Year 2314 BS (Before Shattering)
On the day the world was supposed to die, Eldrin Valtorix savored his excessively sweetened coffee, just like any other ordinary day. He ignored the panicked shouts and screams outside his office in the Masters of Sorcery guildhouse, that is until he heard a familiar four times knock on his door, in the rhythm only Lyrielle Venestra could produce with such consistency each time.
“Come in,” Eldrin commanded, his voice steady as he took a final sip of his coffee. “You knock even on the day the apocalypse came,” Eldrin remarked a wry smile forming as Lyrielle entered, the opened door amplifying the distant cries from outside.
“I feel like our manners and humanity are at the most important today,” Lyrielle said as she stepped into the room.
Eldrin gave a slow, thoughtful nod, placing his cup on the aged wooden table. “Have they succeeded?”
Lyrielle’s eyes flickered with a hint of sorrow as she gently lowered her head and shook it from side to side, her gesture a silent testament to their failure.
“To the void,” Eldrin cursed, his words sharp, his lips pursed in frustration, their plan had failed. “Where are they?”
“They are gone,” Lyrielle answered directly.
“Dead?” He probed further.
“Worse,” She murmured with her head bowed down. “They are corrupted, they are at the front rows of their army, knocking on our doors.
Two weeks ago they sent Thraya, Velithar, Kaelis, and Serilune as a last-ditch effort to save the dying planet from the unholy threat and it would seem that their efforts have failed. Eldrin knew the plan was never going to work, but he clung to the belief that his brother, Velithar, would somehow as always pull through and would defy the odds by coming home triumphant, having saved the world once more.
“It’s time,” Lyrielle’s voice snapped Eldrin from his reverie. His brother was gone, not dead, but lost. Yet, there was no time for mourning, the world's end was today, and maybe they could still save the humanity itself.
Eldrin nodded and stood up with his characteristic lack of haste as if he had all the time in the world. That’s how he had always been, his mother told him stories that he was perhaps the most patient kid in the existence of the planet, never in a rush, never in a panic, always slow and measured approach to everything, the complete opposite of his brother.
He grabbed his dark green cloak, embroidered with the black lines mashed with small golden details on the front side, and put it on in one swift motion, before buttoning his coat, with a fluid motion he grabbed his wand from the holster hidden inside his coat.
Lyrielle grabbed two vials from her coat pockets and tossed them to Eldrin. “They are about to attack and we will have our window then.”
Exiting his room, Eldrin glanced through the window. His view was not of the front gate, where the enemy amassed, but of the main square where people scurried in panic, their shadows elongating under the morning sun piercing through smoky clouds.
The Masters of Sorcery guildhouse, a grand rectangular building, enveloped a serene garden at its heart. They descended the stairs to the ground floor, weaving past frantic apprentices. Turning corners, they emerged into the garden, where seven of the remaining founding guild members awaited, their expressions painting a picture of their failed plan.
Before Eldrin could mutter a word, Veziva expressed her condolences. “I am sorry about Velithar,” She said with a sincere voice and true sorrow in her eyes.
“Thank you,” Eldrin said. “But we have no time to waste, the clock is ticking.”
“So,” Veziva continued. “What to do?”
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“I want to fight,” Hrokas jumped in, swinging his axe around.
“We fought for decades against them,” Eldrin countered, his tone mesured. “And we have been slowly loosing. Every day our opponent gets stronger while our numbers dwindle, and here they are now knocking on our doors. At the last human stronghold”
“But we can’t just surrender like that and take the whole planet with us,” Hrokas protested, his fury visible.
“We are not surrendering,” Eldrin assured with a calm voice. “We are sacrificing everything for a chance of humanity’s survival. If we all die today and Thairin falls, it’s the end of humanity, no chance of rebuilding, no chance of survivial for our race.”
“Why are we the ones that have to make this sacrifice?” Hrokas demanded, his grip on his axe tightening.
“Because we brought this upon our world,” Eldrin said sorrow tinging his words. “Our greed and everlasting hunger for more power brought this plague of corruption that has been slowly taking over our planet.”
