Name: ESSENCE
Rating: 5.0 (1 reviews)

Chapter 1 Uninvited guest

Dragging sounds could be heard from a distance. A weakened man with bartered armor but no form of injuries was dragging his left leg on the floor and limping with the right. He was on a battlefield at the moment. The place was ghost quiet for a place of battle though. This was probably due to the fact that everyone but this man had been slain. Both the armies from the Verisian and Dracodian kingdom had come for an all out battle that would decide their fate. They each came to wipe out the other from the face of the Earth. Though ironically each of them had ended up sealing their fates.

These kingdoms had large amounts of power in the world at the moment, so it was only a matter of time before one would want to dominate the other.

The man eventually dropped face first on the floor. Groaning in pain he turned over facing the sky. The sky had taken the colour of the blood red moon which made it impossible to identify the moon. It was still surprisingly easy to see as the war had taken place in these conditions. Smoke could be seen by the man erupting to the sky. The stench of blood and burnt flesh surrounded the air making it unbearable for this man. He blinked a few times while looking at the sky before passing out cold.

With his eyes wide open and gasping for air, Dwayne had just woken up from another bad dream. He held on to the pendant hanging around his neck. It happened almost every night. His mind playing games on him trying to remind him of the worst experience of his life even in his sleep, the Draconic war also known as the Draco war.

Dwayne was a well built man considering the fact that he was once in the army. His hair was as white as snow with eyes that had a noticeable emerald glow in the sunlight. He had a light skin tone which made him a lot more attractive.

Dwayne eventually caught his breath. He released his grip on the pendant he had held tightly. This pendant was the most important thing in his life, it reminded him of his family which he had no more. The pendant was on his neck at all times, he never took it off even once.

He got off his bed and went on to the rest room, there he washed his face and looked at the mirror. Since the war, his eyes had some kind of lifeless look in them. He hated this look as it scared people aware from him and also made him feel inhumane. For this reason he had made a mask to cover up his face.

Dwayne came out of the rest room and moved to a wardrobe in his bedroom, there he removed the mask and wore it on his face along with some candles. The mask was round with two eye holes for vision. It also had two red lines drawn from one side of the mask to the other. It was never intended to be scary but people took it that way.

He wore his winter boots, thick coat with a hood and wrapped a scarf around his neck before heading out.

At this time it was winter, the winter breeze blew up against Dwayne. Even though he had covered himself well, Dwayne could not help but feel the cold of the breeze. He could feel a sting in his nostrils as he breathed in the cold air but it was bearable as he was already used to it. From a distance Dwayne could see people staring at him. They were clearly afraid of him. People tend to fear what they did not understand and he was exactly the definition of that. Although he did not like the way they looked at him he did not care as today was an important day for him.

On the snow, Dwayne knelt down opposite the graves in front of him. There were three graves in front of him, his father, mother and only sister were buried there. His knees sinked into the pile of snow. He knelt in this position so as to block the air coming the candles way. He lit the candles he had brought and began the rites. Today was the day he had lost his family, on the 9th of December. He believed that he had failed to protect his family and hence would have to be punished for this later on in his life. After some time, he put off the candles and got up to his feet. He looked at the graves once again. Gripping his hands into a fist he swung at the air only to end up falling to the floor.

After awhile he got up and started walking back home. The walk back was quiet. The village was named Erile. It had quite the small population, but that was what made it easier to survive. There was more land to use and an easier life to live.

Few years after the Draco war, a wave of 'Shadow' suddenly appeared spreading slowly over the continent. It threatened the life's of all races as it devoured everything in it's path. Once a person was touched by the shadow it was impossible to escape as it would devour that person on the spot.

All races came together in an attempt to stop it's spread.No effort was spared in trying to stop the shadow but it was only in vain as it appeared to devour magic itself. When hope was almost lost, it was discovered that the shadow followed a pattern so it could not consume certain parts of the continent. On this discovery, races divided the continents into different parts. Each living in separate dwellings. The dwelling for humans was created and named 'Eden'.

After that day, travellers had not been seen as they believed they would be engulfed by the shadow even within Eden.

After a long walk, Dwayne got home only to discover something was off. He entered the house slowly only to be welcomed by the voice of a woman whom he did not recognize.

"Took you long enough, I thought you would never come Dwayne Rayford."

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