Across the realm of Serinon, lies eight different continents, each split and divided among each of the eight races of Serinon. The wise and numerous Humans, the proud and noble Elves, the nimble and cunning Faeries, the powerful and loyal Lunarians, the hardy and skilled Dwarves, the generous and loving Herbaceons, the enchanting and tempting Aquains, and the quiet and mysterious Airions. For centuries, each of these races have lived in general peace and harmony with each other, but as the current era comes to an end, an ancient and powerful evil awakens from its eternal slumber.

“Hey,” a voice called. “Hey Arron, come on already! It’s time!”

Arron Ferdoin laid across the grass, and looked up at the bright blue sky. A gentle breeze cut across the plain and Arron sat up to be greeted with the sight of his younger sister, Emilia. She was standing with her arms crossed and her finger was tapping her upper arm. This was a sign that she was fed up with waiting for Arron and wanted him to hurry on. After letting out a small yawn, Arron slowly got to his feet and patted himself down. Once he was ready, he started to walk over to his sister. When he was close enough, he could see that she had a look on her face that said she had killed him twice in her mind.

“What took you so long?” Emilia asked, the annoyance quite clear in her voice.

“I was sleeping,” Arron replied. “And calm down a little, you keep scowling like that, and you’ll end up a Dwarf.”

“Hey! That’s not funny!” Emilia cried.

Arron began to laugh and walked ahead of his sister. If he could remember properly, today was his sister’s birthday, so he decided that he should mess with her a little longer.

“Why did you come all the way out here?” Arron asked.

“You know why!” Emilia said. “You said that we were going to spend the day together!”

“I don’t remember this, did you make an appointment?” Arron joked.

At this point, Emilia looked close to tears, so Arron decided not to take it any further and drop the act. He reassured his sister and began walking with her back into the city of Loaken. Loaken was the Royal capital of the humans on the continent of Asalem, and was home to over five hundred thousand people. Throughout the centuries, Loaken was the biggest trading hub in eight continents, but in previous years, with the advancements in technology in all the continents, trading was made equal in the continents. After about half an hour of walking, Arron and Emilia entered back into the city, and made their way through the streets, careful not to bump into the hundreds of people that were filling the streets. Stepping through the crowd, Arron brought Emilia into the tavern that was close by to their home and they sat themselves down at an empty table. Even though it was only midday, the tavern was pretty busy. The sound of people talking and laughing, and the smell of smoke from the fire, it felt like the whole place was just another home with a party inside.

“So, what do you want to do today?” Arron asked.

“I want to visit the market,” Emilia said. “I remember seeing a really nice necklace for sale at one of the stalls.”

“So you just want me to waste my money then?” Arron laughed.

Emilia and Arron laughed as the waitress walked over to them to take their order. Since it was Emilia birthday, Arron ordered her favourite food. Steak with sweet apple sauce. Arron couldn’t figure out why she loved it so much, but then again, he really didn’t mind, seeing as she was still growing. Once they both finished their food and had their bill paid, they went back out onto the streets to head to the market. The market was bustling with people. In every direction there was market stalls with people forming crowds to try and get the best look at what wears were being sold. Emilia guided Arron to the stall where she saw the necklace that was being sold. It was a lovely silver necklace with a small little blue bird egg attached to it. Once Arron saw the price of it, his jaw nearly hit the floor.

“Emilia,” Arron said. “Did you see the price of this necklace?”

“No, how much is it?” Emilia asked.

“Three bits of gold.” Arron said sternly.

Emilia shrunk away at the sound of Arron’s words. Arron looked at her and let out a reluctant sigh, and turned to ask the stall owner if the necklace was still for sale. The stall owner gave a slight nod of his head and Arron picked out three gold bits from his coin purse and handed them to the stall owner and Arron picked up the necklace from the display case. With the necklace in his hand, he turned towards his sister and gently draped the necklace over her and closed the latch at the back. The silver necklace sat lovely against her collar bones and the blue bird egg highlighted Emilia’s pale skin perfectly.

Looking at Emilia closely, Arron couldn’t believe that his sister was now seventeen. Just two years younger than himself, and the only thing the two of them shared was the same surname. Emilia was the complete opposite from Arron. She was a slender girl with pale skin, long flowing brown hair, and a deep set of brown eyes. Arron, on the other hand, was a broad man, with an athletic build, tanned skin, cropped black hair, blue eyes and a scar on his lip to the left. Whenever people saw them with each other, they would joke and say that Arron was a barbarian who had kidnapped Emilia from a noble family, but the opposite was true. Arron was Emilia’s guardian. Their parents died in a bandit raid when they were travelling the roads away from the city, and Arron was left to take care of his sister. He left the royal army, and became a cook in one of the local taverns. They lived a quiet life together, but that’s because it was only the two of them.

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The two of them walked back to their home and on their way home, they noticed something strange. The streets were almost empty. It was like everyone just decided to go back into their homes and only those who were homeless were left on the street. Arron and Emilia just looked at each other with blank stares and wondered what was going on. They continued walking and occasionally encountered the odd stray soul wander the streets. At this point, fear started to creep into Emilia and she grabbed hold off her brother’s hand, something she hasn’t done in years. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Arron saw a shadow dash across the street. He tightened his grip on Emilia’s hand and he urged her to hurry on with him. As they were turning the final corner to their home, a figure jumped out in front of them, cutting them off completely from continuing any further. Arron, while still holding his sister’s hand, readied himself into a fighting stance.

