When I finish my book, I'll put it here, for everyone to read, if they wish. However, I haven't even come close to finishing it yet. I have the prologue and chapter one. But all of this will get revised, and revised, and revised. So, this is the pure, unedited version. A lot of cahnges will be made, so don't get too attached.
DARK HEROES
The wind buffered the tiny home, threatening in its never-ending tirade to fell the shoddy walls. While the storm raged outside, anything but dark clouds hung inside. Instead, what hung was a portrait of the family’s idol, First Commander General Solde. A respected member of New Freedom’s Council of Powers, and champion of the poor and oppressed, his portrait hung in many of Freedom’s more impoverished homes, especially among the Low Cities. The man of the house, a simple yet dedicated Warrior and guard of his small village of Isola, was drying his clothes, dripping from the storm that raged outside. The rest of his family watched with barely contained earnest as their Father tempered his every move, slow and deliberate, almost mocking their excitement. Chapter 1 – Creation, the First and Second Ages, and the first Magi war
The family first saw nothing. Inky black nothingness filled their vision, threatening to consume them all in it’s all-encompassing void. But then, after it seemed an eternity had passed, a few sparks of light began to coalesce in their vision, drawing their eyes to the tiny pinpricks. Soon, they blossomed, becoming a flame that dared to be quenched. Suddenly, a huge fireball erupted, and the most beautiful scene any of humanity had seen exploded before them. The creation of the universe. They saw the first stars, the first suns, and the first planets. They saw Earth, a steaming ball of lava, cool with the passing of eons, which were shown to the family as mere seconds. However, before they saw the eventual creation of life on Earth, they saw an event that would forever change their world, an event that, in its obscurity, is known to few, if anyone. They saw a huge asteroid, hurtling from a faraway galaxy, about the size of the moon, crash into a young Earth. However, it was not the world-ending event they expected it to be. This comet not only brought amino acids to Earth, not only shaped the landmasses as they could be seen upon the surface today - a wide, massive Main Continent surrounded by a few scattered islands, with wide primordial seas encircling it all - but it also brought a force that would forever change their lives. It brought Magic.
Magic is a strange force. The comet that struck the earth, had buried at its core a mass of pure, unfettered energy, which then seeped into the core of the earth. Its energy became the fuel to create the life that would eventually evolve into men, men who could channel, harness, and exploit this force. They could work it’s magic to better their own lives, but could also destroy the fragile fabric of life that had been woven. And, as magic could be used for good, it could also be used for evil. It was a force without distinction, and was readily available to any of those who could master the inner power needed to channel the outer power.
But as the world slowly evolved, from mere single-celled organisms into a sweeping force that dominated the Earth, and eventually into humans, the first humans who learned to use these powerful Earth Magics were watched jealousy by those who could not harness the power. And so, for as long as magic existed in the world, there would be those who believed that they could live without such a powerful and consuming force. But that time would be far off.
For now, the Family saw life evolve and grow. For millennia they saw aquatic life grow, evolve, and die. They saw animals first crawl onto land, they saw forests rise and fall, and, they saw the humans erupt onto the scene. And when these first humans evolved, the First Age, the Age of Twilight, had begun. However, this age was one lost to many of the annals of civilization, for it took place over millennia, and the peoples that lived in this Era were not ordinary humans. These were proto-humanoids who were in constant contact with the core of the earth, its magical center, and they began to spread across the earth. Within five hundred years of the first human’s step, they had covered all the land with their august presence. They began to shape the earth to their likings, creating the first cities in the most fertile areas, and these numbered many. Soon, they had evolved enough to develop trade, language, and art. These first cities became the capitals of small but powerful empires. They became cities of beauty, shaped by magic, and everyone lived relatively peacefully under a cloud of serenity. The wild forests were paradise to wild humans, who roamed the untamed wilderness in peace. But soon, the House humans began to cut the trees for their cities, construct roads for their passage from one end of the land to another. They tamed the land, brought it to heel. And the first conflicts began.
Wild humans began to attack the caravans in raids against their oppressors, while the House humans accelerated their road building. This soon led to an all-out war of House humans vs. Wild humans. This war dragged on for many years, with the House humans slowly emerging as the clear victor. In a final moment of sacrifice, all the wild tribes gathered together in a great council, and it was decided that half of the wild humans would attack in a daring campaign to draw off the armies of the House humans, while the other half would leave the great continent where all humans were said to live, and seek out other lands on which to settle. While the wild human settlers left on canoes in search of a new life, the wild human warriors launched their deadly campaign. However, they were no match to advanced House magi and forged steel, and, within a year, were slaughtered to a man. This brought the end of an era, and the First Age ended in a bloody massacre.
