Prologue

Long ago in times spoken of only in legend before the human race had control of the world, there lived A great civilization. They built cities beyond imagination that were said to have been more perfect and shining than the sky itself. Each individual was said to posses more beauty and strength than any human could ever dream. This race was never plagued by disease, for they had such intellect and strength that most diseases had no effect on them or, in the cases of the ones that did, a cure was found without delay. No one feared death because the magic running through their veins granted them immortality. They called themselves “Un Majra”, or “The People of Light”, and to be born of the Majra was to be born perfect. At least, that's what they believed.

At the same time, there was yet another race that lived along side the Majra, a race shrouded in mystery and darkness. The Majra called them “Un Shionair”, or “The people of Darkness”. Their faces were never seen, and the few times they were spotted in daylight, they wore fearsome black armor. At night, the eyes of the Majra could not penetrate the darkness, and so, on they lived as an enigma. Over time they became an object of fear for the Majra. Stories were told to young children about the evils of the Shionair, how they kidnapped people to sacrifice to their evil gods or how they were so hideously ugly that one look at their face could kill a ten-thousand year old mage with fear. It was taboo to be out past sunset for fear of encountering one of them.

To this world a child was born, the second daughter of the king and queen. There was much rejoicing throughout the land. It was incredibly rare for any Majran couple to have more than one child every 500 years, but the two princesses were a mere 17 years apart. This must have been some kind of good omen, since the Majran Royal family was so connected to the land that they ruled, their health and well-being would mean the well-being of the land and, by association, the people. That is, until the night the poor, unlucky girl was born.

Since the birth of two children so close together was such an oddity, the doctors did not realize before hand the horrible problems that could arise. You see, each Majran needed a certain amount of magic not only to preform a wide range of spells involved in everyday life, but also to keep their hearts beating and other body systems working correctly. Each individual had the ability to create and store their own magic over time, but when a child was born they were given what, under normal circumstances, would be about half of their mother's overall magic. However with this child, the magic that was naturally taken from her mother and given to her was far more than her mother could take and to the horror of the whole country, something unheard of happened, Queen Lakai-Akaria Archani died in childbirth.

When the child was brought to her devastated father to be named, he simply refused to see her. Instead, she was named by the servant that had brought her. The servant simply named her as she viewed her. She called the child “Erlanda Mirlanai” or “Bringer of Death”.

Part One -Chapter One

“There she is...”

“I cant believe she can even show her face in public.”

“I bet she'll miss.”

Mirlanai tried to shut out the chatter of her soon-to-be fellow students but it was hard not to hear. They weren't even trying to be quiet with their insults. Sure they may have been whispering, but every single person in the room could hear them clear as day, including the instructor who had turned a deaf ear.

She gripped her bow and bit her lip. She had to make this shot, not only for her own dignity's sake but also to be accepted into the Imperial Mages Academy, to be trained in summoning, an art that she knew she had an affinity for. Despite the stress she was under, this part of the test shouldn't really be very difficult because like every girl of noble birth, she had been practicing archery since she was three years old. Though she couldn't really say it was her strong point, she was still quite proficient.

In the blink of an eye she drew an arrow from her quiver and sent it flying at the target on the other side of the range where it stuck itself in the innermost circle just slightly off center, even to the sensitive eyes of those present, it was a good shot. Whispers erupted all around her but his time it was easier to ignore them. She let the tension drain out of her shoulders. She had done okay on the final part of the test. Or at least she thought she had.

She set down her bow and looked to the instructor who was staring rather blankly at the target. Mirlanai looked to him hoping that he would say something.

“Oh. Yes. That would conclude the exam, your majesty. Your results will be reviewed and you will be informed in 3 days weather you have been excepted or not.” He stared down his nose at her.

“Understood.” Mirlanai replied, keeping her face blank. She managed to not let a single sign of annoyance show through. Even though he had just simultaneously treated her with extreme disdain and called her “Your Majesty”. If he was going to act like she was a nothing but a bit of particularly disgusting grime he should at least talk to her like one. If he had called her “freak” or “demon” at least there would be some continuity. The obsession that everyone had with social order was so annoying. How could they manage to so completely isolate her without breaking a single rule of etiquette or overstepping their social boundaries.

