The first time I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by darkness—not the kind that covers the sky at night, but a deep black one. It covered the world like a cloak, showing me the form of everything around me, but hiding its true colors. Everywhere I looked, these shadowy black figures were fighting. They used weapons and manipulated the shadows around them to break apart and destroy each other. It was scary, and even thinking about it now when I don't see the same scene anymore brings back some of the fear that I felt at that time.

I didn't—I couldn't understand what was happening, I was only a newborn at the time, and before I ever got the chance to see the color of the sky, I was thrown into a dark world where I couldn't even tell the figures apart. Because I couldn't understand, I was scared. Scared of the darkness that covered everything, afraid of the figures that fought and broke each other. I thought I was going to be stuck in that strange scene forever, but then she saved me.

Feeling fear for the first time, I cried and cried, having no other way to express the emotions that I felt. I kept crying until her warmth surrounded me. Her warmth that always saves me from that scene. It wrapped around me and caressed me, calming my rising fear and confusion. It made me feel safe for the first time since I opened my eyes. Afraid that it would go away, I clung to it as hard as I could. Covered in her warmth, all of the confusing emotions went away, and I felt calm. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the new feeling in my heart.

Again I opened my eyes, but there was no darkness this time. Instead, I saw my Mother Sarah for the first time, looking down at me in her arms with her warm red eyes. Feeling the warmth coming from her body, I wanted to get closer, so I stretched my tiny arms out, trying to tell her to bring me closer, and just like I wanted, she brought me closer to her chest and embraced me. Hearing her heartbeat inside my head, another emotion was born in my heart that day—A feeling of love for my Mother who brought me out of the nightmare that I couldn't understand at the time.

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As I grew older, that scene never left my mind. Sometimes, I would see it again in my dreams, and as time went by, the scene became clearer. After a couple of years, I was able to make out the colors of the dirt and grass. The darkness covering the buildings started to fade away as time went by, and before I knew it, I was able to see where I stood— In a city close to its end. The walls of the buildings were being destroyed, stones were being scattered throughout the streets. Sections of the city were being burnt black by flames and cut apart by winds. The black blood of the shadows splattered everywhere as they fought. Seeing through the darkness only made my confusion and fear grow.

●●●

Then it finally happened, a few days after I turned 5, I was able to see everything clearly. I could make out the true figure of the shadowy black figures and the strange shadows coming from them. Eventually, I understood that in this city, a fight between two groups was happening.

On one side were people dressed in black outfits with a golden dragon symbol on their chest. They fought using the reddish-black energy that Mom uses when she trains with Dad. Some shot it out, some covered their weapons in it, and some even wrapped it around themselves like Mom usually does. Although there were a lot of people in this group, the other group had even more.

It was made up of people with different outfits and powers. I saw people shooting fireballs, moving the earth, blending into the shadows, flying in the sky. I was amazed the first time I saw it. But looking at the damage they caused to the city and the faces of the men and women in black they killed, the amazement I felt cooled down, and I started to feel fear towards the people in this group and their violence. Now that fear has turned into something else, but I can still remember it clearly.

But the people in black were different from me at that time, they never backed down even though they watched their friends and family die, had their limbs cut, torn, and destroyed. They kept fighting, no matter how much they got hurt. Again and again, I felt amazed by them, I thought that I wanted to be like them one day and I still do. I want to be able to fight for myself and push forward, no matter what gets in my way.

Even though they acted that way, it wasn't enough to change the result of the battle. Both sides kept fighting and killing each other, but the men in black were outnumbered, and their numbers just kept decreasing as the battle went on.

At first, I didn't want to keep watching the fight. I didn't want to keep seeing people get hurt and die. I spent months unable to make it past the beginning of the battle. I would wake up, shivering, crying, and screaming in Mom's arms as her warmth surrounded me. She always told me, "It's okay honey, everything's going to be alright."

Eventually, I got used to it and was able to watch more of the dream. I still feel sad looking at the corpses, and scared when I see people die. But I learned to accept what's happening since I can't change anything.

As the war continued, I wandered around the battlefield. One day, I stopped somewhere in the middle of the ruined city and watched as two men fought. The first time I saw them, I couldn't understand what was happening. All I could hear was the sound of metal clashing as I watched a reddish-black light collide with a golden light, over and over again. The air shook every time they moved, and the ground caved in. It was crazy. I never saw a fight like that before, their strength amazed me. Watching them fight, everything else felt so pointless. So every time I had the dream after that, I would always go to where they were.

As their fight continued, I was able to see their appearances every now and then. Both men looked younger than my Dad, but they were a lot stronger. The taller one wore a set of shiny gold armor that clung to his body with a white cape that shook every time he collided with the other man—the golden aura coming from his body matched with his hair and eyes. At first, he reminded me of the sun.

