Dissent of Darkness

(Insert Artwork Here)

By: David Crandall

Cast 

David Moonwolf (main character): Age 17, height: 5’11”, weight: 180 pounds, hair color: Blue, eye color: Blue.  David Moonwolf was found outside of Asgard village 2 years ago with no memory of his past. Now he is just a normal village boy that dreams of becoming a knight of the grand Theocracy of the Seraphran to explore the world and help those without power, trying not worrying about his past anymore however he still has a haunting feeling about it. He relies on instinct and emotion when it comes to making decisions and plans, however only seems right during right-now situations. He trains everyday in hopes of realizing this dream. However destiny has other plans for him and it will change his view of the world and of himself. 

Zeal Thailhart: Age 17, height: 5‘10“, weight: 175 pounds, hair color: Light brown, eye color: Dark brown. David’s best-friend and right hand man. Zeal also wants to join the Seraphran army as a knight like David and sees him as a rival in almost all things, especially training. His reasons for doing so is to obtain power and fame, much different that his rival. He tends to follow David around the village and out to train where he usually helps David out when he needs it but also sometimes makes things a lot worse. A loyal friend but has a strong will that makes him very stubborn. 

Azar Leonstone: Age 14, height: 4’11”, weight: 85 pounds, hair color: Silver-red, eye color: Light red with blue pupils. Despite how young Azar is for an elf he has a good understanding of many forms of Magi. This is due to his home training by his older sister, Luza. Both he and his older sister are elves and as such are adept at learning and mastering Magi. Azar is another good friend of David; however unlike David he makes all of his decisions based on logic, and is almost always right. However for those rare times that he is wrong, he denies ever being so and claims he helped get to the correct conclusion, even if he was completely against it. Azar loves reading and furthering his mastery of the Magi…however this is mostly because he is forced to study most of the day by his sister, leaving him little time to play outside. He spends what little of his free time he has with David where he hangs out, helps David with his training, or argues. 

Luza Leonstone: Age 21, height: 5’8“, weight: 105 pounds, hair color: Red-silver, eye color: Deep red with blue pupils. Azar’s older sister. She is incredibly smart, beautiful, and powerful for her age for any race on Nilakris. Luza is a powerful Magi user; however she can beat even the biggest of men with the blink of an eye without it. She has a very short temper and because of this she will often hit people who tick her off or display a kind of stupidity with enough force that could shatter a stone wall. This often turns out to be Azar or David. Luza trains her younger brother at home, not letting him go to the school due to her belief that the school doesn’t have the students study enough and thinks it breeds idiots. She doesn’t like Azar hanging out with David because she sees him as a bad influence. She may seem strict towards Azar, but she does, sometimes, show her sisterly love. 

Jessica Nola: Age: 17, height: 5’6”, weight: 120 pounds, hair color: Sandy blond, eye color: Hazel. Jessica is a good friend of David’s. She studies healing arts with Luza as was as trains with David every now and then in sword techs. She has a crush on David and often gives hints about it, but no one seems to catch on. Because of this, she tries to be with him as much as possible, healing any wounds he gets during his training, even the smallest of scratches.

Boyd Harkin: Age: 43, height: 6”1’, weight: 240 pounds, hair color: Dark brown, eye color: Light blue. Boyd is the guy to go to if you have a question about anything. He has incredible physical strength and cuts most of the fire wood for the village, which he just calls training. He is a father figure to David and has mentored him since he came to the village two years ago, attempting to teach David what he knows. 

“Mayor”: Age 53, height: 5‘4“, weight: 250 pounds, hair color: Light grey-brown, eye color: Grey blue. The Mayor of Asgard, the village which David was found and has lived in since 2 years ago. The Mayor spends most of his time in his building or giving town speeches, other than that he is rarely seen out in public. He also shows much interest in David, but no one knows why... 

Zaskar Zikan (main bad guy): Age??, height: 6‘9“, weight: ??, hair color: ??, eye color: ??. The ancient Emperor of Darkness, he was just one rebel faction away from conquering the whole world, when a troublesome kid and his friends began to fight back and were doing better than Zaskar thought they would. Eventually these kids brought the downfall of Zaskar and his Empire. This is all according to the legend passed down from  many generations.

The Nili (Nigh-Lee): Age: 19, Height: 5’9”, Weight: 145 pounds, hair color: Blond , eye color: Crystal blue. The Nili is the leader of the Theocracy of Seraphran, chosen by the Goddess Sera. The current Nili is the youngest since the Nili 100 years ago. His real name is Alexander Estead, but ever since he became Nili, everyone calls him “Your holiness”. Although the Nili is young, his sister, Esther, and brother, Vergil, guide him and advise him. He rules the Seraphran with authority and kindness.

