First Chapter of my next book
-Prologue-
East
In a circular hall swimming in light of tens of floating globes, concentring semi circles of raised marble surrounded by columns a dark material that seemed to shimmer and fade. Soft smell of incense wafted and swirled round the entire space.
“Time never was a factor in human existence, instead human existence is defining time as it is perceived” Said the elderly teacher to his rapt audience of 14 listeners, “We, as a species grow old because we wish it, entropy is a manifestation of intelligent life as of course the 50 immortals proved to us eons ago” he continued in a calm raspy voice.
“Death on the other hand, is another matter altogether. We know that death is a real and ferocious entity, one that the immortals defeated at some point or another, as in the case of Kare the immortal, 30 times he faced death and bested him at his own devious ploys”
“In our course of studying the feats of the 50, we learn Th…” he was interrupted by a shrill call resounding all through the walls of the huge temple complex “The Dark horde! Brace The Faith! Hold Fast!”
The elderly teacher stood up from his sitting podium, he moved with an agility defying his looks, he peered into the monitor sitting at the middle of the spacious hall “Children, They come, the moment of fulfilment is upon us, you cannot fight it, each one of you will take his codex of knowledge and travel to one of the nations of the world, let your Ka choose the direction for you. MOVE!” he started immediately to cast the portal spell by the last word, the portal opened wide in front of his scrambling students.
The students started to gather in a line each holding a bundle made of the same dark shimmering material like the columns, known to them as Cranias, and heading to the portal. The last student stood looking in question to the teacher “Father, I’m not ready yet to take the burden of humanity. Spare me, let me stay and fight!” she implored the old teacher quietly.
“Aida, my dear student and daughter, your burden is light; just remember what we sacrifice today to ease your mission. Go” he answered in calm yet urgent voice ushering her towards the portal.
“But, Father … I never believed in the salvation-destruction cycle like the others! I’m not my mother!” she halted his urging and held his arm while standing at the edge of the portal.
“Daughter, we choose not our destiny, our destiny chooses us. Go, by The LIGHT! GO!” he was on the verge of pushing her, yet he knew the fragility of the portal would shatter; negative thoughts had this effect on most mind magic. “Please, leave! ….. They are here!”
Suddenly the enforced doors crash and a spark hit the podium. The Darklings stood at the threshold sniffing the air and hesitating. Aida started to cast the soul cage spell when she noticed that her master was falling slowly to the ground. “FATHER!” she screamed as she knelt by his side. “Aida, they have a Shabil with them, he is already breaking my soul barriers, and he will take me within the moment…” The teacher twisted in agony, she reached to him only to jump back from the heat of his body, and it was like holding the sun. “HAHAHAHA, FUTILE HUMAN. SURRENDER YOUR FALSE CODEX AND WE WILL SPARE YOU” the twisted figure of the teacher growled in an unearthly voice at Aida. She fell back in horror, the monstrosity reached at her violently; she stumbled and fell in the almost closing vortex. A loud clap and smoke was all that was left of Aida and the portal.
North
Ashgan stood totally still; she was one with the river, one with rocks that scattered in the river bed. Water flowed all around her, she moved her right hand slowly as if caressing a secret lover, she twisted her arm slowly and the river slowed down. She moved her left hand even slower still, her arm twisted and the world changed. Time stood still, she stood up slowly and stepped on top of the now hard surface of the river. She took 7 steps, and time started rushing back knocking her out of the river and into the bank violently.
“You moved your left foot in concordance with the stream, you are not focusing Ashgan!” screamed the older woman sitting on a cushion of ferns by the far bank “I’m starting to doubt that you will ever be capable of Using time streams any efficiently ever!” she shook her head in disdain.
“But, Mistress Lida … I did not move my foot in the direction of the stream! You, pushed time at me!” stood the indignant Ashgan facing her mentor while nursing the bruises on her back and thighs. “You are a rebellious child, I think you are the worst student I ever TOOK!” shouted Lida back, yet secretly she was admiring the determination and the growing sense of time weaves her student is developing. Of course, Ashgan didn’t make a wrong move, and yes she did push time at her. It was all part of the tradition of the honourable Guild of Users. You can’t be a real user unless you can counter pushed time. To the outsiders, the Guild is just another of the magical and mythical guilds that provides services for wealthy (for a hefty sum of gold). A wealthy farmer would like to ripen his crops earlier, or prolong the rain some days. Or a playful lord to prolong his “playfulness”. But, mostly it was ladies, buying youth time to prolong the beauty some more years.