He laughed as his golden spear collided with the shorter man's sword. Unlike him, the shorter guy wasn't laughing, and his two black eyes full of anger were locked onto the taller man. His body was covered in that reddish-black aura as he fought. He swung around a sword almost the same height as him with ease.

At first, the shorter man was overpowering, the taller one, but as the fight went on, the shorter man got weaker and weaker, and his injuries kept increasing. Even though he was losing the fight, his aura kept getting scarier and scarier. It was like I was looking at a demon full of rage and hatred. Seeing this even though I felt scared, I was even more confused at first. I thought, 'Even though he's like this, he still can't win?'

While watching the fight one day, I realized that my surroundings were getting quieter. So I turned away from the fight for the first time, and I saw it. The scene that haunted me for a long time even when I was awake.

Bodies were scattered across the streets, mostly those wearing black. Almost all of their corpses couldn't be recognized. Some of them looked like they were torn apart by wind, burned by fire, crushed by the earth, stabbed and slashed by I don't know how many swords, spears, and axes. Even now, whenever I see that scene, it's hard to resist my urge to vomit.

It was hard for me to accept that scene, but eventually, I did, and I was able to turn back and look at the fight. The shorter man was a lot weaker than he was at the beginning. It was to the point where I could actually see him swing his sword. Seeing his strike, the taller man let out a light laugh and smirked as he slashed both of his arms off after deflecting his attack.

Every time I see that scene, I can't help but think that the taller man is cruel, and my dark feelings towards him grow more and more.

After his arms were cut off, I took a closer look at the shorter man's expression, and I shook. Even now, my body shakes, remembering his expression. His eyes were bloodshot with tears of blood flowing down his face. His expression scares me so much that I wake up shaking and crying every time I see it.

I still haven't made it past that part of the dream yet, but one day I will, and I'll see how the battle ended for myself, even if I already know the outcome.

●●●

I wanted to tell Mom and Dad about the dreams once they became clearer, but something inside of me would always stop me from talking to them about it. Eventually, I gave up on telling them and just hoped it would get better. But now, I realize how naive my thoughts were.

●●●

Right now, I live in a small forest at the bottom of Cara Mountain, inside of a wooden cabin that Dad built before I was born. We live here together, away from everyone else. But every now and then, I see a hiker or a hunter roaming around, though I've never talked to any of them because Mom told me not to.

"Never ever talk to or approach anyone without me or Dad's permission," She reminds me, every time someone finds their way here with a serious expression.

So I always stayed inside the Cabin, like I was told. There wasn't really much to do inside of the Cabin back then, so whenever I wasn't playing with Mom and Dad, I would do the exercises Dad showed me to pass the time. Sometimes I got to go for a walk with Dad to stretch my legs, but we never went too far away from the Cabin.

Since I'm not allowed to talk to other people, I don't have any friends, but I never feel lonely because I have Mom and Dad with me. I told them that one time in the past, and it made Mom cry. She gave me a big hug too. I don't know why she cried when I told her that, but after that, she never asked me if I felt lonely again.

Whenever we need something, Mom and Dad take turns to go get it. Depending on what we need, it may take them a few hours or a few days to come back with it. Besides the times when we weren't all together, I really enjoyed living in the Cabin with my parents. But I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, I thought that it was weird that we always stayed in this Cabin, separated from everyone else, but I did my best to hide it from Mom and Dad, so they wouldn't feel bad.

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On the night of my 6th birthday, I had a new dream, one that would change everything. Even now, I can remember it clearly. I was riding a giant dragon with strange scales. Under the light, they seemed red, but in the shadows, they shined with a black light. He flew me around the world with his giant red wings, showing me places I've never seen before. At first, I thought that it was the best dream I've ever had. I don't know how long we were flying around for, but eventually, we stopped, and he put me down in front of the Cabin. Staring at him face to face, suddenly, I felt scared, but at the same time, I felt like something was pulling me in, attracting me to him. He stared into my black eyes with his deep scarlet eyes for a while, before suddenly taking a breath. The next thing I saw was the forest, burning up in reddish-black flames that destroyed everything they touched. I watched as the flames danced around me, growing closer and closer until...

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I woke up the next day, covered in sweat. I don't remember how the dream ended, but I think I was burned to death by those flames. At first, I didn't think too much about it, I just thought that it was another bad dream and that was all, just like the nightmare I usually have. Even though it felt real, it was still a dream. I didn't think that it would change my life in any way, but I was wrong.

When I looked at my reflection in the water that day, I realized that something strange had happened to me. My right eye wasn't black anymore; instead, it was red, just like that Dragon's eyes, and the edges of the bang above my right eye had turned red. Looking at my reflection back then, I felt scared, like I wasn't me anymore. Even more than that, I was afraid of how my parents would react.

