The lights from the city skyline shined on Jaehee’s green eyes as she entered the high rise apartment she lived in. She and Jiyong had parted ways in the hallway; he lived in the apartment across from hers, despite the younger man insisting that he should be there to talk to her mother. Her eyes scanned the city line through the large windows that adorned the living room of the apartment noticing how they slightly lit up the dark room. 

She set her shopping bag, which only contained the tank top that had been spilled with coffee earlier, on one of the leather couches in the middle of the room. She could see the lights from the kitchen in her peripheral view and started walking towards it. She was met with the sight of her sister taking a giant bite of a ham steak sandwich. The bread slightly crunching at the bite and a bit of mayonnaise landing on the side of Kyurhee’s mouth.

“Hey Kyurhee.” The older girl turned to look at her; purple irises glinting in slight annoyance. Jaehee grabbed one of the chairs and took a seat.

“Hey.” Kyurhee replied with a mouthful of sandwich.

“Where’s mom?”

“Hell if I know.” She swallowed her food and continued, “She wasn’t home when I got here.”

Jaehee frowned. Where could she be? The temple maybe? She really needed to talk to her mother. The High Priestess was the only other person beside their father who had access to the Book of Knowledge. It would have been great if they still had the book, but her father had taken it with him when he went off on his expedition to find the first volume of it.

“I think the Chosen One has been reincarnated. Also, it seems someone else is sending Shadows to find her.” 

Kyurhee looked at Jaehee and shrugged her shoulders. “That’s none of my business.”

“Well it should be. It affects all of us in the end especially if our people are involved.” Jaehee was annoyed with her sister. The older woman never seemed to care about anything as of late, unless it benefited her.

“I got a call for job earlier today. I’m leaving for Turkey tomorrow morning. The only thing that matters to me right now is completing this mission so I can get paid. Killing humans is much more exciting than ‘God’s Chosen One.’ I still don’t see why you believe that silly fairy tale.” Kyurhee turned to look away from her sister and threw her legs on top of the table.

Every Shadow was taught from a young age the story of The Chosen One, the hero of the humans, who was personally selected by their God to bring down the reign of The Shadows. The details of the actual story were lost in the very first Book of Knowledge. For thousands of years it was believed that the very first Book of Knowledge was destroyed in the war. It had remained that way up until two years ago, when King Daesung of The Shadows was informed by nobleman Kim Kwangsoo that clues to the book’s location had been found.

The details written in the current Book of Knowledge were written after the story had been passed down by word of mouth for hundreds of years, so the exact details had been changed numerous times. But several details remained the same and it was those that were finally written down in the new book. 

Book of Knowledge, Volume II

Chapter I

The Beginning of Civilization and The War of the Ancients

In the beginning of civilization, there existed two different races. The Shadows and Humans. With the aid of the dark magic and energies that existed in the world, The Shadows rose up to create cities, laws, morals, a better way of living and surviving for everyone. Peace reigned through out the world, but those known as Humans always felt oppressed despite being given all the freedom to do as they liked and believe in whatever deity they chose.

Fed up with that they believed was oppression; they rose up in rebellion of The Shadows. They caused havoc through the world. Protests turned in to riots, riots in to murders, murders into massacres, and massacres into genocide. It was their belief that only they and their God could rule our world. Lifting their people’s spirits an army rose to challenge the King of the Shadows. As the war waged, both sides saw victories and loses until the Humans brought their Hero, the Chosen One, into the war. Alongside its Guardian, the Chosen One brought down an entire civilization. The Humans then rose to rule the world and left the Shadows scrambling to survive in the new world.

Their belief was a simple one. The damnation that the world had been through had ended. It was now the Age of The Light.

Despite being the history of their people, Kyurhee always believed it to be a fantasy of their people. It was just a way to explain why The Shadows had to live and blend into a world ruled by humans. Working as a mercenary is what gave her pleasure and happiness. To be able to kill humans and get paid for it, that was a life worth living. 

Jaehee on the other hand believed every word of it.

“I know you don’t believe this Kyurhee but I’m serious. I have not ordered anyone to go out there and find The Chosen One or hunt down humans to see if they’re the one. I don’t want a war to start because the Guardians think that we’re trying to kill their Hero.” Plea marked her face as she looked at her sister.

