Year 870
This is Veridus Village, one of the six villages in the country of Luxstellae. Veridus is one of the poorest villages; its livelihood comes from selling firewood.
"Good morning, Makin! I brought the firewood you ordered," I say, entering the bakery. A small bakery, but the only one in our village.
"Good morning, Kai! Put it back in the usual place."
I enter the kitchen, take the bundle of firewood hanging on my back, and throw it with the other bundles between four poles so it doesn't slip.
"Have you had breakfast yet?" asks Mrs. Makin, a woman in her fifties.
"Not yet," I reply, embarrassed.
"Come. I'll serve you some coffee with a piece of cornbread I just made."
"Thank you very much!" I say, still blushing.
Whenever I deliver firewood to Mrs. Makin, she treats me like family; besides paying me, I never leave without having her coffee, and, as usual, I never eat the cake she gives me. I wrap it in a piece of paper that's left out on the counter, throw it in my bag without her seeing, and take it to eat with my little sisters and my mother.
"Thank you for the coffee, Mrs. Manki!"I say, placing the cup under the counter and leaving the establishment again.
I walk through the market and stop at an apple stall and buy three with the money I just received, put them in my bag, and head towards my house. My house is outside the village, and since my father passed away when I was 11 years old and my mother was pregnant, I have been responsible for the house, working and putting food on the table, while my mother takes care of the house and my younger sisters.
From afar I see my small house, situated in the forest, isolated without any neighbors.
"Kai!!!!!" My two little sisters shout, running towards me to meet me.
"Hi, Nayana and Peonha! High five!" I say, standing in the middle of the yard, with my hand raised at a height they can't reach, on purpose, just so I can see them jumping.
"Brother, I can't." says Nayana, my middle sister.
After seeing the two of them trying, I lower both my hands and let them hit.
I enter the house, followed by them, and find my mother in front of the wood stove, cooking a chicken stew that is filling the house with its aroma.
"So, how was the firewood delivery today?" she asks, focused on cooking.
"It went well, but I only managed to buy two apples," I say, taking the apples and the piece of cake out of my bag and placing them on the table.
"What's this?" Nayana asks, standing beside the table.
"Big brother, give me the apple," Peonha says, extending her hand.
I take the apple and give one to her and another to Nayana; both come out of the house, eating their apples.
"Another piece of cake?" my mother asks, looking at the rolled-up paper with something inside, under the table.
"Yes."
"You remind me a lot of your father. When I met him at Milites Academy, he always prioritized his team. Even though I wasn't on the same team, I always observed him."
"He passed away as a Milites. I won't follow the same fate as him; I prefer to be here with you than to risk my life."
"Are you sure about your choice?"
"I am. I don't want to be a Milites."
I help my mother arrange the rugs on the floor for us to sleep on, while my sisters are playing near the kitchen door.
"Mom, did you give up being a Milites because I was born?" I ask, while placing the soft part of the rug on top of the hard part.
"Yes. But my dream has always been to be a mother. You never interfered with my dreams."
"Being a Milites is giving your life for humans…"
"Okay… let's go to sleep. Come on, girls." says my mother, calling my sisters to bed.
We huddle together to sleep, putting my sisters in the middle.
"Brother, tell us a story." whispers Nayana close to me.
"What kind of story do you want to hear?" I ask, staring intently at the wooden ceiling of our house.
"About the Milites."
I remain silent for a few seconds, reflecting on what the story will be like.
"Once upon a time, there was a handsome prince, tall, with long, brown hair down to his waist and green eyes; he went for a walk in the forest at dusk. Walking through the forest, talking to the birds, distracted, he ended up getting lost. The prince then ran through the forest until he found a cave. Curious, the prince entered the cave and saw the shadow of a monster on the cave wall. Frightened, he grabbed his sword from his waist and got into battle mode. The closer the shadow got, the more afraid he became, until the shadow diminished and a little white rabbit appeared in front of him…"
I look to the side and see that they are sleeping. I turn to my side, close my eyes, and fall asleep.
The next day, after we had breakfast, I went to the shed next to the house and changed the shoes I was wearing for a pair of boots.
"Brother?"
I hear a voice coming towards me. I sigh in disbelief at Nayane's high-pitched voice calling for me; deep down, I already know what she wants.
"Brother?" she says, approaching me.
"What do you want?" I ask while I grab the wood-chopping axe from the side of the wall.
"Can I go with you?"
"No. It's dangerous where I'm going."
"I won't bother you. I'll stay quiet, just watching you chop wood."
"Mom won't let you go."
"I'll ask her. Mom?"
She runs off shouting, and I think about leaving before she comes back, but when I leave the shed, I think of Nayane sad and hurt by me for deceiving her, so I decide to wait, sitting on the pile of wood outside.
"Mom said yes," says my six-year-old little sister, approaching where I am, all excited and bouncy.
" So, let's go." I say, getting up from the firewood, grabbing the axe, and leaving with it.
