1 Prologue

Hostile voices drew closer.

Athleticism had never been one of Sofia's stronger traits. Her frequent stumbling wasn't helping either.

The thorn-tipped grass tempted her to slow down. She could feel scrapes and cuts accumulating over her ankles. She could envision the crimson beads of what she assumed was blood flowing down her feet. She wanted to stop, to tend to the growing amount of pain in her legs, but she couldn't.

Not when she had gotten this far, and not when there was still much more ground to cover.

"Sofia!" She heard someone call her name from behind. Turning, her cinnamon-colored hair, black in the nighttime, flipped back, and she saw a young lady who had just signed on, not too long ago, to be one of her servants.

Her dire expression, eyebrows raised, mouth wide open and glassy eyes, were pleading to her, as a sword descended on her head.

Sofia simply turned back and grimaced as she spurred forwards. She didn't turn quickly enough to avoid seeing the spurt of blood, though.

I'm sorry. She thought. It wasn't long before another set of screams erupted from around where the woman had been. The sound of blade slashing through flesh hit Sofia's ears, and she held back the urge to look again, and check on her other servants, who were probably also dead or dying. Instead, she focused on the inspiring image of her sister, Elizabeth, pacing in front of her.

In all her time in Nova, not once had she gone through this sort of physical effort, but for Elizabeth this was a hobby. Running, hopping over obstacles, her sister was a natural outdoors-woman.

For the first time, Sofia wished she hadn't spent so much time in the palace. She shook her head and tried to drive those thoughts away as the sound of heavy iron boots crashing against fallen leaves drew closer. She had to focus. She was not safe here. Not yet.

Somehow, the sound seemed to be catching up to her. She knew she couldn't outrun them like her sister could, but she had to try. Thankfully, she did have a contingency.

She paused, and as quickly as she could, she reached back and drew her bow. When she turned to face her would-be captors, she saw four men clad in rusted iron armor, holding their blades out in her direction. Of course, as mercenaries often were, these men were armored only in their torsos and their legs.

For once, Sofia was grateful that conditions had become so poor for the commoners of Nova. Between the war with the Griffins, the rising amount of cultist attacks and the discoveries of strange beasts all around Azeria, here was one time someone else's hardships worked in her favor.

She couldn't afford to get cocky though, she was good with a bow, maybe even great, but was she good enough to plant an arrow in four small, moving targets? In the darkness, no less? She'd find out soon.

She nocked an arrow, pulled it back, and let it go. With a "whoosh", the arrow flew through the cold, night air, and went through a mercenary's eye.

She became aware of the fact that this was the first time she'd ever killed someone. So far, this bow had only been used for target practice, for sport, and now she was using it to end lives.

Briefly, her hands shook with grief, but she dissuaded herself from thinking about it. They were drawing closer, almost within ten meters.

The second arrow sailed through the air and caught a man's shoulder. For all her previous reluctance, she found herself wishing he had died.

It impressed her how quickly panic could do away with someone's morality.

She aimed for the front runner's head. The arrow caught his breastplate instead, and her wooden arrow bounced right off.

Fuck! Oh, cursing. Another thing she rarely did. She backed away a step. Her fear was sinking in, and frantically, she nocked another arrow. She launched it, and the man in front ducked, however, the arrow struck one of the followers' head.

She tried to back away again, but her bare feet caught a large rock and she fell back. Her landing felt like she'd taken a punch to the gut. The wind was cleared out of her lungs, and her eyes widened when she saw both men within ten feet.

This was it, she was about to die. She closed her eyes, and her hand reflexively fell to her stomach, where her son would have soon manifested.

Suddenly, she heard something move over her, and and several screams soon followed. She opened her eyes, and lost control over her mouth for a split second as a woman with the same cinnamon-colored hair, albeit much longer, stood over her.

"Elizabeth?" She asked with a dry, raspy voice.

"Thought I was just gonna leave ya, luv?" Her sister replied after sheathing her bloodstained blade. Sofia looked behind her, and saw four men's corpses laying not too far away. "Gonna hav' to try harder than that to get rid of me."

Truthfully, she did think Elizabeth would leave her. They had never been particularly close, but here she was. When Sofia had received the news that her suitor had placed a bounty on her, she went to everyone she knew for help, and found none.

