This is a new project I’ve been working on!
This will be updated regularly and comments and critique is appreciated!
Warning: Language and Violence
All characters, settings and story belong to me and can not be used by anyone else.


EDIT: I changed a lot around I think this fits makes the story more effective this way [b]


[b]Whisper of the Soul: Shattered Fragments

A world is a fragile existence.
Shrouded in sorrow, the demons feast
Heaven intervenes and seals the evil away
But Evil is not silenced so readily
It lingers inside the minds and hearts of man
Judgment awaits for the souls of the damned
Which side of the scale does thou lean towards?

~Fragment I: That which shines differently~


In a small clearing in the dense forest, with gentle sunlight piercing through the cracks of the trees above, a figure lies unconscious on the ground. A cool breeze flows through the forest rattling the leaves shaking off drops of morning dew, though it does nothing to wake the unconscious man on the ground. The stillness in the air brought peace to the unconscious man, who isn't long for this world.

Koro was enjoying his morning jog through the woods, he felt really good today and woke up extra early so he decided to take the long way around the woods. Koro was a fairly large wolf, quite muscular too; he was build like a warrior. His fur was mostly pitch black except for a few spots of white fur on some parts of his body, and his left ear. Yes he is a mixed breed of wolf but he is happy with how he looks. Today he put on a white sleeveless T-shirt and a pair of baggy blue pants. The forest was mildly dangerous but just in case he carrying a fairly large ax tied to his back. The forest's only dangerous creatures were out at night time, during the day it was just a random Drui, a blobish monster that liked to attack when a person wasn't looking, but they are the weakest monster in the world so it's no big deal to get hit by one. Koro was able to fight off any weak monster with ease and it helped him with his training. The young wolf's dream was to be a great warrior like his father.

After jogging through the woods, he came upon a clearing in the woods; it was very serene and peaceful. Koro felt the gentle breeze blowing through his fur which helped bring him relief from his workout. As he walked enjoying the peaceful clearing he came upon a shocking image. There was some body on the ground that he had never seen before. He crouched down and felt the body to see if it was alive. It was cold and wet but he could see a faint sign of breathing. "I got to hurry back to the village!" he screamed in a panicked state. Picking up the body, it was pretty light thanks to all of his training, and he ran as fast as he could back to his village.

The villagers were shocked by what they saw Koro bring to the village. They have never seen it before and the news was spread very quickly through the village. It was a pretty small village comprised primarily of wolves, but there were also some foxes that ran a general store to help the village get supplies. The body was rushed to Koro's house and placed into a spare room. The village's doctor rushed as fast as he could and after about 10 hours the body stabilized. It was weird though, the doctor never seen such a creature but it worked just like they did. After a long village meeting and with help from the merchant foxes, the body was identified as a human boy…


Five days after…

"Ugh ah…"

"Look he's waking up! He's waking up!" cried a young wolf's voice. "Mom, Dad! Everyone hurry up!" he shouted as to make sure everyone was able to see the awakening of the human they took care of for the past five days.

The house the human was recovering in belonged to the Kainic family, composed of 3 children and 2 very proud parents. Koro was the oldest at 17; he also had 2 younger brothers, Lute (Age 13) and Ren (Age 6). Their father, Wret, is an experienced warrior and leader of the town of Corna's militia. He is a mountain of a man standing at a height of 7 feet and built like a champion bodybuilder. Wret also carried many battle scars from years and years of fighting. Their mother is Milla, and she prides herself on her cooking ability and loves spending time with her children.

Ren was the one who was watching the human as he woke up from his long slumber. The young wolf was pretty cute and smart for his age. The first to enter the room after Ren was Lute. Lute was well on his way to being a fighter like his big brother and father and was starting to make great progress in his training. Soon the rest of the family was there, clamoring around the bed ridden human as he opened his eyes.

The human started to regain consciousness. Struggling, he tried to sit up on the bed, yet it was pretty difficult from not having moved for about a week. His joints were pretty sore from disuse yet he managed to sit up on the bed. Rubbing his eyes, he sleepily looked on the on looking wolves and said, "Where am I? Who are you all?"

The wolf family happily introduced themselves and the father asked, "So who are you my boy?"

"Ugh…I don't remember…" He said clutching his forehead. Looking at himself and then looking back at the wolves he said, "How come I don't look like you all?"

The mother was shocked and so were the other family members, "You poor, poor thing, you seem to have lost your memory. We here are all wolves, and according to the village elder you are a different race from us a human."

"A human? I am a human? What's that?" the boy asked.

Koro chimed in, "We don't know either, no one has seen a human for the past 400 years apparently, they are extinct which is very surprising since you are a human and are alive right now. Anyway, I was the one that found you in the woods. You were knocked out so I brought you here to get better. I'm so glad you're alright!"

"Thank you uh Koro was it? Thank you for saving me…ugh!" he said as he clutched his head in frustration and pain, and then he mumbled "my… name…is….Areku…." After saying this, his stomach growled loudly and the lack of energy caused him to lay back down on the bed and slept some more. The wolves were able to pick up his name even though he mumbled it.

"I'll make the poor boy some food, want to help me Ren?" the mother asked her child. "Yes I do! I want to help Areku get better!" the young wolf cried.

As the mother and young boy left the remaining wolves talked amongst themselves. "So what are we going to do with him?" Lute asked. "He can stay here with us right Dad?" Koro said to his father. "Of course! We will care for him like our own even if he looks different than us." And with that Areku was welcomed into the Kainic family and began to live in Corna village.

