“A weapon is all that's left for you boy.” Eric said as called Lucifer to follow him. Turning and walking towards the newly built cabin, Eric took deep and meaningful steps. None too big nor too small. Measured and balanced perfectly his slow and steady gait took the two into the lounge of the cabin. The newly built cabin was two stories tall and had a huge open concept design. With a lounge taking up 70% of the first floor, and a small kitchen and table set for the rest. A huge stone fireplace lay ablaze; at the far side of the lounge, surrounded by large cushions of stuffed Beast hide for sitting in. Following Eric's lead, Lucifer stepped into the lounge and saw a large 8 foot bundle of cloth lying at the foot of the fireplace.

“Take that boy.” Eric solemnly spoke after Lucifer had arrived next to him. With a raised eyebrow, Lucifer did as told. He leapt off the floor lightly, sailing through the air with his wings fanning out ever so slightly to glide him towards the fireplace. With a soft click as his sharp talon like toes touched the wooden floor, he landed in front of the cloth bundle. Thinking back to what Eric had said about ‘a weapon’ being the only thing he missed, Lucifer suddenly felt excitement course through his veins. Hope, that what he assumed was his own personal weapon lay underneath the thick and heavy cloth bindings just in front of him.

“Gulp”

Lucifer was so tense he had to swallow his saliva to try and stop it from flooding his mouth.

“Eric, what is it?” Lucifer asked anxiously as his fingers froze after feeling the dense cloth not yet daring to open it.

“What the hell do you think it is boy? Open the damn thing and see for yourself.” Snorted the older man in disdain, but on his face was a small smile. Memories of him receiving his first weapon from his adoptive father kept flashing and overlapping with the image of Lucifer. Finally a sigh escaped Eric's lips as he walked forward and placed his large hand on Lucifer's shoulder. “Boy, open it. It's my last gift to you. Don't drag this out or else you'll never be able to stand in your own. After you open that cloth, you gotta live your own life. Yue, Jasmine and I won't ask you to go and do a single thing. It's all up to you. We only ask that you go to the Elemental Academy and study their till you learn all they have to give. The Academy is not necessarily safe for you, but it's got a whole shit load of strong warriors that would love to fight and train you. Might even make some more friends besides just having Luna by your side. So open the package and get out there and live your life the way you want it.”

Eric's words sunk deep into Lucifer's mind as he listened intently to the man who was like a father to him. He listened so intently that he missed the fact that there was an odd scent in the wooden room and the fire burning purple instead of it's usual red and yellow. Thinking harder upon Eric's words Lucifer drifted off into unconsciousness. The room had been drugged by Eric while Lucifer hadn't been paying attention. Standing with tear filled eyes, Eric slowly walked over to the kitchen and took out three envelopes from his pocket. Each letter had different signatures on them. One letter was written in black ink and had a dragon's head as the seal. The second letter was written on a strange greenish paper with pale blue characters making characters that went vertical instead of horizontally like the first and third. The third letter was written on a black parchment and had a flowing yellow ink that seemed to sparkle in the firelit room.

With tears beginning to roll down his scarred cheeks, Eric gently lay the three letters down on the table. Before his figure blurred and a second later he was gone from the cabin. In the clearing around the cabin stood two figures and a single large black mound between them.

“Luna, please do not let Lucifer cause too much trouble.” Spoke the figure towards the front of Luna's large form. Luna had recently become quite ferocious towards Jasmine and Yue, with today being the day of their departure the two women saw fit to fix that before they left. “I understand why you dislike us but everything we do and have done is for him.”

“Please Luna, protect him from any with malicious intentions, guard his back while he fights to live in this twisted world, and please never leave him alone in this world. You mean more to him alive then dead so do not throw your own life away!” Jasmine spoke quietly while she stared at the grassy earthy somewhat vacantly. Her coming departure from Lucifer eating away at her mind. Constant negative thoughts and crazy ‘what if’ scenarios ran through your mind a mile a minute. Finally choosing to say her own wishes and pass them on to Luna she spoke.

