Prologue
Thousands of years ago, there existed a large planet that was full of life and beauty. This planet was called Elysium. Elysium was divided into four kingdoms. Among these kingdoms lived the four great Kings who ruled in peace and equality. The King of the Northern side was Santos with his wife, Aysel. They had one heir, his name was Ephraim. Through the Peace Treaty that was signed almost two thousand years ago, there was not a kingdom higher or greater than the other; however, it was arguable that if one did exist as the higher it would be the Northern kingdom known as Divum Regnum. The Southern Kingdom known as Glacialis Regnum was residence to King Desmond and Queen Desiree. Together, they had two children, the heir, Landon and his younger sister Ora. Glacialis Regnum was well known for its tranquil beauty, especially during the winter. The Eastern kingdom, Coniecto Regnum, was the smallest of the four kingdoms. King Lamar, and his wife Natalie, along with their children Page and Phillip, were well known throughout the land for their hot tempers and rather rash decision skills. Finally, the Western Kingdom, known as Ventus Regnum was where King Cedric and Queen Naomi lived. They had only a son, Prince Rupert. The land of Ventus Regnum was known for its great orchids and the fine wine produced there.
Elysium was considered to be the most powerful planet in the universe, which in turn gave the Elisions many jealous enemies. The people of Elysium were a powerful race of apparitions who loved the taste of battle, so they were always prepared for anything and everything. Never before was there a time when Elysium came remotely close to falling in the hands of its enemies. However, little did the great people of Elysium know, their impending downfall was closer than anyone could have thought.
Setting: The main Palace of Divum Regnum
Time: A little after 1:00am
In the middle of a great thunderstorm loud, earsplitting screams could be heard throughout the palace coming from young Ephraim's room. His father's hurried steps could be heard throughout the hall racing to the source of the noise. He entered Ephraim's room.
"Ephraim? Ephraim! Wake up boy!" The booming voice of his father seemed to wake him just enough to pull him into reality. "What in God's name were you screaming about?" his father questioned him furiously.
His son, still in shock from his terrible dream replied in a husky voice, "Death, so much death and destruction. Father, I'm scared." The little boy began to whimper as tears fell from his eyes. His father looked on at him with a strange expression on his face, a mixture of anger and relief as they battled to dominate his emotions. His brown eyes appeared to be deep in thought. After some time his expression softened a little and he held out his arms to comfort his young six year old.
"Now, now Ephraim" he spoke in a quiet tone, "Try to calm down, boy. It was only a dream, only a dream." His soothing words seemed to have no effect on the little boy, whose brown eyes held so much fear and sorrow.
As he tried to calm the little boy the slender figure of his wife, Aysel, appeared in the doorway. Her outline became more prominent as lightning flashed near the window to the side of the large bedroom. His wife was a stunning woman to behold. Her long, black, hair reached just past her bosom, and her many layers and bangs helped to frame her angular face. In contrast to her hair, her skin was pale with a milky texture; her worried eyes were the deepest of deep blues. She was slender, but well toned as was expected of the women of a warrior race. Her eye's fell on her son, who seemed to be calming down, and then she looked at her husband expectantly.
"Nightmare" was all he said to her as he continued to comfort his son. She studied Santos for a moment. His short, brown hair had fallen to his eyes; his tan skin seemed to turn a slight red color as he seemed to be very worried about Ephraim. Physically, he was quite attractive with his well defined muscles and handsome, round face. He was the same height as she was, at 6 foot 2 inches. She liked that because she felt it equalized them as neither could tower over the other.
She sat down on the edge of his bed and wrapped her long, slender arms around the frightened child. "What was your dream about?" she questioned him.
Ephraim gazed up at his mother, whose comforting smile seemed to be willing him to confide his dream to her. "I dreamed that Elysium was attacked and everyone was killed, you and father too. At the same time our home was being destroyed. All the buildings were smashed and crumbled."
At this Aysel gave her husband a worried glance and asked, "Who was responsible for the attack? Could you tell who it was?" This statement seemed to confuse the little boy as he grew slightly more worried. Seeing this his mother understood his fear and tried to explain what she meant. "Don't worry, Ephraim. I'm only asking because understanding your dreams may help to calm you down. It doesn't make it real."
