Chapter 1: Castle In The Snow

1628 G.D

  I walked through a forest. Leaves crunched beneath my feet as I slowly walked towards an open field leading to a river. The sun was high and shined through the trees, but oddly enough, the warmth of the sun didn't heat my skin. I was about to reach the open field but my body refused to move. At the edge of the tree line I stopped, and in the distance was a single tree with green and vibrant leaves. Suddenly, a voice began to call my name over and over. "Zarek! Master Zarek!" The feminine and familiar voice called.

  I was awakened by one of my family's servants, Eva, at the entrance of my room calling out to me. I'm not a heavy sleeper but I was training with my sword master Lernarc for days. "Master Zarek!" Eva shouted once more. She was newly employed in our house, she was a couple of years older than me when she arrived, and from the moment I laid eyes on her, I became fond of her. She was also very beautiful, her hair was red and braided, and she had green eyes and a freckled face.

  "What is it, Eva?" I asked feeling groggy.

  "Your family is currently awaiting your arrival in the dining hall, it is your farewell party before you leave for the ceremony."

  "Ceremony! Oh...right. I sat up wiping the sleepiness from my eyes.

"Should I go?" I asked Eva. "I have a feeling I'm not going to be missed."

  She rests the clothes I was going to wear on the dressing table and walked towards me, the rays of the sun shining through my window making her hair glow giving it the effect of fire. She took a seat beside me.

  "Young master, I'm sure your mother and father love you very much not to mention your brother and sister."

I raised my eyebrows. "My brother, I'm not so sure about." When I hit the age of ten, I noticed drastic changes in the way my brother, Fabien treated me. I noticed at an even younger age how my grandmother would treat me compared to my brother, and now that our grandmother had died my brother has taken her place in hating me with a passion.

"Anyway, Eva, I need to get dressed." She nodded, and Hastily, she left my room.

lazily I got out of my bed and took the outfit Eva left for me on the dressing table. I received this outfit as a gift from my uncle Gadin, he acquired it from the elvish nation of Cartha. I stood in front of the mirror, and I began to stare blankly in thought.

Alone, I was always alone. In the garden, I would sit alone, By the fountain, I would sit alone. And the only people who treated me like a person out of all my family members were my sister, Anya, and my mother and father. Years in isolation I spent, only to be sent away to a knight's order. It wasn't fair.

A wave of sadness and anger began to wash over me. Quickly, I dismissed these thoughts of resentment. I stared at my face, then at my eyes. My hair was thickly curled and barely touched my shoulders, and my eyes were red, the sole reason for my Isolation.

I sighed, "Why couldn't I just be normal?"

I donned my attire and exited my room into a hallway filled with an assortment of red colors. The long mat stretched to the end of the hallway with very elegant black flower embroidery. I walked down it. The bright morning light projected the designs of the window onto the floor. I reached the double doors to the dining hall. On both sides were the images of two wyverns carved into it. With a light knock, I opened the doors; they creaked slightly.

For some odd reason, I felt nervous. My brother, mother, father, and sister all sat at the red mahogany table, with a cloth embroidered with black wyverns draped over it. Their eyes followed me as I took a seat beside my brother on the right side of the table. My mother and sister sat on the left. The silence made my thoughts go in every direction.

I looked at my father who had a look of seriousness. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought he was the king of our country. He was getting old, but he still had a look of youth. His hair was black, with not a single greyed hair sprouting from his head besides some coming from his goatee. My mother, on the other hand, didn't even look like she aged. Her dark hair was starting to sprout greyed hair but she was still very captivating with clear skin and golden eyes that always sparkled with liveliness.

I greeted everyone at the table. "Good morning, sorry for my late arrival! I said with my head held low.

"Late!" My older brother Fabien shouted. "Late is an understatement! Do you know how long we've been waiting?"

"That's enough, Fabien! Father shouted, "Sit!" You can see the embarrassment on his face, getting cut off by our father.

"Come on dear!" my mother said to my older brother. "Is that any way to treat your brother on his last day with us?"

To be honest, I didn't care about farewells, I just wanted to know how my father felt about me leaving, and joining a knight's order since he is the one who arranged it.

Father was still arguing with Fabien about how he acted, but I needed my answer now. "Fabien you need to stop this abhorrent behavior if you want people to respect-"

"Father!"I shouted, he turned to face me with a surprised look on his face.

"Why can't I just stay here with you, mother and sister? Why can't I just help Fabien when he takes over?" I could tell that he was annoyed that I questioned his judgment.

"Zarek! What kind of question is that? I thought you were smarter than this!" I knew exactly what he spoke of, I just needed to know if he cared; I needed closure, so I could focus when I leave. I'm going to carry this talk further.

"Son if you stay here most likely it would end in a dispute over being the head of our house. Son, listen, the nobles of this land are not good people, they would see your youth as a vulnerability, and turn you against each other."

"I don't care about those people!"

"No! Son, you need to chart your path; I already laid the foundation, now build on it, and be successful, I don't need you in your brother's shadow, understood?"

