Well, here we are! Hi! My friends call me Han, and this is my story to ever go up on fanfiction! I'm really excited!

I've been needing practice writing in the first person, so I decided that this little story that's been bouncing around in my head for the past few years would be a great exercise! So honestly, any help regarding the way the story is written is welcome. It should follow the main story of the game pretty well until some later chapters where I will be taking some artistic liberties and switching things up to make them a bit more interesting.

Here we go!


With a horrible squelching sound, my blade tore through the throat of the final beast. It staggered a step before falling helplessly to the ground. Thick blood bubbled from the hole torn in its neck, soaking into the ground as the creature struggled to draw in a breath. A harsh shudder ran through its frame before falling eerily still. Dead.

"That was rather disappointing," I mused.

'And, pray tell, just what about it was disappointing?'

"It's just that these ones," I said, sweeping my arm in a broad gesture at the bodies that littered the ground around my feet, "made it all the way to the base of the tree. I guess I expected more from them."

The quiet echoed around my head when the voice didn't respond. I took the moment to wipe the blood from my sword. The jewel at its pommel glittered harshly as it caught the light of a stray moonbeam as I replaced it in its sheath at my shoulder.

Another look around me assured me that all of the monsters were, in fact, dead, and that I had little else to worry about for the time being. The tree was safe.

Rolling my shoulders, I started down the path that led to the rest of the village. Most of the fighting happened on the outskirts of the town, and though it was weak, the barrier did a decent job holding back the monsters that had gotten past the first line of defense. Those that did get through were subject to the fraction of townspeople who were brave enough to fight.

That said, there were always a few that managed to break past and head toward the tree. Monsters seemed to have a strange sense for blastia, and always honed in on the tree as a target in their rampage. The barrier had to be protected at all costs, and that's usually where I come in.

My father used to fill the role of the last defense, and I had taken up the mantle since I returned to Halure a few years ago. The tree had never been harmed during his time, a record I intended to keep intact for his memory.

The rest of the town was alive despite the late hour, lit faintly by the barrier's flickering light. People had placed lanterns every few yards, giving light to the main path. Happy shouts sounded from the plaza, and a small smile worked its way onto my face.

"Ah, there you are, my dear!" An older man fought his way through the mass of celebrating people to stand by my side. A small boy that I had never seen before followed in his shadow. "It seems that we have won the day! The monsters retreated some time ago. I trust that all is well on your end?"

'No, she left her post to the mercy of the monsters to spite you.'

I nodded shortly. "Yes. The tree is safe."

"Wonderful! Just wonderful! I knew we could count on you."

I eyed the fidgeting boy behind the mayor. He shrunk under my gaze and I raised an eyebrow as the mayor turned to address him.

"Karol, would you mind running back to the edge of the barrier and calling everybody else in? I would like to make an announcement." With a salute, the boy disappeared.

"So who's the kid?"

The mayor sighed, and motioned me to follow him toward the center of town. "His name is Carol, says he's from a guild. The Hunting Blades, as luck would have it. He did a wonderful job assisting those outside the barrier."

'The Hunting Blades? But he's a child.' The voice sounded as confused as I felt.

"We hired the Hunting Blades this year? That's a bit much, isn't it?"

"No, no, dear girl, paying for their protection would cost us a fortune! He just happened to be passing through. When the alarm sounded, he jumped in to help."

'How fortuitous.'

"In fact," he continued, coming to a stop, "he wasn't the only one passing through whose assistance was welcome."

My eyes narrowed as I scanned the growing crowd in front of us for anyone else I didn't recognize. A flash of silver on the outskirts of the celebration, out of place in a town full of craftsmen, caught my attention after a few moments.

"The Imperial Knights."

The mayor nodded and waved them over. Two men and a woman stood before us, standing tall in their armor.

"Hello, Mr. Mayor!" the brunette soldier smiled in greeting. The red-haired woman by his side did the same, and the blonde in the back smiled softly. "That's some party going on!"

With a hearty laugh, the mayor clapped the knight on the shoulder. "There is much to celebrate, my boy! The day has been won!"

Karol chose this moment to return. The mayor left to address the townspeople, leaving the five of us to watch over the crowd from afar.

"The Imperial Knights," I mused after some time. I found the whole situation curious. When I noticed that I had their attention, I crossed my arms. "Tell me then, why are you here? It's not like the Commandant sent you to protect us. Nobody knew that the barrier would weaken this early. That, and we're usually guild territory. Sending you would cause tension between the guilds and the Empire, wouldn't it?"

"We're on a pilgrimage," explained the blonde soldier when his comrades looked to be at a loss for words. He continued in a soft voice. "We happened to be passing through when the barrier began to weaken, and we wanted to lend a hand in any way we could."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "How noble."

"You are the one charged with the defense of the tree, are you not?" chimed the woman.

