Chapter 0:

The Day of Shadow

Dance of Thorns


"It's a nice day, isn't it?" A woman's voice asked. 

"Yeah. it is. The sun's out, not a cloud in the sky." A man replied. 

"A perfect day." She said. 

"Mhm." He muttered. 

"Hey..." She asked. 

There was no reply. 

"Don't fall asleep!" she yelled, the sound of a soft slap following afterwards. 

"Ow! I'm not!" The man protested. 

"You promise?" She asked, annoyance in her voice. 

"Yeah. I promise." He said. "I promise." 


Rell remembered when he first met Alicia. He was nine years old, and the Shadows had only descended a couple days ago, attacking several cities. It threw people into a panic. His parents had packed the car, loading him and his sister onboard as they tried to escape the onslaught. Of course the traffic had stopped them in their tracks. There parents had opted to go on foot, pulling both siblings out of the car and continuing onwards. 

The city was covered in smoke from the fires. The metallic scent of blood was in the air. Rell remember his father shielding his eyes as they walked passed a partially devoured corpse. He still remembered the foul scent, and the squishy texture of his shoes as he walked on his entrails several feet away from the body. 

"No..." His mother gasped in shock. 

"No, no." His father denied in horror. 

The shadowy creature stood a short distance away. Rell saw that it was partially translucent, fading in and out of reality like smoke. The creature let out a shrill cry like a tea kettle as it noticed them. It's arms and legs were like that of a spider's, despite the fact that it walked upright. It's head was like a jagged cone, much like it was wearing a hat. 

"Stay back!" His father yelled, shoving Rell behind him. 

The creature closed the distance in an instant, impaling him and killing him.

"No!!!" his mother yelled. 

Rell fell backwards, blood soaking his face from the splatter of his father's wound. The creature jerked it's blade like arm, severing his father in half. His mother ran forward, trying desperately to pull the boy out of the way. The creature reacted to her, killing her in a single blow as well. 

Now it was just the two children. His sister huddled by him, terrified as the creature knelt down before them. It almost looked as if it had a smile on it's shadowy face. It raised it's arm, ready to strike them both down.  Rell covered his sister, prepared for the death that befell his parents. 

Fiery swords flew at the creature, skewering it. The creature let out its high pitch cry, before falling to the ground, several glowing blades protruding out of it. 

"Are you okay?" A girl's voice asked. 

Rell turned to face her. She was a little girl no older than Rell. She had beautiful, long, blonde hair along with two emerald green eyes. She wore a pink dress befitting a girl of her age, with a backpack on her back. Her right hand was outstretched, with two of the fiery blades floating a short distance away from her. 

"Huh?" Rell managed to mutter. 

"I'm sorry I couldn't have come sooner." She shook her head. "We have to go. There's a shelter nearby." She reached out her hand to the two of them, the hand that wasn't controlling the flame blades. 

Rell hesitated, before reaching for it, not knowing that his life had been set on a new course; one that would define him forever. 

Now ten years later, Rell found himself a member of Squad Seven, led by the very girl that had saved him. He wore his uniform proudly, and carried a long sword at his hip. 

"You ready?" Alicia asked. She was wearing the same uniform as him. 

"Yeah." he nodded. "Let's go."