"Yes, father." This response was more than I expected. I never heard him talk to any of my siblings like this before.

I ate with a contented heart. After lunch, the servants cleared our table. My sister Anya, with her bright blue eyes and silky black hair, came up to me and gave me the biggest hug ever, "Hope you come back to us soon Zarek."

"Don't worry Anya I'll be back in no time," I said, embracing her even tighter. My brother reluctantly came up to me, but still made the effort.

"I wish you great fortune in your endeavors."

I nodded and smiled, "Thank you, brother." He didn't even smile, instead, he left the dining hall entirely.

My mother just sat in her chair, with the biggest smile on her face. "What is it, mom?"

"Looking at how far you came from childbirth till now makes me optimistic about your future... thank you for making it this far, Zarek."

"Couldn't have done it without you mother."

"Now then, let's talk." She said enthusiastically.

"I have one more day we can talk tomorrow." I shouldn't have said that when my mother says something she expects us to do it. She just looked at me until I pulled a chair and sat next to her, she sat facing the

table not even making eye contact with me. The silence finally broke when she called my name.

"Zarek, do you know Where you are headed?"

"Yes, Asallerolon mother!" I said confidently.

"No! What order are you going to join?"

"The Knight's order of The Sacred Hand-Mum why are you asking me this?

"Because, you are headed into a den of wolves, those men are dangerous, they'll do anything to achieve victory."

Why was she saying this to me? Why is she trying to scare me?

"Zarek! Get out of your head and listen to me, you are headed into the fire, you are going to see things that you never knew existed before, so I need you to be strong, the dark is rising and creatures of the dark come with it."

My mother is a serious woman; I'll take heed of her warning. "Understood mother!"

"Good, when you come of age--no! When the time is right I will send a letter, and you will return it to me without hesitation. There are some things I would like to tell you before I go."

"Why can't you just tell me now?"

"Because you are young and foolish, acquire more wisdom and I will tell you everything and anything!"

My mother accompanied me to the edge of the training yard, where we halted. She kissed me on the cheek. "You've made it a long way my son, you're almost as tall as your father." She said while caressing my cheek.

"I still have a ways to go, mother." We hugged and she headed back inside, tomorrow my journey is about to start, and my heart is beating out of my chest.

My swordmaster, Lernac, was waiting by the weapons rack. He was a tall, and muscular man: His hair was white and was tied at the back of his head neatly. His nose was convexed and pointed at the end. His eyes were a deep blue, and it was as if he was staring at your soul when making eye contact with him.

"You went to your farewell party, that's good, you never know if you'll ever get to see your family again...cherish every moment."

Lernac was the best swordsman I ever saw and that is talking from experience. I heard he had mastered swordsmanship at a younger age than me.

"Ok young master, this is the last day we will be together, so you get to fight me... with a real sword." I was surprised, since we only ever fought each other with wooden weapons, and used real swords on dummies.

"Are you sure we should fight with real weapons?" I asked.

"Master Zarek do you not have trust in your skills?"

"Yes! I do but that seems a little dangerous." I sounded like a coward but I was never cut with a real sword, and the thought of it sent a shiver down my spine.

"Master Zarek! Put on the armor from the rack and pick any weapon of your choosing, this is your last time training with me, so I expect you to show me the results of your hard work; you're gonna need the

experience where you're going."

I equipped my armor, it was metal plates overlapping each other, to not allow the slightest exposure of skin. Underneath was chainmail, if I hadn't worn a padded cloak underneath, the weight of the armor would

make fighting unbearable.

I approached the weapons rack. In my 5 years of training, I managed to master two weapons: a long sword, and a throwing knife. Using these weapons was my best chance of having victory. I was nervous, but I had trust in my skills. I put the throwing knives in straps that crossed my body and held the long sword tightly in both my hands.

"Zarek, are you ready?" Lernac asked, his face painted with the biggest smile. He pointed towards a bell that hung from a rope, attached to a piece of wood, erected at the front of the armory. He shouted. "Here are your rules! When the bell drops from the rope, attack if you hesitate... I'll make you regret it." This is the first time I ever saw him with a look so evil and sinister; like a predator who sees its prey.

We stood in the center of the training ground, facing each other. It was loud, the only sounds being, the chimes of the bell, caused by the treads of the rope coming undone. My heart was racing wildly in anticipation, I had a stab of fear when the bell dropped. Immediately, Lernac dashed towards me with his short sword. I took a defensive stance to block his attacks that were about to come my way. I reinforced my arms with magic, the blue runes creeping up my hands.

His first attack came from the right, he struck in an arc from right to left so quickly that I felt the strength of the hit reverberates through my arms. My arms were high over my head due to the attack, which left me open for a stab. Lernac ran forward to thrust his sword toward my stomach, but I quickly brought my sword close to my body to reflect his thrust. I had no way of attacking, Lernac's strikes were so fast that I had no way of counter-attacking; I needed to find a way to land a hit. I reinforced my arms with more mana so I could go on the offensive. I threw my hands up and parried high, I brought back the point of my longsword

towards lernac's face.

