The wind brushed my white hair against the front of my face as I stood on the edge of the cliff, watching the moon take its place from the sun. My hair slowly faded from its white color into a bright blue that lit up the night sky. I always liked my hair when it was blue, it made me feel free. Arcane hunters always change hair color when the moon comes up, it’s a part of the power that we have. I heard a voice, soft but sweet whisper to me, “Hey, Azshandra, you should be headed back home, you don’t want to get yourself eaten by a Kindva now do you?”  The voice made me feel at ease, and I giggled as I realized where the voice came from.  It was my soul-viver Bynas’s voice. Soul-vivers share their souls, half of my soul is mine, and half of it is Bynas’s. No one else can see Bynas but me; it’s kind of like having a conscience, just all of the time.  “Yeah, Yeah. “ I said quietly. I turned away from the cliff and started my way home to Arathi Basin. Walking home at night probably wasn’t the best idea for an Arcane Hunter. If one of the Vision Attendants caught me walking out side of Arathi’s walls at night, they would kill me. Literally. I felt a gentle brush against my leg and looked down instantly. Spirit stared up at me, eyes wide and he had a huge scratch on his back, blood gushing from the wound. I knelt down to Spirit immediately and picked him up, knowing if I didn’t get back in time, Spirit and I would both be dead. All Arcane Hunter’s had a pet, but Spirit was a unique pet. He’s the rarest of his kind; they call them the ghost leopards. You don’t pick ghost leopards as your pet, they pick you. Bynas’s voice pounded through my head, “Azshandra! Wake up! You know what did this to him so run!” Yes, I did know what did this to Spirit, it was the Dark Kindva. I felt a sharp pain on the back of my shoulder, then on the back of my leg. I turned around and saw a Kindva 5 feet from where I was standing. I took out an arrow and shot him straight in the head hoping it would give me enough time to get back to Arathi.
I ran as fast as I could, hearing the howls from the woods getting closer and closer.  I approached the wall of Arathi and put the marking on the palm of my hand against it. A trap door revealed itself from underneath me, and I jumped down into the dark hallway. I’ve been down this hallway millions of times, but with Spirit dying in my hands, things didn’t feel the same. I limped down the hall, turning right, then left, left, then right. I came upon the small wooden doorway and pushed it open with the only free hand that I had. I stumbled on the doorframe and fell flat on my face. When I looked up, Vision Attendants surrounded me. Bynas exclaimed, “Oh yeah, you really did it this time!” The next thing I knew, I was out cold. I woke up suddenly in the first aid room with priests all around me. The only thing I could think about was Spirit. “Where’s Spirit? Is he okay? I need to see him,” I said, sitting up on the cotton bed. One of the priests stared down at me, “Spirit’s fine, you need rest, lay back down.” “But I have to see him! Let me see him!” I yelled. A piece of cloth covered my face, and again, I was knocked out. I heard a voice inside my head, “Their forcing me Azshandra! I don’t want to leave! Help me!” Suddenly a noise startled me, and I awoke in a dark room. I called to Bynas, “Hey, Where are we? I don’t know what’s going on.” No one replied, not even a sound. I felt around the room, searching for some kind of light source. I heard a shuffle across the room from me, and I scooted back against the wall. The object crept toward me, like it was as scared as I was. All of a sudden, Spirit jumps in my lap and licks my face clean. I smiled; Spirit could always make me feel better when things were at its breaking point. I let my hand fall across his back, making sure he still wasn’t hurt. All I felt was a little scratch, how long had I been asleep?  A screen appeared on the wall opposite from me, and my heart raced with apprehension.
A girl appeared on the screen, she looked familiar, green hair and dark brown eyes like most Arcane Hunters. Her voice filled the room, “Hello Azshandra, I know you are probably wondering where you are right now. I hope that you haven’t had to wait too long in our waiting facility. We have some important news to tell you, so make sure that you listen very carefully. As you know, you came across a clan of Dark Kanva outside the walls of Arathi Basin. I’m sure you felt a sharp pain on the back of your shoulder and on the back of your leg.” I felt along the areas of where I felt the pain earlier and felt stitches along the cut, sewn very tightly as if something had been taken out of me. She continued talking, “One of the Kanva cast a spell on you, and injected their venom into your body. The goal of the venom is to change your soul into one of their kind. If the venom would have gotten to your soul, you could have died. Thankfully, we got the venom out of you, but we also had to take something else out of you.” My heart skipped a beat, “Bynas,” I whispered. “Yes, Bynas. The venom attacked his part of your soul, and we had to remove him from your body. This was the only possible way that you could survive.” “I understand that, but you know that Arcane Hunters can’t live without a soul-viver but for a couple a weeks. I’m just going to die without him anyways.” I said, feeling like there was a missing piece of me.  “Azshandra, look at your hand. The Hunter’s mark. You are a special Hunter Azshandra, one of our best. In the Underworld where the Dark Kanva live, there is a red gemstone known as the Hunter’s Mark. You’ve grown up in Arathi learning about the mark. Go to the Underworld, get the Hunter’s Mark, and survive. This is your destiny Azshandra, it always has been. Good luck.” The screen shut off and the room went dark again. The light’s flickered on, and I had to blink several times for my eyes to adjust to the light. Across the room was Spirit, staring at me with his big brown eyes. I knew that he understood what was going on, and I could tell that he was worried about me. “It’ll be okay Spirit. I’ll find the Hunter’s Mark, and soon enough we’ll be back home at Arathi Basin safe and sound.” I couldn’t look him in the eyes as I said it, because I knew that this wasn’t going to easy. I will be the first Arcane Hunter to claim the Hunter’s Mark and live without their soul-viver.