Chapter 1.2: Ah, so this was true afterall.

Hatz ran out to the blazing fire leaving Henry alone unconscious.

As he went back, he saw his dad who was still fighting with a Giant Shadow, "DAD!"

His dad used an ax as a weapon to fight it, perhaps as he was chopping wood, the shadows suddenly raided the village.

As the claws of the shadow and Dad's ax clashed with brute strength, "Oh! Hatz! Ya back!" he said with a rather chill-off tone while pushing back the shadow's claws. As the shadow was pushed to the ground, Hatz's dad charged light energy to the iron ax and then sliced it into the shadow's body.

Hatz came running to see what was going on, "Dad! Are you okay?"

As the shadow's body slowly disappeared in front of Hatz's dad, he turned his head sideways to make eye contact with Hatz and then replied, "Things are goin' downhill, I'm afraid from our manpower right now, we don't have the slightest chance to win." He looked at the other people who were also fighting intensely, "But we can still hold off for a long time. Hey kid, did you see your mother–" Hatz's dad stopped his speech,

With a slicing noise coming out of his dad, Hatz was out of words, the shadow did not completely disappear from Hatz's dad's attack and he was pierced on the tummy part with a thick, sharp shadow finger.

A big amount of blood spilled out of his tummy as the shadow finger retreated and disappeared quietly.

"DAD!" Hatz runs to his dad quickly trying to stop the bleeding with Light energy as his dad falls to the snowy floor.

"DAD! PLEASE!" Hatz burst into tears thinking that he will lose his father, a father who likes playing with his kids, a father who fights and wins proudly.

….

His father was like a role model to Hatz. In the desperate state, Hatz flashes back to the past.

When Hatz was little, his dad would always talk about the efforts and sacrifices of his ancestors. He always taught him to be proud of who he is, Hatz remembered what his dad had said in the past as they were training for sword fights. As they were resting, his dad stood up from the tree trunk that was used for sitting and Hatz was sitting beside him, looking at his dad.

With a deep and serious voice that was unexpected, coming out from his dad, he stated, "We aren't trash as people were sayin' it's just in their own eyes. But for us, kid, we are proud knights who defend what and who defy the heavens."

"This", he raised his hand to his chest level then clenched his fist with strength, "is our duty, and as a light attribute user, you should use your talent well."

Hatz looked at his dad with admiration and seeing the fist that his dad had clenched looked like a symbol of pride and power.

"So, don't be ashamed of who you are, got that kid?"

As his memories flashed, he got back to the current state of his dad, who was bleeding and struggling to breathe. As he was trying to heal him he questioned himself and did not say anything out loud, "But why? Why are we like this now? Unlike other clans who live in the city comfortably, why do we deserve this kind of lifestyle?"

Flashing back to his memories with his dad, he answered that time, "Nah, ya don't understand even one bit, kid. For example, the Rohan and Illago Clans must protect the people, the Yuan Clan preserves tradition and teaches martial arts n' stuff, and the Sylvester Clan balances the city. And as for us, the Lumiero Clan, we listen to the Heavens' prayers. Now, those are just but some of the famous clans but there are actually hundreds of those which make me sick memorizin' them." his dad sighed sigh a little then continued,

"Anyways, there will come a time when it is our time to shine, kid. Just remember that."

Back to the present, Hatz was desperately stopping the blood from bleeding.

A warm hand was suddenly felt from Hatz's hands. Those big warm hands were very calming, they did not tremble even for a bit, even when he was on the brink of death.

He tried to calm Hatz, "Kid" his dad spoke in a very soft and deep voice, "ya must be wondering why…., we are in this state even if we are knights"

The silence breaks as soon as his dad said this topic,

Hatz finally opened his eyes from the crying and desperation.

His dad directed his eyes to Hatz, "Finally, a purpose in our life has been given," smiled, "You know why this is called our "Duty" as a Knight as light attribute users? That is because wild creatures that have been raiding our village trying to kill us one by one….

is their only weak point."

"W-What?" Hatz slowly catches up on what his dad was saying,

"Their biggest and only weak point is us…., light attribute users, The Knights"

"They…" Hatz's dad coughed out a little blood, "Dad! Stop speaking! I'll treat you!" Hatz is still panicked.

