Prologue : A Fulfilling Journey

Under the dove grey sky when the colors of the world donned their winter coats, each hue becoming darker and richer than before. The river sparkled and crunched, like sugar underfoot, and the coolness of the breeze brought people right into the now, into the moment of life. This shooting atmosphere also brought forth a gravitas of emotions like happiness, joy and uppermost, the lust of the flesh. That time was when Preston was conceived and, after a heartfelt rollercoaster of emotions of the nine months, he was born.

His father, Laboda, stood there in bewilderment. A tingle surged throughout this whole body. It was a rush of excitement he had never felt before in this life. When his eyes hit his little boy's angelic little body, he froze and couldn't think or acknowledge anything else around him. The world seemed to stop, hold its place in time, just for that perfect moment. The baby's hands quivered as Laboda slowly reached down to touch his little fingers and feel the softness of his skin. He ran the tips of his fingers very gently across the baby's smooth face, and right away, he fell in love. His wife, Selena, whispered, "I can wake Preston up if you want to hold him." He was euphoric, he was finally a father! As he held him, he stared into his gorgeous amber eyes and knew instantly that he would love and cherish him forever with all his heart and would be willing to go through a sea of boiling oil and run through a road of knives for him.

Preston was born in the small remote village of Goleta near the Blackheart Mountains and Talon River where the spring weather washed in like the tide, advancing confidently with warmth and white sunshine one day, and retreating the next. Preston's dad was a small merchant and his mom worked in the bakery. He had a humble but happy fulfilling life as he was loved by both of his parents. He always had a pretty little face, still instilled with baby fat, and always liked to roam the untamed wilderness of the Blackheart Mountains with his 3 friends, Mark, Roble, and Bubla. When he was 6 years old he finally saved enough money from selling pastries in his mother's bakery to buy himself something special.

"Yay, my own wooden sword, I can't wait to show it to the others." giggled Preston

He liked the sense of adventure and often pretended to have courageous travels, driving the dragon away when he was just herding the cattle, saving the princess from a high tower when he was just rescuing a cat from a tree etc. When he was 10 years old, he and his friends Mark, Roble, and Bulba found an abandoned cave and made it their own hideout. Mark and Roble were brothers and were sons of the local merchant. Mark was a tall kid for this age and he had a strong spirit for adventure. Roble was a little shy and timid and wanted to go to adventure to find riches in the world. Bulba was a charming little girl and often liked to hang with the group. She had even developed a little crush on Preston. They were happy and roaming around with joy and spirit with full of adventurous thoughts until one unfortunate night when they encountered "it".

Though it was still silent like the how the Talon river was, in that darkness devoid of birdsong, there came a musky scent tinctured with rancid breath. Preston was awake as always, trying to figure out which activities to do next in the woods. The rumors of the werewolf pack were rampant in the village and though he thought it was just "nonsense", he kept the wooden sword next to the campfire they had set up. Suddenly he heard a crack of twigs being trampled, although skeptical, he nudged Bubla and placed a gentle hand over her mouth, he roused and pulled herself to sitting. Then slowly he made his way toward the end of the campfire that leads to the other 2 members of the group. He slowly woke each one of them and told them to go and retreat to the village. Preston turned to Roba and gestured toward the fire in the middle, it needed to go out. Roba nodded and went to put out the fire when suddenly a furry face appeared almost instantly from the darkness of the woods and he screamed. The figure stood among fire while Roba retreated to the group. From the shadows came a wolf, yet he was no ordinary predator. It gazed at them with almost human eyes and the spark of intelligence. Its muscular frame was also visible in the depths of it's brown and black fur, it's muscles containing its explosive strength. The only sound in the entire clearing of the forest was it's breathing, it's flaring nostrils as he took in Roba's scent. It curled up its gums to reveal yellow stained teeth and then let out a low rumbling growl. The thing looked round with wolfish grins and stalked towards the group, glaring at Preston with his wooden sword. The group of people were already imagining their fate, in seconds their throat will be ripped out, her flesh consumed, blood staining the pale sheepskin rugs.