1 year later…

Areku spent the past year recovering in Corna village. He looked about 17, with short dark brown hair, brown eyes, and stood at about 5ft 8 inches. Areku was pretty weak looking and skinny looking but he didn't seem to mind. He wore brown pants, a beige sweater and a black hooded cloak. The past year, Areku had a pretty happy life. He made friends with all of the villagers and helped around the village. He couldn't do much hard labor due to his lack of strength but he helped cook food, and run the foxes' general store as a cashier. As payment for working, besides getting some zels, the currency of the world, which looked like gold coins, he was also given books, and with the village's help he founded a library in the village which he ran.

The library also doubled as a school for the village children and many villagers went there to read and converse with each other. Areku loved reading; reading was the only thing that helped him understand the ways of the world and helped to clear up most of his memory loss.

The history of this unknown world was the most fascinating to Areku. He also found a book that explained the disappearance of humans. No one really knows why humans disappeared but according to the book, humans evolved into animal forms whilst the animals evolved into more hostile monstrous forms. The book also said that when humans disappeared so did magic, an art used to create energy out of nature. To this day scholars are still researching old human books to figure out how to use and implement magic. Since he was a human, he wondered if he too could use magic. After much struggle the fox merchants were able to acquire a human spell book and gave it to Areku. The text in the book was considered illegible, but Areku was able to read it easily, and started to practice with the book.

Meanwhile, Koro and Lute left the village to be trained by their father for the past year. They both got a lot stronger, especially Lute who was really happy with his newfound strength and abilities. After they returned, the whole village was shocked by how much they changed. Luke had gotten a lot taller but was still shorter than Koro and his father.
Areku spent a lot of time catching up with Koro and Lute. Koro was very interested in magic and asked Areku about it nonstop with his tail wagging in excitement. He said to Areku, "That's so cool! I didn't think magic existed! We should try it out on the monsters outside the village." The village was in a plain encircled by Thicket Woods and weak monsters lived peacefully within the trees. As Areku and Koro were about to leave the village to go fight some monsters, they were stopped by Lute.

"What do you think you're doing with Areku?" Lute asked Koro. After explaining, Lute replied, "Oh no you're not! Areku is too weak to go fight monsters even with you guarding him. Tell you what! Areku, if you can survive three minutes against me you can go with Koro, if not you will be my subordinate and train under me and Dad for two years!"

Koro got angry and said, "What kind of logic is that? Don't get cocky cuz you lived through Dad's training! C'mon Areku let's just ignore him and…"

Koro was cut off by another voice, "That sounds interesting! I think it's a great idea." Wret, their father came running up to them. "He does look weak but if he loses I will train him personally and in a couple years you'll look just like me!!" he said while laughing.

"That sounds like a lot of work, and I don't really care for manual labor, but this would be a good time to test out what I learned from reading the past year. I'll accept you're challenge Areku!"

Koro sighed, "It was supposed to be a simple walk through the forest but then they had to make things more difficult. Oh well if you're up to it Areku, I'll cheer you on from the sides."

Both combatants stood whilst Koro and Wret acted as referees for the match. Lute took out his sword, while Areku stood about 20 feet away with a spell book. After a small breeze blew through the air, Wret shouted the fateful words, "Begin!"

"What am I thinking!? Did I really accept a duel challenge? I think I've been reading too many books, or I got caught up in the moment. This is crazy! I don't even have a weapon! Books aren't weapons and he has a rather sharp looking sword with him." Areku thought to himself about it too late to do anything about it. "So uh can I change my mind about this? he said nervously and shyly.

Lute pointing his sword at him chuckled a little and then said, "I guess you just realized my strength. Don't worry once I show how weak you are, I'll make you stronger and then you will be like me, my dad, and my big brother! I won't try to hurt you at all."

"Am I the only one who thinks this is a stupid idea?" asked Koro to his father.

"Nonsense!" bellowed the large wolf. "Besides I have been so excited to train Areku since we got back and this is the perfect opportunity to do so! Ha Ha!"

"You can have the first strike! I want to see for myself if magic is real or not!" shouted Lute confidently. He thought to himself there was no such thing as magic, that the only way to be strong is through physical training and not sitting around all day long.

"Ok, here goes nothing." Areku said which was then followed by a sigh. He flipped off his book to a page with writing only legible to himself. He began to say the words from the page, "Va se rute majho kibou no tame" while sticking his hand out. The book shined a little but nothing happened. The boy chuckled a little, and attempted to say the words multiple times but to no avail.

Lute started getting bored and said, "Is that all you can do? Make light appear from a book, I admit it was impressive but it's time to end this!" Lute began to sprint towards Areku and all the human could do was sit there he was too scared to move. The human held the book up to shield himself cringing in fear from behind the cover. When the wolf reached the human he slashed the book in half and then proceeded to punch Areku in the stomach followed by a kick to the face and a swing with the blunt part of his sword to Areku's torso. Areku had a shocked expression when the book shatter and he felt intense pain from the wolf's attacks. He could not go on, he was no match. He fell to the ground and coughed up some blood gasping for air.

"Now you know your place human!" Lute chuckled unforgiving to those who are weaker then he was.

Koro gasped in horror rushing to Areku's side. The some of the villagers started to gather near them to find out what was going on. "How could you Lute!? You didn't have to go that far!" he said angrily at his younger brother. "Look how badly you hurt him. You could have just called it off and if you had he wouldn't have to feel this pain."

