It was just another day in paradise for Sally, while it may be true that outsiders might not agree with that sentiment, life in the fortress city of Candelabra was as peaceful as she had wanted. Looking out her east window, Sally could already see the city coming to life, people were already bustling about heading to their workstations, she could already smell the scent of freshly baked bread, she wondered what her breakfast today was gonna be, her cook loved to spice things up a little so she never had the same breakfast every day.
Her routine was to wake up, get ready for the day, eat some breakfast that her servants had prepared, and go about her work for the day, keeping tabs on the different factions living in the city and accomplishing her tasks as a representative of the council.
She was particularly looking forward to a house visit she was tasked with today. After eating her breakfast Sally just got out of her home and was excitedly heading towards the giants' residential area. All her excitement went down the drain as she remembered she WAS headed to the giant's part of the neighborhood, and the last time she was there she almost got stepped on by a drunken giant. Sally thought about leaving it for later as she could think of other ways to escape that part of her job, but she remembered one particular thing.
"Edna is back!" her face lit up as she remembered part of the reason she was headed there in the first place. She hummed a tune as she headed to her childhood friend's home with a spring in her step.
Looking at the mixed group of children with smiles on their faces, racing with their friends to get to the school, Sally felt relieved, the children were living a carefree life, Candelabra was providing them with everything they need to enjoy their childhood. Food was plentiful enough that even the poorer families didn't really starve, jobs were readily available for anyone willing to work, heck they were able to study no matter how poor they were as long as they were motivated to.
Sally thought back to the time her grandpa was telling her stories of when the city was first established, everywhere he went, he could feel the depression and hopelessness in the city. Dread and fear were common emotions that were felt everywhere and with their heritage of being a light elf, it was worse for them as they could feel the emotions of people. Many of their clansmen even committed suicide as they could not handle it.
But looking around her, Sally felt happy, they were able to accomplish the dreams of their ancestors, they were able to let everyone live a full life, and with just a bit more, they will be able to fully commit to leading a city separated from chaos and the destruction it brings. Just a bit more she thought.
Sally looked at her childhood friend's home; she could feel a mixture of emotions coming from it, one was of pleasure and another of madness. She already knew what was happening but she already came all this way. She couldn't really turn back; Edna can only blame her bad luck for being related to this problem of her.
*Knock knock*
Sally knocked twice and waited. The emotions inside the house changed, sparking a bit of anger.
*Knock Knock*
Sally tried again, this time knocking harder. The anger inside was about the size of a flame now; it was not appreciating the disturbance, not even one bit. Feeling the anger building up, she had a small laugh, knowing her friend is *very* distressed at the moment, she tried again.
*Knock Knock Knock*
She repeated, adding another for good measure. The emotion inside flared up, and stomping could be heard from the house. The window from the second floor flew open and a hastily dressed woman's upper body popped out.
"WHO IS IT?" Edna shouted out sporting a glare by the door where her untimely guest was standing, Sally gave her a knowing look while she stifled a laugh before she slyly grinned and replied, "I'll give you ten minutes, meet me by the bakery, I'll get you breakfast."
~~~
Back in the forest of the *Origin* continent.
Esbern and the young hunter have been searching the forest for the past week. All traces of their master just disappeared, no scent for the dogs, no footprints, nothing at all. It was like their master became a ghost. When he first pitched that to the team, Millie almost cried, being afraid for their master, but also being afraid of ghosts.
But after a week of searching, all traces would have vanished either way, especially with the rainfall two days ago; there would be no way for him to track their missing master. The only place he would have gone besides the forest would be the sea, but it is dangerous even for ships to traverse the sea surrounding the continent, suicide even. Esbern could only conclude that their master was taken, by whom? He didn't know.
Walking into the estate all faces were looking to him and young Ben, the pair brought hunting dogs they had with them back to the estate. With the looks on their faces, everyone waiting already knows what news they brought back, but they still had hope that it was different from what they were expecting, and so they needed to hear it straight from them.
"Esbern, you're back. Is there any news on the young master?" the old hunter, Burton, asked, taking lead. He didn't want to face the truth but someone had to ask the question.
With a deep breath, Esbern calmed himself before stating, "All traces in the forest has disappeared, there is only one conclusion left." Esbern paused, taking in everyone's gaze "Master Curtis must have been taken, there is no other explanation for him to suddenly vanish." With a heavy tone, Esbern delivered the result of their week-long investigation.
Esbern really wanted to give them hope, but with how much turmoil the continent is in, he couldn't bring himself to. He needed to make them face reality. He needed them stronger for what is to come, especially with what the matron had told him.
