Long ago, Xadia was one land rich in magic and wonder. In the old times, there were only the six Primal Sources of magic.

The Sun.

The Moon.

The Stars.

The Earth.

The Sky.

And the Ocean.

But a thousand years ago, a human mage discovered new magic - the seventh source. Dark Magic.

It used the essence within magical creatures themselves to unleash dark power. Horrified by what they saw, the elves and the dragons put a stop to the madness. They drove every last human to the west. And so, the continent was divided in two.

In the east, the magical lands of Xadia.

And in the west, the human kingdoms.

For centuries, the King of the Dragons himself defended the border. The humans called him Thunder, for when he spoke, his voice shook the Earth and the sky. But on the eve of last Winter's Turn, the humans used unspeakable Dark Magic to slay Thunder. Then, without mercy, they destroyed his only egg, his heir the Dragon Prince.

Now the world stands on the edge of all-out war.

BOOK ONE:

MOON

CHAPTER ONE:
KAI AND NORA

We find ourselves in a much more familiar setting, not one full of magic and wonder, but of dirty clothes and smelly socks. Kai's room; a place no one normally dared enter, well, besides his sister Nora. She wasn't especially normal.

Beep beep! Beep beep! Beep beep!

Kai let out a low groan from beneath his bedsheets and reached out toward the alarm clock next to his bed. He slammed a hand on it, and rolled off his bed, landing in a heap of socks, and maybe some old pizza boxes. He stretched out, hitting his head on his bedside table.

"Crap!" He rubbed his head, and then got up grumpily, trying to scratch that annoying part of your back you can never reach.

He didn't bother opening his blinds or changing clothes. He just pulled some sweatpants over his boxers and put on a hoodie. His hands reached into the hoodie's pockets and felt something sticky. Taking his hand out he discovered an old wad of gum, with some pieces of tissue stuck to it.

"Erghh." His face wrinkled up in disgust as he wiped his hand off on a bundled-up towel lying on the floor. Now that the icky old gum was disposed of, he could get to work. Work being: Trying to improve his level in League of Legends.

He took a seat at his desk where his gaming computer waited patiently. He pressed a button and the monitor sprang to life, bathing his face in holy light. He squinted, waiting for his eyes to adjust, and then pulled up the game launcher. But wait…The most important thing was missing. Kai reached over to grab his phone and a pair of earphones. He thought some K/DA would be appropriate. Oh, if only his sister knew how much he secretly loved K-pop, she would rag on him non-stop.

"Kai!" A voice called from outside his door.

Speak of the pink-haired devil.

Suddenly, Kai's door swung open at a speed Kai could only compare to that of an AF Jet engine – okay obviously not THAT fast.

"Hey, hey, hey. Kai." Nora said, bobbing up and down. She was dressed in denim short-shorts, a purple hoodie, and her signature pink hair was covered by a beanie. A bunny-eared beanie. Her hazel-nut brown eyes were glowing with energy – as usual.

Kai sighed. "What do you want?"

"Well good morning to you too." She said while tip-toeing across his room, trying to avoid touching any of his dirty underwear or socks.

Kai had already launched the game and was busy setting up a match now. He was just waiting for his friends Dwayne and Brian to come online. Then the real fun would begin. Fun being: Kai totally wiping the floor with Dwayne and then Brian coming and kicking his ass as revenge.

While he was waiting, Kai became aware of Nora peeking over his shoulder. He turned around and glared at her. All she did was grin back. She was always like this. Even after everything that had happened in the last year…She was still so happy. Still so…ANNOYING.

"So, uh…Kai, you remember what you promised me like…two months and three days ago?" Nora asked suddenly.

Kai didn't turn to her. "What?"

Nora pouted. She always did.

"You said you'd watch The Dragon Prince with me…Remember?"

"When did I say that?" He asked, trying to sound genuinely confused. He remembered of course, but he didn't want her to know that.

"You said so…When we were making sandwiches for that homeless guy that lives down the street, ya know, the one that smells like syrup and likes to sing "Hit Me Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears?"

Kai rolled his eyes. "I know the one, Nora."