"Pain only makes you stronger, it helps you to grow it helps you to overcome obstacles, he is well on his way down the path to strength.

"This is unforgivable Lute!" the wolf shouted angrily. "I'm sorry Areku I should have done something! If I did then you would be alright…" he said with sadness in his voice.

"I…was too confident… I thought magic was real…I guess it is all just a fairy tale…*cough cough* It wasn't anyone's fault but…my…own…" Areku said starting to lose consciousness.

Koro bent down and said, "Here take my paw I'll take you somewhere to get your wounds healed up." Koro lent his paw out, it as a lot bigger than Areku's. The human reached out with his remaining strength and grabbed the wolf's hand.

From the instance their hands touched it felt like time had stopped for both Koro and Areku. Something was happening, something unexplainable and something magical.
A flash of light proceeded to emanate from their hand's a bright light that blinded all who gazed upon it except for Areku. A bond of friendship was formed, one that gave birth to new power, one that hid deep within the human's body that was now awakening. Areku suddenly felt better and was able to stand up. Suddenly his body felt strange. Looking down at his hands they were turning into wolf paws, the same color as Koro's. He felt a wolf's tail growing from behind and ears the same color as Koro's, one black and one white appeared on his head. His sandals broke apart and more paws where growing replacing his human feet. The light then vanished and everyone was shocked by what they saw. The human has turned into a half-wolf.

Areku in his newfound form grinned a little, "How about a rematch and this time it will be an even fight!" His personality felt a little different, more confident, and much braver." He clasped his hands together and a beam of light appeared. Extending his hands from the light an Ax of pure light was formed resembling a smaller version of Koro's own ax. He pointed the newly made ax at Lute saying, "I shall triumph!"

Lute shocked by this was amazed at his opponent's rapid change, he felt fear and he felt the same type of strength his big brother had. Regardless he wasn't going to let the human win even if he was now a half wolf. "Interesting, let's see what you got now!" the young wolf shouted.

"What the hell? I had him beat! He was on his knees! I won but… where did he get this power from? What is a human really?" These were the thoughts that were running through Lute's mind as he faced the transformed human. The human, Areku, awakened to a power inside himself upon touching Koro's hand. He took features of Koro's body for his own such as his black colored left ear and white colored right ear, tail, and paws. His body was still scrawny and skinny but he radiated a powerful aura and Lute could swear it was like facing his brother yet it was someone different.

More spectators gathered to watch the struggle. As they gazed on Areku's new form, different emotions began to take form such as fear, wonder, horror, and excitement. A fox walked up to join the spectators. He is the son of the General Store owner and his name is Lytic.

Lytic is like his father, in love with rare items and love money, yet he likes fighting unlike his father. Lytic lost his mother when he was born and was raised by his father. Now at age 16, he works with his father in a store he opened up in an out of the way village far from any major towns or cities. Lytic thinks his father should be more ambitious but his father is happy with his current life. He stands at about 6'1" and has a somewhat muscular build from the training he does. His weapon of choice is a katana and he is usually seen wearing a white colored male kimono with a black belt tied around his waist.

During the past year Lytic has become friends with Areku and was the one who helped him build the village a library. Upon gazing at the battle it took him a while to figure out that Areku was the one that looked half-wolf. He suddenly became excited at seeing the fight and his fluffy yellow tail wagged as proof.

The newly transformed Areku gazed confidently at his opponent and then said, "You can start whenever you want, or are you scared?"

Upon saying this Lute was thrown into a fit of rage charging straight for Areku with his sword pointed straight for his stomach. As the young wolf charged a strange glowing pentagram formed under Areku. The wolf-human raised his hand in the air and shouted, "You better watch where you are going!" Upon saying this, a pillar of brown rock rose up from the ground, and being in a full charge it was too late for Lute to stop. A loud thud was heard as Lute crashed into the earth Areku created with his magic. The earth quickly disappeared like it didn't exist. The onlookers were both shocked and amazed to see magic for the first time; some didn't know what to think. Koro was very impressed while Lytic was excited and wanted to see more magic. Lute quickly regained his composure and continued his charge and when he was in range he swung his sword at Areku. Areku quickly blocked the sword with his magically formed ax.

"It's time for this to end!" said Areku while his ax started to flicker. He jumped into the air and said, "Crescent Strike!" Lute raised his sword above him to block the strike. Areku's ax glowed and when swung down created a crescent shaped streak of light. This attack spilt Lute's sword in half sending the pieces falling towards the ground.

Lute's face was that of complete shock. It was as if his whole world had shattered along with his sword. The wolf fell to the ground on his knees and he kept muttering to himself. If one could hear those words it would be, "It's not possible!" repeated over and over. He also started punching the ground furiously until his paws started to bleed. Soon he started to shout out his mumbled phrase as he started to have a mental breakdown.

Areku's ax disappeared into millions of particles of gold light. Not only the ax, but his wolf ears paws and tail also disappeared into light particles. After the light vanished the normal looking human they all knew was back before them.

Koro quickly ran up to him and said, "Wha…wha…how…did you do that? How could you have done my skill when you've never seen it before? And that magic? I guess you really are a legendary extinct human!"

Lytic also ran up to him saying, "Amazing performance there Areku! Why if you were to do that in the city, I…uh…I mean we would make a ton of money!"

Koro and Lute's father Wret quickly drove the crowd away saying that there was nothing left to see. He went to comfort Lute but as he approached his son, his son quickly stormed off, with tears in his ears to his house. Wret quickly followed his son in order to calm down his emotions.