In reality, the Guild was one of the Dark Bay Guilds. The Dark Bay Guilds were formed 10 centuries ago to face the threat of the rising of the Dark in the West and the fall of the old civilization of mankind to the onslaught of the Dark forces and the growing army of Darklings. Hence, the name Dark Bay, because they were created after the grand priest Amous shown the world the prophecies of the mad monk Theovar. She remembers when she was picked from her village to join the guild, great honour and all glory. She realized the truth after her initiation
Into an adapt, this is when she was allowed to read the Incomplete Codex. Which in reality was only 4 pages from the original Prophecies, and she was terrified and she worked hard and long to achieve the rank of master, just to be able to protect her loved ones. This was one hundred and some years ago, the curse of the longevity and youthfulness comes with the trade of using and storing and archiving time. Ashgan disappeared, she flicked her fingers and was in extended time, amazing thought Lida; her student was a few paces away she started to move her arm to push time at her student when she noticed the black shape flying above. A Shade! Only Shades can move freely in extended time. She ran forward shouting to her student and wove her hands as if washing them and a ripple ran through reality. Ashgan stood in mid stride, the shade looked as if it was in stop motion. Lida rushed towards them flicked her arm as if saluting and a flash moved upwards from her hand towards the shade. Sparks cascaded over the shade, which looked like it was losing substance. Amid the rolling vapour that was the shade stood a short grim looking man, he started moving faster yet far slower than her and he suddenly had a sword of Cranias in his hand. Lida swore under her breath, she stood almost as if embracing her student. She wove her hands as if knitting and a bubble started to form around her and her student. The dark shade snarled then rushed towards them. Lida wove her hand again and bubble transformed into a shield. By the time the crania sword was hitting the shield, Lida was waving her both arms. The sword and its bearer suddenly were sucked into the shield. She threw her assailant 50 years into the future and fainted. Ashgan was pushed out of time and felt that her head was buzzing. She looked at the body of her mistress that laid still next to her in puzzlement. Then she noticed the black mark that looked like an imprinted hand that covered her mistress arm, and screamed.
South
Radhy was moving as if carrying the weight of the world, slowly, shuffling his feet with hanging arms. He hated doing errands for his mother, it was humiliating. It was two days to his naming day; he would finally reach the age of manhood. He moved long the tortious alleys, sand always pushing in his sandals and the constant scorching sun casting long shadows to his strides. Two hot, long, and boring days. Then, he would join the Guild of Travelling merchants, and see the world. He would travel beyond the deserts of Kasah, his nation’s home.
He wanted to be of renown like Imam Abou Khatwa his hero, he was a pedlar who went further than any other human, the man who went past the Sahara, crossed the great Sea of Turmoil, and even went to the fortress of the Guardians far in the West, he even ventured into the Dark lands past the fortress. His mother mocked him and told him that his hero is just a children’s tale spawn by the Guild of pedlars, who had no life or income, to enrich their vaults by tuition gold payed by foolish dreamers who wanted to follow the steps of Abou Khatwa.
He, on the other hand knew that she is saying this to keep him from fulfilling his dream, she wanted him to join the Guild of Glass-makers like his late father. His father died because his Cranias furnace lost essence and exploded in his face. Another reason for why to join the Guild of Pedlars is to face the makers of Cranias in the North and punish the idiot who made his father’s furnace.
Now he had to go to Rakheem the herbalist to buy rodent repellent herbs, his mother complains of a rodent problem in her grain store. He shuffled his legs forward muttering curses under his breath.
Arriving in the thriving ever crowded Zohour plaza, where all the florists, herbalists and apothecaries held shop, in cacophony of colour, smells and deafening noise of the ongoing bartering and selling, He noticed weird commotion, a larger mass of crowd, only standing still not waving their arms and shouting at lungs end in the ancient proud process of “Trading”. The crowd was gathered towards the south end of the huge plaza.
He went towards the commotion, as only curiosity would lead a boy, fast. A man in strange robes with dishevelled hair stood on a wooden box holding a gnarled staff and shouted at the crowds waving his arms in erratic movements. “And, Lo and Behold, the prince of night shall ride his green stead upon thy lands. He weaves the air to blister the skin of the infidels, he looks upon the land and fire burns your crops. He sets the false prophets and their false tomes to fire, he Saunders the land he visits, he will bring doom to the worshippers of the false Light God.” He shouted in a deep voice “Thus, spoke the mad monk Theovar declaring the end of Light and the rein of Darkness. But, the Prophecies of Zonn tells of a saviour, the one born of no man and a master of power. He, shall come forward at the hour of our dire need, he will break the world not to fall under the dark. Seven shall follow him, and 7 will stand against. He shall rule the 14 nations and unite them. He shall face the prince of dark and on the last dying sun, and he will conquer the dark hordes. From his eyes the new sun shall be born, his blood shall be water to parched earth, his liver will bring new life upon your scorched earth and the light will prevail.”
