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Dawn of a new Light...by Caitlin FairclothBefore dawn breaks, a howl whines across the wind. The trees bend and bow to its will, a formal greeting betweentwo friends. It has begun. An ordinary young woman dressed in unordinary garb outraces the light, and embracesthe darkness. She flies past an old stump, exposing her back to her audience. The view of her torn leather jacketis peculiar, to say the least. Fashioned across her broad shoulders is a simple ‘S’, not of thread or ink. This ‘S’ is spawnedfrom some material; a material completely different from what a human might assume. It appears as if it is spun fromthe shadows themselves, and it faintly chants a name into the eardrums; Shard.“Tree branch after twig, snapping under my heel; I feel like Quicksilver. Who else can keep up with the speed oflight; the light now creeping quickly under the forest’s canopy? Only a “superhuman” of sorts could accomplish such afeat,” she thought to herself.“Well, I guess that’s what I am” she mumbles under her light, whispery breath. She clutches at the amuletaround her neck; a seemingly worthless family heirloom. It glows with a fiery intensity, a power unknown to mankind;Lumias. Most would deem it “magic”, but it is far more then that, it is a power essence bound to an elemental stone.In Shard’s case, it’s her parent’s unconditional, sacrificing love bound to a shadow stone. Unaware of these specificdetails, all she knows is that it protects her from the pure; the wretched; the unseen without fail. For those who areunaware of what exactly the “unseen” are, they more or less resemble the traditional, so-called mythological, vampire.Why is Shard concerned with the affairs of vampires? It’s a part of her ancestry; a part of her. Shard’s father is a vampire,whereas her mother was a 3rd generation shape-shifter. Shape-shifters are easily mistaken for humans, the laterthe generation the better they blend; their natural ability to morph develops at earlier and earlier years the later thegeneration.It’s the old Romeo & Juliet story; a tale of forbidden, treacherous love. Her father fell in love with her mother,and vice versa. Later, Shard is born, along with her twin brother, Dominik. However, the others did not take to this atall. They shun Shard’s father, labeling him a trader for “inbreeding” outside the sect, let alone the vampire species. Thatvery night they come to undo her father’s “mistakes”. They are driven to kill her mother, her and Dominik. However,Shard’s father, Ionel, knows they are coming. His friends risk exile or worse by warning him. So, he sends his wife; Natalia.He sends her away with Shard, and tells her to give their daughter to humans. Natalia is reluctant, she wants herdaughter to embrace her gifts, not be abandoned for them.“In a human household she could grow up with a normal life, away from our shame and the terrible consequencesof our actions. Please, take her away from all of this. Keep her from being viciously poisoned by the hate thatpursues us.” Ionel begs his wife.Natalia obeys Ionel faithfully, but leaves an amulet around her daughter’s neck with the family crest engravedupon it. This amulet is originally meant to be a mere clue to Shard’s origin; her family. Natalia prays that one day; Shardwill find where she comes from and perhaps avenge her family. Her father unfortunately does not escape. The clan ofthe Kanshée sect steals Shard’s brother Dominik instead of slaughtering him. The Kanshée discovered a miracle; hewas nearly a pure vampire. They capture Shard’s father to punish and torture him indefinitely for his crimes againstthe sect. Natalia goes to meet Ionel at the agreed place, and instead of being greeted with a kiss from her love, she isimpaled upon a blade. This blade belongs to the Head of the Kanshée sect, Krogg. Shard’s mother utters an incantationwith her last breath, imbuing the aforementioned amulet with the last of her energy, the love for her daughter;her life.Now, Shard is orphaned. Her brother is raised as a Kanshée and used as a tool for their wretched acts. Shegrows up slowly discovering her unique abilities. These abilities entail: morphing into a wolf, her inhuman excessamount of energy, or even the fact that she heals abnormally quick. Challenging her foster parents’ authenticity, shesoon finds the truth behind her powers. She trains from the age of 6 to 16 to develop her abilities enabling her tohunt down the Kanshée. This new found bloodlust fuels her discipline, with this she masters 3 weapons: her throwingknives; she never misses any shot she calls, her stake-like dagger, and her silver sais that she trains with every singlemorning. One dangerous aspect of her powers she is unaware of. When she becomes enraged her eyes turn a cold,dark, blue-black, causing her to become a mere shadow. This is a bit of an upgrade from her simple morphing. Whenthis occurs she is wrapped in darkness, able to blink; teleport between short distances. It is impossible to injure herwhile she has taken on this form. However she cannot injure anyone either, and when her rage fades so does her form.This is the product of her parents so called “inbreeding”.A run down apartment building with a sidewalk littered with beer cans, cigarette cartons, and forgotten PigglyWiggly receipts. These compile the perfect disguise to hide a home; her home. The loft at the top conceals a prim, wellkept, 2 bedroom apartment where she sits, plotting revenge.