Ephraim thought about this for a second before he said, "I think it was that guy who helps us when we are at war with someone."
His mother was not sure who he meant at first, but she soon realized he was talking about Elysium's greatest and most trusted ally, Corbin. "Do you mean our ally, Corbin? If that is who you mean then you can rest easy because Corbin is our trusted friend and he would never do that to us."
Still not convinced, Ephraim replied, "Yes, Corbin. That is who I meant, but mommy, remember that he knows all our secrets so if he wanted to hurt us he could do it easily." Hearing himself say it aloud made it all the more convincing for the frightened boy.
His mother, knowing he was as stubborn as his father, could tell this was an argument he would not be swayed on. She sighed, "very well Ephraim, I can see you won't change your mind on this. However, you must do what you can to forget about this nonsense. It won't help you during your school work or your training to worry all day long." At that, the queen stood and walked back to her bedroom. Hoping her son would be able to overcome this obstacle.
King Santos, watched as his wife left the room. Before he left to go with her, he patted his son on the head and seeing Ephraim was about to protest, he simply said, "do what your mother tells you, Ephraim" and followed his wife to bed.
The next morning Ephraim was woken by one of the many servants who worked at the palace. He could hear the overly cheery voice of Hazel, his least favorite maid of all. "Dearest Prince Ephraim! It's time to wakeup sleepyhead! Look, the great star Perspicuus Unus' light has already begun to grace the horizon. Come now young prince, greet the new day! Surely you know if you don't get off your royal, lazy butt the king will be very angry with you!"
Her loud singsong voice was giving his royal highness quite the headache. Normally he would have protested getting up, but after thinking about his father's anger he chose to do what he was asked. As he got up he gave a nice relaxing stretch, and blinked lazily at Hazel as she continued to prance around his room urging him to be happy and smile all day long. He rolled his eyes at that comment and proceeded toward his bathroom. He was about to brush his teeth when he suddenly remembered his dream last night. Thinking about it gave him an uneasy feeling, but he quickly forgot when he saw the face of his friend, Princess Ora, smiling at him with a bag of toys and candy in her hands
Overjoyed at seeing his friend for the first time in months he cheerfully smiled back at her before closely eyeing her appearance. She was the same age as he was, but she had a certain innocence about her that made her seem like a very sweet girl, unlike our Ephraim who was constantly getting into trouble and doing everything he could to annoy other people or to pick a fight with them. He was sad to see that like him, she had grown about an inch or two over the months and as a result was still slightly taller than him. She had long, silky hair that reached down to her waist, and her skin was white as snow. He noticed she was wearing a new dress, violet, full of ruffles and a little puffy toward the bottom. He couldn't believe Ora was wearing such a funny looking dress. He couldn't hold back a slight laugh.
Upon hearing this she looked at him, slightly confused. "Whatcha laughin at Ephraim?" She asked while looking all around her trying to find the source of humor so she could join in on the fun.
Ephraim was hardly able to speak, he was laughing so hard. "Y-Your drrreeeessss! I-It looks, it looks so, so f-f-f-unny!" At this he burst out with another wave of his high pitched laughter that only a child would be capable of.
After hearing this, Ora immediately glared at him. "Ephraim, that's not funny. I think my dress is pretty. Mommy said my dress makes me look like a lady."
This only fueled Ephraim's joyous laughter and made it all the louder. He managed to contain himself long enough to say "Ora, all that dress does is make you look like a plum!" He started to laugh some more, not even noticing the deep shade of red Ora's skin was turning from her embarrassment.
"I hate plums" she muttered under her breath. Then, so Ephraim could hear, "If you don't stop laughing at me I'm not gonna share my toys with you or my candy, and I'm gonna tell Landon on you and he will sit you straight!" She was starting to cry from the humiliation.
This statement seemed to catch the energetic boy's attention however, because he immediately stopped laughing and gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Ora. You don't have to tell Landon. I'll be good I promise. That means you can still share all that stuff with me too!"
