Chapter 1
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Shinichi was thrown back by the fireball's impact, sending him slamming against the
castle wall. The Dark Lord cackled wildly as he watched the black knight collapse. Blood flowed
freely from his wounds, and he felt that he may never live to see sunrise again.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Your puny weapons can never hurt the Dark Lord! Trespassing my domain
was both foolish and reckless! You shall pay for your insolence!" And with that, the Lord removed
his great black glove and revealed an Evil Eye embedded in his palm. The enormous Eye pulsated
an eerie red light, and suddenly black smoke surrounded Shinichi's body, like a snake trying to
squeeze him in its coils. A bone-melting sensation came upon him, and the pain was excruciating.
By the time he realized what was happening, it was already too late.

Everything went black, and he didn't realize he was shrunk and thrown out of the castle.

~*~

Conan was the bravest knight in the kingdom of Northfield, and he has earned many medals
for his amazing courage and leadership. He was quite handsome too, with slick, jet black hair and
a pair of bright blue eyes which sparkle with a fierce intelligence far beyond his apparent
tender years. Usually he had to venture across treacherous terrain, slaying dragons or hunting
down thieves. No evil creature was strange to him, since there were so many at the outskirts of
the kingdom. Today, he was given permission to have a day off. To a young knight who has spent
nearly a third of his life doing nothing but saving his people from disaster, it was good news
indeed.

He enjoyed himself at a local tavern, gulping down ale mug after mug, joking, laughing
and chatting away with the people. "Innkeeper! Two more for me!" he called, tossing a gold coin to
the old man behind the counter. It seemed so perfect. Everything was going smoothly, no crimes
had been commited........

Suddenly the tavern door swung open. A cloaked figure bolted in and took the seat next
to Conan. "Innkeeper, ale for me-- and fast!" The female voice sounded familiar. She was tired and
panting. The visitor removed the hood of her cloak. "Ayumi! What in Kai are you doing here?"

Ayumi was Conan's close friend, a beautiful Amazon princess. She too fought very often.
"I *wheeze* just wanted to ask you if you *pant* wanted to go Wolfstaag-hunting," she said,
taking a deep breath after every sentence. She suddenly winced and examined the wound on her arm.
Conan got quite shocked at the long red line which went across the length of her arm. Probably
a sword wound, he thought. Apparently she had been attacked by thieves on the way to the kingdom.
But he had seen Ayumi bear wounds much worse than this. She's all right for now, thought Conan
as he watched her gulp down her mug of ale.

The sound of a gong made the whole tavern fall silent.

Ayumi seemed startled. "What's that? Lunch?"

"No, dimwit, that's the warning signal. Maybe there's trouble outside.

Conan sighed and got up. Ayumi caught his hand. "And where do you think you're going?"
Ayumi puffed, still a bit weary from the fight. Conan shook her hand off. "To save the people."


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