The Wicked Twelve: Dark Moon

Prologue

The Beginning

THE NETHERWORLD is created to be balanced in every kind. The existence of humans, animals, and magical beasts is the very core of the ecosystem. The humans who's governing the world with their advanced capabilities made them at the top of the food chain.

Animals, who are just in the wild serve as pets, for entertainment, and human food consumption. This is the role of animals to mankind. The animals that are the least capable are at the bottom of the food chain.

The magical beasts are the rare specie who are seldom to be seen and are almost like a myth to the majority of people. These kinds are living in seclusion, far from human reach. These creatures have magical abilities and can turn themselves into a human form if they reach the stage or the highest point of their ability. There are only a few magical beasts and it's hard for them to populate.

But for humans, the existence of a magical beast that can transform into a human form is an abomination. Human being thinks they don't have the right to transform into a human. Even a magical beast, they consider it still an animal and one of the lowest caste. A beast has no right to pretend or live on the same level as a human being.

For hundreds of years, the hatred of humankind was growing until the existence of the magical beast is already at stake. They are being hunted and killed for the most greedy reason.

With this knowledge, all of the magical beasts fled to a magical continent that was far from human reach and impossible for them to cross the boundary. But that's what they thought would be...

•••

DARIA was attentively listening to the Elder of the Fox tribe. The current elder who's 900 years old is telling them stories about their ancestors and human being. The old strife between 2 specie.

Being fox cubs or a teenager in human age, they are trained and educated since birth to never cross the boundary or meet a human being. Since young, it was engraved in their mind that humans are dangerous and they should never associate with them.

Though the Elder Fox Chief is telling tales, some of the fox cubs are secretly poking Daria from behind. Daria slowly looks at them. She's been patiently ignoring her classmates since this morning. She already reaches her limit and without any words, she scratch them with her tiny sharp claws and hissed at them.

"Daria!" The Elder chief yelled at her and everyone in the room fell to silence. Their eyes darted to Daria who was now the center of attention because of what she did.

Since young, Daria experienced bullying from the other fox cubs. Even the other adults looked at her with contempt.

Even though she's treated this way, she cannot blame others. Her parents are branded as traitors of their kind. Long ago, when she was just born, her parents were seized and punished. Her parents are secretly crossing the borders and interacting with humankind. Their kind found this unacceptable.

Due to the betrayal, the Subjugation Knights found their territory and almost wiped out their entire race. Some were able to flee including her. But the majority was killed including her parents.

Since that day, she fell from the grace and her kind is no longer kind to her. She was branded as the daughter of the traitors.

She retracted her claws but her menacing eyes did not falter. She wanted to rip their throats off so they can stop smiling and bothering her.

"Daria, you are causing trouble again with the other cubs. When are you going to learn?" The Elder Fox Chief was looking at her with complicated eyes.

Daria sneered at the hypocritical remarks of the Elder Chief.