The group stood behind Preston staring in fear. However, Preston stood resolute in the face of danger. His instincts and every cell in his body told him to run for his life, yet he stood resolutely for his friends.

Then the thing spoke. "I don't want you man, I want the woman - far more tender. Stand aside and live."

In answer, Preston raised the sword higher.

"It's my time to hunt today and I only get to eat one per night. So you see, I have chosen her. If you want to fight so be it."

At his words, a drool of saliva rolled thickly from his rubbery lips and he took a step forwards. Preston didn't blink, didn't move, didn't speak. There was no negotiating with devils such as these, the only answer they were going to get was a face of nine-inch nails. He attacked, knowing no way in hell, was the werewolf going to let the others go anyway.

That day still brought forth nightmares to Preston's dreams. The thing played around with them for almost the entirety of the night. Preston attacked the thing with everything he had and yet the moment his wooden sword landed in his body, it broke like a rock hitting glass as the broken wooden shards were spread everywhere. Preston didn't stop attacking even when his hands almost bleed dry. The feeling of helplessness instilled bone deep into his conscious and the worst part was that the thing just let him hit it as much as he wanted without moving. Its eyes were filled with mockery and pity towards Preston. However, after several rounds of Preston trying to hurt the thing, it was getting impatient. It, with its monstrous strength, knocked Preston away. It then moved slowly towards Bulba and grabbed her petite frame tightly and Bulba's cries and struggling added more joy to it's feeling. Preston's body was filled with pain and bleeding among several broken bones but he clearly saw the scene of the monster savory devouring her and Bulba's screaming and crying before he passed out.

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The villagers found the body of Roba, Mark and Preston's body in the forest as they were getting worried about the kids not coming home. Roba and Mark had fainted out of fear when they saw the frame of the thing so they had not seen anything. When the villagers questioned Preston, he was like a body that had lost its soul, and could not say anything until someone asked, " Where is my little girl ?"

Preston looked at the middle-aged women that had Bulba's petite nose and lips.

" She is gone" With a tremble within voice attempting to breaking free. He said, and cracking mid-way into a full-on wail "I could not save her, she's gone. She's gone."

Preston swore that he would never feel the type of helplessness again and he would grow stronger and protect everyone he knew. From that day on words, Preston trained his body every day by doing strenuous exercises and trying to find qi in his body. He trained and trained and did everything to increase his strength. From sword fighting, maneuvering activities to parrying and dodging. He started to learn and practice every day without rest. After several years in training, he had heard of a knight that was passing through and immediately rushed to her living place and begged her to take him as a discipline.

The knight had a hawkish air about her. Even her nose was curved and beaky. She had eyes of palest blue that fixed you in ice should you dare disagree or talk out of turn. Her hair wasn't so much blonde as a washed out brown like it just couldn't be bothered to be any color at all. She was willow-wand thin, so stick-like that it was hard to imagine her eating much at all, much less being the knight that were subject of worship because of their strength. After she helped Preston get up from the floor, she introduced herself as Maria, a rogue knight, who was going out for a mission for the Warrior's Faction. After hearing Preston's encounter with the werewolf and his heartfelt reason for becoming stronger, she was moved.

Maria asked Preston's family about taking Preston as a disciple and having him travel with him. Preston's father and other first outright refused as they did not want their precious son to leave them. However, after some arguments with Preston, he was allowed to go. When he was about to leave the village, he invited his friends Mark and Roble for the last visit.

"See you again. I will miss you guys."

"Yes, see you again Preston. We will miss you so much." replied Mark

" Yeah. Well, life has plans for everybody. See you again Preston." said Roble

" Well, let's meet once again in 10 years at our secret hideout to talk about our life and tell each other what life's planned for us. In the 6th Day of Autumn Nirvana, let us drink once again."

