Altora: The Chronicles Of The Ren-Ky Warriors

"Who are these two?" her voice concerned about the matter. As she rushed towards them, she noticed Luna in Lovell's arms. Her motherly instincts kicked in, rushing them inside. Once inside, she took Luna from Lovell to tend to her needs. She was then telling her husband to take Lovell to the bathroom and get cleaned up. The man complied, taking Lovell up.

"So, where are you two from?" The man asked, washing Lovells back.

Lovell was lowering his head, answering him, "Blacklight, sir." The man paused, turning himself towards Lovell's face. He could tell it was hard on him. "We were the only ones who made. Though Luna would be dead if her parents never came to my home when my mother was sending me off to hid in the woods." Lovell, recalling what happened. Tears started to pour down his face as he began to ball his eyes out in sadness. The man was rubbing gently on Lovell's shoulders to comfort the boy. Lovell felt safe and hopeful as both his and Luna's future seemed to be looking better. Now that he found a safe place to settle down for a while.

After getting cleaned up, Lovell started to smell some food. His wife had cooked dinner after helping with Luna's needs. Sitting down to eat, the man began to explain their situation to his wife, Margret Humbly. She looked over at Lovell; pity filled her face; as he gingerly ate the food. Lovell barely tuned into their conversation whereas his mind wandered on the events that had transpired in recent days, where Luna was in another room, sleeping soundly, clean and fed. Lovell thoughts then turned in wonder. He thought to himself if they were going to take them in or bring them to a local orphanage. Margret's hand reached over, touching Lovells small hand.

Lovell jumped, " Dear, you were lost in thought," her voice soothingly asked. "I had asked, what's your full name was? If that's not too much to ask?" Margret was hoping he could answer to see if he had any other family she might have known or heard.

Lovell looked over to her, the fork resting in his mouth. He lowered it out of his mouth. "It's Lovell Quacey Krisnik." His answer made Margret sit back. "Why?" Curiously asking.

Looking at her husband, Henry, she seemed concerned, as if she heard the name before. Her gaze returned to Lovell. "Your father wouldn't happen to be Azoth Krisnik, would he?" Lovell shook his head no. They both sighed in relief towards Lovell, continuing to eat. "Do know who your father is though." Her thoughts started to run, as she wanted to see if he still had a family. "We might help with finding—"

"He died back when I was four months." He dropped his head, resting his hands on his l.a.p. "as well as my birth mommy." His gaze was resting on the table.

Margret, now restless, "Eat up. You must be hungry." Lovell's mind melded the woman's voice with his mothers. Teary-eyed Lovell nodded and started to finish his plate. The woman could see he was suffering. Standing up to place her husbands and her dish in the sink, stopping at the sink, her voice sank, "once you've finished eating. Just put the dishes in the sink." Heartfelt as if it was going to explode. "I will deal with them in the morning." She paused as she glances over her shoulder. She could see his tears flowing down as he finished. Turning away, "Your room is upstairs, its right across from the bathroom." Grabbing a glass and filling it with water. "There's no orphanage in town, but we can take both of you in as our own." She tried to stop the tears from streaming down her face from both sadness and joy.

Finishing his food, he looked up. Sniffling, "Thank you," he croaked, Lovell noticed that she was crying. "May I ask you why you seem so sad?" Catching Margret off guard, she spun turned around quickly; tears seemed to have stopped flowing, looking into the boy's blue eyes staring intensely into her own. Lovell promptly realized what he did wrong. His turned face red as the words stuttered out, "Ahh, s-sorry, I-I didn't mean to pry. It's just I can tell that—that you are saddened by something."

The woman wiped her eyes with a gentle smile. She walked back over and sat down once more, "we lost our son about a week ago to the Vollow Flu." Grabbing Lovell's hand, "It's just that, you seem like a blessing from the goddess, herself." Margret leaned in, "that's all." Lovell nodded as he sat, staring at the table.

Lovell became curious when she said, 'blessing from the goddess, herself.' He looked back up at her. "When you say goddess, do you mean Goddess Lunatica?" His words were filling with wonder, as he looked at her.

Margret, puzzled by what Lovell just said, "I don't know? It's just a saying." Leaning back in her seat, "But who is this Lunatica, if I may ask?"

Henry turned into their conversation. "Yes, I've never heard of her?"

"Well, my mama told me that she's a god who watches over life and death." Pausing for a moment. "As she is the Goddess of Life and Death." The colour drained from their faces when he looked at them. Fl.u.s.tered with embarrassment, he waved his hands back and forth, as to clear things up, "no, not in a bad way." Placing his hand on his l.a.p, a smile creaked its way to his face, "She gives life to all, with the power of reincarnation people and revival them as well," his eye lighting up when he talked about the goddess, "though she can easily take life its only done on the right conditions." The smile lite up his face. Margret and Henry's face relaxing as he continued. "She also guides the spirits left in our world home to the spiritual plans that she governs over. For she watches over us all." The couple looked at each other. Lowering his head in dismay. "though she's supposed to be reincarnated every sixty thousand years as a mortal. To recover her godly powers like an elemental sunstone set out in the sun to recharge its power, before dying in old age." Closing his eyes, "Though mama said that she is being killed before reaching even her twenty-fifth birthday." They became lost along the way as he tried to explain, they still paid attention to Lovell as he spoke, "Mama also said that for the past six million years she had been forcefully reincarnated by someone who wants to take revenge on her for some reason." They could tell that he did not have the reason why this was.

