1 Moonless Night

Stars fill the night sky with twinkling resplendence, their number innumerable, the sheer beauty alluring, as if the heavens were their canvas they painted the sky with their majesty, ever aloof, distant, untouchable. Dim radiance trickled down on the land below gently kissing the forest brush casting shadows like a dark carpet over earth. Cloak in this darkness was a woman moving in mad haste, fleeing in desperation. Her hooded figure greatly contrasting her surroundings. She was light in the darkness, a flower in the desert. Dressed in ornate clothing hidden under a dark cloak, she ran swiftly whilst her mind filled with numerous worries and doubt. 'Will I make it? Should I hide? How could they do this? I must survive.' Frantic thoughts flooded her mind like a ceaseless tsunami making her stride falter from time to time, before she steadied herself regaining the tempo. With her distress mounting, she took a glance down at the infant in her arms. "Don't worry, little one. I will keep you safe." She promised to herself more so than to the infant and reviving the dying embers of her conviction.

Striking intensity flickered in her silver eyes whilst every movement of her legs seems to emit a mystical glow, allowing the space surrounding her to shift according to her will. With every step she took, reality seemingly bent, launching her farther and faster away from whatever hunted her. 'I hope we can make it.' she thought to herself, while putting more energy into her sprint towards the closest city in the vicinity.

The fortified City of Daratan—capital of Gwyreian Kingdom—towered over the trees that line borders of the Equestrian forest. It was an architectural marvel the first of it's kind, an ambitious attempt by the current king to spur his people into a new era but to a certain woman this place meant sanctuary or at least she hoped desperately, more than any prayer she spoken before.

Nearing the base of the wall, an illusory figure quickly appeared as she sprinted towards the direction of the city. Her breath was ragged, sweat covered her face, her visage was unsightly, her consciousness barely hanging on by a thread. The thoughts in her mind of despair and conviction struggled in a never ending cycle of turmoil thwarting her many attempts to conserve the remaining energy she had left; she could not continue like this, she had to concentrate, this was the final leg of the race. If she made it here, she knew they would be ok.

Spurred on by the growing hope within her heart, her groggy mind steadied once more. With the remainder of her strength, she ran straight into the city walls forcing her way through undaunted by their grandeur. Torrential waves of energy gushed fort between her and the runic surface of the structure as it tried to repel her but to no avail. She was unhindered and almost ephemeral, untouched by the raging storm surrounding her. She was a blade cutting through flesh; both the scalpel and the surgeon, precise, efficient and unshakeable. The runic engravings could only hum in rhythmic agony as their futile resistance drowned the area with a bluish glow before slowly returning the lands to the still darkness of the night.

Following her trail was a small group of three people, lead by a handsome man with slick back golden hair. His regal looks along with his attire–a familiar set of ornate garb–perfectly complimented his dignified demeanor and accentuated his similarly golden eyes; . Intense killing intent radiated from his gleaming irises, exposing the beast hiding beneath the guise of man. His expression twisted in malevolence, for he knew they must not fail. This was his moment. After a lifetime of waiting, scheming, of ceaseless plots and intrigue. How could he let her go? 

