(Game Time: 9,338.6 Years)

  (Slightly Over 8,000 Years After Mi-Yu's Crusade)

  "Soooo..." asked Mira, stretching every syllable out of the word he could. "They all have three eyes?"

  The small boy's elder sister, Nova, replied with a tinge of hesitation in her voice. "Well... Not all of them—just the Mortals in Baelmuut." She waved the statement away, realizing her words were irrelevant. "That's not the important part. Just try not to get all freaked out about people looking different from us, understand? Very few faces are honest about the type of person hiding inside them." She tapped at the dark skin of her temple. "Most Mortals will treat you well if you behave. It's all about give-and-take, so try to be nice." She played with the top of her younger brother's head, a mess of naturally blue-shaded hair. "Trust me. They respect our family." The woman's bright eyes drifted as she rethought her last statement. "Or me, at the least."

  Behind Mira was his ticket off their island, a single-passenger dinghy built from the sad-looking willows surrounding their home. It had taken three months, but the eleven-year-old adventurer had persistence, eventually managing to trim down the sides of the largest tree he could cut. The next step was hollowing the beast out to create a somewhat usable vessel capable of crossing the sea. The first time Mira put his boat on the water, it capsized immediately. Since that first launch, support arms were mounted to each side to keep the vessel from tipping over. In the center of the makeshift outrigger, the would-be-adventurer mounted a crooked flagpole borrowed from their family's haunted castle. With a weathered burgundy bedsheet and some twine, he managed to rig a functioning sail onto the pole. It was an ugly thing of a ship, if one could even call it that, but it would have to make do for the child's first voyage. The front half of the vessel was beached upon the shore of their family home, Spring Island, tied with braided rope to a wooden stake Mira had sunk deep into the tough sand. The back half of the boy's salvation bobbed peacefully in the shallow tides creeping up the shore as Nova tried her best to distract her favorite brother from leaving home.

  Mira was treated as well as one possibly could on Spring Island, but this small patch of land in the middle of the sea was no place for him to spread his wings. He had finished exploring his home two years ago, reaching the top branch of every willow in the Dark Marsh, and discovering every secret crevasse of his dad's castle. Nova always complained that the small boy was "a pest" for insisting on finding each cobweb and piece of scrap hidden in depths of their home. She reprimanded him a few times every week for sneaking out past their castle's walls or running wildly through the corridors outside of approved hours. Nova was tough on Mira through his childhood, but he would always be her baby brother, and above all else she wanted to see him happy and safe.

  Nova's love proved stronger than her protective instincts that day when she found herself strolling down the black castle walls in the early morning's dim to see Mira one more time before his escape. Nova was a tall, athletic woman with a face blessed by infinite youth. Standing at six feet and three inches, and with the same eyes of gold as her little brother, Nova had a presence that made even the most battle-hardened of warriors pause at the sight of her arrival. That morning she decided to show off her sculpted arms with a sleeveless white top and covered her lower half with a flowing floral-patterned skirt that reached her ankles. Unlike Mira, she had dark skin, darkened further after years on Spring Island. Long hair, whiter than bleached parchment, rustled down Nova's back in the morning's breeze at the edge of those mucky sands that separated their swampy home from the beach. Beside Nova sat the black wolf Fenrir, her lifelong companion, who panted patiently at his master's side.

  Mira was a short twig of a boy, even for his age. Compared to his elder sister he was meek, to put it kindly. His brother Frost, who was two years younger, already stood half a head taller than Mira. And Frost was stronger too, progressing at a far faster rate in his training than Mira could ever hope for. But before noticing the boy's small stature, the first thing one would note about Mira was his unkempt hair, an extraordinary natural shade of royal blue that stood up in messy tufts all about the front and back of his head. He shared the same eyes as his sister's, bright and golden, glistening brighter than the weak glow of their island's sunrise. Unlike Nova, however, Mira's skin was naturally pale, but after more than a decade of taking in the island's sun, the child managed to grow quite tan. After all, there were no winters on Spring Island, just tropical sunshine and swampy, ocean breezes all year long. Despite the dismal aesthetic of Spring Island, the weather conditions made it an astonishingly comfortable place to reside, even if it was a bog in the middle of nowhere.

  Today, Mira wore his favorite shorts, a black pair that reached far below his tiny knees, embroidered with a pattern of small red pineapples all around. He wore a long-sleeved button-down with a turned-up collar for the occasion, the shirt's color a few shades lighter than his messy hair. On Mira's feet, he wore nothing, as he always did.