Lovell fell silent as they looked at each other. "So that's Lunatica and her story, well, the bits we could understand anyway." Margret's stood up, grabbing Lovell's dishes. Then turning to Henry, "honey could you take Lovell to bed it getting quite late." Nodding, he gestured to Lovell to follow him and getting up to support. Henry leads him to the room he was going to stay.

Opening the door, Lovell could see it was the room that their child had slept. Looking at the bed, Lovell notices some night clothes laid out. Henry said that he placed them out for him to wear until they took him shopping for clothes that would be more of his preference. Lovell thanked Henry for their hospitality. With a smile, Henry closed the door as he said goodnight to Lovell. The room was nice and big compared to the one he had in Backlight. Though it was unsettling to him the size of the room, he got changed into the nightclothes. Weary from the ordeal, he laid down. His eyes grew heavy as his head hit the pillow, falling into a deep slumber.

Lovell tossed and turn in his sleep, woke, pale and cold. Regaining his senses, he hopped out of bed. Lovell Walked over to the door. Creaking the door open; he decided to see Luna. Heading down to the room, see she was sleeping soundly. A sense of pride ran over him while he looked at the life that he saved. Her soft snores enough the comfort him in the dark. Looking over at the open window, he decided to walk over, not wanting to leave Luna, just yet. Looking out, he noticed that the moon, Juna, was full that night, while Larin was waxing. He remembered a small prayer his mother taught him. Praying that Luna would grow up and be a kind and generous person, lifting his head, Lovell looked back over towards Luna. He noticed a faint glow coming from her. Confused, walking over to see what it was. To his surprise, he saw there was a mark on her little c.h.e.s.t. It was the very mark of Lunatica. He was shocked to see the mark, knowing what it meant. He looked at her sleeping face, Lovell placed his finger in her tiny hand. She grasped it gently, smiling as he rested his head next to her.

'Wait, it can't be!'. Lovell thought to himself. 'I save Lunatica's reincarnation!' Looking over, as he rests his head on his arm ', I will stay by your side always. I will make sure within all my power, I will help you grow up strong and kind, Luna. Till the very day, you pass on of old age. I promise.' Suddenly Lovell heard a commotion coming from the room he was staying and carefully removing his finger from Luna's grasp. He quietly snuck back to see what the confusion was, peering in he noticed two men, both cloaked, looking around.

One was standing over at the bed, flipping the covers, then placing a hand on where Lovell was laying. "So, they have company." Lovell froze in fear. "they got up fairly recently," the man looked over to the nightstand noticed Lovell's letter from his mother. His hands were sweating, slipped. Losing his footing in the process, he stumbled in. Lovell froze in place while the other one rushed towards him. "Stop, Ark!" the man over by the bed barked.

Ark stopped his dagger inches from Lovell's neck. Looked over to his comrade, "He'll rat us out! Boss, we need to be rid of- " Ark tried to argue.

"Then let's take him then. He's not theirs." Glancing over to Lovell, "Besides we already know that their boy died a week ago." Ark scoffed as he went to find something of value. Were as his boss shifted over to Lovell. Still frozen in fear as the man drew closer. Looking into Lovell's eyes. "He's got good eyes." Ark looked over, grunted at Lovell in disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. "you'll be coming with us, boy." The man punched Lovell in the gut hard enough to knock him out, shortly after Luna began to cry. "Let's leave. We got more than we came for." Ark nodding, as he jumped out the window.

Flinging Lovell over his shoulder as he retreated to the window, looking back to make sure no one saw him. Landing Ark looked over at Lovell.

"Why take the boy, Morris?" Ark growled.

"Because he has a fire in his eye's." Morris grinned. Ark was not happy about gaining heave luggage with them. He could only growl in his disapproval, making their way back to camp.

While they left with Lovell, Margret woke from Luna's cries. As she soothed Luna, she decided to check in on Lovell. When entering the room, she noticed that Lovell wasn't there. Check around she saw that there were two pairs of footprints within the room Lovell was sleeping. She ran to Henry, yelling that Lovell was kidnapped. Henry jumped out of bed, through his rob on. Frantically searching for Lovell, but the men who took Lovell made it back to their encampment. Long after they began their search, devastated, they cried on their doorsteps. The two men made it back bound Lovell's hands and laid him down in a bed.