I immediately thrust, making Lernac leap backward. He had a look of surprise, I smiled while still holding a defensive stance. The only way he could land a hit, is if he gets close, so I quickly hurled a knife at him; he deflected it with ease and continued to charge. I now had three more knives, if I wanted to keep him at a distance I would have to use them wisely, but I forgot one important fact, Lernac could use ranged magic. Realizing this I used a spell to hasten my steps. Doing this allowed me to dodge his fire attacks.

"Damn it!" This was a battle of attrition, I needed to end this quickly. I evaded his fire attacks once more but he wasn't running out of mana. I jumped behind a pillar close to the armory to catch my breath.

"Think Zarek! Think!"

An idea popped into my head, but it was a leap of faith I had to take to gain victory. I jumped from behind the pillar and used a smokescreen spell. It was a handicap for me, but also for Lernac so I needed it. I ran in his direction, and there he was, his silhouette shown through the smoke, by the rays of the sun. He was facing the other direction, searching through the smoke for me. He was wide open for an attack. I hurled all three of my knives in quick succession. His Silhouette hit the ground with a scream grunt.

I was victorious I cleared the smoke spell, only to find nothing was there, I realized too late--a blade was put to my throat.

"You lost, it was a good strategy Master Zarek, but a good fighter sees all the flaws before executing the plan." He removed the blade from my throat.

"I didn't even know you could use illusion magic!"

"You see! always think of every possibility before executing a plan."

I let out a disappointed sigh. "So, Lernac have I failed?"

He stood there, holding his chin in thought. After a while of staring into space, he gave me an answer. "No! Master Zarek, you have not. You showed me that you have an excellent mind for combat."

"Thank you, lernac." His faith in me made me optimistic about my journey to the Sacred Hand Order. Hearing his answer, I returned to the Castle, just in time for dinner. I happily ate it while listening to my brother and father talk about a harvest, and the profit they received. I would've joined, but all of this was behind me now, and tomorrow I would be leaving.

My thoughts were interrupted when my father called my name. "Zarek! I have a gift for you!" He sent the servant standing beside him to fetch someone. No, later than that, two men arrived behind the servant, they carried two huge chests and rest them beside me. I was curious to know what was inside. "Can I open it now? I asked.

"Of course! After all, it's yours."

The man who was probably the blacksmith's assistant gave me a key to open the first chest, I slowly opened it to reveal armor. It was black, with beautiful silver dragon designs on the pauldrons, it also had a reinforced black cuirass, it had black bracers with silver outlines and two segments that overlapped each other. And boots which also had silver dragon designs.

"Father! Thank you so much!" I said, overjoyed.

"No need to thank me, son. Open the next one." The blacksmith gave me the key to the second box, and I opened it quickly. It was a beautifully designed longsword: the pommel was the shape of a dragon and the sword had runes on the blade to store more magic. I was overwhelmed to see that my father would go out of his way to get me such equipment.

"Thank you father, I will cherish these with my life." The two men took the chest and carried it back with them. "When it dawns, your chest will be brought to the gatehouse, understood?" I nodded feeling very excited about this adventure I was going to take.

I headed to my chamber probably the happiest person in the world. I laid my head on my pillow, and almost immediately fell asleep.

Abruptly, I awoke, surprised that morning had already come, but immediately, I realized something was wrong. The light shining through my window was Lightish-blue, I got out of my bed and ran to the window. I was in disbelief, I was in a different place everything was snow-covered.

I ran to the door to see if my family was ok, but I opened the door to more snow. And in the distance was a castle. I screamed in frustration. "What is going on!" I didn't even know where I was located, I saw a figure approaching. I ran towards them, hoping to get an idea of where I was. As I got closer, my run came to a jog, then to a walk, then to a complete halt. My heart sank to my feet. Their eyes were glowing red, she wore black armor and she was tall, and most of all she was beautiful. Her teeth were sharp, her skin was as pale as the snow that surrounded us. She approached, and for some reason, I could not move. She slowly approached me until our faces almost touched.

My heart was beating out of my chest, she held my face in her hands, stared right into my eyes, and didn't utter a word. I was shivering in fear until she finally spoke. Her voice was powerful, like that of a queen who commanded respect. With a whisper, she finally spoke, "It's about time we finally met!"

What is this woman speaking of? "Who are you?" I asked. Upon hearing this, she released my face and said.

"If you don't know who I am, then we shouldn't be speaking, find me your way! She walked away, towards the castle without uttering a single word. "Wait!" I shouted, but she didn't turn to answer me. The snow wind started to obscure her image, my vision began to blur until I could only see darkness. I realized I was no longer on solid ground, I was falling. Light began to appear behind me so I turned my body. I was free-falling to my death, there was nothing I could do, but prepare myself for the pain that would be surging through my body. I jumped out of my sleep, Panting and sweating profusely.