Kaskia: A Hero's Awakening

Prologue

"Honey, dinner will be ready soon. Can you go get the kids?" Brittany asked Erik while he was working in the forge.

"Yes, dear. I'll go get them in a minute." Erik replied, pausing to wipe sweat from his brow. Working in the forge all day has kept him in peak physical shape, however, the heat alone would make any man sweat. Slaving away, Erik continued hitting hammer on metal, muscles tensing with each hit, hammering the item into the shape he desired. Erik not only made tools, he also made weapons to trade in town. A town that lay a few days away. Weapons of his quality always sold high compared to the cost he got his materials, that was the price for a blacksmith of his skill. People from all over the country would come to get a weapon made by him, his skills were highly sought of. After the third war, though, Erik took his love and left the world behind them. They didn't want any more to do with a world at war with itself, instead, the two of them wanted to live in the wild, living off the land. It was only after their first child that Erik decided to pick up blacksmithing again to help keep food on the table.

"Honey!" Brittany yelled, standing in the doorway tapping her foot impatiently.

"Sorry my love! I lost track of time!" Erik replied, dropping his work on the bench. "I'll go get them now, we will be back before you know it!" He continued, kissing his wife on the cheek as he hurried out the door, towards the woods where he knew their children liked to play.

"Rina! Don't run so far ahead!" Aiden yelled, running after his younger sister. "You'll get lost!" Ellie barked in agreement, as she too chased after Rina. Rina was a stubborn child, always wanting to explore the unknown, which usually got her into trouble in some form or another. "Rina?" Aiden called out when he could no longer see her. "Rina!?" He yelled again, his eyes darting left to right, sweat starting to drip from his forehead as he searched for her. "Rina! Where are you!?"

"Boo!" She yelled, jumping out from behind a tree, causing Aiden to flinch and Ellie to bark excitedly, wagging her tail as she ran around Rina. "Hi Ellie! Did you miss me?"

"That's not funny!" Aiden sighed. "Mom would have killed me if anything happened to you!" he continued, lightly punching his sister in the arm. "Where have you gotten us lost now?" He asked, looking at their surroundings, unsure of where they were.

"Hmm." Rina replied, looking around as well. "I... Think... We're in the woods still!" She mocked, laughing at her brother, seeing that he was getting frustrated at being lost. Aiden hated being lost, he was smart and liked things to be in order, Rina being the complete opposite. Which caused Aiden a lot of stress when it was just the two of them playing. She loved to run off and explore the woods, not caring which direction she went or what waited for them. Aiden always wanted to leave some sort of markings on trees that he could use to find his way back, he had a little book that he would draw his own map of the woods. Aiden loved to explore as much as his sister did, he only wanted to keep a record of their journeys and anything they found.

"Ha... Ha..." Aiden retorted. "Seriously though, where are we? I don't recognize this area, and these trees don't look anything like the ones that we've seen."

Looking around, Rina started to realize just how far she had ran. Even though she was adventurous, she was still only eight years old and frightened easily. "Aiden... I don't like it here anymore. I want to go home!" She whined, looking up as the first drops of rain dripped on her face.

"Of course, you do." Aiden sighed. "Ellie, take us home girl!" he told their dog, hoping that she would know what he meant. "Home? You know, where the food is." At the word food, he got a bark from Ellie and her bouncing around in excitement. "Of course, you would know what food means." Aiden smiled, petting Ellie on the head.