I could hear footsteps echoing through the gilded marble hall, The clanking of the plate mail suggested that I had a visitor, most probably a Knight. A Knight with some news, as the speed of the footsteps suggested. I was sitting just below the throne, and the young knight's gaunt and tired face appeared on the hallway. He walked some distance and he bent on his knees and bowed. "Rise Sir Gendler" I said. He stood and said "My lord regent, I have news." Intrigued, I scratched my chin. "News indeed?" He nodded. I made a twisting notion with my fingers, weighing the statement. "Is it good news, or bad news?" He just stood there, his face stoic. "I don't know sire." "Very well, let me hear this news of yours..." He whispered faintly, but it echoed all through the hall. A whisper that brought me shock. A statement that brought me surprise. Indeed, I did not know whether the news was good or bad or even if it was true. But the time had come for me to take a hand in the little prince's education. I took a deep breath. "Very well, send for the Prince. Tell him that I asked him to come here and that I have a special task for him." The knight bowed to me and left, his cape billowing away in the wind. The seed of doubt was sown in my mind, by the whisper which the Knight carried from far away. Far far away, from the distant, prosperous lands of Vardia, the enemy kingdom.
Chapter - 2: Elysion
I was in the garden, my bow aimed at an apple, my hands shaking. My brow twitching in concentration. My master's voice droning on "Focus.... You have all the time in the world, All the time you need..." Thwack I let the the arrow fly. and it missed the apple by an inch. "Ah... too bad, but tomorrow is another day, and we will try then. You may go now." He said in his vaguely feminine voice. I bowed to him, strapped up my sword and bow and started walking towards my room. I saw a pond, I looked into it. Hoping to see how I looked like, I peeked in for a look suddenly a voice startled me and I almost fell into the pond. I looked around, It was a knight shouting "Prince!" I waited for him to come, then as soon as he came, he bowed to me. "Rise, Sir Knight" I said. "Sire, the lord regent is calling for you" "Odin? Why?" He shook his head "I don't know sire, I think it's best you find out." "Very well. Thank you" I said and walked to the throne room. Odin was gazing out. "Odin?" I asked, shaking him from his reverie. He looked at me, considering me for a minute. then almost absent mindedly "Greetings Elysion, come sit, I have something to talk to you." We sat on the floor. He said "Elysion, I don't have to remind you of the tragic event that occured less than a year ago. Your father, the king was taken captive and killed." I winced. He continued in the same emotionless tone "Your father named me regent and I've tried to rule the kingdom as best as I could. But however an hour of decision rapidly approaches." I was perplexed, Odin clearly got my bewilderment and he fetched a parchment of paper. On it the verses were written.
"A horde of dust,
looms in the north,
A kingdom of trust
destroyed in it's wake
fires of destruction
plague the land
And from it's ashes
Rises an empire of bones"
"What do you make of this Elysion?" I shook my head. "Nothing makes sense, whatsoever" "Precisely, that's why I am going to teach you personally." Odin said and smiled at me
Chapter 3: Unknown
My feet burned, as I struggled to walk in the scorching sands, The sun beat down on my face, beads of sweat, drenching my forehead. Gasping for breath, I took a step. And looked at the horizon, I could spot some signs of civilization. I took another step and collapsed. Nature had finally got to me, and I would die. I laughed to myself, dying without a fight, dying in the hands of Nature, like a pitiable cretaure. Suddenly I heard a few voices. The voices were headed towards me. After some time, the voices sounded more urgent and neared me faster. My eyes closed, I took a last gasp of strength and said "Help" I couldn't see their faces, but they carried me and put me in a cart. I remained conscious through out the journey. Finally, the blazing sun had set, and in his place, took the cool moon. The two voices who had rescued me "We bring vegetables to Vardia, and we have a poor lad, who is unconscious" Vardia? No! It cannot be!Two strong hands clutched me, and I flailed, struggling to slacken their grip. But I was too weak. My last struggle cost me my consciousness and I fell down. I woke up, possibly many hours later, just then, a gentle pair of hands, pushed me back. "You cannot get up sir, you're too weak" I weakly resisted and slumped back on to the bed "Where am I?" I asked. "Safe. In a hospital" she replied calmly. "Where's this hospital?" I persisted "In the kingdom of Vardia" I sank back. My worst fears had come true. The nurse asked "You also kept mumbling Vardia, Vardia in your sleep. Have you been here before?" I quickly defended "It was always my dream to travel here" She smiled "Indeed, this is a great and prosperous land." She paused, "What is the good sir's name?" My mind went overboard, I had to create a new identity "I am Soront"
Chapter 4: Soront
I was walking through a dungeon. It's walls decorated by skulls, which gave off a glow. I neared the end of the dungeons, I opened a door, and stepped through the door. Suddenly a coil of smoke engulfed me, And a raspy voice spoke from the smoke
"An old man, on his death bed
A trial that ends in blood
A promise to keep by the last breath
To lose a loved one to something worse than death
Rise or fall by your bestfriend's hand
To live or to die in your son's hand
A will forged in fire
A kingdom razed to the ground
Demons stir, from the chaos
Rises an empire of bones"
I collapsed on the floor, And I suddenly woke up. From what was a horrific dream. A prophecy... I thought to myself, what could it mean? Thinking, I put my hand on my forehead, wiping out the sweat and calming down
Chapter 5: Kilijen
I wandered through the streets of the crowded bazaar hoping to get myself a good bargain out of selling the things I took so much pain stealing. But the buyers didn't usually entertain thieves, unless of course they had wares of exceptional rarity and quality. Suddenly I found myself being pushed by a sea of people, and I fell to the ground, and clutched the dirt around me. Writhing in agony, I struggled to gain footing, then I saw something most intriguing. A simple poster. "A peaceful equalist movement for the downtrodden, to participate, assemble at the City square in the early hours of dusk"
As the sun sleepily, glided down the horizon, The Town hall wore a deserted look, as I entered the open podium. When I was waiting around for the speaker, who promised equality. A voice slowly whispered into my ears, "Meet your fellow equalists in the mining camp" The mining camp looked completely different, compared to the Town hall. It was filled with people. I looked around in awe, at the number of people, this abandoned cavern now held. All the noise and din in the tunnel was silenced by a single clearing of the throat. I turned up to look at the speaker, he was masked. "Fellow equalists, I feel proud to address this gathering today. But I feel prouder that so many people, share the same view as us. They say that, a man feels ecstatic when he gets a brother in arm, a person to share his own views" he paused, basking in the silence, and continued in a more melancholic tone "to share his own sorrows" He looked at us, I realized that hidden behind his mask, lay another mask, a mask of impassiveness, He clenched his fist and said "to share his own glory!!" And he raised the fist in a gesture of triumph. I felt a strange feeling. The feeling of hope.