No one wanted anything to do with the doomed girl, not the nobles in Nova's palace, not the peasants in the slums, not the boys and girls she had grown up with. No one cared. Finally, today, when she was out of options, she decided to try her luck with her estranged, cabin-in-the-woods inhabiting sister. She never expected an answer, but she got more than that.

Elizabeth showed up just a few hours ago at her home, when she was praying with her servants to the God of Order, Liasova. She arrived wearing several swords on her person, and a bow that she handed to Sofia, and simply said "let's leave". For a moment then, Sofia had thought she and her servants would be safe, but the mercenaries came attacking as soon as they saw her leaving the city.

She stood and breathed for a moment.

"Thank you." She said.

"Don' mention it. We're still pretty far away, let's get movin'." Elizabeth took off instantly, and out of the corner of her eyes, Sofia could see more men running towards them. It didn't take much more convincing to get her to start moving again. She couldn't even feel the scrapes on her legs now.

A part of her wanted to find a way out of this, to return to Nova, and meet with her would-be husband. Convince him to leave his cult, and return to the comfortable, lazy life she once led. She understood though, that life was gone. She allowed sadness to pour out of her, until she remembered her husband's parting gift.

Once again, her hand returned to her stomach, and as she ran, she could feel herself smiling. Elizabeth looked back, and saw the strange expression on Sofia's face.

"Ever the optimist." Elizabeth muttered, not even breathing heavy as she ran forwards.

Somehow, they managed to get away. But they never stopped. Elizabeth was guiding Sofia to her cabin. As they made their way, Sofia couldn't help but notice how different the forest was to what she was accustomed to back in Nova. She tried to make their details out as well as she could, as dawn slowly began, and an orange tint was covering the land now.

Plants of all shapes, sizes and colors. Some are blue, most are green, a couple are black, she thought. It's almost like an entirely different world. However, as amazing as it all seemed, she still cast her face down when she realized that it was a world that was entirely foreign to her.

Finally, the fatigue she'd been putting away struck her with its full accumulated force in an instant. She tried to step forwards, but her foot slipped, and she landed on the cool, bright blue grass. At some point, the thorns had been replaced by white flowers. Her long, brown hair fall back with her, and her eyes gazed up at the stars.

"Don't take a breather yet, ya damn pansy, we're still far." Elizabeth said as she walked over to her. Sofia stared up and saw that the younger girl still wasn't even breathing heavy. Her shoulders were just barely rising up and down, but outside of that, no sign of stress showed on her image.

She remembered how that merc's sword fell on her servant, and soon, she felt a tear slide down her face. Elizabeth's expression softened, and she knelt down beside Sofia.

"Come on, up ya go." She said softly, as she held the back of Sofia's head and helped her up. "We'll have time to mourn them later, but right now we need to keep movin'." She was surprised to hear this coming from Elizabeth. Sofia thought her to be a lot colder than this.

Even with Elizabeth's reassurance, Sofia couldn't help but wonder. What's mother doing? Is she alright? What about father? And brother Donovan? But she shook her head and tried to keep walking. She'd worry about them when she was safe enough to do so.

Before long, they arrived at a quaint looking wooden home. Or rather, it would look quaint if it were in a city, but by cabin-in-the-woods standards, this seemed like the Charlotte Temple itself.

"T-This is your cabin?" She squeezed her voice through a trench of sadness just long enough to ask this question.

"Yup." Elizabeth replied, not looking back.

"You told me you built this place." Sofia arched an eyebrow and glared at her sibling.

"Uh, maybe that was a tiny bit off the mark, but whatever. You need a bed, and I have one here." Sofia once more stared at the place. Oak and Gleamtrunk, a rare kind of wood that gliimmered when a certain light was pressed against it, combined to form the kind of house Sofia, even being a noble, would be unsure she could afford.

"A tiny bit?" She pressed.

"Uh... Well, you won't be throwing me into jail anytime soon, so I may as well tell you." Elizabeth's guilt-ridden face turned away from her. "I kind of stole it, I guess you could say?"

"... What?" Suddenly, the memories of what had happened just a few hours ago faded, and now she just wanted to slap Elizabeth upside the head. If she could lift her arm to do so, of course. "You stole it?!"

"Relax!" Elizabeth said, sensing Sofia's growing anger. "The place has been abandoned for months, it's just that there were some family pictures inside, and who knows when they'll come back. Don't worry, when they do, I'll just buy it off 'em." Elizabeth said.

