In this world of Skya, there are two powers above and beyond those of the humans. On the side of "holy magic," we have Dragons. Dragons can take the shape of humans, and are very powerful on the physical plane but have a small astral body. Dragons come in a wide variety, including all elements (Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, Water, and Ice), High, and Arch forms. If their physical body or their astral body is disrupted, they will cease to exist. There is only one Arch Dragon, Anurei, but its power and size is significantly greater than any other dragon in existence. The Arch Dragon is the oldest dragon and naturally immortal, but living in a suspended state due to a cataclysmic battle with the Demi Demon (Koregahn) that lasted for a century and was the cause for the destruction of the island continent Neirune. There are three dragon lords, known as High Dragons, that command the Dragon race in Anurei's stead. Each of these have a human avatar and are usually great Priests. Below them are the Archon Dragons, which are the epitome of the Elemental dragons. On the side of "void magic," there are the Demons. Usually rarely stronger than humans in terms of the physical body, they are obscenely strong on the astral realm. All magic they use is channeled from their astral body, whether or not the spell actually takes place ON the physical realm. Even if their physical body is completely destroyed, as long as their astral body is undisrupted, they can heal. The Demi Demon, Koregahn, is sealed within the body of the Arch Dragon Anurei, constantly trying to break free. Koregahn was able to split off five pieces of its astral body and create General Demons, so that they may try and defeat Anurei's followers and free him. In terms of raw power, the demons are superior to the dragons, but the dragons outnumber them, and thus have been able to hold the revival of Anurei back for thousands of years. By most standards, humans are not capable of reaching magical prowess equal to either the Archon or High Dragons, nor the General Demons. For that matter, even the great Sages of the human race can have trouble with mid-ranking demons or high-ranking dragons. As for the actual magic, the system is based loosely on what being's power the caster wishes to draw from, if the caster is human. Humans have no astral body and cannot tolerate the astral plane, but they can use magic to bind some demon's/dragon's astral body to their portion of the physical realm for their spells. However, neither the demons nor the dragons require this. Void magic deals with high density attacks to the astral realm. Completely useless against humans, highly effective against dragons. Holy magic deals with moderate damage to either the physical realm, the astral realm, or both. Thus, it has no real weaknesses, but is not that strong. The Elemental magics are almost purely based on the physical realm, and thus almost useless against demons, but decent against dragons, although humans rarely have enough reserve to deal a crippling or killing blow. -- Chapter One -- -Page 1- The main character, Rinni, an infamous thief, is running through the forest. "I can't believe they found me," she thinks. Jumping off a cliff she finds herself trapped in a net. Looks disgusted. -Page 2- One of the 'bad guys' looks over her, yelling out with laughter, "ha! Got the rotten brat!" "BRaT!? I'll show you brat!" She squirms a little. "Alright guys," the leader says, ignoring the kicking kid, "Let's just get our money. Take her in." -Page 3- "I'm not going to get taken in by the likes of YOU!" She screams, and busts out with a knife, tearing at the ropes. "Definitely not gonna work, kid. We were expecting you. That's enchanted." He smiles, evilly of course! "You think you were the only one to try this?" She laughs.. a lot. On the last panel, "Ready?" -Page 4- The net bursts into flames and 'something' jumps out. Riini appears right in the bad guys' face and has that, "evil smile" expression thing going on. "HEY--" he gets cut off as he bursts into flames. Riini stands around, back turned to the burning mass that's falling over, as if nothing happened. -Page 5- "And don't think that's the worst I can do!" Riini taunts towards the net. "You should have known you couldn't ever catch me!" She strikes a pose, then looks side to side. "Guess they all ran off," she thinks to herself. She begins to walk off, but hears "We don't have to catch you, just kill you." She looks back and gets all wide-eyed. -Page 6- "Wait a minute. Didn't I just fry you?" She inquires, with this "wtf" look and a squiggly on her extended finger. The bad guy, his hair still smoking, is standing with a shit-eating grin. -Page 7- Riini gets in a fighting pose, "alright, so you're a third-rate mage. Big deal!" He continues to smile as Riini strikes at him, but before connecting, she hits 'something' and gets knocked back. "Mage? No, no, I'd have to say I'm much more than that, kid." Zoom in on his face, which has different features from before. Demonic, even! Riini gets a flat-line eyed look. "Joy. Third-rate Demon." -Page 8- "Mighty confident, aren't you, runt?" He raises his arm and blows Riini back against a tree. "Not so much now, are you?" Another attack. Riini rolls, tree explodes. -Page 9- "Alright, you! What do you want from me?" Riini stands back up. "Let's just say you've taken something that doesn't belong to you, and we want it back." "Okay, thanks!" She smiles, and starts chanting... "Land beyond both realms, void within..." Demon gets confused look. "Void magic?" -Page 10- "Astral Flare!" Full page of Riini and the spell. -Page 11- A couple frames for the spell, the demon dies. -Page 12- "Alright, boys! If that was the leader of your group, you better run away now!" Riini hops off the cliff and walks off, looking bored. "How much longer to Sira, anyway? So far!" -Page 13- "Stupid demons... better not attack me on my way to Sira." She kicks a rock. "I'm already late!" She gets frustrated punches a tree, knocking out a squirrel. "Meh." She hears something in the distance. -Page 14- "What...?" She runs through ahead a little and sees a wagon being attacked by bandits. "Oh, great." "Aiieeee!" Yells a small girl who's being tugged around by several bandits. She sees Riini, and reaches out, "help us!" Bandits notice Riini. -Page 15- Riini shrugs. "Another delay! Alright, guys, from now on, your quarrel is with me!" She whips out her knives and goes to jump, but something explodes at her feet. From somewhere above, "Young child! Step aside, these bandits are dangerous!" Two figures, one with a long cloak and another with several blades, are up in the trees. -Page 16- Riini has that, "wtfever" look, but the cloaked figure waves an arm and one of the bandits "poofs", leaving only the clothes left. The swordsman swings a few times, and three bandits fall. The last one begins running off. Rinni mumbles, "I could've done that." -Page 17- "Are you alright, young child?" The cloaked figure kneels down and offers a hand. The child stands up and says, "have you seen my little brother? I don't know where he went." She gets teary-eyed. "Dorn, look for the young master. As for you..." cloaked figure looks at Riini. -Page 18- "Where is your guardian?" Cloaked person inquires, not moving from her spot next to the child. "Guardian?" Arms crossed. "Parents," cloaked person inquires. She removes her hood. "Or someone to watch over you." Riini waves her off. "I'm quite capable of taking care of myself." The girl turns her back. "Where are you headed?" -Page 19- "Sira." She sheathes her weapons and smiles at the girl. "Unfortunately, we're only going to Atalia. If you help us protect this girl from bandits such as these, you may ride free of charge." She bows to the girl and follows the girl inside. "Hmph. At least I won't have to walk the entire way." Riini sits on the carriage. -Page 20- "Vora!" A scream from beyond the bushes. Riini looks over, the cloaked girl gets out of the carriage. "Dorn! You, girl, watch this child!" She runs off. Riini looks at the girl, who whispers, "they go to die." -Page 21- "What?" Riini is wide-eyed. "You have to help them!" The girl gets teary eyed. Riini nods, "you stay here, we'll all be right back!" And she runs off. -Page 22- At the edge of a clearing, Riini yells out, "Dorn! Vora!" They are surrounded by large, demonic humanoids, Dorn is seriously wounded. Vora casts a spell, Fireball or similar, and one of the demons fall. "Get out of here!" -Page 23-