Radhy shook his head as if coming out of a trance, another omen of doom and harbinger of death. The fifth, just this month in the city of Karkara. He moved slowly towards the shop of Rakheem.
Suddenly the earth erupted in fire, Radhy jumped back. Something came out of the earth and leapt past him, he felt as if a thousand furnaces exploded at his side and he fell in pain. Through the haze of pain he saw the Shoukrat, a creature from the horror tales often told by his grandmother to keep her grandchildren from mischief, charge towards the old man, who turned around in a violent manner and stroke his staff on the ground for water to rise from where it stroke and arise as a wall facing the enemy. The robes fell, so as the years that the older man carried, his face changed and his hair looked like a hollow of light. It was Harod the immortal, Radhy couldn’t believe his eyes, and Harod started twirling his staff faster than the eye could see. The wall of water engulfed the enemy and started to darken then Harod pointed his staff to touch the ball of water and a strange flash passed through it to the water. Radhy, screamed, he felt as if the flash went out of his body as well. Harod turned, looked at Radhy, then the water became a ball of light and exploded into a million sparks. “Child, you have the gift of light casting, come to my home in the wilderness, follow the light flies” Harod knelt over him, spoke these words and disappeared. Radhy fainted from his pains.
West
Chan moved fast and gracefully in his forms, the order of the Guardians is not one to accept anything below perfect, he was 18 yet he was already a sword, lance and earth magic master. He trained all his life; his parents gave him to the order at the age of 3 years, as was the custom among the lords of the west to give the eldest son to the order. His father was not any lord; he was lord protector, lord over the 30 fortresses and their lords on the West wall.
The West Wall is the last of the four defending walls created after the dark horde the halls of the Codex over millennia ago. This side of the wall was filed with mountains and green forests, on the other side it is like rotted mirror image, ferns and swamps and desolate peaks.
He moved into the stance of the mantis, better suited for lance fighting yet his prowess can adapt any of the stances of sword play, lance dancing and earth calling to the others. 50 stances to the sword, 30 to the lance and 20 of earth. He learnt from his master, that of old earth calling had more than 100 stances or spells as the common people call them. But, since the darkness destroyed the great civilization of the west, most of the stances were lost to time.
His commander, stood by the corner of the field watching in silence, he was not the only rook training in the field, there was 300 rooks in all, at least 70 of them were training in the field today.
He moved to the waiting bear stance in a fluid motion, the basic stance of calling for rock skin, part of the advanced earth calling art. He shifted his weight to the balls of his feet, danced around his own axis and entered into the praying monk stance.
It was a sad sight, only 70 rooks where 700 could train, only 300 rooks were 4000 should have joined. Most of the lords are having less male offspring, generation after generation, when his father was a rook, they were 2000.
The low moaning call of tower of silence resounded; all the rooks formed ranks and ran towards the westernmost tower. They call it the tower of silence, because it is the last place most of the guardians see, the tower most attacked by the dark.
They arrived to the sound of swords; the shrill screams of the dark mooks, foot soldiers of the dark prince, yet as powerful as 4 men each. He entered silently into the fray. Moving in circles, this is how they were trained to cover more space and spread the swords in perfect spacing, also perfect for taking bigger Darklings, such as the Shomen. Shomen were beings tall as two men and having tree bark instead of skin and their touch was mind shattering. Called Shomen, because of the whooshing sound they make while moving.
His sword was turning heavy and black from the black blood of the mooks. He didn’t know how many mooks he cut through. He felt burning at his ear, and in his left shoulder, the mooks carried poisoned weapons, he knew that right after the fight he should call for earth’s salve to stop the poison until the resident healer could have the time for him. Poor Leah, she was the most overworked healer, since she dedicated herself for the rooks and their ailments.
The shrill call for retreat came to the mooks. And as they came they went.
Chan slumped to the ground taking the stance of the humbled son and called for salve, and he waited in his place to be healed. It is going to be a long winter.
“Knowledge is not treasure, nor is it a weapon, knowledge is a burden, and its bearer should decide which parts to impart unto others and which should be hidden, or else mankind suffers the consequence”
Teachings of the Great Prophet to his Disciple Akonokh