Areku's mind was in a state of shock as well but his face didn't show it. He had no idea what that power was or how he did it but little by little he felt like he understood magic.
He started to feel really bad for what he did to Lute. The human started to get a headache and said to his two friends, "I'm sorry I need to sit down, let's go to the library, we can talk all we want there."

The trio talked late into the night about what occurred and the only logical conclusion they could come up with is that magic and that Areku was a fabled class of human known as a "Wizard".

~That night~
Areku, Lytic, and Koro all sat at a small table within the recently built library. Rows of bookcases filled with worn out old books with various genres such as humor and adventure.

"So where should we start?" Lytic said leaning back in his chair putting his paws up on the table. "You were getting beaten up until you grabbed Koro's paw and then you became awesome and totally humiliated Koro's little brother Lute."

Areku got embarrassed a little at what happened. As he collected his thoughts he tried to say what was on his mind. "Well the book I found, I think it was a spell that would make your opponent give up without fighting at all. It wasn't working even though the book's letters were glowing. But I didn't expect him to be so violent. It felt like he was possessed with the urge to kill me. I froze and as he kept hitting me, the pain was too unbearable so I fell to the ground. I felt like I was dying but then when I grabbed Koro's paw time stood still. It was weird but I felt my body start to change, like Koro's power transferred to me or something."

Koro nodded, "Yeah it felt that way for me too. When you transformed you even had my ears and a miniature version of my ax. I was even surprised you were able to perform my skills and attacks. You never even saw me fight before so it was pretty shocking seeing you copy it exactly."

"Koro you forgot a key point." chimed in Lytic. "Not only did he transform but he also performed a magic spell. A spell that made a pillar of earth rise from the ground." With his keen eyes and strong memory Lytic was able to recall even the pattern on the ground that formed under Areku when he cast the spell. He drew it on a piece of paper, a 5 star pentagram.

Areku responded, "That is the symbol for the balance of the five elements. Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Lighting. Those elements are in perfect harmony and keep the balance of nature, at least according to the book that was destroyed. Fire beats Water which beats Earth which beats Lightning which beats Wind which beats Fire. It is a cycle of elements that keep one from having an advantage over the other. I also read that some elemental abilities specialize in power, defense or support but that isn't important right now."

"Wow that is so cool! I wish I knew magic! That would be so awesome!" Koro exclaimed wagging his tail in delight.

"It wasn't that special…" said Areku shyly.

"Oh yeah! Areku! Try transforming with Lytic! You just have to grab his paw right?" Koro exclaimed in excitement.

"That sounds interesting! You just have to grab my paw right?" Lytic said extending his paw to Areku. Areku shyly reached out and grabbed his paw, squinting his eyes in anticipation for the transformation. After a while nothing happened besides an awkward silence that filled the room.

"What it didn't work! And I wanted to see you with my ears and tail." said Lytic taking his hand back.

"Let me try it again!" Koro said grabbing Areku's hand. Time passed and nothing occurred either. "What no way! It's not working!" he said in shock taking his paw and examining it to see if something was wrong with it.

"I'm sorry!" Areku said bowing his head for forgiveness.

"Hmmm…" though Lytic "Maybe it only happens when you fight or something oh well we have time to figure this out. We did prove that magic exists though! Now how to make a profit off of this…"

"I wonder if all humans knew magic or if only some of them did." Koro asked.

"Ah I remember something about that in this history book or was it an adventure book. Anyway, humans with magic were called wizards. They were people who studied artifacts and tried creating new magic to help the world." Areku said happily.

Koro's eyes widened in amazement, "Alright from now on you're Areku the wizard!"

"Areku the wizard huh? Has a nice ring to it. It would be a good name for you when we make money…" Lytic said off in his own little world.

Time passed and everyone was getting tired. They returned to their homes to sleep. It was a pretty eventful day.

~3 Days Later~

Lute cooped himself inside his room sulking for the past three days. His mind consumed with revenge for this humiliation. His father was getting worried about him.

Areku also had problems; the other villagers were giving him weird and dirty looks. No one even entered his library. He could have sword one villager told their child "Don't go near that human. Lytic was even told by his father not to see him anymore, same with Koro. The only people left in the village that would talk to or see Areku were Lytic and Koro. Things weren't' looking good for Areku, he could feel the anger and fear around him. He felt like he wasn't welcome anymore. Consumed with despair Areku felt like he had to leave the village. Packing up some books and some food he prepared to leave that night. He didn't tell Koro or Lytic about it because it was his fault that everyone was acting like this. If Areku was gone everything would be normal again.

~That night~

Areku was leaving the village quietly when the full moon was at its highest point. As he left the village he was shocked by what he saw. It was Lytic and Koro, who looked like they were packed for a trip also, each with weapons and provisions.

"What!? How did you know I was leaving?" Areku asked.

"I think I've known you long enough to tell what you are thinking." said Lytic.

"This whole village is being crazy but I want to let you know that we support you and we will be there for you always." said Koro. "It's about time I went to go see the world, I am old enough and I want to explore!"

"And I want to start my own business and be rich!" said Lytic.

"You guys….Thank you so much!" Areku said with tears forming in his eyes. "I want to see the world too, to learn about Humans, so let's all travel together ok?"

They all nodded and proceeded to leave the village behind without letting the other villagers know. Leaving everything behind the trio set out with their own goals in mind.
Yet they each wanted to show that humans and magic aren't to be feared. Little do they know the repercussions of their actions and how great an effect it was going to have.

