Prolog

Grand Rapids Michigan, in a small factory there's a group of more than 20 people standing in a loose circle. a man wearing jeans and a button up speaks.

ok guys unfortunately for the next month or two we will have to cut hours to save money for the company. I'm not happy to be making this decision, but the alternative is to lay off a quarter of our employees. We will start next week monday through thursday, 8 hour days and will no longer work on friday. if anybody has any questions for me, please ask.

now an older gentlemen raises his hand up and says.

well if we have any vacation time can we use that to cover the loss for hours?

good question, replies the other man.

Yes, your more then welcome to use your PTO to cover the lossed hours.

The group nods and disperses back to there respective work stations while the boss remains to speak with a few other people one on one.

moving through the building we see a man in his mid twenties, he is roughly 5’6. short brown hair, with a stocky build and a small belly rubbing up against his paint covered shirt. a couple piercings on his left ear, with green eyes, while his facial features could be considered barely above average. with a square jaw, full cheeks, and smooth skin. his name is Herith. Herith shakes his head, with one hand on his head and the other inside his jeans pocket. how am i supposed to pay my bills? rent’s coming up. electric, gas? how do they expect us to survive on 30 hours? well 32, this isn't fair. he makes his way back to his work station, taking a seat in front of the work computer. with an empty stare on his face. contemplating everything he is going to have to cut back on in order to pay his bills. standing up he walks into a small cubby overlooking his work putting a hand on his forehead while the stress starts seeping deeper into his mind.

I'm so sick of this shit. there's always something, something going wrong! why cant life be easier? why do i have to be a slave to all these corporations trying to just make money? all i want to do is survive, and to do that i have to work so hard everyday to make ends meat. now all of a sudden the company's cutting hours after having us work ten plus hours a day five days a week? this sucks, maybe its time to look for a new job. but maybe, maybe not. what about my co-workers, what about the time i put into this place? can i really just let it all go like that?

Off in another place, deep inside a cave. the sound of battle can be heard. a man wearing well crafted studded leather armor, with sections along the forearms and shins covered with equally crafted metal guards yells out.

Merlyn you traitorous scum. i will take your head! how dare you think that you could get away with performing that ritual.

merlyn replies,

Edward you know as well as i do, that if i don't do something the world will come to an end. look around you, the wars, monsters, hell even the demon lord has started to make moves against the nations. what else am i supposed to do?

no, i refuse!

Edward yells back at him.

this is not a decision for you to make, and for that you will be put down merlyn. the church has already declared you a heretic, the king calls you a traitor. all of these decrees mean your death. merlyn you are a fool, you are a powerful wizard. with you on the battlefield, we could have made a difference. but instead here you are, going against king, country, and even the church for your own selfish desires.

the sound of clashing steel can be heard vibrating off of the stone walls. Grunts, yelling, and even the sound of lightning reverberates throughout the caverns. Merlyn yells out, while flicking his wrists into the complex motions of spellcasting. his wand in hand dancing through the air,

chain lightning!,

as a discharge echo's. a few men cry out loudly, as thuds can be hurd bodies hitting the hard ground. Edward calls out,

damn it merlyn! those were good men, you'll go as far to become a murderer for this?

as he swings his long sword.

merlyn cries out in pain as the sword slashes across his chest, lunging forward merlyn’s hand just barely touches Edward's shoulder as he chants.

bestow curse!

Edward immediately shoves merlyn away from him with a shoulder check. merlyn jumping back a few feet with the borrowed momentum, his eyes growing wide as he sees a blue enchantment around Edwards visible flesh, dimly flicker out.

it looks like you came prepared.

I'm not foolish enough to come after you without a few safety precautions first.

retorts Edward as he lunges forward slashing into Merlyn's shoulder.

falling on his knees to the ground merlyn grabs at the open wound, Edward approaching him swinging his sword off to the side removing the blood from the blade.

merlyn i told you, you will die here. there is nothing that can be done, you have chosen your fate. you may be the former archmage of the kingdom.

merlin coughs. a smile on his face, as he nods his head accepting defeat.

you know Edward, back when we were younger i always thought things would of been different. do you remember that fight we got into over that tavern girl?