“Grrrrrrrgh”

Came Luna's raged growl. How could the lizard-bitch and knife ear-bitch possibly say those words to her? Of course her brother would make godly trouble! He is the future Apex of Gaies. How could their terrible teaching have helped him? Sure going to that Elemental Academy is a great idea and one she herself agreed with. But the rest of their ‘teachings’? Semantics. The knife ear-bitch even had the gall to ask her to do the things she was already doing. ‘How stupid could two-legs be’ was all that was going through Luna's mind as she chose to ignore the two bitches and go to her brother. Getting up with a slight shake to dust herself off, Luna proceeded to promptly turn and walk away from the two. As Luna entered the still open cabin door, Jasmine and Yue both opened their red eyes that had been tearing up as they spoke to Luna. Finally as the cabin door slowly shut behind the large black wolf, Yue and Jasmine both began to sob uncontrollably. After a whole hour of sobbing; while looking longingly at the cabin where so many memories were created and possibly the happiest days of their lives were spent, the two women stood and their figure's blurred just like Eric's did and they disappeared.

Two days later.

“Fuck Lukas, where the hell are we going?” Cried a shrill feminine voice through the bush and trees of the Talk Forest. The Talk Forest resides in the northern end of the Bolstadt Empire. Known to be a forest with only a few Low and Mid Order 2nd Rank Beast, Talk Forest is the go to spot for young warriors looking to make gold hunting Beasts. The majority of Talk is mapped save for the extreme depths where there is rumoured to be a powerful lupine Beast residing. Currently two young draconian warriors were trekking through the woods.

“I told you already Ethel, we struck gold!” Stated Lukas; the man leading the duo through the forest, with gritted teeth at Ethel's near constant complaints. It had only been a couple hours since the two had left their home and came out to Talk for this supposed ‘strike of gold’. Yet Ethel had been constantly nagging and complaining about the bugs, the grass, the scents, the wildlife, even the damn fucking sun was an issue for her. “If you weren't my sister I might actually kill you.” Lukas couldn't help but bitterly exclaim in his heart.

“Lukas you bastard! You totally thought something bad of me!” Ethel cried bloody murder as if she heard her brother's inner thoughts.

“Fuck yeah I did. Anyways shut up we are closing in on the target. Need me to go over the details again?” Lukas finally held up his right fist signalling for their trek to end. Ethel promptly shut her mouth while glaring daggers at Lukas’ back.

“Yes, you barely explained shite back at the house.” She hissed.

“Ugh. Fine. Cabin has been seen up ahead with a shit ton of dead Beasts outside of it. The Beast are just left there, not rotting yet so the kills are recent and whatever killed them seems to have left. I paid a lotta gold for this info through the Trade so you know it's legit. We go there scavenge the Beasts and search the cabin if it's clear. Got it?”

“Yeah, but I get a new weapon from the commission.” Smirked Ethel before her brother could decline she boosted herself with Mana and took off towards where the cabin had been reported. Sighing bitterly Lukas could only follow his sister, with a boost of Mana as well he leapt after her.

As the two arrived at the clearing of the cabin, the brutally strong scent of blood made Ethel gag and subsequently choke on the almost tangible blood in the air. Corpses lay strewn all over the large clearing yet the most eye catching sight was the two story cabin that was covered entirely in blood of Beasts. Not a single Beast corpse or severed limb lay within 9 feet of the cabin's walls. Creating a haunting and utterly terrifying image.

“Lukas.”

“Yeah?”

“How much did you pay for this info?”

“300 gold coins.”

“...”

“...”

“How much would you say is it really worth?”

“...”

“Lukas?”

“...”

Ethel couldn't tear her eyes away from the scene. If she did she would notice why her brother did not respond.

“Who?” questioned a voice that seemed like it was everywhere and nowhere. Suddenly Ethel caught glimpse of something moving in the corner of her vision. Jumping and drawing her sword awkwardly, Ethel turned to look at what caused the movement. Shock welled up inside of her as she saw her brother's body on the ground and a creature that seemed to be a demonic hellspawn lightly juggling her brother's head that had severed from his body.

“Wh, wh, what are you?” Stammered Ethel as she clutched her sword with both hands and kept it pointed at the strange demon looking Beast.

“I asked first.” Came the same voice from before yet Ethel did not even see the creature in front of her speak. The fear inside of her exponentially grew. Her mind started to stop working and her body trembled even more.

“I-I, I am Ethel. Ethel Draxil.” She stuttered. Fear coming over her completely and compelling her to answer the voice in hopes that by answering she would live.

