Prologue


A laugh rang throughout the air. The small girl ran through the shallows of an ocean, feet slapping on the wet sand. Her deep chocolate hair was held back in a braid that bounced against her back as she ran.

"You can do better than that!" she shouted over her shoulder, pumping her legs faster. Her simple brown tunic was soaked with a mixture of salt water and sweat. She glanced over her shoulder and sped up.

"Slow down, Emerald! You know I can't keep up!" yelled back a boy, running half-heartedly after her. His light hair stuck up in odd directions and his eyes were steely gray flecked with gold.

The girl slowed down reluctantly and gazed back at her friend with a playfully reproachful look. He collapsed next to her and lay sprawled on the ground, trying to enjoy every bit of the small breeze that came off of the ocean. Emerald stood with her hands on her hips and allowed the wind to cool her off. The boy cracked open an eye to look up at her and groaned.

"How do you do it?"

The young girl grinned. "Do what, my good friend Tucker?"

"Keep going. And going, and going."

Emerald shrugged. "You know my father. He trains me nearly every day until he thinks I've made improvement. I have to do all sorts of things like running and fighting with wooden poles. It's annoying, really."

"Yes, well, my father trains me too and I'm still not as good at running as you."

"Well, I'm just better at a lot of things."

Tucker glared. "Are not."

"Bet you I am."

Tucker swung his arm around and hit it into the back of Emerald's calf, knocking her over and making her land heavily on her back. The breath whooshed out of her and there was brief pain before she blinked a few times and gathered her bearings about her. She scrambled to sit up.

"That wasn't fair!" she cried. "You cheated!"

"Did not!"

"My back was turned; you're not supposed to attack someone whose back is turned. It's the cardinal rule of fighting, stupid."

Tucker huffed and crossed his arms. "I'm not stupid."

"Well, maybe a little."

Tucker gave her a playful shove and the two burst into giggles. When they stopped they fell into a comfortable silence staring out at the ocean, both busying themselves by burying their feet in the warm sand. Tucker stretched and leaned back on his elbows, giving a small yawn.

"Do you think we'll live in Mexico forever, Em?"

Emerald glanced at him and patted the sand down on top of her feet. "I don't know. I've never been out of the village and I don't know anyone else who has. And the only people who come visit us are Jin and his father, and they come to trade with us."

"Do you think anyone knows we're here?"

"If they do, they've never bothered us before. Why?"

Tucker smiled. "Wouldn't it be fun to get out of here and see what else is in the world? I want to see if things are the same as they are here. Do you think everyone speaks Spanish like we do?"

Emerald laughed. "No, silly! Jin told me he and his father speak a language called Japanese. And have you noticed that Jin has a weird accent? From what he told me, there are lots of other languages, too. Like one called English…"

"English? That's weird."

"Is not," said Emerald defensively, "I think it sounds cool."

Tucker raised his eyebrows. "You're an idiot, Emer-"

There was a loud bang and small whizzing sound and Tucker's shoulder sprayed blood all over the front of Emerald's tunic. Tucker screamed in pain while Emerald stayed rooted to the spot in shock, her breaths coming in short gasps. The bullet had passed right through his upper arm and come out the other side, ripping up his arm but thankfully not hitting bone.

Emerald watched in shock as Tucker continued screaming, clutching his arm and getting frantically to his feet. She scrambled up after him and watched as he sprinted into the forest. She got a glimpse of three men standing off to the side, one of them holding a gun that was still smoking on the end.

How did they find us? she thought in panic, eyes wide as she streaked after her hysteric friend.

She threw herself behind a tree as another bang blasted into her hearing, and the bullet whipped away pieces of bark before lodging itself in a tree farther into the forest. Emerald peeked around the tree at the three men running towards her and then sprinted away, her legs pumping fast. She followed the drops of blood that were spread erratically over the ground and soon came upon Tucker, lying in the middle of a small clearing.

"Get up, Tucker," said Emerald, beautiful green tear gems falling down her cheeks. She shook him and Tucker screamed in pain again, squeezing his eyes closed and clutching his arm. Emerald's eyes widened and she immediately withdrew from him. "Please, get up. They're coming. They'll kill you."

"I can't get up," said Tucker weakly. "I've lost too much blood for my spirit energy to help heal me. I can barely stay awake."

"But you have to get up," said Emerald in distress, more gems falling down her cheeks. "I can't leave you here all alone, Tucker. If I do then there's no way you'll be able to get back."

