Chapter One

   The blood fueled battle cry of an army charging off to war drummed inside my ears, accompanied by the loud clashing of steel. 

   "FOR ILESIA!"

   "FOR ROREST!"

   Two opposing forces cheered in near unison amongst the growing chaos. An unheard of war was about to come to an end, as I had watched it unfold time and time again in dreams of mine like this.

   "Nera."

   Faintly some distant voice was whispering to me, attempting to call me awake.

   "Neeerrraaa!"

  A child's voice was yelling my name. Another one of the children in the orphanage that I've had to learn and call home.

   "Try pulling his hair, that always wakes him up"

   I could hear one of the older girls giving orders to the younger kids, many of their small voices barely speaking louder than their growling stomachs. Sadly I was the oldest of the orphans and the only one who knew how to cook with the others refusing to learn, leaving me with them as my wake up call each morning.

   "What do you wanna eat, guys?"

   Each kid began shouting their own order at my request, leading me to retreat back beneath my blanket from the noise.

   "He's being lazy again! I'm gonna jump on him"

   Without time to react the thin scratchy cover, I struggled to keep warm under every night is pulled from atop of me. I grit my teeth and curl into a ball on my side as a couple of tiny bodies begin to pile on top of me.

   "I want eggs!"

   "I want cake!"

   Stretching my arms out, I wrestle free from the submission of the kids. The twins of the orphanage, a boy and a girl sat in the bed next to me watching to see if I was going to make the effort of getting out of bed.

   "Alright everybody, to the kitchen!"

   Like the general of an army, I pointed my arm out towards the door of my room. The kids followed my command and as the last of them made their way in formation I could hear the gallop of horses in the back of my mind. Though conscious the dream from last night still played in the back of my mind, vividly in view whenever I shut my eyes.

   Entering into the kitchen the kids all sat clumped together around our table. As happy as you would think it may sound whenever I came out to see them waiting for me like this, the image only ever filled me with disgust. This place we lived in was nothing more than a run down old cottage on the edge of town. None of us had families, nobody knew half of our names when we got here, we all live day after day just wondering what we were even born for. I don't blame them of course, I've come to love them as the siblings I never had. But knowing somewhere out there that we weren't wanted, these young kids some of which barely can talk yet, that we were just abandoned makes me sick.

   "Okay everyone, Nemia wins we're gonna eat leftover cake again until the old lady goes to buy more food."

Although their fragile, thin faces beamed at my words I knew there was something they were still craving inside. I guess one can only eat sweets for so long until you wish you could come home to a real dinner, prepared by a mom or dad.

"But Nera, aren't you gonna cook today? You promised me I could have eggs today."

The only one left unsatisfied for the morning, the boy of the twins eyed me up and down broken hearted.

"I know Nico, but I have something I have to take care of for General Wilbourn today at the Knights Order, okay?"

I run my hand through the young boy's hair, attempting to press his dark brown curls, just like his sisters, back into place that sprung out from all over his head.

"I promise you, on my way home today I'll go to the market and get a whole bunch of eggs! Alright? And then we're all gonna eat them together tomorrow morning, sound good?"

"Okay, but only if you keep your promise."

Even if he still pouted while he spoke, just pulling forth a small smile from him made me feel better.

"Eat up everyone!"

Placing the half-eaten slab of cake in the middle of the table the kids all started cutting out their uneven slices onto their plates. Another thing that set me in a bad mood through the morning routine, was watching them all eat. I knew it wasn't their fault, we never had anybody teaching them manners, but watching the kids have to eat with their bare hands boiled the anger inside of me. The old lady that runs this place was terrible; I may as well of had thirteen kids of my own at this point because that's what it felt like. We had dirty clothes, dirty beds, old food and nothing proper to eat any of it with. I could say it a hundred times and mean it more every time it escaped my mouth, I hated this place.

"Love you guys!"

"Bye Nera! Love you!"

"Don't forget the eggs later!"

The few of the kids who weren't stuffing their faces yelled their goodbyes for the day to me as I set out the creaking door of our home.

"Cecily please have them clean up when they're done!"

"Got it, big bro!"

I barked orders like a strict mother to the second oldest of us as I walked around the side of our cottage, the walls like paper even from the outside. Maybe today would be the day she'd teach them something other than to pull my brains out when I'm trying to sleep.

   "That'll be the day."

   Trailing along I finally hit the edge of town, where the dirt road running near our home began to transition to well-placed cobblestone. The overgrown foliage showed signs of actually being managed, and any of the trees that started to display early signs of decay where decorated and painted over by the kids of the town. It was like phasing through an unseeable wall, that once my feet stepped hard upon the stone every morning I became a part of another world. This was a world where I was strongest, this is where I could pretend I was more than an orphan; like I was somebody who mattered more.

   "Hey, sorry I'm late!"