"Sure. Just don't forget that you still owe me a 3 bottles Woodsupple wine Preston" smirked Mark

"Like hell I do, you cheated in that bet and you know it. You, however still owe me a meal at Barbara's place" said Preston with a smile in his face

At 14, Preston set out to gain strength and adventure the world with his master, Maria. Preston was thrust into a whole new world of experiences. He met new people, made different bonds, trained regularly with his master yet never fought with any monster except the occasional Grey Rat.

"Adventure, do I even know what it means? Perhaps it's the daily errant I run for my master, or maybe the time when I have to explore the garden for the Nirnroot for the hundredth time of the day." thought Preston over the frustration of not fighting an actual monster

After traveling for many months, Preston and his master, Maria, finally settled in the grand city of Thalmor where the majority of Preston's training began. He practiced with different sword techniques and even tried to awaken his qi, but unfortunately was not able to succeed. However, even with that failure, he practiced harder and more often. He did some errands for his master in the mornings, practicing sword techniques and training his body in the afternoon and eating and sleeping in the night. The routine became the only thing in his life.

However, that all changed until he encountered Amelia. Maria had assigned Preston to get some books for her and when he arrived at the counter he saw her. He was completely astonished by her beauty but managed to hide it and get the books his master wanted.

He was in love with her. She never left his mind, she was always there; mentally if not physically. It was just incomprehensible. Preston never believed in "love in first sight", however, he begged to differ to his past self. He always made an excuse to go to the bookstore and talk and interact with her. She had that shy look young women often wore, but it was never morose. Always behind those slightly pursed lips was a smile just waiting to be tempted out. Sometimes she'd look his way and he generally pretended not to notice too much interest and he thought she would have run. But when he did return her glances he didn't have to try to smile, it just came naturally. In those moments she would blush ever so slightly and he'd imagine her being his girl. But some people are worth the wait and she was of them. He didn't even know if she was allowed to date. But that day he took a chance and invited her to the park in the city, he saw something flicker in her eyes when he asked her out that he never wanted to die. As the minutes turned in to hours, they slowly started to hold hands. The feeling was strange; it stretched throughout his whole body. It was overwhelming, yet made him feel him complete. It had no bound nor length nor depth; it was just absolute. It felt as though he was in a dangerous fire, yet completely safe at the same time. It felt as though someone had given him peace. It felt as though his heart was dancing around his chest; and a hole, he was never aware was there, had been filled. He felt so light like he was on top of the world yet his heart was constricting and felt as if there was no oxygen in his lungs.

From there on, Preston's schedule changed from the endless practice to some romantic time mixed in with Amelia. These times were when Preston's life was most peaceful. However, all good things come to an end and Preston's life came to a disaster when the war came.

The neighboring kingdom of Palinista attacked and the peaceful times of the couple ended. The unwarranted order of conscription was that one even Maria could not stop, and Preston was unwillingly sent to the war front. Preston watched a pair of Knights striding in unison towards him like a robotic centipede, their armor clanking as they walked. He would be soon to join them to go the war and fight in the battlefront.

War, war never changed. The constant smell of blood spread through the air and seemed to warn Preston about the gruesome task ahead. He was put in the 36th squadron of the 5th army and their task was to defend the borders of the country in the city of Halbur. There were constant battles going all around and they had been warned to stay away from Knights that had their qi awakened. In his first battle, when Preston saw the brains of one of his friends in the squad blown out in the trench next to him with a sword, he had dropped his own saber and ran. He had run from the battlefield in blind terror and panic, but he was found by the military enforcers and forced back to his position with force. He saw blood and gore and risked his life on the fields every day. The only reason he lived to see another was because of the practice he received from his master. Preston, with enough practice, had enough strength to crush a stone the size of his palm and although that was nothing to Knights with qi awakened, the strength led him to survive each day of the battlefield. Each and every single day, there a face missing and a new face added. With the constant cycle of battle and resting, writing letters home was the only thing he loved. Yet, writing letters home was the also most difficult thing he did. When he put pen to paper it opened up emotions inside of him that he had locked down hard in order to be able to do his job. It made him softer, more vulnerable. But at the same time, it was all that kept him going, to re-read his crumpled mud-stained correspondence, to remind him what he was fighting for. It was hard to know what to say though, he didn't want to scare his family, Maria, and Amelia, he didn't want to say so much he cried while writing it. Spelling had always been a problem for him too, so he was reluctant to use large words. In the end, it was brief, he ended it with a description of the battlefield at sundown that he hoped was poetic. He told Amelia of his undying love for her, his parents and his master about how much he loved them.

