It was twenty-two years ago, during the Azur Dragon's rampage across Triazils.

Everyone was living in fear of being reduced to ashes, with no one being able to help them.

Even the Apostles were having trouble with him. The only people able to attack him weren't weak by any means.

Long range attacks were necessary, and it had to be elemental attacks other than water, which limited a lot of Apostles at the time.

The situation was dire for humans at that time. Because one Apostles decided to steal a few dragons eggs, he placed the whole faction in a precarious state.

This whole ordeal lasted for a week, but this was moment where everyone endured the terror of death. Some went crazy from fear, some lost their patience and committed heinous acts, and some tortured others to appease their fear.

The case of Hocride was, in a way, all of the above.

Kamala was thirteen, a young girl, the only child of the Apostle ruling at the time. Her hair were black at the time.

Her mother, Andila, was a strong woman that was respected by everyone, but not necessarily in good ways.

Her body was beautiful. Her skin was the same as her daughter, a light brown that contrasted with the white sand of the desert. She had really short black hair.

Kamala was really similar to her mother in many ways, except her behavior.

Andila treated all of her citizens like dogs, and Kamala like her servant. She was a strong woman, having perfected the wind element.

She had killed Kamala's father in the past, because of a simple mistake he made, which was always a sore spot for the young girl.

Her mother was hateful, but she was strong. At the time, only the strong could speak against her, which meant, other Apostles, who showed no interest in meddling with her.

With time, she showed signed of craziness more often than not, and before long, the situation was out of control.

That fateful day, where Kamala took over a burning Hocride, she erased its history, for herself, and for all that went through it along her.

~

Two days before.

"Kamala! Where is my drink?!"

"It's on the table, mother."

"I told you a hundred times to bring it to me, not place it who knows where! Do what I say, or I'll send you to your father!"

"Yes, mother."

The young Kamala looked at the ground, tightly grabbing her dress in frustration.

"I shouldn't have made a child. They said they gave happiness, but I only got problems with her."

Andila walked to the table and grabbed the glass.

They were in their house, near the port. It was a house way larger than the others, with a center garden, and many useless rooms.

You would wonder why such a big house was necessary, but that was all Andila's orders.

They were currently in the garden, where many of the servants looked at this scene.

Whispering could be heard coming from them.

'I can't believe the young lady has to endure all of this.'

'If only she was at the age of freedom, we could send her somewhere far from the Lord.'

Two women were, really quietly, speaking of Kamala.

'She did so much for us, and yet we cannot do anything for her... this is unfair.'

'Ladies, please keep quiet. You know what will happen if she sees you speaking behind her back.'

A young gentleman walked behind the servants, and warned them.

'Sir Timothy.'

Timothy, in his mid-twenties at that time, walked past them, in the direction of Andila.

He walked past Kamala, and flashed a warm smile at the young girl.

His expression became severe after passing her.

"Lord Andila, news of the dragon's rampage has arrived."

Andila turned, enraged. She drank the content of her drink and threw the glass on the ground, next to Kamala, who remained still.

"That damned dragon! When is it going to stop?"

Timothy showed a slight anger at this display, but instantly hid it and continued his report.

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"The Azur Dragon is on it's way toward Hocride. We have no idea why, but we have to prepare and evacu-"

Andila stopped him.

"Evacuate? Where? Why?"

Timothy looked at her as if he was looking at an idiot.

"What's that look?"

"Nothing. I thought that the Lord had a plan against the dragon, that is all."

He returned to his neutral face. The luck was that Andila was so idiotically blind on her own self, that she never understood other people.

"Of course I have a plan."

She turned around and left the garden, returning inside the house without saying anything else.

Timothy walked to Kamala and placed a hand on her head.

"I am so sorry. I understand how hard it is to have a mother like her, but please endure it a little longer."

"Hmm."

The girl nodded, enjoying the caress of her mentor.

He educated her instead of her useless mother, so she felt at ease when he was nearby.

"Just a little longer."

Timothy spoke quietly, before standing up.

"You two, please clean this mess, and help Lady Kamala back to her room. Give her some fruit juice too, she has the right to have a drink too."

He ordered the servants that were standing still, and walked somewhere outside the garden.

Like they were asked to, they cleaned the broken glass and escorted Kamala to her room, with a glass of grape juice.

She was now alone in her room, alone to think for herself.

'Once again with father. When is she going to let it go?'

'When is she going to realize that she is not helping anyone like this?'

'Why is she like this.'

She was pacing inside her room.

Beside her bed, there was a huge bookcase with all of the books Timothy kept bringing to her. There was also a desk where she liked to write the many ideas she had.

'I want to go outside, but mother refuses to let me go.'

'If not for Timothy, I wouldn't even know how to use magic.'

She opened her hands, and two spheres appeared. A green one, and a brown one.

'Let's see.'

With great focus, she created a breeze that flowed around the room, and a spike of stone.

'It's quite easy.'