~~~
Back to about a month after Curtis fell into the dark, a day after Jacob De Leon was taken to the capital for his trial. And that event really turned down the atmosphere in the estate, Jacob and Martha weren't even allowed to take any guards with them to the trip to the capital, but Sherry followed them either way, but she was sent back by the master himself, for what reason, Esbern didn't know. But, ever since she came back, changes have been happening in the estate. His two friends, Enott, and Kent, a pair of brothers were sent with a couple more guards to the elder children of the house. And just last week they started to buy more and more supplies from other territories, it was like they were stocking up for the winter, just like what bears did.
Esbern just got back from patrolling the forest with his squad and was headed to the pantry when he was called into Curtis' room. Inside, Sherry was looking over their young master, who was currently in a deep sleep. Esbern wanted to ask why he was called there but when he saw the look on Sherry's face, he kept quiet. A minute passed with Sherry looking at Curtis' face before she did anything, she pulled the covers off of Curtis, seemingly looking for something, she covered their young master before she got up and turned to Esbern and said with a grave tone.
"They're coming for us."
"Huh?" Esbern couldn't believe what he heard.
"We need to prepare, they're coming for the young master," Sherry repeated confusing Esbern even more, and so he asked. "Who is coming?" Sherry breathed out a sigh, "It's going to take a while to explain, have a seat." she gestured to the stool beside the bed.
~~~
Since the talk with Sherry, Esbern was appointed as a senior guard of the estate, his predecessor stepped down, and was assigned other tasks, and he left to join the company that was assigned to find the young master's siblings. And so he mobilized the remaining guards and started an even more intense training regiment to prepare them for what is to come, he doubled the guards assigned to patrol, increased the frequency of patrols, and even took an active role in recruiting more.
But even with all his efforts to try and protect everyone, he still failed, the estate was still attacked, he lost friends, colleagues, and all he could do was run. And now with the young master missing, what was his purpose?
Esbern cast his gaze to the people of the estate, Burton the old hunter could only do so much, and so they were depending on him, he was young and in his prime, he needs to take up the challenge and lead them. They were composed of young and old. Few recruits and even fewer trained guards. He didn't want a repeat of what happened at the estate.
He needed to put his training to use, at a young age, Sherry taught him, the guard retinue trained him, he was practically born to support the estate, put every being of his body to use for the De Leon family. And so he decided, he will not fail again, he will keep everyone safe, safe from those monsters. And when the young master comes back, he will be his sword that will dye the land with their enemies', chaos' pawns' blood. And so he decided, he will rally what remains of the De Leon family, he will build a wall that will protect them, and he will cast the spear that will let them take back their home.
~~~
On the other side of the continent, there was a cloaked figure running past streets and alleys, the figure stopped after passing the 5th alley, it hid in one of the corners. the figure pulled back its hood revealing a fair face, she was Curtis' elder sister. Her eyes still as sharp as they were before, her hair was kept in a pony-tail but, it still reached her chest. She kept looking back at the street she came from, looking for something, she saw shadows appearing at the end of the street, they were looking for something, they combed through the street. Elise pulled out a blue glowing gem, the light it was emitting was getting dimmer by the second, and with it, her frown growing ever larger. She pulled out another gem, this time it was red, she closed her eyes, trying to focus, and within 5 seconds the red gem started to blink, taking a peek back in the street, the group was getting closer.
Elise took a deep breath and steeled herself, she didn't want to get caught here, her brother gave himself up to buy her some time. She broke into a run. Even behind a wall, her actions didn't go un-noticed, the leader of the group, pointed in the direction she ran from and they took chase.
Seeing her pursuers Elise started to feel fear, her brother was stronger than her, but he still fell. She doesn't want to find out what would happen if she got caught, she willed her legs to move faster, she didn't want to fall here. Not with her parents locked away, and her little brother, her poor little brother was still sleeping. She needed to get back to him.
Taking a peek back, her pursuers were right at her tail, she steeled herself and pulled out the red blinking gem, and with a leap forward, she turned her body around and threw it at her pursuers, she didn't want to go down without a fight.
The cloaked man at the front of the group dodged the red gem, but it hit the person behind him. Right at contact, the gem blew up into an inferno, catching the whole group. The leader of the group standing at the end of the street saw his team getting swallowed up by the burning flames. Seeing one person surviving her attack, Elise frowned, but still proceeded to run at full speed, she didn't want to to get caught here.
A laugh rang out as Elise kept running, the cloaked man kept on laughing as he saw his prey running.
"I'm going to enjoy this hunt, I'll give you a head start." he echoed out as he turned back.