Prologue-Part 4

So I deleted the previous story posts. They were just in the way to me. So here's the ending of my prologue. I'll start writing Chapter 1 on Monday probably. By the way, this part took me way too long to write. I'm not really sure when I started. It was intermitten with numerous breaks though including; television, youtube, forums, blogs, chats, and video streams. I just finished typing this up right now, it's 2 am here. So here you all go.



Prologue-Part 4


As Ivan stepped through the gate, his eyes were instantly drawn to the grand double doors ahead of them, just as large as the gate he had passed through. He only took a second though to imagine what could be behind those doors. They were on a straight path heading towards the double doors, rows of pillars, made of the same material as the wall, lining the path on either side of them, each reaching out towards the high ceiling. Beyond those pillars lay a bed of various flowers, a mass of colors that was sorely missed among the greenery outside. Looking upon the walls, Ivan found it odd that a palace this size wouldn’t have portraits or some extravagant designs upon its walls, as most palaces do. Besides the door and the garden, the inside of this place was far from the majesty he expected. It felt more like a fortress that had decided to spruce up its entrance with a few flowers here and there.

As the guard reached the double doors, the group watched on as he knocked and shouted a greeting. What was previously thought of as a lock for the doors, which is understandable considering it was designed that way to fool outsiders, pulled back and revealed a sight hole, peering eyes of soldiers on the other side could be clearly seen through it. With a quick jolt as the fake lock snapped into place, the double doors pulled back revealing two more soldiers standing in a long corridor, multiple doors on either end. As the group continued on through the gate, they followed the guard through a complex of array of door after door; entering a random door to the right, which entered into another long winding corridor with even more doors, walking through another doorway, this time leading to a winding staircase upward, yet another door, more hallways, more corridors, more staircases. Ivan found himself losing his bearings, unsure of which direction they were going. The whole palace just seemed to be a never ending array of corridors, a maze of sorts to confuse any attackers.

For the most part, the group was silent the whole time, the silence only broken by Aryl, unable to hold in her complaints. She would question the guard about how much longer it would be, how many more doors to walk through, where they were actually going, if there was food awaiting them, but all her questions were ignored by the guard and the group. Aryl was the only one without sense enough to just follow along and not bother the guard. Ivan, along with the three others, had figured out that it was important to remain quiet. He realized that if he interrupted the guard with some small talk, the guard may lose his bearings as well, becoming unsure of which door to head through next. There was no way Ivan was going to risk making their guide lost and consequently making themselves lost as well. After yet another complaint from Aryl, Ivan found himself wanting to grab hold of her and tell her to just be quiet, but his curiosity got the better of him. Even though he knew better than to interrupt the guard himself, he still wanted to know what was going on, and even if he wouldn’t voice his own questions, there was always a chance the guard may answer Aryl eventually. He never did though.

After a final staircase and entering a door at the bottom, the group saw before them a massive town. There were houses in every direction, all similar in construction to those Ivan grew up in. There was a Spiritua temple off to the side, recognizable by it’s ivory bell tower with a mural of Martel adorning its walls. Looking up, Ivan could see a massive blue sky, unobstructed by the ceiling they had seen earlier. Aryl seemed to notice it at the same time. Turning to the guard, she asked , “How is there a sky in here? When we saw this place from outside, there wasn’t a hole in the ceiling.”

For once, the guard actually answered her, probably because he no longer had to focus on where they were going, “The ceiling is there, it has just been enchanted to be invisible. That way the villagers can feel as if they are actually outside in the world.”

“Doesn’t something like that require a daily casting?” Maia asked. “Keeping an invisible barrier over the whole town would require a constant flow of mana after all.”

“Well it’s not really a barrier though. We didn’t create a magical wall, we just enchanted one already there. You’re right though. For something that large, the spell must be recast every week. A small price for the benefit of the whole town.”

The guard hadn’t stopped while explaining this and neither did those following him. They walked down the main path for a while, sometimes winding down alleyways and emerging on the same path yet again, the guard must have been taking the quickest route possible, even though this path would lead them to wherever they were going. The whole time, not a single person was seen nor were there any dogs or cats that are quite often seen lounging around randomly in towns. It seemed as if this group were the only life left in this town.

After a few more alleys, the group found themselves on the outskirts of a farm, a massive farm. It was unconceivable that a single farm’s family could manage this whole land, leaving Ivan with the only alternative. The whole town must work be working together on this single farm. Ivan had never seen anything like this. Everywhere they had gone, and even in his hometown, each farm had been separated and tended to by it’s own owners, each farm being able to provide for themselves and then marketing any extra. His childhood had actually been spent on such a farm, helping his father and brothers tend to the animals while his mother and sister took care of the vegetables. They had never had to rely on any other people for sustenance and they had only grown what was necessary, not bothering with growing extra to market. So for someone that had grown learning to look after himself only, the realization of a whole town working together was incomprehensible. So he voiced his question to the guard, completely doubting what he had deduced, “Why is this farm so big? It’s way too much food for a single family.”

“This isn’t a single family’s farm young man. This farm belongs to the whole village. All the food grown here is distributed to the whole town.”

“What about the extra food?” Ivan asked, not able to grasp the idea of so many working together without greed getting in the way. “Is it all taken to market?”

With a chuckle, the guard replied, “If there’s extra food after a season, it’s all used in a town feast during the harvest festival.”

“Why not sell it to another town instead? I’m sure a town like this would be able to use the money for something useful, like improving these roads, or the houses.”

“We have no need for money. We haven’t even had contact with another town in ages. There is no currency in this town. Everyone does their job and food is distributed by the guards. Don’t even go thinking that the food is our currency either. The farmers, the tailors, the builders, the blacksmith; everyone gets the same amount of food at the end of the day. Everyone works because they know that what they do contributes to the town. This system has worked for centuries and there’s no need to change it now. We’re here.”