“I shall call for your servant to escort you back to your palace. If you would like, you may wait indoors, which may be more to your liking.” Mirlanai recognized this statement as the order that it was and left the archery range after exchanging a few more useless pleasantries. She made her way through the school until she reached the main entrance where she expected her personal servant, Yulia, to come in. She stood by the door, straight-backed and emotionless. Ignoring the looks she got from people that came in and out.

While she waited she allowed her eyes to wander, The main entryway appeared to be made entirely of some kind of crystal so that it could be lit by natural light alone. The walls were semi-opaque so that people inside didn't have to look at the city outside, but they had been polished so that every bit of light that came down from the clear crystal ceiling was reflected everywhere and made the most of. Even the grayest day would have looked positively radiant from that atrium. The ceiling itself looked like a down-turned crystal glass but on a huge scale. It was cut so that when the light came through it, it made beautiful shapes on the floor below. It was a perfect specimen of Majran craftsmanship.

Mirlanai caught her own reflection on the wall across from her. She glared at it and it glared right back at her, looking much like what she imagined a wild animal might look. Though she had never seen one for real, but she only knew summon spirits took the form of them. Her short blonde curls flipped off in all kinds of crazy directions from underneath her cap, puffing out so that only the very edges of her pointed ears were visible. They were short and angled downward, revealing her age to be quite young. Her piercing green eyes gleamed. She reached up and pulled at a curl with her hands, pulling it down until it was straight She tried to ignore the rest of her hair and judge what she would look like if she were normal-looking.

By normal-looking she meant straight-haired and blue eyed, like every other member of the Majran race. Not only were the circumstances of her birth tragic, but she had been born looking very different than everyone around her. This earned her the hatred of most everyone in the empire. She was considered a blemish on the face of the royal family. There were even rumors that she was some kind of monster planted by the Shionair specifically to kill the queen. Of course these rumors were preposterous to anyone with half a brain, but nonetheless they made life very difficult for the child.

All of her short, sheltered years of life, Mirlanai had been acutely aware of this. While she did not know anything of her own her birth or the details of the rumors, but she could tell that everyone hated her. She noticed their looks of contempt and the way they avoided her at all costs. She saw how differently people acted around each other than they did around her. This was confirmed by the test that she had just taken. She knew all the requirements and she knew that she had passed the written and demonstrative exams with flying colors, but they had said they they would tell her later. Which was, mostly, a polite way of saying that she hadn't made it. They may not be allowed to be rude to her, but they could pick apart her every, normal mistake and paint her to be a complete dunce.

“Your Majesty!”, she heard a voice call from behind her, she turned to see Yulia, her only attendant, walking quickly from inside the building, “Where have you been?” her voice contained only the slightest hint of emotion, but that was enough for Mirlanai to realize that she had done something wrong. Mirlanai watched the servant approach until she was within reasonable earshot.

“I've been waiting...” Mirlani managed to keep her voice strong for the first part of the sentence but then trailed off and looked at her feet. She had managed to remain composed up to this point, but now that she saw a familiar face, she felt like she might start crying or something. Today had probably been the worst day of her life and, based on her life so far, that was saying something.

“Well, you were supposed to go to the faculty lounge, where I was. What on earth were you thinking!” Mirlanai wanted to tell her that she had decided to wait at the entrance because no one had told her to go to faculty lounge, she wasn't faculty after all, and because she wanted to save her the trouble of looking for her by being in an easy to find place. But since her plan had obviously failed she simply stared at her feet.

“I'm sorry.” she said.

“Well, lets go.” Yulia grabbed the child's arm and pulled her towards the doors.

They boarded one of the many automated taxi's lined up in front of the academy. Mirlanai stared apprehensively at the glyphs that were the controls. She hated riding in these things, they were so fast that they made her dizzy and she hated the shrill noise that the magic that operated them made. Everyone else claimed that they ran silently but she heard the noise loud and clear whenever they began to move.

