Chapter 1 – Crossing of Roads

It was a night when nothing in the world moved, but the wind through the frozen trees that nestled in the distant places. The sky was a black so it could only have been painted, though it was relieved by the illumination, cast by a lonely moon that was reflected by Red Creek. This was a place where time had allowed the shedding of blood – a place where everyone was moved by fear and chilled by the breath of anyone who passes through it. This is The Marsh, often called by commoners as "Death's Gate", west of Lotus.

Long before, it wasn't always so cold and dark. The Marsh was just a mere passageway from the Market, which resides in Lotus, to the neighboring provinces of Forbidden Kingdom. But the un-surmountable feud between soldiers and bandits left this place nothing more than a death trap. This has always been their battleground for ages.

One late October night, the wintry silence was broken by the scream of a woman. Tired from carrying heavy food stuffs from the Market, Rayne and his guards were resting in a cool, grassy spot under the big elm tree. They were in a middle of a deep nap when that scream startled them. Upon hearing it, they hurriedly came to their feet and started to search the source of the shrill. Rayne was the son of the late Duke Mirage. He has a dimpled chin, with piercing dark grey eyes, and a beautiful sculpted head, resembling the younger appearance of his father.

Now, as he continued seeking with his guards, two yellow spotted Siberian tiger caught his attention. They were sniffing something at the edge of the stream. Rayne decided to approach the tigers' target. As they moved closer, what he saw now was a young maiden with a wound on her shoulder. She was unable to move. Next beside her were a bow and a set of arrows which Rayne presumed it was hers.

"H-h-h-e-e-l-l-p-p-p..."

Without hesitation, he took his sword and drew it out of the sheath thereof. As the beasts turned their attention to the gentlemen and started to attack them, Arman and Achio, Rayne's guards, dropped their loads and came leaping and jumping in full speed, attacking them from the treetop with their sharp, edged spear. The beasts dodged and counterattacked them fiercely; being now more bent on killing them than the young maiden they first devoted their appetite with. Then Rayne, Arman and Achio drew their forces together, encircling the two tigers with their back to back position. The guards threw their spears, but the tigers dodged it again, separating the two of them. The one ran off to Achio, howbeit Arman managed to stab the aggressor in the back before it reached him. The other one marched on towards their master.

Rayne's blade reflected the raining light beam of the moon as he turned his wrist for on-guard. The enemy was fast approaching. And, in split seconds, it jumped onto him, thrusting him to the ground. The next few moments, he found himself wrestling under the tiger's body. He tried to struggle upward, wanting to dodge its iron claw attack. But sometimes though, it hit him. Now he got a deep cut in his right arm. The only thing that kept him alive was his shield placed in between their bodies.

He was now looking for his sword that he'd dropped off awhile ago. Upon spotting it, he managed to crawl slowly until he finally grasped its hilt. Without wasting time, Rayne raised it into the air, and pierced it right into the tiger's forehead. The aggressor finally died.

He got himself off the tiger's body, and started to catch his breath. Just as he was about to get his blood-covered sword off the tiger's head...

"Master, the lady's unconscious," Arman said.

He ran towards her and hurriedly put her at his back. "We must hurry, Master, or she'll be dead!" Achio added.

"Ok let's go. Let's bring her to Ornan in the Steepe. I'm sure he can help her."

They were on their way to the nearest infirmary in the Steppe owned by Rayne's friend, Ornan. He tried his best to run faster, increasing his pace from time to time. "Hold on miss, we're almost there…" he whispered encouraging words to the unconscious maiden, as though she could hear it.

A few more minutes and they arrived at the Steppe. They pondered on the path to infirmary. As soon as they arrived, nurses met them at the door. His guards took her and laid her down on one of the beds reserved for emergency. He felt a sense of relief, but, at that moment, he was not feeling good. He wanted to sunk down, confused, if he was just tired or something.

"Where's Ornan? Where's Ornan?" Rayne's voice began to falter.

"Relax, my friend. I'll be there in a minute," Ornan answered, which seemed to be on the other side of the ward. Some of the nurses started treating his wounds, cleaning it with a damp cloth and applying some medicine.

"What the hell happened to you, my friend? And who is this lady?" Ornan came out in between the blue veil. He was a big man but carried no extra weight. He had a tremendous, long thatch of virile dark black hair with myriad and spilled-down white beards. He'd been running this infirmary for quite some time. In fact, he's not just an ordinary friend of Rayne. Ornan was Rayne's third degree cousin, on the side of her mother and a bit older than him. It was always their hereditary talent. And he was one of the finest herbalists in the whole kingdom, not to mention his popularity is in demand too.

"This lady had lost too much blood. You too had a serious wound. What happened?" Ornan asked him the same question. But before Rayne could respond to his friend's question, his vision became blurry and he found no strength to cope up. The next thing that happened, he fainted.

To be continued!

-- By AI --