Chapter 1

Koji’s eyes fluttered open, blinking heavily as he gazed upwards into the clear blue sky. He sat up, feeling a slight dizziness as he did so. Rubbing his head, Koji looked around.

He was sitting in the middle of a lush green field, surrounded by flowers of all colors. There was a faint waft of salt in the air, a smell Koji recognized as the seaside from his trips to the beach with his parents. Sure enough, as he stood up he heard the gentle crash of waves on rock.

Koji turned around and his eyes widened. Not too far off in the distance, about five miles away, was a sprawling city with tall, snow white stone walls. It sat on the coastline, with thin, steepled towers spearing up into the air at regular intervals. There were farmlands and cottages near the city walls too, but nobody seemed to be working in the fields or tending to any flocks. Koji looked in the opposite direction and was met with the sight of a verdant forest, but no signs of civilization other than some worn-out looking roads that led towards the city.

“This is definitely not Shibuya…” Koji massaged away the last of the dizziness and breathed deeply. The air was cool and crisp, and it energized him in a way that he had not felt before. “So where the hell am I?”

As he stood there wondering just what had happened to him and how he had ended up in this place, the sound of hooves made itself known.

Coming down one of the roads was a large wagon, the type that Koji had seen in his history books about medieval Europe. Pulling it was a pair of dappled grey horses, both of them with a narrow horn coming out of their heads.

Not horses... Koji realized with a shock. He rubbed his eyes but the horns were still there. Unicorns!

He continued to stand there and watch as the wagon drew closer. It had four sturdy wooden wheels, and a white canvas covering the main body. There was a middle-aged man with a large straw hat holding the reins, and as the wagon drew alongside Koji, the driver pulled back on the harness and the unicorns stopped.

“What are you doing out here?” The wagon driver asked incredulously, as if Koji had grown a third arm.

“What?” Koji was confused, more so now than ever.

The wagon driver looked around, and seeing nobody else in the vicinity, beckoned for Koji to come closer, which he did.

“Hurry up and get in,” the wagon driver urged. “It’s not safe to be out here for too long.”

Koji had a dozen questions racing through his head, but something in the man’s voice spurred him into action. He ran to the back of the wagon and climbed aboard.

It was rather cramped inside, as most of the available space was taken up by wooden barrels lashed together with rope. But the most arresting thing that Koji saw was a girl who looked about his age staring back at him. She had long flaxen hair that was tied back with a simple handkerchief, and she wore a white and blue dress with a checkered pattern that resembled an apron. Her feet were bare.

“All settled back there?” The driver asked. Without waiting for a reply, he spurred the unicorns back into motion.

Koji looked at the girl, trying not to stare.

“Um… hi,” he said after a few moments. “My name’s Koji Hagane. I’m not exactly sure where I am, or how I got here. Last thing I remember was…” He stopped, somewhat disturbed by the fact that he did not remember what had happened before waking up in this place. He remembered his high school, his friends, his family, but the fine details of the last few hours eluded him.

The girl peered curiously at him. “Are you from around here?”

“I don’t think so,” Koji scratched his head. For the first time he looked down at himself. He was dressed in a light brown tunic with black pants. Instead of his usual running shoes, he had on a pair of leather boots. “I don’t even know where ‘here’ is.”

The girl gave him a concerned look. “You don’t know where you are?”

Koji shook his head.

“Well, my name’s Rena. Rena Trissus,” the girl told Koji. “That’s my uncle up front, Osbert. Our family runs an inn in the city.”

“What city is this?” Koji asked, feeling very much wrong-footed.

“The… city of Behalan?” Rena tilted her head to the side, examining Koji. “Did you suffer a head injury or something?”

“No! I mean, I don’t know,” Koji looked down at the floor of the wagon. “The city of Behalan. I’ve never heard of it.”

“Behalan is one of the major port cities in the kingdom of Firosa,” Rena explained slowly, a concerned expression mounting on her face. “Do you really have no memory of how you got here? Perhaps you should go and see a healer.”

Koji said nothing, sitting down next to a barrel and pulling his knees close to himself. He knew that he was not supposed to be here; he knew that he was far from home, but for the life of him he could not determine why or how.

Koji was pulled from his maelstrom of inner debate by Rena placing her hand on his own. She moved closer to sit next to him.

“Don’t worry,” Rena said with a reassuring nod of her head that made her hair bounce. “I’ll help you get back on your feet.” She smiled at him, warm and comforting.

“You will?” He asked tentatively.

“Of course!” Rena’s smile grew wider. “That’s what an innkeeper does, right? Help people who need it and get them back on their feet.”

“Thank you,” Koji said. “I hope I won’t be too much trouble.”

Rena laughed. “I’ve handled much worse cases than you. Why, I remember-”

The wagon suddenly rolled to a stop, interrupting whatever Rena had been about to say next. Rena let go of Koji’s hand and went over to the front of the wagon.

“Uncle, what’s going on? Why have we stopped?”

Osbert said nothing, but pointed ahead.