I nodded once.

"You don't look like much."

'That was rude.' And that was an understatement.

Blinking slowly, I shrugged carelessly. "So long as the tree is safe, I don't have to look like much, now do I?"

After a beat of shocked silence, laughter bubbled past the lips of the brunette in the group. "Man, she showed you, huh Sodia?" He patted the girl on the back as she sputtered indignantly.

Wiping his eyes, he smiled at me, then offered his hand. "I'm Liam. Liam Horth, and the others are Flynn and Sodia. Nice to meet you!"

Warily, I took his hand and shook it. He held on a moment longer than I would have liked, and I had to pull back before he let go. "Isadora."

"Miss Isadora," the one called Flynn cut in, "do you think you could show us to the tree? It doesn't seem as though there is much left to do here tonight."

A cheer went up from the assembled crowd. The mayor stood before them, waving as they dispersed, most of them heading home for the night.

'There is no harm in it, child,' prompted the voice when I had been silent a heartbeat too long.

"I'd like to see it too, if you don't mind," squeaked a small voice.

We all turned to see the boy, Karol, scratching awkwardly at the back of his head. He had been quiet for the majority of the exchange and I had forgotten that he was standing behind the knights.

"Sure," I allowed with a sigh. "I'll show you the way."

The knights immediately struck up a conversation with Karol as I led us back up the hill to the base of the tree. They probably felt bad for forgetting he was standing there too.

'A curious child, isn't he?'

"I suppose so," I answered quietly. "I don't understand how he is a member of such a notorious guild at his age. He doesn't have the personality I thought one of them would have. He's almost... timid."

'Well, he doesn't have to look like much, does he?' the voice echoed my earlier words back to me.

I scoffed. "I never said he didn't look the part. That sword he carries around takes care of that. I was really talking about his demeanor."

Behind me, I heard the high pitch of the boy grow higher with nerves as the knights continued to bombard him with questions.

'I can see what you mean.'

Arriving at the top of the hill, I sidestepped the mess of fallen bodies as I made my way to the tree's massive roots.

"She'll be around here somewhere, let me know if you spot her?"

'Of course.'

"Holy… What happened here?" Liam asked.

"Did you do all of this?"

Turning, I saw Flynn kneeling by the body of some monster, looking up at me expectantly. Liam and Sodia were wandering around the clearing, eyes wide as they surveyed the damage. Karol hung back by the path, nervously clutching at his sword.

I nodded and took a seat on one of the roots, stroking absently at the wood. "This is where I'm stationed on nights like tonight. Not a lot of them actually get all the way here, but it's better to be safe than sorry when it comes to protecting the barrier."

"Not a lot?" Liam sounded incredulous. "Is, there have to be more than a dozen bodies here."

"Seventeen, I think," I corrected with a shrug, ignoring the nickname. Karol came and stood by the base of the tree, looking up to scan the barrier symbol above the top of its highest branches. "Tonight was pretty tame."

Sodia nodded, a smirk playing at her lips. "I'll admit, I'm impressed that you managed this all by yourself."

"Not by myself, "I admitted, sitting up a bit straighter. "I actually- "

I was cut off by a low growl coming from behind me. The knights all moved to ready their weapons. Karol choked and paced back a few steps.

'Found her.'

I turned, at ease, to face glowing yellow eyes as they blinked in the darkness. A lithe shadow jumped gracefully down from where it had been hiding in the roots until it landed, crouched, on the ground in front of me.

Glossy black fur reflected the starlight, making the single, orange stripe across the top of its muzzle visible. A spiked tail was ringed in the same orange, and the scales lining its backbone bristled to mirror the creature's agitated state.

Liam, who was closest to the creature, drew his sword and held it ready. "Is, I think you missed one."

I just crossed my arms behind my head and leaned back against the trunk of the tree. "I don't miss."

"Is that a Bengal Beast?" I heard Karol breathe. "They're really rare and super tough! I thought the Hunting Blades had wiped them from existence a few years ago, but I guess they missed one."

I nodded at his words. The kid knew what he was talking about.

"Okay, well let's take out this one too," Sodia prompted. The beast snarled in response, sinking low to the ground.

"Be careful, Liam," warned Flynn. His own sword was drawn and was pointing at the creature. "We don't know much about this monster, and it looks intelligent."

"Of course she's intelligent," I scoffed. "She's intelligent enough to know that you're planning on hurting her, and she doesn't like you for it." Crossing my arms, I glared at the people before me. "I don't like you much for that either."

I sighed at their bewildered looks.

'Just tell them before they actually harm her,' the voice suggested. 'I grow tired of this farce.'

"Delta," I called. The creature's ears twitched at the sound of my voice. "That's enough. Come here."

