Leccamaradel woke to a soft sensation dragging of her shoulders.

Sluggishly opening her eyes, golden rays of light pierced through a thin curtain. Grasping the fabric below her hands, it only took a moment to realize that she was in the confines of the small room that she lived in with her family.

Pressing herself from the small bed bellow her, her brown eyes glossed over the room around her. A wooden desk laid next to the window with several books and pens scattered on the surface, a small chest laid next to the main entrance, and a wooden cabinet laid against the wall with a silver lock over the top main doors.

Raising herself from her bed and stepping onto the cold wooden floor before her, a shiver ran down her back as she stepped gently to a mirror that was placed against the left side of the entrance to her room. With a slim hand she brushed the brown locks of hair that fell over her shoulder, her quiet breaths were all to be heard within the confines of her room as she turned away from the mirror and walked towards the cabinet just across from her.

Opening the lower doors her hand flowed over the thick dresses that were presented to her. Picking a plain manila-colored dress, she brought it out and walked in front of the mirror once more. With a small smile across her lips, she proceeded to dress into the lightly colored garments. Before she left her room, her movements stopped as she turned around and stepped just before the wooden desk within the room. Her hand swiftly swiped a vial full of an unknown black-red sludge that pulsed at her sudden movement. Out the door, she paid no mind to the two guards that stood silently before following her as she stepped out into the early spring sun.

The place she and her family stayed at was a villa just on the outskirts of a small town within the Kingdom of Yondel. The grand fields just outside the walls were golden and held the fruits that would lead to the creations of the finest wines the kingdom could offer to the world. A cool breeze touched her exposed hands and face; it was warm, and it signaled the start of the summer within the next month. As she walked her eyes blinked over the distant mountains that separated her and the capital city on the other side. A part of her couldn’t wait to return to her home, but she preferred the calming atmosphere the seemingly forgotten town she was near was like. Stopping momentarily at a ledge, Lecca looked upon the distant winds and greens as her eyes watered from the sudden onset of a yawn being forced out, one that made her two guards chuckle at the display the young princess showed.

Ignoring the attitude of the two men behind her, the brown-haired princess descended a small set of stairs down into the main garden area within the villa. She cheerfully walked around the stone fountain in the center while occasionally stopping at the large patches of flowers and other plants around the area.

A light pain flowed throughout the young princess’s body, but she paid no mind as she continued to her next destination, the dining area.

She wasn’t hungry, but she aimed to see her younger brother and the rest of her family which had probably moved to the large room to eat their morning breakfast. Circling around several hallways taking in the grand paintings and objects scattered throughout the wooden passageways, the young girl kept forward as she reached the dining room where she suspected the rest of her family waited.

Before she herself could place her hands on the door, her two guards stepped in front of her as they opened the door and scanned the room for any immediate threats. This was a commonality and it always annoyed her; she was used to the castle life where she could go wherever she wanted without stoppages, but being away from the capital, she had to get used to this new routine of letting the men under her father’s command protect her no matter where she was with the exception of the washroom and her private rooms. First it was an inconvenience, but now it was just everyday life.

Stepping aside and letting her step inside, she curtsied the three individuals sitting at the table in the center of the room. At the side of the room, Lecca saw her personal butler gathering several teacups and pitchers with a light smile under his brown mustache and greying-brown hair.

“Good morning, Lecca.”

Listening to the soft voice that called out to her, the young girl placed her left foot back on the ground as she lifted her head towards the person that called out to her, her brother.

His golden-brown hair shined in the faint sunlight that broke through the glass windows. A smile was painted across his small lips as he adjusted the stiff looking green-black clothing he had; no doubt chosen by their mother. On his waste sat a small vial of the same black-red sludge. The purpose for the sludge had yet to be revealed, but their father had told them to always keep it close to them, something she took to heart. Her younger brother was a bright boy, yet he was restrained by the mere occupations of their parents, something that he was slowly growing to resent as he stayed in line while looking for opportunities to do the things he wanted to do.

Sitting across from him was their mother, who was sitting silently as she used her metal knife and fork to pick at a small slab of meat and a small amount of rice on the plate before her. With her silky brown hair tied up in a bun, her pale face held several faint rings under her eyes. She wasn’t in the best state to be seen by anyone, but she kept up her appearances as she lived each day as they passed by.

Her father was wearing a simple tan robe as he was supposed to go out to a meeting within the next hour. He brushed his hand over the small amount of facial hair that grew on his face as he spoke with a butler about the next rounds of documents he would have to deal with.

To anyone, this would be a simple picture of a normal family living their lives.

But to those inside and those allowed to know, the current Royal Family was just now finishing or starting their breakfasts.

