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.