PROLOGUE
The giant peaks of the Arcrusian Mountains overlook the plains from the white snowy heavens. They brought with them snow and ice in the dark months, rains in the light. Their springs quenched the thirsts of the lush green landscape. The cool rivers fed the grass, the trees, and all the wild beasts that roamed the valleys. Water would flow all year round, providing the nourishment needed for growth. The sun would rise above the peaks every morning, bringing a torrent of warmth and light. These Mountains gave life to these lands. Every day, every month, every year they fed and warmed and watched over this land; As a father would for his child. They had watched as forests rose, and than fell. The grass grew and conquered the earth. The air cooled and beasts grew. They watched as Man conquered, and began to build. The men took stone from the mountains and built homes. They built walls to protect themselves from other men, and weapons to kill. The men fought each other in great wars where death would cover the lands. The killing would stop, and man was peaceful. The mountains watched as peace endured, and freedom prevailed. The oldest and wisest ruled the young, and man used the land for food and shelter. Man built roads that spanned the land, and they travelled freely along them. They chopped down trees; they made fire and forged steel for machines and weapons. Man had built an impressive society with a shared culture, language and custom. This empire was now born, and it was named after its father, The Arcrusian Empire.
The eastern Gate of Atriop seldom got used these days, and manning it was a dreary task. Goods came mainly from the capital city to the west so activity on this side was nonexistent. To the east the mountains lay; beyond that was a mystery. The wooden walls surrounded the town protecting the citizens from any external threat which the valleys surrounding may possess. As war was a distant memory wild animals and the occasional bandit were the only current problems contended with. At stages in the wall guard towers stood, where archers and swordsmen could watch the land outside. Atop one of these towers stood Lucious. He was an Archer, but was also handy with a sword, and he was bored, cold and wet. Lucious had done this duty now for a year, and not once had anything interesting occurred. He cursed himself for his desire to pursue a career as town guard. Idealistic he had large plans to be town guard, fight for the Arcrusian Empire and slay the enemy. Just like in the great wars of days past. He dreamed of the hero's return where'd all the girls would be quesing up to congratulate their saviour. He still remembers the day he put on his uniform, the steel chest armour with the Emerald green snake inscription of Atriop. He had read out the guard's oath in front of all his friends and his older sister Liberty, his only family. He was awarded his sword, and bow, and promised to only use it to defend the empire. Such a proud day, full of hope for the future. The grim reality Lucious found was surprisingly different, as tonight demonstrated. He cursed himself again. ‘Why hadn't I become a blacksmith, or a farmer?’ . He would be earning a lot more money, like all of his friends, and wouldn't have to sit on this tower every night. Lucious trained daily to rise in rank so he could put this task behind him. Interesting jobs were only reserved for those of higher rank, and they also got the best women.
The weather was terrible; the rain hadn’t stopped for three days and the winds fury savagely beat the town's wooden walls. The altitude of Atriop meant this wind was bitterly cold and the guard tower swayed and creaked to Lucious's severe displeasure. The rain was thrown sideways under the canvas top of the guard tower, so staying dry was impossible. He wrapped himself tighter in his dark green guard's cloak and looked out across the dark valley. Thunder and lightning danced across the sky causing a rare light display. It was a great sight Lucious admitted, but he'd still rather be in bed. His thoughts were interrupted by Captain Garic's bellowing voice from the town floor.
'LUCIOUS!' he shouted.
'Lucious are you up there?!' The guards loathed Garic. He was fat, lazy, and incompetent, an embarrassment to the soldiering profession. Lucious considered himself a good Guard. Even though he hated watch duty, he still took his role seriously. 'LUCIOUS, you had better not be asleep up there, its freezing and I want to get back into the fort. There's lots of paper work to do'. Lucious almost laughed out loud 'Paperwork' he thought, ‘yeah right’. All Garic did was sat in the confines of the fort ' the only concrete building in the town and put his feet up next to the fire. Lucious stood up slowly from the watch bench, his bones creaking from the cold in the process. He walked to the edge and peered down at the unpleasant man below 'Yes Garic, what is it?' Garic stood there with a fur jacket on and a flame torch shuffling on the spot in the cold. The wind meant he had to raise his voice to be heard. 'Anything to report?' the Captain asked. Lucious detested these ridiculous questions. It was plainly obvious there was nothing to report, or the bell would be ringing. 'No Garic, nothing to report'. 'Ok Lucious, carry on'. The unpopular Captain waddled off to harass the other eastern guard tower, and would undoubtedly return to the fort to warm up on the fire ' 'fat bastard' Lucious muttered, followed by a chuckle. The only reason 'Captain' Garic held such rank was because his father was a town elder, and that ensured a high ranking, highly paid job. Lucious perched himself back on the bench tightening his cloak around himself, and crossed his arms rubbing his torso. He could see his breath as he exhaled, and he knew an illness was on its way. Three more hours to go and he could return home to sleep half the day away. His sister Liberty would make him a good meal for when he woke up, as she always did. With that positive thought in mind he looked back out across the darkness of the green valley, and as a flash of lightning rippled across the overcast sky ' he saw something.
