He stood on the balcony of his grand castle overlooking his authority over the realm. It was a magnificent sight. His subjects enamored him with praise and their devotion as they passed by to catch a glance. It was all perfect, not until he saw yet another light in the far distance that he loathed. A pillar, like a spear the came from the heavens, descending to the earth to punish those deemed damnable by the right hand of the creator.

His adamant demeanor shifted as he felt the passing of his subjects. His own magnificence was being challenged, and he fully knew that a great threat was upon him, if he were to do nothing about it there would be an uproar.

He proceeded into a room further in his castle, wide hall with a round table and eerie designs of a fancy, decrepit castle. Gold chandeliers hung from the ceilings, tattered banners decorated the walls, and stain glass windows gave off an aura of grandeur from the days of the past.

There were two beings seated on the table, a few chairs apart from each other. One was a beautiful, slender and well-endowed woman who possessed what seemed to be eternal youth. She wore an elegant white dress that showed a bit of her long, smooth leg. Her long faded silver hair went along until her back; her seductiveness and elegance showed with her posture and sharp eyes. She licked her lips as the great being they served entered the hall.

"My lord, I thank you for gracing me with your presence. I would have loved it even more if we were alone, but certain matters needed discretion," she glanced and smiled deviously at the person beside her." Elizabeth Kalice, upper Ivaas general. I have returned from my duties. The situation in the north has been stabilized. They are sure to be silenced until we come to conquer them."

The other was a tall, pale man with his eyes closed. He wore a formal uniform that could be attributed to a distinguished general. He was silent, but handsome in his own right. Short, smooth dark hair that covered a part of his left eye. Wearing a clean, white glove, he clasped his hands together, setting them down as he noticed his presence in the room.

"My lord," he stood up and bowed curtly. "Arthur Gauld, lower Razhuen general, here to heed your words."

"I see no need for me to address the problem seeing as how you two are here. What do you make of that light?" he asked with his smooth, dark voice that echoed through the room, making the two of them shudder.

"It could only mean one thing, and one thing alone. There is no mistaking it. That bright light could have only been created by the Thaliseans. It feels oddly similar to the one a few days from before. Many of our people have seen it and are clearly terrified by it. They choose not to speak, but it is apparent that they want to hear your thoughts on the matter," said Arthur with a formal tone.

"I don't like jumping into conclusions, but mister upper echelon here is the better of us when it comes to discerning auras and energies. I think that the Thaliseans are the cause of this as well, not unless the humans have made a spell to produce a bright light like that in hopes of luring us. What would you have us do, my lord?" Elizabeth asked.

He proceeded and sat on his throne, thinking of his next move. This was no doubt something that he should not undermine.

"Elizabeth. I want you to send someone to scour and scout the area of the first phenomena. Begin your search around it. If you do not find anything, then report to me, and I shall give you another task."

"I shall not fail you, my lord. I shall send someone competent under my command," she bowed with a smile that hid something behind it.

"I repeat. You will send someone, other than you, to scour and scout the area. You are not permitted to attacking it yet. We cannot be complacent with our people. Sending them to a needless fight will cost us dearly with our battles against the other human kingdoms... I shall decide what comes next for you when it is done."

"Oh, my lord. You truly know me. I knew that you would see through me at once. I understand. I shall obey you with all my heart," she spoke contently.

"Arthur. You are to prepare for an attack that will come at a later date. Muster a force fit for an invasion. We shall force the lords and king of Ylithia to their knees, and cripple them. I shall specify soon. But for now, you are to prepare. Our first and most important task is to locate the Thalisean and kill it. We know not of its location, or whether it does exist or not, but if it does, then it is a threat to us all. I will declare an open war against it."

"By your will, my lord, I shall succeed no matter what may come."

"Good. I will address this matter with the multitudes later."

They cleared and emptied the hall, leaving him to himself.

"The creator, is it?" he murmured to himself as he paced back and forth, unable to settle down. "Do you still dare oppose me, I who obtained the greatest power to dethrone you? I have sacrificed many for my own gain, deceived and killed many, but you still dare to defeat me. You are dying knowing the fact that there is nothing you can do to defeat me. I shall show you, by nailing the final nail in your coffin, I shall eradicate your own remaining sons and daughters that still roam this world, your own puppets hanging by a string. I shall inherit and reign over everything that you have created. After all, ... I am your son."

He moved with grandeur, emphasizing every step with a certain aristocracy and a bit of finesse befitting someone of his great status.

With a snap of a finger, one which echoed through the gloomy and languid halls, a servant wearing a dark suit came in silence, bowing his head. He had a clear aura of fear masked by humility as to not get reprimanded, or worse, eliminated.