The family witnessed all of this through teary eyes, for they could see the arrogance of the House humans, and were beginning to understand their roots. For they saw the Wild humans on their boats reach the few scattered islands surrounding the main continent, and settle. However, the islands they found were small, uninhabited, and near desolate. They were no forests for them to withdraw into. And so, through their own chagrin, they learned the ways of the House humans. They built cities, constructed farms, and quickly realized a life of utopian proportions. For there were no predators to harry them, no rival clans to raid their lands, and no real valuable possessions for others to become jealous over. And so, they prospered. For thousands of years they prospered, with virtually no knowledge of the outside world. And so, the various tribes of Wild humans lost contact with each other, and each island was a world in itself. But while these lands enjoyed a profound goodness, they had no knowledge of the turmoil and strife that had erupted in the main continent. For the future of the world was unfolding there, a future, which would, one day, disrupt their way of life. For House magic had so firmly taken root in the day-to-day life of the House humans that the first Magi war began over its very foundation.
Shortly after the Great Purge, as it was known to the House humans, when they had firmly taken control of the continent, they settled into a life of supreme luxury. Magic was the source of this luxury, for any and all who had the spark in them were allowed to use it to their full potential, and the ones who had the spark numbered many. So much so, that a very divided class system arose, with it simply divided by magic-users and non magic-users, the Haves and the Have-nots. This led to extreme strife in the land, as the people who were without magic were often delegated to the lowest of tasks, and those who had the spark, lived lives of supreme affluence. And so, began the first Magi war. The people who could not use magic rose up against their oppressors, but not could have done so without the help of a small cadre of Magi who saw the suffering of the common people. They rose up against the corrupt masters, and after a bloody and devastating conflict, nearly one-half of the population of the continent was wiped out by great battles on every type of terrain. Soon, everyone began to see the cost of such a war. After 6 years of bloody strife, a cease-fire was signed. This legendary scroll, the Swordsheath Scroll, restricted those who had the spark of magic in them, and only those who could pass a deadly test, would be able to pursue their abilities. It would be monitored and controlled by those without the spark, and a balance of powers was created. This peace was absolute, and reparations began across the land. For the House humans had done away with their old-fashioned title, and simply referred to themselves as Lightbringers. Those who brought peace, goodness, and light to the world. An arrogant, but truthful saying. Thus began their own epoch, ending the Second Age, the age of Transition, and brought the Third Age, the age of Light. But many ages were to follow, all of which would be seen to only the eyes of the Family, for they alone saw the world as a God would see it.
Chapter 2 – The Third Age, The Land of Zeal, and the First Empire War
The family had seen the beginnings of the world, saw the birth of Magic, and had witnessed the First and Second ages, ages which had been almost completely lost to modern civilization. But their quest for knowledge was not done yet. They had yet to witness the greatest, longest, and most prosperous age of all: The Third Age, the Age of Light.
The Age of light lasted for three thousand years, and from what few records remain, can be said to have been the Era when all things great were born. Because of the Balance of Powers between those who had the spark of magic within them, and those who did not, the world lived in complete peace. Wars were abolished, and everyone came to love everyone else. And this utter, total purity lasted for eons. Wizards, and other such practitioners of Magical Arts created objects of beauty, and forged a trust with each other, and created the most powerful Kingdom the world had yet seen. They called it the Land of Zeal. Zeal was a kingdom where all who had magic would be blessed with a magical sleep in which their dreams were filled with such thoughts that few could explain while conscious. Those without magic lived in great cities, prospering in trade, creation of art, and general good living. Soon, many of those who could use Magic were given over to this magical sleep, and the few that did not were only the greatest and most powerful Magi. These Magi began to turn to other pursuits, namely the creation of the first objects imbued with Magic. They created statues that could talk, flowers that bloomed all year round, and such artifacts with unmatched power as the world had never seen before, and would not see again. But the Conclave, those non-magical humans who governed those who had magic, began to order these wizards create more and more of these magical artifacts. Soon, these wizards’ resources were stretched to the limit, and the Conclave began to order those who had been given magical sleep to be awoken, and set upon the pursuit of creating more of these artifacts. This was a deadly move for the Pax Zeala, for these irate wizards began to plot against the conclave, trying to undermine their power, while the Conclave in its supreme authority and arrogance, simply ignored the pleas of the more passive Wizards, and the assassination plots by the more zealous mages.
The conflict erupted.
