I hated the cold. I absolutely despised it. Whether it was because I was no longer a man, because elves were more susceptible, or because this body of mine was simply feeble, the slightest chill in the air was intolerable to me. Once again, winter had come to the Heinmarr Republic. In my time of studying maps with Soza, I’d learned that Heinmarr was quite far northwest on this gargantuan pnet, and it got frigid.

  This was my seventh winter in this world. In all my prior Enoran years, it was never an issue. As a baby, I was kept indoors and suckling where it was nice and warm. As a toddler, I was pying. Now, as a six-year-old (soon to be seven-year-old), I was forced to do child bor. Like shoveling the snow, getting snow off the roof, and sweeping the chimney.

  Wretched, foul, horrible. I hate it.

  How dare Mother and Father have their intelligent daughter sving away, doing menial bor! Woe is me!

  I’d seen the magic scrolls that Mother and Father had in this house. Why didn’t we have “snow begone!” or the like? All in all, I made a big fuss, but it wasn’t too bad; it was just tiring, cold, and, admittedly, backbreaking. The snow had fallen heavily this year as the month of Riviera bled into Ather. It was like the gods of this world flipped a switch and a massive, frosted bnket just flopped onto our town.

  It was beautiful, though, to wake up and gaze out over the stunning scene of rolling, icy hills with mountains on the horizon. I’d only ever seen vistas like this in Bob Ross paintings. The real thing was truly breathtaking.

  “Something on your mind?” Soza asked as she snapped me out of my stupor and back into reality. It was morning, and I was sitting in the kitchen, bundled in bnkets, and leaning over my bowl of oatmeal. It wasn’t boring oatmeal, either, sprinkled with a cinnamon-like spice and fruits like purple pearls my mother had diced up. It was sweet and delicious, and I haven’t touched it since sitting down.

  “You look lost in thought, Luna.” The serelli woman took a seat beside me. She was wearing nothing but a loose-fitting nightgown, but I tried not to let my eyes linger.

  “I’m just grumpy,” I huffed.

  Soza’s ears twitched and her head cocked to one side. “What has you down? Did you not sleep well?”

  I slept wonderfully, I thought, but I didn’t reply. Soza pursed her lips and gently began to run a cwed finger through my long, dark hair.

  It tickled, and I couldn’t help but squirm and smirk. Finally, I sighed and admitted, “It’s winter. I hate the cold.”

  My teacher’s eyes twinkled. “You too?” Soza said. “Winter is beautiful yet bitter. It brings harsh weather and danger, yet I feel it is a necessity.” She hummed as she continued to toy with my hair.

  I let out another huff and leaned forwards, the hunger in my gut rearing its head again as my stomach growled. With my spoon in hand, I finally began to dig away at my oatmeal. Side-eyeing Soza, I said, “How so?”

  She removed her hand from my hair and sat back in her chair, her robe sliding down her shoulders as she scratched at her tanned neck. “There is a myriad of logical reasons as to why winter is important. I don’t wish to bore you with what I know.” She giggled. “But what I personally believe is that winter is important because, without it, we would not appreciate the times it isn’t here. Luna, there are always dark and light times. Yet dark times do not st forever, and when they do fade, spring comes. You’ll come to appreciate the warmth and life the rainy season brings even more.”

  I plopped a wet glob in my mouth, chewing and swallowing. “That’s a pretty way to look at it,” I said slowly. “Did you come up with that yourself?”

  Soza smirked and fixed her gown just as I heard Mother coming in from the back door. “No, I learned it from my mother back in the first winter I can remember experiencing in my homend of Kazora.” She sighed and looked towards the far wall, her expression taking on a dreamy look.

  Suddenly, a hand ruffled my hair. My mother walked by, wishing me a good morning as she sauntered over to the range. She was bundled up heavily in her winter clothes and looked exhausted. Did she even go to sleep st night?

  I looked back at Soza and asked, “Kazora. Where’s that at?”

  The dreamy look was still on her face, but she held her index fingers an arm’s span apart and said, “Faaar away. So far that the maps your mother and father own don’t even show it, as it is far west.” Pots and pans cnged, and we looked over to see Mother clumsily clearing the range of everything but a tea kettle. Soza nodded to my breakfast. “Finish your meal. Once your brother is awake, we’ll start today’s lesson.”

  I pouted. “Aw, I was just about to ask for stories.”