Edward frowning while glancing down at his former friend.

yeah i remember you telling her that i slept with every women in that tavern, just so you could try and win her over. but enough of that merlyn it's time to end this. I'm sorry, old friend.

merlyn looks up at Edward with a smile on his face.

you’re right, it is time to end this.

suddenly before Edward could realize what was happening, merlin slammed his hands together yelling,

thunder clap!

as a force of energy with an electric shock blasts into edward at point blank range sending him twenty feet into the side of the cave with a nasty crunching sound. edward letting out a pained yelp as his body slumps to the floor, his neck broken from a protruding rock slamming into the back of it. merlyn looks at edwards lifeless body as he wipes a tear from his cheek.

i'm so sorry edward, please forgive me.

holding his shoulder from the injury sustained during the fight he grits his teeth, and retreats deeper into the cave.

slowly limping his way into a large open chamber deeper inside the cave merlyn kneels down in front of a massive ritual circle drawn into the floor. picking up a piece of chalk his hands quickly continue there tedious work.

damn edward, why did you have to find me? things could of worked out so much differently.

wincing in pain,

damn it i'll give him one thing. he was one hell of a swordsmen.

taking a moment he looks at his wounds.

they're deep and i can't get the bleeding to stop. i knew i should have taken the time to learn some healing incantations but no. i had to be stubborn and just study the arcane.

standing up from the circle he’s been drawing for far to long, he slowly limps to a rickety wooden table along the far wall. he starts rummaging through a pack.

come on, where is it? i know it's here,

merlin quickly grabs the pack flipping it upside down dumping out the contents haphazardly onto the table.

the sound of glass can be heard bouncing onto the table, sighing in relief merlin grabs the small glass vial containing a red liquid. he grabs it and lifts the container to his mouth using his teeth to remove the cork, quickly downing its contents. looking over to his shoulder, the wound is already starting to mend itself back together. shaking his head in disappointment,

damn. i knew these wounds were too deep, and now i've wasted the only healing potion i could get my hands on. i just hope that this minor mishap… oh well.

standing straight, or as straight as a wounded man can merlin slowly makes his way back over to the ritual sight. painfully kneeling back down onto the ground he picks up the chalk, determination glinting in his eyes,

it's a race against time. i can't let edwards sacrifice go in vein by dying before i can finish this damn thing.

Herith slowly cleans the machines that he's been working with all day, his motivation gone, his body tired. His co-worker tells him to have a nice day as they leave to go home. Herith nods and says you as well. waiting a few moments until they leave, he looks at his feet. clenches his fists and wonders to himself. How come when everybody else needs a little bit of help to get out on time. i'm always right there, but for some reason when it's my turn everybody says have a nice day. biting his lip, he continues to clean. an hour or so goes by, leaving the building he opens the door, and takes in a deep breath. it's much more refreshing than breathing in that moldy factory air. he puts a smile on his face because after all, if you let the small things like missing hours and selfish co-workers stress you out all the time. that's how you die young, stress is a killer after all.

herith puls his keys out of his pocket and starts to twirl them around his finger as he walks across the parking lot to his old trailblazer. thinking to himself, god. it's such an ugly car, but she is reliable. old bessie's never broken down on me once, batteries gone bad. that was inconvenient, but all in all. you're a good car, giving the vehicle a small pat on the bumper as he walks past to the drivers side. unlocking the door, climbing inside and putting the key in the ignition and immediately rolling down the window. holy cow it's hot. well i suppose, lets get on home. got some aliens to slay in this new video game i started playing, and with that herith leaves the parking lot. luckily not living far from work the trip is short, merging onto the highway getting up to speed, which for the city limit is roughly 65 miles per hour. give or take 5. there's a fairly sharp turn up ahead taking one road and merging into another. now within a quarter mile of this turn there are road indicators that say you should slow your speed to 35 miles per hour to safely take the turn. normally this is exactly what herith would do, but as he slowly presses down on the break. something isn't right, the peddle completely presse to the floor.

