Along the Sky Dragon Road heading north was a large group of about seventy people on horseback. They all wore good quality armor but if one looked closer they could see large dents and scratches were gathered on the surface of the armor. All of these men donned the insignia of the most prominent religious organization on the continent of Kiya, the Krain religious order.

Leading the men on horseback was a man with blonde hair and blue eyes. Perhaps at one time he could have been considered handsome however the left side of his face was mangled and he was missing an eye. His armor which at one point could have been a work of art had the worst damage out of everyone in the company.

The armor looked like it was through a shredder. The plate armor that once protected the left arm was long since been tossed due its uselessness after being torn to scrap metal. Part of the chestplate over the man's heart was simply missing leaving a gaping hole over the left side of the man's chest. The armor was missing pieces here and there making the commander look almost like a beggar that was wearing junk metal held together by worn leather straps. However he didn't care about his appearance as he looked down at what he was holding in his right hand.

In his right hand was a hollow crystal ball about the size of a grown man's skull. This hollow crystal ball refracted the light from the sun hanging in the sky displaying what was within. Within was a smaller solid ball that had a metallic luster and had a deep purple color. Most people wouldn't know the meaning of this object but to the commander of this small army it made him smile in joy, an almost sadistic smile. With that grin on his face he turned his head to view what was behind him only to laugh in ridicule.

At the back of the group was a young boy. He had snow white hair that had long since become tangled and matted, covered in dirt. His face was swelling on one side along with various bruises. He was stark naked and covered in cuts and bruises all over his body. Currently he had his wrists tied together by thick rope which was in turn tied to the back of a saddle on a horse. Under the hot sun the boy dragged his feet through the dirt trying to keep pace with the horse as he hung his head low. He wanted to cry but he couldn't. This boy was Fay Caige.

Fay was currently lost in a daze as he dragged his feet. His eyes had become lifeless. He had wanted to be free, he could easily cut this rope with his claws. However, he had tried that the night before only to be tortured. After freeing himself from the ropes he couldn't get away quick enough. They smashed off his nails using rocks before beating him half to death. Currently the the only thought in his mind was, Why?

Every thought brought him flashes of memories from several days before this point.

He had returned with Pax to the mine. Although he was confused he knew it was serious. His Uncle Pax was unprepared. This was all he knew, they had gotten there much faster than expected. They were stuck in that hole with no place to escape to.

In Fay's mind repeatedly went over that moment, the moment Pax was fighting the commander. It was at the bottom of the mine on the small island Pax had built his house. Fay had been watching from a window in secret since Pax had told him to hide. From where he was all he could hear was there indistinguishable screams and howls of magical beasts. At the time Fay had been afraid and indescribably confused. That was when he took a peek outside.

He could see blood running down the mine's cliff walls and flashes of light. Bodies were splashing into the lake staining the waters a crimson red. About twenty feet from the window was Pax facing off against that commander. He couldn't see much but he could tell something was wrong. Pax was in his tiger form. A deep purple fog hung in the air forming a barrier preventing others from approaching them.

Fay could hardly tell what was happening, they were moving too fast. They appeared to be blurs that would clash and dodge, twisting about each other. At least that was how it was before the commander displayed his true abilities, he was an anomaly. From where Fay was he could he see the commander's mouth move and suddenly orbs of lights began to float in the air.

These bright glowing orbs were the size of a baby's fist. Their glow was nearly equivalent to a miniature sun. Fay had to squint from his position at the window and shield his eyes due to the sudden influx of light. When his eyes adjusted he saw something startling. Pax standing across from the commander in his busted armor. The commander was clearly displaying battle spirit on his raised sword. Yet he clearly just cast a spell.

This spell lit all of the surroundings. The light orbs were all a foot's distance from another forming what appeared to be a grid. This wouldn't be a problem if it were only a few but there were thousands upon thousands of these orbs floating through the air. Also in the moment it was casts it blew apart Pax's purple barrier. With no choice left Pax tried to get the purple fog to return to his body.

Purple fog flooded towards Pax, only to be completely disintegrated by the glowing orbs that blocked its path. In this moment Pax seemed to partially collapse as he spit out blood. That purple fog was was part of his innate ability. Destroying that fog that was essentially part of Pax injured him deeply. Although Pax was often rather intelligent he was still a magical beast. Having something like that destroyed meant he could never again use his innate ability, this threw him into a rage.

An intense pressure radiated from Pax as rushed at the commander. He ignored the glowing orbs that disintegrated his flesh as he ran at the man who was trying to take his life. Fay nearly cried out as he saw whole pieces of flesh be torn from Pax's body some orbs even drilled holes into his chest. He became even more troubled as he saw that the orbs behind the commander moved to make a path for two individuals.

These two individuals both wore white robes. The orbs of light moved allowing them to run up the sides of the commander, they knew that this spell could only be held for so long and that it was impossible to cast more in this time. Like a ghostly wind they appeared at the commander's side quickly raising their right arms before shouting out with all of their heart a single syllable: "Fa!"