Ivan looked around, but all he saw was a simple cottage in front of him. He hadn’t even realized they had been walking across the vegetable patches. Opening the cottage door, the guard motioned for them to go inside. Following Adan inside, Ivan scanned the contents of the room, which wasn’t much. The inside was completely plain. It wasn’t a cottage at all really. The walls were bare except for a single lamp across from the door. In the center of the small room was another staircase. “Not more staircases!” Aryl said exasperatingly. “Haven’t we walked around long enough. I’m tired of all these doors and stairs and having no idea where we’re going. I didn’t even ask you where the all the villagers were, even though I really wanted to. So come on, at least tell us where we’re going.”

The guard replied as he entered the staircase, “We’re going to a place where you can eat.” As the rest of the group blindly followed their guide yet again, Aryl began to imagine just the kind of feast she was heading to. It surely couldn’t be as wondrous as she had imagined earlier, especially since the guard had said all the food in this place grew on that farm. As she started to imagine an extremely small feast, in comparison to her imagery earlier at least, Ivan grabbed her arm and took her down the stairs. This time, Ivan had been handed the task of making sure Aryl didn’t stay behind , mostly because Maia refused to go back for her this time. At the bottom of the staircase, he led Aryl through another door, opening into another corridor. This one was different than the previous though because there was only one door at the end of the hall. The two quickly walked over, hoping they weren’t missing anything important already.

As they walked through the door, they found their comrades gazing at their surrounding. They were in the opening of what seemed to be a true palace. The confining plain walls were no more, now replaced with walls filled with intricate tapestries. The pillars they had first seen when entering the first gate were back, in fact, the whole room seemed to be completely the same, adding in the tapestries. If it weren’t for those tapestries, Ivan was sure he would’ve have suspected that they had merely wound around in a circle. They followed the guard across the room to a familiar looking gate, where the same process as earlier commenced. Passing by another pair of guards, the group found themselves in another corridor, but there was an obvious difference this time. Now there were paintings along the walls, many doors were open on either side revealing multiple rooms full of bustling people. Everyone seemed to be in a rush though, each person they passed busy stuffing bags full of belongings and each bearing clothes unfit for a palace. Surely, these people were the missing villagers, apparent from the leather and cotton clothing they all sported. No one seemed to even notice their arrival. After a few more corridors of the same, the group found themselves alone in a dining room, filled with lavish paintings on the walls, sets of tables and accompanying chairs, and a set of musical instruments set aside in the corner. The guard beckoned them towards the nearest table and told them that he would have food brought immediately. As he started to leave, Maia called after him. “Wait. We need to speak with Johnny.”

“He already knows of your arrival, he’ll come to meet you here soon enough. Until then, just relax and rest.” The guard then left, leaving the door open so that the group was able to see the rushing people pass by.

“So anyone mind explaining this place to me?” Aryl asked, looking to the others to explain things that she had missed.

Maia was the quickest to respond, “Right now we’re in the actual palace, underneath the town, at the end of the maze of halls, inside the outer wall. Not really much to explain.”

“Not much to explain?” Aryl gaped at Maia, unwilling to accept that she was the only one confused by all this. “How about you explain why it takes so much effort just to get in this palace then.”

“A precaution against invaders. It could be that there was some sort of war here that destroyed the original town. So after the war, the palace and town were rebuilt and along with them came the layers of protection. That guard said there hadn’t been contact with another town in ages, probably to further protect themselves, you can’t have enemies if you never meet anyone.”

“You’re partially right dear.” The group turned to see a matronly women standing in the doorway, an apron draped around her waist. A few servants followed her into the room, each pushing a cart full of food. The servants silently set the carts, along with the food atop them, next to the table the group was sitting at, and left just as quietly. The women remained though, eyeing them all, and said, “There wasn’t a war. The creator of this place was a man of great power, power that was feared by all others. This man became ostracized by all of society and created this palace to seal himself away from the world because he realized the danger in his power as well, and even though the world outside these walls hated him, he wanted to make sure that he did no harm to any of them. Over time, individuals like him, those who didn’t belong in society, those who didn’t have a place to call home, found themselves attracted to this palace. They say it’s because the creator was unable to fully control his power, and that he unintentionally was beckoning those of similar souls, those who had lost their way. The creator allowed them into his dwelling, but over time, too many had gathered within these walls, so he created the town outside. The people that had come to learn the protection of these walls from the outside world though, weren’t willing to suddenly move out of it’s protection, so the creator created the outer wall and the intricate maze within it. At least that’s the current story. Everyone here are descendants of those who came to live here, no new people have been let in in centuries. All we know are the stories passed down to us, and what truth behind them is unknown. We’ve lived our whole lives uninterrupted, at least until you came. You all are the first unfamiliar faces we’ve ever seen, at least you would be if anyone around here paid any attention. Everyone else is too busy packing their things and rushing out of here to who knows where, but I’ll wait it out until the end. There’s no way I’m leaving this place until I really have to. Once I leave, I doubt I’ll ever find my way back…..” With her voice trailing off, the whole group had a single question brought to the forefront of their minds.

As expected, it was Aryl who voiced the question first, “Why is everyone leaving?”

The women turned to Aryl with a sudden expression of disbelief spread across her face. “hasn’t Alin already told you everything? He is the one that brought you isn’t he? The whole town just assumed it was him who was going to retrieve you all since we all saw him leaving the palace. Where is Alin anyways? Did he go to his room already? He really should eat before he has to leave though. He shouldn’t be sent out into the world without at least a homemade meal of mine.”

Ivan spoke up, interrupting the women’s mutterings to herself, “Alin isn’t with us. We really need to talk with Johnny though, he said that Johnny would be able to bring him here.”

“Johnny? Yes.” The women spoke more to herself than anyone else. “Yes, Johnny can bring Alin back safely. If anyone can, it’ll be Johnny. Now where is that Johnny? Last time I saw him I think he was down near the armory. I should go get him immediately.” As she walked out the doorway, completely oblivious to the group still in the room, she let out a sigh of relief and rushed into the corridor.