Emerald froze as the three men stepped out into sight, their eyes gleaming with greed at spotting the tear gems that Emerald had cried out in her misery. She grabbed Tucker's wrist defensively, but looked fearfully at the madness on the faces of the three men before her.

Why do they hate us? asked Emerald. If they wanted our tear gems, then why are they trying to kill us? A light went off in Emerald's head. Papa is always going away to fight. Maybe these men are trying to kill us because we fight them?

"Emerald, go," murmured Tucker, his eyes drooping closed.

One of the men started walking at a fast pace towards Emerald and she stood rooted in fear, not wanting to leave her friend to die even as every instinct told her she should be running away as fast as she could. Even if she did run away, would she just be leading these people to her home and the rest of her family?

When the man was almost upon her, Tucker sat up faster than Emerald had ever seen him move before and dug his small hunting knife into the man's calf. At the same time he shoved Emerald away with his other hand, eyes frantic as he tried to convey to his friend how important it was that she obey him so she could live. At least then she would have a chance instead of them both dying.

"Go, Emerald," he whispered, not taking his eyes off the two other men who were running to help their comrade. His eyes met Emerald's and suddenly he seemed much older than he actually was, his mouth set in a tight line and his face grim.

With a sob, Emerald scrambled to her feet once again and stumbled towards the other side of the clearing, the sound of another gunshot exploding behind her. She continued on, the branches of the forest that had once welcomed her now whipping her face and slowing her progress almost as if it wished to keep her from her home, where she would be safely back in the arms of her mother.

What would she tell Tucker's mother? She'd already lost her husband, and now Emerald would have to tell her that her son was killed as well. Emerald wasn't good with words, but she felt it was her responsibility to tell the mother. She had to convey to her that she hadn't abandoned Tucker; she would have stayed there with them if he hadn't been so insistent on her saving herself.

A faint smell met Emerald's nose and she slowed some, her brow furrowed in confusion. It smelled a lot like when her father burnt a campfire to tell stories around to the other children, except this was a lot stronger and burned her eyes. Her already fast heartbeat picked up in speed as she broke through the last stretch of trees to come into the meadow her village was in.

"Oh, Goddess," murmured Emerald, her heart skipping a beat.

Before her wasn't the beautiful village she'd come to love, but instead burning huts that had once been homes to people she knew; people she loved. Now all that was left were burning piles of wood.

Emerald clutched at her golden locket around her neck, alongside it on the chain the first tear gem she'd ever cried. A child's first tear gem was extremely valuable because the rest they cried were all normal, while the first was the only one like it in the world. Tear gems were also believed to predict a person's lifemate. Emerald's first tear gem was an emerald green to represent her eyes, swirled with a vivid crimson.

More tear gems slipped down Emerald's cheeks as she looked around at the destruction that had been caused to her peaceful village. Bodies were strewn about, killed in the way only her race could be. Her legs jolted into action and she streaked towards her hut, skirting around the other burning huts. The heat radiating off of them made her tunic stick to her with sweat and her skin hot, but she pressed in.

Emerald stared at what had been her home, flames still ablaze on the weakened roof. Her eyes welled with more tears, but none fell. She felt as if she'd cried them all up already.

"Mama?" shouted Emerald, trying to step closer to the hut to see if her mother or father were still in there. They would've run to safety, wouldn't they? They wouldn't have stayed and fought, would they? "Pa-Papa?"

The roof of her hut collapsed and sent ashes and cinders outwards in a rush. Emerald covered her eyes with her forearm and felt her lungs burn as she inhaled what had been light enough to be carried on the air currents. She coughed in the hopes that her lungs would clear, but all she got was smoke on the next inhalation.

Remembering what her father had taught her, Emerald crouched down low to escape the smoke and then looked around for a way she could escape into the forest, the village unknown to her in the blaze. To her right, she spotted a small fireball ignite and her attention was captured. She scrambled towards it and immediately started trying to put it out with dirt from the ground, recognizing it as her father's katana.

"No," she sobbed. "No, no, no."

When she was sure the fire had been put out, she dug the katana up and shook the dirt off, immediately letting go when she realized it was still hot from the flames. Her fingers were burnt from trying to put the flames out, though the wounds healed up when she willed her spirit energy to. Though it was a little worse for wear, she figured that when it cooled down she'd still be able to use it.

After a moment and she was sure it was safe, she tied it around her waist without caring that it dragged on the ground a little bit. Eyes red and puffy, ashes dusting her hair, clothing torn and bloody, and without any real direction, Emerald walked into the forest with a determined expression, looking out of place on her young face. She had no family, no friends.

She was the last.