HeiLin was perched upon the sturdy branch, waiting for her prey to arrive. The dead autumn leaves tumbled across the path, being blown by a gentle breeze that ruffled her hair. The afternoon sun was high, its light being broken by the branches hanging off of the tall, tall trees, making the shadows upon the path look crooked and patched with different-sized dots. When voices were heard down the path, a smile crept upon HeiLin’s face as she nocked an arrow onto her bow. The voices drew closer.

“I’m telling you, we’re going in circles!”

“I know where I’m going, and I say we’re going in the right direction!

“Oh, really? Then why is the map of this forest upside-down?”

There was a small pause. “Shut up, Nagato, you’re no map expert yourself.”

“No, I’m not, I admit that. But that compass on the map is upside-down, that’s all I know out of common sense.”

They stopped right below the branch HeiLin was perched upon. One was holding the map, having brownish blond hair and dull orange eyes. The other one had white hair flying in random places, with some pieces long and some being short. His eyes were a shade of beady black. The third one was with mahogany hair in long strands, and his eyes were a color of burning gold. All of them had one thing in common; they had no shimmer of light reflecting off of their eyes, which made their eyes seem dull. Dull eyes were only one of the signs a Durmournian had.

Come on, HeiLin; aim like you did at target practice… she thought. HeiLin was a Lumosian on a mission to find a test subject to cure Shade Possession and find a way to defeat an Elite Durmournian with ease. The Durmournians below her were searching for the essence of death, hidden in one of the forests of Lumosia; it could easily wipe out millions of Lumosians. Her team and a few certain others were chosen for this type of mission. Mainly, because their skills brought them to be the elite scout teams of the area. Scouts, on the other hand, don’t just explore land and spot things unusual here in Lumosia. They hunt down the Durmournians that sneak into the forests of Lumosia to make sure they don’t find what they want.

Catching a Durmournian was not an easy job. Since they were outside of any large Lumosian populations, they could slip out of your grasp right away and teleport to safety. “Like the cowards they were,” as HeiLin thought. They could sneak out a weapon filled with poison and manage to kill you within minutes. They even sent the Elite Durmournians in here, who were capable of taking you down within mere seconds.

“Gimmie that map! If we don’t get out of here in time, they’re going to find us,” the golden-eyed one said. Right they were; for a chain out of the bushes flung itself at the one with white hair and constricted him. All according to plan, HeiLin thought.

“Nagato!” The golden-eyed one shouted in surprise. He turned to the one with the map. “I told you, Taeki!” Roaring in anger, he formed a dark-violet, demonic-like glow at the center of his right palm. HeiLin drew back the string of her bow. Black smoke rotated itself like a sphere around the glow; a shadow sphere. He was about to throw it at Malydia, who was holding down Nagato by the chain. Malydia was also part of HeiLin’s elite team. She looked up at where HeiLin hid, and blinked her eyes rapidly to give the signal. A white arrow flew into the air from HeiLin’s bow and straight through the golden–eyed one’s right arm. The sphere of energy vanished.

“Damn it! They’re everywhere!” he shouted, clutching his arm in pain.

“Takatsu! Look out—” Taeki began to choke. Takatsu whirled around, seeing the blood seeping down Taeki’s neck; HeiLin nailed him in the throat. She smiled, knowing they would not succeed. Taeki came to his knees and fell limp to the side, his mouth open and his face full of shock. Nagato began to fight back, using a shadow gauntlet to cut the chain. It was like thick black smoke shaped around his hand and forearm to form a claw. At the center of his palm the dark blue aura glowed, but would not cut the chain. The chain flew around Nagato to pin his arms down all the way. Malydia gave the chain a strong tug, causing him to lose balance and fall on his back.

Asuka, another Lumosian on the mission leaped out of a tree and swung her sword at Takatsu’s neck, but he bent himself backwards on time. Missing her target, she pulled her hands in front of her. She tucked her legs in and rolled onto the pavement as soon as her hands touched the ground. HeiLin leapt down in front of him with her arrow aimed at his head. Takatsu had already formed a sphere in his gloved hand, aiming downward.

“You’re going to regret it, you Lumosian bitch,” he said, shooting the sphere at the ground to cause black smoke to fly everywhere. All of them coughed and wheezed.