As only a child would, Ora forgave her friend instantly for his mean remark. Besides, she didn't really want to keep all this stuff to herself. She didn't like playing alone and since her older brother of two years didn't want to play with a "baby," she always looked forward to being able to play with Ephraim, or Page, or Rupert especially Ephraim though. She waited outside of the bathroom for Ephraim to change and brush his teeth and when he was finished she pulled all the toys from the bag. She and Ephraim agreed to share the toys equally, but since there was an uneven number and they were her toys, they agreed she could have the extra. As they were playing with the toys, Hazel decided to grace them with her presence.
"Ah, young love." She sang, clearly happy by their getting along. "I only wish I had it as easy as you two. To not worry about finding the right one, but instead to be betrothed to each other, it makes life so much easier." At this both Ephraim and Ora looked up at her.
"What does that word mean anyway?" Asked a curios Ephraim. "Everyone keeps saying it around us but we don't know what it means."
At this, Hazel smiled lightly and replied, "It means your parents set you two up to be married." She was clearly enjoying this discussion. Any discussion about love or happiness of some kind was enough to get her in a superb mood.
"Why would our parents do that?" This time it was Ora who asked the question.
Hazel frowned at this, not sure if they would understand, but shrugged it off thinking it didn't really matter if they did or not anyway. They would understand eventually. "Well, the reason you guys are betrothed is because your parents decided it would help to bring the Northern and Southern kingdoms together, which would hopefully help solve the current problems that have risen between them. And don't ask me what those problems are because as a humble maid I do not know, I just know they exist."
"Ok" Ephraim and Ora responded in unison, not really sure if they understood anything they just heard.
At that moment, Page, Rupert, and Landon entered the room. Seeing even more of their friends, Ephraim and Ora ran over to greet them. Ephraim carefully looked them all over. Page and Rupert were his age and he really liked both of them. They were really fun to be with for their own reasons. Page was fun when he wanted to do something mischievous and Rupert was fun when he wanted to play games outside. Landon, however, was one very cocky 8 year old and he preferred to have nothing to do with all these "toddlers."
As Ephraim was embracing his friends in a hug, Landon smirked at them. "Ephraim, your father wants to talk to you about something. He said to meet him on the training grounds." With that, Landon sharply turned around and left without another word.
Ephraim, while on his way to the court yard was thinking to himself, 'I wander what father wants with me. He doesn't usually have time to play with me in the middle of the day like this.' As Ephraim pondered this he accidently tripped over a rock and landed flat on his face. His father's booming laughter could be easily heard all over the training grounds. Ephraim looked up at his father and after standing erect and brushing all the dirt off his clothes he gave his father the meanest look he could muster at the time.
"Dearest Ephraim, I do believe you are glaring at me." His father's jovial voice rang in his ears, stating the obvious.
This only angered little Ephraim more and the only comeback he could think of was to stick his tong out at his father for mocking him. After only making his father laugh more, he gave up and settled for questioning Santos about why he asked for him.
In response, Santos replied, "I have decided it is time to do a little training with me as your instructor. Of course this is mostly because all of your other instructors have given up on you due to your lack in any commitment to what they teach. As Santos said this, his son seemed to fall back into his irritated phase.
"Oh, but father, I don't like training, its hard work and sometimes even painful." He gulped as he recounted his last very painful training session. His instructor told him to dodge an object thrown at him, but after being distracted by a butterfly, it hit him square in the face.
"Listen, Ephraim," scolded Santos, "You are at the age now where some of your hidden, special abilities will begin to surface. Not only that, but you are an elemental apparition. That means you have complete control over the elements. As you grow stronger you will be able to control more and eventually you could become unstoppable. It is important for you to learn all of this now, so that your training later on can be based on helping you to further enhance what you already have a knack for. And, let's not forget that you are the future heir to Divum Regnum, which means you must be both wise and powerful to defend your title and your planet. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, father, but that doesn't mean I like it. You know, my last instructor said he wouldn't be surprised if I never end up strong, and maybe I'll remain weak forever. I think he might be right, father. I have no place in this world as a warrior." The doubt in Ephraim's eyes grew even more as he spoke those words.
