Tragedy

Edward woke up to the sound of the morning birds, before going back to sleep. Slowly as he drifted off back into the world of dreams, he sensed imminent danger.

Reacting fast, he leaped out of the bed just in time to avoid a butt slam from his little sister. "Emily, how many times have I told you not to use your signature move on me when I'm sleeping",he voiced out slightly annoyed. He stood up from the ground and grabbed his sister's cheeks and started pulling.

"Ow ow stop it, mom told me to wake you up, now let me go" she cried out while making desperate attempts to break free.

Edward let go of her and she immediately dashed out of the room, but not before sticking out her tongue to tease her big brother. He ignored her little playful taunt and went to the bathroom to freshen up before heading downstairs for breakfast.

As he approached the kitchen area, he could hear shuffling feet " Happy birthday Ed, congratulations on turning 16",

"Happy birthday bro, you're still a jerk though" his mom and sister shouted loudly when he entered the kitchen.

Edward had a perplexed look on his face that said 'What the hell's going on'.

"What's with that dumb look on your face, don't tell me you forgot that today's your birthday", Emily taunted with an amused expression.

"Emily, stop it, be nice to your brother, starting tomorrowhe's goingng to be gone. Why don't you leave a good last impression" said the woman while looking at Edward with a loving gaze.

Emily's demeanor changed as she held her down low with a sad expression on her face, "Listen Emily, don't be upset ok" said Edward in a calming tone "You're only two years younger than me, so don't worry, you'll be attending the academy before you know it".

"But untill then I'm leaving you in charge of taking care of the house and mom, understand".She nodded with a teary face in agreement.

"Now, let's go and get some ice cream to cheer up".As he walked towards the door, Edward saw his mother wasn't following behind but chose to continue on, since he thought she might have some laundry or chores to do.

Edward and Emily strolled through the forest, it looked especially beautiful today with the morning rays illuminating the woods and the gentle sound of the creek.

"But you really are a genius brother, I still can't believe you're going to attend one of the best Soul Arts academy in the Kingdom", said Emily with stars in her eyes and an amazed expression as she skipped alongside him.

"Genius has nothing to do with it, I'm just lucky, that's all" Edward commented with a smirk.

Thinking about it, he couldn't help but consider the fact that it really was luck, because of his high score on the Soul Arts aptitude test, he was awarded a scholarship to any Academy of his chose by the Noble family that governed the region their boarder town was in- The Madrics.

Edward awakened from his train of thoughts by the smell of smoke and the sound of screaming people. A smog of rising smoke could be seen coming from the town's area with the wind blowing ashes from the distance.

"What's going on brother" asked Emily with a worried look.

"I don't know but I think the town is under attack by a beast, stay here and wait for me okay, I'll be right back" said Edward as he ran off through the forest in the smokes direction before Emily could complain.

The reason why he was so sure that she would be safe in the woods was because the Karon woods were known for its low population of beasts in the kingdom, no one really knew the reason why but beast seemed to avoid going into the forest.

Besides she knew the forest like the back of her hand, if anything happened, she could escape, or at least find a good place to hide.

Running through the forest, he could feel his heart racing and blood pumping as the smell of smoke and iron became stronger in the air.

Arriving in the town, Edward couldn't understand or even believe what was happening in front of him.

-----

In the forest, approaching a small cottage was a man with a dark mask covering his face and a hood covering his head.

"Well...let's get this over with". He sighed, almost like he was performing a mundane task.