Esther Estead: Age: 24, Height: 5’10”, Weight: 126 pounds, hair color: Light brown , eye color: Green. Esther is the sister to the Nili, Alexander. She is a Grand Cardinal and is in control of the secret forces and offers her advice to Alexander when he needs it. The force she has takes orders only from her, the Tura unit. The Tura unit is hand selected by Esther and each has their special ability.

Vergil Estead: Age: 25, Height: 6‘1“, Weight: 185 pounds, hair color: Silver , eye color: Dark Blue. Vergil is the older brother to the Nili, Alexander. He is a Grand Cardinal and is control of the defense of the Seraphran Empire. He offers his advice to his younger brother but it is often rash yet effective. However Alexander only really listens to him when his sister isn’t around.

Laharl Deste: Age: 11, Height: 4‘8“, Weight: 111 pounds, hair color: Dark brown, eye color: Crimson. Laharl was a scout for the oncoming Zikyrain forces and has a deep hatred for humans for some reason. He was found by David and Zeal when they were sparing. Laharl attacked them but was wounded by David, who then brought him to Asgard where Luza healed him. The reason for his unprovoked attacked still unknown to them.

Edna Deste: Age 11, Height 4‘7“, Weight: 91 pounds, hair color: Dark Brown, eye color: Crimson. Laharl’s twin sister, she follows him where ever he goes, despite his wish for her to stay at their home. She follows him the day he got wounded by David, but she doesn’t hate him for doing so. She then follows them to Asgard and finds her brother and convinces him to let her stay by him. She doesn’t seem to share her brother’s hatred for humans…

Groups/Organizations/Races/Places:

Nilakris: The world in which the story takes place, has five nations on it that consist of  Tyvuge, Yuval, Seraphran, Enidow, and Dublin.

Zikyrain (Zi-kay-re-in): the races that Zaskar was the leader of during the time of the Hero‘s legend in the Land of Tyvuge. Most of the Zikyrain were converted to warriors and Magi users for Zaskar‘s armies. There were three races that made up the Zikyrain. The first and main race is the Lugaru, a wolf demi-human with the appearance of a human but with the ears, eyes, claws, fangs, and tail of a wolf. The second race is the Nekomata, a cat demi-human with the appearance of a human but with the ears, eyes, claws, fangs, and tail of a cat. The last and the rarest of the races are the Dydra, a forest demi-human with the appearance of a human but with hair that has leaves growing off from it, as well as light green skin. After the fall of Zaskar, the Zikyrain were looked down upon by most of the other races, especially humans, and were seen in their eyes as nothing more than animals, some people even hunted them in their homeland up to the north, that is until the current Nili of the Seraphran Empire, which rules most of Tyvuge now, put the order of protection and acknowledging the Zikyrain as an equal race who shouldn’t be judged now for what happened in the distant past. This doesn’t make all humans respect this order though, and in current times the elves and dwarfs have been accepting the Zikyrain as friends.

Tyvuge: The homeland of the Lugaru, Nekomata, and the Dydra. These three races are collectively called Zikyrain. The nation itself is located in the north of Nilakris. Most of it is now under Seraphran rule but is recognized as a nation and is protected by the Seraphran Empire by the order of the Nili. However many humans hate and hunt down any Zikyrain that is outside their nation while the Elves and Dwarfs befriend the Zikyrain.

Elves: The Elves are adept at Magi and its uses. They normally live in the country of Yuval. Elves can be told apart from humans by their odd color hair and their pointy ears. Elves have been known to be over 1000 years old, but Elves that old are rare and are wise with very powerful magi. Most Elves don’t like half-blood Elfin, but as for the reason why is still a mystery.

Yuval: The homeland of the Elves. It is covered with forest and dotted with lakes. It lies to the west of the Seraphran Empire.

Dwarfs: The Dwarfs are rarely seen on the main continent, but their skills in smith work is in high demand by most humans and even the Elves. The Dwarfs like to work for the Zikyrain, for they believe that the Zikyrain are equals just like the Humans and Elves.

Dublin: The Island continent and Homeland of the Dwarfs. It lies to the east of the Seraphran Empire. Most of the upper surface of Dublin is nothing but mountains and is uninhabitable by the other races, but is perfect for Dwarfs as they live mainly underground. The Dwarfs are said to of created a tunnel that connects Dublin to the main land underground under the sea and travel there to sell their skillful crafts of metal work, mostly selling swords or armor.

The Seraphran Empire: The major country of the world, its Empire takes up about 43% of the land mass on Nilakris and lies in the center of it. Its ruler is the Nili, chosen by the goddess Sera.

