Luhan's past

Being the firstborn son, Luhan had to take on the role of his father at the age of eight winters. Being a son of the Her Majesty's General, Luhan had been trained to use weapons since he was barely three winters. But his weapon was useless, for it weren't the Queen's enemies he wanted to swing his sword at, but his younger sister. Luhan had left the two girls in the playroom just two minutes ago, to call their nanny and ask her to fix them something to eat. Their mother will be home soon after a week long travel with the Council. And now, they were gone.

It was fine if she went off on her own and went in to trouble by herself. At age six, his sister was almost as good as Luhan in using a battle axe, and though Luhan hated to admit, better than him with the swords. Their mother never liked it when their father taught her those fighting skills, because she wanted to hone her to be a member of the Council as any Highborn Lady should be, just like their mother. But bringing their youngest sister with her, barely four winters, totally changes the situation. Luhan picked up his scabbard, that their father had made for Luhan, and cursed to find it empty. His sister had stolen his sword again.

"Now you're getting it."

Luhan slipped past their Nanny who was busy fixing them food in the kitchen, and out of the walls of their home. He already had an idea where his sisters might be. And he was right. He found a piece of one of his sisters' hair ties on the trail to Gradnelwyr Forest. He never knew his sister would grow as stupid as this. He followed the trail, praying to all the gods he knew that they didn't go that deep into the forest.

He soon heard them, screaming and he ran to where they are and he arrived at the mouth of a small cave. At least the entrance was small.

There were three Keepers in uniform, weapons out, battling a creature that Luhan had only seen in the Books their Teachers showed him and his first sister. It was a woman down to the waist, shiny green scales covered where her skin should be. Her hair was so long, so greasy and so dark that Luhan didn't know what color it was. Her eyes were slits, and was almost ear to ear, and filled with fangs, covered in green saliva. Instead of legs, it had two snake tails that were longer than the Keeper's whole bodies. Luhan knew he'd meet a cave gorgon someday, when he became a Warrior, just like their father was when he came of age, but he never thought he'd see one so early in his life, and so close to their home.

One of the men swung his weapon, an old fashioned double edged sword that Luhan doubted he could lift, himself. The creature hissed at him and spat acid at him, and the Keeper used his sword to block the spit from damaging him.

"Brother!" Luhan heard, and he looked around.

Behind the gorgon was his youngest sister, hugging a giant egg. Luhan knew enough that the egg wasn't the gorgon's because those creatures' eggs were supposed to be covered in the parents' slime and venom. The fact that his sister was still alive and hugging the egg as if it was her own. How she managed to get one, and how she got so close to the gorgon, Luhan had no idea. And where was his other sister? He scanned the clearing, and he found his sister behind a big tree. If she was scowering in fear, Luhan would have felt better, and assured of his sister's sanity. But instead, his sister was crouched, Luhan's sword in her hand, and was sneaking her way behind the gorgon, probably to get to their youngest sister.

"Look out!" Luhan warned her when one of the tail went down. His sister ducked just in time, just before the gorgon's tail landed on where she was a second ago. "Don't do it!" Luhan yelled and flinched as he watched his younger sister swing his sword to cut off the tail.

The creatu