Hearing voices outside of the room, Ivan stood to head toward the door, but before he even took a step from his chair a man entered the room, followed by the matronly women. This man wore extremely elegant clothing, at least in comparison to all the people they had passed earlier. His clothes were made of a fine silk, dyed a deep blue, a blue on the verge of turning to black, and which in a dim light, resembled as much. On his left hip lay holstered a sword, similar to the one Alin had. At least, it was assumed they were similar. This sword was sheathed as well, and the true contents were well hidden from view of this group. He spoke quickly and harshly, obviously a man of many duties who couldn’t dare to spare any more time than necessary, “Martha has told me that you left Alin behind. Where is he?”

The direct bluntness of the man shocked the group, who had already grown accustomed to not answering any questions, mostly because where they were, everyone seemed to know all about them already. Maia quickly responded though, “He’s over at Manos.”

Before she could explain anymore, the man was already leaving. A portal opened up directly behind the man, quickly sucking him in. Maia had no time to peer into the portal, all she had glimpsed was a window of pure darkness before it closed in upon itself just as suddenly as it appeared. His sudden arrival and departure left the party flabbergasted. Recognizing their loss of speech, and utter confusion, the women consoled them, “Don’t worry. Johnny will bring Alin back. Why don’t you all just eat now, when they get back I’m sure you won’t have any time to rest. They’ll want to leave with you as soon as possible.” As if that fully explained their whole situation, Martha left yet again, a wide grin on her face from a false sense of accomplishment.

Yet again, the group found themselves alone and unknowing as to the current situation. Ivan began to imagine various reasons for all the people leaving this place, this place they had lived in their whole lives, all leading back to an assumption that it must be their fault. Why else would all this be going on right after they arrived? Before he could delve more into the reasons their arrival had sparked this commotion, a plate was shoved in front of him by Aryl. “You seemed to busy thinking to get it yourself, so here.” Ivan looked down to see a multitude of meats and vegetables heaped on his plate. He wasn’t much of a big eater, so it was a bit off-putting to see so much food in front of him at once. Seeing his discomfort with all the food in front of him Aryl spoke, “You don’t have to eat it all. Too much is better than too little. Anyways you should eat now, you heard Martha. We’re going to be leaving as soon as Johnny and Alin get back. Any idea where we’ll be going now? They don’t seem to like explaining these things around here.”

“They’re probably just too busy right now, especially with everyone leaving.” Ivan said. “Anyways, I’m more interested in why they’re leaving than where they’re going.” A murmur of agreement rippled through the group. They all ate in silence, each pondering to themselves what was actually going on. Everyone except Aryl, who was too focused on the food in front of her to think of anything else.



A few moments later and the rest of the group was done, each had moved to separate tables to avoid watching Aryl’s ravenous nature. Aryl had just started to slow down in her eating, when a portal appeared near the doorway, Johnny falling through it, landing face down on the floor. As the portal began to close upon itself, the group quickly got up from their chairs and rushed over to Johnny, who had already begun getting himself up off the floor. There was a small gash on his side, a blood stain forming on the parts of silk around. Parts of his once elegant clothing were now singed, apparent souvenirs of a fire fight. The rest of his clothing was now spotted with patches of green blood, which was also on his sword, now in his right hand. With his sword unsheathed, underneath the green blood that had started to dry, the group could see parts of what appeared to be an intricate dragon engraving along the length of the blade.

Johnny spoke in a straining voice, obviously in some pain, but not enough to stop him from doing what he set out to do. “We have to get you out of here right now. Just follow me and I’ll explain things on the way.” Moving as quickly as he could with a limp on his right leg, an unseen wound, he led them out into the corridor, and began taking them down a path of doors, corridors, and staircases. There were no people to be seen as they moved quickly through the halls, it seemed everyone else had left while they were eating. As they moved down another staircase, Johnny delivered on his word, and began explaining the situation. “Alin went to save you all. He was supposed to escort you here personally, but something must have happened that forced him to use extra mana.”

“Yeah, he had to set up this ice wall to protect us while he got us out of our bindings.” Adan added.

“I see, well if things had gone as planned, he would be leading you down this very path himself. We had already begun evacuating the city before Alin had left. We knew the danger we were putting ourselves in by helping you and everyone accepted it.”

“Danger?” Cecil asked. “Why are you in danger for helping us. The Shadow can’t possibly know that we’re here. We don’t even know where we are.”

“The Shadow. So that’s what you call him. What he’s called doesn’t matter though, what does matter is that he knows where you are. Alin used a teleportation spell to bring you here, while efficiently getting you here, it leaves behind an invisible mana trail. Normally, that wouldn’t matter, but this 'Shadow' is powerful enough to see this trail. He followed you all here, and is outside the town walls with an army of his minions. I’m sure they’ve already broken down the gate, at least the maze should slow them down for some time.”

“So what happened to Alin?” Aryl asked, obvious worry on her face now, but Johnny didn’t stop to look back at her.

“They took him alive, and I’m sure they’ll keep him alive until they capture you all again.” There was a hint of doubt in his voice though and the whole group felt it. As they all reflected on what this whole town had gone through just to help them, they found themselves in a final room. It was a plain room except for the massive arch erected across from the doorway. Inside this arch lay what seemed to be a sheet of shimmering water, the reflections of the group could be seen through it. “When you step through, you’ll be transported to one of thousands of way-gates spread throughout the world. In times past, this used to be the controlling way-gate, able to teleport it’s user wherever they wished, but now, it’s power has severely faded. Once you step through, you’ll be at a random way-gate and this is a one way trip. Even if you step through together, you will inevitably be separated during the teleportation process. I know it seems absurd to just walk through a way-gate with no idea of where you’ll end up, but it’s the only way to escape.

“Wait!” Aryl exclaimed. “You can’t possibly expect us to accept being separated like this with no idea of where we’ll each end up.”

