡± The same lady from last night asks politely while smiling at the group. ¡°Oh. In just a few hours we¡¯ll be back.¡± ¡°Well then have a good day Sir.¡± The woman says happily while waving them goodbye. Sune waves back at the lady and the group goes on their way down the road and to a large wooden one-story building. Oswin leads the kids through the empty wooden hallways while the morning sun gleams through the green tinted windows of the school and he stops before a simple wooden door and knocks. An older woman with white hair wearing a white button up blouse and a blue knee length skirt answers the door with a smile. ¡°Hello Aldwin, I do have to say I was quite surprised when you came to my door at such a late night asking to have some children be taught Imperial, and they are Eastern children too.¡± A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Oh, you know how I am sometimes Mrs. Smith, but I hope I¡¯m not bothering you in any way coming here on such short notice with a bunch of kids.¡± ¡°Oh Aldwin no one ever bothers me and you already know I could never find children to be a bother. Plus, it¡¯s the summer, so it¡¯s not like I¡¯d be doing anything right about now anyways.¡± Mrs. Smith says happily as she chuckles to herself. ¡°Well thank you Mrs. Smith and I¡¯ll see you again soon but I¡¯ll have to leave them in your care because I have some errands to run.¡± Oswin says as he waves goodbye to Mrs. Smith and smiles at the children before walking out the door. Mrs. Smith introduces herself to the children and quickly begins teaching them the basics of the language, allowing Sune to simply read the book Oswin gave her the night before to study during class since she already knows some Imperial. Mrs. Smith proves to be an excellent teacher as she keeps the kids engaged the whole day through little games and rhymes to help with sounding out words and memorization. Mrs. Smith ends the class with a little lecture and after reviewing the contents of the books Oswin gave them, highlights the specific sections she wants them to read in the coming nights as practice. As the children are led out of the school, they see Oswin sitting on a wooden fence in front of the school holding a pane of frosted blue glass that he quickly tucks into his jacket and quickly greets the kids. After they all say goodbye to Mrs. Smith, Oswin brings them to a different restaurant from before to get dinner and after having their fill are brought out of town and into the neighboring forest. When Fang asks the black-haired man where they are going, he simply responds with ¡°You¡¯ll see¡± and continues on through the undergrowth. Kumiho and Hollie have an easy time following the man¡¯s measured step through the trees. Fang is able to keep up but at a much slower pace; Sune however falls behind very regularly, her tail getting caught in bushes and her feet constantly tripping on rocks and roots. As the sun reaches just above the tips of the trees, they finally make it to a field of multi-colored flowers: reds, greens, blues, and yellows all coalescing in a collage of colors. As they reach the middle of the field Oswin turns and stops to face the children. ¡°Alright, now that we are well out of the way of the town and its many eyes and ears, I can explain what''s happening. Together in this field each of you will learn to manifest your latent ability to absorb world energy and actually turn it into something more tangible: magic.¡± He says the last line with much enthusiasm and excitement. But that doesn¡¯t last long as his tone drastically changes from his earlier happiness to sternness, ¡°But I¡¯ll warn you before we begin, gaining power isn¡¯t easy, nor does it ever come free.¡± Oswin gives the children one final warm smile as they one by one find their eyes and bodies become heavy as they fall into the mass of flowers and straight through it, into the void. . . . The children look around in confusion as they slowly stand and examine their surroundings; the sky is a pitch black and where the sun once was is now a large blooming red flower, its white roots spiraling down like large cracks in space itself. They stand on a bed of multi-colored flowers that flows through the abyss and towards the cracks in a wavy line. Fang is the first to open his mouth in confusion, ¡°Where are we? And where did Mr. Oswin go?¡± All the children simply look at him as Kumiho is the first to respond, ¡°I don¡¯t know... But all there seems to be here is this path of flowers. So...¡± She doesn¡¯t bother waiting for a response as she starts to walk down the path. The other children argue for a moment but quickly realize that Kumiho is right and slowly start to follow. They trek down the bed of uneven flowers for quite a while with no end in sight until the children run into a peculiarity on their travels. A large hole in the path that leads into the void, the children look down into the hole in silence. Kumiho gets on her knees and attempts to bring her hand down into the hole, in which her hand goes down the hole to the void unimpeded and she quickly brings it back up. Fang after watching the girl¡¯s actions says jokingly with a tinge of fear, ¡°Well it doesn¡¯t appear to be a trick or an illusion, that is really just a hole into pure nothingness and I for one don¡¯t want to know what would happen to us if we fall.¡± Kumiho simply nods as she stands back up. Sune speaks up in a frightened tone, ¡°I also don¡¯t want to know and is it just me or is it getting colder?¡± The other children stop for a moment before Fang answers, ¡°Yes... I think it is colder than before. But this hole is really getting eerie so can we keep going?