After 4 years, the kingdom of Palinista stopped attacking and took back their troops, the soldiers were each sent back to their town where they had been recruited from. Preston came back from the torturous war and finally had the chance to meet his beloved Amelia. However, he was heartbroken to see her with another man. She came close to him and told him that she was seeing someone else and left. Preston, with his heart broken, fell on his knees and just started at the direction she was walking and eventually went back to Maria with many difficulties.

"All I am is sadness, every other emotion pushed from my being. Where there was the love, the light, the laughter is an aching hollowness. I was honest, truthful and full of more love for you than you can ever understand. I have been soft, kind and gentle - yet why did you leave me?" cried Preston.

"I came strong from the war for home but home was where I became broke. How ironic. hahaha" laughed Preston before exploding into a wail again.

To let go of his pain, he went adventuring. The thrill that he thought it would give him was just boring and listless action. The experience of going through a war changed Preston's view on the mindless slaughter of goblins and imps and instead, he sought to become a merchant. He went to the merchant's association and started his training of bargaining, exportation, importation and many more. This type of learning experience was something that Preston genuinely enjoyed and soon he graduated to become a merchant. He was sent to be an apprentice to an old merchant named Gamile to gain experience. His daughter named Holice was an outspoken and often teased Preston a lot. The trio traveled towns after towns to trade and make profits and Preston enjoyed every second of the journey. Slowly, he started getting very close to Holice but was reluctant to start a relationship as he remembered the consequences of him giving his love to someone. There were also some problems in his head, there were days where his head just did not work. Sometimes he had vivid nightmares about killing people and he kept telling himself that he only killed because he was ordered to. The saber killed all those people. But his brain knew that he hacked the sword. Every night since he murdered those people, he was woken up from repeated nightmares of them. It has been many years since he left the war and yet the war never left him.

He had one of those nightmares where he remembered the war and he suddenly woke up and he heard someone startled. He saw towels and a basin of water and Holice rubbing cold water over his sweaty body. A new relationship was the last thing he needed, not right on the heels of Amelia. But Holice wasn't taking "no" for an answer. When he wanted to cry she sat down with him and held him against her chest and comforted him. When he woke up from those horrible memories of the past war, she hugged him and made him feel better. When he wanted to drown his sorrows with Amelia with alcohol alone she arrived with an extra glass and her smile. Every time he pushed back she gave him no resistance, but every time he fell she picked him up, no "thank-you's" required. He didn't want to rebound on Holice, she deserved something real, someone, to adore her until the end of time, not someone who didn't love her. She was someone worth having your heart crushed for. He held her hand and wished to make her smile never leave her face.

After many more peaceful years, Holice's father Gamile peacefully passed away due to old age and she inherited the merchant caravan. With Holice and Preston alone, they traveled to different regions of the country and made unique memories together.

One day, on the cuffs of their 5 year anniversary, Preston asked Holice to marry him. She, tearfully and repeatedly, said yes. Preston felt that their marriage had been inevitable from the time they met. They were inseparable. Each was the center of the universe for the other. They were so relaxed in each other's company, so caring. Their love for one another radiated from them, touching the lives of everyone they knew.

After another year of traveling as a merchant and making grand profits, Preston and Holice decided to get married and settle down. Preston convinced Holice to go to his hometown of Goleta and meet their parents and get married there. He also was nearing the end of the 10-year promise that he made with his friends and wished to meet them dearly. Through the Talon river, they traveled and eventually arrived at the Blackheart Mountain overseeing the medium sized village of Goleta. Preston met up with his parents and told them of his adventures, fortunes, and misfortunes and brought forth all the pent up emotions within him. He also introduced their new daughter-in-law and told them of the marriage he intended to hold. They were happy seeing Preston happy and at the prospect of playing with their grandchild.

