"Doug, don't be so sloppy. Just pound the blade until you get the shape right."

"I got it, already! You don't have to repeat yourself, dad." Doug looked up from his Defender, which was nearing completion. This was his first project, and he was proud of how it turned out. You know, even if his dad had pretty much held his hand through the whole thing.

"Now all you need to do is place it in the river."

"Why do I have to do that? It's already cooled down. Sounds like a waste of time to me."

"Come on now, you know why we have to. So the-"

"Blade can absorb the runes of the Earth, I know that! I don't know why it has to be in the river. It's so far away from the village." Doug complained.

"That river is a sacred place. It runs right into Selphia, the place where Ventuswill lives. In fact, you could find Selphia just by following the bank."

Doug cautiously raised his sword, careful of the hot embers. "Yeah, as if the Sechs army would let you past the border."

"I guess so. Now, hurry to the river before the sun sets or you'll be late for dinner." He glanced outside to see the orange sky.

"Oh crap, you're right!" Rushingly grabbing his rucksack, he ran out the door. "I'll be back soon!"

…

"I'll… be back soon… Make sure Arya doesn't take all the rice…"

"Hey, kid get up!"

"Uhh!" A sharp kick awakened Doug. "Huh…?" He saw the grim look on the Sechs soldier's face and suddenly remembered where he was.

Oh… that was just a dream. Dad and Arya and everyone are…

"Quit dozing off, already! You've received your passport to cross the border."

"Hey, you're the one who kept me waiting for hours!" Doug quickly reprimanded.

"Shut up, dwarf!"

"Tch." Doug grabbed his passport from the soldiers' and headed out the door.

"Hold it."

"What now?! I've got ground to cover, and it'll take even longer since you won't give me a horse!" He was tense from sitting down from what seemed like days. A walk would quickly give him new energy.

"Anyone going on special missions for the King must wear this collar." In his hand was a decorated silver collar with emerald crafted in. Doug had never seen it before.

"Why do I- Hey!" Before Doug could finish, the soldier snapped the collar onto his neck. He instinctively tried to pry it off, but found it was locked on. "Grr… Why the hell do I have to wear this damn thing?!"

"Why don't I just show you?" The soldier pulled out a bracelet similar to Doug's collar. "Release!"

"Gah!" Electricity flowed directly into his veins, traveling to his entire body. "Stop, stop this damn thing!"

"I trust you realize the severity of your terms now, right? You infiltrate Selphia and fed us information on the Wind Dragon. Then you can kill her for your revenge or whatever. However, if you dare defy us, we activate that collar to release light runes into your body. At this level, it's not lethal but it must hurt a lot, right?"

"Damn you…" Doug could sense the smugness in his tone, and he hated it. But his hate could wait. The runes were swelling up in his body and the pain was unbearable. "T-Turn it off…!"

"Fine. My boss would have my head if you died. Dispel."

"Ha..ha…" Around his neck, he could feel deep burn marks. Doug had medicine in his rucksack, but assuming the burns were directly under the collar it would be impossible to treat. This only added to his pent up emotions.

"Now get out of here! It's almost dawn." The soldier left Doug to his thoughts.

"Dawn…" It was dusk when it happened. All I could hear were those terrible screams…And now dawn has… "No. Dawn will never come for me. It never will for Dad or Mom or Arya… Not until I avenge their deaths. After all, I might as well be dead too."

…

"There it is! The river!" Doug was greeted by the dew soaked grass and the glistening turquoise water. It had taken a few hours for him to reach its bank, owing to his loss of energy. Doug reached down to the water and lightly splashed his face, then refilled his canteen. It had been a good thing his dad told him about the river. The Sechs had not told him any directions or even how to get to Selphia besides walk. "Dad…" His freshly tempered sword was sheathed around his left leg, ready for combat at any moment. "Heh. If I didn't have this, I wouldn't have even made it here."

Doug waded into the water, leaving his rucksack on the shores. He had to finish something before he left to the border. Doug struck the sword into the river, where the water consumed the entire blade. "Great Dragons of the Earth, please grant this sword the power to slay anyone who stands in my path." Not long after the incantation, he sheathed the Defender and started on his way. Doug didn't really believe in all that blessing stuff, and the only reason he did it in the first place was to honor his dad's request. And besides, Doug figured it would take at least three days to reach Selphia. And then there was what to do when he got there. This was a long-term mission, he knew, but where would he stay? How would the townsfolk react to him? These questions gnawed at him until he realized he hadn't eaten on over 24 hours.