For just a moment, Lecca’s mother wavered as she faced her daughter with soft eyes and. “Come sit down.” She said nodding her head to the empty seat next to her brother. Moving at her mother’s order, Lecca stepped lightly as she took her seat next to her brother while a dish was served before her by her butler Harold Aramid.

Dragging her hand across the metal fork before her, her brown eyes scanned across not only the meal before her, but her family which had finished eating and were getting ready to depart for the day. “I apologize, but I have to attend this meeting with several members of the local city council.” Lecca’s father said as he rose from his seat. “We have manners to discuss about the local production of foods and drinks, so I expect this to stretch throughout the day and the evening.” A maid peeked from around the corner of the now opening wooden door with a large brown sack in her hands. Her velvet eyes flashed between the members of the royal family as the butlers and other maids within the room quickly dispersed except for the personal attendants to the family. Turning towards the woman and grasping the hood of his robe, the older man stepped to the door and stopped before facing his wife, daughter, and son.

“Oh yes.” He said with a wavering smile that was hidden behind his mustache. “Lecca my daughter, stay strong. Soon that illness in your body will be removed, and I will take you on a trip to the place we agreed on.”

With a bright expression the young girl looked at her father with sparkling eyes, “You promise!?”

“I promise. Even if I can’t, I’m sure you’ll find someone special to take you to such a place.”

Slowly opening her eyes, a flood of light clouded her vision as it adjusted to the sudden influx of light.

High above her the canopy blocked out much of the early morning sunrise light, but scattered breaches shined upon the forest grounds.

Shifting her head she felt an uncomfortable surface behind her hair, wood. The memories she had suddenly dreamt of had begun to fade away as she remembered that she and the others had momentarily stopped during their night-long ride once they discovered a group that was traveling through the forest. Looking down and grasping a familiar weapon, she brushed her thumbs over the wooden stock of the bolt-action rifle sitting atop her stomach.

Not moving her head, she let her eyes wander the area around her instantly spotting the Major and his men standing over the group they had found which happened to be a group of students from 1st National Academy. Scanning over the occupants that were a part of the group, her lips separated and let out a silent sigh as she recognized both the boy named Yu and the blonde-haired girl named Alice.

She breathed softly as the warm air slowly woke her up, and the uncomfortable feeling on her skin from the dirt, sweat, and mud made her focus. Blinking several times and using her hands to rub the gunk out of her eyes, the young woman rolled her eyes thinking how far she had fallen from the position of the “First-Born Princess”.

“Just like the jungle phase.” Richard whispered as he spoke with Staff Sergeant Baker.

“I’d bet, though this isn’t the same as SERE.” The older man murmured as he scratched the side of his neck.

“You ever think you’ll be still serving by the time we get back?”

“Who knows. I think this whole experience is quite enough for me. Might go reserves or national guard once we’re back in the states.”

Silently ingesting the words spoken by the two experienced soldiers, the silver-haired woman reminded herself that the men still planned on returning to their own world. She had already mentally committed herself to the task of assisting them return to Earth, yet inside of her, a raging battle between her conflicting emotions tended to occupy her mind as of late.

Being that several months had passed since their introduction into the magical world, they held no flag, no country, no home. Everyone they knew, their families, loved ones… they could all be presumed as dead, or perhaps the opposite; such people they held closely could’ve simply forgotten about them, leaving them to the fate of time.

Were they Rangers?

Holy Knights?

Special Agents?

Were they Reclaimers?

She could not comprehend the unwavering, and fearless attitudes the men that were placed under her command held. Even with her former profession as the kingdom’s premier assassin, she had yet to let the skills she learned, and use forge the personality that she carried every single day. Yet these men were not only trained to be warriors, but from stories they told were forged by fire in the ever-lasting reality of war. They remained human through all of this, through all the killing.

Even the men of the 13th Air Combat Division were “Ravens” that created death. In a similar light they were like the Rangers she had grown to learn, yet their methods were more brutal, more demonizing. They had perfected the art of psychological warfare and applied it to their everyday operations. Their black helmet covers were a sign of this, and they wore it with more than pride when taking to the fields of battle, something she had learned the night before.

“We don’t have time for this shit.” Major Williams said in a frustrated tone as he looked upon the group of four students he was standing over.

“Recommend we send them the other way, sir.” Luietnenant Ingrid suggested as he pointed out to a distant hill that couldn’t be more than four or five kilometers away.

“Can’t do that. No one to lead them back safely, not to mention the absence of a teacher or administrator provides several problems.” Captain Thompson cut in making the two men nod their head in agreement.