Hearing this, Santos began to anger at his son's quitting attitude and whoever the trainer was that planted that seed of doubt into his son's head. 'How dare he mess with my child's mind?! When I find the little shit that said it I will give him one hell of a punishment!' A small, evil smile crossed the kings lips for a second as he thought of what he would do to the man who said that rubbish to his son. Then to his son, "Ephraim, if someone ever tells you you can't get stronger, I want you to prove him or her wrong. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, Sir" Ephraim tried to give his father a smile but his doubt caused it to look more like a cringe.
"Good. Now then, let's begin your training." It was clear the king had already forgotten about the little issue and was ready to teach his son the first lesson in harnessing power. "Before we begin, I want you to familiarize yourself with the training ground. It is important that you get a good look around so you can use anything you need to your advantage."
At this, Ephraim obediently cast his eyes around the training grounds. He could see it was a rather large area, maybe 10 to 15 square miles, with all different terrain types. There was a forest, a large river, some sand, a very rocky mountain, a grassy plateau, some rolling hills and other stuff like that. Perfect for any type of apparition to find an advantage in.
"Ephraim."
His father's voice broke his train of thought. "Yes, father?" He replied not really caring what the answer might be.
"Before we try to find what you are good at, I would like to see how much energy you can summon. Just so I have a good idea of what we're working with here." Santos, sounded very interested in the possible result of this little test.
"Ok, but I don't know how to-"
"All you have to do his focus your entire beings worth of energy into the tips of your fingers. When you feel pressure, you must slowly release it into your hand and allow it to build up without letting it go." His father seemed to be all the more eager as he watched his son close his eyes and concentrate. As Ephraim did what he was told, a faint yellowing glow could be seen in Ephraim's palm. As a few minutes went by, the faint glow turned to a large bright ball of light sitting in Ephraim's hand. His father's eyes widened, clearly impressed with the amount of energy his son managed to collect on his first try. After several minutes it got slightly bigger and then vanished as Ephraim clearly couldn't hold onto it any longer. Ephraim panted in exhaustion, his father clapped his hands together. "That was a great first try, Ephraim! I think there's hope for you yet. In fact, you might be stronger than even me before you finish your teen years." His words were meant mostly as encouragement to his son, but they were honest as well.
This seemed to brighten Ephraim up as he calmed his panting and prepared to start again. This time however, he only managed half of what he had before. He looked up at his father confused.
"Its ok Ephraim." He said. "That happens to everyone. After you use some of your energy you no longer have it to reuse again. The only way you get it back is with rest, but as you train your energy supply will expand and you'll have more to use." His father's words were meant to be encouraging, but Ephraim seemed to be a little disappointed. "Now that I know how much energy you have," said the king, "I think we should move on to something else. Perhaps we could work on your swordsmanship skills."
"No way! I hate swordsmanship, father. I will not do it. It looks dumb anyways." Ephraim always felt that swordsmanship was more of a monkey's sport than an actual art form.
"First, we do not say anyways, Ephraim, it is anyway. Now then Ephraim listen, Swordsmanship is the trademark style of Elysium. Even if you don't like it there is no denying that swordsmanship will come more naturally to you than any other form. You have no choice, you will learn it." King Santos was growing impatient with his son's constant arguing. "Since I know you have already been taught the basics, I think it should be safe for us to begin sparing. Here Ephraim, take this." Santos handed Ephraim a long sword with a gold hilt.
After taking the sword from his father, Ephraim almost dropped it, surprised at how heavy it was. "Father, how am I supposed to do anything with this? It's so heavy!" He tried to swing it around a couple times, only to accidently fling it a couple feet away from him. It landed on the ground with a loud thud, and left a large hole in the ground where it landed. Ephraim glanced at his father, wondering if he would be mad at him for dropping it. His father shook his head and picked the sword up.
"You will have to adapt to it Ephraim. As time goes on it will adventually feel light as a feather." His father's words seemed to land on deaf ears as Ephraim was busy studying a beetle he had found resting on a nearby leaf. Santos seemed to grow very irritated by this. "Ephraim! Pay attention will you! We did not come here to study insects, we came here to train." With that, he gently slapped his son across the head, but with enough force to throw Ephraim's body about twenty feet.
