1 Seeing Crimson

It was very hot, some would even call it scorching. Flames rose from the forge as pangs of hammers beating on glistening metal could be heard with the deafening roar of the open flames. A voice was heard "Anvil get over here and bring your father the Hammer", Pelt said in a loud voice.

"Yes, I will be right over" He shouted as sweat dripped from his forehead.

Anvil maneuvered his way to his father trying his best not to get in anyone's way. He approached the burly man drenched in sweat.

The Forge Hut was loud and suffocating as the flames danced in the forge.

A deep voice was heard from the burly man. "Thank you boy, now get back to work." Olaf took the hammer from Anvil and slammed the glowing metal bar. Anvil saw sparks flying in all directions, he always enjoyed watching metal being molded.

Drenched in sweat Anvil headed back over to his bench. On it there was an ornate ring he was working on. He tried his best to focus on his project and not get distracted. Using his magic power, he could slowly mold the soft gold. Sweat began to pour down his head, he became light headed and almost fell to the ground.

Anvil heard his father from across the room "Boy what did I tell you, your magic power is too weak to mold metal, use your tools".

Then Anvil retorted, "But Father why do I have so little mana, everyone else my age has 20 times more than I do?".

"Give it time boy." Olaf yelled out with a smile on his face

Anvil had a sad look on his face, he finished up his ring and handed it over to his father.

"Fine work Anvil" said His uncle Pelt.

"I'm heading home to rest, tomorrow is the final day of school, I'm off now ". Said Anvil,

As he left his father's shop he was hit by a cool breeze it felt great. Anvil was covered from dirt and grease from being in his father's shop all day.

As he walked the muddy streets of his small village he smelled human and animal waste. The sun was slowly sinking under the mountains on the horizon.

After a few minutes of walking he finally arrived at his small two room hut. He grabs a strip of meat he had left outside to dry before walking inside.

In his house the first room had two beds and second a small kitchen. Anvil heads to the kitchen to grab a metal skillet hanging from the wall, he then walks over to the Wood stove and lights it with some flint. (Ha who needs magic anyways).

He places the iron skillet on the stove and throws in some bear fat, as it begins to simmer he put in the dried meat with some herbs he had gathered around his house, the smell was enchanting. As he was about to take off the skillet a huge explosion was heard from the direction in the center of the Village "BOOOM".

He grabs his pack and the knife he had forged himself, then runs to see what all the commotion was about. He ran so fast that his mud ridden boots almost slid off his feet. He saw flames erupting from the town and heard screams.

(What's going on?) he rushed to the direction of his dads shop only to see that it was up in flames. Outside on his knees he saw Pelt with his hands on his face as tears rolled down.

Anvil asked with a worried look on his face "Where is my father?"

"He was caught in the blast I tried to help b-but, I had no mana left." Said Pelt

Chaos was everywhere as explosions kept reverberating, villagers fled in all directions as the flames swayed and formed a giant flaming lion.

"Oh no! it's the Crimson empire! They are invading the Kingdom of Dawn!" shouts were heard from the people running. Breaking Pelt out of his daze.

"Anvil! We can't stay here, it's not safe we need to go now". Pelt shouted.

Pelt and Anvil ran through the woods towards the mountains. It was getting darker and darker as they ran. Two hours later they were exhausted from running through the dense forest.

They saw a small cave at the base of the mountain and decided to take shelter in the pitch-dark cave for the night.

From the distance they could see the glow of the burning village as billows of smoke rose into the night sky.

"Anvil, you must sleep, you need rest, tomorrow we need to head to Dark Rock, they should be able to protect us from this invasion" Pelt said with a weak voice.

After the adrenaline subsided, Anvil's face began to turn pale and tears began to drain from his eyes; they seemed to have no end, stopping him from getting any sleep.

It was a long cold night they made no fire in fear of being spotted by scouts. The cave protected them from the cold northern winds from the mountain regions on the outskirts of the kingdom of Dawn.

Light began to peak over the mountains from the west, as the sun rose Pelt shook Anvil.

"Wake up we need to move." Whispered Pelt.

Anvil's face was pale, his eyes were red from crying and lack of sleep.

[rustle,crunch]

(Oh no they found us) Pelt whispered to Anvil "I'm going to use my magic to take a look outside the cave, don't make a sound."

Pelt then covered his right eye with two fingers, they began to glow, then a small hovering translucent orb formed and slowly moved its way outside the cave it steadily rose up into the air.

"Gasp" came out of Pelts mouth. "What is it?" Whispered Anvil.

Cold sweat began to form on Pelt's forehead...