  “Stories can come after school.” The serelli stood up, about to help Mother, and brushed her fuzzy tail against me pyfully. God, it’s so soft, I thought as she wiggled her ears at me. This, she’d told Varis and me, was a sign of affection, which I returned by flexing my ears.

  “So why did they build, like, a giant wall around the southern continent?” Varis asked as we sat at the dining room table, hunched over our textbooks and papers. Mother pced cups of tea beside each of us as Soza expined.

  “To keep the Taken—or Oni, as the Southerners called them—inside.” There was a world map in the center of the table. She gestured to the southern continent, a huge bean-shaped ndmass surrounded by a dotted line representing the sea wall. Gary it was called, the homend of the dreaded Dark Lord. It was a rge ndmass; based on the measurements on the map, it was probably four times the size of the continent Heinmarr was part of. Like the Dark Lord himself, Isa refrained from referring to the pce by its name… something about how names have power and shouldn’t be used when best left forgotten. I didn’t fully understand it, even when she did try to expin it.

  “The Taken are afflicted with the Dark Lord’s curse, the Necrophage. People who were once like you or me were driven mad by it. If the Taken were to somehow escape, the darkness they carry would spread like wildfire.”

  Great, I thought, so the chance of a zombie apocalypse in this world isn’t zero percent.

  “So why don’t we just destroy the continent, then?” I asked before taking a nervous sip of my tea.

  Soza smiled and said, “Trust me, there are those out there who believe we should, but the Global Allied Nations forbids it, as we discussed st week. The G.A.N. has ruled that the destruction of the nd is not only immoral, but impractical, as doing so would risk freeing the Dark Lord from his eternal imprisonment.”

  “Well, doesn’t eternal mean forever?” Varis asked. The poor boy looked incredibly confused.

  Soza sighed. “Yes. But more like… eternal if he is never provoked.”

  “What does provoke mean again?” Varis bit his lip.

  I poked his side, and he yelped with surprise. “Like that. We don’t want to poke a big, bad guy. If we poke him enough, he’ll get mad and wake up.” I smiled, and Soza looked at me with relief.

  “Exactly like that, Luna, yes. It is always best to let the gorgi sleep.” A gorgi was a fierce beast, like a bear. “But as, there are nations in this world that do not abide by such rules. For instance, the Warriors of Light.”

  Warriors of Light? It sounds like something out of Final Fantasy, I thought. I vaguely recalled seeing the name in my father’s books.

  Soza continued, “The Warriors of Light, like the G.A.N., are nations that believe in the Divine—”

  The front door opened with a bang, startling all of us. Looking into our living room, we saw Father stumbling in, the wind blowing in cool air.

  “Slyran, is everything alright?” Mother called out. He straightened up quickly and held a hand up, silencing her, before turning and motioning for someone, or something, outside to come in.

  “Children,” Soza said. Her ears were perked up straight and her tail was wagging aggressively. “It is best we call css over for now. Your homework is to just read Chapter Four on the Twilight War. Luna, try to help your brother if he needs it.”

  “I don’t need help!” Varis said in protest, but he cmmed up when he saw the look on Soza’s face. She was very serious, and I did not like what was going on.

  Peeking into the living room, I gasped. A tall lizard man came inside. Under his heavy trench coat and dress pants, his scales were shiny and bck, his throat, and maybe torso, a dark gray. As he removed his bowler hat, he revealed a natural crown of spines. His eyes were swirls of purple and bck with threatening slits for pupils.

  When he spoke, his voice was deep and guttural like a predator teasing its prey. “Apologies if I’m interrupting your teachings this fine afternoon.”

  “Father, who is he?” Varis said, and both he and Soza hissed for him to be quiet.

  Father removed his officer’s cap and said, “Cailynn, do you remember Mr. Bxen?”

  To which Mother bluntly replied, “Unfortunately.”

  The lizard man bowed low and said, “Pleasure to see you again, Lady Moonweaver.”

  Lady what?

  I blinked as Mr. Bxen straightened up and looked at us in the kitchen. “I apologize for the intrusion. I can assure you that I will make this quick, as my employer would be upset to hear that I am interrupting his people’s time of learning.” Once again, he bowed to us. “I am Lorzio Bxen, servant of the Sovereign Right. Please return to your studies. I only wish to speak to the man and woman of this house.”

  “I think instead,” Soza said without breaking eye contact with him, “it will be best if we have an early recess and lunch. Children, let us go outside; dress warmly.”

  “But it’s freezing outside!” Varis whined, and Soza lightly bopped him on the head.

