The Night Hunters

Night Hunters:The adventure begins

Prologue

A thousand years ago, the land of Anaira was created by three great sorcerers by joining three territories. Alan Esmary, Edward Ebdom, and Ria Oscana were their names. To protect these three territories, they decided to create a magical object that would alert them whenever Anaira was in trouble. Together they created the orb of Anaira with their magic. When this orb was created, it awakened the magical particles hidden deep within Anaira's ground. And transferred the magic to plants and trees that grew there. Witches, Fairies, elves, dwarves, gnomes and other creatures used this magic to make potions, to use as a way of communication, and to power different objects. Although the three territories each had magic of their own, Oscana had a much more fertile environment. Which meant that it had more magic in the growing plants. Compared to Ebdom's mountain chains, and Esmary's dry red deserts, Oscana had vast forests of many colors.

On one night in Oscana, the moon was its highest casting a light over Mount Nollox and the village of Alton nearby. Humans, elves, dwarves and many other species lived in Alton. It was the biggest village in Oscana, being in the North. While in the south, were two kingdoms. Tokifus and Mido. The three villages did trade from time to time, but there was an unfortunate part of the forest, that separated them. Which meant it was much easier for Alton to trade with Esmary's and Ebdom's Northern villages. Plitan and Flurh. While the Southern kingdoms traded with themselves. Although life in Alton was great, sometimes the peace was interrupted by creatures that lived in the Abandoned woods. For an unknown reason, that part of Oscana and Ebdom's forest had lost it's magic. There were creatures like dragons, werewolves, ogres and others that called the abandoned woods home. If these creatures threatened Alton's village, it was up to the night hunters to stop them.

They lived in the castle that stood between the woods and the village. This castle was made of cobblestone, standing at forty feet, three stories high. The dining hall, meeting room and potion room were all on the ground floor. In the basement, were the armory, weaponry and the dungeon. The dormitories, were on the second level, where about forty night hunters slept in. Although some did live in the village if they preferred. 

The missing Night hunter:1

During this time, a night hunter named Jason was in the woods searching for his friend. He was about 19 years old. He was tall, had dark brown hair. He was pretty strong for his size. But during dinner, Jason's friend, Jeffrey wasn't in the castle dining hall. According to some of the other night hunters, they saw Jeffrey heading outside just before dinner. There was a path through the forest that lead to different entries to the castle. And Jeffrey always took those paths, so he wouldn't' be late to meetings, or meals. As Jason felt the cold summer air against his skin, he heard something in the bushes of the woods. Dark trees surrounded him. He took his sword out, and stood still waiting for what was hiding in the bushes. His heart raced, ready for anything that might attack him. But he hoped that Jeffrey was going to emerge from them. Then a white unicorn stepped out from behind the leaves. Jason lowered his sword. He wouldn't dare slay such a beautiful animal. He stepped towards the unicorn to pet it. But suddenly he heard a loud roar, and a scream that followed. The unicorn fled from the roar. Jason knew that the scream belonged to Jeffrey. He ran as fast as he could through the trees, even if he felt a churning in his stomach. But when he arrived where the sound came from, his heart stopped. A green dragon twice the size of Jason had a claw on top of his Jeffrey's chest. The dragon had a long neck and body covered in scales. Menacing spikes at the end of its tail. But Jason wasn't going to let it kill Jeffrey. He took a potion vial out of his pocket, and pointed his sword at the green beast. The dragon laid it's yellow eyes on Jason's sword, It roared and kept its claw on top of Jeffrey's chest. The young night hunter threw the vial of potion at the dragon. It exploded red and black ashes into the reptile's eyes. Blinded, the dragon roared in pain and swung its tail at Jason. He jumped and dodged the dragon's swing. But he scraped his hand on the ground. As his left hand burned, Jason got back up and swung his sword at the dragon. It slashed at the dragon's tail. The green dragon roared again and took his claw off Jeffrey. Jason swung his sword again, and the dragon took off and flew away. Jason ran toward Jeffrey on the ground. In the darkness, Jason had trouble seeing his friend's face. But he knew that Jeffrey's chest was bleeding. So Jason took another glass vial from his pocket. It had a clear blue liquid inside. He opened it, pulling Jeffrey's shirt up, and poured the last few drops on his friend's chest. After a few seconds, the blood started to disappear out of thin air. Jason put the vial back in his pocket. He then took a handkerchief to cover what was left of the wound. Jeffrey opened his eyes and spoke in an exasperated voice.

"Jason,"

He wheezed,

"You don't have to bring me back...you should go after the dragon, before it regains its strength."

"No, I can't leave you behind. The healing elixir should make it stop burning until I bring you to the infirmary."

Jason said.

Jeffrey nodded and closed his eyes. Jason called his horse, and brought him and Jeffrey to the castle. Jason dismounted his horse and placed his arm to support Jeffrey all the way to the infirmary. As he got there, a doctor helped to open the door. "Thanks." She wore a white doctor's shirt, and black pants. Jason could barely look at her face, as he strained to keep Jeffrey standing. The infirmary always had to have at least three doctors ready in case injured men came during the night. Jason hauled Jeffrey towards a free bed on his right, and laid him down. The infirmary smelled like a new brew of healing elixir, and freshly washed sheets. The wall facing Jason was painted a light shade of green. There were many beds in the infirmary. The doctors ready for different circumstances, such as burns, stabs, slashes by all kinds of creatures. The doctor that opened the door for Jason came to examine Jeffrey.

"The healing elixir you used will help the wound heal, but it might take a couple weeks to heal completely. Now he needs to rest."

The doctor said.

"Ok, give me some news when he gets better."

The doctor nodded. Next Thing Jason knew, the door bursts open. Alton's leader and commander, Frank Keenan entered. He was tall, had short red hair and emerald green eyes. At this time he wore a leather jacket on top of a white shirt. Black linen pants with leather boots. Jason saw the angry look in the 42 year old commander's face. The way his eyebrows were making his eyes look bigger. The commander reached into his belt and pulled out a bottle of carrot juice he always had with him. He took a long gulp before speaking.

"Jason, what were you doing out there? I said to not go out after dark before I give orders."

The commander yelled still clutching the bottle of carrot juice.

"Sorry but Jeffrey was in trouble, and I had to help."

Jason told him.

The commander sighed.

"If Jeffrey is too ignorant to obey orders it's his problem. What about the dragon that attacked him?"

"It flew away after I swung a sword at it."

Jason said. The commander sighed.

"That dragon knows where to find us now so it could come back anytime to kill the rest of us. "

He gestured to Jeffrey Lucas's body.

"Jeffrey is still alive, commander Keenan."

"Not in that state he's not. "

And the commander turned his back on Jason.

"Until you shape up, I'm not letting you hunt anymore creatures..."

"I didn't have time to kill it, when it flew away..."

Jason protested.

"Enough, you are not allowed to hunt that dragon until further notice. Instead, you will have another job to do. You will clean everyone's armor in the morning."

Jason sighed.