Prologue: Roanoke

<Shino, wake!>

At first, the sleeping dark-haired boy stirred in his sleep and didn't wake but slowly, he opened his eyes and sat up, still groggy. He was not completely certain that he was awake because his cat was talking to him.

<Shino slept long, now Shino must wake.>

The young dark-haired boy reluctantly followed the cat out of his room. It was dark and Shino had to walk with an outstretched hand to keep from bumping into things. He followed the talking cat down the stairs, into the kitchen, out the backdoor to the lawn and into the forest behind his home, taking care not to wake his parents and sister.

Lala the cat never actually spoke to him, Shino only heard the words inside his head. They communicated through the power of the Magic, Lala tried to explain this to him but Shino was still convinced that he was asleep.

From the nearby woods, the smell of burning wood grabbed the young boy's attention as he turned back to watch his village being engulfed in flames. Slowly at first and then all at once, the town was consumed. His entire world was being taken away. From a distance, he could see the thick grey smoke billowing into the sky.

Lala had saved him.

Evil had come to Roanoke in the form of bandits wielding torches and steel swords, burning everything in their path. The bright hot flames lit the night as the villagers screamed and begged for mercy but soon their bodies filled the streets. At a particular cobblestone house, the raiders killed the father who tried in vain to protect his family while his wife and daughter were brutally slaughtered. The bandits ripped the house apart but could not find what they were looking for.

The fires had killed most of the villagers and the survivors were brutally struck down by armed men. All except Shino and Lala who got out just in time. Somehow Lala used magic, shielding them both from the blaze, death and destruction, though he wasn't quite sure how she'd done it. It had just sort of … happened. Now he and Lala had nobody left but each other.

<Goodbye, Shino.>

There was an aching sorrow in Lala's words that stabbed through Shino's heart like a knife, but he didn't know why the cat was bidding him farewell. Before he could ask, there was a rustling sound coming from the bushes. He spun around to see two men come crashing into the clearing. He could tell right away they were the same men killing the townspeople: they wore the same dark armour and wielded a curved blade as well as a large misshapen shield.

"A cat? No! A Witch!" one shouted. "Look out!"

They reacted so quickly their motions were nothing but a blur as they slashed wildly with their blades. By the time the scream left Shino's lips, his friend was already dead.

Instinctively, he lashed out at the men. Shino didn't know how he did it; it wasn't even a conscious thought. He only knew the men had killed his friend. They had killed Lala!

"Isn't that the boy we're looking—" The voice of one of the bandits was cut short as Shino snapped his neck with Magic. The eyes of his companion went wide in horror, but before he could do anything else Shino had broken his neck, too.

Only then did Shino stop screaming. Instead, he began to cry, great heaving sobs that racked his body as he crawled over to press himself against the soft grey fur of Lala's still-warm body where it had fallen to the ground.

Freya found him there: a young dark-haired child weeping over the remains of a cat. The corpses of two heavily armed men lay nearby, their heads twisted at obscene angles to their bodies. It took her only an instant to piece together what must have happened.

The boy looked up at her as she approached, his eyes swollen and red. She guessed he was eight, maybe ten at the most. She could feel the overwhelming power of strong magic burning in him, fueled by grief, rage and hatred. Even if she hadn't sensed it, the dead men at his feet gave implicit testament to his awesome abilities.

She didn't speak but stood silently. The boy's sobbing stopped. He sniffled and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. Then he rose to his feet and took a shaky step toward her.

"Who are you?" She tried to ask in a calm reassuring voice.

He didn't retreat or flee, though his reply was hesitant. "My name is Shino… I mean Tyson. My sister used to call me Shino, but she's dead...they're all dead now. Tyson is my real name."

Freya nodded, understanding completely. Shino: a nickname, a name of childhood and innocence. An innocence now lost.

"Do you know who I am?" Freya asked.

The boy shook his head. All he knew was that she wasn't wearing the same armor like the other men. She was dressed in a simple brown robe with a hood that almost covered her eyes. Her hair was white and braided into two long ponytails that rested on each shoulder.

"Are you afraid of me?" Freya asked.

"No," Tyson insisted with a shake of his head, though Freya knew he wasn't being completely honest. She could feel his fear, but it was buried beneath far stronger emotions: grief, anger, hatred, and a consuming desire for revenge.

"I have killed many people," Freya warned him. "Men, women … even children."

He shuddered but held his ground. "I'm a killer, too."

Freya smiled wryly before glancing over to the dead men then turned her focus to the boy standing defiantly in front of her.

"Do you know how to use magic?" She asked.

The boy shook his head.

"Would you like to learn?" She asked. This time the boy nodded.

"What were those things?" the boy asked.

"They were sent to destroy your little town," she said.

"Why me?" he asked.

"Maybe they believe that someone there posed a threat to them. Maybe it's you," Freya replied.

"But I'm just a kid," He replied.

"Kid or not, if they believe that you are a threat then that is all that matters. To make sure you stay alive you will need weapons, allies, and a teacher. In the end, I fear that might not be enough. I will teach you what you need to know," she said.