  “No whining, now go dress.” She pointed towards the stairs in the living room.

  I gulped, knowing that I’d need to walk past this massive, dragonborn-looking guy. His swirling eyes locked on the three of us, unblinking. Soza nudged us forward, and we scurried past the adults. Just as I passed the rge lizard man, I saw his rows or razor-sharp teeth. He was smiling at me, and I gasped and ran faster.

  “Children.” I could hear him as I ran up the stairs. “My mother used to say that a baby’s smile made the angels sing.” He hummed, and I stopped listening.

  “Who the heck is that guy?!” I hissed as we shut the bedroom door behind us. Turning to face Varis, I yelped. My brother was already in nothing but his underwear. I shielded my eyes. “Whoa, whoa!”

  “What?” Varis sounded confused but soon continued changing into his outdoor winter garments. “I don’t know who that dragon man is… I think Papa told me they’re called… valenni? I never saw one till now, but Papa seems to know him.”

  Keeping my eyes covered, I sidestepped carefully towards my dresser. “Mom and Soza didn’t look happy to see him,” I said, making sure to not ram into my bed.

  “Maybe he’s like an old friend? Or maybe it’s like what Mr. Hautchkins said a few weeks ago? He said Mom and Papa were adventurers!” I heard Varis grab his coat.

  “He said they were adventurous.” Feeling comfortable enough to take my hands off my eyes, I finally reached my dresser. “But maybe…” I bit my lip as I started to wonder what sort of family, I got reborn into.

  “I’ll wait for you outside the room,” Varis said while I stewed in my thoughts.

  I could dwell on that ter. Opening my dresser drawers, I dug around for my cotton stockings. As the years went on, I’d grown more accustomed to wearing clothes for girls, but the winter dresses made me shudder. All the yers of stockings, pantalettes, and chemises were constricting, particurly when I had to put on a tight vest. Layers upon yers. I felt like that kid from A Christmas Story; pying in the snow was almost impossible.

  Once I finished getting dressed, I looked at myself in the mirror and blushed. This was actually pretty cute. I wore a bck dress with white trimming and a wide belt of embroidery, which almost covered my vest, plus two yers of white cotton stockings and calf-high, fur-lined boots. Over my dress, I wore a matching hooded cloak along with a snow-white fuzzy muff, and to top it off, I did what Mother had shown me, tying my hair back before putting on a simple white headband to keep it in pce. Although this was quite adorable, I wouldn’t mind experimenting with more casual outfits in the future.

  Oh god, am I enjoying dressing up?

  I was starting to get the stereotype about girls taking so long to get dressed. There was just so much! All I was missing was makeup … Maybe Mother could show me?

  “Luna, c’mon!” Varis compined from outside the door. “We can’t keep Soza waiting! We’ll miss recess!”

  I think recess is going to be a little longer than usual, buddy. This was what I wanted to say, but I bit my tongue. “Hold on, I’m almost finished!”

  I stopped to do a twirl in front of the mirror. A smirk grew on my face as I admired my dress, and a small part of me couldn’t help but wonder how I’d look in the coming years. Given my new parents, especially my mother and her beautiful figure, I could be a high-school queen. Or maybe I could try on Varis’s clothes and look like a hot tom—

  A cp, followed by sharp pain, burned across my cheek as I reeled sideways, all thoughts leaving my mind. I straightened up and looked at myself in the mirror with shock and horror. Then I gnced down at my red, quivering hand. There was a matching red print on my cheek.

  “I knew I could count on you, little guy,” I whispered to my hand as I shook the tingling pain from it. With a deep breath, I turned to the door and stepped outside. “Okay, I’m ready,” I told Varis.

  “What was that sp I heard?” he asked, pushing himself off the wall. “Why is your cheek red?”

  “It’s nothing; I just purged my mind of impurities.”

  “Imperiods?”

  “Something like that.”

  He had fallen in love with the Goddess of Solrana, the sun, a beautiful, fiery maiden that brought life and joy to Enora. For millennia, he watched her sun set upon the horizon, seeing her for only mere moments. He yearned to be with her, to see her longer than moments. So, he did the unthinkable. Conspiring with Gluttony, he forced his hand upon the Sun Goddess. Dismayed by his actions, she tried to beg and plead for him to stop. Yet, during his efforts to forever be conjoined with her… he destroyed her and plunged the world into Twilight.

  —History of the Age of Twilight, Kain Shol.