   My close friend and fellow classmate of the Knights Order academy, Ro shouted my way opposite on the road. His thin body yet somehow stocky upper figure looked as though it was about to collapse after a long sprint. Despite actually living in town already he somehow always managed to show up late, his short spiked hair threatening to lose shape from the water he'd throw on himself to keep cool under our towns unyielding morning heat.

   "It's fine, you're here sooner than I expected anyway."

   He grinned widely, knowing himself he had the habit of showing up well after whenever he said he would. An irritating trait that I'd still never trade in my friend no matter how often he kept me waiting, because it gave me the time to actually pretend that I blended in with the townspeople without the only purpose of my day in the town being to go to school.

   "Just at least try being on time the next few days, you know we've got trials coming up."

  "I know, I know, I spent all day yesterday after class studying and practicing my stances."

  "Pfft, wish I could say the same."

  "What? The kids giving you a rough time again?"

  "No, not really. I mean not this time anyway. It's the damn dreams again, they're back and causing me to wake up all hours of the night."

   My friend looked at me with distraught as we walked side by side, nearing the entrance to the marketplace. He knew everything about me, one of the few people in town that knew I was an orphan and about my terrible dreams. Nightmares of bloodshed and macabre.

   "So they're back, huh? Maybe they'll disappear after a while again. I'd just try and find the time to study between taking care of the kids, maybe have Cecily take over for a few days. You know you can stay at my place anytime."

   Another smile and I swear Ro never had a negative thought, it's partially what kept me going though. I swear his positivity was put into this world to balance out my terrible sense of self-doubt.

   "Trust me as much as I'd love to... I just can't leave them. I trust Cecily, she's such a smart and caring girl but, the old lady gets mean sometimes and she'd never have the nerve to stand up for herself. I gotta be there to protect them."

  "Yeah, I get it. Miss Wordell is a witch, isn't she? Even more so since her husband passed a few months back, huh?"

"Trust me, that's an understatement at best."

   Small buildings made of stone and wood lined the sides of the streets, some with largely pointed roofs that extended out hanging over their doorways with extravagant detail to the outside of them, others bland and rather simple. Different people all worked themselves into their daily routines as the morning dragged by. A few rather ambitious salesman wheeled their wagons throughout the crowds attempting to sell different fruits and loaves of bread, while most just sat up tables displaying their goods. You could find almost anything you needed if you looked hard enough, or somebody who knew where to get it if you asked; that's just how our town of Ilesia was, so many people passed through on their travels that gossip and junk alike got left behind here. It kept the marketplace lively for sure but still paling in comparison to the entire districts dedicated to shopping in the larger capitals.

   "You need to pick anything up?"

   Ro almost looked like he could get lost with his eyes and hands wandering over every table we passed by.

   "No, for now, I'm good. But after class, I gotta come to get eggs, so let's stop back by later."

   My friend nodded in agreement, probably thanking me that I kept him from spending all of his hard-earned Sul on another splurge of unnecessary things. He had a job outside of class unlike me, pulling in at least a hundred Sul a day sweeping the streets which was surprisingly good for what it was, but still not really enough to make a living.

   "Yeah, sounds like a plan then. I figure if I can persuade Wil to pay me another fifty Sul for cleaning up the armory again I'll have enough to buy my very own sword today. It'll be awesome!"

   He cheered with his fists out in front of him full of determination, dangerously ready to have his hands on his very own weapon.

   "You make the swords shine like silver and maybe he'll throw you more than just a red Sul. Get inside the boots too, then he'll bring out the blue Sul for sure. He's always complaining about how the boots stink."

  I pinch my nose, making a disgusted face at a preferably forgettable memory about the one time our academy smelled horrid from one of the knights who failed to notice he trailed through horse manure and all throughout our hallways.

   "And show some respect, his name is General Wilbourn, not Wil. If we get too friendly with him he won't take us seriously during our upcoming trials."

"We're gonna pass easy, don't worry. No need to be so uptight all the time. Come here, loosen yourself up a little."

As much as I tried to slip away from his grip, Ro grabbed hold of my shoulders, vigorously shaking me in place. I wouldn't say it made me feel any more than dizzy and incredibly close to vomiting everywhere as well.

"You're right, you're right. I got it."

I flashed the best smile I could, despite all the worries still swimming around inside my mind. One way or another I had to pass those trials, for me they were more than just obtaining new ranks along the hierarchy. Passing the trials meant I was one step closer to a real well paying job, as a knight, a guardian or something. A lifestyle that could bring home enough Sul so that I could afford to move me and all the other kids out of that poor excuse of an orphanage. Ultimately, it meant I could protect them all; at home inside the safety of carefully built walls and on duty, defending the town from whatever threat could come our way.

"Excuse me."

Lost in thought I hardly notice when a rather tall black cloaked figure bumps into my shoulder walking between Ro and I. Almost instinctively I turn to apologize whether it was my fault or not, only to find the man already disappearing into a crowd of people.

"Rude, right?"

I turn back around, meeting Ro's face with confused eyes.

"At least he said excuse me I guess."