Enidow (In-ni-Dow): A small Kingdom to the south of the Seraphran Empire that has resisted the Empire’s absorption for ages. There are Humans, Elves and even some Dwarfs that live there in Harmony. The village of Asgard lies in it.

Asgard: The village that has become the home of David Moonwolf and all his current memories are of it. The residents show him kindness and help him out whenever he needs it, and he repays the favors in any way he can. The villagers of Asgard are very friendly and peaceful, the only warriors within it are David, Zeal, and Boyd.

The Holy Knights: The Seraphran Empire’s elite troops. They follow the direct orders of the Nili. 

The Tura Unit: The secret forces of the Seraphran Empire and they only take order from Grand Cardinal Esther. There are 7 members in the group who only go by their code-names. Professor (Age: 24, Height: 6‘1“, Weight: 145 pounds) who is very intelligent and a master tactician. Convict (Age: 30, Height: 5‘10“, Weight: 220 pounds) who is moderately strong and is a good shot with a long bow. Blade Slinger (Age: ??, Height: 6‘7“, Weight: 320 pounds) who is very good with most, if not all, weapons. Ghost (Age: 27, Height: 5‘5“, Weight: 105 pounds) who can make himself invisible and is very proficient in espionage. Fury (Age: 32, Height: 5‘8.5“, Weight: 210 pounds) who has great physical strength and battle skills. Mimic (Age: 20, Height: 5‘10“, Weight: 135 pounds) who can replicate the techniques of his enemies and allies. And Master (Age 89, Height: 5‘0“ Weight: 85 pounds) who is said to possess the prowess of all of the other members and taught most of them how to draw out their powers.

The Cruz Unit: A mysterious group that was created by recent discovery of abnormal humans and elves that demonstrated beyond normal powers when they were infants. 5 of such were found and were raised by the Cruz unit members. As they were raised, they were monitored, being studied and tested. After 14 years, the five now teens rebelled, no longer wishing to be treated so differently and escaped with the help of a few defectors of the Cruz unit. None know where they are now or if they are alive, all that is known are the code names for the 5 that were raised. Nightwolf, Shadow-wolf, Raywolf, Solwolf, and Moonwolf.

Elements: There are 8 elements within the world that are used in magi and as affinities for all living things. These are Darkness, Light, Fire, Water, Wind, Lighting, Earth, and Ice.
Work on strength and weakness table later:
Prologue

	This is the ancient legend of the heroes of Nilakris... Long ago, an evil leader of the ancient Zikyrain Empire by the name of Zaskar laid siege upon the world. Zaskar and his armies wrecked havoc and slowly began to take over the world, crushing all those who dared defied them. Just as all hope seemed lost, a human and his band of companions rose up to fight against the Dark Empire. As they battled, they were granted great powers by a mysterious being of light who they believed was Sera, the goddess of this world. With these new-found powers, the band of heroes was able to slay numerous Dark Generals, vanquishing army after army of darkness, until they had vexed Zaskar to the point where he felt he had to kill them himself. Zaskar led the Heroes to his Underground palace where he had an ambush ready to kill them all. However, the leader of the Heroes sensed that it was a trap, warned his companions to stay out of the palace before venturing in alone, saving their lives in doing so.

	The leader then went into the Palace of Darkness, fully aware of the fate that awaited him in the depths below. After defeating many ambushes, the Hero found Zaskar and they began their fight. After hours of combat, both Zaskar and the Hero became mortally wounded. Zaskar tried to enter into a regenerative state so that he would live and rise again while the Hero would perish. The Hero, knowing what little time he had left, used the last trick up his sleeve, creating a powerful spell to seal Zaskar in a crystal prison that would stop Zaskar from healing and sealing him inside forever. In doing so, the Hero had used up all his strength in doing so and only managed to get out of the Palace, where he died soon after seeing his friends. His friends grieved and so did the heavens as it rained lightly. His death was mourned throughout the lands he had saved, and his heroism and self-sacrifice was to be forever remembered. His deeds have now fallen into legend that has been passed down from generation to generation. Peace reigned in the world... 

	However, after many years, a power-hungry human with good intent found the ancient battle site of the Hero and Zaskar. This human had sought out Zaskar’s strength in hopes of using it to save lives and released him from his prison then took Zaskar’s spirit into him. However, Zaskar’s spirit was far too powerful for the human to control. It consumed his soul and used his body as a temporary vessel. As soon as Zaskar made a new body for himself, he began to regroup his armies from the remnants of the Zikyrain that have survived the persecution from the other races. Now that Zaskar is freed, the world is again plunged into peril as his armies grow and his powers return. However, there is one who has the power to stop Zaskar, and he is a descendant of both the ancient Hero and of the Darkness. He knows not of his destiny, nor of the powers that lay dormant within him. And now, this story of twisting fates begins...