  The child turned his back to his sister when he first noticed her and went back to securing his supplies. In his vessel sat three cloth sacks he would depend on throughout his journey to foreign shores. The first was filled to the brim with nothing but peppered venison jerky; the second, stuffed even further with cobs of un-shucked corn; the last and smallest of his bags held nothing but keepsakes from his home, and he focused on thoroughly clearing it out as he spoke with Nova. He tossed his upper body over his boat's side and fully into the bag to begin rummaging for unneeded weight before setting sail. His small legs kicked the air as he dug around. Nova smirked the short boy flailing about and cleared her throat to get his attention.

  "Ahem!" she coughed loudly.

  Mira jerked his head at Nova again, and went right back to digging through his bag. "If you're trying to stop me, you can go home. I'm leaving, Nova."

  The tall woman grinned at her foolish brother, revealing the two long fangs she inherited from her mother's side of the family. She held up a compass she had found on her way down to the shore, one of the many things Mira had let fall from his bag while heading to the beach before sunrise.

  "You sure you won't need this?" The compass looked more like a pocket watch or artifact than any useful piece of navigational equipment. It was small, no more than three inches in diameter, crafted from silver without cover for the glass face.

  "Nah!" said Mira carelessly. "I don't need it. I'll end up seeing the whole world, so it really won't matter where I land. Besides... I don't even know how to use that thing."

  Nova sighed and tossed the compass at him anyway. "Just take it." Mira fumbled to catch the compass, surprised she would check his guard this early in the morning. "Who knows?" Nova continued with a taunt. "It might come in handy. Think of it as a good luck charm from your favorite sibling." She smiled widely with those prominent canines, hoping to elicit a response. All Mira did was shrug and push the compass into his pocket, then turned again to bury his face back into one of the bags. Nova's false smile collapsed at that, her gaze found the sand quickly. "You know..." she tried again. "You could stay here if you wanted..." There was sadness breaking through her tone, but Nova did her best to make sure her voice didn't crack. "I know dad expects a lot from us, but I'm always gunna' protect you here. After all, we're family. Right, Mira?"

  Mira stopped fiddling with his supplies and pushed himself off the boat's edge, his feet finally touching sand again. He acknowledged Nova's gaze and turned, preferring the sight of sunlight breaking over the ocean, "I never minded dad as much as you. Yeah, I get it. He's a lot... But I know he cares about us in his own weird way—just like you." Nova almost blushed at the remark, she hated when people saw her softer edges. "You and dad would always say the world outside our 'Paradise' was full of nothing but hate... But somehow... You guys keep making it back over and over again." He turned back to his sister with his usually gleeful smile, wide and slack jawed. "I've gotta see it for myself too. I need to find my place in the Cruel World."

  "I knew you'd say something like that..." huffed out Nova, only slightly disappointed her guilt trip failed. It was hard to accept Mira would be on his own, but she was able to smile again after hearing the boy's confidence. "Still, I had to make sure you were serious..." Nova reached up her skirt towards a holster on her right thigh. "Now..." she unsheathed a blade several inches long and flicked it into the air. The knife toppled end-over-end in a slow arc until landing, blade-point sinking into the side of Mira's craft with a soft chunk sound. "Show me your resolve."

  Mira glanced down at the polished knife. The handle, wrapped in a wilted leather, pointed right at his face—a challenge. He thought back to all stolen sunsets he'd watch from that landing, how many times Nova had scolded him for coming out to the shore without permission and drag him back to the castle by his ear. She'd always mutter something under her breath about how he never listened to a word she said. Now, here she stood testing if he was ready to leave their home. He wiggled the blade free and paused a moment. Mira knew he was leaving today, but everything felt like it was moving faster than he wanted. Fearing this was the end, he took one last minute to enjoy the company of his bossy, elder sister and studied his island home; forcing his mind to burn the image to memory.

  After his moment of reflection, Mira raised the blade at the sky, tapping into the Light within him, and let his power pour freely into the steel. The blade glowed as he focused, and sparks of blue static radiated from his hand and out the blade's edge. The force of Mira's energy let out a staticky chirp that broke the early morning's silence, ringing out in a high-pitched buzz that whispered across the shoreline. He swung the weapon down with the best form he could pull off at such an awkward position, splitting through the woven rope like butter. He then kicked the boat's frontside with a heel, heaving it down the almost orange sands and into the tide.

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  He grinned back at Nova as the static subsided from his blade hand, feeling proud that his voyage was about to start. Nova's eye looked happy for him too in her own sad way. She had spent years wasting her breath on lecturing that foolish boy, telling him time and time again that Spring Island was the only haven for their family, but as she looked at Mira's bright face, she knew in her heart that her brother needed to leave this lonely island in order to find what he needed. Behind Nova's heavy gaze lingered worries for her baby brother's safety. At one point she too had ventured into the Cruel World, where she met the dangers Mira was about to face first-hand.

