It was all she had ever wanted. To control the elements and aid her people. It was what drove them both into the madness of war. But who could have warned them back then. Before they knew the truth...

The jingling of bells was the only sound in the empty stone hallway of the emperor’s palace. A place of solitude and learning. Only interrupted by the chiming of the children who play occasionally amongst these halls.

“Mikala,” a young boy called out. Running from his room at the sound of the bells that were placed along a young woman’s sash. They were Western folk dressed in traditional Rikian attire. Those who hailed from Naroch. The capital of the known world.

“You’ve got to see what Kaygen gave me for my birthday!” The boy yelled out.

Mikala turned around and smiled at the young man holding a wooden box in his hands as he stumbled along gingerly towards her. He was one of her favorites among the chosen children that lived in this dormitory.

“What has the rascal offered you now?” She wondered as he stood before her with a crooked smile.

“It’s a crackerjack box.” He exclaimed with glee.

“And what is that supposed to be.”

A little disappointed, he held it up to her for inspection.

“He told me it was for someone who is exceptional at everything.”

To her, it seemed like a regular box. Nothing out of the ordinary. Wooden paned with a simple sun symbol etched into its top.

“Watch, watch, see.” He proclaimed as he pressed a hidden panel button. The box whirred, and she could hear the turning of gears within the clockwork machination.

Slowly, it opened up from the center. Turning the sun symbol into a crescent moon and from there into a half moon. Which then split open the box to display its secret contents within.

“They are riddles, and Kaygen said if I can solve them. That I would be one of the greatest wizards of all. And I can join you and the others to protect you from danger.”

Mikala bit her lip. She knew what Kaygen was training him for, but he knew little of its consequences. But he looked up at her with such respect as he reached within the box.

They pulled out a tubular device. Within a small beetle was pacing back and forth. On either end was a corresponding symbol of various languages. All for the names given to the lunar beetle. Baracs.

“I don’t get it, Mikala. It looks like a bunch of garble goop. But I want to be a crackerjack so badly.”

He pleaded with big puppy eyes. She knew she could not resist him for long. The two of them shared the same fate and carried on the same dream. To serve the Empire as sorceress and wizard. That is why the God-Emperor himself had chosen them.

The two of them brought the box into Mikala’s chambers and placed it upon her enormous bed. There, they began working on the individual puzzles. Someone designed them cleverly, and each was a depiction of some sort of poison. The Baracs’ bite was deadly, and when they opened it, they knew only that they had to draw its venom.

From there, they were lampras root, deathly holly and blood berries. They had containers etched with the names of root, leaf, berry, and beetle, which showed where the poison had come from.

“I think we have it all,” he said as he turned over the box. “Nothing left. I don’t get it.”

“He said this was for you, am I right?” She asked. When something clicked in her mind.

“Well, Briar, if you really wish to crack the code, and be a true jack of all trades. You should know the answer to this.” She said as she pointed to the underside of the lid of the box. Upon the panel was a jumble of symbols in the Rikian alphabet. But space enough for an answer to be spelled out.

“Hmm,” he thought as he looked to all the poisons they had harvested. Beetle milked, holly crushed, root boiled and berries mushed. “They are all super deadly poisons.”

“Yes... and you know how much Kaygen enjoys those.”

He nodded. Then slowly it dawned upon him.

“The antivenom. It’s...” He grabbed the box and quickly spelled out his answer upon the lid as he did so. A Briar Rose. The bottom slid open, revealing a hidden compartment once again. In it was a simple scroll rolled neatly and sealed with a waxen emblem of the house of Oris. Their house.

“It is with utmost pride,” Briar began as he read out the scroll. “That I, The Royal Executioner, bestow upon thee the gift of graduation of your first year of studies. It has been a great opportunity to meet such a bright, hopeful student. One who would certainly not ask for aid in cracking these puzzles.”

Briar gulped at that, and Mikala snickered at him.

“There lies but one ultimate test... That of taste, my young man. So please share this vile concoction with someone you hold dear. And you should know what to do next. After this, you may or may not join me for a drink. For you will be a true guardian. One of the best, if I dare to admit it. Now live or die by your own hand. Kaygen.”

Mikala shook her head playfully at Briar.

“Nope, not going to happen...”

“Aw, please, Mikala. You heard it yourself. Kaygen will promote me if only I have you drink just but a droplet.”

“I will not be you or Kaygen’s strange experiment. He has enough subjects in the dungeons below. Test it on one of them.” She jumped to the other side of the bed as Briar brought the vial of mixed poisons to bear.

“One sip. I swear I won’t let anything happen to you. Cross my heart and hope to die.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Mikala admitted as she continued to avoid the vial being offered to her. “I’ll only play your game if you promise me one thing, Briar.”

She suddenly calmly looked at him with a cold seriousness that shook the young man.

“Of course, anything you ask of me.”

“Good, I want you to promise never to forget me.”

“Ha! That’s it. Of course, I won’t forget you, Mikala. You're the best of best friends in all the empire.”

She smiled at him and calmly took the vial from his grasp and downed the poison. The effect of the poison was almost immediate. She felt her throat swell up and her face burn as if it were on fire. The contractions of her heart beat oddly as she made to lie down.

Briar helped her, of course, as the blood drained from her face. Suddenly the room grew chilly to Mikala despite the burning within her body. The poison soon would reach her nervous system and paralyze her and her heart. And she would cease to breathe.