One fateful day, the most known event in history in any era before that time took place. The Conclave headquarters, located in the wealthy province of Mithas, was attacked by a coalition of mages from across the globe. Mages from every walk of life banded together to overthrow their corrupt oppressors, a co-operation that would not be seen upon the face of the planet for a thousand years. They razed the City of the Conclave, where their headquarters was located, to the ground. The butchered every last member in a haze of wild rage, and never again was so much magic released in one area. The effects were devastating. The entire province of Mithas was torn asunder by a wild magic left over from the assault. Monsters and Demons summoned or created by these mages broke free of their masters’ will, and wreaked havoc upon the surrounding area. People perished in widespread plagues, and war and famine ruled the land of Zeal. The entire empire crumbled within a year, and each region was left to fend for itself. What few wizards that were not driven mad strived to reset the balance they had so drastically upset, but it was too little, too late. Their empire fell, the wizards became hunted, and the very term mage was known as an insult.
This event sparked a new kind of belief. The common people began to believe that it was purely magic’s fault for the chaos raging in the land, and that all magic was evil and would destroy the world. So a cult grew, first on a remote island known as Bigail, and quickly spread to be the dominant religion of a province known as Shayder, which had not yet been touched by the plague of evil. They rallied themselves into a formidable army, with their core belief being the elimination of all magic from the world, and the rulership of the entire continent by people who had no ‘taint’ of magic inside of them. They swept outward from their island, and the Shayder peninsula, and found many supporters among what people were left. Their ranks swelled, and this new Empire quickly owned half of the continent, the provinces of Shayder, Sharimik, Star of the Rivers (The central province), and were moving in regiments to the remaining provinces, Gale, Lorelei, Krizan, and finally, Mithas. Their brilliant campaign earned them Empire status, and instead of styling themselves a name to their Empire, the most studious of the leaders simply decided to call themselves the Empire, no more, no less. This would mean that the Empire would forever rule the world, and magic would be forgotten.
However, they were not done yet.
They experienced the first resistance to their sweeping armies, first in Lorelei, then Gale, and while Mithas was little more then a burned out hulk of it’s former self, there was much land to be replanted and resettled. The last few wizards that had not been killed had rallied themselves against the Empire, knowing that to stay divided would be an end to the Magic itself. So two resistance movements began. In Lorelei, instead of fighting, the last thousand or so with the spark inside them, simply decided to run. They ran to the very tip of Lorelei, and used what remained of their power to carve a home inside a mountain. They then separated the mountain from the continent, and created a new island, which floated out to sea. They were never heard from again, and no Empire scouts could find this “floating mountain”. Gale, however, had much more to worry about. The province of Gale was rolling and fertile, with no mountains to retreat into. They instead were forced to fight, spell to sword, fist to fist. They were outnumbered more then one hundred to one, however, and fell back quickly. They were driven from nearly the entire province, until only a few hundred remained, on the farthest outpost on the entire continent. However, the Empire knew that they had cornered a pack of rats, and rats fought hardest when there was nothing left to do but fight. So, instead of an outright, pitched battle, they sent an emissary. Their message to the remaining mages was a promise of truce, that they could live on this remote peninsula, and they would not be bothered, if they promised not to spread their ‘foul’ influences upon the rest of the Empire. Having little choice, they agreed, and ended the first Empire War, which saw Zeal fall, and a whole new one born upon it’s ashes.
But the worse was yet to come.
This infant kingdom, while powerful, was still disorganized and had little central power, instead focusing on massive armies cutting a swath through the land. The few leaders that had emerged decided that they would have to build a glorious capital to prove their power to the people not yet conquered. On the site where the five major rivers of the continent meet (named for the 5 peninsulas that 5 of 7 provinces are born from), a city would be hewn from the rock, and in the massive lake that marked the very center of the continent, the Empire would found Etopia, a grand city built in the very center of the lake. They brought rock from all around their conquered areas, soil from the finest fields, and brought in hundreds of thousands of workers to create an island. On that island they built their city. With grand, soaring minarets, gold-plated temples, and white marble palaces, they proved their power. They also built their government offices from black marble, a rare and much sought after material. They created Blackcrag fortress, the seat of the power for the soon-to-be-created Emperor of the Empire, and it was the most feared structure housing the most feared man in the world. And from this fearsome and impenetrable fortress they created a government. The Emperor would hold true executive power, but a Council of Elders would also be formed of the most wise and respected men representing each province equally. On the surface, it appeared to be a new era, and the people already under the Empire’s boot thought that a golden age had begun. Quite the opposite.