Yulia placed her hand on the controls and the vehicle jumped to life, speeding them in the direction of the destination that she had instructed it to go. Mirlanai fought the urge to cover her ears with her hands. Doing such a gesture would have been childish beyond words, it might only have been Yulia that witnessed it but she had made a vow to start acting her age. She was eight, going on nine, that was less than 2 years away from being accepted as a working member of society. She would be assigned to a school in a mere 4 months!! Get it together!, she inwardly instructed yourself, Maybe, if you show them all how mature and hard-working you can be, they wont hate you anymore! At this thought, a small bit of hope rose in her heart but she quickly stuffed it down. She knew by now that letting oneself have any hope at all was sure-fire recipe for disappointment. She rephrased her statement, They may always hate you, but you better not ever give them a reason to!

“Your majesty, We've arrived. Your Majesty!” Mirlanai snapped back to reality.

“Oh yes...” Mirlanai stood up without taking her eyes off the ground and began to shuffle in the direction she guessed she was supposed to go. She jumped slightly when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Stand up straight milady, you've conducted yourself so well today, it would be a shame if you gave up at the very end like this.” Yulia's voice was as prim and proper as ever, but she looked down at her with a look that could have been described as motherly. “But, you must be quite tired, so we'll just skip evening magic practice alright? You may go relax in your quarters before dinner.”

Mirlanai smiled slightly but took this moment to remind herself that Yulia probably hated her too, she was just better at hiding it than everyone else. She saw her everyday after all, it would get boring to be mean all the time. Nonetheless, she did manage to stand up straighter and look kind-of blankly confident, how every polite citizen was expected to look in public. It was considered rude to burden others with your own emotions, unless they were very close to you.

When Mirlanai was safely back in her room, away from the public eye, she made a beeline for her bed. Yulia ran to get her some more comfortable clothes to sleep in but by the time she returned, the child was fast asleep.

[ o \~ O ~/ o ]

Tip-tap, the sound of light footsteps in the dark awakened her, along with the low buzz in the air that accompanied any large scale spell. Mirlanai strained her sensitive hearing. Tip-tap, they were very close. She sensed the aura of a living being. An unfamiliar being. Her eyes flew open but her sight was blocked by the impenetrable barrier of darkness. Her heart gave a jolt. Even at night, buildings should always be well lit. But it was dark, darker than Mirlanai even knew was possible. She dared not sit up, but she looked around, frightened. She looked in the direction the aura of life came from, too scared to speak. She heard the air being displaced as whatever was with her reached out. She opened her mouth to scream, but a strong hand covered it.

“Shhh, be quiet little one.” A relatively young male voice whispered next to her ear, “ I wont hurt you.” The voice was soft and comforting. Mirlanai relaxed a little, she felt like she could trust what he said. Nonetheless, she was not so naive as to completely let her guard down. She tried to say something but her mouth was still covered. She grabbed at the strangers hand. “If I take my hand off, you must promise to be quiet.” the voice said. Mirlanai nodded in the dark and she was released.

“I-I...” now that she had the freedom to speak she could no longer think to form any words. She just grappled with her urge to scream for help and her urge to keep her word. “Who-” the hand came back over her mouth.

“You must be quiet!” The voice was tinged with urgency, but no malice. The panic that she had once felt was now making way for curiosity. Who was this person and why was the castle all dark? She longed to ask these questions. But before she got the chance, she heard urgent voices nearby and a bit of light began to diffuse into the darkness.

The intruder began to take shape as the light reached her eyes. At first, he was simply a medium-sized dark form crouched at her bedside. Then, as the light became stronger she was able make out a few of the details of his face; a well-formed nose and chin, elegantly arched eyebrows. He was looking towards the door to her bedroom, squinting slightly. In terms of his face, he didn't really look much different that any other Majran. His hair was done rather strangely though. Instead of being back in a perfectly smooth ponytail at the nape of the neck, like most Majran men, his hair was shorter, messy and came down around his eyes to frame his face. Something also seemed off about his coloring, his skin seemed to glow in the dark and the color of his hair blended in with the darkness itself. She dismissed this strangeness as a product of her poor visibility.

As the light and voices got even closer, the intruder's stress was beginning to show. She could hear that his breathing was quick and apprehensive. When he was discovered, he would surely be punished brutally. To be in the castle without permission was a crime punishable by imprisonment or worse, and if he had caused the darkness spell, he would definitely be executed.

She wished that he would run away. As much as he had frightened her at first she felt no ill will from him or towards him. He had done nothing to hurt her, and he did not have the characteristic aura of murderers. If he had stolen something, it didn't matter to her. Whatever it was was just a thing; not a fair trade for his life.