It appeared to be a lone man standing right on the horizon amongst the sparse trees. The outline only became visible as the lightning's electric ripples passed across the sky. Every few seconds the 'man' became visible than as darkness returned, it was hidden again. Lucious stood and went to the edge of the tower. He strained his eyes to see. It had a man’s outline, appeared to be cloaked, whcihc flapped in the wind. It couldn't have been a traveller, as no one travelled after dark in Acrusia. There was nothing to the east except the mountains, and beyond that no one knew. Unsure as to what to do he looked to the other guard tower. The wind and rain meant he couldn't shout to Michael to see if he saw it, he looked to the bell pondering whether this was the right time to ring it. The bell very rarely gets rang; the last time was a childhood memory for Lucious, just a mountain lion. This figure on the other hand was no lion, and it just stood there looking over the town. Its ominous appearance began to worry the guard. Lucious continued to watch, it could be just a lone traveller? A Bandit? Something from within told him this was an optimistic thought.
As he looked the figure moved. The lone eastern town guardsman continued to watch intently as the figure began to raise his arms to the heavens.’hmmmm, odd’. He stood to approach the bell, but as he did so one last glance stopped him in his tracks. The weather…. It was changing. Lucious looked worryingly at the sky as the lightning appeared to increase in intensity, the flashes slowly increased in speed. His face now contorted in confusion, mouth partially widened.
BANG!
A bolt of lightning striked the earth just around the figure on the hilltop causing Lucious to jump back, its bright white flash temporally blinding the young man.
BANG!
Again it happened, and with the imprint of the previous bolt still burned in his vision another bolt flew out of the heavens blasting the ground.
BANG!
Again Lucious jumped back as one by one the flashes lit up the sky. His heart pounding he realised also that the wind was increasing in ferocity ‘what in Acrusia is happening’ he thought to himself as he attempted to regain composure. He approached the town bell, but a sudden blast of wind swayed the tower causing him to lose balance tripping. He fell forwards hitting the wooden floor his bow fell from his hands skidding along its watery wooden coating. He crawled to the edge of the tower holding onto the rail for security. The tower now swayed and creaked from the wind uncontrollably, as the rain now flew in all directions oblivious to gravity. The deafening roar of lighting continued as the sky was ablaze with flash after flash of bright white light.
‘BANG’
Followed by a thunderous roar. The grey rain clouds started to swirl around in a cocktail of wind and light. The echoes bounced off of the mountains only to return amplifying the already horrifying noise. The entire world seemed to become alight with bright flashes of sound and light. Michael at the other guard tower some one hundred feet from Lucious was undergoing the same experience. He held his hood atop his head as the speed of the wind increased to such a point that the towers were now rocking at an incredible rate. Lucious feared falling as he held the rail so tight his knuckles whitened. The wood could be heard moaning under the energies being focused on it .Its integrity was threatened, cracking and splintering. It seemed as if the weather was being drawn to this lonesome figure on the valley, and the air tingled with electric energy. In the town some people began to come out of their wooden homes immediately stepping into this blizzard of wind, light and loud noise. Lucious world was being thrown around him like a doll, his sense of up and down was lost; his closed eyes were not immune to the sheer quantity of light being blasted out of the sky. He just held on to that rail so hard he could no longer feel it, and just as he almost lost consciousness to this sense overload, everything stopped.
The tower ceased to rock. The rain had stopped pounding the earth. The lightning had stopped entirely and the now clear sky revealed a sea of stars that lit up the world. Lucious let go of the railing and rolled over onto his back in relief looking to the sky 'How could this of happened?' The weather had disappeared completely, and now all was calm and clear as the sounds faded away from Lucious mind. He breathed heavily and his heart still pounded. He was soaked with rain water but he continued to lie looking upwards as he mentally absorbed the last few moments. Aware he could still think he groped his chest with his hands, fortunate everything was intact. ‘I’m still alive’ he thought. ‘SO GET UP!’ his conscience demanded. He rolled over to his front with a moan from the effort, and pushed himself up with his hands. Standing now he than looked back down into the valley and his heart froze. What he saw before him caused the hairs on his body stand on end. On the valley the figure still stood there. He was cloaked, but even from this distance one feature stood out. His eyes. They were lit up like bright torches, and the expression in them was clear. This had the appearance of a man, and he looked upon Atriop from the high valley with sheer hatred and disgust. This expression contained such raw emotion, such raw hatred, and it was directed at this innocent small town. At that point Lucious knew something terrible was standing atop the valley. Something that was a threat to this town, and its people.