Chapter One
David Moonwolf

	It was like any other day. Clear skies, cool breeze, everything was perfect. David Moonwolf was sleeping under a tree in his cobalt blue pants and tunic with white boots. His mid-neck length blue hair with downward spikes flowed gently with the wind as his eyelids covered his light blue eyes, his slightly toned body resting in the grass with an oak tree behind him. He continued to rest peacefully through the day, until someone disturbed him, “Hey! David!” it was one of his friends walking towards him and calling out to him. David awoke and sat up as he said, “What is it Zeal?” his eyes were half open as he complained to his friend, “Can’t you see I was sleeping?” David looked through sleepy eyes at his friend and saw that Zeal was wearing a pair of red pants and crimson tunic with brown boots. David also saw Zeal had short and spiky light brown hair that seemed immune to the wind with hazel eyes staring back at David, Zeal’s slightly muscle bound body towards him.

	After a short while, Zeal got close enough to David to talk normally, “Yeah, sorry about that” he said, rubbing the back of his head with a grin on his face, “I just thought you might of wanted to spar with me on this perfect day!”
	David looked at Zeal with a questionable look and said, “Do you have an ambush waiting for me again?” Zeal’s face quickly changed from a grin to a shock as he replied instantly with “No, of course not! What would give you that idea?”
	“Well…” Began David, closing his eyes to think, “The last four spars we had, you had ambushes waiting for me…”
	Zeal was shocked that David had remembered that and it clearly showed in his face. “Well, not this time,” said Zeal, his expression changing to that of a big smile and pointed to David then at himself, “it’s just you and me!”
	David let out a sigh of relief as he said, “Good, I don’t want to have to fight Azar or Jessica again…” 
	Zeal chuckled with a cruel teasing smile as he said, “I had Jessica ambush you once, and you didn‘t even try to attack her!”
	The statement made David blushed a little and said, “Well of course I didn‘t, she is a really good friend!”
	Zeal just chuckled a little more and said, “Oh? She's just a really good friend huh? Well, whatever you say.” Zeal shrugged and shook his head before he continued, “So do you want to spar or not?”
	David stood up and said, “Yeah, sure…“ David brushed off any lose grass and dirt he had on his pants as he continued, “Just let me get the practice swords.” Soon after, he started walking out to his house with Zeal following behind him closely. 

	While walking to David‘s house, Zeal just had to ask something that was on his mind, “So, David…“ Zeal‘s face had a serious look on it,”Do you remember anything from before you got here two years ago?”
	David had almost forgotten that he couldn’t remember anything before two years ago and said, “No,” David’s eyes appeared sadden, “Nothing has come back to me. The furthest back that I can remember is the Mayor finding me bloodied out in the forest to the north of the village…everything before that is still just a blur or a blank in my mind.”
	“Oh,” said Zeal, his eyes also filled with sorrow for David‘s plight, “That bites…you still can’t remember your past…that has to be hard, you know not knowing yourself and all…”
	David thought for a bit and looked at Zeal as he said with a smile, “Not really,” David then looked back ahead of him, “and something tells me that I don’t really want to know anyways. Besides, I’m me, no matter what. And I have some great friends here in the village, like you, Azar, and Jessica.”
	Zeal laughed at himself and said, “Yeah, your right! No matter what happens, you’re you and you have a good life here.”
	Soon after Zeal said that, they reached David’s home. David didn’t mind that his house was more like a small shack than an actual house and it could only hold the basic essentials for life, as well as a place for his sword and a few practice swords. David went inside while Zeal waited, and after a little while David came back out with two practice swords in his hands, tossed one to Zeal and said, “Alright, lets head to our sparing grounds.“ Zeal gave a nod in agreement and began their walk to the northern forest. The area that they spared in was in a small clearing in the woods with some of the trees on the outer edge of the clearing showing the scars from the two’s training swords missing their targets, showing how fierce they had spared.
	“Ok,” said David turning towards Zeal “are you ready?”
	Zeal nodded as he readied the sword and took his fighting stance with determination in his eyes as he replied, “Yeah, I’m better than the last time we spared David…I’ll be victorious!”
	David smiled and took his fighting stance, and with that they started. Zeal charged at David and tried to stab him in the chest with the wooden blade, but David smoothly and quickly moved out of the way while unleashing a counter attack, but Zeal managed to avoid it with a quick dive. Then Zeal maneuvered around David and unleashed a barrage of slashes against David. David blocked most of the slashes and avoided the rest but was getting pushed back until he was against a tree. Zeal took this opportunity and increased the ferocity of his attacks. David couldn’t take too much more of it, as soon Zeal would break through his defense and so took a small opening to leap up and kicked off the tree, going over Zeal and tried to slash Zeal’s shoulder as he did it, but missed.

