Turning my head, I was unable to see anything further than around twenty feet away as the world fell into impenetrable mists. The ground beneath me felt strange and soft to the touch, almost like a mattress. I pressed my hands into it and felt my fingers sink a few inches. 

This world smelt even more unusual, a dank smell that reminded me of the rot that crept into waterlogged wood. Coming to my feet, I took another look around me in an attempt to spot something in the endless gloom.

After a few seconds, I began to hear strange noises, almost like an echo. Gradually, the reverberating sounds grew louder and more distinct, becoming recognizable as words. The mists began to twist and form into figures, though they remained hazy around the edges. Within seconds, I could see myself sitting in a chair in a large room, speaking to another man whose face was too blurry to make out.

“-classes you’ll be expected to focus on won’t be combat-related. The Duke wants you to spend as much time in a library or classroom, not on a battlefield.”

As I attempted to look more closely, the world shifted again, and I say myself standing at attention in front of another man, dressed in dark armor with a red cloak on his back. His features were impossible to see clearly, but his posture spoke of power and pride.

“As of today, you will be removed from Duke Estton’s estate and turned into my custody. His Majesty expects you to complete your training within the next three years, and we don’t have the luxury of wasting time. Once I am done with you-”

Another shift and I could see my body lying face down on a table, a massive half-completed tattoo spreading across my back as a man slowly drove an ink-covered needle deep into the skin. A barbaric practice in my mind, but it seemed I would eventually feel different.  

“-will act as a permanent location spell, so that we won’t lose track of you. The crown would hate to lose their investment-”

Mists swirled, and I was inside a massive room, watching as I knelt before a throne crafted of marble at the top of a small dais. A crowd of hundreds watched in silence, and a man standing in front of me slowly tapped a blade onto each shoulder.

“Rise, Archmagi Vayne of the Aether Blade, Champion of His Majesty King Lyos and take on your new-”

Even as I tried to process what I had just seen and heard, the mists around me began to turn and change again. Within a minute, the world around me had resolved into the most distinct vision yet.  

I appeared to be standing on top of the walls surrounding a massive stone fortress, which I did not recognize. The smell of saltwater and fish permeated the air. Powerful ballista and cannons perched near the edges, aiming off into the distance to deter attackers.

I suspected this was one of our coastal towns, meant to safeguard Ferren naval power. Only the western coastline of Ethea had the gentle slopes necessary to land ships. Ferris gladly used this advantage for fishing in the shallow waters, providing a staple in our cuisine.

Looking around, I noticed I wasn’t alone on the walls. A man stood nearby, maybe ten feet away from me, and dressed in a mixture of close-fitting robes and leather armor concentrated on his torso, forearms, and legs. On the left side of his hip, I could spot a longsword, with a scabbard inlaid with runic lettering. I could faintly make out similar runes covering his clothes and armor, all done in an intricate gold-colored material and nearly identical to the ones I had seen carved into the wood of the buildings.

Despite how close I stood, I wasn’t able to see his face clearly, as it was angled away from me, facing over the wall with a rigidly straight posture and arms behind his back. I noted that he was slim and only average in height, but his stance spoke of strength and focus. The slight turning of his head from left to right indicated he was scanning the horizon, though I was unsure why.

Stepping a little closer to investigate, I peered over the edge and nearly fell off in shock at what I saw. A massive army, easily a hundred thousand strong, was lined up in strict formation. I could see a mixture of infantry and archers dressed in unfamiliar clothing, and flying a banner I did not recognize. I noted that there were no cavalry troops or siege equipment, and none of the soldiers appeared to be wearing any armor.

On the sandy coasts, ships three times the size of any Ferren craft had landed, and more soldiers funneled off to join the rest of their comrades while further back, hundreds more were approaching through the vast Azure Expanse with incredible speed and grace.   

Most astonishing were several dozen vessels easily as large as a castle, which seemed an impossible feat of engineering. These giants rapidly cut through the water, apparently unhindered by their size and weight, and I realized with horror that each must hold thousands of troops.

The scope and discipline of this army made clear its purpose. It was an invasion fleet, much larger than Ferris’ troops, and more than enough to overwhelm the paltry defense this fortress would have on hand.

Somehow, whoever launched this invasion knew where to land to take advantage of our relaxed security. In two thousand years, no one had ever crossed the ocean successfully, and our coastal forces changed to focus on economic prosperity.

These invaders must hope to overwhelm the defenses present and secure a foothold, with crucial access to the ocean. With their supply lines in place and our food supply cut by a third, the invaders perfectly positioned to begin pushing further into our borders. It was a smart strategy, a classic tactic to bleed an opponent dry with prolonged warfare.

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Even while I was processing all of this, the robed man spoke in a carefully neutral tone and cut through my musings. “Your Majesty, I still must recommend that you retreat to a safe distance, where Elden can keep you protected. I can handle this myself, but I would rather not risk your safety.”

“Not to worry, Archmagi, I fully trust your ability to protect my life. After all, that is your duty as my Champion!” came the amused reply from behind me.

Turning, I saw in shock that it was King Lyos, the current ruler. I had only seen him once several years prior, at a victory parade celebrating the cessation of hostilities with our neighbors to the south, the Tinkerers of the deserts. My recollection was of a younger man, in his thirties but looking a decade younger and with a youthful vigor that spoke of healthy living and frequent exertion. He had followed the royal family’s tradition and not become a mage, retaining the typical lifespan of a human.