“This gate leaves absolutely no trail, you’ll be safe. Everyone else has already passed through and hopefully, each has found a place to live for the time. You all have to live no matter what. Even if you’re separated, you’re all destined to meet again. I’m sure of that. We’ve gone through all of this to make sure that you survive so go.” With a hard shove, Aryl was sent through the gate, her figure vanishing in the watery sheet.

Before the rest of the party could even react, Johnny took hold of Adan and Maia’s arms and hurled them through as well. Cecil backed away and tried to fight him off, but he was forcefully thrown in as well. “No need to throw me in, I know we have to do this.” Ivan said, calmly stepping towards the way-gate.

“Wait.” Ivan stopped and looked back at Johnny, who was walking up beside him. “I have to go through as well. I’ll try my best to find all of you again, I promised I would.” He turned to Ivan and reached out to the sword hanging on his waist. He fingered the raven encrusted hilt and said, “It’s up to you though to gather your comrades together again. You have to find everyone. You’ll be the one to lead us to our freedom.” With that final word, he grabbed hold of Ivan’s arm and they stepped through the gate together.

Prologue-Part 3

What's this? 2 posts on this blog within 2 days of each other. Wow. It's mostly because I'm still waiting to get a hold of the book I want to read, so I end up writing during my reading time. So here's part 3.



Prologue-Part 3

Adan was awoken by a gentle prodding in his side. He turned to see Cecil kneeling beside him. “He’s awake.” turning towards the tree, he saw the stranger and his comrades huddled around it. The stranger was sitting, back against the trunk. “He’s still too tired to walk, but at least he can talk.”

Scrambling to his feet, Adan walked over to the tree, multiple questions for this stranger jumbled in his head. Upon seeing his face though, all questions became irrelevant. He had seen that expression before, portraying a feeling everyone is bound to experience at some point in their life, complete disregard for their surroundings and the pure desire to sleep everything away. He had only seen it this extent once before though, and that was back in Salarah.

Seeing the five gathered before him, the stranger spoke softly, for that was all he could sustain. Unable to hear his first words, the group was forced to huddle closer, finding themselves in direct contact with each other in a half circle, ends connected to the tree. “You may call me Alin.” There was a murmur of his name through the group, a common practice to remember names shared within the group. “There’s a palace south of here about ten miles. They’re expecting you. Go there and ask to speak with Johnny. Tell him to come for me at Manos.”

“Manos?” Aryl asked, an expression on her face clearly indicating she had no idea what was going on.

“Must be the Name of the tree.” Maia commented; a nod from Alin and a smug smirk expression grew on her face for knowing yet another thing Aryl did not.

“So is that it? That’s all we have to do?” Aryl questioned. Yet another nod, obviously he had grown tired of talking. “So we just go south to a palace, ask for Johnny, and tell him to come get you at Manos?” Another nod. “But we can’t just leave you here.” She exclaimed, turning to face her comrades for support, but none was given.

“I’ll be fine here.” There was a strain on Alin’s voice making it apparent to the whole group that he needed his rest. “As you can see. There is nothing dangerous here. The sooner you get to the palace, the sooner I can be brought to a bed.”

“Why don’t we just carry you?” Adan proposed. “I mean, you seem pretty light, probably as light as Maia, and we were able to carry her between towns.”

“No. Johnny can use a teleportation spell, just as I had with you, so he can come and get me as soon as you get there. So we’ll all arrive sooner separately rather than together.”

“Well the plan seems pretty sound to me.” Maia said. “Let’s get going then.” The rest of the group still didn’t like leaving him here alone, but it was the best option they had. Reluctantly, the rest of the group complied, leaving Alin to quickly enter slumber yet again.

Heading southward according to the sun, now at it’s midday point, the group silently trekked across the hilltops, keeping a wary eye for any palace towers on the horizon. “Hey Maia?” Ivan asked. “Maybe I should go back and wait with Alin. If that Johnny guy can teleport then it shouldn’t make much of a difference to him to bring me back as well, right?”

With an irritation in her voice, Maia replied, “It probably takes more mana to teleport more people. This Johnny guy may not have a large enough mana pool to teleport more than one other person.” It’s best to just keep going.” With his idea shot down, Ivan and the group became silent yet again, this silence only interrupted now and then by Aryl’s attempt to create a conversation, which garnered no response from the rest.





With an exasperated sigh after another failed conversation starter, Aryl found herself suddenly starving. It took her by surprise because this whole time she actually hadn’t thought about food, which was extremely abnormal for her. Aryl just loved food, it didn’t show through her physique though. At times, it seemed as if a void to the ends of the universe lay in her stomach, and the poor townsfolk who became witness to her feasting often commented as such. The group on the other hand, and probably every innkeeper they met along their journey, knew the truth about her feasting. It’s true that Aryl had an innate ability to shove food into her system, the problem was keeping it there. A couple hours after feasting, Aryl would become unbelievably nauseous, sparking the beginning of an extremely unpleasant thirty minute regurgitation process. It seems that Aryl’s body knows what’s best for her, trying it’s best to purify her body time and time again, making it as unpleasant as possible in an effort to engrave into Aryl’s mind that eating so much is actually a bad thing. Unfortunately, Aryl is too stubborn to take advice from her own body and continues to indulge herself at every opportunity, paying no heed to the consequences. Of course, her companions had tried to reason with her about her eating habits, but an individual who won’t listen to her own body, surely won’t listen to others. So once again finding herself craving her beloved food, Aryl couldn’t help but announce her hunger, “I’m hungry.”

“How’s that different from normal?” Maia commented from ahead, not even bothering to look back.

“We’re heading to a palace so they should have plenty of food there.” Ivan said, from behind, giving Aryl a smile as she turned to face him. “Should be enough there to fill even you.”

“You really think so?” That look of extreme glee before a feast flashed across her face. “I mean, I do have quite an appetite right now.”

“Well, Alin said they’re expecting us. So hopefully for you, they should be well aware of your appetite.”