“Who are you?” Arron asked. “Why were you following us?”

“That girl,” The figure said. “She is coming with us.”

At the sound of those words, another two figures jumped out form the shadows and grabbed hold of Emilia. She let out an ear piercing scream and Arron immediately turned to swing at one of them. He stopped himself in time to see that one of them was holding a knife to Emilia’s neck. Suddenly, Arron felt a burning sensation in between his shoulder blades and everything started to turn black. The last thing he saw was tears streaming down Emilia’s face, and the mysterious group of three disappear before his eyes.

When Arron woke up, he was greeted with the scent of sweet apples filling his nose. He slowly looked around and saw that he was in somebody’s house. He tried to sit up but instantly regretted it as a wave of pain shot down his back. He let out a small cry and fell straight back onto the bed. A few seconds later, someone walked into the room and started talking to him.

“So you’re awake,” The person said. “You were in pretty bad shape when I found you.”

“Who are you?” Arron asked. “And where am I?”

“Just relax for a moment, would you? My name is Ilyrana Rolodel, and you are in my home. Who might you be?” Ilyrana explained.

“My name is Arron Ferdoin. And Rolodel? As in one of the elven families, Rolodel?” Arron asked in disbelief.

Arron looked towards Ilyrana and stared in awe. She was a tall and thin woman. Probably the same height as Arron, if not taller. Her body seemed toned and muscular. Her skin looked as if the sun had gently kissed it, like she was its only lover. Her hair brushed her shoulders, and was a vibrant shade of gold, brighter than any coins Arron ever seen. Arron always heard about Elven women being beautiful, but Ilyrana was the image of beauty personified. He couldn’t help but to stare.

“Can I ask why you were lying out in the middle of the street with a knife in your back?” Ilyrana said.

Arron was snapped out of his reverie and the thought of his sister flooded his mind.

“My sister, I have to find my sister!” Arron exclaimed.

“I’m afraid you won’t be able to find her in your condition.” Ilyrana said.

“I have too! She was taken by a group of strangers, I have to find her!” Arron argued.

Arron sat up again, trying his best to ignore the pain that was shooting through his entire body, and slowly stood up. His knees went from under his for a moment, but Ilyrana helped steadied him. She let out a small sigh helped Arron out of the room, and into the main room of Ilyrana’s home. Once he was confident in his ability to be able to stand up on his own, he stepped away from her and took a few small steps around the room. From what he could see, her house was fairly similar to his own. He wondered if she lived nearby, or if all the houses in the capital looked the same. Suddenly, he felt a chill, and saw that he wasn’t wearing a shirt, only bandages.

“Ehm,” Arron began. “I know you saved my life and all, but would it be a bit much to ask for my shirt back?”

“Oh yes,” Ilyrana said. “I also stitched up the hole in the back of it while you were sleeping.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” Arron said.

Arron slipped on his shirt, careful not to raise his arms too much, as Ilyrana told him that he would rip out the stitches in his back. Once his shirt was on, Arron thanked Ilyrana for all her help and left. After leaving Ilyrana’s home, Arron could see that she close by to where he and Emilia lived. He walked back home, and once he was home, he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach, a feeling that just kept gnawing away at him, constantly tearing away apart of him. Up until the point he felt empty. He never realised it before, but not having Emilia around just left him feeling empty. Arron was determined to get his sister back, and no one was going to stand in his way. He made his way into his room, gathered all his old army gear, laid it out, and checked it over to see what the quality was like. He needed to re-sharpen his sword, so he went out to his kitchen, and grabbed a whetstone out of the blade drawer. As he walked back to his room, there was a knocking on the door.

Carefully, Arron stepped towards the door, and once he was there, he grabbed hold of the handle and slowly pulled the door towards him. Once there was a gap between the door and the frame, he poked his head out to see who it was.

“It’s rude to keep a guest waiting outside your house,” Ilyrana said. “Especially when you owe them.”

“Sorry,” Arron said. “But I’m on edge, and I’m preparing to leave.”

“Do you know where to go?” Ilyrana asked?

“I’ll find out.” Arron replied.

“Do you remember anything about these people who took your sister? What they looked like in particular?” Ilyrana questioned.

“I don’t.” Arron answered.

“So you’re just going to go out there, and run around like a headless idiot until you either get yourself killed, or lost.” Ilyrana sighed. “You’re hopeless, you know that?”

Arron just stared at Ilyrana unamused.

“What are you doing here?” Arron question.

“I’m here because I want to help you Arron.” Ilyrana said.

“How can you help me?” Arron asked.

“Well, I can keep you from being killed, and I can help you find your sister.”  Ilyrana said.

Arron stared at her for a few moments. Was he really going to trust the word of someone he barely knew? Sure, she had saved his life, but that didn’t change the fact that she was still a stranger. Arron debated it in his head for a few seconds and looked at Ilyrana again. Her face suggested that she had no hidden intentions, so Arron decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

“How can you help find my sister?” Arron asked.

“Well, I’m an elf of the Rolodel family, and one of the benefits of that is the type of magic we can use.” Ilyrana answered.

“If you say so, come on. I don’t want to seem like a bad host and keep you waiting out here.” Arron said.