At this point Pax was already closing in, just as the two men began to shout his pax had already met the left side of the commander's face. His paw easily crushed an eye and mangled flesh as it swept downwards. It's at this moment flames that roared with the fires of the abyss and the screams of a distant hell streamed from the palms of the two men, they were mages. In the midst of the crimson flames the commander hacked at Pax with his sword clad in battle spirit.

This method of attack was chaotic yet effective. The flames themselves destroyed and devoured all in their path. The commander raised his left hand signaling them to stop. In place of Pax's body was his Phoenix Core this was the core of his existence as long as this existed he could draw from the natural essence in the world around him to regenerate. However it was not to be.

The commander took out two halves of a hollow crystal ball before quickly placing the Phoenix Core within one of the halves he was holding before placing the other half on top, forming a complete crystal ball. He began a quick chant. The two halves began to glow as they melted together forming one cohesive whole. This crystal ball cut off the flow of natural essence within meaning that Pax could no longer regenerate.

Fay in a panic hid under Pax's bed as he thought about what just saw, he was confused and didn't know what to do. He was just nine years old, he wasn't familiar with the world, so all he could think of was to listen to Pax's earlier warnings and hide himself. His heart began to beat heavily as he could only view everything in the room at floor level. The silence only served to make his heart beat faster. It was a half an hour since he hid himself before he finally heard noise.

People were in the house. He could hear various voices:

"Search the house for anything valuable."

"To think a magical beast was pretending to be human... Haha"

Fay could hear people upstairs in Pax's private library. From his point of view he could see people moving around on the lower floor. He heard the sounds of paper tearing and bookshelves being toppled. Someone finally walked into the room. He could only see the man's boots. The stomping of the boots against the floor echoed in Fay's mind every time they hit floor approaching the bed step by step.

Fay held his breathe as the man near the bed, he could hear the crisp sound of metal. It was the sound of a blade being drawn from its sheathe. Fay heard the tearing of cloth as he saw feathers fell lightly upon the floor. The man tore at the large featherbed bed before simply tossing the featherbed off of the bed frame. Fay looked up at the man. They could clearly see each other, he had been found so easily it made him angry.

The soldier grabbed Fay by his hair and roughly pulled him from one of the gaps in the bed frame. The soldier had a vicious smile on his bearded face as he heard Fay cry out due the suddenness of having his hair nearly ripped from his scalp. All Fay could recount immediately after being found was that he suddenly felt repeatedly sharp blows to the head as his vision faded to black.

When he awoke he was tied up on the rough gravel of the lake shore with his face in the dirt. He had been stripped of his rags and with his hands and feet bound he could hardly move. Suddenly he detected movement in his daze. He tried to move his head to see what it was when someone grabbed his shoulder. He was now sitting on his knees. In front of him was the commander. The commander had a hardened look as his face as he looked down at Fay as he asked: "What is a human doing with magical beasts?"

Fay didn't answer his question and simply stared at him with wild and vicious eyes. After a long pause the commander nodded to someone he could see. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain his side, he had been kicked full force by a warrior. Fay screamed out as several of his ribs shattered. He was only nine years old and was not yet accomplished in the cultivation of his power, how could he defend himself from a full grown man who was an accomplished warrior?

"Waaaaaaaaaa!! Emphmmph..."

In the midst of his sharp wails he had a wad of cloth shoved in his mouth to act as a gag. Tears hung on the edges of Fay's eyes. The commander casual chanted causing light to surround where he had been kicked. The feeling of having one's ribs broken only to have them reposition themselves and heal. The healing magic caused elemental essence to flow into his body to fix it. For Fay it felt like someone's hand was crawling through his flesh. This feeling caused,his stomach to churn. He was throwing up.

The commander coldly looked down upon Fay as he choked on his throw up due to the gag. After thirty seconds of Fay choking the commander signaled the other man to remove the gag. As soon as it was removing the stomach fluid had a place to go, all over Fay. Fay sitting there realized the pain on his side was gone but that only helped sow the seeds of fear. They could simply break him and put him back together, an unending painful cycle.

Bound hands and feet and covered in his own stomach fluid Fay looked like a broken doll. The commander smiled as he looked at the fear in Fay's green eyes. He spoke once more in a light hearted tone: "I'm sorry about being rude before. I guess I should have asked your name first. Well my name is Wilt Kern how about you young man?"

With his head hung low he dejectedly answered: "I am... I am Fay... Caige..."

Hearing an answer to his question Wilt had a broad smile he clapped while lightly saying to Fay: "Well I'm certainly glad you are being a good pet. I'm truly glad you didn't miss the show. To think that a magical beast was pretending to be human here, even built a house. No need to keep it here now that it's sealed now is there?"

At first Fay wasn't listening to what he had heard until Wilt said something about a seal. That crystal ball was a seal. While thinking about it he was suddenly jerk around, he was now viewing the house that he had spent nearly half his life in so far. All he could remember were the words: "Do it."

The house was set ablaze. They forced him to watch his own burning home.

Everything else passed in a misty haze. Now Fay was here, heading north. They were on their way to the capitol of the empire of Lance, Klyde.