The stench of death plagued the fiery lands of Bhamian. A volcanic island home to none other than the dark knight, Aeiron himself. The man who wielded dark magic and plunged the continent of Sylon in chaos and fear. Mages of all classes had lost their lives challenging the dark knights and the beast he had in his legion of dark ones. However, a single hero, Sir Castlevan, a holy knight who wielded light magic and a powerful sword stood before Aeiron.

  But this story wasn’t about him. No it wasn’t. It was about the cowering mage who stood at the very back of Sir Castlvan’s army of knights and mages. His shaking hands clutched his staff tightly. His green eyes were filled with fear. His shoulder length white hair blew around with wind, a thin layer of sweat covering his forehead.

  Alarik was here. Alarik was ordered to be here. It was his fault really. Who told him to join the alliance of mages? Who told him to aspire that high? He should have listened to his parents and stayed on the farm and worked. Not to mention that this was his first mission with the alliance.

  He continued to shake as flame trolls began their attack on the mages. Aeiron and Sir Castlevan continued their battle in the distance, moving at light speed. Each blow shook the earth. Alarik tried to shoot down flame trolls with his wind magic, his staff pointed at the gnarly beasts. However, he was overwhelmed, as were the other mages and knights.

  If he was going to die, which it looked like he was, he hoped the deities were kind to him, and led him to an afterlife of peace and prosperity. That was the least he deserved. The battle between righteous and evil continued. If blows weren’t killing the participants of the battles, then it was the lavas of the volcanos. Alarik was finding it extremely difficult to keep up with the rapid speeds of the flame trolls. His eyes were drying out from the heat, and his mind was beginning to go fuzzy from fear. Without warning, his shoulder was bitten by one flame troll, and another flame troll shot a ball of fire straight through his stomach.

  He let out a blood curdling scream, but it was masked by the other screams of knights and mages alike. His vision black out for a moment, and it hit the hot ground with a loud thud. The young man’s eyes filled with tears as he feasted on. He wouldn’t have a body for his parents to bury. Fuck, he was incredibly stupid to think a weakling like him was going to make it as a mage. With one shaky breath, he let out a final scream of agony and the world around him soon went black.

  #####

  Ready! Set! Restart!

  New Name: Kaeden Rivian.

  New Location: Sarinia Continent

  Life: Final One

  #####

  A soft gasp echoed across the desolate walls of a rundown shack in the middle of a beautiful meadow, with trees and illustrious mountains. A young, tall, and lean man sat up on the bed, breathing heavily as he looked around his surroundings.

  Where was he?

  The young, white-haired man stood up, running a finger through his neck-length hair, sighing wearily. He stood up and stumbled towards the small makeshift sink with a mirror above it. The soft glow of the midday soon filtered through the tiny window situated above the bed. The young man studied himself in the mirror. He studied his pushed-back hair, his golden eyes, and his fair skin. He had slightly visible dark circles under his eyes. He was plain ole Kaeden Rivian. He knew nothing more than that.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  The young man's attention was snatched away when the ground beneath his feet shook violently, slightly throwing him off balance.

  Kaeden rushed out of the shack, using his arm to shield his face from the debris and dust that was flying around with the strong current created. As the dust settled, a large black creature, with gigantic dark purple feathered and crimson red eyes. There was a white cross symbol on its chest. Its claws were spread wide, moving erratically as it swung its serpent-like tail around. It stood tall and wide, each step it took creating a dent in the hardened earth.

  Dweller.

  Of course, one just had to pop up here.

  The strong current of the wind continued, and Kaeden tried as best as he could to not be blown away. The same could not be said about the shack, however. That poor thing was blown miles away, leaving nothing but the makeshift sink behind.

  Once the dust settled and the area cleared up, the creature turned its attention on Kaeden and swung a large down, creating an even stronger wind current as it descended down. Kaeden, as if on instinct, jumped out of the way, backflipping a couple times. The dweller didn't let up its barrage of attacks. It opened its mouth and a ball of black energy started to form.

  With widened eyes and bated breath, Kaeden lifted both his hands up, once again instinctively, and created a wall of water, which slowly began to freeze.

  The dweller released the attack; a beam that lit up the surrounding area, heading straight for the ice wall that Kaeden had created. The dweller's attack obliterated the ice wall, and everything began to slow down, as Kaeden's body froze. His body was lit up by the attack and it was almost blinding.

  The young man then felt a strong arm wrap around his waist and drag him out of the way. He was gently placed down on the grass.

  "Wh-" He whispered aloud. His eyes focused on the toned, tall, and tanned woman before him. Her back was facing him, her ginger hair in a single long and thick braid. She was in beige cargo pants and black cargo pants. Her hands were covered in black leather gloves that hugged her fingers perfectly.

  "Just stay here." She said, her raspy voice and stern tone leaving no room for arguments. Her sidelong glance was intense, azure eyes holding no emotions. Without another word, the woman twirled around the handle of the axe and then slashed the ground deeply, forming two parallel cracks that reached the dweller.

  "Hell Path." The crack lit up an amber colour before flames erupted from it. The dweller tried to fly away but the heat from the flames began to burn the feathers on his wings. In no time, the creature was set a light.

  The young woman juggled her axe around before throwing it on the ground, blade first. Once it was stuck in there, she made her way towards Kaeden and crouched down.

  After some prolonged eye contact, the woman's shoulders relaxed and she gave him a closed-eye grin.

  "Hee hee. All done." She gleefully said. The sudden behaviour change confused Kaeden, and the young woman could see that. "Sorry dude, I get all serious when I engage those little shits. Maybe they're big shits....uh maybe they are little shits." She began muttering to herself, her combat boots denting the soil the further she crouched down.

  A soft chuckle escaped Kaeden's lips, thoroughly amused by the weirdness of it all.

  The ginger-haired woman stopped rambling and looked at him dead in the eyes again, her grin remaining.

  "You have pretty cool magic. Why don't you join the Dweller Helixum Task Force."

  What now?!