Nora huffed. She did that as well.

"Anyway…You said you'd watch it with me. And today seemed like a good day, ya know, cause it's summer vacation and all." She said and laced her fingers.

Kai sighed. "Nora…You know I'm not into that kind of stuff."

"But it's cool! And you like magic and swords and stuff, right?" Nora said, waving her arms up and down.

"Well yeah…But, cartoons are for kids."

Kai didn't even need to turn around to know that Nora's stare had gone stone cold.

Uh oh. Here we go.

"IT'S NOT A CARTOON. IT'S ANIME, AND ANIME IS NOT JUST FOR KIDS, IT'S FOR ADULTS TOO." She blasted into his ear - the one that wasn't listening to Akali's fire rap.

"Oh yeah, sure. And that other stuff you watch late at night on your laptop is anime, too right?"

Her cheeks flushed red. "It's called hentai and it's ART. And how do you know about that anyway!?"

Kai couldn't help but smile. "You don't clear your history. And your Password is the simplest thing to figure out. It's just your name backwards."

Nora's hands balled into fists and she began (softly) punching the back of Kai's chair.

"You are such a dick!" She shouted, as she sent a furious barrage of (soft) punches into the back of his head.

"That I am." Kai said and smiled. Dwayne and Brian were finally online. And Dwayne was already messaging him: "NOOB" …Ah, good old Dwayne.

"Okay, thanks for checking in Nora, but you've got to get lost now." Kai said and plugged his other earphone in. The sweet, sexy voice of Ahri was filling both his ears now.

Nora frowned. "But…"

Kai waved her off. Which – in hind sight – probably wasn't the best thing to do. Nora reached forward and furiously yanked Kai's earphones out.

"Ow! Hey, what's the big idea?" Kai shouted, turning and standing up. Even though he was two years older than her, she wasn't much smaller than him – a fact that had haunted him for many years.

"You're such a jerk! You promised to watch it with me. YOU PROMISED!" Nora retorted.

"For the love of God, Nora! Can't it wait?"

"I've BEEN waiting." She screamed. Louder now, and in his face. "Two whole months I've been asking you…Almost all of summer vacation. But you've been too "busy" to just watch one show with your little sister!" Tears were starting to trickle down her cheeks.

All of a sudden, Kai felt bad. Really bad. Had she really been waiting for him that long? Just for one show?

"Nora…" He started.

"Ever since what happened with mom and dad..." She stopped herself. She was full-on crying now. "Forget it." Nora turned and started to walk away.

"Nora!"

"No, I wish I could just disappear! Then you wouldn't have to worry about me! I wish I could just disappear into a world that would actually care about me! A world that needs me!" Nora was stuttering through tears.

Kai reached out, but all he was able to grab a hold of was the top of her beanie. Nora pulled back, and the beanie came off, freeing her shoulder-length pink hair. Her eyes and nose were red from the tears and mucus.

Suddenly…Something happened.

The air…Was gone. At least for Nora it was. And she couldn't breathe. She fell down, helpless and unable to speak. Kai standing over her, shouting and screaming things at her. She couldn't understand anything he was saying…

"NORA! NORA!" Kai shouted, leaning down on the floor. Holding his sister's head in his hands.

Nora had asthma, so they kept a pump handy just in case of emergencies. It's also why she'd always been a homebody; she couldn't participate in school activities like sports, because she'd just get too worn out and have an attack. So, she hadn't made many friends…Kai knew this and yet…

"D-Don't worry…I-I-I'll go get your pump…It's okay." Kai felt the words choke in his mouth. She wasn't breathing. Her eyes were glazing over with a white, dead sheen.

Just as Kai stood up…He felt something too. It was as if the air was knocked from inside him. He'd only experienced something similar to this when he'd been knocked over by a huge tree branch, when him and Nora were building a treehouse with their dad.

The next thing Kai knew he was falling against his chair and his desk, his hands grasping for purchase, but slumping down like noodles. His head hit the floor of his room, and the last thing he remembered before blacking out, was the smell of stale pizza and smelly socks.