"Augh..." A young red-haired boy around thirteen or fourteen twisted and turned in his sleep, his open wounds becoming slightly agitated by the rough cloth of the cot.

"Where am I!" The boy woke up suddenly and felt a sharp pain all across his body. Most of his wounds had healed, and his eyes slowly adjusted to the light of the morning sun.

His location was unknown, and his magical power was not recovering. He suddenly remembered exactly what had happened up until this point. Previously, he had been caught by an advanced water mage that he had stolen from and was being tortured. After he had blacked out from the pain, he remembered feeling someone searching through his memories. He was too weak to fend off the mind attack, and allowed the wanderer to see whatever he wanted. Then all of a sudden he was here.

"Was it, the Grand Mage?" The boy looked around to see some firewood against the wall, and some kind of cream on the ground.

The boy took the cream and rubbed it against his open wounds, and the cream hardened against the wounds to essentially act as a scab. Once his open wounds had been covered, he staggered around to the cave entrance. Upon looking out, he clearly saw the mountain range of the Northern Mountains, but journeying back to the Bastion of Hope was a pipe dream considering his condition.

There was a narrow path leading down to the ground level, but his feet were shaky and his legs would barely respond despite him wanting to go forward. His stomach growled and he suddenly realized how hungry and thirsty he was.

"No choice." The red-haired boy crawled on his hands and knees onto the narrow ledge and did his best to make his way down. The ground gave way a few times, knocking dust and dirt down below to the ground, and it was a rather long way down.

"If only I had some magical power right now." To the boy, this would have been a simple matter if he could circulate his magical power. However, no matter much he tried, he could not stimulate his magic. It was as if it had all been drained from him, leaving an empty void behind.

Then he remembered what got him here in the first place, hubris and conceitedness.

(If I survive this...) He thought as he slowly crawled forward.

Suddenly, roughly halfway down the slope, the path gave way and the boy began to fall toward the ground.

"No no no!" The boy screamed as he looked down toward the ground. He still had a little over fifty feet before hitting the ground. Without magical power, the odds of him dying suddenly got a lot higher.

"Please! Someone help me!" The boy cried out as he desperately grabbed toward the mountain, his fingers scratching against its hard surface. He was able to slow his descent, but it still was not enough to guarantee his life. Unfortunately for him, the cost of slowing his descending speed was his fingers. As rocks jutted out they caught his fingers and tore them open, exposing the raw flesh and bone inside.

"Kuh!" The boy no longer had time to think about the pain as he attempted to catch the rocks with his feet, possible slowing himself down. His left leg caught between two rocks and snapped his leg backward, leaving him dangling upside down while rocks pummeled him from above.

After a blow to the head, he again passed out.

A few hours later.

The boy came to and saw he was now at the bottom of the mountain, laying on the ground. His leg was clearly broken, twisted in the wrong direction, and he could no longer feel his hands. Even moving his head became particularly difficult, as he was half covered in dirt and rocks.

"If only I was not so greedy." The boy did not try to blame the Grand Mage, or the water mage that had tortured him. Ultimately, he believed he was in charge of his own destiny, and had blindly thought that he was better than other people. This path lead him to where he is now, which was dying in a rock slide with no clear escape.

His body groaned under the pressure of the rocks settling around his stomach and waist. The pain was almost unbearable, but he knew that if he passed out right now he would most likely not wake up again.

Gathering every ounce of strength within himself, he took his one good leg and began shoveling the dirt away from his body, shifting his weight to his side to move the rocks.

When he had finally gotten far enough away from the rocks, he focused on the sounds around him. The sound of birds and insects could be heard from everywhere, but he focused harder. Nearby a stream of water could be heard trickling its way through the forest, and some beasts could be heard roaming around.

The boy began crawling toward the water source, leaving a trail of blood and dirt behind him. The open wounds on his chest and legs re-opened as he dragged himself closer and closer to the sound.

Upon reaching the river, he began spooning mouthfuls of water into his mouth, not even stopping to look around and see if he was in immediate danger. The sweet taste of the water swam from his mouth to his stomach, nourishing every cell in his body. He could feel that despite not having magical power to circulate, his body was slowly being pieced back together.

"Who treads within my domain." An unknown voice assaulted the red-haired boy, sending shivers down his spine.

"I apologize for my intrusion, I did not know this was your territory." The boy could not even lift his head to see who he was speaking to. "I am injured, I only ask you to allow me some water until I can move. I will then leave."

"Hmph. I can smell your fear, I can guess that you were quite close to perishing. The stench of the death lingers on you, and there is something else there. Something I cannot see through." The unknown voice seemed to trail off at the end. "Only those who are close to death can enter this mystical realm, hidden within the folds of your world and Calcaros."