Ephraim stood up rubbing his head. He glared at Santos. "That was mean. I just wanted to watch the-"
"I don't care, Ephraim." His father growing more angry. "Just take the damn sword and let's begin. I grow tired of your complaints and this whole 'I don't care' attitude of yours."
Ephraim, seeing there was no way around it, let out a heavy sigh, and took the sword from Santos. "Fine," He said. "Just promise me we won't have to do this for a really long time." Signs of defeat were already tracing the boy's face. His father nodded in response, and with that, they began Ephraim's training.
Three hours later, Santos had finally decided enough was enough and let Ephraim go back to the palace. On his way back, Santos reflected on the overall experience. 'Well,' thought Santos, 'overall, Ephraim is doing very well. He has more potential as a swordsman then I did at his age. He will probably grow up to be one of the best there is. His reflexes were quick, his speed, incredible, and his movements were very fluid. Now if I could just find a way to get him to like it a little more, or at least commit himself to it I think he could be a very skilled swordsman indeed.' While pondering the situation, he saw something strange about 2 miles south of the palace. 'Wonder what that is' he thought to himself. 'Well, guess I better go check it out.' He quickly changed directions and ran toward the disturbance.
Meanwhile, back at the palace Ephraim was sitting in his back yard playing with all his friends. Page was showing off and Rupert was talking to the insects. Landon was leaning against a wall, probably mocking the children for their childish antics. Ephraim and his 'fiancée' were playing the 'Would you rather' game. "Um, would you rather kiss a girl or um, eat an insect?" Ora's question seemed to have no effect on the young boy.
After making a face, Ephraim gave his answer, "That's easy. I would rather eat not one, not two, but all the bugs on Elysium, than kiss a girl." He seemed to be confident in his answer. "Ok, now it's my turn." Ephraim was obviously in deep concentration as he tried to think of a good one for his female friend. "Um, ok! I know! Would you rather get thousands of paper cuts and then be dipped in a ginormous bottle of peroxide or would you rather have all your finger and toe nails slowly pulled off?" Ephraim smiled at his question, obviously pleased with himself.
Ora's eyes widened as she tried to imagine going through either of the said possibilities. "That's not a fair question Ephraim" she complained. I wouldn't want either of them. She made a face as she imagined it again and shivered slightly.
Ephraim rolled his eyes. Ora could be such a wimp. This game wasn't any fun with her because she always said that after his first question. This meant he always won. He liked to win but only after having a few tussles back and forth. Page was much better at this game. "Ora, that's not fun. Come on, just pick one already." His patience was already gone. She shook her head, saying she could not and would not choose because they were both just as bad. He gave her an exasperated sigh, but decided to let it go.
Suddenly, Ephraim felt his body go limp. His eyes grew dry and irritated as they rolled back in his head. Tremors were shooting through his body. He saw a flash of light, then a dark face wrapped in fire. He saw his people all over the planet fall at the hands of apparitions who were draped in black cloth. One by one, they all died. Soon there was nothing left but a barren waste land, covered in a crimson fluid that seemed to turn the once beautiful planet, into one of death. The enemy stood and cheered around their leader, Corbin. He had the heads of all the kings and queens pitted on wooden stakes. There was a huge bonfire nearby that burned the rotting corpses of the dead Elisions. Corbin walked up on a platform and raised his hands to quiet his followers. When all was silent he gave a devilish smile and parted his lips to speak.
Just before the first word left his mouth, Ephraim woke from his stupor. He was shaking as his stomach seemed to be twisted in disgust. At this point everyone was staring at him except Ora. She stood next to him, seeming to be in the same situation. Fear could be easily seen from her eyes. She looked at him her eyes begging him to tell her it was nothing. He opened his mouth to speak, but found no words to comfort her. Page, Rupert, and Landon, were circled around them asking if they were alright. He could only shake his head, he was still too scared to actually speak. Ora, however, just fell to her knees and began to whimper. Ephraim knelt down and tried to comfort her, telling her it was going to be ok. She looked up at him, disbelief in her eyes.