“So they might already have food ready for us. Oh just imagine foods from a palace: tables full of pig, cow, chicken…….maybe they have some duck too. Oh just imagine all the different kinds of meals they could make with all those animals.” Aryl squealed out of glee, obviously no longer bored by the previous silence. “I can’t wait till we get there.”

“Hopefully they have some fresh fruit, like those pomerades back in Nyvaera.” Cecil said, not realizing he did so in ear-shot of Aryl.

“Why would you want fruit from a palace?” Aryl exclaimed. Suddenly waving a finger in Cecil’s face. “We’re going to a palace, so let’s get all the most expensive food we’ve ever dreamed of. Oh, they probably have a whole table of seafood there waiting for me. They’re probably rich enough to import stuff like that just for me. Maybe I can finally have a purple-bellied crab., or how about some shark meat, I’ve always wanted to try that. I’ve always wanted to try a green octopus…..”

As Aryl’s list of expectations continued to expand, the rest of the group found themselves growing hungry as well. Unlike Aryl and her high expectations though, the rest would gladly settle for whatever was provided, assuming they were even fed. They had often come across places that were unwilling to feed them, undoubtedly due to fear of persecution. They all hoped that wouldn’t be the case here, but they weren’t as optimistic as Aryl, who had now imagined herself raiding the kitchen, giving insane requests to the cooks.

With her imaginings of food, it was only by quite a rough nudge from Maia that Aryl became aware of the tower looming over the next hilltop. The rest of the party had seen it a few hills back, but had agreed not to tell Aryl yet, saving themselves from one of her songs of arrival. Their journey had been long and somewhere along it’s course, Aryl had decided to create songs for many separate occasions, one of which was about finally arriving at a destination. This song had been entertaining the first few towns, with Aryl changing the melody slightly each time to suit their next location, but now it was so deeply engraved in the group’s minds that hearing it now made them all have an urge, in varying degrees, to forcefully stop her singing.

Being so close to the tower though, Aryl forgot all about her song, and rushed ahead of all the others to the top of the hill. What she saw made her forget all about her hunger. Before her lay a massive crater, within which lay the palace they had been searching for with walls made of an unfamiliar material, but beautiful nonetheless. It seemed to be a mix of marble and ice, taking the majestic sleekness of the finest marble and infusing it with a slight reflective nature of ice. Aryl was sure that if she got close enough, she would see her own image upon the walls. The structure of the outside of the palace wasn’t as spectacular as she had imagined. There was a tower at each of the four corners of the four walls in the shape of a simple square, extremely reminiscent of the city walls of Morala that protected it from raids. The only real difference being that this wall had an accompanying ceiling. This very wall could be just that, a wall, merely protecting the town from raids and harsh weather.

Considering it further, Aryl concluded that these walls were far to long to be the perimeter of a palace. It could easily encompass her hometown, Shoula, four fold and still be quite spacious. With this revelation, her imagery of the inside of the palace shifted. Originally, she had imagined it as a normal palace, full of corridors and hundreds of rooms. Now though, she imagined a large city hidden behind these walls. She began to imagine fields of vegetables and farmers and their children over near the northwest tower. At the southwestern tower, she could imagine the trading marker, hundreds of stalls set up ready for the daily vending. At the southeastern tower she envisioned the residential district, full of frolicking children and scolding mothers. In the northeastern corner, she saw a place for travelers to rest, full of inns and pubs. In the center she imagined a normal sized palace made of walls the same material as these outer walls.

Feeling her arm tugged, Aryl awoke from her visionary to find Maia pulling her down the hill towards where her friends were waiting at the northern gate. “Honestly Aryl, you get so excited about coming to a palace and all you can do when we get here is stare at it.” Looking down at her friends, Aryl sees another man with them, clad in ice blue armor. Without even asking, Maia explains it to her. “That’s the gate guard obviously. Do you really need me to explain that to you? He opened the gate as soon as he saw us up on the hilltop. We went down to talk with him and didn’t even realize you weren’t with us. I was handed the task of fetching you, since the guys all said it would be better for them to talk to the guard.”

As they approached the group the guard walked through the gate, motioning for them to follow. Giving Ivan a quizzical look, she waited patiently for him to understand her question. Recognizing that voiceless inquisition many women seem to be able to express, Ivan answered, “We still don’t know too much. All he said was that he was ordered to open the gate when we arrived.” Feeling herself dragged yet again by Maia, who apparently had been given the task of making sure she stayed with the group, Aryl walked through the gate, finally able to see the hidden world behind the walls.

Prologue- Part 2

So here it is finally, the second part of the prologue. I'm almost done writing the third part as well, so that should be posted soon. I also figured out how I'm going to begin the actual story, Chapter 1 at least. So I just need to finish this prologue section up and then I'll begin the main story. I'm thinking the prologue will be four or five parts. I'll see how I feel about it when I get there. So anyways, here's part 2.



Prologue- Part 2


Slowly gaining consciousness, a single question flickered through Adan’s mind: Grass? Opening his eyes, he’s able to see the lush greenery under his body, greenery much missed along his travels through the deserts and shadow lands. Pulling himself off the ground, a quick glance around reveals his comrades and his savior, seemingly peacefully slumbering on nearby grass. Seeing his friend’s safely near him, he’s unable to stop himself from taking a moment to take in the vividly green environment.

The party lay nestled upon a spectacularly green hilltop, just one hilltop of many. Far off in the distance in every direction can be seen the multiple curvatures of what would surely be a tiring hike. Those other hilltops were mere troublesome blemishes on the landscape, placed there in such a manner that their only purpose was to delay travelers. Those hilltops held no dense foliage, no fields of brightly colored flowers, and no trees, seemingly perfectly planted in their centers. They were just mounds of dirt and grass, nothing spectacular about them besides the vivid green allure, but what a perfect shade of green at that.

