Kai Hexum stood in his backyard, his arms up in a martial arts pose. He was tall with light green skin, pointed ears, blue eyes, and short black hair. He was a half-dragon, born of a polymorphed dragon father and a human mother. 

Standing across from him in an equally disciplined combat stance was Hunter Eizen, an elf about the same height as Kai. Hunter had dark brown skin, bright pink eyes, and short black dreadlocks. 

The two of them had trained in arcane martial arts since they could walk, and now that they were finally eighteen, they could enter that year’s World Battlemage Tournament. They were clad in light-colored shirts, shorts, and sandals, common attire for the tropical climate of the Osvael Islands. Their house and yard sat on a large grassy cliff overlooking the coast below as the sapphire waves of the South Azurian Ocean crashed upon the white sandy beach. A dirt road led down the side of the cliff to a wide open field adjacent to the beach, where a gridwork of streets and buildings made up the central area of the village of Rengar’s Roost. 

As Kai and Hunter prepared to start their morning training duel, they could feel the ocean breeze and smell the humidity in the air. They were born and raised in Rengar’s Roost, and felt most at home in the wet tropical environment. 

Kai suddenly made the first move, firing a blue energy blast from his open palm. “Ha! Take that!”

Hunter threw his arms up. “Mana Shield!” He erected a neon pink magical barrier as the blast collided with it. “You gotta be faster than that, dude!”

“Let’s see if this breaks the shield!” Kai brought his palms close together and manifested a clump of misty energy between them that looked like a thundercloud. The little energy cloud then shot towards Hunter, leaving a glowing trail in the air behind it. “Nimbus Blast!”

“Ha!” Hunter called out as the cloud hit the shield and blew apart. “Not a chance!”

He probably won’t anticipate an attack from the sky… Kai thought to himself. He shot a second Nimbus Blast at Hunter and then immediately followed that with a third one up into the air before the second one made contact with the shield. That third blast arced overhead and came down right on top of Hunter. 

“UGH!” the elf cried out as the blast hit him from above, pushing him to the ground and knocking the wind out of him. He jumped back up and summoned pink flames in his hands. “That’s it! Fireball Barrage!”

Kai grinned and began hopping and flipping around with supernatural speed, dodging the flurry of flame blasts. 

“MY GARDEN!” came a scream from behind them. Kai and Hunter froze in place and then looked over slowly. Standing there was a very angry elf woman with dark brown skin, pink eyes, and black hair pulled up into a curly bun. She was staring at the singed remains of her flowers, and then turned to glare at them. This was Amara Eizen. 

“Sorry, Mom…” the boys said in unison, hanging their heads. Although Amara wasn’t Kai’s birth mother, she had taken him in and raised him as her own after his parents died when he was a toddler. Kai and Hunter grew up as best friends and adoptive brothers. 

“How many times have I told you not to train near my garden!” she cried out as she facepalmed. “Do you both know how lucky you are that I love you? Need I remind you how many hours I suffered to bring you into this world?”

“Well, you were only pregnant with me, not Kai, but…” Hunter started. Kai gasped at his words. 

“Dude are you trying to get us in more trouble?” he whispered frantically. 

Amara’s eyes grew wide in anger. She grabbed one of her sandals off her foot and started stomping towards them. “Go train on the beach! Now!”

Kai and Hunter shrieked and ran away from her, laughing. 

“I swear, those boys will be the death of me,” she said as she shook her head. She then grinned as she watched them run down towards the shore, laughing and joking with each other. Her undying motherly love for them was evident in her eyes. I wish I could keep them here forever, safe from the dangers of the outside world…