"Ephraim" she could barely whisper his name, "It's not alright, not even close. Last night, I had a dream similar to what I just saw. I'm afraid. Mommy said it was nothing to worry about, that it was just a dream, not a premonition. Ephraim, I think it was. Did you see it too?"
Ephraim nodded in response. He couldn't believe she had the same dream as he had. As he was trying to think of something to say that would make it all ok, they saw Hazel darting out of the palace and running toward them. She was screaming something, but Ephraim was too dazed to understand any of it. Suddenly Landon grabbed hold of his shirt. He was about to protest when he heard Landon repeat what Hazel was already screaming.
"You idiot, get off the ground. Hazel is saying we're under attack! We need to find shelter!"
Ephraim froze at his words. 'It couldn't be possible.' He thought. 'What were the chances that'-suddenly a burning sensation interrupted his thoughts. Had Landon just punched him? "What the heck was that for?!" he screamed at Landon.
Landon looked annoyed. "Didn't you hear me? I said we are under attack! Now let's move!" At that Landon gave Ephraim a slight shove to get him going. Ephraim's fear was growing as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He didn't understand any of it. Out of nowhere, a slight tremor shook the ground followed by a deep rumble.
"What was that?!" Page screamed. She was clearly terrified of what was happening. She kept stumbling as she ran falling further behind. Hazel, in distress, ran at her full force, threw her shaking body over her shoulder and rejoined the children. Within seconds they were back in the castle, heading toward the shelter zone. Page was crying as she hung over Hazel's shoulder. Landon seemed to be trying to put up a brave front so no one would notice that he too was very much afraid of this surprise attack.
As Rupert opened the door to the cellar, everyone shot in quickly locking the door behind them. Before they could reach the bottom, they saw Hazel turn around. "Where are you going, Hazel?" Rupert questioned, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.
"I'm sorry children, but it is my duty to protect Elysium. You should be safe so long as you stay within the cellar." With that she gave them a quick smile of encouragement and ran out the door, sealing it behind her with her energy. She darted for her safe where her weapons were kept. 'I don't know who these bastards are' she thought, 'but they are mistaken if they think they can take down Elysium and all its glory!' With that, she grabbed her sword and a few knives, and headed for the battle. Just as she entered the area where the war was taking place, a puff of smoke appeared behind her. Before she had time to react, it slit her throat and disappeared. She dropped to her knees as her crimson blood gushed from its wound. Still not sure how it happened, she fell over, her body now lifeless as it lie on the ground.
Several hours later, the children were waiting in the cellar for someone to tell them it was over and everything was ok. With most of the children now calm, they were playing various games together as they waited. Everyone except Ephraim and Ora seemed hopeful toward the outcome of the attack. Ephraim quickly glanced at Ora. She was sitting on a wooden bench with her back against the cold stone wall. Her eyes were full of worry. Ephraim quietly approached his friend and sat down beside her on the bench.
"Ora?" he said. Looking into her eyes, hoping he might be able to comfort her somehow. She just looked at him, not really saying anything. He settled with putting his hand on hers hoping it would be of some comfort for her.
Landon looked over at them. He was about to say something to ease their troubled nerves, but before he could say anything at all, a loud explosion came from above them, ripping the top of the cellar off and covering the young children in dust. Ephraim looked at Landon, who nodded back to him. He grabbed Ora's hand and told her they had to leave and with that they jumped as hard as they could taking them twenty feet higher than necessary. They landed soundly on the ground.
The sight that greeted them was not what they were expecting to see. Ephraim's entire home had been completely demolished. There were bits and pieces of its remains lying about on the ground, covering his entire back yard and most of the surrounding area. It seemed that one of the battle grounds had managed to migrate over to where his home had once stood. There were bodies of Elisions and the enemy scattered all over the place. It was a gruesome sight, too much for a young six year old boy to take in. He looked on and saw all the blood that was splattered everywhere along with unidentifiable limbs and things that looked like they belonged on the inside of someone. He heard a noise above him and looked up to see Page's twelve year old brother hovering above them. He was about to come down to them when something fast flew into his body with a sickening crunch and knocked him a mile or so to the east.