Mirlanai was growing anxious as well. Why was he just sitting there covering her mouth when he should be escaping? She wasn't going to scream if he let go. She began to look around for possible escape routes since he was not. Then she realized why. He must have thought that he was cornered! The only way to leave or enter her room was to go through the door, or at least thats how it looked to someone that was unfamiliar with it. Mirlanai knew otherwise.

In the old days when the castle was built, the kingdom had apparently been going through turbulent times. Because of this, the builders had made sure that there was an easily accessible escape route from every one of the main rooms. Mirlanai had personally explored about 50 percent of them herself. They were all inter-connected and lead to outside the castle where other passages that lead outside the city could be accessed. Her personal passage opened up from the wall beside her bed and was synchronized to her own magical signature, a little modification that she had made herself. It was handy when she wanted time alone.

She didn't need to move very far open it, she only had to reach out and lightly brushed the wall next to her bed. A quick laser-like light outlined the placement of the door while the wall inside it dematerialized. Light spilled out from the passage which automatically brightened when the door was opened. The intruder was illuminated. As the light reached him he gave a small cry and both of his hands flew up to protect his face as if he was being attacked.

Now that she was free to move Mirlanai was standing in a flash. People would be there in a matter of seconds. She grabbed the stranger's arm.

“Come with me!” She said in an urgent whisper, “They'll kill you!” She stepped into the brightly lit tunnel and dragged him in with her. As the tunnel closed back up Mirlanai heard the click of a latch as the door to her room was opened. They had escaped just in time.

Mirlanai breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the wall, believing that the stranger was now safe from danger. That is, until she looked at him. Now that the bright lighting of the tunnel shone on him Mirlanai could see that she had not been mistaken before when she had noticed his strange coloring. His skin was incredibly pale, almost transparent, with a silver twinge to it and the hair that hung in his face was a color that Mirlanai could not name. Something like darkness, only more solid. She wondered what color his eyes were, but she could not see them because he had them shut tight and covered with his hands. He lay on the floor of the small tunnel his whole body clenched in agony.

“Whats wrong!?” Mirlanai was alarmed, how could he have been injured?

“uhg... turn it off...”, his voice was a faint whisper, “...the light... turn it off”

Mirlanai was reluctant to do so, since it would plunge her into complete darkness, but was convinced by the obvious pain he was in. She willed the light to lessen, bringing it down to a level that still gave her some modicum of visibility, but was not the brilliant light that it had been before.

The stranger relaxed slightly but did not take his hands away from his face. He remained silent. Mirlanai was a quiet for as long as her curiosity would allow her.

“Are you okay?” She asked nervously.

“Yes” he mumbled faintly, but to Mirlanai's dismay be gave no other sort of elaboration. After a while, she could no longer hold in her curiosity.

“What's your name? Why's your hair that funny color? Are you a half-breed?” She touched him on the arm, wondering if that silverish skin was as cold as it looked. The intruder jumped sightly and turned towards her. she noticed that his eyes were the color of wet stone.

“Why did you save me?” he said after staring at her from under his hand for a long moment.

“I-I dont know...” Mirlanai couldn't pin what made her want to help this man, though now that she had looked more closely at him he was really more like a boy. Maybe twelve or thirteen at most but tall and lanky. “You were going to be killed...”

He removed his hand from his face and squinted at her, “Why would that matter to one of you?” the squint hardened into a look of suspicion.

“One of me?” Mirlanai looked at her hands in shame. He thought that she was some kind of evil being too. “I-I'm" she stuttered, "I'm sorry.” she felt the sting of tears in her eyes. Even this, obviously very different, person thought she was too ugly and strange and that she must be inherently evil. When the first tear rolled down her cheek, she made no effort to stop it or wipe it away. Nor did she do anything for the ones that followed. It was so satisfying to cry and its not like anyone would ever hear of her childishness from this person.

“H-hey--” The stranger's wariness turned to awkward sympathy as he realized she was crying, “Don't cry. I-It's okay that you saved me! I'll accept your kindness! Just--” He reached to wipe the tears off her face.

