Near the 선실, 캐빈 where the first battle was fought, incinerated bodied of the Malumtis Empire lay in the ground, the bodies still alit with char and minor flames. The cabin, much like the Militia, was unharmed 의해 the column of fire. Somehow, when the column hit the ground, it weaved around the warriors of the Militia, and left them unharmed, burning all Malumtis in its patth. The Militia now sit 의해 a bon 불, 화재 where they burn bodies. Sanae is praying that her God have mercy on their souls; somethat's not likely.

There was a curious aura amoung the members of the Miltia. They did not know much of each other, yet they had fought a cold hearted battle. Eventually, Menae's curiosity grew too great.

"Hey,"Menae began,"you never really told us what happened when your family was murdered."

"I don't think that would be something that-"gatage began, but was cut off 의해 Noctus.

"It's okay, Gatage," Noctus said. "I don't like talking bout it, but I guess if I tell my tale once with everyone here, I won't have to say it twenty different times."

Gatage nodded in agreement, and Noctus carried on in his testimony.

"I remember that 일 as though it were yesterday..."

I woke from my straw bed. Isaw all the vegetation, and the trees the greens. I could tell where he was: 코코아 Island, about a 월 ago. Bird chirp, and related Lynx hunted for their food, while others farmed. There was also a small pile of 음식 on the shrine for the Moon, and the diety that freed this island. It was rumored at that time to be a yellow 여우 with unusual pair of tails, but I never believed in rumors.

I stood up from my bed, and saw some unfinished work I had from the night before. After completing the work, which consisted of watering most of the vegtables, and catching some prey for the night's meals, I headed inside the house.

I couldn't eat red meats due to a genetic disorder. Because of this, I was shunned of doing most of the activities that most 'honorable' Lynx did to worship the diety and the moon, apart from serving the chief, which usually denied this service. But there was one thing that the chief told his people never to do: "Do not ever go onto the beaches, are we clear?"

The chief never explained why that rule was in place, but I would soon discover why, and that deed would fall on me.

"Father?" Noctus asked into the house. I searched for a couple of 초 before a arm wrapped around my neck, and began to choke me. Through instinct, I elbowed my attacker in the gut, and salmmed the back of my ead into his nose. I could tell his gender 의해 the way he yelped. My attacker let go of me, and revealed himself to be my father when I turned around to confront him.

"It would seem that I have taught 당신 well, son" my father said.

"You won't catch me 의해 surprise anymore," I lied.

"Oh, I know," he said sarcatically, sensing my lie. "But regardless, I think I've taught 당신 enough to have this," he said, presenting me with a 벨트 that had a pouch for storage, and a sheathe to 권총, 홀스터, 권총 집 a sort of knife.

"I think there is something missing," I told my father.

"You have a keen eye," my father congratulated. "But realizing that somehting is missing is only part of the problem."

"I think a 칼, 나이프 is missing."

"ood. But, where is the knife?"

"I.."I started, but noticed something peculiar in my fathers hand as I took the 벨트 from his hand.He held a 칼, 나이프 with a specific kind of carve and forge to it that made it a 칼, 나이프 perfect for the carving of meats, though I could eat none. When I went to reach for it, my father pulled his hand away, and beared a smile that said, without words, fight for it, son.

I kicked my father's leg, and he scratched me in the face. I lunged at him, but he shoved me down, making my face and chest scrape against the stone and soil ground. I feigned a punch, making my father react, and I instead kicked him across the face in the same movement. This knocked him off balance, and my lunge knocked him to the ground. I placed a claw on his neck, and that was the end of the battle.

"I'm too old for this," my father complained. "That's the only e=reason 당신 won."

"Father, 당신 always told me that denying the truth is bad under the eyes of the moon," I said back.

My father chuckled, sighed, and was silent thereafter. My mother walked inot the room, and saw my father, her mate, on the floor with his son, her offspring, in a position in which if I wanted to, I could kill my father.

"So he won, it will not make that I 사랑 당신 any less, 또는 that the moon will give 당신 less power," my mother stated. "Just give him the knife."

"Very well," my father told my mother, and handed me the knife. "Now, son, listen: this is a 칼, 나이프 that is specially carved for you. Soon enough, 당신 will begin hunting for the elders, so this 칼, 나이프 will be useful on taking down prey, not fellow Lynx. Do 당신 understand?"

I nodded in response.

"Good. Your mate will meet 당신 in the morning. 당신 may want to get accuainted with her. If at all, 당신 can impress her with the knife," my father joked.

"Don't listen to your father," my mother said. "Knives never impressed me."

"But one of my knives did," he said in return.

My mother turned away. I guess it was something that I wasn't supposed to know for the amount of moons I had, but I presumed that I would learn once I was old enough.

I bowed to my father, bowed to my mother, who had a red face for some reason, paid my respects to the moon, and went to my 침대 to sleep for the 다음 morning.

Something was on me. I could feel that something was on me while I was near waking up, but I just didn't want to wake up. The weight in me, however, kept bothering me, so I opened my eyes. Atop me sat a Lynx whose face was near mine in distance. I was startled. She smiled at my surprise. She seemed to be pleased, but I had no idea what she was pleased 또는 pleasured of.

"I am Stelux," she told me, still on 상단, 맨 위로 of me.

"He...llo..." I said slowly, still in this suprise. "Umm... could 당신 please get off me?"

"What, why? 당신 are my mate, are 당신 not? Am I confused?" she asked, though I could not tell if she was asknig me 또는 herself.

"Umm... I would suppose 당신 are my mate?"

"Then, if I am your mate, then why must I get off of you?" she asked. "You do know what mates do, right?"

"No," I replied.

This made her become silent, startled, and suprised, almost like me, but in a different way.