"Sigh You're incorrigible." Sofia replied.

"Oh, you're back to using big words! We're making progress!"

The pair walked inside, where they'd live for the rest of their lives. Exiled, disgraced, unable to even check in on their friends and family, whichever were still alive anyway.

Nine months later.

Sofia laid on the bed. Having just successfully given birth, Elizabeth now stood with Sofia's newborn in her arms.

"Well, I have to say Sofia, you have quite a dirty mouth on you." Elizabeth said with a smirk as the child cried in her arms.

"Fuck... I'm exhausted." Sofia said as she looked to the ceiling. She tried to put herself upright, putting her back to the wall. She called over to Elizabeth. "Liz, can I hold him... or is it a her?" She said sticking her arms out.

"It's a boy." Elizabeth said before relinquishing hold of the child.

Sofia took her son and gazed upon what she had created. His hair is just like mine. She smiled. His skin has this tanned color that a lot of humans had back home. He's.... A lot like me.

"So, what will you name him?" Elizabeth asked.

"..." Sofia thought about it. "You remember those stories from when we were younger? The Dragon of the East?"

"Yes... The one about the man that gave everything he had to save the world from a giant ice wolf, was it? It's a lullaby."

"Jin. That's his name." Sofia said with a smile.

"Well, isn't naming him after a great hero of song and myth, putting just a little bit of pressure on him?" Elizabeth said with a smile.

Sofia laid on the bed with her newborn child in her arms.

Those pointy ears... Right. He's a half-elf. Took that from his father. Well, Jin, you won't have it easy out here, but I hope I can make a man out of you... and... She looked around. No. I don't want you to spend your time out here. I've lived comfortably but if someone asked me whether I wanted to return to Nova, without having a spear shoved into my neck, I'd answer yes in a heartbeat! Jin... You're not going to spend your days here. I'll see to that. You can bet that I'll see to that.

Suddenly, she coughed heavily. She put a palm to her mouth. When she took it off, her hand was covered in blood.

...

Just a day later, Elizabeth buried Sofia's corpse. She felt her hands ache as she stabbed her shovel into the ground next to her. A stream of tears was busy flooding her eyes, as she wiped them away in futility. She knew people could die during childbirth, but not once did she believe it would happen to Sofia. She should have noticed the warning signs though, how her body grew thin and sickly. Maybe then she could have done something to prevent this. Though, she knew she couldn't, as this was no ordinary sickness. It was a curse. Who had cast it on her? When? She could not say. But someone had ensured her death long before Elizabeth reached her.

She remembered the days of her youth when she'd share a small green yard with her older sibling. She never let Sofia know this, but she was always jealous of her manners. The way she conducted herself with those of a higher class, and then, when their family married into nobility, the way she acclimated so quickly. When Elizabeth got into that argument with their parents and she stormed off into the woods, every fiber of her being screamed at her to take Sofia with her, but she knew Sofia would not leave that life. Nor should she have.

She turned and walked away, wandering back inside of her cabin. Her shadow danced across candlelight. She made her way to the bedroom and wrapped in a thick layer of sheets, on a small, makeshift bed, was one, lone, now-motherless baby. She walked over to him, and brushed away a few of his dark, brown strands of hairs. In that regard, he was just like Sofia, and just like her. But, what wasn't quite like them, were his pointed ears, indicative of his half-elf nature, and his eyes. Bright, orange-yellowish eyes. Eyes that melted whatever sense of composure Elizabeth had.

This child had a sort of aura to him, and he wasn't even a day old. She knew something was off as Elizabeth wasn't easily unnerved, but for now, she'd ignore her instincts. She lied on the bed next to him, where Sofia had lied just a few hours ago. She turned her head and glanced at the young boy. What the hell am I going to do with you? She asked, but she knew the answer.

Somehow, Sofia had sensed her deteriorating health, and before her passing, she had given Elizabeth one final directive.

"I had my life taken away from me before I could make any use of it. I don't want that same fate to fall on him. Train him. Turn him into the same resilient sort of person you are, and then, let him see the world. Elizabeth, help him make his mark on history." She had whispered to her one night.

Elizabeth gazed into those yellowish eyes and sighed.

"Well kid, I guess I got a promise to keep. You're a lucky one, aren't ya?" She said, before she decided to get off the bed, and go to work.