“Go away!” Mirlanai hit his hand away. “Don't touch me! Why can't I just CRY! Maybe if I were just like the rest of you-- Maybe if I wasn't like this I could be calm and strong all the time but I'm NOT!” she was speaking her mind for the first time in her life. She knew it was practically taboo to act like this in front of a total stranger, but once she had started it was hard to stop herself. “Why doesn't someone just kill me! Big sister is inheriting the throne anyway!”

The stranger squinted harder at her, however, this time it was not in suspicion. Just as Mirlanai could only see in the dimmest possible sense. He was just as blind in this half-light. But her words had not gone unheard. The stranger put a hand on the girl's shoulder this time and spoke.

“It's okay to cry, but you should never say such things about your own life.” this silenced Mirlanai by surprise alone. How could he not be offended at her right now? Anyone would be, including herself. Suicide was the ultimate crime against your family and your country. “I know I'm probably imposing, but would you please darken this passage so I can see you properly.”

Mirlanai said nothing but she did as he asked, deactivating the light source completely. Which plunged her into complete darkness. Panic rose in her chest as everything tangible ceased to be, replaced by an impenetrable wall. She tried to say something but her voice caught, it felt like the air around her had gotten heavier. Where had the walls gone? Where was her room? “I-I...” she squeaked. But before she could go into all-out hysterics felt the strangers hand on her shoulder again.

“Uh-- don't worry.” his comforting was awkward but sincere, “Everything is still here! Just close your eyes and imagine what this room looks like, “I might be able to help you...” He took his hand off her shoulder.

“No!” Mirlanai reached fruitlessly for his hand as she felt it leave her shoulder, “Don't leave me here! Please!” To her, twelve inches could have been the same as twelve miles in the dark.

“Hey-hey, its okay see,” he gently took her hand as she aimlessly flailed for it in the dark, “I'm right here.” Mirlanai relaxed. As long as she physically felt the presence of another being she could maintain her composure. “I, uh" He began to speak but then paused as if he's thought better of it, a short while when by as he seemed to deliberate."I'm going to put a charm around your neck, It'll take away the darkness. But I need my hands to put it on you. Is that okay?” Mirlanai nodded slowly, anything was better than this darkness! "are you ready?"

“O-okay.” He let go of her hand and Mirlanai did her best to pull herself together. She clamped her eyes shut and imagined what the passage looked like when it was flooded with light. The smooth tile felt exactly the same under her fingers on the floor. She heard the stranger rummaging around, probably in the small pouch that she'd seen on his belt. She jumped as she felt the cold of metal on her neck.

“Alright, you should be able to open your eyes now.” Slowly, Mirlanai unscrunched her face. Then, with even more delicacy she opened her eyes. “There thats it, can you see me?”

“I-I” her eyes grew wide as she looked at the world as if for the first time. “I can.” Everything had taken on a blue or purple tone while the strangers eyes, which she looked into for the first time, were more than just dark stone color. They started on the outer edges as the color of an overcast day and grew darker and stormier in color until the very middle, which was darker than the dead of night. “What happened?” she said with wonder.

“That charm on your neck...” he trailed off.

“What? What kind of spell is this?” She looked at him questioningly.

“It's...” There was something he didn't want to say that had almost been said, “It's my gift to you. consider it repayment for saving my life.”

“Oh!” Mirlanai was reminded of what brought her here in the first place. “You have to go!” She grabbed his hand, “Follow me!” She lead the stranger though a long series of passages to a small garden on the very edge of the city. It was now filled with a strange light that reminded her of pale blue sunlight. She looked up to see a great white disc in the sky. She stopped in her tracks. The sky was a very dark shade of blue-purple and across it many small lights were spread like diamonds on velvet. She stopped in her tracks “Beautiful.” She whispered in awe. The stranger stopped along side her.

"What is it?" he looked at her slightly concerned before he realized she was staring at the sky, "Oh," he said, a realization coloring his words, "You've never seen stars, have you?"

"Umm," Mirlanai wasn't sure how to answer.

"Those bright spots in the sky." He answered her question before she got up the initiative to ask.

"Yeah, I guess not. Is the night always like this?" despite her brief wonder when they stepped outside, Mirlanai was all business. apparently, even she was subject to her countrymen's general attitude of "if we didn't make it it must not be that great" or at least felt obligated to pretend that was what she thought. Though she really felt that she could have stared at those lights forever.