His soldier instinct screamed from somewhere inside of him as he grabbed the sword from his belt standing poised, battle ready. He had heard of powerful magicians before, the town had some magical healers, but this was something very different. The power required to do that would be more than anything Lucious of heard of before, or dreamed about. The figures hands were sparking as if the energy contained within them were immense. In the town the other guards began to awake and their activity could be heard. Garic came storming out of the fort, with a chicken drumstick in his hand peering into the now clear sky. 'What is happening here?' he whispered to himself and he waddled quickly towards the eastern tower
'What in Acrusia is happening up there?'.
'Garic…' Lucious replied
'…get all the men to this gate, and try to get the people into the fort’
His eyes stayed transfixed onto the bright eyes that were on the valley.
'What are you talking about?'
Lucious raised his voice; he hadn't the time to answer Garic’s impertinent questions.
'By the Great Elders of Acrusia, get the townsfolk into the fort NOW!'
The figure than raised his arms and head once more. Lucious watched as a giant ball of orange and yellow began to amass between his hands. The intensity of the light increased quickly, and so did the size. It was a huge swirling ball of fire and light rotating around the head of the dark figure. The heat could be felt on Lucious’s skin, and he had to look away from the bright orange glow that lit the surrounding valley.
Garic became aware of the bright light. ‘Everyone to the fort’ Garic demanded, he ran back inside the apparent concrete safety walls and the town bell could be heard from within. Many people still wore their nightclothes as they shuffled out of their homes to do as commanded. Back in the darkness beyond the gates the swirling ball of fire stood motionless above the man’s head. The figure than dropped his head towards the town. At that millisecond Lucious saw a small smirk cross the figures face as it flung its arms forward toward. Its target was Atriop. Chaos reigned.
The huge ball of fire suddenly hurtled itself towards the town. Lucious ducked down as it flew at an awesome velocity over him followed by a surge of hot wind and light radiating from the sphere. It passed between the Eastern Towers racing to the fort that stood near the East of the town. Lucious just followed its trajectory with a quite awe powerless to do anything. And it hit. For a tiny moment daylight seemed to descend on the town as the explosion ripped into the night sky. A hot barrage of explosive force blasted its way from the outwards sending everyone diving for cover that were close, and was followed by a sound like no other. The sound roared across the lands outside and echoed for seconds through the valley and beyond. As the explosion subsided a huge swirl of cloud and dust mushroomed into the sky, followed by a torrent of bricks and debris that rained down from the heavens. Lucious dived down to the ground in response as bricks hurtled towards him.
As the dust began to clear the damage was obvious. The fort had been pulverized and all that remained of its appearance was one of the towers, which sat atop rubble. The Atriop fort had been destroyed, and was the only sanctity this town had. Panic erupted as the towns people began screaming, and running away from the remains of the only concrete building in Atriop. The shock on the infantry's faces was obvious. Nothing had the power to destroy concrete building so easily. Only armies could do this. Lucious and Michael exchanged their last look as another fireball exploded into Michael's tower causing the wooden structure to explode into thousands of splinters. His molten body was flung through the air and landed in between the gate and the other guardsmen. Lucious dived at the ladder. As he lowered a ball of fire impacted and he was flung from the site of the explosion. Wood rained down and he covered his head with his hands. He was deafened, and he heard only silence as he clambered himself up and dusted the wooden debris off. He was motionless as he looked to the fort, a pile of rubble aflame, a building he knew so well destroyed in an instant. Again the sound of moving flames could be heard and he dived down once again as another ball of sheer energy flew overhead that hit into the first building in its path, a shop which crumbled instantly. The explosion seemed to release Lucious from the shock. ‘Liberty!’ Lucious thought, and began jogging away from the scene of the fort down a lane surrounded by shops. People also ran away from the destruction. As he ran, behind him he heard another building being destroyed, but daren’t look back. He ran on turning right down an alleyway. Stopping to gather his bearings, he looked around him. ‘I’m close’. He continued down the alley, turning onto another lane, this one full of rows of wooden houses and an inn; an inn he knew well. His sister owned it. He ran passed the inn and the place he wanted came into view.
His sister was watching the smoke and light bellowing upwards from the doorstep of their home horror contained on her face. He reached her, grabbed her arm pulling her inside.
'Lucious, what on Acrusia is going on? Is it a fire?’
When he was inside, he closed the front door quickly, his breathing uncontrollable.
'There's no time to explain Liberty’ he leaned on a chair for support, rubbing perspiration from his face ‘you need to get to the basement now'
He grabbed her arm again, pulling her to the trap door.
'Please, what's going on out there'?
He opened the wooden door and led her down the steps. The odour of beer barrels filled their nostrils, but it hardly registered.
'Just please stay in here, and don't move Liberty'.
For a moment he hesitated holding the trap door open looking down at his beloved sister. She could see the fear contained in them.
'Be careful Lucious'
Lucious took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He than reopened them and he looked back towards the sound of carnage his face full of rage, his hand went to his sword. And at that her world was plunged into darkness with a slam. Lucious boots could be heard overhead as he sprinted back out of the house, and than she heard nothing.
