Blood splattered across the young girl's skirt, her heart and soul trembling in the process when she witnessed her mother facing an untimely death. In the worst way possible. Screams of the little girl reverberated throughout the hall. Evil cackles and sinister eyes followed the six-year-old girl's figure as she attempted to run towards her mother's dead body.

"Wake up Mamma!" Streams of painful tears plummeted down her eyes, while the guards did their best in holding the girl hostage.

"Let go of me, you monsters!" the sorrowful snarls of Alana were none but accompanied by louder laughter, as if the girl's pleas were deliberately not being regarded.

"Please let me go."

But in vain. The Dragonesian, who was feeding off of the intestines of the deceased woman, altered back to his human self. Alana watched him lick the remaining blood on and around his lips, with disgust prominent in her eyes. The vicious male's venomous orbs gazed over Alana's body as if intent on devouring her flesh, akin to the brute he was. A revolting smirk danced on his lips as he watched the girl whimpering at the memory of her mother and burning in anger, simultaneously.

"Let her go." A gruff, authoritative voice commanded. Alana narrowed her eyes in order to locate the owner of the voice, but she only found him hidden beneath the darkness.

The two guards released Alana's arms immediately upon his voice ordering such.

"Watch it!" she roared at one of the guards when he pushed the girl forward. However, the rough push was not enough to cause the girl to lose her balance.

"Interesting."

A low growl, followed by a hiss, seized over Alana's brain. And sooner than it was expected, she found herself under the brutal eyes of the very Dragonesian, who had snuffed out her mother's life.

"Hello there little one," a snicker coated his throat as he treaded on, one step at a time, rounding Alana.

There was no ambiguity that Alana was the prey and he was the predator.

Alana was no longer shedding tears. She was fuming. She was fuming with sheer resentment. The Dragonesian, whereas, felt aggravation seeping through him due to not receiving the reaction he had desired. He wished to scare off the poor girl and then feed upon her mercilessly, exactly the way he was fond of.

However, this young girl exhibited the gallantry to stare right at a creature of high status with her supposed lowly gaze.

He erupted into fits of psychotic giggles before cracking his neck.

"Why do you not come close, little girl?" he remarked with a sneer, crouching down to Alana's level, "I promise that I will not touch a single strand of your hair."

The Dragonesian did expect Alana to walk on her own accord. And he cheered from inside when she began moving forward. She walked and walked and walked through the great hall until her tiny feet paused, few metres away from the Dragonesian.

"Good girl." The menacing grin reverted to the Dragonesian's face. "Now tell me, should I gobble you up or eat you slowly?"

Alana did not reply. She stood there, her blank gaze on the marble floor.

Annoyance was just an understatement. The Dragonesian had forever loathed children. For him, they, who should be smashed under one's foot, were nothing but pesky little insects.

"You are annoying," a click of the tongue was what it took for the Dragonesian to stretch his arms, baring his canine teeth and proceeding to turn back to his dragon self. However, that never happened.

"You are vicious, yet foolish," Alana murmured, as a subtle smile ornamented her cracked pale lips. She pushed the dagger into the Dragonesian's shin, exerting much force upon it, while black blood oozed out like a fountain.

Alana knew it. She could have been young, but her knowledge on Dragonesians was no less. This Dragonesian was not like the others. He belonged to the Evil Class, the ones who were in favour of roaming around and feeding upon human flesh illegally. Thence, the colour of their blood was black. If it had been midnight blue, then it would have indicated that this Dragonesian was compelled to turn into a Devil Class. And if the blood had been bright yellow, it would have signified that he belonged to the Pure Class and was in defence of going against the Dragonesian Laws.

"You bitch!" The Dragonesian howled in pain and within moments, collapsed down on the floor. The dagger was just a mere weapon against him. Even if he was attacked in his human form, the object would have appeared as an insect bite; nothing more. But this pain was obscuring his vision and making his head go dizzy, "What did you do to me?"

"This dagger is coated with poison," a nonchalant reply was what the Dragonesian received.

The dagger was found in one of the forbidden areas of the Dragonesian Palace by Alana. She was then held captive with her mother and brought before the supposed Crown Prince Eluscan, the Dragonesian who had murdered Alana's mother not long ago. She had no idea what the poison was, but judging from the foul smell that invaded her nostrils, it was a deadly and rare one.

Alana watched in amusement as the young Dragonesian yelled incoherently, while the poison ate away his leg, like an acid acting upon a metal. Several guards immediately gathered around the Dragonesian Prince and carried him away from the hall.

"Make him drink the elixir, right now!"

Alana heard one of the guards yelling, as he ran behind the crew.

"You are something else," the similar authoritative voice spoke again from beneath the darkness covering him, "What is your name, little girl?"

"Alana Thornheart," Alana answered whatsoever, her eyes desperately searching for the dead body of her mother. However, amid all the past happenings, she had not noticed that her body had been virshed. Those monsters had erased Alana's mother's existence after murdering her through the means of a process known as Virsh.

"Take her to the training grounds."

As soon as Alana heard the rough demand, not a guard and rather a silver-eyed butler came forward, and quite surprisingly, bowed, "Please follow me, Miss Thornheart."

Alana obliged without any word. She exhibited no animosity towards the individual sitting on the throne, amidst the darkness. Her resentment was directed to the Crown Prince, who without any prior warning had attacked and consumed Alana's mother. Moreover, she would have to act tactfully and on her own from now onward. Thus, disobeying these Dragonesians of high status would mean calling for her own death.

And hence, Alana followed the butler suit.

Nevertheless, the girl was unaware of the fact that a pair of crimson red eyes, which belonged to a little boy similar to her age, were watching her every step from behind a pillar.