Even in happiness, there lies sorrow, waiting to swallow one up. Lucifer was that sorrow. He hated the goodness in the kingdom of Nevaeh and despised the Warriors that served the King so loyally. Lucifer lived in detestation and hostility, and it was with such wickedness that he planned to attack Nevaeh with no warning or mercy. Lucifer would use his Silent Weapons - weapons greater than any sharp blade. Weapons that had the power to wound mortals not physically, but mentally, emotionally. Silent Weapons formed wounds deeper than any sharp device could. These weapons fooled mortals into thinking they were harmless. They were not tangible, nor visible. These weapons were keen, deceiving.

Lucifer lay hidden in Nevaeh's voluminous trees as he watched the occasional mortal pass by underneath, thoroughly unaware of their enemy's presence. He went from tree to tree, silent and deft as he moved along. No one noticed, no one heard his swift, slithering movements. Lucifer was cloaked in a black robe that covered his whole form, and his face was concealed in the dark hood. He couldn't take any chances of anyone seeing him - yet. No one needed to see his glowing red eyes or long, sharp fangs. Lucifer had the power to shift into other forms. He could shift into a mortal form, and blend in with the Warriors. And they wouldn't notice anything different. But this...

When it was the right time for him to attack, he'd let the Warriors see him through and through and be terrified. Lucifer smiled at the thought. It was at that moment when he realized there was a girl peering up at him from below. He managed to remain calm and pulled on a leisurely mask. She looked to be about sixteen, with white blonde hair braided into a messy braid. She held a large basket covered with a cloth, and Lucifer could smell the fresh bread from where he sat. He also took note of the dagger strapped to her side. This was a Warrior. How had she noticed him? Lucifer noted that she was very smart and keen with her senses. He had to keep that in mind.

Lucifer grinned at her, though she couldn't see his face with the massive hood that covered him.

"Hello," He said, making sure his voice sounded soft and kind. 

The girl cocked her head at him, and replied almost tentatively, "Hello."

Lucifer guessed that she was probably wondering who he was and where he'd come from. He couldn't see into her head and know what she was truly thinking, though. Only their creator, the King could do that. If only he could see their thoughts, then it would make things so much easier. 

The girl pulled out a loaf of bread from her basket, keeping her eyes on him the whole time. Yes, this Warrior was smart.

"Would you like some?" She asked, holding out the bread. He couldn't climb down the tree and reach for the bread, as then she'd see his gnarled fingers and razor-sharp claws. And he didn't even need to eat - at least no mortal food.

"No, but thank you," He said gently. The girl nodded slowly, still staring at him. Then, she turned and walked off. When she was out of sight and earshot, Lucifer snarled. He'd make sure she would be one of the Warriors he'd wound.

Drogllo had offered to assist his master during this attack, but Lucifer told him not to. He wanted to do this on his own - to savor it, and keep it all to himself. He grinned and continued to sweep from tree to tree, to the place in Nevaeh where he'd begin.

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There were many Warriors who felt different desires toward different things that day.

Olive Hughes was kneeling by Nevaeh's river, splashing water up onto her face, and rubbing rosiness into her cheeks when she saw something glistening in the water.

 It was a solid chunk of gold, wedged in between two rocks. Nevaeh's rocks appeared entirely worthless beside that pleasurable and beautiful gold. Olive stared at it in awe for a moment before doing something utterly stupid. She reached out for it, her eyes fixed upon it as though nothing else mattered. She couldn't reach that far, and so, as if fazed by a dream, Olive stepped into the rushing waters and slowly made her way to the gold. 

She didn't look down at her feet - she could hardly feel the rough edges of the stones scratching the arch of her feet as if in warning. Olive just made her way to the gold, desperate, needy. But just when she was standing unsteadily above the shining piece and reached down for it, the gold began losing its shine. It started melting away, turning into a black liquid. Olive snatched her hand away and stared. The black liquid began slithering toward her feet. Olive screamed and attempted getting away, but the darkness circled around her ankles and began dragging her. Olive screamed again and again, but there was no one near - no one to hear her cries. 

She was certain she heard a dark laugh that sounded distant on the bank, but before she could scream for help, the blackness dragged her under the currents.

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Barak, Obediah, and Phineus were in their home kitchen when it happened. Barak was whittling a piece of wood near the hearth, Obediah was hammering a floorboard into place, and Phineus was simply sitting quietly at the kitchen table, his hands folded in front of him, lost in his own thoughts. The brothers remained in comfortable silence, not bothering to talk. Sibling's souls are knitted together in such a way that they are never faced with an awkward situation when it comes to each other. Their silences are seemingly comfortable and they are never desperate for something to say to fill in the void. 

Quite suddenly, something caught Barak's eye in the hearth, and the knife slipped from the wood and left a knick in his thumb. He heard Obediah's voice, probably asking if he was alright, but Barak was lost in what he saw in the fire. He didn't even hiss at the slit in his thumb that was now bleeding.

"What's wrong?" Phineus asked, getting up. Barak didn't answer. Soon, his two brothers were by his side, peering in the fire. And they saw it too. In the midst of the blaze, there was a glowing flower, ravishing and raging in its beauty. 

"What is it?" Obediah breathed.

"I don't know," Barak whispered. The Fire Flower was opening - immense, brilliant. It seemed to be beckoning to them with such warmth. Not burning, but warm and pleasant. Barak was the one to reach out and touch it. He thought he heard Phineus shouting, but the voice was so faint, so far away. Obediah just remained silent, indulged - watching, but not touching.

