Chapter 2

Year 2052. 22 years after the Great Merge.

“Mama!” a young boy shouted across the garden.

A woman in her thirties stuck her head out of a cottage window to see her son Solomon and his two younger sisters Summer and June. Solomon was ten years old, Summer six and June five. Summer had beautiful blonde hair which was straight down her back, and had blue eyes and a cute face. June was also very cute, with curly brown hair that bounced against a pair of round glasses she wore. Solomon had curly black hair, a bright smile and kind hazel eyes.

“I got the fishing skill Mama!” Solomon shouted.

His mother proudly smiled back at him. “That's wonderful, Sol.”

Sol bent his head down to let June off his shoulders and let go of Summer’s hand. The two sisters ran up and hugged their mother. Sol hugged his mother shortly after.

Along with their father, they lived in a small fishing village on the coast of Kraos. Kraos was once Britain, but after the Great Merge it tripled the size of the country and the governments fell. A decade later it was named after the king who ruled.

The Great Merge was a catastrophe. The planet Lumina merged with Earth, continents went missing, countries lost, and now dungeons and monsters were everywhere. Over eight billion people died in the year that followed; most from Earth.

Lumina was a fantasy world filled with different races; Elves, Dwarves, Merfolk, etc. There were hundreds of them, and they had a system which granted them experience when killing entities, cooking food or making clothes.

Two decades passed and new countries began to form. They named the new world Gaia, as it meant Earth in both worlds' ancient languages. In Lumina, Gods reigned over the mortals, and were powerful beings that wanted worship. Some of the gods that Earth knew were complete fallacies and others were more than true. Odin was the All Father though, but that didn’t mean that all Norse Gods were real. Some forgotten gods resurfaced after millenia and people began to worship those that favoured them the most.

After twenty years of fighting monsters, the world managed to find some peace. Magic met Earth's technology, trains now hovered off the ground, and phones were charged with ones own mana. During this time, famous adventurers began to make a name for themselves around the world. They fought off the strongest monsters and cleared the largest dungeons. Solomon's parents were a part of the famous few.

They had decided to retire- against protests from their colleagues and fans. They bought a cottage so they could bring up their children in a safe environment.

“B-b-big bwother, can you read me a book?” June asked as she tugged on Sol’s sleeve.

“Which book would-”

“No more books,” their mother interjected, “Dinner is ready and your father will be home shortly.”

June was a bookworm; she was the youngest of the three but the brightest. She was usually quiet and rarely liked any attention. On the other hand, her sister was a menace- tantrums, screaming, the whole lot. But she was also a very good singer and loved to perform in front of her family. Solomon was rather plain himself; he had no innate talent but he did love his family very much, especially his two younger sisters.

“Sol, can you turn off the TV and set the table please?” his mother asked.

Sol did as he was told, and the three siblings sat eagerly at the dinner table waiting for their meal. The smell of their mother’s home cooked pies invaded their nose, and they could tell it was going to be filling.

They all drummed their cutlery on the wooden table awaiting the food. As their mother was taking it out from the oven, all the hairs on the back of her neck rose up. She dropped the dish and bolted outside, just as the shadow of a large creature flew over their house.

“Wyvern!” the neighbour screamed.

“Kids! Basement now!” their mother shouted.

All three of them looked worried, but stayed still. They were frozen in shock.

“I said now!” she screamed with fear in her voice.

Sol grabbed both his sisters hands and rushed down the stairs into the basement. He managed to close the trap door and they hid between boxes and barrels.

Above ground, a green wyvern was wreaking havoc amongst the fishing village. It’s claws were destroying buildings with every swoop, picking up people and animals like they were playthings.

Their mother rushed back inside to grab her staff. As she came back out, she heard the shouts from familiar voices in the distance.

They were her and her husband's old adventuring party, and they had new members with them.

“What are you doing here!” she shouted over to them.

Henry, the leader, stepped forward and dropped her husband's dead body on the ground. She fell to her knees in shock.

“What do you think of my new tame?” Henry said as he glanced up at the green wyvern.

She dropped her staff and began to weep over her spouse's death.

“W-why?” she cried.

Henry shrugged and mockingly said, “We can say it came to your village and we tamed it, but not till after it had decimated the poor villagers who lived here.”

She crawled over to her husband's body and cradled it gently.

“Go inside and kill the kids,” Henry said, emotionless, motioning to his party member.

“Their kids? You said it was just going to be them,” she pleaded.

Henry rolled his eyes, “Fine, I’ll do it.”

The woman looked down to the floor and replied, “No, I will.” She started to walk towards the house, but was promptly pushed back by a gust of air.

Solomon’s mother stood up and wiped her tear soaked hands on her apron. “I’ll kill you before you get to them,” she said, her eyes full of anger.

Henry turned his lip up. “You’re no match for me or my wyvern. If only you stayed in our party! Do you know how much money we lost after you left?” he shouted, getting more and more angry.

“This is about… Money?” she questioned.

“Alright new guys, let’s see the reason why you’re in our team in the first place,” he said.

A few minutes later, Solomon’s mother was left dead on the ground, her face black and blue, poison in her blood.

The lady carried on into the cottage and began to search around it. The fields around the building were all charred to black, along with all the other houses in the village.

Solomon clutched tightly onto his sisters as he heard the trapdoor open. He was about to cry out, but then noticed they weren’t his mothers shoes. He held his hand over his sister's mouth and tried his best to be silent. The shouting from outside made him worry deeply for his mother and father.

The lady made her way down the stairs and brought out a crystal that shone brightly, illuminating the room. Sol ducked his head down from the barrels, but it was too late; she had caught a glimpse of him.

She shut off the crystal and rushed over to him, yanking the barrels away. Tears filled her eyes as she saw Solomon clutching onto his sisters. Solomon recognised her; she was the princess of Kraos, and a member of his parents’ adventuring party. Her name was Serena.

She put her hand over Solomon's mouth and a finger on her own.

“Whatever you do, do not move or make a sound,” she said.

Serena began to move her hands in a spell formation, and purple runes formed as her hands moved faster. Solomon was frozen the entire time, a mixture of fear and confusion pulsing through him.

Another pair of shoes creaked against the staircase. Serena finished the spell and a purple light covered the three siblings. It looked like a mirage of sorts.

“Oh, Serena dear, you haven’t gone soft on me have you?” Henry’s mocking voice said.

She stormed away from the three children, past Henry, up the stairs and into the house.

“Fucking bitch,” Henry muttered under his breath.

The evil man made his way down the stairs and into the basement, where he saw the dead bodies of Solomon, Summer and June.

“Such good talent wasted,” Henry said with a click of his tongue.

“Hey. Wake up,” Tower said as he nudged his leg.