20 Years Ago
The planet Magerius, home to many of the universe's most gifted Sorcerers. It also serves as a bustling center for commerce. An important stop along many intergalactic trade routes. It's prime position along these trade routes proved to be one of the driving forces of the planet's economy. It is one of the wealthier planets in the known universe, and with so many Sorcerer's protecting it, no sane being would dare make any move against it. Yes, many would call Magerius a paradise, and a paradise it had been…
No one was entirely sure what happened. All life on the planet disappeared, seemingly instantly. The structures that stood as a testament to what the planet had once been now lay in ruins… Marketplaces that once swarmed with merchant's and buyers were now desolate with little evidence that they ever existed at all… Great castles that towered above were now little more that stony spires jutting out of the ground like broken and twisted fingers…Now, Magerius was a hellscape…Something or someone had functionally destroyed the planet…
A small orb of light descended from the sky. Slowly making it way to ground, it grew to the size of a person before slowly fading away. Out of the light stepped Crystal Thornheart, a black-haired, blue-eyed Sorcerer sent to investigate the ruins. Crystal could not believe what she was seeing, for she was familiar with the Magerius, having visited the planet several times in the past. Seeing this once great land reduces to…this…she did not want to believe it…"H-how is this possible…?" she muttered, still trying to take everything in. She walked slowly through the ruins, slowly taking everything in, wishing desperately to find someone alive…but there was no one… She did not want to believe it, but even if her eyes were deceiving her, even if this was some sick illusion that had been cast, there was no doubt that everyone was gone…
Crystal, like many great Sorcerer's has the ability to sense magical energy. That magical energy is tied to a being's lifeforce, and if there is no life…there is no magical energy. And Crystal could sense none… She continued through the ruins, tears forming in her eyes, her chest heavy with sadness. "They're really all gone…". Her denial had turned to acceptance. There really was no Magerians left… Crystal composed herself, ready to leave the barren planet until she felt something. It was faint and only for a second, but she sensed something! A possible sign of life! Crystal hurried in the direction she had felt it. Hoping that her senses hadn't lied to her, and hoping that she wouldn't be too late…
She arrived at the remains of a village, or rather what she assumed had been a village… The area was littered with what appeared to be the ruins of several homesteads, covered in ash and dirt. The lifeforce she had sensed was definitely here, but it was incredibly faint… She knew she had to hurry. Crystal began sifting through rubble, using her magic to move the debris. She came upon some objects that she couldn't make out at first. Gray in color, covered with dust. They varied in shapes and sizes. Some long and slender, others smaller and round. She held some of them in her hands and could tell they were very hard. She began to brush the dust off of them and could tell that they were not gray after all, but white… She quickly realized that these were the bones of Magerians… "Oh gods…". As if she needed any more proof, there it was. But she couldn't become fixated on this. There was still that small sense of life within these ruins. At this point, she just hoped that if she could save one person that it would be enough…
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Finally, she could see a glow within the ruins! "Yes! There's someone here!". She cleared the last of the debris and laying within a cracked magical shield…was a baby. Flanking the child on either side were skeletons… Crystal knew that these must have been the child's parents…somehow able to conjure a powerful shield in time to save their child's life… How such a thing had occurred was not important now though. What mattered is that Crystal had found a survivor…the last of the Magerians… She rushed over and using her own magic, dispelled the shield that surrounded the child. Taking it into her arms, tears once again formed in her eyes. Though this time they were from a mixture of sadness, and joy. Sadness that billions were now dead, with her still having no idea as to what had happened. But happiness for knowing that there was still one left alive, and that she had found it!
She brought the baby up to her face, unwrapping the child from the blanket it laid in. She checked the child for injuries, and was thankful to find none… She also discovered that the child was a boy, before wrapping him back in his blanket. The boy was eerily calm. He could obviously not know or comprehend what had happened around him, but it still troubled Crystal at how quiet he was… He didn't make any noise, no cry, no laugh, nothing. He just stared into Crystal's blue eyes with his own…
Crystal began to think of what would happen to the boy. She would obviously take him with her, but what would happen after that? Would he be adopted? Would he be left in an orphanage? What kind of life would he lead? Would he ever come know about any of this? This didn't sit right with Crystal. This child, she wanted to guarantee that he would have a good life. She decided that she would take pity upon him and raise him herself. She had always wanted a son of her own, and now she would have one… He continued to stare into her eyes as she smiled at him. After several seconds he giggled at her, warming her heart. "Well, I guess we should get out of here then…but, I don't know what your name was…" Crystal pondered for a moment, trying to come up with a name for her adopted son. "How about…Merlin".
To be continued…