Legends of Times Past Series: Nocturna, the Mistborn – Teaser

Legends of Times Past Series: Nocturna, the Mistborn – Teaser

I grin all the way as I run towards Mom's bedroom. The heavy book in my hands almost slips from my grip, but I'm a Godsblessed fox! My nimbu-... uh, 'nimblesness' is unmatched! Mom herself said that my "Dexterity" has been inc-...

"YAH!"

I slip on the waxed floor and hit the back of my head on the ground.

"Owwww~..." I whine as I roll on the ground pain, holding my head.

"Alissa?" I hear Mom's voice from behind the door.

I sniffle and hold back my tears, then I quickly tie back the sash of my dress before Mom scolds me for being clumsy.

I grab the book and stand up just as the sliding door opens in front of me. Mom looks down at me and her sharp, judging eyes analyze me.

"What happened?" She asks in a gentle tone, but I know she's testing me.

"The book fell," I answer and look down.

"'I let the book fall' is what you should've said."

Nooo, wrong answer...! Actually, the "right answer" was to not slip in the first place.

"I'll increase the intensity of your 'Dexterity' training tomorrow," Mom adds as she turns around. I wince, but luckily she didn't see it.

"Can you read this book for me?" I ask and raise the book towards her.

She stops and glances at it, then continues walking to her bed and answers, "Yes, but go get Allura first. She'll enjoy this story, too."

"Yay!"

I lower the book to the ground, then I run towards Allura's room.

I slam the sliding door, making Ofilia jump in surprise. Allura and she are playing with plushy dolls.

Ofilia greets me with a face full of confusion and surprise, "Oh, Alissa w-... hey!"

I nab Allura.

"Guh!" She moans as I throw her over my shoulder, then I run away.

"Come back!" Ofilia yells and I ignore her, so she immediately starts chasing me.

After getting enough speed, I slide along the waxed floor and perfectly stop right in front of Mom's room.

"Oo~h..." Dad mumbles in wonder.

I run forward, then jump and fall on their super fluffy bed. I make a very confused Allura sit beside me and sit in a formal position.

"There, ready!" I exclaim, too excited to control my voice.

Mom repositions herself to face us, and Dad continues to delicately brush her tail. "Ofilia, take a seat, it's storytime," Mom says and motions to the spot beside me.

"Oh? Oh. Oh...!" Ofilia mumbles repeatedly, then sits beside me and sends me a glare.

I grin towards her, then focus on Mom again. She opens the book and clears her throat.

"The Forest and the Mist have wills of their own. They're entities as old as Creation and as powerful as the elements. Their will is that of nature, yet they're independent of it. Their existence is just simply beyond the comprehension of most foxes.

Their power overflows from time to time, causing chaos and disorder in the Forest. The two different flavors mix in an everlasting storm, but eventually, it reaches a point that it sparks a chain reaction where it all congeals into a single point, giving birth to the Child, the Mistborn.

Their body itself is magical, allowing them to attune themselves to the Mist and the Forest. For them, these two elements are not just their allies, they can control them, mold them, shape them, use them like extra limbs. They delve so deeply into these elements that they don't see the sun until they're already matured.

The Child is relentless and steadfast. When the Goddess of the Moon is high, the Mistborn travels. When the God of the Sun rests, the Mistborn works. There is no time that the Mistborn is unguarded.

They maintain the Order, they keep the Balance, and they crush the Chaos.

They wrap themselves in mist, like a kind mother protecting their child. They arm themselves with vines, like a rigid father raising a warrior.

The Mistborn doesn't hunt, they Harvest what is rightfully theirs. They belong to the Forest and the Forest belongs to them.

The Child does not hide in the Mist, the Mist hides the Child."

The Child who was Born from the Mist and the Forest, by Cobaignon, circa Year After Creation 58,000.

"What's 'circa'?" I ask.

"Means 'approximately,' but it's used only for in historical writing like this one when the exact date is unknown," Mom answers.

I hug my tail and pat it myself. "So, Nocturna was alive around ten thousand years ago?"

"Indeed, but her story only became known throughout the land after her time, when the empire released her records."

"O~h..."

"Now, on to the first chapter."

"Cloth of dew, napkin of the fey, cover my face, hide my identity, shroud me in the mist, but let them see my visage. [Veil of Mist]," Nocturna chanted and cast.