Yet here he looked to be only a few years older, with only the first wisps of gray in his black hair and the faintest of wrinkles in the corner of his steely gray eyes. But that made no sense. It meant this vision was only a decade away, give or take a few years. In particular, if the robed man was who I suspected, this timeline made even less sense.

Nodding, the Archmagi reached down to his hip and smoothly drew his blade in one motion. The sword was beautifully crafted and covered in silver runes along the flat of the blade, which shone with ethereal light. “If you insist on staying, then please stand behind me while I handle these invaders. My magic tends to be difficult to control, and I would not want to endanger Your Majesty.”

He casually gestured with his free hand and raised the blade into the air, and spoke several words in an unfamiliar language. The language was strange and booming, seeming to echo out with power. For a few tense moments, nothing seemed to happen, but as I looked around, I noticed something out of the edge of my sight. Looking up, I felt my mouth drop open involuntarily and sat down hard onto the ground.

Above us in the sky, an enormous mass of dark green mana began to coalesce into a familiar shape. Glancing down, I saw that the mana seemed to be pouring out from the man’s body before funneling into the construction above us. In just seconds, it had formed a giant massive emerald sword hundreds of feet in length and identical to the one in the unknown man’s grip.

When the blade formed completely, the mage brought his sword down sharply, in a lightning-fast chopping motion. The sword mimicked his action, following the same path and slowly descending towards the ground. Yells of shock and warning rose from the foreigners, making a futile attempt to move out of the way of the weapon as it sheared through the ground.

A horrific cacophony of shattering earth, twisting metal and horrified screams filled the air, and a giant cloud of rocks and dust billowed up from the impact zone. As it approached, the runes on the Archmagi’s armor shimmered, and a translucent sphere of Mana thirty feet in diameter appeared, blocking the three of us from the choking debris. Chunks of stone impacted the shield, bouncing away harmlessly.

As the air cleared, I saw that the army had been split down the middle, with a massive crevice in the ground over fifty across and thousands of feet long carved where the sword landed. At the far end of the newly formed valley, seawater was pouring down the sides like a waterfall, dragging nearby ships down into the darkness below.

Even as the invaders attempted to regroup, what appeared to be hundreds of spheres of mana formed in the air. The mage once again motioned with his weapon, and the orbs flew forward, tearing into the front lines of the surviving soldiers before bursting into explosions. Cries of horror and pain came from their numbers, though I marveled at their discipline in not breaking ranks entirely.

Taking a minute to examine the aftermath, the Archmagi nodded in apparent satisfaction and before turning to face the king. What I saw filled me with a surreal mixture of shock, self-satisfaction, and profound confusion.

Judging by my features, I couldn’t be any older than thirty, clean-shaven, and still possessing the unlined features of a young man. My hair was cut neatly into a nearly shaven style, identical to how most soldiers of the Ferren army wore their hair. Dozens of tiny scars dotted my face, which was sharper and lacked the baby fat of a child. Bandages wrapped around my throat, and my exposed skin appeared pale and haggard.

Most alarming of all, my expression was cold and seemingly unbothered by the thousands I had likely just murdered. I had all the care of a butcher who had slaughtered thousands, and no longer felt the sting of guilt or pity. If anything, I seemed mostly annoyed that they still wanted to continue their battle.

“By my estimate, I only have days left until my power tears me apart from the inside out. I can sense a few strong concentrations of mana amongst their ranks, which may pose a bit of a problem, but I should be up to the challenge. With your pardon, Your Majesty, I am off to win this war for Ferris’s glory and honor.”

Those words, my words I mentally corrected, were said with such apathy and indifference that I felt a bit nauseous that this future me no longer understood. Turning back around, my future self vanished in a burst of green-tinged smoke.

In the distance a few hundred feet away, I heard another explosion followed by startled yelling and the clash of weapons, indicating that I had arrived on the battlefield.  Rushing forward, I could see soldiers turning towards the man who had massacred hundreds of them, spears and swords drawn.

Nearby ships slowly turned in the water, bringing their broadside cannons into line with the beach. Before they could fire, smaller ethereal blades launched through the crowd and sliced deeply into the wooden vessels. Several of them began to lurch as they filled with water, while others fired their arms despite the potential to kill their men.

Powerful blasts slammed into the ground, sending up explosions of sand and flames on the beach. I could see myself now, wrapped in another shield of mana to defend against the attacks. More surprising than the explosion was that I was not alone on the beach. Several others stood uncovered a few feet, apparently unbothered by the intense heat and wielding melee weapons.

One of them slammed a massive war ax into the shield of mana, launching me of feet back into the crowd. Even before I stopped, another moved after me faster than a horse could run, shattering my defenses with a powerful strike. As I lay on the sand, spires of pure mana shot from the ground to stab at the two enemies, while I disappeared again, reappearing floating thirty feet in the air.

The ax man leaped the distance effortlessly, slashing at me with his weapon, sending a crescent of mana flying through the air, which collided with a summoned blade launched from my hands. Before he landed on the ground, he sent two more waves of energy streaking from his weapon.

As I marveled at their inhuman physical abilities and debated how I could investigate this battle further, the world around me began to darken. The smells of salt and the sounds of battle faded, and soon I could once again feel a soft mattress pressing into my back. Hesitating for a few seconds, I took a steadying breath and opened my eyes.