   The intense boisterous clamor of the market faded into the distance the further we made our way from it, overcome by a beautiful choir going on inside our towns precious cathedral further down the road; The House of Light.

   "You think the Goddess is gonna talk back to the girls today?"

   Ro bobbed his head back and forth to the rhythm of the singing coming out of the wide-open doors of the building.

   "Probably not, the whole following is a bunch of nonsense. If there really was a Goddess of Light do you honestly think she'd let people suffer like what I see on the daily? I'd have parents if she cared as much as they claimed she did."

   A deep-rooted hatred forced its way out of me without warning.

   "Still, they sing so pretty I can't complain I guess. Besides as much as I'm against it, Cecily wants to start getting into the practice next year when she's older, so I'll be unable to avoid it at that point."

   "The girls got goals, that's awesome! I remember when she sang for us the one day we spent out fishing at the lake, she's really amazing!"

   "I know, she'll be the first of us to escape this hole if she puts her mind to it."

Various instruments echoed alongside the angelic voices inside the House of Light. Ro and I stop in front of the cathedral, hiding in the shade that it's incredibly high peak provided us from the sun. Glass stained windows shimmered as a few rays of light beamed their way through the massive structure, casting different colored cutouts onto the road out front. Crumbled supports laid out beside the building, knocked off from the roof during various brutal storms, most of them however unnoticeable at first glance under the growing brush along the outside.

   "You know, it's gonna take some getting used to having her walk with us every day."

   "For sure."

   Although the thought of Cecily coming with me into town every morning brought a smile across my face, knowing I'd be proud to see her walk into the cathedral each day, who would watch the other kids? After her, the oldest was only twelve, and not nearly mature enough to make me feel safe leaving them in charge.

   "Maybe... I mean, hopefully, we'll have our place in town by then. It'd make things easier."

   Ro shakes his head in disappointment, seeing the expression on my face saddened once again. Gently he pushes me back into our steady walk, just as a flock of dark-colored birds takes flight above us from the roof of the cathedral.

   "Are we gonna be early or late? I've lost track of time."

   Surprise surprise.

   "On time, since I convinced you to leave way earlier than normal. My cunning at its finest."

   Dumbfounded judging by the look on his face Ro still manages a laugh at my remark.

   "You ready then? General Wilbourn is probably gonna run us through drills the second we step foot inside."

   I push open the remains of a large rusted gate that held back the vegetation of an overflowing courtyard. A winding walkway slithered between rows of flowers, surprisingly beautiful for a place where guys were expected to learn how to kill people at some point.

   "I've got to be, the sooner I get the drills done with the faster I can bargain my way into Sul for cleaning the armory."

   It's strange whenever anything Ro said could cause me to laugh, but the excitement coming off from him just to go clean up dirty weapons so he could buy a sword surprised even me as I chuckled to myself.

   "Look sharp then."

   I whispered at my side, as our steps fell heavy on a quiet path of broken down rocks.

   "Sharp and shiny as always."

    A gentle breeze brought about the scent of metal under my nose, carrying dust of old armor and flowers alike circling up in the wind.

   Outside of the House of Light, we stood before the pride of our town, The Knights Order Academy. Renowned for its presence standing as a miniature castle it's never waned from its title. Long banners ran down the front out of the academies large arched windows, our towns insignia barely recognizable on the worn out cloth. Moss seeped through anyway it could find through the cracks in the walls, only to compliment the vines that tangled around the large flag posts lined along the perimeter of the glorious structure. Doors wide open, our path led straight into the lobby of the building, only the stone having been painted brown to the color of wood as it passed under the entrance. Exchanging glances Ro and I finally walked inside after a pause for fresh air, throwing our packs by the door and preparing ourselves to be suited into our sparring armor.

Silence.

The old place whistled as an enormous gust of wind blew throughout its strangely barren halls.

Ro spun in a circle probably just as astonished as me, and I began to scratch the back of my head digging for answers to questions in the shroud of confusion building in the back of my mind.

"So... where is everyone?"

~END~

~~~~~~~~~~~~Authors Note~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello, everyone! I'd like to take this section here to tell you all that this is my third attempt at getting my most favorite of my stories out there into the world. NERA at its prime only managed to reach 1000 views. While my own self doubt kept me from ever getting past the first few chapters, always rewriting and changing things, but no more. Finally confident in my work I believe I'm ready to show you the grand story of NERA from beginning to end. Enjoy, and be sure to stay around for the journey.

If you ever have any questions or thoughts regarding the story, always feel free to message me.

Often or not I tend to listen to music while writing to help set the tone for myself in delivering the scene to my audience. Here are a few songs I listened to while writing the first chapter.

1.) You make me feel brand new by Bradio

I chose this song as it helps me to think of a beautiful beginning to a long, long story. I listen to this each time I begin to write something about NERA, in my head I use it as it's theme song as of now.

If you enjoy what you're reading be sure to follow me to keep up with story to unfold. Like and share to help grow the story and make my dream come true, in sharing a wonderful fantasy world with everyone.