While I was cutting pallets of firewood so I could make deliveries to the village town as soon as the closing is ready, Nayana was playing with the butterflies in the woods near where I am. Sometimes I would stop for a moment and watch her innocent playfulness. On the way home, she wouldn't stop chattering; my ears were already hurting from her talking so much, but I paid attention to her because she didn't deserve my arrogance.
"Brother, do you like rabbits?" she asks, walking ahead of me, jumping an invisible hopscotch.
"I think they're cute, but I don't want to raise them; let them live with their family."
" I want one. When you find one in the woods, will you bring it to me?"
" Better not. Their mother will be sad if I take her little one."
At that moment, I hear a shadow passing above the trees above our heads. I look up, and upon seeing those creatures with human bodies, all black, naked, with wings on their backs like a raven's and a silver circle spinning around their heads.
" Monis?!" I whisper, widening my eyes.
In a scene of despair, I drop the bundle of firewood on the ground, pick up my sister, and hide behind a bush. I feel as if the monster has lowered its flight upon noticing the human presence and searching for us. The Monis are demonic beings that came to Earth about two hundred years ago. They emerge through portals in caves; when these portals break open in some city or village, that place is overrun by these creatures. Above them are the Daemons, of the seven deadly sins type, and above them all, leading them, is the Daemon Satan.
Still hidden, with my sister sitting on my lap, I cover her mouth with my hand and hold my breath so as not to be found; one of the human senses they follow is the sound of breathing. As soon as the Moni reaches the bush where I am, I hold Nayana firmly in my lap and run with her. The Moni immediately runs after us, followed by two others. In my thoughts, there was nothing else, only the feeling that I was going to die. I put all the strength I had left into my legs and ran as fast as I could. In my lap, Nayana begins to cry and scream for our mother. Behind us, there was a Moni two meters tall, and on either side, two others of the same species flew, intending to corner us. From afar, I see our house completely engulfed in flames.
" Mother?!" I scream, seeing that scene.
I run towards our house, still followed by the Monis, and I see that, because of that blaze, my mother is not alive, nor is Peonha. I panic, and I don't see Moni coming to attack me from behind, and I can't even detach myself from Nayana, who was also screaming and crying in my lap. That's when someone jumped in front of me at high speed and delivered a sword blow to Moni's arm, forcing him to move away from us.
" Get away from the fire!" shouts the man, wearing a ruby red leather cloak, tall with long black hair, as he delivers several blows to Moni, piercing him in the chest and cutting another part of his arm.
I grab Nayana and pull her away from the fire, walking with her, and I watch three other men joining the battle with other Monis who were approaching. One of them, tall and strong, carried no weapon, only metal bracelets the same color as his uniform, protecting his arms; it seemed his physical strength was his only weapon. Another, of the same height as the long-haired one, with dark skin and a lean body, recited words in Latin—words I couldn't understand because of the distance and the noise of the battle—but those words produced sound waves in his hands that knocked Monis to the ground as soon as they hit him. At times I heard something like "supersonic fluctus." Another man, blond and muscular, shot at Monis with red laser beams emanating from his iron glove.
"Stay behind me" says a woman with red hair, matching her ruby-red outfit, stopping in front of us and firing several arrows towards the Monis, who were arriving behind those the men were fighting.
"Milites!" I murmur, my body trembling and my legs too weak to stand, but knowing these professionals, of whom my father and mother had been a part.
" Jina, use your divine magic!" shouts the hairy man.
The woman recites the words in Latin, "magicae insertere, ultra glaciem frigidum." After she says these words, the tips of her four arrows nocked in the bow turn to ice. In a swift movement, she pulls back the arrows and strikes four Monis, freezing them.
" Insert magic, invisibility stamina" says the hairy man, aiming four pointed knives at the frozen Monis.
The knives fly towards the Monis as if pulled by an invisible thread, striking them and transforming their bodies into ice cubes that are scattered through the air and across the ground."Are you all right?" the woman asks, turning to us.
In shock from everything that happened, words fail me, so I just nod.
"Jina, how are they?" the long-haired man asks, approaching us, followed closely by his three companions.
"They're in shock; it seems they're the only survivors in this house," she says, gazing at the fire that continues to consume my house.
"Mom?!" Nayana says, hugging me tightly. Judging by the sadness on her face and her crying, it seems she understands what's happening.
I hug her and look at the Milites, checking the house.
"Jina, freeze the house," the long-haired man orders.
Looking at him, I realize he's a handsome young man, clean-shaven, with long hair, as if it makes him more rebellious and assertive. His body is quite athletic; even covered by the cloak, you can tell he has a muscular physique.
"You two weren't hurt?" he asks, looking at the two of us standing there while sheathing his sword.
"Are you Milites?" I ask, even though I know they are.
"We are," he replies, looking at his female companion, frozen, trying to extinguish the fire.
"I want to be one of you," I say with conviction and with fury in my eyes and words.
The long-haired man says nothing, only looks at me with a doubtful expression.