"Nah, don't bother kid, it's useless now," his dad has already accepted his fate and death, he already knew that there was no turning back. So he decided to tell Hatz his final secrets about The Knights. Hatz's dad then suddenly grabs his hand from healing, "Huh?"

"Kid, just remember this, since"they" have finally appeared after 100 years, your mission right now is to eliminate the–"

His dad coughed again and his vision was getting blurry from a huge loss of blood. His consciousness cannot hold off any longer.

Then his hand fell to the ground from grabbing Hatz's hand. Sadly, he wasn't able to finish his last sentence which made Hatz clueless.

The last breath was breathed out of the cold, misty air. His dad's body turned cold very quickly and his lips were starting to get dry and freeze. Hatz was silent as he was still holding his dad's hand looking at him. His facial expression can't be seen as his hair was covering it.

In the middle of the quiet snow that kept on falling, the secluded village, and the cries of the people, all of them were put into one scenario, happening at the same time.

"..." He breathes in and out, as the smoke comes out from his cold mouth.

A tear fell down to the snowy floor, turning a small part of it a little watery. He spoke, "Right, dad also asked where mom was.."

He looks at his dad's already-white face, then he slowly places both of his dad's hands on his tummy. He saw a robe in a destroyed hut then grabbed it and placed it on his dad to cover his lifeless body. As he was done fixing the robe properly, he stood up then looked down at the body again then said, "May you rest in peace, dad." After a pause, he left.

Those gloomy and devastated eyes turned to anger as soon as he went to find his mom.

The war….went silent as Hatz ran and ran like a solitary boy who is desperate to find his mother, all he saw was his people's bodies lying on the floor, dead and defeated.

The shadows came at such a perfect time when the village was at its weakest,

Are we fated to be enemies with the Shadows? Is this…. our true duty? As Hatz kept on finding his mom, he kept on thinking about what his dad had said in his last words. Furious, frustrated, and angry, "Why….why…." He thought restlessly, "Do we really deserve this? This much hatred and suffering?"

"I don't understand."

Those precious times that were meant to continue have all been crushed like ants. Nothing will go well if attacked.

No, they were "meant" to be attacked.

"I can't understand you, Dad."

Hatz stopped his track, he was sure he went around through the entire village, but he did not see his mom's body. All he saw were grown-up people and some children lying down who were sucked for their life force from the Shadows.

The windy blizzard continues to blow as cold and windy as it could, Hatz can't help but shiver. The temperature dropped even lower, at this time, Hatz assumed that Henry must be freezing in the forest. So he changed his track and started jogging to find him.

Suddenly, a big figure was shown through the shade of Hatz's. Someone was behind him, he quickly looked back then saw a huge shadow who was about to get him,

"There you are little kid, you run pretty fast huh," with a squinky yet static voice, its giant hands were almost covering Hatz's entire face,

Hatz took a step back and tried to negotiate to avoid fighting because he was at a disadvantage, he did not have a weapon and his practice of Light energy was weak, so, "What do you want?"

He does not have a chance at all.

"Hm?" Its hands stopped, putting them down then stood still. "You still don't know?"

It smiled at Hatz and then spoke with a joyful tone, "Finally, we have found the chosen one for the Shadow Prince."

The shadow seemed delighted,

Hatz's POV

"What?" What's a Shadow Prince? Is this some kind of title?

I was alerted by this which makes me want to avoid the shadow more.

"To be blunt, we're taking you with us, that's our priority for this raid, hehe."

W-what did she say?

I was shocked and angry at the same time,

"S-so, you attacked us just to find me? ARE YOU INSANE? YOU COULD HAVE JUST KIDNAPPED ME ALONE! ALONE! WHY??????" The shout went on louder, making my throat run dry.

SO THIS IS BECAUSE OF ME THAT….That….Dad…Mom….Henry….It's all because of me that…everyone died….

This was driving me crazy, yet at the same time, I was angry at myself…..for being so weak and for the cause of all these deaths.

