Chapter One: A Trial of Trust

  Air swept in from the clear glass window as she leaped, reaching the air in a swift motion. Her white hair wrapped in a bun so that it wouldn't get in the way. Her guard was up, and she was prepared for whatever would come. She checked one more time for intruders in his hideout. Then checked on her cape to make sure no one could see her secret...

  When she saw none, she cautiously landed on her bare feet. At the moment, she was trying to find a way to stop Erif from causing havoc and to discover what his latest goals were.

  Springing into action, her legs scurried towards the door, sending her white cape flying beneath her. Skulls could be seen on the gray, stone floors, chains surrounding them. If she looked close enough she could almost see small feathers, their tip being white, but transitioning to a black, almost dull color, as if all the life was being sucked out of it.

  It was at that moment that she realized that she was in a dungeon, a dark, frightening one that sent shivers down her spine. She wouldn’t let anything scare her, she was determined not to be frightened ever in her life, and as her kind was known to be immortal, her life would be forever. Unless, of course, somebody killed her, but that was unlikely. Very unlikely.

  All of a sudden she heard a soft thump, she immediately sped into guard walking cautiously into the darkness, she saw a very faint navy colored light. This caught her attention as she was a very curious girl. She walked silently on the ground, slowly nearing the unnatural light.

  What she saw she wasn't hoping to find. It was a dark hooded figure holding two sharp sais in both hands, it had a strange symbol on it but Ashera wasn't able to see it clearly enough in the darkness. She deducted that it was one of Erif's henchmen coming to stop her, so she had to act fast. Upon instinct she charged towards the figure, knocking them to the ground.

  “Who was that?” demanded the person trapped beneath her in a strange, genderless voice.

  “Tell me what you're doing or else!” cried Ashera.

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  The figure said nothing, so Ashera ripped the hood off. She was definitely not prepared for what she saw. It was a teenage girl; most likely about sixteen years old, with dark hair, and oddly radiant violet eyes. She looked confused as to what was holding her down.

  “Wasn’t expecting that, huh?” she said at last with a smirk.

  “How did you get here?” she asked. Ashera had thought that only a very small number of people had access to realm keys.

  “I have my ways… Anyhow who are you?” she asked.

  “Tell me your name first, and then I might give you answers,” Ashera replied.

  The girl sighed, then said:

  “I’m Nova of the flame realm.

  “I don't know... will you try to attack me, or what? I don't really know you, so it would be better if you just told me everything now... and then I’ll let you go.”

  She has to have some ulterior motive or she wouldn't have told me her name, or the obvious reason is that she is too daft to even be reasoned with, Ashera thought.

  “....Okay, I'll let you go, but know this, I'm more powerful than you can ever imagine, so do not attempt to attack, or else... I'll kill you….” explained Ashera.

  “I promise, now hold the end of your bargain,” Nova said, holding out her hand.

  Ashera hesitated, the last thing she wanted to do was to reveal herself to a potential enemy. She needed to be able to trust her. Her next decision surprised even herself, as she was not one to trust easily. She let go of her tight grip on the girl and allowed her to pick up her weapon.

  “Oh that's better, I can’t believe I got tackled on the job. By the way, and I'm just wondering, but are you here because of Erif?” asked Nova.

  “Yes I am. I'm here to destroy him… And you I presume are also here because of him. Yes?” asked Ashera with her eyes to the ground. “I have a proposition for you.”

  “Well I wasn’t expecting that, what is your proposition?” asked Nova.

  “Help me defeat Erif. It would serve in your favor because you too want to destroy him so, if we work together we could defeat him with ease,” Ashera said now with a twinkle in her eyes. It could be said that the closer she got to the end of Erif, the more motivated she became in her quest to defeat him.

  Ashera deliberated in her head and figured it would be beneficial for her to do a favor for Nova now, and she would be able to ensure her compliance with the plans to defeat Erif.

  “One more thing, what's your name?”

  “It's Ashera.”

  “Okay… Ashera.”

  Nova took out her telecommunication device which can be described as having a plethora of gadgets and buttons with all sorts of different purposes.

  “Allow me to just find out where the nearest guards are... Ah, right ahead of us,” Nova said with a small smile.

  “Then let’s go!” exclaimed Ashera.

  They didn't waste any more time talking after that.