Some Background

Somewhere on the far distant side of the kingdom of Depocah, there lies an unknown place known to some as Chronopolis, where reigned and still does reign a Lord Thomas, who looked after a child, Forest.

Depocah was a depressing kingdom, and Chronopolis didn't differ by that much. The lord was rarely seen, and many people did not know his face. The child, however, was always getting into trouble. Always near her was her companion, the hound Fang.

The lord of Chronopolis was a tall man with sharp features and impassive facial expressions His eyes were over observing and when one looked at them, they seemed to see through the mind and soul. His hair color was just as dark as his personality. His secrets were rumored to number over a thousand.

The lord's child was a playful girl. Her dark hair usually flowed in the wind or flew furiously defiant in the air. It defined her personality quite well. She was stubborn, strong willed, and determined to upset the lord.

Beside her was the hound. Fang was not the typical hound. He was different in many different ways, some that could be explained and some that could not. For the ones that could be explained, Fang seemed to be a cross between a wolf and a bloodhound. He was very playful, but could quickly become very dangerous. He was Forest's guardian whenever she headed to town and wandered off.

Assigned to be the child's keeper and teacher, Miranda had a hard task. Forest didn't like her much. Her blonde wavy hair and narrow blue eyes had nothing to do with it. Forest just didn't like her. The lord and the child once had a huge argument over Miranda. Actually, most of the yelling had been done by the child. Miranda was not hidden from the fact that the child hated her. The lord sympathized with Miranda, or so Miranda thought.

There were five branches of the defense, offense, or military peace keeping units. The sea guard's captain was a young man by the name of Kevin. Forest thought that his hair was funny looking. It was blonde and spiky, barely covered at all by a cap. Kevin had an outgoing personality as compared to the other leaders. He was the second closest to Forest of the captains. There had been rumors of him being a merman in human guise because of his unsurpassed water skills.

Kira was in charge of the cavalry and archery units for ground assault. Her bright orange hair outlined her flaming personality. Her green eyes emphasized her tactical planning skills. Forest liked to pull her high ponytail. The elven captain wasn't too happy about that and made a deal with Forest. In return for training, Forest would not pull Kira's hair.

When one approached the infantry training fields, it wasn't uncommon to hear a man yelling angrily at the troops. Adam had a short temper and reacted extremely swiftly. His beard was always trimmed neatly. His dark colored hair, however, was not as tidy. It was always in disarray from training. For these reasons, Forest stayed away from him.

Tia was the head of the mages's division. One could always tell when Forest had paid a visit by Tia's yelling and a few explosions here and there. Tia was very stern about discipline. Also elven, Tia didn't trust humans. In fact, no one could tell who she trusted.

The last of the five branches was the High Guard. The captain was the smooth long blonde haired Allen. He was very kind and stern. He could never be as outgoing as Kevin. Perhaps, because of his understanding personality, the lord chose him to be his announcer. Of the captains, Allen was the closest to Forest.

The head of the castle staff or, in other words, the caretaker was once the position of a man named Tollens. He was replaced by Garrett quite recently. Being caretaker was a difficult job. One had to inform the servant maids what not to touch and what could be cleaned, especially in the study labs and the lord's room.

Ailteran headed all of the scientists in the castle, excluding the mages, of course. Forest enjoyed watching the scientists work and tried to keep out of their way, but still set off a few explosions accidentally when curiosity overtook her.

Forest spent a good deal of the time that she spent inside the castle in the library, where the librarian, Morrison was happy to help her find various types of books. It seemed strange to him that she seemed interested in slaying strong demons. Her constant companion in the library was a skilled master High Guard swordsman by the name of Aleron Stevson. He loved to read and add knowledge to the vast amount of information that he already knew. What she didn't understand, Forest asked him. They became very close…