The creature huffed and shook its head. Continuing to glare at the weapons pointed at her, she hopped onto the root I was sitting on and laid down on my legs. She roared once more at the knights, and Karol whimpered.

"Wait, what?"

I chose to ignore Liam as I stroked the soft fur behind Delta's ears. Her muscles slowly relaxed at my touch. Eventually, her eyes closed and she pushed her head into my hand, her chest rumbling as she purred.

"Would you look at that." Flynn laughed softly as he returned his sword to its sheath.

Liam just flipped his sword onto the ground and took a seat. "I feel dumb."

"You look pretty dumb too," I said. Delta sneezed, agreeing with me.

Karol still looked wary, but he took a step toward us. Delta blinked down at him and tilted her head in curiosity. She huffed at him, making his hair flutter around his face. Shakily, he reached a hand out, holding it still a few inches from her nose. Her eyes closed, and she pressed her head into his hand. Karol laughed as he pet her carefully.

"She's yours then?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Not mine so much as I take care of her and she takes care of me. She's my partner."

"Hey, Isa!" a voice called from the path. "We're going to start burning carcasses now, so we'll take these ones away if you don't mind."

"Right," I answered, shooing Delta off my legs. "Let's get going then."

"There's no need, there are enough of us to handle these. You've done enough for us today!" A crowd of people joined us at the base of the tree and got to work moving the bodies to the plaza to be burned. I allowed a soft smile as I nodded my thanks.

"Come on Delta, let's get out of their way."

The three knights decided to stay and help the townspeople, and I parted their company with a wave. Karol followed me down the hill.

"They seemed nice," he said after a moment of silence

I scoffed. "I suppose. They did help defend the town today. I heard that you did too?"

The kid straightened his spine with pride. "I sure did! We kicked their butts!"

"I'm sure you did. Thank you for that." I turned to head down a lesser used path to the right, Delta running on ahead to our house. "So tell me, Karol, what brought you to Halure? The mayor said you were just passing through."

"I've heard stories about Halure's barrier before, but I never thought I'd get the chance to see it for myself. It's pretty cool, really, and the tree is ginormous! Who would've thought that a tree could grow to be that big?"

I smiled softly at his excitement. "How old are you, Karol?" Our tree was legendary, but the ones who showed this kind of enthusiasm were usually quite young.

He stood up a bit straighter and puffed out his chest as he answered. "I'm twelve!"

I nodded to myself. That made sense. "Yeah, it's amazing, isn't it? Just wait until it blooms."

I saw his face light up as he glanced back at me. "I can't wait to show-" He stopped suddenly, staring at a spot above my head.

"Is," he began slowly, his words coming out faster and faster as his anxiety grew. "Is that supposed to happen? I don't think that's supposed to happen. Why is that happening?" He was pointing towards the top of the tree

Curious, I turned and found the cause of Karol's panic. The barrier's seal was glowing brightly, more so than what should've been possible. I took quick breath before taking a few paces back up the path.

'Well this looks interesting,' I heard my mind murmur. I huffed in response, and continued watching the abnormality. The light grew more and more blinding until it suddenly winked out.

As I blinked the spots from my vision, I heard Karol whimpering beside me.

"The barrier, it's..."

"Gone." This shouldn't have happened. "How could it just disappear?"

'I didn't know that that was possible.'

"I didn't think that was possible." Karol had echoed the voice almost perfectly.

I was quiet for a moment before I narrowed my eyes and answered both in a whisper. "It shouldn't be."

The boy's hands were shaking in the pale light, and his face was horror stricken. "What do we do?" His voice was quivering as well.

A harsh gust of wind shook the tree, drowning out the panicked sounds of the town drifting up the path. Then, as quickly as it had disappeared, the seal burst back into life. The town was bathed in its soothing light once more, though it was considerably dimmer this time.

"I don't understand," whimpered Karol. "What just happened?"

I pinched at the bridge of my nose and sighed. "This happens every year. Right before the tree blooms, the barrier weakens. Though I've never seen it go completely out like that…"

'Something is not right.'

"I know," I answered quietly. "But what?"

"Is?" I turned to face him. "I'm going to find the mayor and see if there's anything else I can do."

I nodded, then turned back toward my house, finally feeling exhaustion set into my bones. "I'm going home. Come find me if anything else happens, alright?"


Delta woke me early the next morning with a low whine. The sun was just beginning to peak through my window, and I rolled over in bed to open it further. Leaning on the sill, I took a deep breath of the clear air. Delta jumped onto the bed and nuzzled at my chest.

I stroked her ears absently, my mind on the blastia. I studied what I could see of the tree. It looked relatively normal for this time of year. Blossoms were slowly starting to bloom on the very ends of the outermost branches, lightly dusting the tree with pink.

'Isadora, do you see that?'

I rubbed at my eyes with a yawn. "Honestly, I'm not awake enough to see much. What are you talking about?"