Once the smoke had cleared, Takatsu was nowhere to be seen. The only living Durmournian left was Nagato, bound in the chains. The dying Durmournian, Taeki, had turned to stone, making him useless for testing. Asuka kicked Nagato in the gut.

“You thought you could cut out of basilisk chains? I didn’t think so.” Basilisk chains were very hard to break, being made of special steel to pin even the strongest creature down. Nagato began to curse at them in Durmournian. Asuka kicked him again.

“Asuka, Malydia, you two have to keep him in a cell. I have too—”

“Go to the library and prove your myth is real?” Asuka interrupted. “HeiLin, everybody knows that that song was sung by a crazy old lady with a white-colored eye. She was driven insane because she was bitten by a Durmournian, but had to cut off her own arm to save herself.” There actually was an old woman like that once before, and HeiLin got to meet her when she was younger. She too, thought the myth was just complete nonsense. Until her father was taken away from her, she was determined to find any way to take those Durmournians down and bring them into extinction.

“She’s got a point. That crazy lady had a messed up eye that rolled around with the other one staying still from what I’ve heard,” Malydia said. HeiLin made a scowl; she researched for years just to find out the meaning of that song. She stormed off without one word of defense, though before she’s defended herself over and over again. Her own friends were just to swelled up in their own thoughts to listen to her.

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A large group of Earth humOans first stumbled upon Verestrius, the realm of nature. They came from the year 3000 A.D., using a time machine to travel back in time; but unfortunately, it brought them to the new, strange world. They wandered helplessly for hours, starving, running from the wild animals, struggling for their own survival and a search for a way back home. Finding the essences to the four basic elements, they began to grow in both numbers and power. Luckily for them, they were scientists able to create technology from the resources around them.

Soon, the humans with essences of nature sent the other humans with different essences to different dimensions in order to maintain space and peace. Everything remained peaceful, despite the fact that the essences inside of them transformed them into life forms that are no longer considered as human, but more human-like. Pyron, the dimension of fire, tried to take control of Verestrius. The Pyronites sought power to conquer the other dimensions, due to their hungering greed to expand.

Aquaria heard about the Pyronites seeking power. Filled with the same greed the Pyronites had, they too fought to control Verestrius; as the same with the Airrans, the elementals of air.

Verestrius remained at peace, while the other three dimensions battled for power.

During the conflict between Aquaria and the Airrans, another essence was discovered; the essence of ice. The elementals with the newly discovered essence broke away from the war and into a new dimension, satisfied with their new power. Even more conflict broke out between Aquaria and the Airrans out of their greed to take over Iglacius.

Meanwhile, Pyron was planning to get rid of the other dimensions. The Pyronites had a team of trainers to study the special ways to defeat Pyron’s polar opposite- Aquaria. That team of trainers then discovered the essence of electricity while experimenting new techniques to defeat the Aquarians. Of course, they ran off to create the dimension of Elekria. They began to advance in technology higher than the other dimensions. The Pyronites were angered and fought to conquer Elekria and gain the essences. In the process of conflict, the essence of light was formed.

Upon receiving the new essences, that group of elementals ran off to create the dimension of Lumosia. One hundred years passed for the dimensions to grow. During that period of time, a few Lumosians set off to explore the other dimensions to put information into their libraries. Once they reached Verestrius, a hidden essence began to take them over very slowly after entering a strange area in the realm. They returned to Lumosia and stored away their discoveries. As days passed, the hidden essences began to feed upon their hatred, fear and anger toward their own fellow Lumosians. Until one day, they lost the illumination in their eyes, making them appear duller. They grew fangs and the lust for a Lumosian’s blood; they became the first Durmournians.

One by one, a Lumosian was bitten to become a dark Lumosian. This was called Shade Possession, a permanent affect only effective on Lumosians. Then Spell Mystic Daisuke (most powerful and wisest Lumosian and leader) led a group of elite Lumosian warriors to banish the Durmournians and Dark Lumosians to their own dark dimension.