"Oh crap, do I even have any food? Those Sechs should have at least let me buy some supplies. And I don't know any rest stops either, besides the border watch." Doug rummaged in his bag until he felt a familiar box wrapped in cloth. "This is-!" He took it out and opened the lid, revealing six neatly made onigiri. "Baked onigiri and Salmon onigiri. Oh, that's right. Mom made these for me."

"Mom, I'm heading to the river!"

"Wait, Doug!" His mom called.

"What, what? You know how far it is. I'm gonna have to press it just get there before the sun sets"

"I know. Take this, it'll give you energy." She presented her son with a box wrapped in green cloth.

"Oh! You're the best Mom!"

"Mom…" Why did it have to turn out like this? Why did Ventuswill kill everyone?! Everything was just fine! But then… she … she-! "Damn it!" Doug opened his eyes and saw his eyes swelling with tears. No, I can't cry. I can't! To keep anymore tears from shedding, he took a bite out the salmon onigiri, but the taste of his mom's last dish for him only made him cry even more. "Damn it, damn it!"

He sat down on the silent river bank he ate another onigiri. For several minutes, he stayed on that sun drenched spot to process his emotions. Afterwards he placed the box into his rucksack, deciding to save it. Doug would have to forge for food eventually, but he wanted to make it last.

"Okay, I have to get going." He set out to Selphia, following the river as his dad had told him. It was high noon and the sun was being relentless on him. If Doug hadn't decided to wade in the river, he might of passed out by now. "Ahh… Perhaps I should stop to rest for a bit. It must be mid-afternoon by-" Doug paused and looked into the horizon. There was something there… A building? A tower? "The border watch! I must be half-way there now!" He ran off in a burst of excitement, but stopped when he realized his legs were soaking wet and his feet shriveled like a prune.

"Oh man, I almost ran in there like an idiot!" Doug stepped up to the shore and dried himself off with a piece of cloth. Completely dry, he reached in his rucksack and took out his passport. Doug read out what was in golden text on the back. "'This person is granted special permission from Lord Ethelberd to cross the border to Selphia from Summer 12 to Spring 1 of the following year as required of his special mission.' Tch, how generic. Although, special mission…" Doug remembered why he had that collar in the first place. To ensure his loyalty. "As if I would pass up a chance to avenge my tribe!" He thought back to when he saw the fire shortly after leaving.

"What the-?!" Smoke was rising behind him, and he knew it was his village. "Mom! Dad! Arya!" Forgetting the sword blessing he ran towards the smoke until he saw what he dreaded. Destroyed houses and corpses.

"No. No, no, no! Mom! Dad!"Doug frantically ran to the remains of his house, hoping his family is safe. "Where are you?!" He burst into the kitchen, and saw his mom on the floor, a pool of blood beside her. At the table was his younger sister, Arya, dripping blood from her ripped stomach.

Doug stood there, absolutely mortified at his family's corpses. "Mom… Arya… ! Dad!" He should be in the workshop! Cutting the corner into the workshop, he practically kicked the door down. Doug scanned the room, but stopped when a warm liquid covered his face.

"W-Wha…?" Doug looked behind the door, and saw his dad with a spear piercing his stomach, blood streaming out into a crimson pool beside him.

"No… You can't be… You couldn't be…"

His tribe was dead. Everyone. His dad, his mom, his sister, his friends… This blood is his father's. I-It was on his face. The now cold liquid. Such horrendous things that had played out unseen to Doug, who was only spared by sheer chance…

"Gaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Doug's mind and heart snapped after everything from the last few minutes. His home, his family, his friends, someone took them. Someone stole them. Someone killed them.

"No, stop me! I can't dwell on that. Not until she's dead." Doug looked to the sun, deciding to go through the border.

…

"Passport." The gruffly soldier demanded.

"Here. Now let me through."

"Hm. I don't know why they gave you a passport. Anyone could recognize that Fos Ring."

"Fos Ring?" Doug tried once again to pry it off, but of course it wouldn't break. "That's what this damn thing is called."