After the three left Lute snapped, consumed with revenge he thought of the perfect way to get it. He lit a torch and proceeded to set fire to the village and blame it on Areku. Once he finished he put out the torch and yelled "Fire! Fire!" The fires weren't big and people hurried to put it out before it caused any major damage. Lute's plan worked, people suspected Areku caused it. The villagers also noticed Areku, Lytic, and Koro missing. Lute also took advantage of this and said that, Areku used his magic to brainwash them into being his slaves and left the village. The villagers also believed this lie. They began to gather a group together. To hunt down the human and to bring back Koro and Lytic no matter what. Lute smiled to himself. His revenge was going just as he hoped it would. He would join the human hunting party and kill Areku himself.

End of Chapter I

_________________

~Whisper of the Soul~
Fragment 2: Emanating Disharmony

The river of time flows ever so slowly
The heart beats ever so steadily
As one walks the path of life
It is not unusual to meet with misfortune
Once misfortune strikes no one can stop it
Yet as long as your wheel of fate keeps turning
Don’t give up and hope for the best.


Part 1: Tragic Past, Twisted Prophecy

“Rise and shine!” shouted Areku.

“Ugh…five more minutes…” groaned Koro as he tried to stay asleep.

“You said that thirty minutes ago, come on get up! Ugh this isn’t working Lytic! Help me!” asked Areku.

Lytic, who was busy cooking a breakfast of meat and eggs, just finished cooking and proceeded to walk into Koro’s tent. Once inside he took the hilt of his sword and whacked Koro’s body with a brutal force. Koro recoiled in pain at the blow to his stomach. “That woke him up! Breakfast time!”

“Wasn’t there a nicer less painful way to do that?” Areku said as he sighed.

“Well we have to save our food till we reach the next town, and now we will since I don’t think Koro will be eating for a while.” Lytic said and then smirked.

Groaning could be heard inside the tent that sounded like, “I’ll get you for this Lytic!”

A large object seemed to be moving towards the trio from the direction of the village.

Lytic saw this and said, “That looks…bad…”

Within minutes the black mob was rushing towards them. A chant could be heard from the distance. “Kill Areku! Kill Areku! Kill Areku!”

“Yep this is really bad. I had a feeling it was going to be like this today… Anyway we should go!” shouted Lytic.

“What about out stuff?” groaned Koro as he walked out of the tent.

“Take the essentials and let’s book it!” Lytic screamed at the disorganized Koro.
Areku started to get scared and kept thinking to himself, “Why did they want to kill me? Why did they hate me so much? I am scary? What am I? What is this power?”

The crowd was within running distance after they finished packing up what they needed. At the head of the crowd was Lute. His face looked creepier than usual, the face of someone so close to getting his revenge.

“Ahh!! We gotta run! They’re gonna kill me I don’t want to die!” Areku shouted and started to sprint as fast as he could. He was running toward a nearby forest.

Lytic and Koro looked at each other and Koro said, “Oh crap he is going to the Forbidden Forest! The forest where no one gets out alive! Let’s go! We have to stop him!” They both ran to catch up to Areku. The angry mob was starting to run after them too.

The Forbidden Forest also known as the Forest of the Mist. It is said that anyone who dares to enter the misty forest never comes out. Their bodies are never found. It’s as if they disappear from the face of the planet without a trace. Any search parties that try to find these missing people also meet the same fate. No matter how strong they are they all succumb to the mist. Areku unknowingly ran into the forest with Lytic and Koro right behind him. The mob stopped at the forest not wanting to go in with them. They feared the forest for it took the lives of many people from their village. Lute had a fit about wanting to go but was punched unconscious by his father. The mob went back to the village presuming the three who entered to be dead very soon.

As Koro and Lytic ran after the forest shouting at Areku to come back but Areku couldn’t hear them. The thoughts and fears following through his mind, his fears of death, and his fears of himself prevented Koro and Lytic’s words from reaching him. The mist thickened, and soon enough the three of them were lost, separated and alone. Creepy and eerie noises could be heard throughout the forest. Koro heard a growling sound behind him but swinging his ax at it he hit nothing. Lytic decided to keep put until he could see while Areku kept running and running. The mist was getting to thick; it was like being literally blind. The three of them started to lose consciousness and the fainted to the forest’s floor. Everything faded to black.

Areku awoke and was in a strange place. It looked like an abandoned village with houses he never seen before. It wasn’t Corna Village at all. Areku regained his balance and decided to walk around this town. There were absolutely no signs of life as Areku walked through this unknown village. At the other side of the village Areku came upon a little shrine. He heard the sound of sweeping and climbed up the steps to see what was at the shrine.

Areku was in complete and utter shock. He couldn’t believe his eyes! It was….

“A…a …” Areku stuttered at the sight he saw at the top of the stairs leading to an ancient shrine. It was to his surprise, a human but it wasn’t male but female. It was a young girl with long flowing blue hair she was a human like him but she had long floppy bunny ears and a tail sticking out of the end of her outfit. She was about 5 ft 4 inches and looked about 14 years old. She was wearing a traditional shrine maiden outfit of a white haori and red hakama. The girl was startled by Areku and ceased her sweeping. She couldn’t believe her eyes either. They both stared at each other as if it was a love at first sight, but it wasn’t, they were just too shocked for words.