●●●

Thud!

When I went into the dining room for breakfast that day, Mom dropped the plate that she was carrying, seeing my appearance. She screamed, "What happened!?" She felt all over my body, trying to see if anything else changed and figure out what happened. Luckily, she didn't find any other changes, but she also didn't figure out what caused it. Since she couldn't figure anything out, she was gritting her teeth with an angry expression. I knew that what happened to me was weird, but I didn't understand why she was so irritated at first.

Then Dad stepped in and asked me, "Did something happen to you last night when you went upstairs?"

When he said that, I thought of the dream I had. When I finished telling them about it, Dad slammed his hand on the table and shouted, "Damn the spirits!"

Then for the first time in my life, Mom pulled me into her embrace with shaky hands and held me tight as she cried, for the first time I didn't feel her usual warmth; instead, I felt her sadness and anger. Under her breath, she muttered, "Why? Why!? Why does it have to be him!? Why couldn't you set him free!?"

Even now, I remember her words, at the time, I didn't understand them, and even now, I don't understand all of the meaning behind her words. But during that moment, seeing a side of my parents that I never saw before, I knew that something was wrong.

●●●

I went back upstairs after Mom let me go because Dad said that they needed some time alone. Later that day, they finally calmed down and asked me to come back downstairs to talk. We sat at the table in silence for a bit, before Dad spoke up.

"Ryner, do you remember what I told you before about the spirits' blessings?" Hearing his question, I nodded my head, since I knew what he was talking about.

He took a breath before saying the words that would change everything, "Last night, you received a spirit's blessing."

Usually, it would be something to be happy about, but looking at their faces, I understood that it wasn't a good thing.

He told me, "Normally, this would be something to celebrate, but there's an issue with the blessing you received, well not the blessing itself, but when you received it."

Before hearing anything else back then, I wanted to know, "What blessing did I receive?"

Mom was the one that answered me that time, she said, "It's the same one I have honey, the blessing of Xygen, the Spirit of Destruction."

At the time, I didn't understand, even now I don't fully understand everything, so I asked her, "What's so bad about having the same blessing as you, Mom?"

"It's, It's-" Mom was having a hard time telling me, so Dad did, he said something that completely changed the way I viewed my dream, "A few years ago, there was a big fight on this continent that involved both your Mother's clan and the Royal Family. It ended with the Destruction of your Mother's clan."

Hearing those words back then made something inside me click, and a scene appeared in my head, one that I had forgotten about, no, maybe I just acted as if I had forgotten. Inside of the dream where the two men were fighting, I saw it, Mom and Dad running away—Escaping that terrible scene as the people behind them guarded their back, helping them get away.

At that moment, I realized that my dream wasn't really a dream, but a memory that showed me the end of Mom's clan. I couldn't handle the truth back then and ended up fainting.

●●●

I woke up again late that night in my bed with tears flowing down the sides of my face. Learning the truth, I felt a mix of relief, sadness, and anger.

I was relieved that my parents managed to escape that tragedy and that I hadn't told them about my dreams.

I felt sad for my parents, who had to watch and go through all of that in person. I felt sad for those that died, remembering their pained expressions and broken bodies.

Anger, I felt so much anger in my heart at the time, that I thought that it would swallow me whole. Even now, thinking about that dream, I can feel the anger rising inside me. I'm angry at the Royal Family, who put my parents through all that. I'm angry at the people who destroyed Mom's clan and killed her people. Remembering their faces, I can understand and feel the anger of the people who died that day.

'I want payback-'

'I want to get revenge on those people-'

'The ones that brought my parents pain-'

'The ones who killed the members of Mom's clan-'

'Especially him-'

'The tall man, the one who caused it all-'

'I want to kill him!'

That night my desire for revenge was sparked.

●●●

The next day, I woke up to my Dad's shaking. He told me that after I fainted, they talked and decided that they would start training me. Dad would teach me how to fight, and Mom would teach me how to use Qi.

With the new schedule, my life changed, and I didn't spend as much time resting in the house or playing with Mom and Dad. On Saturdays and Sundays, I did those things since they were my break days, but I would train any other day. After breakfast, I cultivated with Mom, and in the afternoon, I practiced hand to hand combat or swordsmanship with Dad. Then at night, I continued my studies with them, learning about different subjects.

●●●

Now, I'm 9 years old. Yesterday, my parents told me that on the 30th of the 12th month, I'll be leaving to take the Entrance Exam for the Mystic Arts Academy, Arcadia in Synthasia, the city of Knowledge and Opportunity.

Dad told me, "There, you'll be able to grow stronger and gain more knowledge under the protection of an old friend of mine."

Clenching my fist, I think to myself, 'There I'll be able to get stronger, strong enough to get payback for Mom's Clan.'