Chapter One – Setting the Stage

The path was completely silent save for the girl's foot falls. Her hair, dark as night, was pulled tightly into a single braid that fell over her right shoulder. The tip of it brushed against her knees as she walked, her shoulder pack bouncing against her back as she moved along the way. Her bangs swept back and forth across her face as she moved, though it did little to obstruct her vision.

It was…too quiet.

Her lips pursed together at this fact.

No birds chirping…no animals making any noises in the brush…The thoughts drifted off in her mind as she moved. It wasn't a good sign, and she knew that something was coming. It was going to take her by surprise, and she was well aware of that fact. She had no idea where they were or when they were going to attack, or if they would even attack her.

It wasn't as if she had much for bandits to steal from her. She had no money on her, her last bits of coin used to ferry her into Reim. She did have two small silver hoops hooked around her upper left ear, but besides that and the short sword at her side she had nothing of real value on her. In all honesty, the sword was her most valued possession. Along the metal face of the sword sat a sigil of a star, that which was only bestowed upon a metal vessel.

"Guess I could always call on you," Selene muttered, glancing down at the sword. Alduin resided inside the sigil, sharing his power with her whenever she called upon him for assistance.

Alduin, otherwise known as the lightning dragon, the Djinn of Justice and Wrath, hadn't had much work as of late.

"Come on Selene…" a voice drawled from behind.

Selene jumped about a foot in the air and whipped around. Behind her floated a man who appeared to be a few years behind her in age, his long black hair tied back along his back. In his hand he held a small golden rod with a red gem at the end.

"Judar," Selene sighed heavily in acknowledgement to the Magi in front of her before turning her back to him. "Nope."

"Come on…" He pouted slightly as he landed on the ground and ran out in front of her. "You know it'd be worth it to join up with the Kou Empire."

Selene paused, frowning. "There is nothing for me in the Kou Empire."

Judar smiled. "Come on my beautiful dragon." He paused, his hand reaching out to graze her cheek.

Selene moved lightning fast to grab his hand, crushing the appendage in her grip. "Don't touch me." Her eyes narrowed into thin slices as she glared at him. "I serve the people of this planet. I am not loyal to one or another, nor will I be."

Her hand released his. "Now get out of here. I have no patience for your jabbering today."

"Jabbering? Who's jabbering?"

Selene didn't respond, but pushed him to the side and kept walking. "I have no intentions of serving the Kou Empire, so take that back to your precious prince and leave me be."

Selene frowned at the thought of that man. Deep red hair, hard eyes, a lust for not only knowledge, but also power. She had taken Alduin from them, and now, now they expected her to join them.

"Assholes," she muttered under her breath. Selene understood the desires of the Kou Empire, but she could not align herself with anyone who attacked someone when they didn't get their way.

Her eyes glanced up towards the path before her. Above her rose a path of light bird-like creatures, the ruhk. She could see the outlines of the dark ruhk surrounding Judar. She had always been able to see the ruhk, and they guided her. As a child, she used to chase them through gardens, playing games of tag and hide and seek with them. But now they helped her when she struggled the most with no idea where to go or what to do. They comforted her when she needed it.

"That is no way to speak of your rulers," Judar tsked. "They care for you."

Selene rolled her eyes, feeling Alduin stir at her side. "They hate that Alduin chose me over them."

Judar shrugged. "Maybe. But you could do so much with him!"

Selene spun on her heels, taking the sword out in one swift motion and pressed the tip against his neck. Judar just grinned back at her.

"I am doing great things. Alduin assists me. Alduin chose me for a reason. Now get out of here."

Judar shrugged. "Alright, alright. Just know that they are coming for you."

Selene turned back continuing on her way, her sword returning to its sheath. "I know. They always are."

Her eyes raised up to the ruhk, watching as one floated down to land on her shoulder.

As long as I follow them…I'll be okay.

Hours after Judar left, Selene found herself wandering around the edges of a caravan camping out for the night. She had abandoned her pack up in a tree about a hundred paces away, out of reach of whatever wildlife might find it of interest.

