Long ago, when all the land was still one, there existed a time of peace and prosperity for all the kingdoms. There were the avians, the cocky bird race that ruled the tallest mountain, and lived as nomads. There was the barbaric lion kingdom that roamed the farthest plains that the eye could ever see, using their brute strength to hunt and survive. There was the organized water kingdom, who lived behind walls and housed riches. And finally, there were the magicians, cunning and were a master of arcane magic. As predicted by scrolls told in the past, another war was coming. No matter how hard the monks tried to change our fate, the end was inevitable. And so, this conflict brewing around the world started the next war. That’s where my story begins. I was found as an orphan from the water tribe that didn’t want a runt of a son like me. So, they got rid of me, leaving me outside the walls and vulnerable to dying from the extreme cold. While I was about to take my final breath, a small group of people from the lion kingdom found me, a helpless baby that was not one of their kind. Instead of leaving me to die, they took me in and tried to raise me as one of their own. Even though I could never turn into a lion, had a tail or had fluffy ears, I was treated like I was part of a family. Those were peaceful times, back when I never knew I was an abandoned baby. One of my closest friends, Skrimir was always sticking up for me whenever kids use to pick on me, they use to cut me with their sharp claws and call me an unwanted child. But none of them could compare themselves to Skrimir, he came from the strongest family, he had the king's blood in him. Without him, I would have easily died. This is now my life, living behind my best friends shadow and always being the outsider of the school. This is how I lived for as long as could remember. Until… something happened.

It was a normal day at school, people staring at the only kid without anything. I hear everyone chatter around me. “What a weirdo, he doesn’t even have claws!”. “God, his ears always gave me the chills, let’s cut them off!”. They slam their fists on my table, sending everything in the air. I stop writing and slowly lift up my head with barely any emotion on my face. “Freak face, go back to those hideous humans and die there!” They Pull out their claws and scratch me against the face. A dribble of blood slowly starts to slowly fall down my face, as they start to leave. I let the drop of blood slowly fall off my face. I leave school and walk outside for a quick break. I let out a deep sigh. Suddenly, almost like a bolt. Skrimir lunges at me at full force. “Hey man, what's up!?” He says in his always energetic voice. Hearing that is like a gamble, you never know where he is coming from, it could even knock you over. This was one of those times. “You seem so gloomy today, wanna go to the library with me?”. I grin well trying to cover my bleeding face. He didn’t observe me well, he was in his hyperactive phase, there is no stopping him. He starts to sprint in the other direction, dragging me so fast I’m not even touching the floor. Finally, we make it to the library after it felt like Skrimir dislocated my arm. “We're here!” he says while pointing at the old, rustic building. “Where even are we Skrimir? We need to go back to school. I can just use the library the-” My voice is quickly overshadowed by the old lady yelling. “If you two kids keep yapping out there, ill make sure your kids never see the light of day!” She said at a surprising level for considering her age. “Why don’t you come to face me! The prince of our blessed land! Skrimir the blood son and the future successor of the throne!” Skrimir boasted. There was no reply from the old lady, so we decided to go to unwelcomed. Skrimir egged me to go first since it was dark. “For the top fighter in are school, you're scared of the dark?” I say irritably. It felt like an elephant afraid of the dark. Even so, I took Skrimir’s hand and we headed though. “Welcome to my humble home, prince Skrimir.” She said while bowing her head sincerely. “Ah, you must be the adopted son of the king, I welcome you as well~”. It felt weird being treated this way, I was always thrown to the ground as a welcome to coming to school. Skrimir looked through the books on the dusty bookshelf. “How did you find this place? Do you know this old lady? Why are you searching for her house? Isn’t that illegal?” I start to ramble. Skrimir quickly shuts me up with a book. “Here, I'm going to set more candles up and help ms. Windom cleans up, I think you would like this book.” He says in a serious tone. Skrimir shoves me onto the broken couch and quickly sets a candle next to me. “It will only be an hour, I promise.”. Great, another one of his empty filled promises, I quickly reach for him but before he answered any of my questions, he vanished. It felt like my face turned into steam, I was puffing with anger. I storm off in search of Skrimir but before I could tell what was happening, I found a small chest. It wasn’t locked, so I grabbed the small latch and heaved it opened. I was shocked at how much effort it took to open such a small chest. The content of the chest just made the whole world turn upside down. Inside where old, dusty books. I began to open one of the books, they were quite small, they could fit in my hand. After I opened a page it felt like my mind was cleared. Suddenly, my other hand carrying the candle burst into flames, engulfing my hand in the flame. But, it didn’t hurt. I shut the book and it stopped, everything when dark. I heard footsteps behind me and I opened the book and set a fireball. Suddenly, I realized what I had done and ran in front of it and blocked it. Before I could cry out in pain, ms.windom walked up to me and. . . started to clap? “Well done child! You seem to have the magician's blood in you,” she said energetically. “Wh-what!? The magicians are extinct, this is all wrong!” I say in a panic. It’s was no mistake though, it was the beginning of the true me, Soren the dryad.

Continued….