The three figures emerged from a dark alley within the city walls. Seated in the darkness on a wooden crate was man dressed in a hooded jacket with sleeves torn off revealing a tattoo of a skull with other markings that were barely visible in the dark alley. He was placed in the city a few months ago after his leader heard about a girl in the city with a birthmark resembling a dragon. The leader had sent in him here after hearing about this girl with the mark to search for her and report back to him after finding the girl.

He wanted to find her as he knew about the prophecy and the actions, he was about to intake were of no-good intention. He knew that one day this child may try to stop him, and he had to end her life before it was too late. It was a few weeks ago when he heard from his spy, confirming the rumours about such a girl. Learning the location of the child, he made his way to the forgotten God’s Hand Seal, which is currently unknown to the current God’s Hand Clan. Within this seal are hundreds, maybe thousands, of warriors, whom he can summon and control, making them do his bidding. Now that he knows where the girl is, it's time to take his first step down the path of vengeance.

"Oh, you’re finally here!” The man sitting in the dark spoke, lifting his head to look at three figures standing before him.

“Where is she?” A male standing in the centre of the three figures spoke.

“You can find her at the house of the lords, in the centre of the city. "It's the biggest building; you can’t miss it.”

With that said, the figures vanished in the darkness again. "Well, time for me to have my fun.” the man spoke with a sinister smile on his face. “Oh Lucas, let's have some fun, shall we?” he asked while walking towards the exit of the alley and watching the people as they passed by.

--------------

"So did you beat him this time?" Emily asked, her eyes searching her friend's face.

"No, I lost, but it was closer than last time."

Lyca had already taken a shower at Emily’s place and now wore one of her friend's leggings and blouse. Two of them were now at Emily's house. It was a stupendous structure, something like a palace. Emily’s parents are of noble status and are the lords of this small town. The building had twenty guards on regular patrol around gates and walls surrounding the buildings 24/7. Lyca figured the house had about twenty bedrooms; she had never explored the entirety of the building, but Emily had told her they had about fifteen bathrooms total in the main building, which was five stories high. The structure was composed of five different buildings along the courtyard, two on each side, and the main building at the far end with a luscious garden in front of it. East wing and west wing.

She knew the buildings on the east wing were called Avion, named after Emily’s great grandmother; this was where Emily's room was located on the second floor, and building two was Or’yat, meaning knowledge for those who seek it. Within this building was a library with thousands of books. Lyca would spend most of her time there when she was training with Lucas or hanging out with her friend. Being the only daughter to her parents and a daughter of nobles, Emily was treated like a princess and was expected to marry one of the princesses someday, which she always hated the idea of. Lyca couldn't quite remember what the buildings on the west wing were called. There was a walkway that led from the gate that branched off to all five structures, and in the middle of the courtyard was a most magnificent fountain. On it were perfectly carved angels and dragons. The master of such creation made sure that every detail on his or her masterpiece was perfectly carved into place. Each scale on the dragon seemed to have a life of its own, and the eyes burned with power. The wings of the angels were edged to perfection. Lyca was always mesmerized by how the angels and dragons seemed to be alive when the moonlight hit them. She could imagine herself flying on a dragon and dancing with the angels. She adored the view from the window of Emily's room. Emily was still talking about her day and how she was going to meet the prince the following day. Lyca has never seen the prince but has heard he is handsome beyond words. Lyca watched as Emily picked out what clothes and jewellery to wear, asking her what she thought about them.

"No matter what you wear, you're going to look stunning." She said smiling at Emily.

"I know, but I want to look perfect, you know." She replied with a sad face and continued going through her endless barrage of clothing.

Unaware to them that as they spoke to each other three figures hiding its presence in the darkness were heading straight for them. All dress in black and carry swords at their sides. “We must capture her alive,” the male in the front.

------------

"Protect her if you may, but do not try to keep her from her destiny; the world needs her." He said the last words with a sternness that Lucas understood. "You must leave this place, for darkness is soon upon us." Lucas and Devon spoke for quite some time in the small room before Devon decided to end the conversation.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

With that, Lucas thanked Devon for his time and left, saying nothing more, for he knew what Devon said was true. He must begin Lyca's true training. While walking to the exit, he noticed that the building was almost empty. All the girls and men who were there when he arrived have gone; only empty stools and tables littered with empty alcohol bottles and the bartender, and a customer remain. He sat facing the bartender with a cup of red liquid in front of him. He wore a hooded jacket with the sleeves torn, revealing a tattoo on his upper right that appeared to be a skull with a blade going through it from bottom to top and snakes colored red warping themselves around the skull. This was the same man who sat in the darkness. The stranger turned and faced Lucas. His eyes were purple, like his sisters', but they lacked the purity and curiosity that had been drained from them; the life that had been drained from them had been replaced with a lust for blood. as their gazes collided with each other's. "Hello Lucas, I've been waiting for you," the bald stranger said with a smile.