“Ethel…” The voice replied. “Why are you here?”

“Following my brother. He said there was a place with dead Beasts ripe for scavenging. We came here. The Trade sold the info.” Ethel stammered and tripped over every syllable as she spoke to the demon or voice or whatever the fuck the thing in front of her was.

“Dwarfs. The Trade. I know of these. You will go immediately to your home and go straight to your bedroom. Lock the door and sit on your bed. Speak to anyone and disobey these orders and you will die.” The voice spoke out again, this time ordering her to leave and tell no one of the events that transpired at this place of demons and death. Ethel felt no relief upon receiving her orders. Fear still grasped her tightly and it would not let go. So she ran away. She ran as fast as she could using all the Mana she had to boost her speed as much as possible. Hopefully to run away from the living nightmare she was living.

A half hour later Ethel burst through Talk’s tall trees and continued her headlong rush towards Lark City's gates. Running past every soul she came across, even running away from a scene where she happened to disturb a group of thugs raping a young girl. She ran faster still. Nothing could stop her from completing the voice’s command. Soon she finally came to the medium sized walls of Lark City.

Lark City. The northernmost city of the draconian country Bolstadt. Bolstadt, is the home of Anise’s previous would be fiance Cailren Paul Warrick. An impressive army stood behind the reigning Warrick royal family. One that was almost on par with the world renown Levin Empire in military power and possessing the second largest territory of the various countries in Farror. Lark City though as Bolstadt’s northern city it was built as a fortress for any northern invasions. Named after the birds that flock to the fortress city every summer, Lark City is larger than any other city around it. Solid 15 feet tall outer walls and inner walls doubling that in the city's central area. The city gave the oppression of a hulking behemoth instead of a lively city. But this is only from the outside, inside the whole city is alive with activity. Divide into five districts Lark City is well laid out, with no congestion from citizens and merchants happening on any of the paved roads in the city. The North District is the Martial area, where soldiers barracks and other various military compounds could be found. The South District is monopolized by the Trade, with housing, vendors, auction houses, banks and other Trade run activities took place. The East and West Districts are for the citizens of Lark City. City owned housing and government officials lived throughout these two districts. Finally the Central District. The place for nobility and the upper echelon of society lived.

Currently Ethel was running through the streets of the East District; rushing through backalleys and hidden pathways, taking any and every shortcut to quickly finish the demon's command. She spoke to no one. Not even her own mother as she ran through her house and into her room, slamming and locking her door with tears streaming down her face. After turning the deadbolt of her room, Ethel then pushed her dresser in front of her door to bar it shut. Using the last bit of Mana she had left she forced the solid furniture into place.

“I, I, I, I did as you said.” Ethel stuttered as she finished closing her drapes and jumping under her bed’s covers, just like a little girl hiding from the monster under the bed.

“...”

“What more do you want from me!” Ethel called out to the deafening silence that was her room. But nothing answered. After an hour of quiet sobs and the quiet of the dimly lit room, Ethel finally lifted her covers and poked her head to see if the demon had followed her. Seeing nothing as she looked hard towards the barred door, Ethel breathed a sigh of relief. Visibly more calm she brought the covers down more allowing her to see her entire room. Ethel then noticed there was someone or something else in her room. Her body froze. Cold sweat flushed her entire body, as she gazed at the figure standing at the foot of her bed. A handsome face that had a strong solid jaw with high cheek bones. Long black hair with a single blonde streak covered the figure's face besides it's soft and full lips that carried a small smile on them. The being was armoured, covered in dark brown leather with a breastplate, set of pauldrons and cuisses. But the armour did little to hide the figure's tall 6’0” height and broad shoulders. An amazingly lean and streamlined body of muscle was blatantly obvious on the figure but there seemed to be something off with the figure. Wings. Large wings. A 6’1” wingspan as the figure fanned its wings. Letting Ethel see their authenticity and power as wind blew away her quilt revealing her thin trembling frame. What made the winged being even more terrifying was the monstrously large 8’0” glaive it carried in its hands. And vicious looking executioner's sword that hung at its waist.

“I need your help.” The figure's lips moved and the same voice Ethel heard from before sounded throughout her room. Instantly Ethel's shocked face changed. Her eyes rolled back into her head as she fell limp and unconscious atop her bed leaving the figure laughing lightly in her room.