"Are you up or should I barge in and wake you?", said a teenage boy with combed brown hair yelled while knocking on the wooden door.

"Alright alright, I am coming", replied Damien from inside the room, his eyes were still closed and his messed up brown hair told that he was still sleepy.

"Good!" exclaimed Robert. He turned and left, heading into a long corridor.

"Damn, it is still 4 o'clock, and we're supposed to leave at 5", muttered Damien sliding off his bed. Damien's room was huge. On one side there was a huge bookcase almost covering the entire wall, a ladder was kept beside it. His enormous bed was enough for 4 people to fit in and was covered with thick blankets and fluffy pillows with golden embroidery on them. On the other side were tall windows with their crimson curtains still drawn. It was dark in his room, and he stumbled as he reached his wardrobe which was made of ebony and was twice as big as him. These things clearly indicated that he was a son of a noble.

He looked in the mirror: a pair of dark blue eyes stared back at him. He touched his triangular face that had smooth features, a sharp nose and thin pink lips that were slightly dry. He scratched his drool stained cheek and sighed.

As Damien walked out of his room into the corridor he found Charles standing there waiting for him.

"Good morning master Damien, the Lord wishes for your presence at the breakfast table"

Charles was the head butler of the House of Wells, he had spent nearly 30 years watching his father serve the previous lord as he now served Earl Lawrence, Damien's father. Charles was about 50 years old with black hair that was now on the verge of turning white, despite his age he had a sturdy built owing to his daily activities. He had brown eyes with average facial features, one might consider him to be a merchant if not for his butler outfit.

"Good morning Charles, I shall be there in some time."

As soon as Damien said that Charles bowed and left for the dining hall, Damien turned around and went to the baths to wash, after all, nobles should always stay clean and fresh.

After changing into his clothes, Damien arrived in the dining hall, as he entered he found a long round table on which there were about 15 dishes and 3 people were seated. The hall had long banners printed with the house sigil and huge windows covered by purple silk curtains dim rays of the rising sun could be seen through the windows. The marble floor was shining as it reflected the light and the walls made of solid rock gave the ancient aura to the dining hall.

At the head of the table sat a man with a long red cloak with a white tunic on which at the right breast was engraved the symbol of a black dragon this was the sigil of the Black Dragon Empire, under the sigil was the coat of arms of House Wells which consisted of a dragon and a lion holding a spears crossing them above the flag of the empire. The man also wore black leggings and huge boots, on his hands were 3 rings on, one from his wedding, the other was the storage ring and the last one was the royal ring of earl's authority used to stamp all legal papers of the earldom. This man with a brown beard, neatly combed, was Damien and Robert's father Lawrence Wells, the Earl of Triston - the third largest territory of the empire defending the entire eastern border.

"Good morning father", said Damien. Lawrence just nodded his head he wasn't prone to talking while eating.

"Good morning mother", Damien addressed the calm and most graceful woman he had ever seen in the world sitting next to Lawrence, her blue eyes were as deep as the ocean mixed with her blonde hair they gave a certain appeal to any man looking at her. Whenever Damien looked into those eyes he felt a strangeness he had never felt before as if he had known those eyes for eternity, yet they were unknown to him. The lady who was dressed in a blue gown gently gestured Damien to come to sit next to her.

Damien had always been close to his mother than his father and as soon as lady Katherine gestured Damien walked in a lightning-fast manner to approach her. After he sat next to her, Katherine filled Damien's plate with all his favourite dishes. She loved the boy far too much to care if he gains weight or not but Damien had been made conscious of this by his father hence Damien exercised restraint and ate enough for his body to re-energize.

Midway into the breakfast, an attendant came asking the Earl for entry. The Earl permitted him. The attendant approached and whispered something to Lawrence, he nodded his head and the attendant took his leave.

After breakfast, Lawrence told Damien and Robert, "I will not be able to take you to the forest today I need to leave for the borderline there has been an incident among the soldiers. I shall return in 5 days until then work with the knight commander on your sword skills."