“Ah…I can’t believe it!” the girl said with tears coming into her eyes. “I’ve waited here for so long. The human that can change our fate! I’m… so…happy!” She ran up to Areku and then proceeded to hug him. Areku just stood there blushing. Who was this girl? Why was he important to her?

Areku pushed the girl lightly to get her off of him. “Uh…um…isn’t that kind of an intrusive greeting for someone you just met. My name is Areku. What is yours?”

The girl was slightly shocked but then recomposed herself. “Sorry, how rude of me! My name is Reilla. I’m sorry I should explain myself. Would you care to listen?” Areku nodded in anticipation. If this girl had answers about him then it would be important to listen to her.

“You heard about humans being extinct for 400 years right? Well 400 years ago the only sentient race in this world was humans but all of a sudden humans started growing animal limbs and the local animals were becoming feral and would change into horrible shapes. No one knew what was going on. Those with strong spiritual powers, such as magicians and priests, were immune to the effects. Yet the unfortunate ones were slowly turning into beasts. As time went on, even the people with strong spiritual powers were being affected and those turning into beasts were going crazy. It was mass chaos as those who were transforming slaughtered everyone in sight with their enhanced strength and agility. If nothing was done, humans would be extinct. My ancestors held themselves up in this forest.”

“In order to save ourselves they made a pact with demons, to cut ourselves off from the outside world. They would kill anyone who entered as a sacrifice but the people who lived in the forest, the people of Mist village, were sacrificed when there wasn’t enough. Over time the beasts regained their human selves but retained their beast like forms. The remaining villagers started to gain bestial parts even after about 400 years. They were sick of the demons killing and the pact our ancestors made and the demons stopped holding up their end of the bargain as well. They confronted the demons held inside this shrine and managed to subdue most of them at the cost of their own lives. My mother and I were the only ones left but she passed away. On her death bed she had a vision, that a human with a mysterious power would appear out of thin air and save me. Soon I was the only one left the remaining, the demon magic prevents me from leaving but I believed that you would arrive.” She paused a little. “Please you have to help me! I know you have a special power. My mother said it was a power to connect others to yourself. By connecting with others and granting them your power you acquire some of theirs. In this way everyone gains new strength.”

“So… that is the power that I have… that explains why I transformed…” Areku said softly. His voice suddenly got louder and he was starting to get angry, “This is all too much, why did humans suddenly become beasts? Why is all of this happening? What am I supposed to do to help you? I don’t even know anything at all about humans!” Areku started to tear up; his emotions were running wild within him.

“I do not know…she said your appereance will cause a great change in the world whether it is for the better or not will be your descision. That is all I know.” Reilla said with her head held down, saddened since she was unable to provide the answers to Areku’s questions.

A idea soon struck the boy. “I guess the only way is to find the ruins of human civilization from 400 years ago.” Areku said, “The past is the key to our future so I must find out more about the past. I feel like if I look close enough in this world… I can understand myself and the true nature of humans…”

“What a marvelous idea! Allow me to accompany you. It’s my purpose to aid you in whatever you need and I would like to find out this information as well. Humans are supposed to be able to use magic but these bestial parts are sealing it. Can you connect with me? Then I can awaken maybe my magic once again.” the girl said.

“Hmm let’s see how did I do it the first time, I kind of just touched Koro and I felt his feelings of worry and his desire to help me and then that light appeared. We both have the same desires to find answers let me hold your hand and let’s see if we can connect our souls. Alright?” Areku said happily to Reilla as she smiled and held out her hand.

Areku grabbed it and the same thing that happened with Koro occurred again. Areku could feel a power flowing through him, and Reilla could feel Areku’s power flowing into her. Strangely enough, Areku didn’t grow bunny ears or a tail; he remained the same unlike when he used his power with Koro. Their feelings

“That felt so strange but I feel a strange power flowing inside me.” She raised her hand and it suddenly started to rain in the bright sunlight. The rain felt soothing and healed the fatigue of the two standing in it. “Wow this is amazing so this is the power you gave me or was this a power I had deep inside me and you unlocked it? Either way you should have gained some of this power as well since we are connected to each other now.” Areku nodded, he somehow felt her spirit lingering inside of him as well of the soul of Koro.

“Oh I almost forgot have you seen my friends, a fox and a wolf? I was separated from them when I entered this forest.” Areku asked.

“Ah those two, I saw demons drag them into the shrine, they are probably going to be sacrificed when the sun sets. I can’t do anything for them the demons looks powerful but ah their screams would be so lovely to hear, and I wonder when their insides look like.” She said fantasizing to herself. “Sorry I’ve gotten used to sacrifices and strangely I look forward to them. For some reason hearing others screams gives me pleasure. Does that make me a bad person?”

“Are you crazy!? We have to help them! And I must say that is a little weird but I have no right to criticize what you like! It’s past noon, we have to hurry!” Areku shouted in shock a little scared of her comment. He figured everyone had their quirks.

“Aww, I suppose you’re right, and I do want to avenge the villagers who lost their lives… Ok let’s go but first I want to give you something.” Reilla headed down the stairs towards an empty house. After a couple of minutes she came out holding a parasol and a staff. She gave the staff to Areku saying it was an heirloom of her father. The staff was made of pure oak and it was extremely old looking and worn out. At the top end of the staff the branch swirled a little. Holding onto it Areku felt a little more powerful like magic was entering his body.

“Are you using the parasol?” Areku asked. Reilla nodded and said that the parasol was something she liked to use.