But a reddish light burned brightly from her chest where Briar had laid his palms. His eyes were closed, and his long brown hair parted as if brought up by an unknown wind. It looks as though he were underwater. From her dress - tendrils of greenish ooze slipped free from her body and when it came into contact with the light shining from Briar’s hands it turned garish red to a bright yellow which shone like the sun upon her.

Then she passed out.

When she awoke, she stood before a great mountain. Her body, covered in fur from head to toe, was beyond freezing. She hugged her body tightly and turned in place trying to get her bearings.

“Hello!?” she called out into the icy storm raging around her. The mountain before her was the only sign of life beyond the sheets of snow. “Briar?”

There was no answer. But the chimes at her side were ringing loudly in the wind.

She trudged through the banks of snow, reaching out to the trunk of an evergreen tree for balance. A light shone in the distance. A yellowish glow.

“Briar?” she yelled out once more.

“Mikala?” He answered back from a far distance. “Where are we?”

“I’m not sure.” She said as she tried to get her bearings. It was not like any place she had visited thus far, as she knew.

Within his hands, Briar held a vial of antivenom. Glowing golden against the blue-gray of the blizzard blowing briskly around them.

“Do you think this is part of the test?” He asked, not quite confident in the assumption. Kaygen was a practical man, not taken into using teleportation magic or the like.

“Well, he always had an odd sense of humour, but I don’t think he would send us out into the middle of nowhere.” She yelled out to him just so he could hear. “We should probably find some cover.”

They held on to each other for balance as they continued their climb up the mountain. Nearby, they found a cave partially hidden by the snow.

“What happened?” She asked as he produced a magical fire imp to warm them within the cave. It danced around and played alongside Briar, trying to get his attention. Ignoring it, he looked distantly to the entrance of the cave.

“I don’t know, I drew out the poison, got very light-headed, and when I brought up my hands to see if I’d done it. I saw you in the distance.”

“Well, I’m not sure what to do now.” Mikala admitted. “Other than wait out this storm.”

It was odd. Something about this was so oddly familiar to her, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

Briar stood up suddenly as he caught the sound of something outside the cave.

“I think I hear someone calling me.” Briar said, a bit concerned and hopeful. “Maybe there’s a search party looking for us.”

“I don’t know, Briar.” But before she could warn him, he picked up his coat and beckoned the imp to follow him out of the cave.

Grunting to herself, she groaned and followed him.

She had to bring her arm to her face to block out the icy pang of snow brushing sharply against her skin and eyes. She could barely make out the imp in the distance before it too snuffed out.

“Briar, wait!” She yelled out, and suddenly she realized why all this seemed so familiar. It was a recurring nightmare of hers. “NO BRIAR COME BACK!” She yelled out, but it was too late.

A shaft of sunlight crashed through the sky, opening up the heavens like a spear. Rainfall replaced snowfall, and before her was Briar. In her arms.

But she felt something wet dripping down her hands and along her arms. She looked down in horror as she held a knife. One, she didn’t recall drawing from its sheath at her side. Now it lay buried deep into Briar’s stomach. But he held her still.

He muttered something as she let him fall down as she crashed to her knees with him. Tears were streaming down her face. This isn’t real. This isn’t real.

“This isn’t real, is it?” Briar asked, mimicking her thought as he breathed his ragged breaths against her face.

“No, Briar, it’s a nightmare. I don’t know why I keep having it.”

Briar looked into her eyes and smiled softly.

“It isn’t so bad...” He muttered once more before going limp in her arms.

He awoke first upon the bed. His mind muddled as he tried to make sense of where he was once more. In his hand was an empty vial. But he thought it had held antivenom but a moment ago. Did he drink it, he wondered.

Mikala woke with a scream, but he clung to her quickly.

“Mikala, Mikala, we’re awake. You were right! It was just a dream.”

Mikala, with tears streaming down her eyes, grabbed tightly to Briar. “You’re alive, thank the gods.”

“Lord Oris wouldn’t be so happy with that.” He warned her.

“I don’t care. It felt so real.”

“I know.” He agreed as he looked at her. “But why would you ever want to hurt me?” He asked.

“I don’t know. It is a dream I’ve been having all the time. Every other fortnight I awoke as a beautiful day shone down on me. And suddenly, you would be in my arms with blood on my hands. Then I awake again in my bed.”

“It is weird. I have had a similar dream.”

“Really?”

“Well, other than your stabbing. I keep dreaming of a storm, and I’m lost. Only to hear your bells leading me to freedom. Then I wake, happy to be drawn out of the fog. Maybe Lord Oris would know what this means.”

She nodded.

“At least now you can go to Kaygen. I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you.” Briar would not be her guardian, she thought. She would keep him as far away as possible. She never wanted the dream to come true.

“Um, okay... Are you going to be alright?” He asked.

“Ya I’ll be fine. Now go. I should rest. You did poison me after all.”

“It was only for a short while. You were afraid I couldn’t cure you?” He asked, slightly ashamed.

“Of course, you barely made it out of it yourself last time I saw you try this on a mouse.”

“Well, you were wrong.” He stuck out his tongue at her. “I can cure anyone and anything! You wait and see. I’ll be the best guardian wizard there ever was.”

She looked at him skeptically.

But then again, Briar was now a certified crackerjack.

She just hoped it wouldn’t get to his head.