glancing down to the floor, the peddle hasn't even come back up yet. shit, did the tension wire break? it was perfectly fine, what happened? no warning? nothing? just broken? bringing his attention back to the road, and quickly approaching the bend. oh no, no no. this is bad, i knew whenever i come up off of the first merge ramp i was going a little fast. sure. blowing off a little bit of frustration. it's the highway after all. don't want to cause an accident going too slow and all, but what do i do. using the toes of his shoe, herith tries to pick the peddle up off the floor. maybe if i pick it up it'll go back to normal, as expected it simply flopped back to the floor the moment his shoe left the peddle. okay this is bad, at the same moment a bright light starts to shine from behind him. he can see it in his rear view mirror. damn thats bright, like blindingly bright. there must be a semi truck right on my ass. flipping the small knob on the rear view mirror to try and get the lights to dim. it doesn't seem to have any effect, crap. how close is this guy?

checking his side mirrors, there's nobody there. there's no other vehicle behind me, umm. what the hell. where's that light coming from. all of this happening over the span of a few seconds. think, maybe if i turn my wheel side to side it'll help me slow down. you know momentum and all not being that great when there's not a straight line to follow. my heart is pounding, i mean honestly. is this how im going to die? flying off the side of the highway slamming into a building somewhere? honestly, i think i'm okay with this. i mean work cut hours, i have no friends, no one to go home to. i'm just, i'm so tired of fighting. i'm so tired of struggling. i wonder if i closed my eyes it'll be over in a moment, or will i suffer some more? looking at the speedometer herith realizes that even jerking the wheel off to the sides, he's still going roughly 70 miles an hour. well, screw it. hopefully i don't kill anybody, with my reckless decision, but if i'm going to die or at least get gravely wounded then i'm going to do it good.

with his mind set, herith nervously puts his foot on the accelerator. am i really going to do this? pressing down on the peddle, the engine starting to roar. ha haha look at you old girl, sounds like you still have a bit of life left in you, i guess we'll go together then. his foot presses the pedal to the floor, quickly approaching the bend. looking in the rear view mirror one more time. that lights still bothering my eyes. a quick glance to the side mirrors and again nothing, i wonder if maybe there's a helicopter above me and they can see what's going on? maybe they noticed i was fishtailing and now there following me to see what happens. news channel maybe? ha, no that's dumb. being jolted out of his thoughts, he hears a loud thud. he feels a massive pressure in his chest as the car smashes into the embankment, those concrete guards that they have on the side of the highway. i can feel myself being forced back into my seat. it hurts. alot. it hurts. it.. hands gripping the steering wheel so hard there white, my heartbeat is throbbing i can feel it in my neck. i can see the ground.

The car finally starting to flip over, it's a little slow, and anticlimactic herith's mind starts to wonder. it's getting closer, it almost feels like time is slowing down. is this the point where my life is supposed to flash before my eyes? closing my eyes, but no matter how tightly i squeeze, that light is still there. one more time, he thinks to himself, im going to look one more time. lets be honest if its a helicopter, from this angle i should be able to see it right? quickly opening my eyes and looking into the rear view mirror, seeing nothing but empty sky behind me. no helicopter, no other vehicle, nothing. but the light keeps getting brighter, strangely enough though, its kind of comforting and warm. huh, he softly chuckles to himself. maybe old girl is on fire, hitting that embankment so hard might of done something. closing his eyes again, preparing for the inevitable impact of the car and the ground. taking one final deep breath, expecting to smell burning fuel, or chill air conditioning. his lungs instead refuse to inflate.