Her dark face became blurry, then it was covered by mist. The enchanted water particles reflected the air, and Nocturna became a man. Her melanistic face lightened; her white irises became brown; her scars became freckles; her fox ears disappear, then human ones grew; her missing flesh became full again; her fangs receded; her black hair became brown; and her burns healed, showing a perfect, unblemished skin. Her few soft features hardened into the face of a human man from the Colored Sands.

No commoner would ever notice anything wrong with her face, but someone with a high "Willpower" would think that her face is "blurry," and a mage with [Sense Mana] high enough would notice the Illusion-flavored mana periodically leaking from her. Both of these would make anyone instantly suspicious of her, but her current enemies weren't trained in magic. No, they were mere thugs, illegal slavers, and grunts that worked for greedy, evil men.

She sniffed her clothes for any traces of blood and found none. If she couldn't notice it, then the humans certainly wouldn't.

She grabbed her small, composite bow by the limb like someone who never fired an arrow before, then dragged her quiver by the straps, as if she could barely be bothered to bring it with her. She listed again all the information about the slavers inside her head one more time, then set off towards their camp.

It took only a few minutes of walking for her to hear a startled guard grab its weapon and get in position behind a bush ahead. She was disguised as a human, who had weaker senses in anything not magical, so she pretended to not notice him.

The mist of the night covered the Low Forest, so while they heard each other, it would take a little longer until they could meet in person. While she walked, she made sure to snap any branches in her way like a child playing a game. It was hardly different from what the humans did, even though they didn't do it consciously, they were simply bad at being quiet.

Nocturna saw the outline of the guard as he stalked closer to her and carelessly walked in front of a light source, the flames of the village behind him. It took her a lot of effort to push the beast inside her from drawing an arrow and killing him instantly. She gained comfort in knowing that this guard wouldn't live to see the dawn.

"Halt! Who goes there?!" The guard finally decided to confront her and jumped from behind the bush. Now he was close enough that they could see the other perfectly.

He was a tall human dressed exactly like her: a colorful mixture of heavy furs, leathers, and cloths wrapped their bodies with such little concern for fashion that it was as if a storm dressed them. Only their eyes were visible from behind their balaclavas and all the bandannas covering their faces.

"Fuck you, let me through," Nocturna responded in a rough, unmistakably male voice. [Veil of Mist] was the perfect disguise.

"What the fuck were you doing out there?" The guard questioned.

Nocturna lifted the bow and quiver. "Chased after a hunter, he dropped his weapons then ran away."

The guard took a few steps towards Nocturna, his eyes glittering with greed. "Shit, this is a beautiful bow. It's no longbow, but I guess it's worth some big coin."

Nocturna gave him a strong shove with the hand holding the quiver and grunted, "I know, you fuck. Let me through or I'll hit you."

The guard laughed and backed off with a shrug. "What's your name, comrade?"

"Ligma," she answered immediately.

"Huh? Ligma?" The guard immediately became suspicious.

"Lick my balls, now fuck off."

The guard facepalmed and chuckled. "Fucking knew it!" Then he let Nocturna enter the burning village without further questions.

The slavers were going through piles of rubble, picking off anything valuable, then throwing the rest to the pile of growing trash. At least they weren't mindlessly destroying anything and everything just for the fun of it. Even the buildings were burned by accident, it seemed, not that any of them were even trying to snuff the fires. But none of that was enough for Nocturna to feel a single shred of mercy for them.

A few metri from the looters, a group of twenty crying werefox youths were stripped bare, then chained together to a log. Young and beautiful women and strong and perhaps cute men were the primary targets of these slavers. Their plight was soon to end, for Nocturna had already started her rescue.

She stopped by the trough where a group of horses were drinking from. These belonged to the slavers' scouts and to the wagon that would take the slaves. She dropped a pebble in it, and the poison immediately started to dissolve.

Then she made her way to the Lord's Hall where most of the slavers were having a party. She slung her bow and quiver on her shoulders, then entered the Hall.

Debauchery and profligacy assaulted her senses.

"What's that, 'debachegy'?" I ask Mom.

"Debauchery. Engaging in too much sex," Mom answers.

Impressive, but not enough.

The Buveursang stretched its long arms backward and wrapped its strong fingers around the fox's neck, then strangled him.

A battle of "Endurance" started, but the boy had been running as a fox for hours, and against a starving, but rested, monster, he had an immense disadvantage.

The boy lost strength in his limbs and slowed his shaking, allowing the Buveursang to lift him off the ground. It twisted its flexible arms even more, then threw him against a tree.