The boy was unsure what to say, but he did not get permission to drink more water so he did not dare move his hand.

"Now that you have drank this water of mine, you will forever be thirsty for it. It will eventually drive you mad." The unknown voice sounded remorseful.

From being on the verge of death, to now being told he would slowly be driven mad. The red-haired boy cursed his terrible luck as he attempted to look up at who he was talking to.

Sitting on a large rock in the middle of the river was a majestic albino Elk. It's antlers were several times larger than it's body, and they were adorned with moss and vines which dangled carelessly in front of it's face.

"Yes, boy, I am the master of this realm, you can call me Elik. This was the name entrusted to me by the Lord of The Hunt." The Elk nodded it's head toward the boy who finally matched eyes with it.

"Greetings to you, Elik. My name is Gya. I come from the Bastion of Hope, a city of humans settled within the Northern Mountains." Gya placed his forehead gently on the ground, a signal that he had no ill intentions.

"Bastion of Hope. I have not heard about this place, but that is not uncommmon. The affairs of the other worlds have no bearing on this realm." Elik looked to his left as he spoke. "We have another guest."

Gya watched as a red star lion appeared as if out of thin air and crawled toward the river, it's body covered in bloody scars as it bled out slowly.

Just before the lion could reach the water, it collapsed and passed away.

"Perhaps this fate is better than if it had drank the water." The Elk look sorrowfully at the lion.

As the lion took it's last breath, a white light appeared around it's body and disappeared quickly. The lion had a peaceful face, like it had finally reached the end of a long journey.

(If I had died, would I look as peaceful as this beast?) Gya thought to himself as he crawled toward the lion.

"What are you doing?" Elik glanced toward Gya whom was crawling toward the lion.

"Should I not bury it, give it's strength back to the Earth-Mother? This was what I was taught at the Bastion of Hope. We do not take more than we need, and we offer our prayers for their sacrifice." Gya remembered all the times he had selfishly killed magical beasts without a second thought, never offering a prayer for their safe passage to the great beyond. Now he was in the territory of a great beast, of course he would show his duties.

"You have been taught well, however this realm has little connection to the Earth-Mother. The strength of that lion has already been passed on to me. Normally, I would just absorb it's body, but I have communicated your intentions to it. It said it would be grateful if you consumed it to restore your strength." Elik created a spirit image of the red star lion that had just passed away.

The spirit image was ethereal, the distinguishing marks and scars gone from it's body. The spirit image gently nudged Gya's body, pulling him closer to the corpse.

"Thank you." Gya said as he placed his hand on the spirit image. The lion did not move as the boy touched the tufts of fur around the lion's neck.

"There is no fire in this realm. You must consume it's flesh raw. Leave only the bones behind. Anything more and you will have insulted the lion." The albino Elk rested his head against the rock, as if he was tired of talking.

Gya had no more words, as he slowly began eating the raw flesh of the lion. The spirit image looked on, proud and watchful, like a guardian spirit protecting Gya.

When there was nothing left but the bones and demonic core of the red star lion, the Elk again raised it's head.

"Why do you hesitate." Elik watched as the red-haired boy held the demonic core in his hand.

"There was an old story, in the Bastion of Hope. One of the first mages to wield magic, was among the first to find out that magical beasts had cores. The essence of their power was held within each core. As they killed and consumed, gathered power, the color would turn from a simple grey to blue and then green and red, purple to black. The size would also increase, telling you how powerful of a beast it was. He tried consuming the core, to take the power into his own, but a human body is not compatible with a magical beast. The core dispersed all of it's primal energy and ripped the mage from the inside out. It was a cautionary tale for mages, a warning..." Gya looked at the red core.

"Why not find out for yourself." The Elk snorted and offered little help in influencing the boy's decision.

"What would happen if I consume this demonic core?" Gya pleaded with the Elk, as the red lion looked at the boy gently.

"Eat the core, and I shall allow you to become one with this realm. You will be a protector of the veil between life and death. A sentinel to defend my physical body. That is my offer." The Elk looked at the bones of the red star lion as they slowly disappeared into nothing.

"If I do not?" Gya looked at the red star lion spirit image, scratching at the tuft of hair behind it's ear.

"Then the desire to drink from my water will consume you until you go mad. Become my defender, and I will forcefully suppress your desire for the Waters of Life." The Elk was no longer laying on the rock, but stood up from it's original position. It was several times larger than a typical Elk, towering over the lake like an ancient God.

Gya looked at the red star lion, looking for an answer. The lion spirit image pushed it's nose against Gya's hand, pushing it closer to his mouth.

"Okay, I trust you." Gya answered as he consumed the core.

All of a sudden, his vision went white.