	As David landed he heard a rustling in the bushes and looked over in it‘s general direction, but Zeal saw David distracted and slashed down on him on the choler bone. “Ow!” yelled David at the time of impact.
	Zeal smirked as he said, “That’s what happens when you let your guard down!”
	David looked into Zeal’s eyes with annoyance and truth in his own as he said, “I heard something in the bushes…and it didn‘t sound like an animal.”
	Zeal saw the look in David’s eyes and knew he wasn’t lying. Zeal sighed as he said, “Fine, let’s go check it out.” 

	So, soon they both went towards the noise and waded through the undergrowth. Eventually they saw what looked to be a wolf low to the ground, until they got a better look at it. What they found looked more like a human boy a little more than a wolf up close. David observed the 11 year old boy silently to see that he had the ears of a wolf on top of his head. He also had the eyes, claws, and even the tail that all seemed similar to a wolf‘s, and he was wearing a dark brown, almost black vest over a similar long sleeve shirt as well as what appeared to be pants, but they were made of strange material that didn‘t look like anything that David had seen before. The boy also had short dark brown hair and crimson eyes.
	The child soon noticed David and Zeal and turned towards them with a snarled and with anger in his eyes, “Humans…” mumbled the boy. Shortly after, the boy charged with wolf-like speed at David and pounced on him, catching him off guard and quickly pinning him to the ground. The child then drew out his claws and readied his arm for a killing strike, however David drew his hidden dagger and unconsciously stabbed the child in the chest about two inches from his heart, the surprise of the event and fear for his life in his eyes. The child’s eyes went wide and the sheen in them disappeared as he collapsed on top of David, leaving Zeal stunned by the event and said, “Well…that was interesting…and why do you have that dagger with you anyways?”
	David pushed the kid off of him and said, “I always carry this dagger with me…it’s the only thing I have from my past…” David looked at the dagger closely, it was a light blue dagger and it had the symbol of a moon on one side of the dagger on the center of the hilt and a wolf on the other with fresh blood covering it. David then looked at the kid and thought ‘this kid…why did he attack us? And…why does he seem familiar to me? I know I‘ve never seen anything like him before…so, just what is he? ‘David then said, “We should help him…”
	Zeal was surprised and angered by what David said and replied with, “Do you hear what you’re saying?!? “ Zeal then pointed at the boy, “He just tried to kill us!” Zeal lowered his arm, “…Well mostly you…”
	David didn’t know why he wanted to save that kid either…he just didn’t know, maybe it was sympathy? David’s eyes were filled with confusion as he looked at the ground in front of Zeal as he said, “We don‘t know why he attacked us…he may just have misunderstood us to be a threat or something…” Zeal looked at David with worry and whispered, “Your heart is too soft…“ Then sighed and started to speak normally, “Fine, let’s take him back to the village, maybe Luza or Jessica can help him.” David picked up the kid in his arms and headed back to Asgard with Zeal beside him.

	As David and Zeal carried the kid to the village Azar had spotted them and made his way over towards them, oblivious to the body that David was carrying as he said, “Hey guys! Are you back from training already?” David saw the 11 year old boy and his light red eyes with blue pupils and his neck length Silver-red hair that was a little spiky waving behind him as he walked, wearing a cobalt blue shirt, shorts, and shoes that all had white trimming. “Hey! “ Azar yelled again as he ran up to David and Zeal, noticing David carrying something and was curious to see what it was, however he was shocked by what he saw. “W-what happened?”
	David was still confused as to why he wanted to help the kid in the first place as he said, “This kid attacked us as we were sparing…I stabbed him with my dagger before he could really hurt me…Where is Jessica or your sister? We have to get him healed now or he might die!” Zeal didn’t appeared worried at all during this and thought about dropping the kid right there, but his kind nature got in the way from doing so.
	Azar became nervous when he realized the severity of the situation that he was now apart of and said, “I-I don’t know where Jessica is, b-but I know where my sister is, I’ll go get her!” Azar then ran off in the direction of his house to get his sister, Luza.
	However David just couldn’t wait and said to Zeal, “We may not have time to wait for Luza to get here, let’s follow Azar.”
	Zeal didn’t like helping this kid since he did try to kill David and it showed as plain as day in his expression and the way he talked as he said, “Meh, fine…”
	With that they proceeded to follow Azar, but with the kid’s weight made it so David couldn‘t move as fast as Azar, making them fall behind a little however not far enough to lose sight of Azar as he sped through the village. As they moved through the village, some of the villagers saw the kid. Their whispers were barely heard by David, most of them were worried or fearful, unsure of what had happened or what my happen.