¡± All the children agree and they continue walking down the path. They find similar large holes but keep going without much conversation on them. As they continue the holes get more frequent and more dissimilar in size: sometimes the path is dotted with many small holes covering it and at other moments there are large holes or chunks of the path taken out by multiple large holes making the path very thin and windy. But regardless of the multitude of holes the children continue on until the come across a hole they cannot simply go around. The hole has consumed the entirety of the path and a large insurmountable gap is created in the bed of flowers. The end of the path is nearly identical to the rest of the path except for a large glowing purple rose coming up from the flowers, its petals remaining tightly closed. The children come closer to it and as they do Hollie¡¯s hair begins to stand on end, her ears and tail erect as her eyes start to glow an eerie purple and she brings her hand forward to touch the thorned rose. The rose upon her touch blooms as purple light glows from its center and cascades in a bright flash of dark purple. When vision is returned to the children, Hollie stands hunched over with black miasma oozing off her body as the inside of her eyes swirl with purple energy. Her shadow begins to twist and contort beneath her feet, growing and shrinking, one moment it resembles a human, the next a large maw of teeth, and the next a large black flower. The shadow continues its changes as Sune cautiously walks up to Hollie¡¯s hunched figure and touches her shoulder. Hollie¡¯s shadow suddenly reaches up out of itself as a black tendril forms and wraps around Sune¡¯s wrist tightly. Sune screams in pain, ¡°Hollie please stop...¡± She whimpers but Hollie continues to stand there like a stone statue. Kumiho runs up and kicks the black tendril with the bottom of her foot, causing it to dissipate into black smoke as she quickly pulls Sune by the hand. But as she does, Hollie screams in pain and lurches back; her hands gripping her head in pain as she screams in agony and her tail shoots up. Her shadow twists and spirals around her, consuming her figure and forming into a large black flower with a long and thorny stem and a glowing purple center nestled within its large black petals. Kumiho pushes Sune back as a bladed tendril grows out from the flower¡¯s base and strikes towards them, but upon missing Sune by a hair''s breadth changes its attention to Kumiho herself. It lunges at her at a fast speed but not impossible for Kumiho to react to. She quickly dodges to the side but loses balance and falls to the ground. As she lays on the ground a second blade comes falling down on her as Fang suddenly grabs her arm and pulls her up and out of the tendril¡¯s strike. She barely breaths out a thanks to him through her panting breaths and they look at the many tendrils growing out of the flower and whipping about madly. ¡°What do we do?¡± Asks Fang while breathing heavily, his breath occasionally hitches. Kumiho looks at him and notices a strange deep red rose situated right behind that slightly glows within her vision; this one is much smaller than the one Hollie touched and is barely larger than the other flowers. But within Kumiho¡¯s eyes it feels all important; she feels her eyes drawn to it like a moth to a flame and believes in its importance with all her soul. She pulls away from Fang¡¯s grip and runs towards the red flower at the fastest pace she can manage. Sune and Fang yell something but she doesn¡¯t hear their words as she continues running. She drops to the ground as a tendril lurches at her head and without missing another beat instantly springs back up into a full sprint as the tendril whizzes harmlessly above her head. Another tendril swipes down at her and she dodges to the left at the last moment as it slices a lock of hair off but otherwise leaves her unharmed and she continues her sprint. As the next tendril comes lashing at her chest, she finds herself unable to stop in time and puts her arms protectively over her chest as a large cut forms across both her arms and she falls forwards onto her forearms with a crash. She pants as blood flows from the cuts on her arms and covers the bed of flowers she has fallen upon, puddling in front of her face that is barely kept off the ground. She struggles to keep her eyes open until a voice breaks loudly through her mind like thunder ¡°Watch out to the right!¡± Fang¡¯s panicked voice echoes out as she rolls to the left, barely dodging a tendril that inserts itself deep into the ground. With renewed clarity she quickly pushes off the ground and stands back up. Her arms covered in patches of scrapes, dirt, and crushed flowers glued to her arms from the flowing blood seeping from the large gashes in both arms and continuously dripping from her fingers. She continues her run and with the added help of Fang and Sune¡¯s call outs she becomes better at dodging the blades. One above, duck your head. Swiping to your right, stop and back up. She starts to get into a rhythm of dodging and ducking the swipes, small scratches and cuts in her skin slowly accumulating. When she finally passes by the large black flower, she lunges for the red rose that is finally within reach. As she grabs the flower, she feels its thorns pierce into her skin before she violently yanks it out of the ground, and it begins to bloom with a red light within her hand. Feeling her body rejuvenate as it fills with power and energy, a light red aura begins to surround her body as she stands up and begins shaking all the dirt and debris stuck to her off. She feels her muscles relax as her tail falls limp and her ears slowly droop down. She sees the world with enhanced clarity and increased slowness, the once fast tendrils now move at a snail''s pace, and she calmly dodges one after another. She looks at the center of the flower and tenses her entire body, bending her knees before springing up to the flower at inhuman speeds, her arm outstretched as it pushes its way into the glowing center and grabs a fist sized orb at its center. She feels something sting her arm as purple vines crawl through her veins and towards her face. Without wasting another moment, she pulls her arm back and rips the glowing light right out of the flower, but as she does, she feels the power leave her body and she begins to fall from the flower in exhaustion. Her limp body falling to the ground with a hard thud. The last thing she sees is the dark flower dissipating into the wind and the faces of her companions worriedly standing over her; their mouths moving but no sounds can be heard until her eyes finally lose strength and close, letting her mind and vision fall into darkness.