2 Chapter 1:

The stream trinkled and the sound of metal hitting wood bounced across the forest.

"You know princess," he said, his swordsmanship shining through the slashes of the dummy, "Ive always believed in rebirth."

The pixies scuttered at every move he made clearly threatened by his aggressive behaviour.

"I like to think I was a mage, some sort of powerful being, but that may not be the case."

The small elvish girl giggled at his remark. "And what would your name be in such a strange phenomenon?"

He sheathed his sword nealt down and offered a hand to his majesty, "Ever".

She smiled.

The elegent pinks, blues, and whites of her dress stood out in the deep greens of the enchanted wood, fireflies and fairies lit up what would be much darker for the thick canopies above.

As the boy helped her stand, she sighed.

"Well it's a shame you're just Reuben here."

"As long as I can protect you."

The two of them walked back to the palace, where just outside two figures lay in wait. It was the general and his daughter.

The general was in good shape. He was well in his 40's with a long nose and hair a very dark shade of purple. He was always clad in silver armour and small hoops on his ear.

His daughter was of the same muscular tanned skin and shining hair, but a less serious look on her face. She bowed to her princess, grinned and took her inside to see her parents.

Then left were the general and Reuben.

"Son" said the general.

Reuben flinched.

"You are almost 17 now, the knighting ceremony is within a week." he prodded Reuben. "Your sister, Azura, became the princesses personal guard by the time she was 15. But you are weak."

Reuben whipped out his sword.

"You dont train enough."

Metal clashed.

"And therefore you still cannot beat me."

The boy toppled backwards while the sword by his chin told him he had lost once again.

A soldier walked up and saluted.

"Sir! The king requests your presence!"

As he whispered into his ear the general groaned.

"The O'Brien child, again?"

He patted the his child on the back.

"Go home and do your studies, that girl really is a menace"

But Reuben had already run off.

'𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒' Reuben thought, while sprinting to the butchers shop.

The butcher looked shocked.

"That's the third time this week!" He said, passing Reuben a smoked salmon.

Reuben nodded.

"Its a wonder shes not dead yet" he replied.

Then it was through the village square, over the rooftops, and to a dark alley next to his home. He put the salmon into a metal bowl.

"EMBREY!" he called out, and a little grey cat apeared.

He passed the cat its food. It flicked it into the air and swallowed it -almost- whole. The cat suddenly turned into a girl of the same age. She yawned.

"Embrey..."

Reuben shook his head.

"What on earth did you do?"

Embrey was a werecat, and the assistant of the kingdoms greatest inventor. She was smart and all but her methods were unorthadox and often led to many many explosions.

She had gray hair as a human and gray fur as a cat. She was always a mess and although hid some of it under her poofy hat it was always noticeable.

"I kind of... Set the pond on fire."

Reuben blinked. He blinked again.

"For the last time! Keep the experiments inside the lab!" he yelled.

"Ah, but Dr Hergaschbein said 'one more explosion in THIS LAB, and you are being kicked out for good' so I just do them outside now." she stated, clearly proud of herself for coming up with a loophole.

Reuben rolled his eyes.

"Hey!" Embrey exclaimed. "Isnt your ceremony in a couple of days?"

He nodded.

"Not so excited, huh?"

"Of course I am! Its just theres no need for new knights, not much crime, wars or monsters to fight in these parts," he shrugged.

"Sucks to be you" she said, and a cat ran off to cause more chaos.

Reuben got up and went inside. He sat at the desk and drew in his notebook.

He was excellent at art, he drew fairies and fireflies and the stream where he met the princess. He drew enchanted staffs and mystical beasts.

But right now he was drawing a statue of himself, riding on a horse in some heroic pose, the name on the plate to be remembered for years.

"A good knight dreams of such," the voice behind him said.

His father chuckled.

"Your mother was a fierce warrior too. You have her eyes."

Reuben's week passed gentler because of that. Knowing he lived up to her name made him stronger. He trained with Azura each day in the courtyards.

The general noticed his improvements.

And the day before the ceremony he was given a new sword, engraved with runes from the old elven language.

It read:

May the spirits guide this sword into the chest of wrongdoers.

And then it was time...