	They finally got to Azar’s house, seeing Azar run hastily inside. David and Zeal soon followed him inside as they heard Azar trying to explain what was going on, “S-Sis, you’ve got to hurry! David and Zeal found an injured boy and-” He was cut off when his sister said, “I can see that, they’ve already brought him in”, David noticed the young woman’s low-shoulder length red-silver hair that was a little spiky at the ends and she was wearing a light blue mantel over her topaz blue shirt, she also wore topaz blue pants and white shoes as she stood firm, showing her strength and beauty. He also took a quick glance at the inside of the house, it was fairly simple. The front door lead into a living room space with Azar’s bedroom to David’s left and Luza’s to the right. Ahead of David and beyond another door was the kitchen and bathroom. The living room walls were effectively bookcases that reached all the way to the ceiling, leaving no visible evidence of an actual wall being behind them. The bookcases were stuffed full of books, each read by Luza, and about one bookcase was full of the ones that Azar had read. In the corner to the front left of David was a lamp that was bright enough to light up the room and then some. This took a mere second to recognize by David, as the room rarely ever changed and he had been in it too many times to count.  Luza looked at David and said, “Ok, put him down over here.” she pointed at Azar’s bed through his open door, the gesture brought dread upon the owner of the bed’s face. David walked into the room and laid the boy on Azar’s oak bed as Luza went to grab her staff. While she was gone, David took a look at Azar’s bedroom. It was simple with the oak framed bed against the walls in the upper right hand corner from the door with an oak study desk and chair just beside it on the right wall. To the left was another pair of book cases, both crammed with books as well and refused the wall any light that was given off by the window above Azar’s bed. It wasn’t too long before Luza returned and walked over to the boy, moving the desk chair to the side of the bed before taking a seat so she could heal easier. David took a glimpse at her staff, it looked like it too was made from oak and had a light red colored gem attached at the top of it.
	She removed the boys vest and looked at the wound for a little bit then said, “Hmm…he’s lost a lot of blood but I think I can still save him” she then held her staff over the wound and a warm light began to emit out of it’s tip as Luza began casting a healing spell. While she was healing, David picked up and took a closer look at the boys vest. It was soft like silk, but it was also durable as he noticed the size of the dagger‘s attack. David would have thought it might have been leather or silk if it had not been so flexible while also being durable. 
	Just then Jessica walked in the room. David looked at her and saw that she had just under shoulder length light brown hair that was smooth and straight and that she wore a teal one-piece skirt that went down to just above her knees and wore dark blue tight paints and shirt under it and dark teal shoes, she also had blue eyes and she was as thin as a rail. As she entered she said, “Ms. Leonstone, I have a-” she stopped speaking when she saw David and Zeal in the room as well as Luza using a healing spell on some boy, “What’s wrong with the boy Ms. Leonstone?”
	Luza didn’t even look at Jessica as she said, “I don’t know all the details, ask David or Zeal they brought him here.” David looked at her with sorrow in his expression and said, “He attacked me and Zeal when we were sparing out in the forest. I had my dagger with me and defended myself from him. I carried him back because…” he looked down to the floor and Jessica tilted her head to the left a little with curiosity as Zeal said with a little bit of anger in his tone, “He’s not sure why. I wanted to leave the kid where he was.” Jessica gave him a mean look for about two seconds then went back to being worried about the boy.