“We can split them up on the horses. Those designated will stick back as a backup fireteam.” Walking up brushing his hands, Sergeant Malkovich provided the words that escaped his mind as he stopped and rested on a nearby tree.

The conversation came to a halt as the men stood in complete silence. Each had thoughts, solutions that could be implemented to successfully carry out the contact mission and assuring that the children below them would return to their school safely.

Clambering from the ground, Lecca adjusted her collar as she unbuttoned the top button letting her body cool down. She held her rifle in her right hand but soon transitioned to carrying it by the sling attached to the bottom as she stepped forward to the horse, she was using which she named, “Stars”. With her hand she brushed the animal’s snout gaining a playful huff.

“Malkovich is right. We have no other choice, less we want to risk of leaving ourselves, or an escort at the mercy of the monsters in the forest.” Being a voice of unforeseen “reason”, Sergeant Randall stepped forward backing up his fellow NCO’s opinion. A conflicted expression grew across his face as he quietly spoke, “I don’t even know why I’m saying this, but those kids can bolster our forces by a fair margin due to their access to magic.” His fists clenched and his eyes remained widened as he fought every urge to not simply take his fireteam and escort the children back to where they came from. He bit his tongue as he regretted his words as the men looked at him with wide eyes, and surprised expressions.

“Never thought I’d hear something like that come out of your mouth Randall…” Lieutenant Patterson exclaimed as he patted his close friend’s shoulder with concern leaking out of every move he made. Stammering on his words the sergeant failed to provide any understandable reason as he lowered his head and kicked his left boot in the dirt to dispel his frustration. He wanted to blame it on his time in this new world, but even he knew that such an excuse would go with severe consequences. He simply bit his cheek as silence overtook him.

Concern for her partner’s wellbeing, Lecca moved away from her horse in a quiet demeanor. “He’s not entirely wrong.” She said hoping to distill the negative emotions that were being force upon the man. “There are those that can cast magic well beyond human comprehension, and though I am against the idea of having children fight in wars not their own…” She turned to the four teenagers that were standing up and standing next to each other with hopeful eyes, “The school has failed them if they relegated a task to such a place as this. No normal person would allow children to come to a place of danger, let alone somewhere that war could possibly break out at the drop of a hat.” She explained citing the current situation she and the others were forced into by the Federation and Kingdom.

“You’re not wrong, but kids as soldiers?” The Major said with some hesitation in his eyes and voice. “We do what’s necessary for the world, to help the children have lives we never did.”

“We’ll continue to do that.” Captain Thompson said stepping forward and locking eyes with Yu. “They’re not going to be sacrifices, but the least they can do is help triage and heal us if we have wounded.”

“Fine then. Let’s get back to work, Ingrid you have point.” Stepping to and climbing on his horse, the Major outstretched his only gloved hand as he spoke to the teenagers looking up to him. “Come along, you’re all about to make the history books!”

With the four students approaching the soldiers, they broke off as Mike and Lecca mounted their horses with the former biting his lip and staying silent. Riding forward and stopping next to her partner, the silver-haired princess looked at him worriedly as she reached out her hand and touched his shoulder making him turn his head paying attention to her.

“Move it out!” The Major bellowed as the point man snapped the reigns, he held in his hands lunging his horse forward at incredible speeds.

“Stay close!” Mike shouted as he and the others began to shift forwards as their horses ran in a gallop towards their next destination.

A small cloud of dust emerged from the bottom of the horses’ hooves, yet it never clouded the beaming morning sun as it broke through the dark and distant clouds that shed tears upon the faraway lands. A brisk wind battered their bodies making some cold, and the sounds of birds was drowned out by the stampede that was quickly moving to the exit of the forest.

Lecca kept up with the sergeant who held onto his horse tightly. Both were well accustomed with the reality of a riding a horse, which made small smile bubble to the surface when they noticed one of their own struggling to keep up. Thankfully the entire platoon was able to ride out the morning hours with little difficulty as they reached what looked to be a break in the trees.

“Exit ahead!” One of the Major’s men called out over the progressively loudening stomps.

“Press forward! Don’t stop!” Responding from the back, PFC Simon bellowed in the distance as he momentarily looked over his head and saw a small contingent of monsters, he was unable to recognize following at high speeds. The scene was quite comical, with the young private looking upon the monsters hot on his tail with a conniving smile upon his face as the blue-haired boy he had seen several days ago clung to him for dear life.

Keeping his rifle close to his chest, Malkovich momentarily flashed his head around catching sight of the pursuers. A nervous sweat fell down the side of his face as the platoon raced towards the opening. “Upon exiting, fan out into a file! Don’t lose each other!” Major Williams ordered with a throat burning roar as he moved ahead of his Lieutenant and took the position of point man.