  "Remember!" she called to distract herself from a dark thought. "Head east! When you get to the top of the waterfall there'll be a chain of islands you can follow to the world."

  "Aaaaand... which way's east?" Mira scratched at the back of his head.

  Nova shook her head and smiled in disbelief. She thought to herself, I guess it's too late to talk him out of it. She pointed straight ahead to the rising sun. "That way." She paused briefly before handing out a few more words of wisdom. "You'll find Baelmuut if you follow that route."

  After explaining that the Triclopses of Baelmuut would treat him well, Nova was met with an odd stare from her foolish blue-haired brother. The young boy couldn't help but smile widely as he stared at his ship. At last, he stood as tall as he could and stretched his fists to the sky, yelling out to the sunrise.

  "This is gunna' be the best adventure ever!"

  "So, what are you waiting for..." chuckled Nova through a smile. "Your ride's waiting on you to-"

  Her encouraging words were halted by the embrace of Mira's small arms around her waist. The little fool had zipped over to her in a blue flash of static before she could finish, his face already buried into his big sister's belly. The electric qualities of Mira's Radiance had always given Nova trouble. A countless number of her hours had been wasted chasing the small boy around their castle just to get him to do something simple like take a bath or be on time for dinner. The blue lightning he produced made him too fast for any normal person to catch—a constant pain in her ass. Nova eyed over the poorly packed bags in her brother's boat and felt her face scrunch with the urge to shed a tear. You've grown so much. She pulled Mira further into her stomach and hugged back tightly.

  Already tearing up, Mira started to sniffle as he spoke. "Thank you for everything, Nova. I'll miss you so-"

  "Quit that..." she cooed. "Don't you remember the rules?" She dropped a knee into the filthy sand, getting down to Mira's eye level to rustle the top of his blue hair. She placed both hands on the child's shoulders. "If you're leaving, I suppose I'll have to test you. Won't I?"

  Mira clenched his body tightly in appreciation for a fight. "Try it."

  Nova cleared her throat. "If you insist..." she stretched her sides and pushed her knuckles until they cracked before barking her next question. "What are the Three Commandments of our family?"

  Mira adjusted his posture, relieved to not have to box with his strongest sibling today. "Oh! That's easy...

  Number one: A Dragon bares no regrets, so they shall never cry.

  Number two: A Dragon feels no shame for their existence, so they shall never lie..."

  Mira's throat suddenly failed, as if the final commandment itself was keeping itself from being spoken.

  Nova raised a brow at her brother's hesitation. "...And..."

  Mira cleared his throat and gathered his confidence once more. "And... and a Dragon's power lies beyond flesh and blood... so they shall never die!"

  Nova bent down once more and wiped away the tear forming in the corner of her baby brother's eye with a thumb.

  "Don't worry, you'll make it back too, just like I did. And when you get back, I'll be right here waiting to hear all about your journey." Her fanged smiled was infectious, causing Mira to halt his tears and match her with a wide grin of his own. "Now, come on, get on your way before dad gets back..." She suddenly remembered something crucial. "Oh! I almost forgot! Please try to make some friends while you're out there too." She raised a finger as if schooling him on an important lesson. "Your journey will be no fun if you have to do it all on your own." She gave his messy blue hair one more rustle and rose again to tower over the boy. Mira took one last gaze at his sister and the massive wolf who guarded her. Fenrir stared with a tongue-out smile that would force a grin from even the most nihilistic Mortals. Mira reached out and scratched at the matted, midnight-shaded fur beneath Fenrir's neck—for that was the highest he could reach.

  "Don't worry, buddy! I'll miss you t-"

  The wolf gave the blue-haired child a single lick that covered his entire face, followed by a nod of appreciation. After being interrupted, Mira wiped off the wolf's slobber and smirked at his giggling elder sister.

  "Go on." Nova darted her eyes towards the ocean and back. "It's time to find your place."

  Mira hugged at his sister's waist one more time then zipped back to his vessel in another flash of blue static. The air chirped once more with the sounds of Mira's electric Radiance as he jumped over the blood-stained shores of Spring Island and into his ugly sailboat. The traveler landed with a crash but recovered quickly. Mira raised his bedsheet-sail and his journey to the Cruel World began.

  From the waters, he called back to his sister who watched on, still waving from the beach. "Thank you for letting me leave, Nova! I'll be back one day! And I'll bring all my friends too!"