Shortly after Blackcrag fortress was completed, the Empire had a focus for their rage. Mages. Every person who had the spark inside of them began to be persecuted by Empire forces. Because a few Mages had begun to trickle back into the Empire covertly, and were spreading the idea that Magic was not the evil force that had been given to believe. Every last mage, whether good or evil, whatever land they hailed from, whomever they supported, were slowly disappearing. Soon, most, if not all, who openly claimed to be a Mage was either dead or living on the farthest shores of Gale, where all mages were quickly fleeing. In about a year, every single mage who was still alive was in Gale, and began to see their numbers were more then enough to take back their land, and purge the Empire from taking over their culture.
So they attacked.
However, they bypassed even the capital of Gale, heading straight for Etopia, and gained support from many people who remembered the days before the fall of Zeal, when the world was at complete peace, and thought the mages could restore the Pax Zeala. So, they marched to Etopia, with the intent of razing the man-made island to the ground, and routing the Empire back into Shayder, and eventually back onto Bigail, where they would then allow the Empire to hold the island, as the Empire had allowed the mages to hold the far shores of Gale. This was their plan.
But they didn’t count on the Empire’s power.
While the mages marched, the Empire garrisoned their city, conscripted nearly a million men, and lavishly equipped them with only the best weapons and armor. They knew the mages were relying solely on their Magic, and planned to surround them and drive relentlessly toward them, in their minds realized they would have to sacrifice thousands of men to simply reach them. And so, the armies met on the shores of the Empire Lake. The mages settled in for a long siege. But the Empire was prepared. They used brilliant strategy to secretly move their armies off Etopia, moving around the rear and surrounding the unknowing mages. The mages realized this, however, and gathered themselves into one, final, pitched Battle to End All Battles. But they were outnumbered nearly a thousand to one, and could not keep up the attack for long. Line after line of spellcasters broke, as they fainted from sheer exhaustion, or simply could not believe they had lost, and went into shock. They were surrounded. However, instead of merely butchering, as the then-Emperor wished, the Council decided to make an example of them, and an example to the entire world of what power they had over magic. They imprisoned them.
In the worst atrocity the world has ever known, the rounded up the six thousand or so Mages, men, women, and children alike, and marched them back to Gale. There, on the farthest point of land from the Capital as possible, they dumped them into a cave. But this cave was known to be deeper then any other point in the world, and that the Mages would be able to survive, barely, while showing the world that the mages had been broken. However, this did not work out exactly as the Empire had envisioned. They began to think of this cave as Exile, and began to send everyone they thought was a traitor to the Empire into the Exile caves. Thieves, murderers, sympathizers of Mages, and any of those politicians who were on the losing side of petty struggles began to flow into the caves. The population of Exile tripled in the first year. But the caves could not support this many people, and the Exiles yearned for vengeance against their oppressors. But they would find freedom eventually, through the help of some of the world’s most known heroes. The first, the one who started it all, was actually one of the Council’s most respected men, and who also the most brilliant man to ever walk the Earth. His name was Dr. Light. The family knew the name of Dr. Light, and was the first hero they recognized, for he was the benevolent father of Freedom.
Chapter 3 – The Exile War, the Battle of the Rift, and Freedom
The family began to understand how and why the world had turned out the way it had, and why the Empire had gained such considerable power over the magic-using minority. For their hero, Dr. Light, was emerging in the story that they witnessed. A compassionate and well-spoken, articulate man, Dr. Light rose to the ranks of the Council of Elders through his brilliant technological inventions. The Empire readily accepted these, because they were proven to be their salvation, forever eliminating the need for magic to support their lives. He advanced the Empire in great leaps and bounds, completing their stranglehold upon what lands they had already conquered, and beginning the spread into those lands either abandoned or under the rule of other, petty lords and nobles. He had proven himself time and time again in the eyes of the Council and the Emperor himself that he could be trusted, and was wholeheartedly dedicated to the people of the Empire, and to the disappearance of magic. But ambition is never enough, not if it does not consume that man totally. He fell in love with a young woman whose lineage was sketchy, and she revealed to him in time that she was a Mage. Few of her kind still existed, and not even she knew her own group’s numbers, but others like her could be contacted, and help from the surface world was being magically transported to Exile, enough to sustain the soaring population of the underground cave. And she, in time, grew to love Dr. Light as well, and their love became a direct link between Exile and Etopia. She showed him the power that magic could bestow, and Dr. Light soon learned that he had the spark in himself, though where he, never knew it originated, whether from birth or mere talent. Soon, his technological creations took on greater and great roles, for he had learned to meld the two as one, and create machines, weapons, and tools of immeasurable power. However, though he was a hero for the Empire, his rivals began to see suspicious behavior from his laboratories in Etopia. Soon, those rumors and whispers escalated into accusations, and the Council’s private army stormed his manor, and discovered his dabbling in magic, and was beyond outraged. To demonstrate their power, and to punish Dr. Light with more then death, they killed his lover, and banished him to Exile, never to see the surface world again. As further punishment, they coerced another mage out of hiding, and with promises of riches and power, they bade him cast down a curse upon Light. If even a single shaft of sunlight were to ever rest upon his body, he would be instantly killed. Such a powerful curse could not be undone, and the one who cast it soon ‘disappeared’ under mysterious circumstances, after being elevated to noble status.
