I am soon to turn to shadow—cursed by the gods themselves.

I am the son of Thaman King Zalvadore Blackheart—but now that he’s dead and the kingdom is in ruin I find myself hiding who I am; my name is Zalatheus, Thaman for Zal, meaning king and Atheus, meaning believer.

I am Zalatheus—the fallen king’s son and this is my story.

———

“You do not wish to die like this, do you?”

“You cannot hold onto the death of your father—if you come with me I will tell you whose slain Zalvadore—I was there when he died, I did everything in my power to save him but I fear I would’ve perished as well if I hadn’t sought refuge”

I knew I had to leave before the Lords and Ladies of Light came crawling to claim this place as their own—perhaps as their stronghold.

The court mage talked some sense into me, he led to a heavy chest he moved and there happened to be a secret exit behind it.

I promised myself that I wouldn’t look back.

He made haste and I followed soon after.

Everything was going down in smoke, what was once a capital which I knew so fondly now had seen its last glimpse of what it once was.

“Thelos—just what do we do now?”

“I stand by your side and we raise our head high and we survive for that’s what we do best”

“There’s not much time so we must gather ourselves and leave this place once and for all”

I couldn’t argue with Thelos, for he knew better than I did.

Thamos, the capital city of The Thaman Lands was a part of me and now that part of me is burning down to the ground, incinerating itself to smolder on down to nothing.

We left as we could hear the voices of the Lords and Ladies of Light , we could see their glinting platemail catching in the lit torches that they carried.

“Who killed my father?” I said as my voice became the night.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“It was the Brightlord himself who did it”

“That bastard!”

“I’ll kill him myself one day I swear it,”

“There will be a time and a place for that one day but today is not one of those days,” Thelos had said.

“We must leave at once—”

The chaos was the backdrop before us—there was no going back from here.

“Where…are we going…to?”

“Anywhere but here,” Thelos said.

“Here—put on this cloak it will help you blend into the night”

I knew Thamos but in this darkness—in the fires both near and far the smoke veiled all familiarity and with it any sense of direction I thought I knew.

I could hear it in his voice—when Thelos spoke it was like one would shiver in the cold.

He was uncertain—

“This way,” He called out loud enough only so that I could hear.

Being that he is court mage, he’s always prepared for the unexpected.

If it would come to it—I know that he would lay down his life to save my own.

I know it wouldn’t come to that—I would see to it that it wouldn’t.

The burning stench lingered even as we left it all.

The Lords and Ladies of Light drove everyone from their homes—

I followed Thelos into the dark of night.

Wherever we were to go, it happened to be away from where I thought we were going.

The first place that came into my head was the Temple of Solar but we weren’t in that direction whatsoever.

I was weary from travel, and so when we came to the tower I didn’t realize where I was until I followed inside.

I heard of this place from my father, but I have never seen it for myself until now.

The tower was empty to everyone who didn’t know its secret.

Thelos waved his hand over the painting that was at the top of the tower and then the painting became alive.

I stepped through the painting after Thelos which revealed its grandiose nature; towers were connected to each other that revealed its halls which were extended to every point and precipice.

The very place known to every mage worth his or her salt, is Arcana.

No one was in any sort of a panic, I thought just as much: that the news of Thamos didn’t yet reach Arcana.

Soon they'd all know—Thelos would tell his story and the land of Solarune would be in an uproar, I just was too tired to witness that for myself but I knew it'd happen nonetheless.

Thelos wasted no time: he had taken a key out of his pocket and found a room which belonged to him and opened its doors.

“You can rest easy, Lord, I will fetch you come morning and I will see to it that you become acquainted here at Arcana”

Thelos spoke in reassuring words but even that couldn't stop my mind from replaying the clamor and the chaos that was inflicted on the Thaman people.

The death of my father will not go unheard—

----------------------------------------

I couldn't imagine what was to come.

Before I knew it the day had dawned and someone began to knock tremendously at my door.