This gave off an unpleasant feeling that Lucas did not quite trust immediately as his sense of battle kicked in.

"Identify yourself." Lucas demanded. "What do you want with me?"

"There is no need for introductions; you will not live to remember them." He replied to the stranger with a smirk on his face. Placing his hand on his sword that was set on the counter in front of him,

"I suggest you go back to where you came before it's too late." He advised the stranger. Instead, the tattooed man retrieved his sword from the counter. He unsheathed it and made a rush towards Lucas, thrusting his sword towards him. Lucas was surprised by his speed but was able to quickly dodge by twisting his body to the left. Seeing this, his attacker then swung his sword in the direction Lucas dove. Again, Lucas quickly dove, evading his opponent's blade, and stepped backwards while ducking to get out of his attacker's range. The stranger continued his attacks with thrust after thrust, followed by vertical and horizontal swings.

Lucas managed to dodge all of the strangers' attacks gracefully; it was like he was dancing to his own tune, side stepping, ducking, and stepping back, evading each attack with ease at the same time, evading and twisting his body around each of the stools and chairs, or jumping on and off a table when he was close to one in the room, before his opponent slashed through them. His hand was in the pocket of his pants while he dodged his opponent's blade. He could tell just by the way the man moved that he was leagues beyond him; the way he held the sword, and the placement of his feet were all off. - He has gravely underestimated me. Why is he even attacking me in the first place?

The stranger was now getting frustrated. He then held his sword to his mouth and whispered something Lucas could not hear. A purple cloud began to engulf the blade. The cloud seemed to have a reddish glow to it.

-Dark Heiki. so he can control his heiki. But I'm sure that won’t make a difference. -

He looked at Lucas with an evil smirk. Swung his sword with an "argh," releasing an energy blast in the form of a crescent. Lucas dodged again, twisting his body to the left. The blast ripped through the forest behind Lucas, tearing it to shreds before crashing into the wall with a loud booming sound. Lucas narrowed his eyes on his challenger. I need to end this quickly.

"I ask you again, who are you and what do you want? I implore you to act now, before it's too late. I have not killed for a while now, so please let me keep it that way"

"And I tell you again, you won't live to remember; I’ll be the one doing the killing today."

The stranger then continued releasing his energy attacks with an "argh" sound after each swing. He saw he was getting nowhere as Lucas continued to dodge his attacks effortlessly. He then placed his open palm on the ground and said something Lucas could not hear. The ground around his palm began to glow. A snake made of the same type of energy emerged from Lucas, disintegrating the pieces of furniture in its path.

Lucas, seeing the attack coming his way, caused roots to erupt from the ground around him, breaking through the wooden floor and shielding him from the energy blasted. The snake collided with the wall of roots, exploding with a thundering boom. Lucas decided it was time to put an end to this foolish squabble and took the smoke to conceal his presence from his opponent. He then dashed at the stranger from out of the smoke, having no time to react and being caught off guard by Lucas’ speed. There was a flash of silver. Then the air was engulfed by the scent of blood. He saw Lucas looking into his eyes with such calmness and a glint of joy that it scared him. He has never seen this type of emotion in a fight. He could now see the difference in their strengths because he was so relaxed; judging Lucas' ability solely based on spying on him while sparring with Lyca was a mistake. Then the pain came. His right arm was gone, replaced with a stream of blood. As he looked into Lucas' calm green eyes, his eyes widened, and he shook uncontrollably.

Lucas could see the fear in his opponent's eyes. It seems he has realized the difference in power and now knows that he is going to die here. He then drove his knee into the man's stomach. He coughed up blood. falling to his knees. Lucas then tilted his head with the tip of his sword and said, "I ask you again, stranger, who sent you?"

The man just laughed—I underestimated him—and said, "You shouldn't be worried about me; I'm just here to stall." Lucas, realizing what he was after, opened his eyes with fear and said, "Lyca." He said it with astonishment in his voice. The stranger laughed again and spat blood. Lucas narrowed his eyes on his opponent again. Eyes narrowed in determination, and there was another flash of silver through the air, and blood filled the air as he separated his foe's head from its body; it fell limp to the ground. Lucas rushed to the exit, where he was greeted by the king's men, who were tasked with assisting Emily’s parents in protecting this town. Their armor gleamed in the light of the full moon.

-Damn it. I don't have time for this.