• Leo could feel the earth trembling beneath his feet as the enemy's line advanced towards him. He took a sharp breath, his heart leaping into his throat. He felt as if he could faint; as if he could already feel the swords ripping through his body. He tried to shake the image from his mind, but it didn't work. Oh my god,I'm going to die. No! You will survive. You have too, you have too many people waiting for you back home, and a whole life in front of you.
    “Ready. Into your positions.” he heard General Hart shout. Leo removed his blade from it's sheath, the sound like ice, chopping through his soul. Leo could hear the magicians behind him chanting ancient incantations, their meaning handed down through the ages, permitted to only those who had the Flow. Leo focused himself on the enemy as they drew closer, running towards his fellow soldiers as if they were meat to be shredded and the enemy was the dog. All of a sudden a light glared down upon the soldiers, blocking their vision. When the horrid ray had been drawn away, they saw a figure floating above the other army, clad all in black.
    The figure raised it's arm, as it were a god giving life to the scarred earth in front of it. Then, as it threw it's arm sharply to the side, spikes erupted from the earth like magma exploding from a volcano. Half of Leo's army was killed, stabbed on the spears of rock. Many of them were still alive, wracked with horrible pain as they slowly bled out. The black-clad figure crossed it's arms across it's chest, then shot them both out to the sides. Leo felt the raw energy as it flew towards him sharp as blades. It didn't cut, however. Where it struck Leo's comrades, it ripped their limbs off. Arms, legs, hands, heads, all went flying through the air. Then the wave hit Leo.
    When Leo woke up, all he could see was fields of dead bodies. They were still fresh with the blood of the battle. No, not a battle. A battle has two sides. This was pure genocide. Yet everything looked strange. Limited somehow. Then Leo realized that the left part of his face, from his lower-left jaw up to his eye, then over to his ear, had been ripped off by the dark stranger's attack. As he opened his mouth, he could feel the left side of it sag down because of the missing joint. Leo tried to stand up, but collapsed immediately. Not just his face, but almost his entire left side of his body had been ripped to shreds.

    That was how Leo was found two days later when the war had been finished. The mysterious figure had proceeded with it's army to Alastrata's capitol after wiping out the army. Once there, the city was pillaged and burned. The king was taken captive, beaten and tortured until he admitted his unconditional surrender. He was then taken out, tied to a stake, and burned alive.
    Three years later, the black figure and his army had taken over the rest of the continent. Barastia had finally been conquered. It's leaders were all stripped of power and executed. And so the oppressive kingdom of Ragarder was established, and all fell under it's sway.

    Vincent walked through the once proud streets of Warasti, now turned to slums. The narrow paths and alleys were filled with all kinds of degenerates and criminals. Vincent calmly walked by as three thugs beat and killed a man. His only thought was, another one bites the dust. He strolled along the familiar paths that he had haunted since he was a young boy. His childhood had been filled with death, theft, and other horrid crimes, some of them committed by Vincent himself. He stopped his reminiscing as he arrived at the entrance to the Club. He walked in and sat down at table number two, just as instructed. When the waiter came over, he calmly asked the waiter for a Bloody Mary with extra ice. A knowing look passed the waiters face as he went back to the kitchen. When he came back, he had a Bloody Mary with a small slip of paper stuck to the bottom. Vincent finished the drink, then looked at the paper. It simply said: 924 Horsetail Way, Porre district. Garenst Smith.

    An hour later, Vincent was at the address, checking the perimeter. He found an unlocked door into the basement, and went inside. From there he made his way up to the master suite, a cramped little bedroom that was only slightly bigger than the other dingy rooms that made up 924 Horsetail Way. Vincent walked over to the figure sleeping on the bed and silently drew his dagger. He muffled the victim's mouth and then slit his throat. Blood sprayed all over Vincent's black shirt as a middle-aged man walked into the bedroom. Before the man could start to call for help, Vincent leaped over and stabbed his dagger deep into the man's eye socket. He quickly moved from room to room, eliminating all of the sleeping residents. As he got to the last room, however, he only stared in shock. There was a young girl, no older than thirteen sleeping in the bed. However, this was not what had stopped Vincent short; he had killed younger before. No, Vincent was actually graced with the Flow, allowing him to see magical energy. And this young girl had energy wafting from her body in large clouds. He walked over and studied her face. She had a very fair complexion, with slightly angular features. She had thin lips and a slanted nose. As he sat there, wondering what to do with the young girl, she woke.