'The barrier, child. It's not there.'

"It's probably just out again. It should come back soon enough." I rolled out of bed and stretched my arms above my head. Delta huffed before jumping out the window. I ran a hand through my hair, then quickly braided it back and tied it off with one of the ribbons at my wrist.

Pulling on a clean shirt, I sighed. "I'll go check it out if it'll make you happy."

When the voice didn't respond, I laced up my boots and grabbed an apple from the basket on the table. I grabbed my sword from its place by the door, opting to just carry it today. Stepping out, I put up a hand to block the sunlight from my eyes.

Halure was a beautiful town, if not a bit too quiet. The people were easygoing and kind. They genuinely cared for each other, and worked hard to keep things peaceful. I waved good morning to an elderly couple out for a morning stroll as I returned to the base of the tree. It was easy to tell why my father chose to settle here when looking for a place to raise me.

The carcasses had long since been removed from the little clearing, the only evidence that they had ever been there being the discolored patches of ground where their blood had soaked into the ground.

"Alright, any ideas for what I should be looking for?" My voice was laced with sarcasm as I questioned the voice in my head.

'Do not sass me,' it huffed. 'I am simply concerned for the wellbeing of the tree as well as for the future of the town should something have happened to the barrier.'

"Fair enough," I smiled. Delta came by, twining herself between my legs. "Alright girl, let's get to work."

After almost an hour of searching for something out of place, we came up empty handed. I took a seat with my back against the trunk of the great tree.

"No scratches on the bark, noting wrong with the roots, the blossoms that are coming in look healthy, and I have no idea what else to look for, man." I pressed the palms of my hands into my eyes. "Yet the barrier is still out. This isn't good."

Delta whined and laid her head in my lap.

'Something is not right,' the voice insisted.

"Hey, I believe you!" I said. "There just isn't anything here to suggest that something is wrong."

There was a groaning, then a loud SNAP and a branch came crashing down from the lower levels of the tree, landing just a few feet in front of where I was sitting. Delta was on her feet in a heartbeat, low to the ground and ears up, ready to act at a moment's notice.

My eyes grew wide. "Alright, that isn't normal."

I slowly crawled over to the fallen branch, lightly patting Delta on my way over. The branch wasn't particularly large, only a few feet long and about the thickness of my arm. I ran my hand along its bark, growing increasingly concerned when pieces came off easily in my hand. Examining the end that had snapped from the rest of the tree, I felt my heart drop into my stomach.

'It's dead?'

I looked up at the rest of the tree, scanning it for any signs of other dead branches. My mind raced as I tried to pinpoint a cause.

"That's not right, between the Aspio mages and the herbalists here they take ridiculously good care of the tree. All of the dead branches were pruned just last week. Nothing should be this dead already." What was going on?

Delta was pawing at the ground near the base of the tree. When she saw that I was looking in her direction, she tossed her head and laid down, her tail flicking impatiently. I moved to kneel by her side, brushing my hand over the discolored ground that had been called to my attention.

"Is! I saw the branch fall, are you okay?" Karol came running up the path, slightly out of breath.

I waved a hand dismissively. "I'm fine, but the tree isn't."

"Yeah, I noticed that the barrier was still down." His voice was serious and his eyes dark, reflecting the severity of the situation. "Do you know what's going on?"

I shook my head. "I don't understand, the only thing that's remotely out of place is just blood left from the fight last night."

Karol grew quiet, staring at the dark spot on the ground. "Well some monster's blood have high levels of toxins that are harmful to living things around it. It's like a last resort self-defense mechanism. Sort of dissuades the attacker from coming after it again."

'If that is true about the monsters from last night, the tree might have been poisoned from the blood.'

"Karol," I asked, "do you think that the blood could be killing the tree? I can't think of anything else that could be causing it."

"I think it's a definite possibility," he answered confidently. "Let's go tell the mayor, maybe he'll know what to do."

I rose to my feet, peering into the high branches of the tree as I did so. If the tree was dying, there was no guessing what that could mean for the people of Halure. When the blastia fused with the tree, the fate of the town became irreversibly intertwined with the fate of the tree. Without the tree, the barrier might never be resurrected, and the people wouldn't be able to afford to replace such a precious resource. The City of Blossoms would die.

My hands balled to fists and I called Delta to my side before turning to face Karol.

"Lead the way, kid."


Woohoo, end chapter one! Guys, meet Isadora! Her nickname around town, Isa, is pronounced ee-sa, kind of like that iguana from Dora!

Also!

I have the first few chapters of this story drafted, but before I really delve into this beast, I want to know if anybody is actually interested in this! So! I hate to do this, but I am going to wait until this chapter has 2 reviews before I post the next one!

Hopefully I'll see you guys in about a week with the next chapter!

-Han