"Yes, father", said Robert, while Damien nodded his head. At this Lady Katherine slightly frowned but Earl Lawrence gestured to her, and they walked out of the dining hall.

After the Earl had left, Damien followed Robert to the stables, Damien turned and looked at the Earl's mansion. Build from marble and stone this 3-storey tall building stood gleaming in the morning light, various attendants could be seen moving in the corridors through the huge glass windows.

The gardener was taking care of the flower beds which surrounded the mansion and a fountain in between the clean paved roads with a few trees around them was a sight to behold, 'Indeed it should be only second to the mansion of the dukes' thought Damien. Soon they arrived at the stables.

The stables were made out of wood and the horses were eating straw in their sheds. Robert beckoned the servant managing the horses and said, "Bring out my Bucky and Damien's Wooke"

"Yes young master", the servant quickly went into one of these sheds and brought out two fine stallions one of them was white while the other was brown.

"Ah! My good girl" Damien patted the brown stallion, the stallion neighed in response.

"Quick now Damien, it is already 6 in my clock", said Robert as he quickly got up the saddle and used the reins to steer the horse to the exit. Shortly afterwards, Damien got up and rode off. Damien and Robert followed the brick road and arrived at a village next to a forest.

The early birds were already out of their houses yet, there was not much hubbub in the village, everyone was minding their own business. Damien and Robert rode their horses till they arrived at a stable. They got off their horses and left them in the care of the groom saying that they will return later. This groom knew that these two nobles often ventured into the forest to hone their skills for it was imperative for those who held authority, may it be in the future, to have a certain amount of personal strength, thinking this the groom nodded to himself and proceeded with his work at hand.

"Good morning," Robert said to the groom. He recognized the groom but did not know his name.

"Morning sir." The groom helped the two men off their horses and knew they'd be back later than they'd done on previous occasions. He knew it was normal for nobles to go into the forest and practice. He waved goodbye as they left, and made sure their horses were taken care of while they were gone.

Damien and Robert stopped at the blacksmith's to get their weapon which they had left with the blacksmith to take care of the previous week. Soon they arrived at the edge of the forest.

Only now Robert frowned and grumbled, "Ah! Father hasn't got time for us, I thought we would go together this time"

"Now now Robert, father had some urgent work, of course, he didn't have time to play with us", laughed Damien.

Robert snorted and walked into the forest, tall trees covered the sky while yellow dry leaves with dew on them crackled under the feet of the young men. Birds chirped and occasionally one could hear the hooting of an owl. Some shrubs had huge spiders, the size of one's fist moved on the moist webs, the moss only added more green to this scene. The air was fresh and cool and by now the yellow-orange rays of the sun could be seen in clusters of bright spots.

"That reminds me, we forgot to bring knight commander with us," said Damien.

"Nevermind that, it would be too much of a hassle. He has been quite busy lately."

"So what are we gonna hunt today ?", enquired Damien walking with his hands at back.

"Let's look for some rabbits or something along those lines", hummed Robert.

***

"I SAID LOOK FOR A RABBIT!", snapped Robert, and he ran dodging past the branches, "GODS SAKE DAMIEN HOW THE HECK DID YOU ANGER A DOUBLE HORNED KANGAROO"

"I thought it was a rabbit!", cried Damien with dirt on his face and tears rolling down his cheek he looked quite pitiful.

"A RABBIT!? YOU COULDN'T SEE IT WAS FIVE! FIVE TIMES BIGGER THAN- THAN A RABBIT ?", Robert glared at Damien with eyes full of anger and annoyance.

Not seeing where he was going, Robert slammed into a tree trunk, a few birds flew off the tree.

Damien halted and helped Robert up, his pretty face was a mess and a few beads of blood appearing on his lips.

Then a white furry animal with big strong legs that of a rabbit and a furry strong tail hopped over a shrub and looked at its preys. Two short grey horns were visible on its mouse-like forehead and his short cute paws hung to its body. It was indeed a cute animal but right now his red eyes held a malicious glint.

