I stand here in the clearing of the famous Lake Heartwell as I take a deep breath. The masters had told me that my champion would appear out of the lake on the moon fall of my sixteenth birthday. I am not sure what animal I will receive from Fate.

In this world, humans work from age six to sixteen in martial arts and survival skills so they were able to complete the first journey of their lives. At the age of sixteen, all teenagers had to make the miles from their hometown to Lake Heartwell. When they arrive, they would be given a champion to be their partner in all their upcoming training and traveling. A champion, is the animal that is connected to your very soul, and they can also take your form in your place if it is needed. However, there is a consequence of these spirit creatures. If the human dies, that person and their champion are both dead. But when a champion dies, the individual loses all of their powers and their sight. They will forever be blind because they did not protect their champion well enough to keep them alive. There is a price for being selfish of your own life.

After you receive your champion, you must then live on your own in the wild for a whole year. You have to collect five skins of animals bigger or the same size as your champion. Then you had to return to your hometown and give the skins to your father. Then you will be considered a grown adult. However, if you are more than five days late from your journey, you will be banished to the wilderness for the rest of your life.

Now, back to the reality of my situation. The moon is falling behind the mountain to the west and fear is about to kick into action. What animal will I be gifted with? What will happen if I am the unlucky few who does not get a champion? Will my champion be able to protect me as I will it? What if I get it killed? Now all thoughts fades as the moonlight no longer shines.

A flash of lighting has hit the water with great power that can shake the earths. Suddenly, lighting of every color shoots out of the lake to the sky as clouds move out of the lightening’s way. More lightening filled the day and a bright circle of life explodes from the center of Lake Heartwell. It is time. My champion is here to be my partner and friend throughout future adventures.

She has bright purple eyes that could see into the souls of any living creature. A coat as white as a new fallen flake of snow, and a mane that would make the clouds jealous of its pure beauty. She has the sound that echoes as it escapes her jaws. And, as she rears out towards the sun, her horn shimmers in the moonlight like its own star. It is my champion, a Unicorn. A champion who has not been given to a single person in almost five hundred years. It is her, Serena the Loyal.