Chapter 1:

The stench was horrible. All you could smell was the odor of blood and raw flesh torn from their rightful owners. It was sickening. Everyone was screaming, running for their lives. But it was useless. No one could escape. This war was by far the worst war they ever witnessed.

A kid was trying to run, to get to the safety of its mother's arms. But there was no mother. There was no safety. Before the kid could run away, a huge being, hidden by the darkness the night provided, took the screaming child and killed it before it could even utter another word. Silent tears run down the child's cheeks.

It is a victim among many others having the same fate. How could this happen? The land was living in peace only a few days ago. Nothing was wrong, nothing out of order.

But now, everything has changed. This was once a village full of lively humans having a good life. Ordinary people never having witnessed the barbarity of war. Never taught how to fight and thus not capable to save their beloved life's or their own for that matter.

It was over before it even begun.

These monsters just came to the village at night and begun to burn down every single house while killing people with an atrocity never experienced by those living here.

They were no humans, that was for sure. They were too strong, too inhumanly brutal to be human beings. They could rip you apart with their bare arms, not even sweating for this effort. Their faces were hidden by shining masks as were their bodies, protected by shining, indestructible armor. They had wings as black as the night. They couldn't be seen in the shadows of the darkness. If you looked closer, their wings resembled the one's bat's have.

They were taller and bigger than any human alive and their mere presence got you to cower in a far, hidden corner, preaching to any god to save your miserable life just this once, in vain.

He run like he had never run before. He felt so damn guilty leaving all those humans behind not trying to help them. But there was no use. They were not able to even scratch the armor of these monsters. He could tell. He tried.

He run in panic as fast as his legs would let him. He had to get to the meeting point where the other's would wait for him. They wouldn't leave him behind, they never would to that. They weren't allowed to. But they wouldn't do it anyway.

His breath was getting short, several wounds gracing his body stung like hell. But he couldn't stop, not now. They got so far....

A roar a few meters behind him made him run even faster, if that was even possible. He was never that much frightened. Never. The guilt was stabbing him horribly. He couldn't help but think that all this was his own fault.

But fault or not, he was the one who had to take care of this, that was for sure. And he would do anything to save his land.

After all, he was the son of the king of this kingdom and so responsible to find a solution, to chase off these bastards who dared to invade this land.

After what seemed like hours he finally reached the borders of the forest where their group should meet. Luckily, there already waited the whole team being sent to investigate the state of their country.

They all looked stressed, some were injured, some just walking around and in circles, a sign of nervousness.

When he came into their focus they all but run over to him, looking if he was alright.

"Your majesty, are you alright? Did something happen to you? Are you injured?"

"Don't worry, I'm alright. We should leave this village as fast as we can. I saw enough."

The group around the young prince nodded, relieved that they could finally leave this hell behind. Their presence wasn't needed anyway, it was far to late when they arrived.

"You heard the prince! Pack your things and let's leave!"

Never in his life did he feel so helpless....

+++++++Two weeks later+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"That's worse than I thought!"

The king was looking at his son and the guards he sent with him. The situation seemed to get worse by each second.

The young prince got up from his kneeling position and stood straight to face his father.

"In our current state, we aren't able to defeat them. They are far to strong for us. On our journey, we couldn't even kill a single one of them, not even one."

The prince was angry. Never was their country so helpless. He shook his head, his wild, red mane following each movement. His piercing green eyes were turned into slits, showing off his current rage about the situation. He was a tall, proud person, loved by their people and famous for his strength and kindness, beauty and justice.

"I understand your rage, Axel! But right now, we can do absolutely nothing. As you said, they are far stronger than we are."

A young woman barged into the discussion. She had short blond hair and her face showed the same hate Axel's shows.

"We can't just stand here and do nothing. That's just not my thing. We could form a giant army that would be able to crush these monsters under their feet. We have many talented humans among us which would gladly partake into this war for their country and their families."

The king just shook his head.

"Don't you think I thought about this too? But all our soldiers aren't strong enough. You saw what they are capable of. With two of them, they killed an entire village with hundred inhabitants. With two, Larxene, with TWO!!!"

Axel seemed furious.

"So WHAT? We don't do ANYTHING?"

"That's not what I-"

"Your majesty, if I may interfere!"

A young man with bluish hair came out of the shadows, his hair partially hiding his face, a book in hand.

"Zexion, you may speak!"

"I only see one single solution for our problem."

Axel raced up to him, looking desperately at his old friend.

"So what?"

.........

"We need the help of the Kingdom of Twilight!"

Silence.

"Hahahaha... you got to be kidding! Zexion, why should we ask these beings for help?"

"I'm serious."

Now, it was not only Axel who got furious. Even the king seemed surprised.

"Zexion. We lost contact to this kingdom many centuries ago, long after the Great War. This dispute has never been settled down. They would kill us the moment we crossed their borders-"

Axel cut into his father's speech.

"Not only that. They are monsters themselves. They aren't even human. They are half-animals. We don't even know if they aren't involved into this war so far. We are not going so low as to ask our sworn enemies for help."

Zexion remained calm.

"We have no other choice. Without their strength and their magic, we will be wiped from this world's surface, and you know that."

With this said, he turned to the king himself.

"Your majesty, it's the only way to save our land. It might even be a possibility to straighten out the relations between the Kingdom of Twilight and our kingdom."

Everyone in the room looked anxiously at the king, awaiting his final decision.

"Very well. I will send an ambassador to the capital of the Kingdom of Twilight. It's his task to return with as much help as he can. This is a very important task because you also have to overcome the hate between our people. I already decided who will go."

With these words he turned to his son.

"Axel. Go and save our country. Take only these persons with you you trust the most. Be careful and make me proud. This is our last hope."

++++++++++++++++end prologue+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++