PROLOGUE

It was a sunny morning in Oregon as Jason dragged his sleepy feet to the bathroom staring at the mirror,

yep, same old me he thought as he wore his glasses, not that he needed the glasses anyways, just to disguise his look. Not really understanding why himself, just because his aunt told him he had to keep low from everyone at school, with a snort to himself he stretched, he wasn't even popular at school!.

Putting off the glasses, he entered the tub and switched on the tap as warm water gushed out of soothing his bones as he gave a sigh of relief, closing his eyes. The water was a little bit hot,

it would pay a lot better if it were cooler, he thought

it might had been his mind playing tricks on him but Jason could had sworn the heat of the water reduced…. he would later wish it was his mind

somewhere else

A man moved at a speed that would cause the nearest checkpoint officer to rethink his report of the day. He jumped over a car, twisting and turning has he slid behind a shop, one hand clutching the bleeding wound at his side. With a look of grim determination he gathered momentum, bursting out behind the shop and tore into a forest, his heart thudded heavily within him, not fast enough he thought franticly as a high pitch laughter rung around him.

Entering a clearing as dark shadows surrounded him in columns, he stretched his arm, watching as runes in gold fazed into existence, calling a silver looking blade also into existence as it glittered in the sunlight. The shadows stepped back obviously irritated by the light, he glanced around looking for someone, he isn't here he thought happily, his mind beginning to create the happy thought that his assailant had lost track of him, but only for a second as a man in a dark long sleeve cotton shirt stepped out of the shadows.

Dark hair with a trench coat as the darkness seemed to cling to his very being, the shadows making a hissing sound as though they were sentient. His eyes glowed red, vertically slitted like those of a cobra, and a smile that revealed fangs that gleamed, this was no human evidently…

He twirled two knives in his hand with a grin plastered on his face,

"hello guardian, fancy meeting you in Texas. What do you want?" he asked, his dripping hunger and disdain, but most of all hate, a feeling that was reciprocated by the man who was called a guardian

The guardian stepped back, face passive as he bit back a reply, his gaze solely focused on the creature in human flesh who stood between him and his goal. He couldn't allow them to know why he was here, doing that would be condemning the whole of his realm to death. He consciously felt the jewel in his pocket while staring at the man who clung to shadows, he had to get it away from him, had to find the prince. The shadow man stared at the pocket, his grin slowly edging away and at once came back,

"the jewel of artemon" he stated,

"How convenient of you to deliver it to us, we were about to go searching for it" he said,

The guardian turned the sword in his hand and, gripping it tight as he made a vertical slash, a line of burning light called forth from the blade towards the shadow man who hissed in pain while dodging and only receiving a glancing blow to the arm which sizzled in head. That distracted the leader as he removed the gem from his pocket murmuring to it,

" aeto, collectus, illummino, elixtu" he said as the gem flared up and vanished.

The shadow man let out a horrifying scream that tore through the day as he ran towards the guardian in a clash of blades, the shadows gaining sentience as they morphed morphed into humanoid creatures and stepped into the battle.

the guardian pressed forward, blade glinting as he twisted and turned, dodging strikes from the show men while dishing out deadly attacks of his ow. However, he was one man, a bleeding one at that, and he still had a mission to fulfill, and with that thought he decided to go straight for their leader. The being whipped so fast he seemed like a blur to the guarding, paying a deadly strike by the guardian to its neck as it gripped the sword arm of the guardian, breaking the bones to splinters despite the scream of pain the guardian let out. The shadow men wasted to time in piercing the body of the guardian with blades conjured out of the darkness, bringing him to his knees.

The guardian turned his gaze up to the back of the shadow leader, to a place where Jason was suddenly standing, eyes wide in shock. The guardian smiled, coughing blood and thanking the gods that it was just a projection. Gripping a medallion, he whispered a short spell, feeling the gem appear in the hands of Jason and with that final act he smiled, Ikir he murmured, somehow clearly enough for Jason to hear,

“save us ikir” he said as a blade came down decapitating his had in one swing. Jason screamed as the shadow being turned to his behind, eyes wide in shock at how someone could had snuck up to him with his notice. His eyes went to hand of Jason where a golden gem was held,

“who are you?” he growled as in a burst of speed he appeared in jasons front, gripping his throat,

Jason grabbed the beings’ hand as golden light burst forth out of the gem in a blade like form, cleanly searing off the hand of the being who hissed in pain and immediately retreated,

“who are you for the jewel of Artemon heeds your call?” he shouted,

Jason stepped back, closing his eyes and praying for whatever nightmare this was to end. Could this be stress?, anxiety for his coming exams?, whatever this was he needed out and fast cause he was pretty sure that man in his front did not like him one bit!. The man sniffed the air, eyes widening,

“you reek of aratian blood, royal blood…. impossible” he said, eyes widening,

“what are you?” Jason said, steeling his nerves,

The man smiled slowly, realization of who was standing in his front slowly seeping into his brain,

“the prince?, the lost prince?” he laughed throatily,

“the fuck are you talking about?” Jason said,

“you don’t even know?, not to worry…ikir” the man said scornfully, not with the same reference the guardian had used,

“now that I have your scent, we will come for you…. Jason elixtu…soon” he growled as he lunged for Jason who screamed in fear, a bright light enveloping him, eyes opening under water as he struggled to surface.

After coughing the water out of his lungs, he stood up grabbing his towel and stepping out of the tub. Breathing heavily as his heart thudded heavily in his chest, what was that dream, could it even be called a dream?

Who were those people?

The guardian….

The shadow being and his shadow creatures…

What was that gem?...

And why had that man called him Jason elixtu?

Who was elixtu?......

Getting up from the floor and managing to stand upright, he faced the mirror, to meet a pair of glowing golden eyes, well his eyes. About to shout, his gaze went to the table where a golden gem sat, glowing in proximity to him,

“oh lord” he whispered