Wilted and dead trees line the path before me. They were green and luscious at one point, but not anymore. I don't know what season it is, but it is definitely not winter. Yet, it feels colder than usual. I allow the dark energy stored in my Runic gauntlets to keep me warm and press forward.

Stars sparkle above the skies, reminding me the night is approaching. I should find a place to rest, especially after taking down that Nightmare tower.

A grayish-brown wooden sign greets me. There's an inn nearby and I proceed in that direction.

A tall wooden building sits on an elevated platform above a pond. Behind it is a waterfall, its sound of the water crashing to the rocks below soothing my otherwise raging head. This is the inn and warm orange lights illuminate the interior receptionist area.

I walk through the wooden double-doors and the receptionist greets me with a wave. "Good evening traveler," the fae man says, presenting a smile to complement the tiger stripes on his cheeks and yellow feline eyes. He then notices the badge on my uniform. "You're from the Figarosa Imperial Army. What's a soldier like yourself doing in a place like this?"

"I work for no one," I say.

"I see." His eyes squint with suspicion. His whiskers twitch. "In that case, I recommend changing out of that uniform and into something that doesn't paint you as the enemy of the state. Lexia soldiers have been patrolling the area as of late. Apparently, they're after a certain assassin. I don't know the whole details, but I'm sure you may have seen printed and aetheric signage around certain pockets of this village."

Enemy of the state? Am I in Archaean territory? If that's the case, then I suppose I should keep watch. Lexia soldiers might be nearby.

I say to the man, "Understood."

He hands me a silver key card. "Your room is on the second floor, all the way to the end of the hallway, on the right side."

"Thanks," I say, accepting the key to my room. Then I proceed to the second floor, where my temporary abode awaits.

As I enter the wood-walled room, a small water fountain on the left side wall houses three potted plants. Each pot has white and purple flowers, surrounded by green foliage. Next to the fountain, a pine wooden dresser sits and next to it, a mahogany armoire.

Against the room-length window is a desk with an aetheric projector device. I turn it on. A holographic image appears, presenting a white-haired knight with bluish armor and a horned helmet. It looks like one of those fancy video game things as the hologram inquires me to either start a New Game or Load Saved Game. "Sure looks like Archaean technology," I say to myself. I have no time for games though, so I turn off the console.

Finally, on the wall opposite of the fountain is a comfy feathered bed. I sit on the side, preparing for a nap. Feels like I'm sitting on a cloud. The cold fabrics and soft mattress chill my buttocks. I almost forget how soft these beds can feel. After all, I'm used to sleeping on the firm beds of the barracks, or outside in a tent. This feels like a luxury.

I glance out the window, staring at the waterfall. Already, I'm thinking of an escape route should Lexia soldiers make my way to my location. It seems if I have to escape out the window, I'll be making a splash. It also doesn't help that my room is at the far end of the hall. By default, I'm already cornered, but maybe there are other options.

I lie down on my bed and stare up. A skylight window shines at my face with the light of the stars. Great. Not exactly a suitable place for concealment, but I suppose I'll have to consider what I have. Looks like I can kick through that window if the one facing the waterfall looks too risky. On the other hand, the skylight could also serve as an entry point for a Lexia assassin.

My body relaxes on the ultra-soft mattress of this simple bed. Yet, I keep one eye open and my ears alert.

It's been an hour and nothing unusual. For now. At least the rain stopped.

My nap is short but the stars remain. I pick myself up and wash my face in the fountain nearby. My reflection greets me, displaying the face of a scarred young soldier with tired eyes who's seen too much shit on the battlefield. A second figure appears just behind my reflection, out the skylight window.

Shit! I turn my head, giving a splitting gaze at the skylight. No one's there, but I hear something coming from the roof. Sounds like swift footsteps. They know I'm here.

Another set of raging footsteps. This time from the hallway. I know they're after me. And I'm left with two options: out the wall or up the ceiling. With a launching kick, I spike open the skylight window and break out from my room. Before I land, I see the adversary, shrouded in black. With precision, my foot bee-lines with the intruder's face and strikes home, knocking that Lexia Imperial down. Then I run. To where? I don't know — just anywhere far away from these freaks. With a cat's grace, I leap off the roof of the two-and-a-half story building and make haste to a thick forest.

A commanding, young, male voice says, loud and amplified through a megaphone, "You have nowhere to run, Mathilde sae Wairen."

I recognize that voice. It's Dione Lexia, the crown prince of Archaeus and oldest child of Queen Serahlyne Lexia II. Instead of running away, I seek forward to confront the menace. I've always wanted to punch him in the face.

He sees me, and I see him in this thick of this forest. He's wearing his Judge's Armor comprising bluish-white ornamental plate mail with gold accents. His golden helmet has coiled horns like a ram but bears the face of a lion with bluish-green glowing eyes. On one hand is a tower shield, while the other hand wields a lightweight gunblade. He seems to be alone, but I'm sure someone is hiding behind those trees.

"You," he says with a menacing growl while pointing his gunblade at me. "You cannot run from me, Mathilde!"

"I don't need to run," I say, preparing to fight. I suppose I should run, but my urge to fight tempts me to challenge this flashing prince of steel.

"How bold of you to come at me with your fists."

"My fists are all I need, Princeling!"