This particular hill on the other hand, the one that Adan and his crew found themselves upon, was quite special; at least in comparison to all those surrounding it. This hill was still lacking in foliage and petal fields, but there was a tree here, a truly magnificent tree at that. This tree stretched upwards for a good length of fifty grown men. It’s leaves created a thick canopy, not letting an inch of sunlight pass through unfiltered. This canopy extended over the entirety of the hill, seemingly protecting it from any predators above, easily instilling an image of rain merely sliding off the leaves, leaving the entire hill below dry.

Though he knew they must be far off from the desert, Adan couldn’t shake the feeling that the sun here must be equally as harsh and that this canopy was protecting them from its rays. After a moment of staring up the trunk of the tree, trying to see it’s peak, Adan calmly walked over to his allies and woke them.

The four friends woke just as calmly as the first. It was as if this place didn’t allow for any other feelings than peace. There was no life to be seen besides the six on the hilltop, and yet there was no fear of enemies in hiding. This was the first time in over a year that these five had not held on to that fear. Along their journey together, they had all learned to always expect an ambush, mostly through experience time and time again. Ambushes had become routine for them and to finally be in a place where that worry abandoned them and left them mesmerized, was an experience none of them wished to interrupt.

Maia, often regarded as the quickest witted of the group, found herself composed quite faster than the others. She hadn’t ever truly appreciated nature’s beauty, preferring to lock away in her room mastering spells that her peers wouldn’t be learning for years to come. Though she too became lapsed in the natural simplicity around her, it was only for a moment, and she quickly overcame such aesthetic awe. Not quite realizing her actions, Maia found herself shaking the stranger, trying to wake him. Not getting a response, she began to shake harder until she saw the hilt of a sword emerge from the blue cloak of the stranger. Questioning herself as to how she didn’t see it this sword earlier while they were being saved, she reaches out towards it, answering some unknown beckoning. As her fingers touch the hilt, she feels herself lifted off the ground and her back slam into the trunk of the tree.

Hearing Maia’s grunt of pain and the rustling of the leaves above them, the four friends are instantly snapped out of their separate reveries and instinctively rush towards Maia to check for injuries. Reaching Maia first, Adan kneels down and quickly scans over her body, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, it was just a barrier around his sword.” Getting up swiftly, Maia wipes some unseen dirt off her clothes. “If this tree weren’t here, I wouldn’t have been hurt at all.”


“He has a sword?” Ivan asks as he runs up to the two, accompanied by Aryl and Cecil.

“Yeah. I didn’t see it before either. I just wanted a closer look when the barrier threw me back.”

“So, you weren’t able to sense a barrier around it?” Aryl chimes in, unable to hold back a smirk on her face. “I thought you were supposed to be the elite spell-caster of your age, and yet you couldn’t even sense a simple barrier.”

“At least I recognized it for what it was afterwards. If it had been you, you’d probably have gone and tried to touch it again thinking it was a one-time protection, just like that time in Mandule.”

“Hey that was partly your fault too remember? You’re the one who told me the protection was only strong enough for one burst.”

“No. I said it ‘probably’ only had strength for one burst. Turned out it was strong enough for two.”

“Well you know what? Why don’t you go touch that sword again? It ‘probably’ only had strength for one burst.”

“No. That one burst thing doesn’t apply in this condition. In Mandule it only had strength for one burst because the enchantment was centuries old and it’s power had been lost over the years. This sword on the other hand seems to have been enchanted recently, so it’s enchantment will last for years to come. Unless of course someone like you comes along and keeps touching it just to try and wear it’s power down. Now there’s an idea. Why don’t you keep touching it to wear down it’s protection Aryl?” Aryl’s face was turning that familiar shade of red, that shade of red that always appeared whenever she got into an argument with Maia, which was quite often.

Tired of watching Aryl in what was bound result in another argument loss, on her side, Cecil interjected, “I think we should wake him now. We don’t know where we are, but he probably does.” Cecil slowly turned his head and whispered to himself more than to anyone else, “I hope.” Cecil never had been the most optimistic of the group.

Complying with Cecil’s idea, Aryl and Maia’s bickering halted, but the constant glares between the two showed their obvious intent of not losing to the other by any means. Ivan found himself tending to the stranger, gently prodding him here and there with the hilt of his rapier, to no avail.

“He probably depleted his mana pool.” Maia proposed, eyes still glued on Aryl. “At least that would explain the sudden drop and him not waking up. He’ll probably be asleep for a couple more hours or so.”

“Oh!” Aryl exclaimed, unable to keep yet another smirk off her face. “You mean like that time in Salarah when you slept the whole day and we had to carry you?”

“If I recall correctly, I only drained myself because I was saving you.”

“Well I never asked to be saved. I would have been fine all on my own. Anyways, I’m not the one that made you go overboard with your spells. You must really care about me to get so mad at Leon.”

“I wasn’t even trying to save you though. I had some…..personal problems with him. You just happened to get saved in the process.”

“Yeah, right. Maia’s just a big softy, going through all that trouble just to save me.”

Maia and Aryl had had this conversation multiple times before. Whenever they argued, Aryl always seemed to bring the focus back to Salarah, probably because that was the single moment Maia had ever been nice to her. Having heard this all before, the rest of the group found themselves drifting into their reveries once again.



Feeling himself knocked sideways, Adan suddenly felt an ache in his ribs. Looking up he saw Maia looming over him, her defiant leg still in the air. “That’s what you get for not listening to me.” Adan mumbled his apologies and asked her to repeat herself. “You’re such a waste. You’re supposed to be our leader so lead us. Look what’s going on around you. We’re all just sitting here atop a hilltop. Shouldn’t we be going somewhere? Anywhere. We can just carry that new guy with us.”

Adan looked around, but didn’t see anything wrong. Everyone else was napping on the grass and he had to admit, the grass was almost as comfortable as his feather bed back home. He wanted to just lie down and sleep like they were, but definitely not with Maia standing over him. “We don’t have any idea where we are, so let’s just wait until he wakes up. Why don’t you just enjoy this peace for a while, we’re finally free again. The rest of us just want to enjoy it a little while longer.”