She crouched low to the ground, her eyes narrowing at the pack of men relaxing around the campfire. Just outside the reaches of the flames light was a large cage. It was this cage that had garnered her attention. Or to be more specific, it was the so called cargo that had truly caught her eye. Behind metal bars huddled groups of people, struggling to keep warm in the cold of the fall air.

Her fingers curled into the palm of her hand as she stared at them.

"Slave traders," she hissed under her breathe, glaring back at the men around the fire.

She didn't waste much time as she crawled towards the prisoners.

Selene glanced back at the men one more time to make sure they hadn't moved from their positions around the fire before rising slowly, her index finger coming up to her lips, motioning for the people to be silent.

The nearest person to her was a young woman, not much older than she. Her red hair fell around her shoulder, skin just as pale as her own, and green eyes dulled by lack of sleep and hunger. Upon making eye contact, her posture straightened.

"What are you doing?" the girl whispered.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Selene shot back, her voice just barely above a whisper. "I'm getting you guys out of here."

"You'll just get killed," she hissed back.

Selene grinned up at her. "I'm more difficult to kill than you'd think."

She softly moved towards the padlock at the back of the wagon, pulling her lock picking tools out of her pocket.

"Just get ready to move as soon as I get this done." Her eyes raised up to the girl, a smile breaking out on her face. "Trust me. I'll get you out of here."

"And just what do you think you're doing?"

Selene paused, turning back to see a large man behind her.

Ah, crap.

As his sword came down Selene tumbled to the right, pulling her sword out in one smooth motion.

"I'm assuming you aren't going to let them go if I ask nicely, are you?" she posed the question, glancing back to notice the other two men. "No? Well…Okay then!"

Selene kicked off the ground, easily flipping over the largest man back towards the prisoners. Her sword high above her head, she swung down at the lock, feeling the magoi pulse through her being into the sword in her hand.

The lock shattered into dust, the hinge swinging open.

"Go on! Get out of here," she called to the people, turning her attention to the three men. "I've got these guys."

Suddenly she had two people on either side of her, the red-haired girl on her right and a slightly larger male version on her left.

"Oh no you don't," the girl smiled, her green eyes brightening. "I've got a bone to pick with these guys, and I'm not letting you have all the fun."

Selene let her stance slack. "W-what?" Her mouth dropped open. "But I just went through all of that trouble, and it was going to be so cool! I was going to be this big hero and I said all of that cool stuff, and now you're just ruining it!"

"Well sorry that I want to kick fatty's butt over there! He's been perving out on me for the past two weeks!"

"He's been what?! Oh, he's getting it first!"

"No! He's mine!"

"Why can't I help?"

"You can take the other two!"

"Um, ladies?"

Selene heard the deep voice beside her and snapped her head to look at the male, feeling the girl's head near her shoulder.

He turned and pointed back towards the three men staring at them.

Selene rubbed the back of her head. "Oh, yeah…right." She could practically see the steam rising from their angry, red faces.

"I'm Laila," the girl smiled, falling into a fighting stance. "That's my brother Leon."

"Selene," she responded, pulling her sword arm in to prepare for the attack, a feral smile on her face.

And with that they were off. Selene wasn't sure how it happened, but somewhere along the line Leon had nabbed a bow and some arrows, making it easier for the two girls to attack in closer range.

In a matter of minutes Selene had all three battered and bruised men tied up to the nearest tree.

She wiped her hands together making that oh-so-satisfying sound of skin clapping against skin. "And that takes care of that."

Laila frowned. "I don't understand. Why don't you just kill them? You obviously have the skill to do so."

"No. No killing unless absolutely necessary." Selene frowned. "There is too much bloodshed in the world as it is. If a little knock on the head can get the job done when words cannot then that is the way it should be done."

Leon did not voice any opinion, though his stance relaxed.

"Well, where are we going next?"

Selene raised an eyebrow at Laila's questioned. "I'm not sure where I am going, and I don't have much to share, and I do have some pretty nasty people that want my head, but you are welcome to join me for as long as you want."

Laila smiled back at her. "Can't be worse than where we came from." Her eyes went back to Leon. "You're coming too, right?"

He nodded his head, a soft smile creasing his smooth features. "Anywhere you want."