"Call the people to order. I shall address their woes this afternoon after the sun is a quarter full in the sky," he spoke without needing to make contact with his servant.

Then he was alone, left to his own thoughts, those which complicated matters for him as well.

"So, you're telling me that you were a woman all along? I see. It didn't really occur to me, but I did see some odd things about you. Like the way you walk sometimes, and the times that you made a sound different from what you looked like. But I never would have thought about it, I guess."

"Indeed. There is a reason that I have kept this disguise. One I am able to reveal is that I am being pursued my cutthroats and mercenaries paid by a certain someone that wants me dead. So far Gino and I have been able to elude them."

"But you seem so familiar. It's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't say just what it is. I've seen you before, I swear I have," I said, drawing my face closer to hers so that I could remember who I've seen that resembles her.

She had a lovely face mixed in with her slightly aggressive and sharp blue eyes, and short blonde hair until her shoulders. It was a charm that I found rather unique, oddly enough. However much it betrayed the brave face she tried again and again to show, she always had with her that female charm that I seem to notice from her.

"You're too close," she said, pushing my face away.

"Your face... I think I recognize it now," I said, my face feeling hotter than usual. My heart began beating terribly fast since what I saw back there was something else. They both have the same face, and the sharp glare, and the aggressive voice.

"So, do you have any idea as to who you might think resembles me?"

"I do. I think it was back when we stopped at the village. I went to a clearing in the forest where I saw her bathing in the river..." damn, I ran my mouth.

Just then, as I expected, her eyes became wide for some and she went beet red. She grit her teeth and clenched her fists, her glare was twice as stronger than before, and it was pointed right at me. She slipped her sword from her scabbard.

"Uh, I don't think I understand, but why do I feel a dangerous murderous intent from you?" I asked as I backed away.

"That... was you?" she said silently.

"Hmm, this'll be interesting," said Gino, reclining from his spot under the shade, closing his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"You were the one from the forest?!" she fumed, nearly stabbing me with her sword as I narrowly avoided it by shifting my head to the side. I was pinned down and under her mercy. "I-I can't believe you! Unforgivable! To think that I was about to trust you! What have you to say before I make you pay for your transgressions?" she eyed me with a fierce dead expression, not playing around.

"I, ah, uhm, you looked very beautiful! I mean it!" an advice that I was given by my father was that if I ever found myself in an unwanted situation concerning a woman, simply compliment her and everything might just turn out alright. That's what I believed, but I could not know for sure since I had no one to use it on. "In truth, I was so captivated when I saw you that I couldn't move. I really am sorry about that. I didn't know it was you, but it wasn't my intention to do that."

She withdrew and sheathed her weapon, stood, and turned away from me. "Empty flattery once again," she murmured.

"How skillful. To have disarmed her like that. It's unlike anything I've ever seen. I too thought that you were finished," Gino said jokingly.

So, will you explain to us clearly what you are? I already have an idea, but I want to hear the answer from you."

"I guess there's no use hiding it... I am a Thalisean, or that's what I've been told anyway. I don't really understand how being one works, and I don't really have full control of what I can do. Sometimes it just happens suddenly."

"Interesting," he said with a narrow, serious gaze. "How did a race, that went extinct years ago, exist now?"

"I don't know myself. I only knew vaguely about my origins, and it came from my father. I mean, I want to know, but in don't think I can anymore."

"Thinking about this rationally, I might just need to betray my promise to you and tell everyone in the world that you exist, just so humanity can stand a chance," he said bluntly.

My eyes widened in surprise. Who knows what might happen if something like that were to happen. Just like with what Sir Hark had already told me, there are a lot of bad things that can happen.

"But I won't," he continued. "I don't think the rest of the world will see this like I do, but a promise is a promise. You told me yourself that you will reveal it in due time. I will simply have to trust your judgement."

"Thank you, Gino, Alexandre. I won't run from my duty, I've decided that so many times, said that ov r and over till I was sick of it. But... I still have a long way to go. There's just no other way to say it."

"And that's why we're here," he followed. "Isn't that right, Alexandre~?"

"Now that you say that, I wonder, what is your real name?" I asked, sure in my thoughts that if she wanted to elude the sights of people, she would use another name, an alias. I thought that it was too good to be true for something like that to happen, but she surprised me with her next words.

She sat silently then whispered, "Daphne Everic Luvierre. Daphne is fine," her serene voice trailed with a certain loneliness in its tone. It got me to thinking that I should have instead lied than told the truth. But the thought of lying to someone close to you only pains me mentally.