"Don't bother, dwarf. There's no way to remove it without chopping your neck off." The soldier haughtily implied.

"Okay, I get it. This thing ain't coming off, so let me through already!" The line for the passport check must have been at least ten people long, and standing around with nothing to do made Doug agitated.

"I wouldn't use that tone when speaking to a Sechs soldier, kid."

"Oh yeah? Why not?!"

"I can activate your Fos Ring at any time."

"!" He can activate it?! The mere thought of that pain made Doug shudder, and he didn't want to go through that any time soon. "Fine. Please let me through." Doug said in a more subtle tone.

"Ha! That's much better. I guess you know how painful having runes pushed into your body is."

The soldier raised the gate which promptly closed once Doug left. In a huff of anger, Doug ran out of the guards' sight. "Damn it… I can't believe he made humble myself to him!"

"Hey, are you heading to Selphia?"

"Yeah. I heard it's pretty amazing there."

"With a Native Dragon living there, of course it is!"

Those two are heading to Selphia. Doug looked awry at the travelers, people without a heavy burden. Was I like them? Just a day a go…

"Well, we better stop by the general store before embarking."

"Yeah. It's a week's walk after all."

"General store?"

…

"Welcome!" The store clerk greeted.

"T-Thank you." Doug looked at the old women, who seemed very frail. She reminded him of the elders in his tribe.

"What would you like?" She warmly asked.

"Um… What do have for long travels? I'm short on supplies."

"We've got lots of rice and fresh vegetables. And some chocolate if you'd like something sweet!"

"No, I'm fine. I'll take five packages of rice… and some onions."

"Now, now that won't do! You're still a child. You need to eat if you want to grow. I'll give you something special." The old lady bend under the counter and took out a box similar to his mom's.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't pay for something like that."

"It's okay. I prepared this special for a child like yourself." She shoved the box into Doug's arm, adamant in giving it to him. "Now get going!'

"H-Hey!" Before Doug could comprehend what happened, he was pushed out to the barren road. For a child like me? Was she expecting me? Doug knew the Sechs liked to spread propaganda about their affairs, but he was on the Norad side. How could she have known? "I'll never be able to repay her."

Anyway, I have to get moving. I should get there by Spring 17.

…

Halfway through his trek, Doug had finally reached the outskirts of the Autumn Lands. The wind was bitter, yet the sun still shined warmly on him. Brown leafs crunched at his feet, and soon Doug had reached an eerie mansion.

"Does someone live here?" He cautiously approached the unopened gate, and saw the full deteriorated state of the house. The wood was badly rotted, looking as if it could break away at any moment. "No, there's no way someone could live here now."

He turned to leave, only to hear the sound of faint music. It was a piano piece, and it sounded so sad. "Please… Can you help Dolly?"

"Who said that?!" Doug brandished his sword, looking around for the source of the voice.

"Can you help Dolly?" A young girl appeared through the front door, wearing shades of pink and purple. "Oh, I guess you can't help Dolly.

"Who's Dolly?"

"Can you bring someone who can help Dolly?"

"Um… Sure… I'll bring someone to help." It seem as if she wouldn't leave unless he agreed. "But it might take some time. What's your name?"

"Pico. Please help Dolly; I'll wait however long it takes!"

"How does she need help?"

"I can't really explain it. Ask Ventuswill in Selphia, she'll explain everything."

"As if I'll ask –"The girl had disappeared, leaving only her instructions to ask Ventuswill. "Tch. How weird… I guess I can slip that question if I stand being next to her for that long. Anyway, I need to get going."

…

"Selphia must be straight ahead." Doug stared the rising castle in the distance. Night had fallen once again, and his supplies were near depleted. Doug had made a short break a day after leaving the border check to enjoy what the store clerk had supplied him: A steaming Tempera rice bowl which just happened to Doug's favorite.

"The stars are up tonight. Just like last week…"

"Hey Doug, I can see the stars!" His dad remarked.

"No way! It's not even night yet Dad." Doug peered into the pale orange sky, trying to locate the early stars his dad spoke of.

"Well I guess you just can't see them."

"No, you're just imagining things Dad."

"…To be there once again…"

Grrr…

"Huh? Who's there?!"

Gaaarrr!

"Wh-Whoa!"