Preston strolled the familiar streets, eventually arriving at a certain house and going inside. There inside he saw Mark and Roble working on some papers. He hugged each one of them dearly and invited them to his wedding.

The wedding was not something grand nor big but composed of all his love towards his lover, Holice. The room buzzed with excited chatter and children ran between the tables in a good-natured game of tag. Then the bride, Holice, and the groom, Preston entered, applause spread across the room. There was the scraping of chairs as folks got up for a standing ovation and the happy couple made their way to the head table, smiling and holding hands. They sat in front of a bouquet of baby pink roses and the priest started the opening ceremony.

"Do you accept Holice as your wife Preston?" said the Priest

"I, Preston, take thee Holice to be my wedded Wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I plight thee my troth."

Facing Holice, the Priest asked, "Do you accept Preston as your lawfully wedded husband Holice?"

"I, Holice, take thee Preston to be my wedded Husband. On this day I give you my heart, my promise that I will walk with you, hand in hand. Wherever our journey leads us, living, learning, loving, together forever."

The groom and the bride kissed and there were cheers and someone whooped. After a few moments, Mark rose from his chair and everyone else sat down. The sound of his teaspoon rapping on the side of his wineglass signaled everyone to silence, except the children who were shushed by their parents.

"May the bride and the groom enjoy their life to the fullest. I have known Preston majority of life and he deserves this happy life, more than anyone, " said Mark

The joy in everyone's eyes was apparent and the wedding was enjoyed by all. After the wedding and the wedding night, Preston and his friends gathered on their secret hideout and enjoyed their time together. They drank, spat foul language towards each other and discussed their life in the 10 years. As the darkness became thicker, Preston had to go to the washroom and he went to the bushes to do his business but his body did not let anything out so he returned to the cave early. He overheard the brother's conversations.

"Are we really going to do this, Brother?" asked nervously Roble

"We have to. We need to clean all the loose ends. You know that don't you bro?" said Mark calmly

"I mean, he is our friend. I don't want to kill Preston. I mean just because one of the Lunaral werewolves targeted us that night and killed Bulba, I don't want to clean up their mess." said Roble

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!!" screamed Preston from the dark entrance of the cave.

Mark and Roble froze. Then they hurriedly made a fighting pose. Preston walked in the cave from the opening and slowly said, " You...You knew the werewolf that killed Bu-Bulba?"

"We did not want to do that Preston, you don't understan-

Mark interrupted Roble and with a heavy tone, said, " Yes, Preston. Yes, we knew the werewolf."

"Why, WHY, WHY!!!"

"My father was not always a rich merchant Preston. We had to beg on the streets to survive. My parents begged on the streets every night to provide for us. With each new sibling, money got tighter and cut a little finer. The rest of my plate was potatoes and peas - and never enough of either and that was when my father and mother starved themselves to feed us. When the starvation hit my parents decided they only had enough food for one child. So at the next meal, they gave me both my meager portion and my little sisters and told me to eat. I cut it in half and gave it to her. My mother shoved it back. "You eat it all or she gets it all, it's you or her." I almost choked on every bite, tears ran down my face. At first, she cried and made a fuss, but after a time she just became limp and listless. Her eyes became unfocused and then one day she simply did not wake up. Our mother sold her body and father his dignity to provide for us yet we were stuck in the cycle of suffering. The only reason we got better was when one of the werewolves saw our desperate situation and helped us. We owed them an important favor and the only thing they asked was being sheltered for a while. We gladly accepted the offer and unfortunately, Bulba suffered for it and we are truly for that. We helped her parents ever since anywhere we could and we have been trying to redeem ourselves for the mistake." said Mark calmly with many bottled up emotions inside.

Preston was conflicted and with a head full of silent rage chuckled, " So you want to get rid of all the loose end now ?"

Mark sighed and said, "This matter affects the life and death of my family so I can't do anything, I am really sorry Preston. I am really sorry."