Barak wrapped his fist around the flower. He couldn't feel anything. His hand was numb, but he saw his flesh burning. The flower began to diminish. It turned to ash, and Barak opened his hand in horror. Flakes of black, sand-like ashes drifted off his hand, revealing ruined flesh. The pain came as quickly as the flower had disappeared. Barak roared in agony. Obediah was pulled out of his trance at his brother's cries. Phineus, who seemed to be miraculously untouched by the spell, poured cold water onto Barak's hand and cleared away any trace of remaining fire in the hearth.

"Look!" Obediah shouted, pointing at the hearth. Phineus and Barak turned and looked. There, in the ashes, loomed a terrifying creature none of them had seen before. It hardly had any skin on it at all, revealing bone and short, thin, white fur. The beast had fangs as sharp as daggers and eyes as hollow as black coals. It snarled in Phineus's direction, and then made a swift movement with its claws and black ashes surrounded him in a whirlwind. The beast was gone.

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Uriah was in the depths of Nevaeh's wood, hunting. His face and body were covered in a hooded cloak, his bow and arrows strapped to his back. His moves were deft and talented. 

Uriah was a skilled hunter, the best of the Walter family. The leaves hardly crunched under his footfalls and no animal would ever come to the awareness of his presence, even with their sharp animal senses. 

Uriah steadied himself silently against a tree and aimed his arrow at a deer. But there was a sudden noise a few feet away, and the deer shot off before Uriah could fire. Startled, Uriah looked to where the noise came from. 

A giant stag was caught in a ramble of bushes. The stag was surely beautiful, white with midnight specks and a starry, dusted mane. Uriah sheathed his weapons and made way to the stunning beast. The stag struggled against its bondage as Uriah neared, whinnying. Uriah held out his hands before him, showing the stag that he held no weapons. He spoke in soft, soothing tones and the great horse calmed. Oh, how magnificent it was! Uriah reached out to touch the beast. But as soon as his fingers contacted the coarse hair on the stag's belly, the branches of the bush tangled around his wrist, the thorns biting into his skin. 

Uriah yelled and tried to yank his hand away, but the branches only tightened. Blood encircled his wrist, a red ring beneath the thorns. Uriah tugged and pulled, but fell to the leaf-covered ground when the thorns and branches did not resist. 

When Uriah attempted to rise, he looked up as saw a strange figure in the bramble. The stag had somehow disappeared, and in its place stood a terrorizing creature, snarling through its fangs. Uriah stared at it for a moment before the branches unleashed him and the beast vanished.

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Adriel Walter was up on her roof, clearing away vines from the glass surface. She was barefoot, treading carefully along the roof, being sure not to scratch the glass with the thorns in the vines. She hummed as she worked, thinking of what she would do with her spare time at the end of the day.

 Adriel bundled up a bunch of vines and heard a delicate, ping-like noise as something fell from the pile and landed on the roof. She looked down at her feet and saw a crystal ball, rolling along the surface until it stopped at her toes. Adriel stared at it for a long moment, wondering where it came from and how it was there. 

She dropped her pile and knelt to peer closer at the perfectly round ball. It was small, like a marble, but so much more beautiful. It seemed to catch the light and capture tiny rainbows within its glassy depths. Adriel reached out to touch it. She was vaguely aware that the way she was crouching was straining on the glass roof. But she didn't care, and the faint creaking noise did not scare her. Her fingers curled around the smooth ball, and suddenly there was a horrible cracking to her right. Adriel jumped up, and froze, boring her eyes into the small crack by her right foot. Their glass roof was sturdy and endured many storms - even when a large willow branch that had landed on it during a wind storm. Though there were rules for Adriel to take into consideration when she worked to clear the vines. She had to stand a certain way and move very lightly and carefully. 

Adriel dared not move as she willed the roof not to break. The Walter's roof had never had a single crack in it before. Had only stayed steady and strong for many years. Adriel thought that maybe it had its fill in this life, and was finally too old to hold up anything any longer. 

Someone laughed, deep and rumbling from somewhere above. Adriel gasped and her fingers curled into fists. It was then that she realized she was still holding the glass ball. Adriel looked up to the branches of the willow tree looming above her. The glass cracked some more, and Adriel froze again, staring into depthless eyes. 

"You," The beast seethed. Adriel pushed down the scream that rose in her throat.

"Who are you?" Adriel asked, trying to keep her voice unhindered and steady. The beast actually grinned, showing off his awful, pointed teeth.

"Don't you know?"

Adriel began shaking her head and then paused. No, it couldn't be...could it?  A string of anxious and panicked thoughts ran through Adriel's head as she considered every possible way to get away. If she ran, the roof was most likely to cave in, and if she screamed for help...who knows what Lucifer would do.

"You have no right to be here," Adriel said in her best, sneering tone. But her voice trembled. Lucifer laughed again, and the sound vibrated through Adriel's whole body, causing her to shiver.

"What do you think will happen? You creatures cannot fight me!" Lucifer snarled.

"My King will come - you wait and see. He will make you go running!" Adriel shouted, hoping someone - anyone could hear her voice. Lucifer growled at her yell, and without warning, landed with a thump on the roof. Adriel heard a distressing series of cracks as the roof gave way. She couldn't see anything but flying shards of glass and a black whirlwind of dust. Pain seared through her as the glass struck her skin and she landed hard on the loft's floor. Darkness.