Chapter 1 :Alec's Tale
"Alec!" At the sound of his name, the young teen sat up and turned his head. He looked around trying to see the speaker. He was in a large open field surrounded by trees. On one side of him, rows of targets and dummies were filled with holes, one of the dummies had a dagger pierced through the center of a roughly painted target over the spot one's heart would be. He turned his head to see a man glowering down at him his sheathed sword which was on his back gripped tightly in hand. The man was very tall and his dark skin matched his long, chocolate brown hair which made his yellowish-orange eyes stand out like a cloud on a bright summer's day.
Standing up the teen wiped the dirt off of his clothing; he looked up to the sky and came to a quick realization that it was mid-morning. He walked over to the dummy and pulled out the dagger. He then looked at the man and replied, "What?" The man sighed heavily, his head shaking in annoyance. Calmly he spoke, "Don't tell me you've been out here all night. You know how your uncle gets when you're not at the breakfast table. If you think-" The teen walked past him cutting his words short, "Whatever Cal, you should know by now that I don't care what Luke thinks about me not being at the table. I'm tired of him talking about the issues Erkains are facing. He's all bark and no bite if you ask me." As the boy walked Cal sprinted to catch up, "Yes, but today is very important, don't tell me you forgot." Alec stopped abruptly and turned to face Cal, "Forgot what?!?" he said with a look of confusion on his face. "So you did forget," Cal said forcing Alec to continue walking, "Your uncle assigned you to meet with a new trainer at breakfast, since your last twelve quit. Now hurry and get cleaned up breakfast starts at ten." He ushered Alec through the front gates of a beautiful white mansion, Cal led Alec up a flight of stairs and through a pair of lovely light blue doors. Cal ushered Alec up to his bedroom where he left to allow Alec to get dressed.
Alec walked into the room, shutting the door behind him, he placed the dagger on a small wooden nightstand by his bed. He then proceeded to his wardrobe and opened it. He reached for a nice, white button-up, but changed his mind and grabbed a black t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. After putting on the clothes he walked over to his bathroom and looked in the mirror, sighing he reached for his comb to reluctantly tame his curly blond hair; once tamed Alec could clearly see his black eyes, he hated the way he looked when his eyes were purely visible. Alec then went over to his bed. He sat down and slipped on a pair of black socks, black tennis shoes, and a black belt. He placed the small knife in the sheath on his belt where it could clearly be seen; then Alec exited his bedroom and met Cal in the hallway. [ I feel as if you should know that Cal was Alec's servant and one of his best friends.]
Cal rolled his eyes "Take your sweet time why don't you." he glanced down at his watch, "Twenty minutes, great." He whispered under his breath, then out loud, "Come on, we 're going to be late." Cal dragged Alec down the stairs and into a room that looked like an old library. The library appeared as if no one had stepped foot in it for decades. Its shelves were full of books covered in dust; from spell books to the history of torture, it looked as though there wasn't a book in the world that wasn't in that library. Cal led Alec through the room and to a smaller section of books. there, in the corner of the room stood an old reading pedestal with a small reading lamp shining down onto a book titled The Art of Concealing Secret Doors. Cal reached his hand out and touched the wall next to the door; a small scanner searched his hand then flickered twice. The wall next to them slid open revealing a narrow passageway. They stepped in and the wall closed behind them. Cal quietly snapped his fingers and a small flame the color of dying embers appeared. He led Alec down the long corridor and stopped when he reached the end. By the time they reached the end of the corridor, another door opened and they stepped out onto soft green grass. They stood outside a large courtyard to the right of them about fifteen feet away stood a small stable with a few horses inside and to the left a building about ten feet away was completely made of glass like a greenhouse. Cal looked down at his watch then led Alec into the small greenhouse-like building.
Inside sat four other Erkains and an elf talking around a large table full of food. Surrounding the round table stood about twenty other servants holding plates and platters. In the corner of the room lay a large black wolf. At the sight of his master the wolf stood and walked towards Alec, giving him a small rub on the leg as if to say hello. The five at the table stopped and watched as Alec entered. "Caldum Valencia you're late." The man speaking wore a dark blue suit and tie over a white button-up shirt. His dark brown hair was slicked back revealing his Sapphire eyes. "Apologies sir-" Caldum stuttered before he was interrupted by Alec, who suspected Caldum was about to make up a compelling story about how the fault was not on them. The story would, of course, get them in even more trouble than they were already in. So Alec decided it was best to interrupt him, "Quiet, Caldum." Alec silenced the servant then sat down, "Come now Uncle when have you ever known me to be on time?" He looked at his Uncle who glared at him. "Alec please, we have a guest." His uncle turned his head toward the tall man sitting beside him. "This is Juush Toes, your new instructor. Don't run him off." Frowning, Alec looked at the elf then down again at his plate of food.