“How can we be sure it?” Hrokas asked the question that has been answered at least a hundred times already. “How can we know this is the right decision?”
“We went over this dozens of times already this part year Horkaz,” Eldrin retorted, his patience wearing thin. “Do we need to go over it again?”
Horkaz grunted in discontent and shouldered his axe.
“Come on, let’s not waste time on something we have already discussed and decided upon,” Eldrin said. “You’ll get to fight today. You and Groira will go on and take the army out of the gates and give them all we got while we put our plan in motion.”
“Very well,” Hrokas conceded. “At least I’ll go down swinging.”
Eldrin offered a nod of approval, eager to move past the anticipated confrontation. “So, where do we start?” He asked looking at no one in perticular.
“Well,” Toyr said seizing the moment of silence. “I’ve managed to make what we need of the equipment for you to survive the blast and the corruption.” Toyr took a large purple and yellow shield and put it beside him on the ground, leaning it against the bench.
“This shield will, well… shield you from the corruption as you enter the essence itself,” He continued. “I’ve called it a shield of corruption.”
Shield of Corruption [https://i.ibb.co/c3XkFMb/DALL-E-2024-01-20-21-45-55-Create-an-image-of-the-Shield-of-Corruption-a-unique-and-fantastical-shie.png]
Most of the founding members of the guild exhaled in annoyance. Toyr was the one who could carve and craft the most powerful and magnificent weapons on the planet, but with that talent came the inevitable desire to name every one of his masterpieces something cheesy. And to make matters worse, the names stuck.
“I know it makes no sense as it shields you from the corruption, but, it just came to me,” The tall lanky man said shrugging his shoulders.
“And what’s that?” Lyrielle asked pointing behind Toyr.
“Ohh, that’s the most important thing,” Toyr said retrieving the spear-like wooden piece of equipment that was leaning against the tree. “This is the wand, the wand of creation.” The name earned him another round of annoyed exhales but he continued anyway.
“It will help you Eldrin seize the full power of the essence for the brief moment before it consumes you completely so you can do what needs to be done!” Toyr said now with a serious tone.
“So it’s definitely me?” Eldrin asked.
“It has to be you,” Veziva said. “You are the quickest to think of solutions and new ways to cast spells on the spot.”
Eldrin just nodded in agreement. “So, before we start, I just want to say one more that it has been a pleasure sharing this long life with you and I hope we somehow and somewhere get to see each other again.”
Before anyone could say anything else an inhumane shriek sounded from outside the gates sending shivers down the Eldrin’s spine, a shriek like that could only be made by the Serpentshadow.
Serpent Shadow [https://i.ibb.co/8xjTjWj/DALL-E-2024-01-20-21-56-53-Create-an-image-of-a-shadow-serpent-flying-above-an-enemy-army-The-shadow.png]
With that Horkaz and Groira quickly shook hands and hugged everyone before they left to take the army out for one last battle. Eldrin left his wand at the bench next to him and took the shield of corruption in one hand and wand of creation in the other hand and stepped into the circle surrounded by four of his reamaining friends Veziva, Lyrielle, Toyr and Isandria who started chanting in unison.
After a short chant, Eldrin felt power surge through him and everything went white.
*****
Year 1781 AS (After shattering)
Eldrin woke up as any other day in the past two millennia and did his morning routine of nourishing his garden, picking fresh vegetables before bringing them inside for breakfast. He was in the back of the garden ready to pick freshly grown tomatoes when a sudden and sharp headache almost swept him from his feet.
Eldrin had to grab a wooden stake, that was there to help the tomatoes grow, in order to stay on his feet. As sudden as it came, the sharp headache left leaving Eldrin disoriented for a brief moment.
“Eldrin, are you ok?” Lyrielle yelled from the cottage’s door snapping Eldrin out of the frenzy.
“I guess so,” He said slowly letting go of the wooden stake.
“Did you feel it?” She asked him with a worried undertone.
“Yes, I did,” Eldrin shook his head in disbelief.
“What do we do now?” Lyrielle asked.
“I don’t know,” Eldrin said as he walked towards the cottage. “But gods help us all, it has begun again.”