Banished to Exile, his lover torn from him, Light quickly learned of the Empire’s true face, and was forever attached to the cause of the Mages, and his own expertise was a powerful boon to the cause of all those in Exile. Such a congregation of Mages in one small area allowed them to plan their escape, though it would be many years before they could have the power to exact their revenge. And so the pit of vipers the Empire had created stirred, bubbled, and boiled, but did not break the surface for some time. It would take Dr. Light’s genius, plus the heroism of a select few individuals, to finally breach the hold the Empire had upon them.
Dr. Light began experimenting fully with his magic-machine creations, and quickly began advancing his studies to the most advanced levels. He began to experiment in the most complex and most dangerous experiment of all.
He tried to create life.
A combination of a man with a powerful spark, heavily imbued with outside magic, and grafted with machinery to increase his strength, agility, and durability, he attempted to build the perfect soldier to fight the Empire. However, his first success turned to be more then anyone could handle. He called him MegaMan, and soon learned from his own mistakes. While MegaMan was of greater strength, power, and magical ability then any other Exile, his mind was a troubled place. His power was too much for even his own limited human mind to perceive, and could not fully grasp his own abilities. Striving to save his creation, Dr. light attempted to teach his already-advanced mind exactly what he was capable of. He taught him everything he knew, and everything any other Mage knew, but it was still only a fraction of his true power, and such power to this day lies untapped, the potential beyond anyone wildest dreams. But because such power could not be controlled or even used, Light trimmed his ambition, and strived instead to make a man who understood, and better yet, could use his power. And so his next experiment was the Three.
The Three were each created at exactly the same time, and Light intended them to work as a team, each combining a skill to use in conjunction with each other, to become the perfect team to take down the Empire. Protoman, the first inception, was to have unparalleled magical ability, and bent the very core of magic to his will. Orinias, the second inception, was blessed with the strength to break the ground itself, and his warrior abilities were unmatched by anyone before or since. His magical sword, Bar, could cleave diamond in two, and shave a man’s head from his shoulders as if moving through hot butter. The third, Gray, possessed both minor magical ability and fearsome fighting skills. However, his true power lay in his mind, and his brilliant tactical and practical solutions to the most complex problems balanced out the unmatched power of his two brothers. So, with Physical, Mental, and Magical strength, the three gathered their fellow Mages, and began to plot the downfall of the Empire. But it would take more individuals then just the three, MegaMan, and Light to win back their freedom.
And so, the Three began to recruit others to their cadre of elite fighters, and soon saw that a select few had the potential to be powerful allies in the battle for their freedom.
The first and most obvious candidate was Cid, an apprentice of Dr. Light who recognized the untapped power that magic could bestow, and was banished to Exile for the same reasons Light had been.
Comments? Want to publish it? Hahaha...ASK ME FIRST! Seriously. I want credit for this. but, of course, I did use some names and titles from other places, places which might have copyrighted them. So, if your one fo those places, which I doubt, you can e-mail me, if you so wish.
© 2001 goodways0@hotmail.com
Prologue:
“Sit” he commanded, firmly yet softly, and his whole family were around his feet in seconds, including his wife. He drew out the tension like a knife; savouring this moment of anticipation he knew would not soon be repeated.
“This,” holding up the oaken-bound book that was the object of his family’s interest, “Is a history of Freedom, from it’s beginning in the dark caves of Exile, to it’s splendour in Old Freedom, it’s daring escape from the hated Empire, and it’s rebirth here, upon the shores of New Freedom. It is a detailed record, compiled of the diaries and recording from peoples of the era, including notes from Protoman himself. I also hold here a scroll, written on which is a powerful spell that will allow us to see the beginnings of the world itself. Written by Solberg the mighty, and held and blessed in the hands of the great Solde, this can show you, my children, how we came to be here, and how you will all grow in the freedom for which our land is named, and how much blood was sacrificed for your own souls. Let us begin.” And with that, the father began to mutter an incantation written on the scroll. When he was finished, the scroll exploded in a burst of flame, and all eyes in the house were transported to a time before time itself...
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