He glanced at the shorter of his companions before ordering him. "Use the artifact." he commanded with an incredibly icy tone. Nodding in understanding, the aid took out a fist size spherical metallic contraption that emitted dark silvery hues that was then placed where the fleeing woman passed previously.
Soft hums began to resonate from the artifact as the silver hues on its surface became more pronounce, latching onto empty space. The area where the woman ran through roared and became a rift in space only as big as her figure. The contraption on the other hand was already showing signs of wear and tear, visible cracks can be seen on its surface.
He shrouded the group in bright golden energy before moving towards the sphere to store it once more. Afterwards his figure dashed forward wildly, he extinguished any linger of regret in his mind as he led them through the rift.
The leader of the trio could only grit his teeth and enter the human shape rift. The three of them barely managed to squeeze through as they appeared in the middle of an empty market of various stalls and stores that are either closed or guarded by runes. A trail of bloodstains led from their position to one of the back alleys that seem to lead to the city's center.
A three-story building made of wood and brick stood near the town square of Daratan, a woman clutching her sides was doing her best to limp away from the area before collapsing just before reaching the nearest tavern.
Not more than three minutes have passed when the group chasing the girl finally discovers her, one of the followers checks her state then turns to nod at their leader. Multitude of emotions can be seen on his face, relief, victory, and ambition. He walked towards the woman to lift her hood up, his face cracking into a smile and thought to himself
'Your family was wasted on him, your beauty as well'
He gets up and nods to his companions, walking away with a sinister glint in his golden orbs as he shot a beam of the same color to the woman's corpse – incinerating it. He then takes out a scroll, opens it and tears it in half. A bright flash soon follows, shining for second before disappearing taking the trio with it.
The stillness of the evening stirs as the events unfold; those sensitive enough in the tavern Marcella's bounty takes notice of these raging energies from the outside, though too drunk to react properly. As for the others, they merely blame such on the usual brawls that were common within the area.
Within a magnificent bed chamber, King Munios awakens from the sudden influx of magic in his city. He swiftly makes a move, albeit the half-naked state and manages to arrive near the area where the trio disappeared – only to glimpse a flash of light that left no trace behind.
He is a burly, middle-aged man, floating above the house of the city folks. He scans the area only to be disappointed with the result. He grunts loudly.
''Hmph! We shall see who dares invade my city.' He takes one final sweep of the area before whisking back into his castle.
Inside the orphanage run by the Church of Hanan, Julia, a priestess trainee of the church and exceptionally sensitive to energy, senses the magical fluctuations being awaken by it. Trusting her instincts that told her something was wrong; she resolves herself to hurriedly check outside. Appearing at the front door she was about to walk out when she sees a pile of bloody clothing.
She directly looks at the pile, yet she could feel as if it were nonexistent. The space surrounding the bundle felt immaterial – warping and bending. Had she not been unusually sensitive, she may have thought it was really a mere figment of her imagination.
An audible gulp escapes her throat as she picks up the bloody pile, she takes a peek inside to see an infant with deep black hair, large silver eyes and plump cheeks.
"!!!" Sister Julia was about to exclaim when she senses a presence coming towards her only for her to turn around and find Priestess Lauren glaring at her for it was past curfew. She was awoken due to the loud thumping caused by Sister Julia, her attitude towards the latter is not particularly the best because, although being a kind-hearted woman, the young sister was a bit of a coward and klutz.
Sister Julia works up the courage to confront her senior and lifts up the lump of cloth towards Priestess Lauren only for the latter to look dumbfounded at her behavior. The priestess was about to reprimand her, when Sister Julia realizes that her elder might not be able to see what she has in her hands.
She quickly interrupts the old woman and removes the cloth surrounding the baby only for the child to start crying. Priestess Lauren's eyes opens in surprise to the sudden turn of events. Her aged face seems to lighten up a bit as she sees the adorable infant.
Reaching for the baby from the struggling maiden, Priestess Lauren had an inquiring look on her face as she interrogates the young lady – her voice, still soothing, which is surprising for she is nearing her 50s.
"Where did you find him?"
A relieved expression appeared on Sister Julia's lovely young face. The baby has calmed down from Priestess Lauren's touch. She starts explaining what she knew to the priestess. Although the sister is not exceptionally attractive, she looks quite cute while struggling to explain what she knew to her elder.
Priestess Lauren can only nod in agreement, she has decided to leave the investigation to the authorities. She then beckoning the younger sister to head back to her quarters, finally walking away to search for a place for the infant.
Julia has a tired expression on her face as she realizes how sleepy she is. She arrives at her room, putting the mystifying cloth on the table only to see some markings that seem to be foreign characters she is unable to recognize "钱伟坤" is embroidered in gold on the corners of the red cloth.
"I should inform the priestess tomorrow" Julia says to herself before laying on her bed and falling asleep.
In a small room with a few cradles laid about, a baby with silver eyes lay struggling to fall asleep as beads of barely traceable specks of light gather towards the center of his brows, the energy they radiated was so minute that even the sister upstairs fails to notice the hundreds of multicolored spots of energy is slowly gathering into the child's forehead, until all of them condensed into a small sphere before fusing with the baby. Sleep slowly crept in as the still of the night returns.
In Marcella's Bounty an elven man can be seen passed out drunk at one of the tables. He is awoken by a pleasant yet familiar female voice.
"Aedan wake up, let us go home."
An elven woman with visible scars on her face and neck is sitting next to him, shaking him awake. She drinks the remaining ale from the cup in her husband's left hand before pulling him by the arm leading him out the tavern.
Aedan pulls back the platinum hair on her right cheek, revealing a scar cutting diagonally down to her neck. He caresses his wife's cheek before kissing her on the forehead. He reeked of alcohol but it was as if she found it comforting.
"I am sorry Marci; I'll try to earn more… so we can get your scars healed." Aedan has an affectionate look as he stares at his wife's injuries.
She has two scars on her left eye, the tip of her left ear had been cut and a long scar on her right cheek which seems to run past her clavicle, yet even after all that she still remains lovely. He has known her for most of his life and his memories of her undamaged visage has never waned.
Marceline could only smile at her husband's words as she knows how hard working he is. She knows how little the income of a city elf is, especially as part of a simple maintenance crew. She continues to drag the semi-listless man as they walk towards their home.
The moonless sky makes the streets and alleyways dark and dismal as elven men, women and children would occasionally be seen laying on the cold brick paths. The two eventually reached their home situated in an alienage where rundown houses could be seen.
They enter a fairly-sized household with two bedrooms and a kitchen found near a giant tree at the center of the alienage. The abode looked a bit old and rundown with little furniture, some wooden boards on floors would creak when walked on but despite it all the couple love the place for it was their home. Aedan did his best to keep the place together even with his busy working schedule.
Aedan directly went to bed, Marceline on the other hand goes outside to get some firewood for breakfast in the morning. She walks up to the large tree that towered over her, its circumference couldn't be covered even by ten grown men working together to hug the tree. Pondering there on her own she would often hold her abdomen and sigh. Time passes and the first light of dawn shines and starts to illuminate the foliage of the alienage.
Marceline is awakened from her trance by the sunlight kissing her lovely skin only to notice that morning has come. She gathers the twigs she had collected tying them in a bundle and making her way back home.
Sounds of ruckus can be heard and four young human males appear. She notices that they are drunk noblemen probably here to cause trouble for the elf folk, she knows of this for such occurrences were not uncommon.
The drunks quickly spot a homeless elven maiden to harass. She is disgusted by their behavior and was about to move when she feels a calloused hand grip her wrist. It was her husband. Aedan shakes his head at her and gestures for them to head home.