I can't see his face, but I can tell he's pissed. A certain growl echoes and steam blows from his helmet. He hates that word — Princeling.

Dione assumes a defensive position, his shield steady, his blade pointing to his flank.

Meanwhile, I keep my focus sharp, trying to spot a weak point in this ironclad magitech-powered paladin. A few spots come to mind already. Joints are the obvious places, but I can also strike the light blue glowing aetheric cores on his chest and shield, reducing the effectiveness of his armor.

Steam expels from his boots as he rams forward, his shield up, looking to bash me with it. I juke to the side and counter with a swift and precise kick to a glowing component on the back of his armor. I say, "All that technology and you're still slow." Though I can't get cocky. One miscalculated movement and I can eat dirt from one of his heavy strikes.

Dione rotates and swipes his shield, attempting a backhanded strike. He overreaches, leaving him open, exposing the core of his armor. With quickness, I twirl like an arrow and crash my foot on to the glowing piece. The core cracks and the lights on his armor dim. The young prince swings his gunblade, but I parry the strike and riposte with an upward rising kick, spiking his helmet off his head.

He lets out a grin while combing through the upward flows of his auburn brown hair with his armored hand. "I see you're just as quick compared to the last time we've met."

"Has it been that long?" I ask, sneering back. I don't recall the last time I fought Dione on the battlefield. However, I'm sure he wasn't wearing the same armor he's wearing now. Actually, he used to wear a white coat with glowing magitech cores attached to it. The cores had a thing for making his strikes spark like lightning. Hell, he still has lightning-infused magitech cores. Then I remember something and say, "You should fight me with your fists. You fight better without those hunks of metal holding your skills back."

Dione tosses aside his shield and gunblade. "Perhaps you're right. But even without weapons, you think you can stop me?" He gets into stance and prepares to fight once more in hand-to-hand combat.

"I did it before. I will do it again," I say, recalling the time when I last fought him. While he's no pushover, he fought recklessly before, allowing for easy counterattacks. Though perhaps he's wised up a bit. If he's gotten stronger, then that's more thrills for me — and I enjoy the thrills of a tough fight.

Electricity gathers around his feet and the armored prince bum-rushes forward with a thunderous shoulder tackle and a shocking haymaker after that. Both attacks, I parry with my gauntlets. I respond with a brutal knee strike to his midsection, and then a quick toss, followed by a leg choke submission.

His hands glow as he reaches for my leg. Electricity surges through my thighs, forcing me to loosen my grip. I roll and retreat, playing a defensive position, and so does he.

A swirling cloud of shadow magic surrounds my gauntlets.

Dione rushes again, this time with his electrified fist forward, looking to connect with my face. With a quick spin, I evade his punch and deliver a focused backhanded strike, followed by a fierce punch, a quick rush to a heavy roundhouse kick, and an overcharged spiral. With a finishing touch, I end the sequence with a shadow-infused spiral into a quick foot-spike, launching the prince back.

He gets up and glances at his armor. A crack forms over the magitech core on his chest. "Initiate Plan B," he says as his hands glow with electricity. With lightning-quick reflexes, he dashes at me. I block high, but it seems I read his move wrong and eat an underhook to my chin. He follows through with a charging haymaker to my midsection, knocking my wind, launching me back against a nearby tree. Then, like a crack of thunder, he strikes again with his raging, thunderous art. One. Two. Three! Finally, while electricity still charges his hand, his fist strikes the ground, crashing my body on to ground, creating a small crater.

This pain. I feel burned and gassed. Struggling, I pick myself up, one shoulder slouching to the side. Something warm comes from my lips. I tap it with my finger. It's blood. My blood. I spit to the side, and an arrogant grin forms over my bloodied teeth. "Was that it? I thought you were going to destroy me."

"You still stand," Dione says, pointing at me. "Most of your legion would fall to an attack like that. I have to say, I'm impressed, but I believe our battle must end." His palm opens. I expect lighting to shoot from it, but only a puff of smoke appears.

"Looks like you're running on empty now," I say, growling with fury.

"Not quite!" Another voice says. Sounds like a girl, but I don't recognize the voice. She sounds younger than the two of us. "You're not hurting my brother anymore."

"Clarice?" Dione says with a great concern as a circle of glowing lines forms in front of him.

Emerging from the portal is a girl, shorter than Dione and I. She presents herself wearing a royal blue mage's robe with white circular magitech cores on her shoulders. Her hair is pink with drills on the side, but with a lighter shade than my hair. Pale blue eyes stare dead set at me and a wide grin paints her face. She wields an ornamental staff, somewhat longer than her own height. The bottom portion of the staff strangely looks like a chainsaw. Looks like she'll either cast magic or chop things.

"Mother says you need to go to sleep, Mathilde sae Wairen. So here's a sleep spell." With a dainty wave of her staff, a sudden heaviness settles on my head, inducing a strange tiredness. "She'll be happy to see you when you wake up."

"Damn you," I say, gasping. My eyes find difficulty in remaining open, and my legs lose their balance. Then I collapse, my knees crumpling, my head feeling heavy, and the scene looking pitch black.

My hearing turns into a muffle, but it sounds like Dione and his sister are hauling my tired body into something. A magitech transport unit, I think. Sounds like the whirring hum of a magitech engine. Where are they taking me?

You better run very far away when I wake up, you little shit.