The March of the Mages/Story

Chapter 1
Prologue

It was the break of dawn. All was quiet in the small village of Sursoix. As the sun rose over the heath, a sudden outbreak of noise pierced the silence. A dark figure ran down the road and into the forest.

As the boy ran through the woods, hoping to lose his followers, a single fox trotted across the path. As it saw the oncoming parade, it darted off into the bushes, watching the chaos that ensued. The boy stopped for a second to catch his breath and then started running again, just before an angry mob of villagers trampled the path and stopped to look at the great spectacle ahead.

There, in the clearing, just before the path to the next town, was a great beast, larger than the largest whale, and stronger than the strongest oxen. It had huge claws, giant, leathery wings, scaly skin, and an enormous skull large enough to park a car in. It reared back it's head to reveal several sharp horns, and showed it's blood orange eyes. As it opened it's mouth, an arsenal of long, knife-like teeth barred just below its record-breaking jaw. Its tail was covered in skin as hard and sharp as rock.

And, suspended in the air, was the same boy as before, wearing a strange black cloak and wielding a long dark blue staff. He took off the hood, revealing shaggy blue-dyed hair. As he looked at the townsfolk, the great beast pawed on the ground. "Okay," said the boy in a satisfied tone. "Go and get 'em!"

The villagers ran to escape the wrath of the great beast, named Zazukara 15 years before. It was no easy task. Incredibly hot blue flames spouted out of its great gaping maw, and its long tail knocked people down to their knees. A single blast of fire disintegrated the townsfolk in just seconds. And the ones who failed to escape (turning out to be everyone) begged for mercy from the same boy they had mocked just hours before...

Chapter 2
June 15, 1157, 2 months prior

Noon was always a busy time for Sundays in Sursoix. The market overflowed with townsfolk that came from miles around to buy rare jewelry, goods, clothing, food, and just about anything else. Through all the hustle and bustle, there was no way to advance with anything but a sloth's pace.

The Local church's bells rang out through the air. As people moved throughout the streets as if they were freeways, a 14-year-old boy sneaked past. He turned a corner and passed a fruit stand, and then stopped.

"How much for an apple?" he asked politely.

"They're 3 Novas a piece."

"Aha!"

"Well", said the fruit-seller impatiently. "I haven't got all day!"

"I know, but I was just wondering if..."

"If What?"

"If I could take some for free!"

The boy grabbed two apples from the stand and then took off with amazing speed, hopping over and ducking under objects and people. He waited until he was out of sight of the yelling fruit-seller, and then he took a bite. It was his first food in 3 days, so he devoured then quickly and then moved towards the old Blacksmith's Shop.

The sign above read "The Metalworks" as the boy went inside, the door rang a bell. A squat man with a white beard popped out of a chair and turned to greet his guest.

"Hi, Khavius" "Hello, Mr. Collins" replied the boy. "What brings you around here"

Khavius thought for a moment. "I need a weapon," he said, keeping his eyes on Mr. Collins. "I'm going hunting tomorrow and I thought I would benefit from a blade."

"Ah, going to try to take down an auroch, eh," Mr. Collins answered, getting an approving nod from the boy. "Well, I've got one you can use. But it's not that big..." He walked over to his cabinet, opened a door, and pulled out a small dagger. "You can keep it."

Khavius studied the weapon before drawing it into his hands. The metal was cold, and the sharp blade could easily leave him missing digits. "Thanks, sir" he responded, careful not to sound greedy. "Well, I'll be off!"

(Khavius ran home and found a paper and it said it was from his dad and it had a map and he follows it. [add more details])

Turning off the main road, Khavius sheathed the dagger into a pocket in his cloak. He hurried down a small, unkempt path, toward the woods, until it stopped. After a quick check to make sure nobody was following him, he sprinted across the heath until he came to a ravine in the forest. A few feet away laid a long, log, which Khavius set across the abyss and crossed safely.

100 paces later, He came to a stop. He reached into his cloak pocket and pulled out a map, studied it well, and tucked it back in. Khavius strolled along, then came to an abrupt halt. There, lying on the forest floor, was a vary non-suspicious looking stick. He looked around for another safety check, pulled it, and watched as a door materialized in front of him.

Chapter 3
Khavius walked through the door. He was immediately surrounded by complete darkness, but he didn't care. All he had to do was just find the door nob...

There was the turning of a handle, then a crash. Khavius fell face forward into a small room that was concealed underground. Dizzy, he stumbled to his feet and took a long look at his surroundings before yelling "Hello?" to see if anyone was home.

"I thought you'd be late," said a cold voice coming from another room. "Best you come over here, and eat a proper dinner."

Khavius hustled over to the other room and then saw who was the owner of that mysterious voice. A tall man with a pointed beard and a very disgruntled expression was sitting on the hearth of an unlit fireplace. He was wearing the most unusual cloak, with red and black patterns, and what Khavius assumed must be some kind of bird's feathers. "Well, Well, it looks like we have a young' in."

"He's not that young, Torah," exclaimed a much happier voice that almost made Khavius jump. "He's only like, umm... 14 maybe..." "I'm 15" answered Khavius, hoping he hadn't spoken too soon. "Ah, yes, whatever. As he said, you should probably eat."