The plate held the following: three pancakes, a handfull of fruit and two stripes of bacon. Speechless, he took a piece of bacon off his plate. The girl next to him looked at him confused. [ Apologies, I should have introduced you to the other three at the table by now, perhaps I was indulged in this perplexing story to introduce Nadia, Erick, and Leathya Mendez. Nadia sat next to Alec at the table; I suppose now is as good a time as any to tell you that Alec doesn't like bacon nor does he like eggs. So now I should hope you understand why Nadia was baffled by this sight. Apologies again for I have kept you long enough, now let us return to the story at hand ]
The girl next to him looked confused, she knew Alec very well, and she knew that he found bacon extremely distasteful. Alec noticed the strange look on his sister's face and smiling he quietly slid his hand under the table. He felt a large muzzle on his hand as the wolf carefully took the treat. Alec turned his hand over and patted the wolf on his head. He then picked up an empty teacup at which point a young lady holding a pot walked over and poured freshly brewed black tea into his cup. "Now Mr. Toes," At the sound of the name, Alec coughed trying to hold back a laugh. His uncle looked at him then continued, "What style of training were you thinking about giving my nephew?" The elf smiled but was interrupted before he could answer. "That should only be announced if you are to be my trainer." Alec had interrupted the elf. Waving his hand he ushered for a servant to clear the barely eaten plate of food off the table, the servant obeyed and Alec leaned forward so he could examine the visitor more closely.
"Now as I was saying what makes you think you have the right to be my trainer?" The elf looked him in the eye and responded, "I have heard about the twelve other trainers you've had and I do believe I am capable despite my age. As for my right, I suppose I do not have one. I was invited here by your uncle because he said that he was looking for a new trainer so I stepped in." At the mention of the elf's age, he searched the appearance of the elf. He did look very old as if he was a corpse still eating, yet should have been buried long ago. The elf had light gray hair and a gray beard, frown wrinkles encircled his eyes and mouth, he wore a black cloak that concealed the rest of his clothing. Inside the cloak, Alec thought he saw a small Kunai knife. "Tell me," Alec looked at him confusedly, "What was your first occupation?" The elf looked at him with a slight smile on his face, No, not a smile, a smirk the elf was smirking at him.
For some strange reason, Alec had a feeling he should look around the room, so he did. As he looked around he expected to see the familiar faces of the servants he grew up with instead he was met with a mixture of faces he both did and did not know. He saw his aunt Leathya, his uncle Luke, his cousin Erick, his sister Nadia, and his best friends V [V was a young Erkain about Caldum's age. She had white hair that was pulled back so her dark blue and light mint green eyes could be seen. She had previously poured Alec's tea.] and Caldum. Other than the six he didn't recognize anyone else, in fact, he didn't remember ever seeing them until now.
Standing the old elf spoke, "My first job? You must be confused⁷, I have only ever had one job." He smiled and his hand reached for his cloak, "I am, and always will be, a bounty hunter." He drew the knife. At the sight of it Erick, Leathya, and Luke stood up quickly and drew their swords. "Now little Mendez," he said, ignoring their swords, "You're probably wondering what's going on. I would tell you, but you're going to be dead in a few moments." he stepped away from the table pushing their swords aside and advanced towards Alec.
At that moment Nadia stepped out of her seat, Juush was incredibly strong Alec noted as Nadia pulled him out of his seat. She signaled at Caldum and V who quickly dropped their plates and pots, then they drew their swords pulling Alec behind them. "Stay behind us, Alec," V said settling into a defensive position. Shaking his head Alec drew the small knife which he had previously sheathed in his belt. Alec quickly got into a defensive position, as the elf walked closer. Luke and Leathya stepped in front of Alec to defend him. Juush signaled to the servants around him who dropped what they were holding and drawing their blades constrained everyone except Alec in the opposing group from behind. The soldiers moved so rapidly that the others couldn't defend themselves. "Now where was I before I was rudely interrupted. Ah, yes I was wiping you from the face of the earth." He lunged towards Alec who jumped out of the way and landed beside his wolf. Juush landed, his dagger hitting the ground where Alec had been standing just seconds before. "Percival. Shana!" Alec shouted as he swung his hand toward Juush. The wolf looked at him then followed his master's arm toward the attacker. The wolf pounced towards the elf at record speed and managed to clamp down on his leg before he could getaway. The elf winced in pain and kicked the wolf across the room and into the glass wall, shattering it. He then jumped toward Alec and landed behind him. Alec leaped out of the way just in time, the knife which would have stuck straight through his back caught his arm instead. Even though the wound wasn't deep Alec still found that he couldn't move his arm. "Poison." he grimaced as he clutched his arm with his other hand the dagger he was holding now at his feet.
At that same instant, Luke had freed himself from the soldiers and was now standing behind the elf. Luke's sword had been thrust through Juush's abdomen and retracted, leaving the elf to crumple to the ground. Without a leader, the soldiers swarmed in toward Alec who was dazed from the poison now in his arm. He leaned over and picked up his dagger so he could defend himself. Caldum, however, had different plans. He and V swiftly got to Alec's side and guided him toward the broken wall. Percival stood, shaking the glass out of his fur and followed them out of the room. The soldiers attempted to pursue them but were stopped by the other four. Caldum and V helped Alec onto a black horse just as ten of the soldiers broke through. The soldiers charged them and Caldum bent down pulling out an old scrap of fabric, the wolf sniffed the fabric and started barking. The barking startled the horse Alec was on and it galloped toward the woods. Percival followed quickly, leaving the house and the battle behind them.
The horse ran for about an hour through the woods with Percival occasionally nipping at its hooves to keep it going the right way. After a little while, the horse entered a small village with a dusty dirt road. A large alley cat stepped out from under a box and hissed at the horse scaring him and causing him to run faster. At this point Alec had completely lost his grip and crashed to the ground, his head slammed against a rock and he slipped out of consciousness.