"Hmm? Well, insane or not–" The shadow still speaking in a happy tone, as if it did not care,

"It was fun seeing your face all devastated don't you think?" the horrible smile with no teeth but black was showing.

"YOU!" The anger toppled up faster and my patience was already past the line. On second thought, why am I tolerating these words from a shadow? I'm gonna kill you, I WILL kill you. My eyes, my mouth, my composure, everything, was angered to the top.

I looked around to see if there was a decent weapon, ENOUGH TO CUT THIS BASTARD

"Ahhh, let's stop with the little chitty-chat and get down to business–" The shadow prepared a spell that looks like a spell bound to lock my movements.

Tsk! She's going to take me away!

"More importantly~ Shouldn't you be asking how we Shadows got here? Or, to put it simply, how do we know this location? Hehe, you must be pretty confused~ I'll tell you." The shadow got closer to Hatz and whispered in his ear, "It was all thanks to your cute lil' footprints going back and forth these days fufu~."

Hatz's eyes widened and quickly realized it, So they have been sticking with me since I met George?! So the cave….was their passageway?

"Can't let the rat escape now that he has seen the cheese~" The shadow was weaving its finger and an unknown language was shown in the air. I have never seen these languages before and it was trying to form a box shape.

So..it's going to chase me once it's done forming its shape huh. I saw a burnt wooden plank near me which was lying down on the floor. I prepared to use it to let them catch this instead of me.

But….the moment when the spell was about to chase me, a little boy suddenly ran to the front,

"Brother watch out!" He jumped and flung his hands to block me,

Third POV

And instead of Hatz, the one who was bound was Henry.

"HENRY! WHY?" Hatz was in a panic that his brother had saved him,

"Brother…" In a small voice, his toll on his body has taken effect from earlier, "r-run…"

"NO! LET'S LEAVE TOGETHER!" Hatz desperately pulls the binding spell from Henry, but they are too strong. "Ugh!"

"Hmm? Well, too bad, but not too bad Haha" The shadow laughed and then dragged Henry with it.

"HENRYY!!!" Hatz tries to catch up to Henry

"STAY BACK BROTHER! JUST RUN!"

but the Shadow's movements were too fast as he cast another spell of bind towards Hatz. But from that moment, another figure blocked its spell.

"George!" George came just in time with his hands flung to protect Hatz and his appearance was glowing unusually bright.

"Tch! A spirit out of all the people!" hastily said, the shadow quickly drew a black hole from an open space, preparing to leave, "I guess I'll save you for another time, my Prince..I'll have to take care of your brother for a while. Don't worry, we won't harm him for your own good, my Prince"

As the shadow was about to leave, George suddenly transformed into a weapon, it was shining too brightly for Hatz to see what it was, then George said in a weapon form, "Hatz! Cut the bind from your brother!"

Hatz, without hesitation, quickly grabs George and runs, then makes a big slash, "HAAAA!!!!.....". As soon as Hatz made the slash going towards the shadow and Henry at a rapid speed, "BROTHER!!!" Henry yelled but the shadow quickly protected Henry's bind with its arm, and unexpectedly, it was strong enough to cut the shadow's arm.

For the last second that Hatz saw Henry, he saw him speak, "I will be fine, brother" through his moving lips. After that, the shadow made it through the portal with Henry kidnapped…

It was the worst day of Hatz's life. His whole village was annihilated because of him. His father died. His mother went missing. Last but worst of all, his one and only family member alive was taken away. A happy family that was supposed to be lasting long was already no more in a blink of an eye.

…..

The silence was all in the eyes of George, he did not know what to say and did not know how to comfort Hatz.

Tears began to fall on the 2-foot snow, since all the time, the blizzard has been piling up the snow from when the war started.

Hatz did not say anything, he gripped George who was in a pipe shape. This must be his special form.

….

As Hatz shed tears silently, George also stayed silent. Losing a family in one night is not easy to bear or accept.

After a few minutes, Hatz turned back to the sight of his village. The village was all in ashes, with burnt wooden planks and straws being covered by the thick snow. Bones and corpses were many, and the village was now lifeless as Hatz will be considered the sole survivor of the dispute.

"Ah, so this was true after all."