Even though they came from Dark Lumosians, the off springs were considered pure Durmournians. A war of power struggle raged on between the Lumosians and Durmournians, hating each other for their customs and the essences in their souls. To limit the number of powerful and deadly Dark Lumosians, Spell Mystic Daisuke cast a spell for a fog to pass over all Durmournians and remaining Dark Lumosians. If breathed in, it could limit the chances of a bitten Lumosian to turn dark, but raised the chances of death. It was still possible for a bitten Lumosian to turn into a Lumosian’s worst nightmare. Spell Mystic Daisuke lost his life in order to conjure such a spell and protect his people. It was said by his apprentice, Daiki that his last words were these before his life gave away; “My duty is to protect my people from their worst fears and nightmares. I have done so, for turning into a cold-blooded killer is more painful than any sort of death.”

Now, the dimensions and their people live on for centuries. The dimensions stood side-by-side, despite the war and conflict between them. They stood in what felt to them like a ring. Since the ring was completed with the realm of darkness, the elementals felt the most magical power under every crescent moon.

Thus, the ring of different worlds was called the Crescence.

HeiLin set down the book. Over and over again, she had scoured these books for answers. Even with the current rumor of the essence of death in the Lumosian forests and the cure of Shade possession, she still couldn’t find some sort of story behind the song. She ran the lyrics through her head again, remembering what the old lady had said to her all those years ago.

The calling of the night was whispering to me

The colors of the dawn painted life into the skies

The wind beneath the darkness sung a song to me

And the stars up in the sky told a story to the world.

“Running through the forest, a castle in the distance

In the trees of darkness, up in the clouds of night,

Lurks the dangerous monster that lingers in only misery.

It hides the petrified one deep beneath its lair.

The gem of life is deep beneath its palm

It cries for help to set it free.

With hands from the powers divided, pure-hearted,

They’ll find a way

The guardian of essence will save the world.

With hope and faith we all must stand.

He conquers the monster and puts it to sleep.

Once the world is in peace, he’ll rest in stone.

To rest for when the world will need him once again.”

Yoshukai HeiLin is a fairly tall young woman at age nineteen, with black hair sitting on her shoulders and bangs covering her forehead. Her eyes were a shade of dark evergreen and her skin was quite pale.

Upon her background, she of course was a Lumosian. Her mother was one of the teachers of magic at the academy and her father was a soldier. Unfortunately, he was one of the captured in battle and was held in prison somewhere in Durmourn for five years so far. She once had a little sister that was only seven, but she disappeared when HeiLin was twelve. Her name was Harima, wandering in the Lumosian forest; where the very old guardian of essence was found dead. Nobody knows if another was chosen to be the guardian. After that incident, the old lady with white eyes sang her mythic song. HeiLin met her, but only thought she was just a psychopathic half-blood.

For years now, she has been training as a Lumosian scout to hunt Durmournians searching for the essence of death since age thirteen. Inspired by the elite warriors, she wished to train herself to be able to rescue her father from the darkness of Durmourn. She researched for years in the library for any sort of skills she could use against the Durmournians. Then, she found the written lyrics of the mythic song. Curiously, she began to research it to find a way to weaken the Durmournians.

Before she was nineteen, there was a large Durmournian army that came to Lumosia. In that battle, her aggression and anger over her father’s capture drove her to kill over fifty Durmournian men; each one having their hearts ripped out. After hearing that they now tortured the prisoners painfully and endlessly day and night, she wanted the Durmournians to pay for ever capturing her father. In her past lifetime, she has killed over seven hundred men including the hunted. However, since then her trainers over exaggerate when they brag about her; instead of seven hundred, they say that she’s killed over one thousand Durmournians.

HeiLin returned the book to its shelf. She knew all of this already. What was the point? What was missing? Was she looking in the right places?

She walked out of the aisle of shelves. Her footsteps echoed off of the wooden floors of the empty library. Dust was collecting on the reading tables, and the cobwebs on the chairs grew larger every day. The ceiling had dirty windows that streamed broken sunlight into the library, revealing the dust particles that floated around. The librarian at the front desk fell asleep again, with her small spectacles falling off of her nose and her gray, curly hair springing around. HeiLin could even hear the librarian snoring from all the way from where she was, considering how abandoned the library was every day. The scientists stayed at the lab, only satisfied with discovering what’s now and not bothering to look back at the previous discoveries. The warriors were too busy training and not even bothering to build up even a bit of knowledge. It appeared to HeiLin that she was the only one that still came to this old place besides the librarian. Of course, it was the librarian’s job to be here, abandoned or not.

