On a full moon night, in a house deep within the Forest of Draka, two boys are playing. One wields a wooden sword, while the other pretends to be a monster. They are Draco and Victor, the Vanatori brothers.

  Draco is the younger one, only six years old—the boy holding the sword. Victor, the older brother, is eleven. Both have white hair and blue eyes. Draco shouts,

  “I’m going to defeat you, you monster!”

  while Victor growls like a beast.

  Draco chases Victor down a corridor. Victor turns left, and Draco follows—only to crash headfirst into a man wearing black armor and a black werewolf with glowing red eyes.

  The man in black armor grabs Victor by the shirt and lifts him off the ground. With a deep voice, he says,

  “Well then, what do we have here? Two little boys.”

  Terrified, Victor screams for Draco to run. At that very moment, their father appears—Lucius Vanatori. He pulls Victor from the Black Knight’s grasp, holding a sword in his hand.

  The Black Knight asks Lucius,

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  “Where did you hide the key?”

  Lucius replies,

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Don’t play dumb,” the Black Knight says. “I know you possess one of the keys.”

  The Black Knight then lunges at Lucius with a powerful sword strike. Lucius blocks the attack with his own blade. He tells the boys to run and hands Victor a silver dagger.

  Victor grabs Draco, and the two sprint toward the door, fleeing into the forest.

  The Black Knight looks at the werewolf and says,

  “Have fun.”

  The werewolf immediately gives chase. Lucius tries to stop it, but the Black Knight blocks his path.

  The boys run through the forest, hearing trees shaking behind them. They keep running until they reach a bridge over a river. As they step onto the bridge, the werewolf appears on the other side—a massive black werewolf with glowing red eyes.

  Victor looks at Draco and says,

  “I’ll distract it. When I do, you run. Don’t stop. Don’t look back.”

  Draco hesitates and cries,

  “Big brother, you’ll die! He’s a monster!”

  Victor looks at him and replies,

  “No, Draco… don’t you remember? I’m the monster.”

  Draco reluctantly nods.

  Victor grips the dagger and hides it along his forearm. He charges toward the werewolf as it rushes at him on all fours. When they collide, the werewolf bites into Victor’s arm—but Victor stabs its left eye.

  Both of them fall into the river.

  Draco begins to cry, but suddenly, a group of skeletons emerges from between the trees. Draco runs, faster and faster, until he finds himself surrounded.

  He stops, panic overtaking him, then rage.

  His eyes begin to glow, and an explosion of blue flames erupts from his body, destroying all the skeletons.

  Draco then collapses, unconscious.