Together the duo entered the shrine in order to prevent Areku’s friends from being sacrificed. The shrine was very old but it looked like it was well maintained. There was a ladder at the end of the shrine. Reilla said it led to the demons’ caverns and she warned him there was going to be hostile undead and creatures down there. This slightly frightened Areku but he was determined to help his friends. Sure enough there were monsters inside the caves in the form of slimy drui, and batrs, larger bat like creatures. Areku was able to swat them away with his staff and Reilla was able to use her newfound water magic to freeze any enemy nearby. She did this by twirling the parasol which created a cold air around the parasol. Reilla was concentrating her feelings into the magic as she started to cast the magic. This spell was cold enough to freeze those who touch the umbrella like the bat which got whacked with the freezing umbrella. Reilla shouted at Areku, “Come on be brave, use magic instead of trying to whack them away. You just have to feel the spirit well up inside you and then you release it.”

Areku concentrated and he reached out to the piece of Koro’s spirit from inside his body. Energy formed in both of his hands. He raised them to the sky and a piece of the earth spiked up from the ground and instantly pierced the body of a nearby batr.

“Wow that was good! My soul is water elemental so you must mean have exchanged a soul with someone in tune with the earth.” Reilla questioned.

“Yes, my wolf friend Koro, I somehow was able to gain part of his appearance and I was able to use magic, but how come it didn’t happen this time?” Areku asked.

“I don’t know I never seen that before I have to see it in order to figure it out. But for now it looks like you gained a spell that doesn’t make you transform like you claimed did before. Let’s not worry about the details and continue onwards.” Reilla said thinking about what Areku was saying.

After some more traveling they appeared in a large room. A room filled to the brim with corpses and skeletons. The stench was horrendous and the sight was extremely gruesome. Reilla said with a stern look on her face, “I can feel the demon’s presence they are at the end of this room.” A red glow could be seen from the other side, it was getting brighter and brighter every second. “They are starting the ceremony! It’s now or never…”

Areku nodded and started running towards the light, with Reilla following behind him. Even if he was scarred, even if he was weak, even if he was running towards his own death he was determined to save them no matter what. “Koro, Lytic! I’m here! I’ll save you!”

They reached what looked like an altar. The figure of Koro and Lytic were there standing still. Areku ran up to them thanking the heavens they were still alive. Running up to them to hug them, Reilla immediately shouted, “No don’t go any closer!”, but it was too late. Koro raised his axe and swung at Areku caused a direct hit in his arm. Areku’s arm tendons were sliced and he lost the feeling in his right arm. Lytic suddenly rushed him and punched him backwards toward a worried Reilla who caught Areku as he fell back.
Areku, who was bleeding profusely in his left arm said, “Why? How could you?”
Koro and Lytic laughed evilly and laugh that echoed throughout the room.

Reilla with an angered expression said, “They are no longer those you once knew. The demons possessed their bodies and unless we can exorcise the spirits out of them not only will your friends’ souls be lost be we will most likely be killed. It is too late to run, but remember that this was your choice to come here and my choice to follow you. You must follow through with your decision.”

Areku listened to Reilla’s words but beating them was easily said than done and with his left arm out of commission how as he going to help them, much less save his own life.

To be continued…

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Chapter 2 Part 2: Reaching out to Courage

“Hold still Areku, this might sting a little.” Reilla said and proceeded to twirl her umbrella. Light rain started to magically fall from the sky. The drops of water that hit the open wound stung greatly but as more drops hit the wound, the wound started to close and Areku regained the feeling in his left arm.

“Wow that was amazing!” Areku said to Reilla, “but I feel like it hurt more than it healed…”

Reilla helped Areku up on his feet as the demon possessed friends of Areku prepared to attack. “Quick! Start casting magic at them!” Reilla shouted as she started to use her own. Large icicles formed on her parasol. Areku tried the same, reaching out to Reilla’s spirit inside of himself. A blue energy glowed in his hands and was then released as the two warriors charged at the magic users.

“Freeze where you stand!” Areku said as the energy released. Ice began to form around the warriors’ feet making them frozen 4 feet away from Reilla and Areku. Reilla then began to use her own spell and sent the icicles flying at the warriors hitting those dead on due to their inability to dodge. The icicles stuck in their body causing blood to flow from their bodies and created a small pool of it at their feet.

The possessed Koro smiled as blood ran down from his mouth, “My my you hurt us? Do you not care about your friends? You are only hurting these poor fools! See!” the possessed wolf said as he raised the blade of his ax and proceeded to swing down on his own leg. The possessed fox did the same taking his katana and slicing his left arm. They were on the verge of death. “We can just easily finish them off but it looks like they are going to die anyway not that it matters to us if they are dead or not! Hehehehehe”

Areku was completely shocked; he didn’t like seeing his friends get hurt much less hurting themselves. “Reilla what do we do! If we don’t do something they’ll die! Please do something!” Reilla smirked a little as he said this.

“They created the perfect opportunity! Healing Drizzle!” Reilla shouted as she pointed the parasol at the bloody bodies and began to twirl it. The medicinal rain began to pour down healing the open wounds of Koro and Lytic who screamed in pain upon contact with the rain. It was like being stabbed by a thousand knives repeatedly. She then reached into her pocket and took out two talismans, which looked like pieces of red paper with some illegible text. The text was written in the magical language Runos, which is completely legible and understandable to those who can use magic.

Chanting an incantation she threw the talismans which stuck to the foreheads of Koro and Lytic. A white light covered their bodies and two red spirits were expelled from their bodies. The bodies of Koro and Lytic fell to the ground. If one would look closely the spirit looked like they had an evil looking face in its center.

