Suddenly, my senses returned. I opened my eyes and looked around. I was in a dark and damp cave with two mere candles as the only source of light. I felt a warm liquid on my tongue, and they had roughly shoved a cloth in my mouth to end the bleeding.

I tried to rip the cloth out, but that only increased the pain. I groaned in disappointment. A man I had not seen turned at once, and walked up to me.

He whispered, "The Ritual will aid you. You need not worry about it." He took something out of his pouch and sprinkled its contents on my face. I laughed giddily, but then, the world slowly faded into darkness...

I woke up once again, and glanced at my surroundings. We were out in the fresh air, with tulips and lilies and roses blooming on the warm grass. No birds could be heard, and no bees were buzzing. I frowned. Didn't they have animals?

It seems that they had gotten the worst deal of the two. Lystrom feels like a prison, with no laughter and no escaping.

I gulped and looked around me, trying to find the man who had been with me the last time. After a few minutes of searching, I gave up and sighed. The man instantly appeared by my side.

"What happened?" he snapped, "what was that noise?"

I put my hand to my mouth, desperately trying to keep my laughter in. "You mean, you've never heard of a sigh?"

He shook his head and furrowed his brows. "The only thing we do here is train. Emotions are worthless, as they do not give you the means of self-defense."

I forced a smile, and whispered, "OK."

The man moved closer to me and sat down. "By the emotion you are expressing right now, I believe you want to explain why emotions are necessary. By all means, do."

I stared straight into his beautiful ice blue eyes, and said, "All you do is train?" He nodded his head, his brown curls bouncing on his shoulder.

"Why aren't you training right now?"

He tapped his green armor once and replied, "I am training. This is training for 'how to protect something'."

"But I'm a someone."

"Well, we Thanuks don't refer to any inferior beings, such as you Rangers, as human beings. We treat you like animals."

I laughed, and retorted, "Well, if this is how you treat animals, then I don't want to see you treat humans."

He attempted a smile, but it soon faded. "You see, you are different. You have more potential than any Ranger before."

"Why are you so interested in Rangers?"

"We live right next to the bridge, so the only people to abduct are Rangers."

"Wait, so all the people who went missing...?"

"Were kidnapped by us. But don't worry, we ended their lives with a quick and easy toxin: Nessus. It is as swift as...what are those books where the man with glasses is a wizard?"

"You mean Harry Potter, but it can't be as swift as Avada Kadavra!" I exclaimed.

He nodded. "As soon as we make enough of it, Guenith will fall. And we will rise again."

I shook my head and whispered breathlessly, "You can't."

He flashed a wicked grin, and replied, "Oh, but I can."

He took a vial filled with what looked like pixie dust and sprinkled it on my face. My eyes drooped, and the darkness overcame my senses...

I woke once more, but this time, I was tied to a stick. I thrashed and squirmed, but the ropes were too tight for me to break. I looked all around me, and saw thousands of people swarming around me cheering something in another language.

I felt myself being picked up, but I couldn't quite see who was doing it. My head fell when I heard a familiar voice whisper, "Hey, you hanging on?"

"Yeah, given that I'm tied to a stick so I can't ever fall off."

He laughed, his brown hair shaking so much even I could see it. "I mean, are you OK?"

"As OK as I'll ever be."

He nodded. "Don't worry. The Ritual will aid all of your troubles."

He stopped and slid me into a giant bubbling cauldron filled with a slimy green substance. Black fog clouded my vision, and I noticed that many people below the raised dais I was on were chanting, "Ritual! Ritual!" over and over again.

Something sharp pierced my arm, and I looked down at it. A silver arrow, gleaming brightly against the toxic fumes. I smiled, pulled out the arrow, and threw it at a random direction. Shrieks of surprise could be heard from the crowd down below.

An old woman walked up to me, and whispered, "In the Chasm's water, you shall bathe. The perfect killer, you shall be. Let your memories leave your body!"

After that, everything went blurry and darkness filled the void once more...

I woke up with a desire to kill. I licked my lips in anticipation, and looked around me, searching for the first poor human being to experience my wrath. The room was nice, with furniture dotting the floor. I sat on a plush bed in the center of the room. A man walked in, yet somehow, he was familiar.

He had ice blue eyes, brown hair, and forest green armor. He slowly walked up to me.

Even though I felt the need to kill, something attracted me to this strange man.

"Hey. You remember me?" he tenderly asked.

I frowned, searching deep into my memory. "No. But you seem familiar somehow."

The man sighed in relief. "Sorry, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Gale Hardwood, son of our great Queen, Aileen Hardwood. I'm a Thanuk." When I didn't reply, he added, "A shape shifter. A mind bender. It's OK if you don't know who a Thanuk is, but you will soon learn."

I nodded, unsure of myself. How could I have gotten this far without any knowledge?

One thing was for sure: something was off.
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A/N
I suggest you listen to the video above while reading this passage. It may not match, but oh well...