The magic disappeared, and the elements vanished.

She slumped into her bed, and looked at the juice on the desk.

'How can she treat us like that?'

Remembering the savagery behind her mother's actions, she could only wonder. She wasn't like that, so why was her mother different?

'What did I do wrong?'

In the end, she really wanted her mother to accept her, but there was sign of that at all.

She stood up and walked to the desk, grabbed the glass and slowly drunk the content.

'It's delicious.'

She smiled and finished it.

~

Timothy was walking outside, toward a large building on the outskirts of the city.

He entered and closed the door shut behind him. The room was completely dark.

"Timothy, finally! How was it?"

A civilian walked toward him from the shadows.

"It is really bad. I fear for the young lady's life at this point. Andila is losing herself more each passing days."

A woman walked next to the man.

"Can we even do something for her at this point? Isn't she going to despise us for going against her mother?"

"I don't think she will."

Timothy walked forward and entered the darkness. The two civilians followed behind him.

"What about the guards? Aren't they going to stop us before we advance?"

Another voice echoed.

"We'll have to fight our way through. They are as corrupted as the current Lord."

"But the young lady in all of that?"

Many voices began to echo inside the large building. At that moment, someone flipped a switch, and the lights unraveled hundred of civilians.

Timothy's voice strongly overlapped all of the voices.

"We'll save her ourselves! And then, we'll find somewhere safe for her to live in!"

"Yes!"

They were all eager to fight for a young soul.

Right after the cries stopped, another civilian approached.

"Timothy, another one disappeared this morning. Do you know something about it?"

He shook his head.

"I've been trying to find the one that keeps kidnapping our men, but with no success."

'As if the Azur Dragon's attack wasn't enough, we have a kidnapper on our hands. It's the fourth one now.'

Only men were disappearing recently. But it was a matter of time before someone found the culprit.

"I should go back for now. You all stay alert, the moment to strike is near."

Timothy walked toward the door, as the lights all turned off, leaving the citizens in the dark.

"This is all for the young lady."

The door closed.

~

The next day, around 8PM.

Kamala was looking through her window. The sky was darker than usual, maybe because of all the dark clouds in the sky.

'Is it going to rain? It's rare around Hocride.'

Indeed, rain was a rare occurrence in the desert.

'Hmm?'

Something caught her attention.

'What is that?'

She saw a guard with a big wrapped item over his shoulder come in the direction of her house. He was trying to be sneaky.

'Why is there someone coming at this time? It is for mother?'

She became curious. Did her mother had a hobby? Something secret she wanted to keep secret to her own daughter?

'Maybe it will bring us closer?'

She was hopeful, so she quietly left her room.

Kamala stayed in the shadows, walking as slowly and quietly as possible.

The man entered through the back door, which Kamala anticipated.

She remained unnoticed and followed the man around the house.

'Why is he avoiding the places where our servants are?'

This was all too strange. Why would a simple hobby needed to be so secret?

The man entered a room she didn't knew about. Her mother only authorized her to leave her room to go to the dining room, the garden, and the bathroom.

Everything else was a mystery to her. Even though it was her own home.

"Lord Andila, I brought it like you asked."

Kamala watched through the slight opening of the door.

"I can see that. What, you want a thank you?"

As usual, she was really hateful.

'Mother, can't you be less aggressive?'

She felt pity for the guard.

"Were you followed?"

"Of course not. It is not the first time I have been doing this for you."

Yes, this man was trying to get her favor. What he didn't realize is that he was disposable in her eyes.

"Here, take you payment. You can leave through the window, I don't want you to be seen by anyone."

"Thank you Lord Andila. Please call for me if you need anything else."

"Yes, now get out of my sight."

She showed a disgusted face.

The man opened the door, and climbed down. Since it was the lowest floor, it was safe.

He closed the window and walked away, looking at the large amount of money in his hands.

"Ehehe, now I can find a nice woman and enjoy some quality time."

He entered an alley, and stopped.

"Who would have guessed that delivering kidnapping citizens to Lord Andila would give me so much money!"

But then.

"Huh?"

*Slash*

"G-"

He touched his throat. He felt a hot liquid drip down, and looked at his hands.

'Why?'

He bled for a moment, and tried to turn around. His body gave up, and all he saw was a dark shadow with a knife.

"There is no quality time for people like you."

Timothy's voice echoed inside the dark alley.

He looked in the eyes of the guard he injured until his life was extinguished.

'If only I had suspected Andila to begin with, we would never be in this situation.'

He turned around and looked in the distance.

An army of civilians with weapons were walking toward the city. He couldn't see it, but he knew they were coming.

The moment they knew the kidnapper was their Lord, anger, rage, and killing intent was unleashed for all to see.

At the same time, Kamala witnessed the horrors that her mother tried to hide.

Andila took the wrapped item to the room next door, and closed it behind her.

Kamala followed without making a sound and opened the slightly.

"!"