“As I thought! These demons are possessors! Quick hold this Areku!” she exclaimed giving him a talisman and holding one for herself. “With these they can’t possess us either!” The demon spirits looked at each other and then began to laugh wickedly as they flew above everyone.

“Don’t think you’ve won! This fight is only getting started!” the wicked spirits exclaimed at the same time. “We’ll kill you off the same way we killed off those meddling villagers who tried to break their own contract!” The spirits shot off in different directions and seemed to disappear. Areku looked towards Reilla for advice but she really looked out of it. She was starting to sweat and was panting heavily.

“What’s wrong are you ok?” Areku asked with great concern on his face. Reilla glanced back at him and said, “I’m so tired, I used too much magic.” Mana is the power within our bodies that allow us to use magic and if we use too much we faint from exhaustion. Areku wasn’t as tired as Reilla since she used more magic than he did so it looks like it was up to Areku to deal with both demons by himself. “I’ll keep healing these two with the strength I have so I’ll leave the demons to you.” Reilla said continuing the medicinal rain on Lytic and Koro.

“Wait! A…A…Areku!” a voice within earshot said. It was Koro, who was starting to regain consciousness. Lytic was also opening his eyes and started to regain his consciousness. They tried to get up but their wounds were too severe to get up. “Be careful!” Koro said as he struggled to get up. Areku nodded confidently despite being completely freighted and saddened on the inside. He had no idea how to fight the demons or where they went. They could be hiding anywhere in the dark room. The only light in the room was the torches in the center of the room.

Meanwhile the demons scanned the room filled with many bones and corpses to find the right one for them. Once they found them they entered their bodies. The demons’ power reanimated the bodies of the dead lying inside the room. The bones around one of the demons created a skeleton which then picked up a nearby rusty sword and shield. The other demon entered a corpse of a fallen human with decayed skin and bones sticking out of the legs and arms. Areku screamed when he saw this completely shocked by what the demons have done.

Lytic noticed this, then reached out his hand and said, “Areku take my hand! Maybe it would help you like last time during your fight with Lute!” Areku nodded since it was worth a shot and he had nothing to lose but his own life. The freighted human reached from his courage and grasped the paw of the struggling fox. Nothing happened for a moment but then the Soul Exchange took place. Time slowed down extremely for Areku and Lytic as bits of their souls entered the other person’s body. Golden colored fox ears appeared on his head, his hands and feet then became fox paws and a nice fluffy tail appeared on his back. His staff glowed brightly until its form was completely concealed. When the glow stopped and Areku let go of Lytic’s hand, the staff turned into a katana of pure white light. Areku looked like he had complete confidence in himself and fighting and proceeded to charge at the advancing demons.

Reilla was completely shocked; she had never seen this happen before, heck she never even knew this was possible. She started to believe Areku was someone special just like she was told. Someone who can save this dying world, someone who can avenge the human race, that is what Reilla believed in her heart and it was the only thing that kept her going. “Finally!” she thought to herself “My hero is here!”

Areku ran and slashed the skeleton swiftly as it fell to the ground. The demon laughed as the skeleton feel and entered another nearby corpse. He gasped and then proceeded to harm the other demon in the room but that demon just did the same thing. “No matter what you do we will just keep coming back!”

The fight continued the same way for about twenty minutes, like an endless loop. Areku was getting tired. Transforming used up a large amount of mana and he was almost out. “Hehehe!!! Getting tired aren’t we? You fell right for our trap!” Areku sighed but agreed the demons where right. If only there was a way to keep them in one place long enough to keep them from entering another dead body. Suddenly Areku got an idea. Taking his sword he spun around rapidly. The rapid spinning created a small tornado collecting all the bones and bodies in the room inside its vortex, but leaving Reilla, Koro and Lytic untouched. He stopped spinning and stepped outside the tornado, unaffected by his own spell. Raising his sword above him with his right hand he took out a small pouch with his left hand.

He threw the pouch in the air, it was filled with money then proceeded to fill his sword with wind energy. Slashing the pouch before it fell to the ground, the money in the pouch flew at full speed in the tornado with the force of a bullet. The money tore up the bodies spinning in the vortex violently and the demonic possessors where purged from the tornado. “Behold the power of money! Thousand Coin Revolution!” he shouted. The greedy fox’s spirit was part of Areku making him take on a bit of Lytic’s personality Having no where to go, Areku finished them both off with a single slash of the sword. The demons screamed in agony, “Impossible! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!”
The demons vanished completely in the air and when they did so did Areku’s transformation. He fell to the ground completely exhausted and immobile. Reilla was finished healing just as Areku was done and she also collapsed.

Koro and Lytic got up from the ground feeling better. They decided to carry their bodies out of the dreadful dungeon but Lytic wouldn’t leave until he found all the money that Areku used in his attack. “You have the very definition of a one track mind…” Koro said as he sighed. Koro carried Areku’s body while Lytic carried Reilla’s body.

Back in the village, Reilla regained consciousness. The moon was high in the sky and it was pretty late. Reilla directed them to her house where they slept the eventful night away. They were all exhausted and to be able to get some rest brought peace to their weary bodies.

In the forest surrounding the secluded village the thick mist finally dispersed as the curse of the village was lifted due to Areku and Reilla’s efforts. For the first time in 400 years the village was finally able to connect with the world outside the forest.

To be continued….

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