Chapter 2
The Boy

	About 25 minutes later Luza pulled back her staff and said, “There, the wound is healed and he should be fine. He just needs to rest now.” David and Jessica let out a sigh of relief and Zeal just left without saying a word.
	Almost as soon as Zeal left, a 11 year old girl came in while yelling, “Laharl! Are you in here?!” Everyone in the room looked at her as the noise of commotion could be heard out in the village, she looked a lot like the boy and wore similar clothes, except she had shoulder length hair of the same color and wore a skirt instead of pants. She also had similar colored eyes and body structure, but given their age appearance, it was no surprise. 
	David spoke for the group as he said, “Who are you? And who is Laharl?”
	The girl seemed to be infuriated by the very sight of David as she said, “You! You carried Laharl here didn’t you? Where is he!” she then saw the boy on the bed and ran to him with a worried look on her face. When she got to the bed side she pushed Luza out of her way, almost knocking her over, and kneeled beside him and said softly with worry, “Oh Laharl…what happened to you?”
	Luza regained her balance and looked at David and said, “Should we tell her?” David looked at Jessica for confirmation and she nodded.
	David gave a sigh as he told the girl what had happened. She looked at David with sad eyes then back to Laharl and said, “Oh Laharl…why do you do such foolish things to make humans have to defend themselves?” She then stood up and faced David as she said with a bow, “I’m sorry for my brother’s actions…“she stood upright again as she continued, “my name is Edna…my brother and I are Lugaru of the Zikyrain, as I’m sure you could tell by our features…” she reached up with her left hand and rubbed the tip of her left ear.
	Luza sat down on a nearby chair that was by Azar’s desk and said, “Yes yes, it’s quite obvious.”
	Mean while, David’s face went blank as he said, “uh…who are the Zikyrain again?” This made Edna hang her head down like she was forgotten while everyone else sighed, causing David to look around as he said, “What? Should I know?” Azar walked in front of David and said, “Don’t you know the legend? Or even anything about Tyvulge? You know, the one about the ancient hero that gave his life to stop the evil emperor, Zaskar, of the races known as the Zikyrain?” David scratched his head and said, “Oh, now I remember. But weren’t the Zikyrain basically exiled after many years?” Luza nodded as she said, “Yes, the Seraphran empire has let them be in their homeland of Tyvuge and they have protection from humans there, but they rarely ever leave due to humans hunting them outside their land, which leads to the real question…” she looked at Edna, “Why are two Zikyrain here in the southern country of Enidow?”
	Edna’s expression showed that she worried as she said, “I have been following my brother…but as to why he is here…” her eyes grew even more worried for her brother as she slightly tilted her head down.
	Luza closed her eyes and said, “Ok, we’ll just have to wait for him to wake up then, and ask him when he does.” David stepped forward and before he could say anything Luza opened her eyes and looked right into his as she said, “Yes I know, when he wakes up he might attack you again. You should leave here, maybe go back to your home and rest yourself.” David’s eyes dropped down a little bit, but the emotion seemed like sadness even though he had nothing to be sad about and started for the door. 

	However before he could get there, someone walked in. “I heard from the villagers that a strange kid was brought here.” The new arrival was the Mayor of Asgard. David looked at him and saw that the Mayor had short balding grey hair that he tried to comb over and a mustache, he was also cubby and wearing a black coat over a white shirt along with black paints and shoes. Shortly after the Mayer walked in, Luza slammed her fist into Azar’s desk and said with an infuriated tone, “Doesn’t anyone know how to knock anymore? I‘m tired of people barging in today!” Jessica and Edna jumped a little bit and Azar quickly hid behind David, however David was going to try and hide from Luza’s wrath as well, but he didn’t want to abandon Azar, and thought, ‘I forgot about how short her temper is, and how scary she gets when she’s made…’ After a while, Luza sighed and said, “So what brings you here again Mr. Mayor?”
	The Mayor was a little surprised by Luza’s outburst and remained silent for a little bit before saying, “Uh, well some villagers said they saw David and Zeal carry an injured stranger here…and…” his trailed off when he saw Edna, he then looked at David and walked to him and said with a little bit of worry in his voice, “Can I speak with you later in private?” David nodded, “Good…” he looked back over at Edna, “good…” he then looked back over to Luza and said, “I see you have the situation under control, I just thought I should investigate to see if the boy was ok, and with him in your hands, I am sure that he is. Now then, I must be going…“ With those brief words and sudden end of his investigation, he left. 

