Prologue
Freehold, a world of magic and gods. A world where only strength matters. Where monsters, not humans rule. In one of the few “safe” cities that humans have managed to maintain, a family of three runs through the dark streets of muck and grime. A young man carrying a one-year old baby boy turns back to see their followers gaining ground.
“They’re coming!” He shouts, terror taking hold of him.
“We’re almost there, keep going!” Shouts the woman in front of him, she raises her hand infront of her and with a forceful gesture a sword of light shoots out.
An earsplitting boom echoes across the city as the air itself is pierced by the sword, followed by an even louder crashing sound. Dust envelops the threesome as the ground rumbles, and the entire city seems to come to life. Bells ringing, claxons hollering, the pursuers are forced to stop temporarily as the city guard surrounds them. Infront of the woman, a five meter high by three meter wide hole has ripped through the nearly 10 meter deep walls.
As the dust clears, the couple disappears from view, into the forest of darkness on the southern side of the city.
“FUCK! Master will not be pleased!” calls out a non-descript man in a dark-blue robe, standing on top of a building nearby. With a shake of his body, he disintegrates into thousands of bugs. Mosquitoes, beetles, mantis’, and centipedes scurry/fly through the portal the young woman had created, following the small family into the forest of darkness.
In a mansion seeming to loom over the city, some centipedes and beetles gather in the throne room. An apparition resembling the young man’s head appeared where they gathered, somehow seeming to bow in supplication, despite being only a head.
“Master, they have escaped. She destroyed a section of the walls, using the confusion to escape into the Forest of Darkness. Our men are currently being detained under suspicion of destroying the walls.”
Above, a wrinkly face loomed out of the darkness, barely visible in the moonless night, “So, she has given up on life. To think that she despises me so much that she’d rather die.”
“Master, I believe that she has a plan.”
“Psh… Even I cannot survive in that forest for long. How could she, who is of the light, hope to survive longer than a few minutes?”
“I do not know, but I heard the man say something about a summoning as they ran into the forest. I am attempting to find them as we speak.”
“WHAT?!?! I knew he was insane, to actually challenge my claim on her, but to attempt to summon her? He’ll doom us all!” As the old-man spoke, he stood for the first time since the bug-man had appeared in his throne room. An aura of pure malice and darkness seemed to sweep through the room, out into the city. Streetlights dimmed, the weak passed out, and the elderly keeled over, never to rise.
Directly in front of him, the bug-man nearly died due to his proximity. Purple-green blood seeped from his eyes, mouth, nose and ears as he screamed, “Ma.. Ma.. Master!!!!”
The old man just snorted before he to seemed to shimmer, turning into a massive dragon that roared it’s fury. A plume of dark-black fire eating the ceiling of the mansion, wrapping around his body as his wings swept back, his legs launching him hundreds of meters into the air.
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Deep within the forest, the young woman was now carrying the man and the child as she sprinted as fast as she could. Despite his seeming weakness, the woman was proud of him. For a summoner to keep up with a warrior for so long, he must’ve nearly killed himself. A sad smile spread across her face as she ran deeper into the dark forest. A blinding white light seemed to erupt from her very footsteps, and as she continued to run for hours on end, the strain of it seemed to finally take its toll on her. All around, creatures of the darkness moved, roaring in defiance as they fought to get closer to her. To them, a creature of light represented the ultimate meal, eating just a pinky might cause them to evolve.
“I can’t continue much further, I’m nearly out of energy.” The woman said tiredly, glancing at the hordes of dark creatures surrounding them, waiting for her aura of light to wear off.
Stolen story; please report.
“We are nearly there, once inside they cannot reach us. I need only a few moments to complete the summoning.” Responding the weary man in her arms, tears streaking his cheeks as he thought of the sacrifice to be made.
Behind, they both heard the roar of the Dragon of Pestilence, despite being nearly 200 miles away. The aura coming from the city filling her with such dread that the woman even stopped momentarily, the light surrounding her dimming and the creatures of the dark approaching ever nearer.
“Wake up!” Screamed the man in her arms, weakly raising his arm and slapping her, “We are nearly there, just another quarter mile. Once begun, not even he can stop this.”
The slap seeming to break her of her stupor, resuming sprinting they reaching the building they’d searched out in their desperation. Coming to a halt in front of the massive, crumbling stone edifice, she set down the man as they both stopped breathing, unable to believe that they had truly found it. “The Church of Eternity” They both breathed out in awe, finally entering the building.
Behind, them, the horde of beings of the dark came to an abrupt halt. Unable, or unwilling to enter. The few beings of intelligence in the horde immediately running, as fast and as far away as they could.
Inside, the couple slowly walked down the opulent corridor. Magnificent sculptures of the lesser gods lining the hallways, the ceiling showing scenes from the various battles they undertook in their path to power. The entrance bespoke of the massive wealth and power the Church of Eternity once held. Long, long ago the Church of Eternity was the most powerful organization on the planet. But, that was before the change, before they summoned the first monster from the void.
In the greatest disaster ever to occur, the Church of Eternity summoned a Void King; an existence rivaling that of the greatest god’s to ever walk Freehold. In his anger, the Void King struck out at his summoners, killing them and summoning a horde from the void that nearly extinguished all life on the planet. It was then that beasts and man first joined together, fighting the void. Eventually, with the sacrifice of all of the lesser gods as well as all but two of the true-gods, the Void King was destroyed, his horde pushed back, and the summoning circle sealed. It was in this very building that the destruction of Freehold nearly occurred, and it is here that this family will destroy what little is left of it.
Passing through chambers of such opulence that only the stigma associated with destroying nearly all the god’s kept people out, the family finally found the summoning room. This room was the true reason behind the power of the Church of Eternity; here elementals of any type, dragons and hydras, mythical beasts of unimaginable power could be summoned and bound to those strong enough to control them.
Rushing straight to the only sealed circle, the void circle, the man cut open his wrist, using the blood to alter the circle slightly. Now, instead of summoning the void, something else would be summoned. With a final kiss, the family placed their infant child in the circle and began chanting together, “God’s of the Light, we offer our blood, our bodies, our very souls so that this child may be safe. Please, watch over him, protect him, and ensure his survival.”
As their life dimmed, the two felt their power leave them as a voice laughed in their very souls. “HAHAHAHAHA, By stepping here no God or Goddess of Light will ever hear you again, AHAHAHAHA, but don’t worry, I’ll keep your child safe! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA” A sudden burst of reddish-light flashed and the couple watched as their son was summoned, disappearing into nothingness. Their last sight a fireball with such force behind it that it drilled deeply into the planet.
Massive earthquakes, magma breaking it’s way free unto the surface, lightning striking constantly. Tesselth, Dragon of Pestilence, escaped from the planet along with several other powerful beings. They all turned back to watch it break apart before heading their separate ways, to search the universe for another world to rule.