"Well, tonight is actually pretty bad for stargazing, the moon's full--"

"What's 'the moon'?" she said the words slowly getting used to the way they sounded. The stranger seemed to speak her language perfectly, but when he said "stars" and "moon", words that did not exist in the Majran language, he gained a very particular accent that Mirlanai couldn't place.

"It's that white circle in the sky."

"oh.." Mirlanai was perplexed, she had thought that that white disc might be the sun though, now that she thought about it, the sun had already set on the opposite end of the sky.

"What do you mean by full?" Mirlanai wasn't sure what exactly something in the sky could be filled with. Water? Magic? Maybe it got hungry and ate livestock... Or people! She gulped, suddenly feeling very nervous about standing outside at night. Sure, she could see now but the Shionair might be around!! They might leave her new friend be because he was merely a slave or halfling wanderer, as he could only be with his odd looks and arcane spells. But her... she may have been a reject but she was of full majran royal blood! The perfect ingredient in any scary, dark, shionair concoction. Or worse!! They would roast her for dinner! Or make her marry some scary monstrous prince!!

"Hey-ow! You're hurting me!!" Mirlanai had unconsciously gripped her new friend's wrist. She was holding it progressively tighter as her imagination ran away with her.

"I-I can't be out here!!" she looked up at him with tears in her big green eyes, the effect was thoroughly pitiful. "It's dangerous!!" The stranger looked briefly at the frightened little girl and gave a somewhat tortured and significant sigh.

"Come on, little one, what is there to be scared of? You play here during the day, right?"

"No--No I don't... Big-sister gets mad at me if I play in her gardens." she was dodging the issue, too embarrassed to say that she was still scared by old bedtime stories.

"L-Lets go back inside..." She dragged on his hand, forgetting why they were here to begin with.

"I can't go back with you." he said kindly but firmly, Mirlanai's immaturity was showing, she was only eight after all.

"But--" She stopped herself. It was hard to let this person walk away. They were the only person besides Yulia who would speak with her on the same level. He hadn't even hesitated to wipe her tears or take her hand when she had been scared. But she knew that he would be dealt with harshly by the law. Halfling wanderers were outlaws by mere existence and slaves did not get a second chance if they showed signs of disloyalty. Despite these facts she was almost heartbroken that she would have to say goodbye to such an interesting person so soon. Besides his kindness, he seemed to know so much more about the world than she. Even if it was scary, she wanted to know how a moon got full and see what a good stargazing night looked like. Why were his eyes so dark? What charm did the pendant actually hold? She stood for a moment silently mourning the things that would never be. one big tear rolled down her cheek and the more logical bit of her felt guilty for being such a weakling.

"Hey hey--" he said in the same awkwardly consoling was as before, "It's not goodbye forever you know. Hey don't be like that!!" at the word 'goodbye' Mirlanai had started crying in earnest. "Hey! Ask me one last question!" the young man said in ditch effort to distract her for the moment. To his surprise and relief Mirlanai paused, roughly wiped her eyes and began to think. She really was curious about the moon, but she realized that she was missing some even more vital information.

"What's your name?" She asked simply.

"My name..." The stranger was a little slow to answer, "It's Sumeragi, but... please call me Gin." He save her a warm smile, "May I ask the same of you, Milady?" Mirlanai couldn't help but smile at this, people called her 'Milady' everyday but when he said it it sounded cheery and endearing, not forced and malice-ridden. Though she hesitated in speaking her name, it was almost a curse in and of itself. Her first name literally meant "death". But since he had given his name it was only right that she give hers.

"I'm Mirlanai.. But please don't call me anything. I don't like my name very much." She looked at her feet, waiting for a 'you got that right!' or something.

"Why wouldn't you like it, little bright star?" as he spoke her name more slowly, with his funny accents she realized that the word "star" sounded a lot like the last part of her name, "ai" and she knew "mir" and "lan" to be prefixes meaning "small" and "bright/clean" though she never would have made the connection herself.

"Well then," she smiled at the weight this lifted, she was no longer the child of death. "You may call me Ai."

"Then," Gin gave her an affectionate pat on the head, "Until next time, Ai, because the world is small and life is long." and with that he dashed off into the darkness, leaving her alone in the moonlit garden.