	Shortly after, Laharl started to wake up which made David a little nervous, after all last time Laharl was conscious he tried to kill him. Laharl saw that he was in a home and was surrounded by humans and two elves. He quickly sat up to try and run away, fearing how many humans there were, but it was clear that as soon as he did so he was stricken with pain. Luza walked to him and tried to make him lie down by putting her hands on his shoulders, pushing him down as she said, “Please take it easy, you still have to rest unless you want your wound to reopen.” David looked on as Laharl resisted and thought, ‘bad idea to resist her…’ and almost as soon as he thought that, Luza punched Laharl in the face and made him lie down.
	Edna stood there with her hands covering her mouth as she saw what Luza did and said, “You didn’t have to do that!”
	Luza looked at her, her hand still in a fist, and said, “I had to make him lie down, and that worked fairly well, didn‘t it?” Laharl noted her quickness to anger as his face stun fiercely with pain and stayed down as he said, “Edna? Are you still following me? And what’s up with this crazy lady?” No sooner than he said that last comment, Luza’s expression change to rage as she slammed her fist into his face again, nearly in the same place as before. This time however, Laharl didn’t stay down and sat up as he said, “Hey! What was that fo-” he was cut off but Luza punching him again in the forehead this time and said, “The first was because you wouldn’t rest, the second for calling me crazy and the third for not resting again!”
	Laharl quickly learned to not aggravate her again as his face felt like it had been hit with a sledge hammer and became quiet as he began to look around to see where he was. It was during this time that his eyes rested on David. David waved nervously as Laharl’s expression changed from curiosity to rage, remembering what had happened. Edna sensed the change and said to him, “No brother…he helped you here so you could be healed, if it wasn’t for him…you’d be…” She was starting to cry at the thought of it.
	Laharl saw his sister sadden by this and said, “I’m sorry sis…It’s just that I do have orders to do…” Luza’s interest was peaked by what he just said and asked, “And just what were you ordered to do?” Laharl looked away from her and said, “Didn’t you tell me to rest?” David, Jessica, and Azar all sighed, because they knew what was going to happen, and it did. Luza punched Laharl on the head again, causing Edna to cover her mouth and gasp…again.
	Edna then got in between Luza and her brother with her arms out to her sides and said, “Please stop hitting my brother!”
	Luza finally sat back down beside the bed as David said with a sigh, “He keeps asking for it…”  Azar also finally came out from behind David and nodded. Jessica just hung her head as she sighed. Luza kept looking at Laharl, expecting an answer, but he remained silent. David stood there waiting for an answer as well as everyone else was now, when he remembered that the Mayor had wanted to meet him in private said, “Well, I better go see what the Mayor wants…See you all later.” He made his way to the door and waved as he left, but Jessica and Azar were the only ones whom waved back.

	Soon after David left Luza’s house, he noticed how late it had gotten as it was dark now and the lights were on in the houses while there was nobody on the streets, this made him think, ‘Wow…time flies when your attacked by some strange kid then helping him…’ He then remembered that the Mayor wanted to see him some time ago and started towards the Mayor’s house. After a while of walking, he found the Mayor’s house, and saw his lights were on so he knew he was still awake. David walked inside and was almost instantly greeted by the Mayor as he said, “Welcome David…how are things back at Luza’s?”
	David smiled as he said, “They are going good for now…the kid evoked Luza’s wrath a couple of times, but he’ll live. Jessica was still there when I left as well.” After he said that, he looked around the room. He noticed that the front door opened right into the Mayor’s main office space that had three other doors, one on each side. In the center of the room was the Mayor’s desk, made from pine that was found in the very south of Enidow and a chair that matched. There were two lamps in the corners of the room behind the Mayor, lighting up the room with a warm glow. There was also two small potted plants in the front of the room also in the corners, David thought they were some kind of fern, but they grew like a bush, making David unsure what kind of plant they really were. The door on David’s left lead to the Mayor’s bed room, the door in front lead to the study, and the door on his right lead to the kitchen and bathroom. All of which David, nor anyone other than the mayor, has laid eyes upon.
	The Mayor nodded and his expression showed that he was serious now as he said, “I need you to go into the Tort Caves and retrieve a round object that will be found on an alter in the back of the cave…”
	David looked at the mayor with a very questionable look as he said, “Why do you need an object form the Tort Caves? They’re infested with monsters and evil…the only stuff found in there are items from the monsters that are used in some common alchemy…”
	 The Mayor nodded and said, “Yes, but the object isn’t for me, it’s for you. I’ll tell you more about it once you get it and another object from Mt. Cruzan as well.”
	David sighed as he said, “You want me to travel to Mt. Cruzan too? That’s right by Seraph, the capital of the Seraphran Empire…it’s going to be a long journey.” He lowered his head, he didn’t like long travels, especially on his own.
	Sensing this, the Mayor smiled and said, “Well you can consider it training, also you won’t be going alone, and I want Luza and Boyd to go with you. It will be a hard trip, so their strength should help out a lot.” He had a smug smile as he pulled on his coat a little, as if giving the sense he was doing this on good will when he had planned it all along.
	David raised his head and said, “Ah, well that would be good. What about the supplies for our journey? I don’t have enough to pay for all of it.” He looked like he was a kid asking his father for some money as he spoke, which is kinda how David felt the Mayor was to him, a father.
	The Mayor gave yet another smile as he put a rather large pouch that gave a sound like it was full of coins onto his desk and said, “This should be enough, go on take it.”
	David gave a grateful smile as he walked up to take the pouch and said, “Thank you.” The words evoked a smile from the mayor that that said ‘you’re welcome’ on its own as David put the pouch away.
	Soon after David did that, the Mayor said, “Alright, you’ll leave tomorrow, I’ll tell Luza and Boyd to meet you at your house. After you meet up with them, get your supplies and head out.”
	David nodded and replied, “Alright, I will.” With that he gave a wave good-bye and received one back from the mayor before David left his office and home.