  "You better!" Nova yelled back, clasping her hands around her mouth to boost her voice. "I can't wait to hear all about the adventures of Mira Bolt!" As her brother and his ugly boat faded into the sunrise, she turned away and wiped away the tear falling from her left eye. Fenrir noticed his companion's discomfort immediately and nearly knocked the tall woman down with a nudge. Nova regained her footing and patted at the enormous wolf's shoulder roughly. "Sorry... I know, friend... I just broke two rules..."

  (7 Hours later — The Southwest Shore of the Corvus Kingdom)

  The picturesque coastline of the Corvus Kingdom was known throughout the world for its unique color. The pale sands shone whiter than any coast known to the Mortals of Battle, and those sands glowed, sparkled even, with some poets going as far as to compare that shore to powered diamonds. The world's Red Star, Holy Sola, burned high above those coarse grains of white, banishing any cloud from sight for miles. The palm trees lining the Corvan shores swayed to-and-from in a weak breeze, coupled with the sounds of a gentle tide. All was peaceful, until a streak of blue static struck the beach from the unassuming heavens. When the fulmination landed, the beach rumbled, split open, allowing the ocean to creep past the pale divide between the sea and surface. The disrupted sands that lined the Kingdom's south shore blew high into the air, whipping up a violent gale of the shimmering dust. From the blast of lightning, the body of Mira Bolt emerged, shattering further as he bounced off the packed sands like a ragdoll. The child's twisted little body continued to bounding off the unforgiving shore again, and again for nearly a mile, When the momentum finally gave out, his body laid practically lifeless at the end of a bloody trail lined with tattered remains of what used to be Mira's flesh.

  The boy's body was destroyed, his descent being far worse than he had imagined. He was without the strength to move, gasping for air for any thin strand of life to keep his adventure going. No thought stilled his pain, and breathing grew more labored as blood flooded his punctured lungs. His petite arms and legs were contorted, broken and bent to angles he never thought possible before meeting the Cruel World. Yet still, no matter how short his breaths or how excruciating the pain, Mira squirmed desperately to keep moving. The fancy button-down the boy had picked out for the first day of his adventure was gone, no more than shreds of fabric littered about his crash site. His favorite shorts were ripped too, but not un-salvageable. The compass Nova had lovingly offered to him that morning sat in his pocket with a shattered face, the red hand stuck pointing just a tick below East. He tried to squeal out for help, but a gargled moan was all his throat could muster. The dust clouds that Mira spawned fell onto him, burning his eyes and showering his open wounds with the diamond-like sand. All Mira knew in the moment was pain, he thought it would be all he'd ever know from that moment on.

  Fighting against a pain robbing him of all senses, the broken boy was able to hear an unexpected sound in the distance, the faint call of another child. "Father! Father, come quick! Someone's down there! He got caught in the blast!" Mira heard footsteps slapping on sand, growing louder as the child's calls became clearer. "Oh, Gods! He's hurt. Father, he's really hurt!" The gentle taps evolved into heavy stomps as Mira's savior drew nearer. Through golden eyes blurred by his own blood, Mira glimpsed the silhouette of the child trying to save him. He was around Mira's age, a boy with spiked red hair, dark skin like Nova's, and emerald eyes that twinkled in in the darkness enveloping Mira's world. The tops of the boy's ears were long, extending up towards pointed tips at the back of his head, but the stranger lacked the third eye Nova had warned him of. The child wore a cheap cotton shirt, white with the large symbol "PEACE" stamped along the chest in multi-colored ink; not that Mira could read it.

  As the adventurer began to fade away, he thought back to Nova's words on the beach just a few hours before the fall. He grunted and pushed against the inevitable black, writhing to get a desperate message out. "M-... Ma-..." He gurgled the muffled syllables through the pool of iron-flavored liquid trying its best to silence him.

  "Don't speak! Just stay with me." The crimson haired boy turned back to the mainland and screamed his heart out once more. "FATHER!"

  "Ma-...My..." Mira fought hard to get the words out, a disgusting combination of drool and blood leaking from with every painful pull of his tongue. He took a deep breath of agony and forced the words out. "Ma-... My... Fra-... Friend..." With that, Mira slipped into the abyss. The red-haired boy attempted to call out to him a few more times, but Mira couldn't hear a thing in that all-consuming darkness.

  Mira Bolt's adventure had begun.

  "In the fall of Holy Year: Nine-Thousand-Three-Hundred-Thirty-Eight, in the Age of Arén, a lost stranger fell to the Corvus Kingdom from the skies above. Of all places, why did that thing have to fall here?"

  ? A note from one of the many military journals authored by Diana Corvus, First Lieutenant of the Corvus Royal Military, and Princess of the Corvus Kingdom.

  Welcome to Battle...

  (To Be Continued...)

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