'It is actually six times bigger than a rabbit, brother Robert was wrong ' thought Damien. The Two-horned Kangaroo hopped forward and screeched. Damien went white in fear while clutching his brothers hand tightly.

"Damien leave me... I am already injured and I have lived my 13 years of a life well, go Damien live on...", said Robert as he slowly closed his eyes. Little did Damien know, as he burst out crying, that his brother was playing a joke on him.

Robert had sensed that this two-horned kangaroo was not much stronger than him and with some effort, he could kill it, but he felt it was important that he should teach Damien the consequences of provoking an unknown enemy, so he put up an act however, he felt quite painful realizing that he did not include crashing in the tree in his script.

Then suddenly Damien got up and wiped his tears, his eyes were still welling up, "Robert, I will distract him and you call for help" with that he grabbed a stone threw it on the beast, which it dodged and dashed into the shrubs. The beast was provoked by his actions and followed him, not batting an eye to the now dumbstruck Robert. Then Robert got up and followed their trail shouting, "What the heck Damien?".

Damien ran for his life crudely avoiding trees, branches and roots. He jumped over a stone and heard the twigs and leaves crackle in a regular rhythm, knowing that the Two-Horned Kangaroo was behind him. He soon reached a river bank the flow wasn't too fast, Damien spaced out for a moment and slipped on the moss-covered pebbles and fell down.

His hand was now hurt and his shin was bruised he saw a glimpse of a white blur, and he instinctively rolled to his side to avoid being crushed. As he tried to get up he stumbled on the pebbles and fell into the river. The enormous amount of water gushed over him as he tried to grasp for breath.

He ended up flowing down the river. The Two-horned Kangaroo watched as Damien was washed away by the river. Soon the kangaroo lost its interest in Damien as it heard the bushes behind him rustle. It turned to see the blonde youth with dirt on his linen clothes, his face was brimming with anger and his eyes held an intent to kill within them.

"Now now you filthy rat, where is my brother?", Robert drew his sword.

...

Damien struggled as he rose from the shallow banks. He staggered as he walked near a rock and sighed with relief. 'Ah... that drained me', he thought to himself as he wrung his clothes.

'I guess Robert should be safe by now, father would be so proud of me that I did something so valiant', Damien lost himself while building castles in the air, however, a sudden piercing pain brought him back to his senses, "Ouch!" he shrieked as the pain in his head left him all dizzy and nauseous.

He got up and walked away from the river "There are definitely some water spirits in the river which don't like me", he said. It was said the water spirits or nymphs who lived in the river did not like humans in their waters and would occasionally play tricks on them to shoo them away hence, Damien drew this conclusion. He wasn't looking where he was going, and then he stepped on something that looked like a tail of a rat. An ear-piercing shriek rang out in the forest as Damien widened his eyes and covered his ear.

With a bitter smile, Damien said, "Hey there little mouse, umm... can't we do this that I run away and you stay here?"

A greenish-brown rat who was about half a yard long turned, his eyes were bloodshot with fury.

Damien slowly stepped back only to realize that there was a tree behind his back, he looked around to find four of these creatures surrounding him, his only option was not to trade a limb for his life. But then the horrible pain again throbbed in his head and it slowly grew more painful as if something was trying to pierce into his mind. He screamed in pain but, the giant rats only closed in.

Then space above him distorted, a black-blue portal opened up carrying an ancient aura so powerful that time seemed to stop, the rats momentarily stopped in their tracks, and then they turned and ran for their lives. Then an electric bolt shot out of the portal, even though it happened in a millionth of a second, it seemed as if the bolt was lazily flowing down like a liquid, turning and twisting it finally entered Damien's mind. Damien's pain reached its peak and his conscience started to fade, his life force flickered as if it was going to be extinguished any moment but then the bolt in his head slowly settled down in a deep corner of his conscience, with that Damien fainted.