Chapter 1- The Beginning

I ran through the streets, the blue blade of my mothers tightly in my hand. Red Dragons chased me from the sky, and a new breed of monsters I have named Trackers bit the air inches from my feet. Sweat pored from my forehead, my chest heaving from my short gasps. Which way? Right? Left? A sharp pain from a bite of a Tracker made my body choose without me. I ran into a house, and slammed the door, and locked it with all the sealing spells I had.

Well, that was close. Are you okay?

"Yeah". Sheesh, even when my parents aren't around, I'm still being babied. My parents.. Where are they?

Who knows. I'm sure they're safe. And by the way, you are but a child, so it's only natural to baby you, Mistress Almasy.

Opps, I forgot he could read my mind.

I'm in your mind, so I should know what's going on.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. And could you please, please call me Sienna? I mean, come on, I've had you since I was five. Now, lets see if this place has any food."

You don't seem very worried.

"Ifrit, I've battled monsters all my life. So have my parents. This is just another Lunar Cry, that's all. Soon the SeeDs will come around and finds us, and we'll meet up with Mom and Dad and go see how our house lasted. Like seven years ago. Don't be such a worry wort."

But what about the new species? And there's a lot more monsters than previous years. I should know. I've been here much longer than you have, Mistress. And on the last Lunar Cry, you were only 7 years old, so I wouldn't trust that to be a very helpful reference.

"Sienna! Well, worrying won't get us anywhere. Let's go raid the kitchen! The owners won't mind, as they aren't here at the moment" I smiled. This was kinda fun!

*sigh * This isn't a game, Sienna. Your spells won't last forever, you know.



" I know. Hey, I'm gonna summon you out now, because you're driving me nuts with you knowing my thoughts. Just don't burn down the house, okay?"

Fine.

I made a sign with my hands and called out the spell. A few seconds later, a smaller form of Ifrit carefully appeared, trying not to singe the carpet.

" I hate having to decrease my size, you know. Why didn't you choose a bigger house?" he complained, his voice the sound of crackling fire.

" Not like I had a choice!" And if cued, a loud scratching noise came from the door from a Tracker. Trackers looked a lot like a mix between a Cerburus and an Ifrit. It had one dog-like head, horns, and huge black claws that it used to shish kabob people and, well, break down doors and stuff. And it could run really fast.

" Are we gonna eat, or what?"

" Okay, okay!" I reached for the refrigerator door when a huge crash echoed through the house and seven heads of Trackers appeared through the doorframe, each one fighting to get in first.

" Yikes! Ifrit, blast them with Hell Fire while I scan 'em, kay?"

" Right!" Suddenly, a huge fireball appeared in Ifrit's left hand, and he leapt up into the air, and plunged the ball (now growing at an alarming rate) at the creatures. They howled in pain, but did not die.

" What the.? Oh .shit" I quickly used the scan magic I was charging, and, well, swore a lot. The monsters had 40000 hp apiece, and weren't venerable to anything.

A huge blast awakened me from my.swearing. One of the Trackers had used a new type of move I've never seen before and had blown Ifrit to the ground.

"IFRIT!" The Trackers approached me, and I realized I didn't have a lot of choices. Attack, or die. Great. They came closer, their huge teeth dripping with saliva, bloodshot eyes looking hungrily at me. Before I even thought about it, my shaking hands began a sign. Dark Messenger.

See, along time ago, my mom had talked Dad into getting a GF. He said they were a wimps weapons, but she put her foot down, and once my mom makes a desion, it's final. So, one day, Dad found a GF in a monster. It was a Diablo. This Diablo must have been stolen from a human, as it already had a lot of experience. He trained it, and it was very strong. A few days before the Cry, my dad gave me Diablo. For protection, he said. My mom had somehow agreed with that. Diablo doesn't like me. He's a lot different than Ifrit. Mom gave me Ifrit because I needed a companion. I taught him how to be summoned for long periods of time, how to make him decrease into the size of a large dog. But not to fight. That was Leviathan's job. But he disappeared one day. I just can't find him. Bummer, eh?

All right, that's enough of my life story. I guess I get distracted too easily. The Trackers had circled me, so I was on my last lifeline. Diablo.

"Dark Messenger"

The sky grew dark, and bats swarmed through the house. At least he was coming. Even if Diablo didn't attack, he should be able to make enough of a distraction that I could go help Ifrit.

The bats joined, and then, there was Diablo. He seemed . surprised.

" You brought me out to destroy these weak creatures? Insolent child. If you cannot handle smaller beast, then why do you go looking for them? Fine, for your father's sake, I will help you. But do not grow used to my charity."

Sheesh. For Hyne's sake, he seems pretty confident..

" Hurgah!"

He reached up into the darkness, and slammed a purple beam into the Trackers. Wails of anguish filled the room, and when the dust cleared, six bodies of Trackers lay lifeless on the floor.

" Was that good? See how easy it was? You should learn from your. superiors. Good bye, do not bother me again unless it is.important. Do you understand?" Before I could answer, he was gone.

"Phew, that was close" I said to no one particular. I ran over to Ifrit's side, and reached into my Items bag to cure him when my mind finally realized something.Six bodies? Uh oh.There were .seven T-Trackers..

"RARGGH!" A huge blast filled the room as I fell unconscious to the floor.