Mark suddenly attacked with a concealed dagger while Roble threw a knife towards Preston. Preston, with years of battle experiences, dodged the thrown knife and the dagger strike and kicked Mark's crotch. Mark was temporarily in extreme pain and Preston used that to his advantage and unarmed the dagger and used to it to stab Mark's shoulders. Roble was shaking in fear and nervously pulled out another small knife and tried to stab Preston. Preston kicked Roble's legs, making his strike miss, and punched Roble and making him unconscious. Mark looked at his bleeding shoulders and could feel the pain of his bones breaking. Preston looked with a conflicted expression while huffing and puffing and said, " Get out of this area. Get out of this town. Get out of my life." Mark painfully looked at Preston's face and sighed before slowly dragging Roble's body out of the cave and disappearing into the eternal darkness of the night.

Preston screamed and slumped before finishing a bottle of alcohol in one gulp. It felt like someone stabbed a sword in his heart and twisted it. He felt lost in the lies. The only thing that was thereafter searching for so long was betrayal. It slowly seeped in how much of a fool he had been, living in his own dream world thinking the world was just black and white without the presence of grey.

After the event, Mark and Roble's family migrated to another village and everything was looking bright. Holice came up to Preston and told him that he was going to be a father. The grey clouds of distress and confinement in Preston's life was overtaken by the bright news of him being a father. The next nine months of Preston's life was filled with anticipation and happiness until that fateful day. The labor had begun and Preston felt like it was him that was giving birth, he did not feel his much nervousness even when he was in the war. Suddenly, newborn cries filled the room and Preston burst into tears of relief and joy. However, happiness never seemed to remain for long in his life as his wife was facing labor complications. He turned his glossy eyes to his wife and in a voice that's was almost broken, told her they had a beautiful daughter. Through her exhaustion, she smiled, and she let her eyes leave his face to take in the baby that was being brought to like on her bare skin. Time seemed to stop for Preston as his wife gave the baby girl back and kissed him. She then closed her eyes and went back to her eternal slumber.

The simultaneous loss and gain of his loved ones brought forth complicated emotions of happiness and grim sadness. To forget about his troubled life, he usually stared at his daughter. He looked at the tiny toes that peeked from her blanket, dangling in the summer breeze. Her head, a crazy mass of brown curls not yet rubbed bald from lying in her crib, wobbled beneath his supporting hand. He could not believe how tiny new humans were, how vulnerable, how awe-inspiring. He decided to name her Halo in the honor of Holice's late mother. Preston's father and mother also visited their house almost every day to visit their cute little granddaughter and assisted with babysitting when he went outside for work. The experience of raising the newborn and taking care of it was everything Preston desired but there still was an empty hole in his heart that could never be filled by anyone else but Holice. Years passed, yet the feeling in his heart did not fade away. He became very successful and opened his own trading center. He named it "Holston", combining his and Holice's name to remind himself that they were still together even after death.

One morning, after Preston was done feeding little Halo and preparing to go to his trade stand, he heard a knock on the door. There was nobody Preston was expecting at this hour but he hurriedly walked towards the door in his "Daddy is the best" apron as the knocks were getting more and more rampant. When he unlocked the door, the door suddenly flung inwards and Preston lost his vision in his right eye. Someone had right hooked him! He, out of instinct, kicked the person in his crotch but the expected retreat of the enemy did not occur but he got left hooked in his eye and lost his vision in both of his eyes. He did not worry about the complete darkness but was trembling in fear for his little baby girl Halo. He was punched in his stomach and he collapsed to the floor of his house and heard Halo crying in the background. Preston tried to cry and say, " HELP!!" but he felt something piercing his neck and the only thing that he could do was choke. Then he heard an unknown voice saying" I am extremely sorry." before giving up on his struggle and joining Holice in her sleep.

Preston. A loving father and a caring husband. A competent son and a kind friend. A veteran of war and the sole discipline of Knightness Maria was killed by someone in his home.

This story is about that someone.