"Phillip, Nooooo!" Page screamed as she watched her brother's body fly off. She gave a desperate glance toward the rest of children and ran off in search of her brother. Before anyone could protest her actions she picked up speed and disappeared. The children stared helplessly in the direction she went. Without hesitation, Rupert announced he would follow her and he too disappeared in that direction.
They were about to follow him when a dark apparition appeared in front of them. He smiled at them as he thought of all the wonderful ways he could torture them. Landon placed his body defensively in front of Ora and Ephraim. He looked back at them and mouthed the word "Go" before turning back to face the threat. Ephraim looked at Ora who said she wanted to stay with her brother. He figured she would be ok with him, so he ran away looking back at the siblings only once to make sure they were ok.
Ephraim wandered aimlessly, looking on at what was left of his beautiful planet in despair. He soon came to an area where a battle had been. The bodies of his people were strewn all over the area along with the enemy's. Everyone was coated in a thick layer of blood. He glanced over his side and saw someone who looked a little like Hazel lying in a pool of blood. Her throat had been slashed. Her dead eyes seemed to stair aimlessly into nothing. Ephraim let out a small cry before turning around to run. He tripped over a body and landed in a puddle of red liquid. He was completely covered in it. He tried to calm down as he wiped his face off with a tissue from his pocket. With the blood off his face he took a better look at himself. His stomach clenched as his breakfast and lunch left his body. He stood up groggily trying to decide where to go next. Deciding it didn't really matter he kept to his original path.
Sometime later, he saw a single dead body lying on the ground. Unlike most of the other bodies he saw, this one looked familiar. He ran up to see who it was, though inside he knew he didn't want to know. He approached the body and carefully turned it over with his foot. Upon seeing the face he let out a gasp followed by a loud wail of pain. In front of him laid his mother. Her once angelic face contorted to that of pain, her eyes still showed the fear she had when she gave her last breath. She looked like a blood splattered angle, still beautiful even in death. He let out another wail followed by incoherent words meanwhile he dropped to his knees and laid his head on his mother's chest. Tears of anguish rolled down his face.
Suddenly, without his knowing someone appeared behind him. He silently stalked over to the crying child. He licked his lips as he raised his sword preparing to deliver a crushing blow. Right as he brought the sword down the child turned around, fear in his face. Seconds later a burly man appeared, using his body as a shield for the younger boy. The sword swiftly cut through the man, splashing young Ephraim with his blood. The man muttered something and looked up. "Shit," the only word the stalker managed before King Santos swiped his head off with a single blow. The beheaded body crumpled to the ground, blood pouring from its severed neck. The king fell to his knees and his body slumped to the ground. Ephraim, terrified at losing his father, knelt by his side tears running down his flushed cheeks and onto his father's pale, anguished face. He looked down at the dying man trying to think of something, anything that would save him.
King Santos lifted his eyes to his son upon feeling the wet tears that landed on his forehead. With difficulty, he tried to speak to his son. He needed to give him instructions on what to do next. "Ephraim, I am weak. I won't last much longer." His words were barely audible. Ephraim had to strain in order to hear him. The rain that had begun to fall didn't help. "Listen, my boy, I will die here soon and you must live on. I will use what energy I have left to create a portal that will transport you to another planet very far from here. You need to enter the portal and go there as soon as you see it since I will not be able to keep it standing for long. When you are transported to the new planet I want you to grow stronger. Train every day until you are a powerful demon that can't be stopped. When you reach this level of power, you are to leave the planet and find that bastard, Corbin. When you find him, you must prove that he was wrong, that we Elisions are strong and can't be beat! I want you to kill him. Do you understand me?"
Ephraim shook his head that he understood but then stopped his father from creating the portal. Santo looked up at his son. "Father, I-I'm sorry but, but I wont leave you. I am not a coward. I will die here with you and my people." His resolve was clear. He would not be swayed.
His father shook his head. Foolish child, only six years old and yet he claims to be ready to die. This was something that King Santos would not allow. If he could not stop Corbin, than his child would have to. In response to Ephraim's words, Santos created the portal and with as much energy as he could muster, he pushed his child in. "forgive me, Ephraim." The king whispered these words and with that, closed his eyes one last time.