Prequel

The moon rises high over the country of Zhàndòujī, when the crackling of flames comes to break the silence of the night. A forest is burning. The trees are languidly licked by the fire which devours them. Smoke covers the tops of the trunks. At the center of these infernal specters takes place a bloody dance. The metal crunches with each meeting of the edges of the weapons. Men are fighting. Their adversary is indistinct, the only clue being their immense humanoid shadows projected by the fire. The cries of the fighters muffled by agony portend their imminent defeat. Trees crumble, consumed by flames or crushed by a superior force. Piercing screams are being heard, orders are barked.

In the panic and chaos, a shadow manages to extricate itself from the blaze. The entity moves quickly and flees out of combat, away from those fearsome enemies who bring down men. It moves through the trees, her footsteps crunching the dead leaves on the ground that have not yet been caught in the fire. The crackling get louder as they move away, deafening the noises of the confrontation happening. The individual finally stopped its race, once sure of being far enough to no longer have to fear the enemy.

The orange light of the fiery tongues approaching illuminates his face. The face of a man is revealed to the tree eaters. A man with a wrinkled face and his straight grayed hair by age, previously jet black in his younger years, falling on his shoulders. His bright red eyes tinge the dying forest with a bloody color. He diverts them towards a white cloth occupying his arms. The garment is agitated with movements. The man smiles as a silver eye peeks out between two folds and watches the flames. This child, whose eyes are still pure, observes with a mixture of fear and fascination the movements of the hypnotizing fiery menace. However, his eyes reflected shadows among the flames, indescribable silhouettes.

A terrible shiver escaped the man then. The opponents were already there. He places the cloth in his original position in order to protect that little creature hiding under as he starts running as fast as his slightly injured and exhausted body lets him. As he runs, a mysterious red aura envelop his body, giving him the ability to accelerate his course and go faster, without feeling the exhaustion in his limbs and muscle.

It continues until the trees open into a small clearing right in the middle of the forest. There is a domain there. The noises of his pursuers draw closer, so without even thinking about it any longer he rushes towards the walls of the compound. Going through the door would reveal his presence here. He knows they will pass through the estate to find him. Without even having to climb, he propels himself with the same energy that allows him to accelerate to find himself the next second on the other side of the wall. At the back, opposite the door, sits a temple in height. The most resplendent structure, it dominates the rest of the estate.

This domain, this temple, he knows them like the back of his hand. He trained here, and it was here that he met a friend who now owns this place. Without further ado, he goes to the door of the temple and knocks on it. There, he is greeted by a man of more or less the same age. Then he recognized his friends. He is visibly smaller than him, wearing his hair tied in a braid and whose yellow eyes reflect the light of the moon as well as blazes in the distance. The owner sees his friend and exclaims:

"Gisei.. What are you doing here so late? Come in, I'll make you some tea."

The so-called Gisei can't stay here too long. He doesn't want his friend to be unable to fulfill his duties by hurting himself. And he needs someone to watch the child. His gaze is saddened then. He hands the child to his friend.

"Tian-Han.. Please take care of him. His name is Kazuki, he's your nephew." 

Tian-Han then looked at the child who pointed his face. He smiles, softens.

"He has his mother's hair and eyes, but he looks more like you, my friend.. But tell me, Gisei..."

Fear crosses the words of a brother who worries about his siblings

 "...where is.. my sister?"

Shame is the only feeling that appears on Gisei's face as Tian-Han's crumbles.

 "I'm sorry.. I couldn't.. I wasn't enough-"

His complaints are interrupted by heavy crashing noises from behind the walls. Gisei and Tian-Han look into each other's eyes and each nods in agreement.

Everyone knows what to do. Tian-Han goes home with the child in the temple as Gisei emerges through the walls, calling the horrors that are after him. He knows he has no power to kill them. He has only one last mission, to take them as far as possible from Tian-Han and Kazuki, so that they lose track of them. Likewise, he disappears one last time in the forest, very quickly joined by his pursuers.