"Nice to finally meet you. I think that we should do introductions again just to make this official," I said, trying to lighten the mood. It had an elegant ring to it, no doubt. And it almost sounds like she's from an affluent, high-class families that Sir Hark had told me about. But from what I've read from the books, there hasn't been one that has a tempered personality, or a slight lack of elegance. Oddly enough, she felt fine the way she was.

"Don't think I'll forget your felony that easily. No compliment can make up for that," she said, pouting. "My purity has been defiled by you. How am I going to live with this?" she asked herself the same question I asked myself. How would we look each other in the eye knowing that I've seen her bare skin?

"But you were the one bathing out in the open," Gino murmured to himself, only enough for him to hear, or me by accident. But it didn't seem to reach her ears as her full attention was pointed at me. She didn't seethe that much with rage, but more of a tantrum.

"Ah--is that so? Well, I guess if it makes up for what I did then I will take responsibility however I can. I mean it."

"Just owe me a favor, and that'll be the end of it," she says. "I don't want you to take responsibility. Just owe me something, and I'll be fine with that."

"Alright. Then I'll owe you," and we worked on a compromise.

"By the way, I wanted to ask something that caught my attention," said Gino.

"I've read about the mark of the herald, the name given to the glowing symbol of a Thalisean. It has been studied and stated that the mark is at the mercy of its user, yet it seems that you didn't use it till the end. May I ask why?" he demanded grimly.

I took a glance at the mark, or where it's supposed to show. This is just one of the biggest mysteries I have. This symbol that's supposedly that very thing that can beat the demons.

"Truthfully, I don't know a lot about this mark. I only recently knew that It could help me a lot against demons, but I just can't seem to use it when I want to. It's like it has a mind of its own, appearing when everything's stacked against me."

"How odd. It shouldn't be like that. Well, we humans only have a vague understanding of it, so I don't think I can be of much help to you. Magic has nothing to do with it, rather it transcends magic. If you want to grow, you will need to know how to effectively use this power of yours. It'll mean life or death when the time comes. Study it, when you have the chance."

"I will. Thank you," but where do I start exactly? Maybe I'll ask Sir Hark for information on who might know something about the mark.

The day went by fairly quickly, and we chose to rest by ourselves out in the wilderness, setting up a camp after we decided that we didn't have much of an energy to continue after what just happened.

It was difficult, a bit, seeing as her presence and her consciousness of it all were obvious to the both of us, and that there were no secrets, of my knowledge, that have been kept from one another.

I would get a cold look, and a much harsher treatment when I would ask her to help me practice with my swordsmanship, she would often choose to deliberately ignore me, but her stuttering and stumbling nature when flustered only pulled me in closer, unknowingly. It has a worth to it, despite all those drawbacks. After having seen her up close, I could feel a slight flutter welling up in my stomach that I can't seem to understand whenever I see her. I might be conscious of the fact that I find her charming to look at some occasions, but I can't seem to trust myself on this, not that I would mind.

"You’re overextending your foot. Don't let it stray too far from you when you're on offense," she demonstrated a brilliant array of techniques using only the movement and positioning of her body, and her pivot. At every twist and turn she seemed even more elegant, as if it were a dance that she could perform splendidly.

"How long have you been doing this?" I asked, laying down on the ground with an exhausted and depleted body.

She came up to me, hair glistening along the setting sun, raising an eyebrow of mild disappointment. But she had a smile that immediately disappeared after I saw her glance at me. Maybe my mind's playing with me again.

"Years. I was taught by my father whenever he had the time. But that was a long time ago," she looked ahead of me, at the passing, quest sight filled with tranquility. Her expression looked lonely to me, and it was obvious that there was something that she was talking about that bothered her. Whether I had to audacity to ask her or not, I could ask. For now, I wanted to leave her to herself.

Another morning came by and we were well on our way towards our main destination. Everything that happened so far felt like a blur. Our lives always on the line.

"In a few more we'll be at Exaltier in no time. It's just a straight path ahead, then we'll be able to see the city from a slope," Gino cried out.

There was clear expanse of green as far as the eye could see. Mountains decorated the far horizon, covered in a white coat that piqued my interest. The road was clearly paved, but empty except for us.

And soon enough, there it was. Exaltier. The capital of the kingdom of Ylithia

It covered a large round area, walled off with stone. There was a feeling of grandeur that way it glistened under the sun. A large castle with four tall spires exceeding the castles on each corner, could be seen in the middle of it, overshadowing the surrounding buildings because of its immense height from afar. Around it are fields of wheat and older houses scattered near the area.

There was nothing around it but the vast expanse of freedom from the wilderness.

"Amazing... so this is what it looked like. It's nothing that I could have ever imagined," I said to myself, gawking in disbelief and surprise at the prosperity I've beholden.