“They’re still on us!” A soldier shouted in a frantic voice as he withdrew his side arm in his left hand. The man stared at the metal pistol in his hand before shoving it back into his leather holster that sat attached to his thigh. “Fuck!” He cursed trying not to let his decision get the better of him.

“We made a lot of noise, no wonder they’re after us!” Richard said in a cheerful manner as he pressed his horse further gaining speed on Baker and Malkovich.

Charging forward the monsters that kept pace and were slowly gaining ground looked to be demonized versions of the very same horses that the platoon rode forward into the forest. Large burning horns stuck out of their heads in no, single place, and their bodies were covered in ash and burn marks providing an unpleasant smell for those unfortunate to be around them. Their eyes were glazed over in white, and their teeth rotted as the spewed saliva from their mouths.

Examining the situation from the middle of the formation, Thompson quickly thought of a solution that would use a valuable resource that they only had a limited amount of objects for. “Simon! Grenade!” He ordered making the young man fumble with his plate carrier before he pulled off the olive-drab spherical object.

Turning around and extending his hand, the blue-haired boy steadied himself as Staff Sergeant Baker and Malkovich slowed themselves while grabbing their rifles. Aiming their weapons while the boy casted a magic circle on the palm of his hand letting a blue haze grow from his palm. Opening fire from the side of the platoon, the two rifle did little to the monsters as they charged forward only stumbling when a bullet impacted into their bodies. Thirteen bullets were fired before Baker made his order to the two boys on the last horse.

“Throw it!”

Pulling the pin and dropping the grenade on the ground, the blue-haired boy simultaneously launched a bolt of azure-hot fire towards the leader of the pack chasing them melting its skin and bones to ashes. Though it was only a single target, it was more than enough for the horde to slow just in front of where the green sphere laid in the mud, and a sudden flash of light was followed by shrapnel, dust, and dirt being kicked up from the ground sending splinters of wood and metal fragments into the beasts killing two and fatally wounding four more. Cheers came from the men as the rode away from the sudden explosion, each operator had slowed their approach but kept a steady pace to the exit of the forest were the blue skies and bright sun shined upon them.

The cool air that surrounded the forest slammed against Lecca’s face and caught her loose strands of hair as her eyes trailed upwards to the sky that was only occupied by scatted white clouds and a trio of birds with white feathers soaring high above in the seemingly distant sky.

Breaking off into a single line the men followed each other as they ran across a shallow body of water that led directly towards the set of hills that were to be crossed to reach the objective. Droplets of water were scattered across the path where the horses raced over, and a heartfelt sigh emerged from Mike’s lips as kept his gaze focused on the person just behind him.

“It’ beautiful!” Lecca shouted as she placed a hand on her helmet making sure it didn’t slide out of place.

“Yeah! A shame the monsters had to ruin the trip!” Mike said with a small smile as he rid himself of the thoughts that occupied his mind minutes ago. Felling the cool breeze against his skin, and the refreshing touch of the water that splattered against his legs and boots, the sergeant increased the speed his horse was running at as a gap had grown between him and the operators ahead.

Before he could gain the amount of speed needed to catch up, Lecca and her horse rushed ahead as she looked back with a bright smile; her helmet had been forced off and placed against her belt and her silver hair flowed in the wind, the sun kissed her pale skin and made her brown eyes shine.

Somehow, she knew, this place was the location her father had promised to show her…

Even with his untimely death, his promise was still held true as she now rode alongside someone that fulfilled what he wished for…

“Try to keep up!”

“You’re on!”

Somehow… Perhaps this convinced Mike Randall to not worry about being the best…

It would be better to follow where his heart and mind would lead him…

Publicly Available Information: A Surprising Discovery:

An investigation initiated by the Department of Naval and Marine Science recently made a discovery regarding the inherit genes those that are able to cast what is known as Nullification Magic are subject to a greater power that has sent large “shockwaves” of energy along the coastal lines of the Federation and her sister nations.

Cooperating with known Mage Alexander Sokolov, the DNMS has began a joint investigation into the source of the “shockwaves” with many scientists believing it to originate within the “Unknown Regions” that were lost during the Reunification War. Many consider the origin to be factual, but recent studies into the shockwaves have provided many questions to dispute this suspicion.

As for what scientists theorize, many believe this to be the place where the power of Nullification Magic was first discovered, and in addition, evidence and localized blood tests from Null. Mages have shown that all casters possess an irregularity in their genes that are the exact same, suggesting that “something” had given the power to a select group of individuals; thus, that power was passed down to future generations and has remained a constant in those that can wield this Godly power.

END OF VOLUME.