"You honestly don't know what mates do to... each other?" she asked.

"No," I replied honestly. "What are 당신 trying to tell me?"

"I'm going to have to explain to 당신 something, but I can't explain it to 당신 here. I must do it somewhere secluded."

I nodded, and told my parents that I was going somewhere with Stelux.

"I'm so happy for you, Noctus," my father told me. I was puzzled, but I did not bother to ask him. Stelux's secrets compelled me too much.

We made our way through the forests near our village, and went straight to them. The vines dangled and and latched onto trees, almost as though they may come to life once we are gone,, and try to eat carnivorously.

But that would never happen.

"How much further do we have to go?" I asked.

"Not much further," she assured.

Sadly, 'not much futher' meant the beaches. At night, some of the garins shine like the stone on the 목걸이 of the chief.

She sat me down on the sand, and she sat across from me.

She was about to begin to explain when I began to involuntarily cough. Stelux saw this as a rude and offensive gesture since I never had the chance to let her speak to me for that moment.

Off in the distance, a sort of creature in the sky sailed toward us. It shined like the pretty metals on the shrine of the Moon. The problem of this was that this 보트 released a surplus amount of smoke. This was what caused me to cough.

Not knowing of this mysterious beast in the sky, we ran towards the villiage. There, we consultaed the chief.

"Chief..."I said in a pant, but cough say no 더 많이 between coughs and pants.

"Can 당신 say no more?" the Chief asked me.

"There is a monster in the sky, Chef," said Stelux.

Stelux pointed towards the sky, and as sure as the moon, the monster approached us. As I was turned, the chief saw my rear end, and all the sand it beheld, since I had not brushed myself off as we left.

"Did 당신 go to the beaches as I had prohibited 당신 to? It was 당신 who brought this unto us!" he shouted, but the noise and mystery of the beats caught the atention of the tribe 더 많이 than I coudl catch a bird.

Then, it began to decend, and mysterious wind gusted and pushed at us. Soon enough, the monster touched the ground with a loud thud.

A shaft on the monster's mouth opened, and and a pathway extended from the mouth. Several shining deamons came out of the mouth, and an alien with a bald head began to speak with the chief. It had seemed to me that the alien could not communicate with the chief, and vise versa. The alien, after some time, simply waved off the Chief, and gave him his back, an extremely disrespectful act. Everyone gasped.

Then, a pair of the shining demons grabbed the Chief 의해 the arms, and dragged him inside. As the Chief was inside, rumors began to spread as to what was happening inside the monster's stomach. But soon enough, our curiosities would be cured.

After a couple of mintues, The old man's demons dropped our chef on the ground. He was half shining demon, half Lynx, but all dead. The alien waved us all off again, and the stomach, the very belly of the beast, opened up to reveal the largest of the the shining demons.

"I don't think I can continue," Noctus said, shaking his head, and almost beginning to cry. "It's all just too much..." he sobbed. Sanae attempted to sooth him. Noctus had been getting 더 많이 and 더 많이 saddened of what had happened that night.

"You don't have to explain everything that happened," Gatage assured. "Just tell us to the best of your ability what happened."

Noctus nodded. "Cry baby," Tenemae scholded. Noctus ignored her.

"That was when the killing started.." Noctu began again.

The large shining demon came to life. The smaller demons shot beams of light at out Lynx bretheren. Stelux and I hid as best we could in the vegetation. Unforunately, a demon found us, and was about to 불, 화재 me with a light beam. I unsheathed my knife, and prtected myself with it. The light aparently bounced off my knife, and hit a nearby tree, starting a fire. I then did the only thing I could think of doing: Run. I heard a peculiar scream of pain and agony. I was may father. A large blade from the largest demon pertruded his body. Large gashes in the demon's skin told me my father died fighting; died a warriors death. Then, it turned to me, and ran towards me, and lunged at my scrawny body. The blade hit flesh, but I couldn't feel a thing. My 심장 skipped a beat, and time slowed to a crawl. I opened my eyes to Stelux with a blade through her body.

"This is what mates do..." she said, and I understood her perfectly. Being her mate meant that she was chosen for me and vise versa 의해 the powers of the moon. This also meant that our relationship was meant to be. But her death brought was too mcuh to handle for me.

"I can't do it!" Noctus cried.

"Don't worry, Noctus," Sanae said. "I know it hurts, but I'm here with 당신 now. I always have been." Her words soothed me so much. He guessed it was because Sanae reminded him so much of Stelux.

"I'll finish this," he confirmed confirmed, and continued tohe tale. Many 더 많이 Lynx bretheren were being killed senselessly. The demon who had killed Stelux launched her near dead body into the air never to be seen again.

I ran, and climbed a 나무, 트리 that wasn't on 불, 화재 at this point. Houses burned, livestock cried in fear, children screamed in pain, Stelux and my father was killed, and it was all 의해 the order of a bald alien, whose reason for the murder of my family was somletely still undisclosed.

I ran, and jumped to the sea. I swam andfast and hard as I could, only stopping briefly at islands to get a moment's rest. I wasn't a very good swimer, nor had I ever been one, but this occasion was different. I had a good reason to swim, and I took that cause to heart.

"To this day," Noctus concluded, "I still hold a grudge on the blad alien. I didn't know his name, so I just called him Baldy."

"You can't be serious," Menae criticized. "Aliens and demons? What exactly did 당신 grow on your farms?"

"We grew fruits, vegetables, and- why do 당신 care?"

"Noctus," Cooro warned, and that was all the warning I needed.

"You both nee to be quiet," Gatage said. "No one else was there, so Noctus' testimony is final."

At that note, Sanae lowered her head. DId she know something Noctus did not?