Sighing and stuffing the last piece of her sandwich in , Kyurhee turned to look at her sister. “That’s your problem. You are too content with the way things are now. In fact, I’d say you enjoy pretending to be a human. There is a reason why they call you the Human Eyed Princess, and it’s not just because you have those green eyes. You’re too compassionate towards them. You train in the darkest of magic, with the heaviest of armors and weapons, yet you walk around living your life like you’re part of their world. If you truly believe in the Book of Knowledge like you say you do, then you know it is them who ended our reign. Our time of glory. If I were you, I would allow those Shadows hunting down the Chosen One to capture them. Perhaps then we would be free once more.”

Jaehee clenched her jaw and looked down at her hands, particularly her left hand. She took one last look at Kyurhee as her sister walked away from the table and headed to her room. The burning sensation she had felt earlier that day when she helped that girl up had stopped long ago, but she still found it hard to believe that she was the same one Jiyong had seen being attacked by those Shadows. She didn’t know much about the Guardians, but one of them had defended her.

She sighed and moved to pick up Kyurhee’s plate and put it in the sink. She then turned off the lights in the kitchen and headed for her room. She would sleep on this information for now and find her mother in the morning.





Eunjung had sat on her motorcycle for about two hours after she had parked it in front of Jiyeon’s apartment building. She wanted to make sure that Jiyeon was completely safe. She knew the girl would be, but it was still her duty to watch over Jiyeon no matter where the girl was.

She grabbed for the phone that she kept attached to a holder on the motorcycle. She called Hyomin and asked her to send a group of Guardians to watch over the area. After a little while, she noted the Guardians that had taken their spots in different areas around the apartment building. With the knowledge of them watching over the area, Eunjung her motorcycle and took off.

She drove east, heading out of the city towards the more mountainous area that surrounded it. It was in the mountains east of the city that she would go to talk to God. As the leader of the Guardians, she was the only one allowed to enter the hidden cave in one of the mountains. Once she reached them, she parked her motorcycle in a lower region of the mountain range. It was about as far as she could take it; the rest of the trip to the hidden cave was made on foot. To any mountain climber that decided to venture into this area, the opening to the cave looked just like any other rock.

Eunjung stood in front of the round rock that hid the entrance. She wiped the sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand as the rock moved to allow her entrance. It closed behind her as she stepped inside. She walked down the small corridor that led to the altar. The altar was a golden light well that shined brightly as she neared it. The tall golden candle holders on each side of the light well suddenly and lit up the rest of the room.

In front of the golden light well stood a podium made out of rock. On the left it had a sword jammed into it; the only thing visible from it was the black handle and hilt. The right side of the podium was empty; a rectangular shaped hole was the only thing on it.

Eunjung looked at the light well and then knelt on one knee in front of it. The stone podium blocked the bright light. “My Lord, I have located the Chosen One. She is safe, and I believe I have gained a bit of her trust. Unfortunately, she was attacked by a group of Shadows. She was unharmed as I stepped in to save her.”

The well suddenly became brighter and the leather straps around Eunjung’s neck began to move and tighten. It was becoming harder for her to breathe, her face reddening and the shapes of several veins were visible on her face. She moved her hands to grab at the straps but it was useless; they simply became tighter.

“You have failed me Eunjung!” The rumbling voice finally brought an end to her torture and the straps loosened. She breathe in deeply, trying to get as much air possible to her lungs, and coughed when she exhaled.

“You should have sensed those Shadows following you when you were out scouting. It was your fault she was attacked. Nothing should escape you.” The anger was apparent in the voice. How was it possible for them to hide themselves from me? The ability to sense dark magic was something every Guardian had.

“I swear I could not sense them my Lord. I only knew they where there when I saw their movement.” It was the truth. If she had sensed them before, they would have not attacked Jiyeon for she would have killed them before they even had a chance to do anything.

“Because you are still the greatest of the Guardians I shall award you with my mercy this time. You must make sure that absolutely no one hurts her. No one can touch her. Finish gaining her trust, help her discover her true powers, and when she’s ready, bring her to me.” The light well’s intense light dimmed and the fire from the candles burned out.

Eunjung knelt on both knees and bowed completely. She would not fail again.