As dawn came, Lovell woke slowly to the new day. As his eyes opened, he tried to gather his bearings, remembered that he was knocked out by one man. Looking at his hands, Lovell noticed they were bound up. Looking at his surroundings, he saw a man sitting in a chair. His face was full of discus as he stared at him. Lovell sheepishly sat on the bed as another man walked in. He was followed by two others, a man and a woman. The sitting man scoffed at them that Lovell had just woke. The first man nodded, telling him he was relieved of his duty. Walking over to Lovell, sat a bowl of food down on the table. Lovell looked at the man, a confused and fearful look dragged across his face. The other man leaned on the wall, and the woman cheerfully sat beside Lovell, smiling. He shrank away from the woman. Unsure what to think of the situation, became scared of what was going to happen to him now.

The woman leaned in, "my names Kana, the one before was Ark," Her smile made him uncomfortable, trying to move away from her. He became wary of his new company as they stared at him. He notices the one along the wall had a faint smile. While the other one sat down from where Ark was sitting earlier, had a more composed look. Kana the gestured over the one leaning, "The one over there is Lau,' moving her hand over, "and this is our boss." Allowing him to introduce himself.

"Morris."

Suddenly a growl came from the direction of Lovell's stomach; the three stared at him. Then they started to laugh. Realizing that his hunger spoke louder than his words. "You must be hungry?" Lau chuckled. Lovell turned beet red, looked down at his hands. Lau moved over, drawing his pocket knife and cutting Lovell's hands-free. "The boss seems to like the look in your eyes." Lovell sat there as Morris handed him the food. Looking at the food, he didn't hesitate to wolf it down as they watched him.

"So, what's your name?" Kana drew even closer, Lovell was noticeably uncomfortable with her being near.

"Back off, Kana!" Morris order

"Sorry boss." She had a playful look on her face. She moved away.

Finishing his food, Lovell glanced around before looking back at Morris. "It's Lovell, Lovell Krisnik." His eyes filled with fire as he was waiting to find his escape route.

Morris scoffed a smile. Looking at Lovell. "Krisnik, huh?" Morris seemed enthralled by his last name. Lovell became curious about Morris's reaction towards his surname. "You're more of a score than I had originally thought."

Lovell, confused from his comment, stared at Morris. Lau seemed to have a grin of p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e written across his face. Kana tilted her head in confusion. Swallowing his fear, Lovell asks the obvious question on his mind. "What do you want from me?" Fearing that they were going to turn him into a slave or sell him as a slave, staring intently at Morris.

Getting up, Morris walked over to Lovell. "I want to make you my apprentice." Leaning over as the words rolled out of his mouth. "Now," standing straight, "get dressed your training starts today, Lovell." A smirk ran across his face.

Lovell watched as one by one the three left. He noticed a set of clothes. Disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e was written on his face as he put the clothes on. To his surprise, they were both comfortable and his size. From the corner of his eye, he notices a mirror off in the corner. He looked at himself; he fixed up his long, blonde hair up into a simple ponytail. Then began to proceed towards the door, with Ark was waiting for him. He had hoped that no one was there so he could escape. Ark made it clear with the grim expression that he did not like Lovell at all. Reluctantly he followed Ark out to the yard. Walking down the hall, he found that the building was run down. He was suspecting that they were camping out at the location. Walking past a group of people, he noticed that there were different races within their gang. From Daemons to Beastman, elves, and humans, all chatting as they were taking a glance at him. They look rather happy to see a new face it seemed.

Once outside, Ark brought him to the training ground. Morris seemed to be chatting with one of the other men. Morris caught a glance of Lovell. He finishes their conversation, the man nodding as he walks away. Morris walked over to Lovell. He was holding a letter in his hand; then he showed Lovell the letter. "Have you read the letter." Lovell recognized it; he decided to wait until he could take the letter back. Lovell was looking at him; he shook his head slowly to the question. A fire returned to Lovell's eyes. Morris's face stiffened, "Don't worry, I never opened it though it wasn't sealed either." Lovell went to snatch the letter from Morris; was smacked with the letter by him instead. "Can you read?" Lovell was lowering his gaze growling at the question. Morris sighed. "Well, that won't do at all."

Lovell looked for an opportunity to grab the letter, "So, what do you really want me for?" Lovell was questioning his words earlier.

Morris walked up to Lovell, holding the letter in his face. "I made a promise to your birth mother—if anything happened to Marie, the woman who raised you till now—I was to teach you how to fight." Lovell lowered his head; Morris's words shocked him.

"Then teach me how to kill those bastards!" Lovell raged. "That's your purpose right—"

Morris tossed him a practice sword. "No, not for revenge, Lovell there is much you need to learn before you are even ready." Ruffling Lovell's hair, Lovell pushed his hand away. "You are so much like her, it's uncanny. I will tell you everything once you turn twenty. If that's alright?"

Lovell nodded, his rage towards the Faremin building, as he readied for his training. Morris smiled as he reviled a practice dummy. Patting Lovell charged forward, Morris took out a stick, whacking him for every wrong move.