“Such a waste of time. It’s just grass and a tree. I don’t see what’s so special about it all.” Nonetheless, Maia left Adan to his peace, deciding to lean back against the giant trunk. With Maia no longer lurking over him, Adan found himself unable to stifle a yawn. Taking a cue from his body, he laid back and fell asleep.

New story

So I decided not to continue that other story. It was horrible. It was merely fandom, that became "how can I kill Alex today?" So instead, I actually attempted to write something I wanted to do. So yeah here it is. I actually spent some time on it. Well, today really. I actually wrote this one out before typing it, so read it and comment. Any feedback is appreciated, I guess.

Prologue-Part 1

There was an obvious tension shimmering through the crowd. One look into those expectant eyes and you knew that a momentous event was on the horizon. Sadly, this was not a joyous occasion. Well, maybe a certain few individuals were elated at the present circumstances, but the majority, well, the human majority, was severely dreading what was to come. It was the type of dread that comes right before an execution. That feeling of absolute horror and disgrace accompanied by the unexplainable desire to be witness to such a memorable event. Such a feeling is widely justified in this situation, for it is to be expected. This was an execution after all.

It was a bright and extremely hot day, the kind of day that makes one envious of that lonely hermit in the desert, who, normally pitied and often mocked, at least has the wonderful shade of the lone palm tree, where he currently takes up residence. Instead, this unfortunate crowd was gathered in the town square. This square was once a prideful part of every Palman citizens lives. The mothers of Palma would visit this square daily to visit the many merchant’s stalls. Along with their groceries, these housewives would then indulge themselves in the daily gossip, for it is common knowledge that women of small villages love to gossip as much, if not more than their city counterparts. The children, let loose amuck, when not performing some devious prank, as children normally do, would venture towards the middle of the town square, where old man Percival, sitting on his high stool, would indulge them all in stories of trolls, ogres, elves and the like.

He would tell them the stories of Sean Aldieb, the Knight of Lions, who, along with his merry band, ventured across the Shadow Mountains and vanquished the Dark One centuries ago. He would weave the tale of Marcus Grinwald, the Phoenix Fire, who journeyed to the Shadow Wastelands and exterminated the threat that was the Dark One Reborn. He would overly exaggerate the heroism of Rincewind Doyle, who single-handedly, supposedly, killed the Dark Lord. Now yes, it has been widely accepted that all the names of the dark entities that tried to rule the world are pretty bland and horrid, but what else is to be expected. Even though all these oppressors had the ingenuity and power to have control over the world at some point in time, none of them had had the foresight to declare their name to the public. So the population itself was forced to create a name for them. Of course, without an official recognizable name, each region had created names entirely different from one another. The one known as the Dark One in Palma, was commonly referred to as the Night Reaper in Motavia. The Dark Lord was often called the Night Crawler, now these names actually have some sort of meaning attached to them, but in Palma, a desert town, reported as the most distant town from the country capital, this meaning was lost. No one here had actually had any run-ins with the Dark Ones or their minions. Today was a different matter though.

The square once bustling with commotion had become barren except for the people gathered. All the decorated stalls had been torn to shingles and disposed of. The stalls are what had given life to the town, and now it was dead. In the middle of the square where old man Percival’s stool once stood was now erected five pillars, each easily thirty feet high, higher than any other building in this desolate town. Each pillar was an eerie crimson red, each giving off a faint octarine glow, clearly announcing it’s magical construction. On each pillar, five feet above the ground, a person was suspended, arms raised over their heads. From a distance it seemed as if each were floating of their own accord, but on closer examination, that was clearly not the case. Each person’s arms and legs were bound by a seemingly insignificant twine of thread, but this thread gave off that familiar octarine glow. This magical thread was far stronger than any steel binding that could be found in the capital palace’s dungeons. Once you were caught in this thread, there was no way you were getting out with physical force. Of course an understanding of this thread would lead to the question of why they don’t use magic to escape. Well, each individual was wearing something resembling the shape of a flu mask, and it very well may have been, but this mask gave off that familiar octarine glow. This mask served more of a purpose than merely halting speech. If that were the case any normal item of gagging properties could have been utilized. No, this mask prevented any incantations, whether it be verbal or nonverbal. As such, these prisoners could not escape either physically or magically. They were true prisoners, unlike those in the palace dungeons who oft-times find themselves in broken restraints giving them ample time to attack the guards and escape. The pillars, the thread, and the masks complete the octarine triangle, for it’s common knowledge that all magic is performed best in threes.

The five individuals suspended in the air, were easily recognizable by all who had heard the stories. The one on the far left was surely Cecil. No on could mistake that clear water tone cloak that even in this situation, draped elegantly around his body, or that wondrous staff holstered on his back that had the engraving of Mistress Alys who personally blessed it. To the right was Aryl, the bright green hair a dead give away. No one truly knew how she had green hair. It was speculated she had some elf blood in her, but these aren’t the kinds of people you would wish to impose upon by asking such personal questions. Her mastery of the bow hoisted on her back supported the elven theory, but no one could truly be sure. To the far right was Ivan, the supposed prince of a far off country. His lineage still hadn’t been determined, but it was decided that such a matter could wait until his journey was over. The rapier he carried proved that some in the high council of his country believed him, for this rapier was once of the royal treasury, the symbol of a raven clearly inscribed upon it’s hilt. To the left of Ivan was Maia, the spell casting prodigy of Motavia, the wizard capital. Unlike most wizards, Maia hates the uniform draping robes and pointy hat. Upon first glance upon her visage, her role seemed best suited as a thief, the only hint of wizardry being the wand sticking out of her coat pocket. In the middle was suspended the clear leader of the group, Adan. His plate armor arguably the best of current times, unfortunately, is unable to hold it’s weight in comparison to past legendary armor, such as the armor crafted by Nigel Argwin, who created Rincewind Doyle’s armor that was with him throughout his whole journey unscathed. Adan’s armor on the other hand, already had well defined misconformities. Clear indentations on all sides, and a tragic hole, though slight as it may be it’s still visible, through the breast plate.

