Beyond the coast of Agmar, deep within the islands of Urtan a magic ritual was proceeding in which the likes the world have never seen before.
People with elongated and pointy ears stopped and watched in horror as the sky began to break down like glass, like the very fabric of reality was beginning to shatter.
Before the eyes of thousands a vortex of storm and lightning was beginning to shape in the central island around a long central tower.
The earth started to rumble and the heavens began to shake, and the inhabitants of the islands were in disarray and panic.
Their hearts and minds raced in every direction to find solace and comfort, but all they got was even more terror as what could be described as distorted eyes were seen in holes and cracks of the sky.
In that moment every creature and living soul in all the isles were gripped in such fear that their very heartbeats stopped for a moment.
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-What is this...what did those madmen do?!
The captain of the guards of the first regiment of the Empire, Aloris Laroth Eruvian, ran outside the main tent of the encampment as soon as the quakes stopped. Before him stood a great storm, brewing with storms and fires.
Every soldier in the vicinity of Aloris looked terrified. Ranging from shock, awe and horror, their bodies are stiff like statues. They were all looking up to the sky, above the tower.
Aloris, trained in the arts of war and tailored for combat was ready to face any situation that presented itself, but this time his heart sunk deep in what could only be described in one word
Terror
Aloris by pure instinct alone, clenched his skin above his heart, waking him up from his terrorized state.
What made him move? What makes any man move their hands to protect their being? Instinct.
Awaken, and in control once again, he took a deep breath.
- Battle formations! He screamed with every fiber of his being, so much so that his inner power, the ether, was drawn out.
The powerful battlecry shaked the ground and verberated across the encampment.
The regulars, and anyone around Aloris were jolted from their terror, waking up from whatever nightmare that overtook them.
The ones closest to Alorist suffered some damage to their eardrums, as blood were seen dropping from their ear canals.
- Pick up your swords and armor, prepare for battle! He screamed again, but this time he did not use the ether.
The regulars, the priests, and other personnel, started to finally move, and began to do what was expected of them, but Aloris knew they were still afraid, but his words were enough to inspire them.
Aloris looked around, his eyes darting around left and right of the encampment, looking for a Wise Elder.
He could not find any, so his strength would suffice for now.
His keen senses said this enemy could not be defeated by sword or magic, but that would only discourage his fellow men if he disclosed that. He took a closer look at the sky and noticed what could only be described as cracks in the sky above the tower.
He amplified his eyesight using his Ether, and was surprised by what he saw.
He saw monstrosities inside the cracks that looked like giant distorted eyes.
The very notion that something exists outside of this world was ludicrous for him, he believed that nothing exists more than the mundane world, but he could not deny what he was seeing.
The disturbing eyes were looking at them, at him.
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Aloris hesitated to think about the consequences should the entity or entities decide to enter through, and what would happen with the expedition force if it did.
The only thing he could think of was to try to stop whatever process that started this whole mess, and maybe figure out what happened after everyone was safe.
He saw his second in command running to him from far away, with such speeds it would make any human question the validity of it, but they were not humans.
They were elves, and the elves have magic.
Boosted with whatever magic he used, it would seem the elf sprinted faster than any living creature and the normal reaction would be a gasp of surprise to any who saw it, but Aloris was not surprised instead he was happy and relieved.
When the young elf was close enough he shouted to Aloris
- Captain! Captain! They have activated the tower!
“Activated?” he thought
The Tower was much older than the elves from the reports he read, but that is the extent of his knowledge in this matter. Most of the crucial and important reports of the archaeological sites around the Empire were not available to him, and so it was impossible to get information about this tower.
He had been suspicious of this expedition since his findings in the mainland.
The official reason for this expedition, as said by the council, was to explore and possibly expand the Empire to these islands.
But if that was the case, why the hurry? The fleet was assembled in less than a few weeks, and they even sent the first regiment that was usually saved for quelling rebellions and waging war in the frontier. Even the rations were not properly handled, they only had food for weeks, not months.
His superior, Staff officer Nar'un , told him to investigate this matter. After much investigation he found out that the commission for this expedition was from a private client, and not from the nobles of the empire as he had previously thought.
When investigating even further, the private client was just a liaison for a number of people with ties to the Emperor. This was unusual for an expedition. Most if not all expeditions were commissioned from both the nobility and the Imperial dynasty.
Staff officer Nar'un presented these findings to the General, but was quickly reminded that their roles were not to judge or question the council's decision.
"Maybe it is like Nar'un told me, they wanted this for themselves"
Nar'un proposed that the royal faction were trying to accumulate power, and whatever that was in this island was worth more than any cooperation or benefit they had with the nobility.
When they first saw the islands, the tower presented itself in the distance. It was a magnificent building of massive proportions located at the central island.
He should have acted sooner, those were the thoughts of Aloris, the captain of the guards.
“I need to hurry to the tower”
He decided to drop these questions for now, and focus on the task at hand.
- Report! He shouted to the young elf.
The young elf, still running, responded.
- They activated the tower! Screamed his second in command
The elf stopped before Aloris and slouched over, breathing heavily.
After resting for a few seconds he continued.
- They somehow activated the tower by mistake, when I questioned one of the Wise Elders in private he was terrified and said that it was not supposed to act this way! When I asked if they could reverse the process or stop it he said that they did not know how. Captain… Maybe we need to evacuate.
" If the Wise Elders do not know how then it is best to retreat and reevaluate after we are sure to be safe."
The young elf was right and Aloris knew it.
The young elf selected for his sharp mind and combat skills, was an excellent subordinate who could give good advice and tactical support when needed and he was a good friend.
- Tell everyone to evacuate to the boats and ignore everything else, do you understand me?
The young elf with a terrified expression nodded, he was about to turn around but something was bothering him.
- Where are you going? he asked Aloris
“He knew”
Aloris was going to the tower and get some answers from the assholes that were responsible for this mess, but he might not have time for that.
- You disagree?
- You can not save them! Let them die for all I care! You are the captain and the men need someone to lead them! The young elf shouted
“He must have thought I was going to get them”
- Think of your family back home!
That struck a chord in him, he had completely forgotten about them.
Aloris was about to say something but at that moment a thunderous sound was heard, emanating from the tower.
It sounded like something cracked.
Aloris hastily turned his face at the tower and the sight terrified him.
The sky had now a huge gaping hole and pieces of it could be seen falling down, like reality itself was falling apart. The eyes were now as numerous as the stars in the heavens themselves.
Then he felt pain.
A massive surge of pain came over him all over his body and he began to fall down.
The last thing he saw before everything went black, was his friend's face got distorted and disfigured with agony.