When she exited the library, she heard screaming. It came from the laboratory building. Though in a time of war, screaming that loud meant something very bad, despite the fact that the war causes a ton of screaming. To HeiLin, if there was a scream of horror like that to be heard she knew it meant trouble. She dashed into the direction of the screaming. At the same time, she heard the churchtower bell toll in the distance.

Each facility building in Lumosia was the same design; shaped like white boxes with blue doors and windows. The homes were made of light brown bricks and the tower was bricked with gray stones. HeiLin ran across the grass as it made ruffling noises with each of her steps, the wind brushing against her as she sprinted with more speed. The birds were chirping today as the sun was setting, but she couldn’t hear them with the wind whistling by her ears. She crashed through the doors, turning corners and dodging the scientists. Why was the screaming loud enough for her to hear all the way from the library?

She almost broke down the door when she came into the testing room. Asuka held her sword against Nagato’s throat, and Malydia had a small white machine shaped like binoculars pointed at his eyes. Nagato was breathing heavily while being strapped to the testing table and binded with basilisk chains.

“Where’s my father, you Durmournian bastard? I’m not going to ask you again!” Asuka demanded. Her father was also captured in battle.

“I said I don’t know! My rank isn’t that—”

“I don’t care! Lydie, blind him!”

Malydia flipped the switch on the binoculars. A ray of sky-blue light hit against Nagato’s eyes. He screamed and squirmed in pain, but even with his eyes shut tightly they began to shed blood instead of tears.

“ASUKA! MALYDIA!” HeiLin shouted.

They immediately dropped their weapons.

“Asuka! He doesn’t know where your father is being held! And we need to keep him alive for the testing, you idiots! If you two aren’t going to keep a proper eye on him without killing him, I’m bringing him to the Mystic. Now go train or something.

Asuka picked up her sword and sheathed it, mumbling curse words under her breath. Malydia looked to Nagato sympathetically, and HeiLin heard her give a small whisper of an apology. Malydia slipped out the door. Asuka was about to walk out, but she stopped before she took one step out of the room. She didn’t even face HeiLin when she spoke.

“You know, you should keep in mind that they have your father too,” Asuka remarked. HeiLin’s hands curled into fists. Her eyes narrowed down as she looked at the floor.

“I know they did.” HeiLin saw that the window was open. That’s how she heard the Durmournian screaming. The ceiling light blinked above Nagato’s head, as the remaining sunlight streamed through the window. The room was still a bit dark, but HeiLin saw the blue painted walls and the sink tables loaded with test tubes and vials of different sizes. The white cabinets were left open along the wall. She approached Nagato. She began to take off the straps from the table to release him.

“Why didn’t you just let them kill me?” HeiLin looked up. His face was smeared with blood but his eyes were closed.

“Your blood isn’t liquid when you’re turned to stone and we need your blood to test.” She responded. When the last of his straps were off, she dragged him out of the building. The chain was like Nagato’s leash and HeiLin pulled it tightly. She looked back at him.

“Why aren’t you fighting back?”

“It wouldn’t be a good idea to fight back where there are thousands of you and only one of me—”

HeiLin was suddenly jumped on by a Durmournian who teleported out of the sky. His teeth sank into her arm. She screamed painfully as the venom streamed into her veins. She immediately let go of the chains and fell to her knees.

“Shit, Takatsu! The neck is faster!” another Durmournian said after he dropped down from the sky.

“Shut up, her hair was in the way!” he shouted in a muffled tone.

“Takatsu! She spared my life!” Nagato said. Takatsu lifted his head up and wiped away the blood on his face,

“She killed Taeki and shot me in the arm! Do you dare stand up for a Lumosian?” he spitted to the side. “Then you’ll die along with her!” he unsheathed his sword and rose it up high. HeiLin flinched and shivered. She screamed as the pain from her wound radiated up her arm. Her heartbeat raced rapidly, and her head began to throb. With her mouth open, the Durmournians saw that one of her canine teeth began to get sharper. Black tattoos began to form on her arm and face; she was turning into a Dark Lumosian.