The boy hit the hard bark right on, then slumped on the ground, too exhausted to continue the fight. His body glowed, and the naked, bloodied boy reappeared.

The Buveursang immediately smelled the blood, then went into a berserker rage. "KAAA! KAAA! KAAA!" It shrieked so loudly that the boy felt sick and almost puked.

The monster used its arms to swing its body, then launched himself towards the boy.

He raised his arms weakly to protect himself, but no attack came. He saw a large shadow passed by him, then he heard a crunch, and the monster was silenced.

He lowered his arms and saw the frighteningly large black fox in front of him chewing on the crunched head of the Buveursang.

She flung the monster's body towards him and swallowed its brain matter, then turned back into humanoid and pulled out a small knife from her [Item Box]. "Alright, boy. If you want to follow me that much, then start by making your own clothes." She threw the knife at his feet and sat down on the grass, then remained silent while staring at him.

The boy, suddenly reminded of his nakedness and that he was in front of a woman, shyly covered his penis with his hands.

"I've seen bigger," she said. Her face was still covered in multiple pieces of cloth, making it hard for the boy to discern her expression, but her tone was of clear displeasure. "If you don't want to freeze, you'll do what I say."

The boy hesitated for a moment, then slowly nodded and removed his hands covering his penis, then he grabbed the skinning knife and went to work immediately. He didn't need much encouragement because just a short while after his battle ending, he was already starting to feel the coldness spreading to every extremity of his body.

Nocturna let her gaze wander as she thought about what to do. On a whim, she had endangered the boy, bringing him too far from his village and tiring him out. At least for a short while, she'll have to take care of him.

The boy noticed her gaze, and Nocturna quickly learned that the boy sported a decent size and girth in his love tool. She immediately turned away and sighed.

The mating season can't come soon enough...

"Mating season?" I ask as Mom finishes the chapter and closes the book.

Dad suddenly freezes as he sands Mom's nails and gives her a concerned look. Ofilia looks away, trying to hide her embarrassed face.

If they're embarrassed, then it must be related to sex.

Mom's tone is perfectly neutral and calm as she explains, "It's the time of the year that animal foxes 'mate' and create babies."

"Oh, sex."

Mom nods. "Yes."

"Why does she want it?"

"Because she mates with the male foxes for pleasure."

I tilt my head and Allura copies. "With an animal fox?"

Mom nods twice and the corner of her mouth twitches. She's trying to hold back a smile. "Lonely werefoxes do that because they don't have a partner for sex."

"Do they get pregnant?"

"Preganhant!" Allura exclaims. I'm sure she has no idea what we're talking about.

Mom shakes her head. "No, they can't. They do it only for pleasure."

Dad suddenly frowns and says in a very serious tone, "And neither should you, ever. Animal foxes can be very aggressive during mating, so it's dangerous for you if you don't know what you're doing."

"Okay!" I answer and nod.

Dad sighs and continues sanding down Mom's nails.

"Now it's time to sleep. We'll read the next chapter tomorrow," Mom says and motions to Ofilia, who nabs Allura before she can run away, then firmly grasps my hand.

"It's time to sleep," she says with a grin that makes me want to pinch her cheeks.

Allura immediately pouts and complains while I grumble and let Ofilia drag me. Resisting will only make things worse, but that doesn't mean that I'll go to bed while smiling.

Announcement

Hall of Fame of Patrons

The patrons who support Rupegia shall have their names sung by the bards for they deserve the glory and honor. Their names are:

Oracle Maximillian Hübner.

Prince PreownedFIN.

Lord Andrew Meyers.

Lord Hope.

Lord Samuel Lim.

Lord Bill.

Lord Novgarod.

Lord DJ.

Lord Ashadun.

Lord Michale Erwin.

Lord Enrique Peña Gomez.

Lord Braidborn.

Lord Bakerdea.

Lord Yeeteris Dedmeem.

Lord D4rk Sheep.

Lord Nathan Vanbrunt.

Lord Markus.

Lord Maurice.

Lord Badger.

Lord Krawn.

Lord Remco.

Lord Empyrean.

Lord Asakurà.

Lord Cidant.

Lord Mattirro Draca.

Lord Joshua Tal.

Noble Salty Panda.

Noble Yamibomb112.

Noble Mild Fracas.

Noble EESDESESESRDT.

Noble Aclys.

Noble Tyler Mills.

Noble Samuel Steinike.

Noble Jordon Gotthold