Koji turned his attention to the front of the wagon. He could see that the city of Behalan was closer than before, but more importantly, there was a large group of people on the road in front of them, and they were coming closer.

Rena came back to Koji and sighed. “It’s a goods inspection.”

As the group of people came closer, Koji could see that they were all wearing polished armor that was made of a bright, silvery metal. Many of them held spears, and those that did not were bearing strange looking devices that resembled oversized tuning forks with prongs that shone many colors, like a pearl. Each of these devices was as long as Koji’s forearm and seemed to emit a faint humming sensation that he could feel in his teeth.

“What are they looking for with those?” Koji asked, feeling concerned.

Rena sighed. “Magic.”

“What? But magic isn’t real.”

“It’s real enough that Behalan’s been a hotbed of conflict over it for over thirteen years,” Osbert said, watching the armored group come closer. “Fortunately, we’re pretty well known to the Order, so we should be through pretty quickly. Odd that they would conduct a search outside of the city borders, though. Usually inspections are carried out inside Behalan, where it’s safe.”

“Safe from who?”

By this time, the inspection group had reached the wagon. There were ten of them in total, and Osbert raised his hand in greeting to their leader.

“Afternoon, gentlemen,” Osbert said calmly.

“Mr. Trissus,” the leader said back. He was a tall, muscular man with tanned skin, and his helmet had a red plume coming out the top. He had a closely cropped dark beard and sharp, dark green eyes. “Got the usual today?”

“Aye,” Osbert said with a smile. “Mostly beer and grains. Got some dried meat too.”

“Shouldn’t take too long, then,” the lead guard said before looking inside the wagon. “Nice to see you again, Ms. Trissus. You brought along an extra pair of hands to help you this time?” He glanced at Koji.

“Something like that,” Rena shrugged. “Why are you holding the inspection out here instead of inside like normal, Captain Theo?”

“Wasn’t my idea,” Theo replied as he gave the inside of the wagon a cursory check. “But if you want my best guess, then it’d be because they’re setting up a more efficient screening station by the main gates. I think I heard some of the engineers talking about that this morning at breakfast. You know how it is with the Order.”

Rena looked unsurprised. “Yes, I do.”

“Looks all clear,” Captain Theo said, withdrawing from the wagon. “Alright, boys! Just give these fine people a thorough check and then let ‘em go.”

The guards who held the strange tuning forks came forward, waving the tools over the wagon and all around the insides. They lingered over Koji and Rena, but whatever they were looking for, they did not seem to find.

“All clear, captain!”

Captain Theo smiled, saluting to Osbert. “Well, off you go. I’ll see you at the inn this Friday, eh? Help you drink up some of your beer.”

Osbert laughed in response, but before he could say anything, Theo held up his hand. Immediately, all of his men got into battle stances, holding out their weapons at an empty patch of road behind the wagon.

“What are they looking at?” Koji asked Rena quietly.

Rena didn’t answer, but Osbert said, “Nothing we want to be a part of. We should get moving.”

He spurred the unicorns onward, but at that exact moment, what looked like a vertical swirling yellow vortex opened at the place where the guards were watching, and a roaring mass of violet flames game flew out like a meteor, impacting the earth with an earsplitting boom.

The unicorns reared up, clearly spooked. They whinnied and strained and pulled at their harnesses, ignoring Osbert’s best efforts to calm them down.

“Woah! Easy there!”

The unicorns bolted, pulling the wagon behind them. However, they did not get very far before the wagon hit a rock and overturned, throwing Rena and Koji out and onto the road. The barrels came loose from their lashings and rolled all across the ground.

Koji recovered quickly and scrambled to his feet, running over to Rena.

“Are you okay?” He asked, helping Rena back up onto her feet.

“Y-Yeah, I think so,” Rena’s eyes were wide with fear. “What was that?”

Back on the road, the yellow portal did not close. Rather, out of the portal came five dark figures. Four of them were what Koji could only describe as knights, clad in dark armor that resembled scales. Their gauntlets and boots had claws on them, and their helmets were shaped like a snarling dragon’s head. Each of them held a different weapon: a greatsword, a halberd, a pair of curved glaives, and a flanged mace.

The fifth one was draped in a dark cloak and a hood, which from within only a pair of glowing orange eyes could be seen, angrily burning like torches. This dark figure brandished a tall metal scythe that they held at their side like a staff.

For a moment neither the city guards nor the dark intruders did anything. Then the reaper-like figure raised their free hand and pointed forwards.

The dark knights raised their weapons and began to advance, moving swifter than their large frame and heavy armor should have allowed. Koji knew that if he didn’t get out of here, they would unquestionably kill him. Behind them, the scythe wielder also advanced, but at a much slower pace.

Captain Theo rallied his guards and placed himself squarely between the crashed wagon and the dark knights.

“Go! Get inside the walls!” He shouted. “We’ll hold them off!”

There was no more time to say anything else, as the two groups met and the air filled with the sound of clashing metal and battle cries.