The crowd looked on upon these five in absolute remorse. If listened to intently, one could pick out the separate conversations within the crowd. There were the children, unable to grasp the concept of their heroes downfall, still hopeful that something would happen to save them all. There were the mothers futilely trying to persuade their children to go back home where it was safe, even though under these circumstance the houses were no more safer than the current position. There were the fathers arguing with the mothers that it’s better for their children to learn the truth of the world now, that you can’t rely on strangers to save the world. There were the young men, all trying to resist the urge to run up and try to free the prisoners, but knowing they don’t hold the power to perform such a feat and that if attempted they would surely share the same fate as those above. All became silent though as the hooded figure entered the crowd.

The only visible clothing besides his black hooded robe, were his black buckled boots. Inside the hood of the robe was pure shadow, no visible face in sight. It was said that if you stare into that empty space for too long your body would turn to stone, which would then crumble to ash. As he walked through the crowd, rather; he seemingly glided, the townsfolk all averted their gaze, obviously trying to avoid befalling a death of petrification. Even with eyes averted, they all felt the shiver throughout their whole body when he passed. This shiver made you think of one who was fishing in the northern ice waters and fell in the water. This shiver made one think that fellow got it lucky.

The crowd quickly moved out of the path of this hooded figure, but no one escaped the shrill cold. And so it was, that the shadowy figure was standing in front of the five pillars, townsfolk gathered around, at a distance of course. This figure then addressed the crowd in a voice that made one miss the shivering cold felt earlier. This voice sank deep into one’s bones and with every word, the bones would reverberate as if one’s own body was speaking through a secret language composed of vibrations.

“Today is a momentous occasion. Today marks the beginning of my true reign, free of these rebels. Today marks the loss of hope for the world you cling to. These fools who dared amass an army against me, these cretins who charged into my palace, these heathens who barge into my throne room, shall set an example for the world. Here in Palma, hometown of their leader, these rebels shall be punished for treason against their absolute ruler as shall all….”

In a flash of white light an immense ice wall emerges between this shadow and the pillars. It’s more than just a wall, it’s an ice barrier surrounding the pillars. The shadow, infuriated by this interference, starts to chant, completely nonsensical to the on-looking townsfolk who have never witnessed true magic before. The shadow holds out it’s arms or what should be arms, the sleeves of his robe are far longer than any normal human arm would be, so it’s still indefinite if there’s even a human in there. From his sleeves erupt a massive cloud of smoke and onyx fire which completely immerse the ice.




Adan feels the magical restraints start to loosen. A few seconds later, the once binding thread seemingly melts away, leaving a small puddle behind. With the restraints gone, Adan falls off the pillar, landing on the soft sand below. He quickly glances to the sides to see his comrades safely on the ground as well, but there’s one more person here he’s unfamiliar with. A young man stands in front of him, facing the ice wall in front, a silver staff with an octarine glow in his right hand aimed at the ice wall. That stance of concentration, this man must be the one maintaining this barrier. He also must be the one who had freed them.

Adan could feel the multiple questions he had for this stranger on the tip of his tongue, but he knew better than to verbalize them. The harsh beratings from Maia had permanently ingrained the concept that he should never interrupt a spell caster’s focus, especially if said spell caster was in the process of saving his life. So it took him by surprise when this man spoke to them.

“None of you say a word. I don’t have much time so just do what I say so we can all get out of here.” Adan unconsciously nodded his head in agreement, even though his savior’s head was turned in the opposite direction and couldn’t see him. He then listened intently for his instructions, eager to escape this place. I need all of you to gather around and form a circle. Link arms and two of you grab my arms as well. If I move from this stance the barrier breaks and we all die.”

The five obligingly form a circle, Adan and Ivan grabbing on to the stranger’s arms. “You’re going to get really dizzy, but don’t let go no matter what. There’s no telling where you’ll land. It’s best if you close your eyes. If you see what’s happening the effect will only be worse.” Still silent, the five comply, all knowing that trusting this stranger is the only way to survive.

Adan closes his eyes and tries to hear what’s going on outside the barrier. All he hears though is the sound of the magic hitting the barrier. Though it should instill some fear into him, he finds it a bit soothing, reminiscent of a waterfall. Starting to visualize the cascade of magic bearing down upon them, he feels himself suddenly swooped into the air. Unable to control himself, he opens his eyes to see the universe rushing past him. All he sees is a blur of flashing color superseded by more flashing color. Upon sight, a rushing headache and nausea instantly plagues him, far worse than any night of drinking Troll Beer. For those not in the know, trolls have a far higher resistance to alcohol than humans, as such, in order to become even slightly tipsy a troll must concoct his own brew of alcoholic beverage far more potent than any human drink. One sip of Troll Beer will bring a human as close to death as possible without actually dying. What Adan is feeling now is far worse than even that. Forcibly shutting his eyes, in a hopeless endeavor to relieve some of the pain, Adan finds himself feeling as if he’s now spinning in the air, which only adds to his current ailments. So intently focused on his own condition, Adan barely realizes his one true order throughout this ordeal. He was supposed to hold on tight. His fingers had unknowingly already started sliding off the arms of those nearest him. Feeling completely infuriated with himself for not even being able to remember such a simple task, he takes a strong grip on the parts of arm still in reach, issuing a yell of pain from a body connected to one of the arms.

You know that sound a tree makes when it falls to the ground? Well this was nothing like that. This sound was more resembling of a pillow landing on a soft bed. Very subtle, but there. It was definitely a landing, of sorts, there was a feeling of hitting hard earth, but it was more like falling from only five inches off the ground. Upon feeling the earth underneath their feet, the whole party collapses in a daze of swirl and flashes. Evidently even though they were warned against opening their eyes, none could resist the natural instinct to want to see what’s happening. So it wasn’t odd that the party had collapsed in a state of absolute nausea, what was weird though, was the fact that the stranger collapsed as well.