The man who Khavius guessed must be named Torah pointed at a plate of turkey and berries on a large table. "There," he said, gesturing Khavius towards it. "Hurry up, and we'll explain when you're done."

Khavius moved over to the plate and shoved an entire fistful of turkey leg into his mouth, while Torah gave a disapproving glare and headed into the third room. When Khavius finished, he spotted a bucket of water, grabbed a cup off of the table, and filled it up. Then he headed briskly into the third room.

It was a large, round, empty room, and it looked as though it had been cut out of a cave. There were stalagmites and stalactites on the surfaces, and a giant column in the middle. The lighting was made of candles, each shining brightly, and a large fire blazed from hat looked like a fireplace built into the central column. Khavius looked around, amazed, while Torah and the other hooded figure watched as if scouting for the King's guard. After a few moments of silence, the hooded man took off his cloak and revealed his face.

He looked as in he was a knight, but he had no signs of wearing armor. Instead, he wore a cheerful expression, but still looked solemn, and he had the dignity of a leader. Khavius guessed that this man was going to tutor him in something, the words that had drawn him into the woods.

"Sit," he said calmly.

Khavius looked around and saw that a stool had appeared under him. He sat.

"Okay"

"Okay, what?"

"We'll start."

"Start what?"

And Khavius knew instantly that he would be in for a long story.

Chapter 4
"A long time ago," began the man, "there was a land. And the name of that land was Arkenmoure. In Arkenmoure, there lived 2 races. Those 2 races were Man and Dragons. They lived in peace, though occasionally a great dragon, named Khainara, would attack the men. Soon, the people decided they would have to bring Khainara down. So they set traps, armed themselves, and prepared for war."

"However, Khainara knew of their plans, and killed them all while they slept."

"The wisest of the men was a powerful wizard. He noticed that to fight the dragons would kill them all. So he persuaded the rest of the people that they could live in peace once more. And they all agreed."

"One day, a dragon named Sarkella died. Its spirit stayed in Arkenmoure, and it became a sort of demonic-ghost. It slaughtered many beings and almost destroyed the land. It somehow opened a portal and led all of the other dragons through it."

"Let me guess," said Khavius cooly. "The portal led to Earth."

"Precisely. Now, when the dragons came to Earth, the people there were terrified. However, they combined forces and found ways to defeat dragons. Almost all of them died. Now when the wise wizard came to Earth via the portal, he saw the destruction caused by the dragons. However, he did not want to harm them. So he organized a group of people to protect them: The Mages."

"Today begins your Mage training. Your father, when still alive, was contacted by me and I informed him that you, Khavius, would be my apprentice."

"Umm," began Khavius, not sure what to say. "Okay."

"We'll start tomorrow."

"Sure, but I don't think I caught your name yet."

"Oh," said the man, smiling in a way that made Khavius wonder, "My name is Eras."

"Okay," replied Khavius, feeling the conversation was shorter than he imagined. He turned and headed for the main room, only to find Torah staring at him. Very uncomfortably, the boy covered himself in his cloak and hid in a corner, almost as if expecting Torah to lash out at him. But the blow never came.

"Khavius!", cried Eras gleefully. "I have a gift for you."

Gladly, Khavius ran towards Eeras and looked down into his hands. He pulled out a long stick and gave it to the eager boy.

"What is this?" he asked in the rudest tone. "Some kind of weapon?"

"Exactly. But before I teach you how to use it, you better go to bed." He gestured towards a window that was on the ceiling, exposing the dark sky. "There are bedrooms down the stairs."

Khavius walked towards the staircase carefully, took a glance, and then tore down it. There were so many steps he couldn't imagine a number that high, and when he got to the bottom the doorway was nothing but a tiny dot of light. It was cold in the cellar, and it smelled slightly of fish. Squinting through the darkness, he noticed a shabby old mat and a moth-eaten blanket, grabbed them, and huddled up in the corner to sleep.

Chapter 5
The next morning Khavius woke up early the next morning. It had not been a comfortable sleep, and he was still pretty tired. Nevertheless, he still tried to stay awake as he started his endless hike up to the main floor. By the time he got up, Torah was already beginning to criticize him for not sleeping. Looking for Eras, Khavius stretched for a moment, ran his fingers through his hair, and sat at the table to eat his porridge.

After he finished, Eras walked into the room and announced to Khavius that they would go to the Hidden Heath to begin training. Khavius tried to remember what kind of training, and then recalled his talk the night previous. As Eras tossed the long stick Khavius, it hit him in the stomach and knocked the wind out of him.

"Oops!", he apologized. "Sorry. Now, hurry up, we need to go."

Khavius and Eras walked down a small path in the woods for a quarter-hour. When they reached the field that lay in the middle of the woods, Eras grabbed his walking stick, pointed it in the air, and...

A glowing stream of red light flew out of the end of the staff. In midair, it created a searing heat that Khavius guessed was from fire. The flames grew wider and hotter, and Khavius, utterly amazed stepped back to a safe viewing distance. He watched as a goose flew by, apparently half-blind, and diving into the flames. A short moment later, a perfectly cooked bird fell right at Khavius' feet.

"My bad," said Eras, apparently with some regret. "We have dinner though. I haven't had a good goose in ages."

"Erm, Okay"

"How about you try?"

Khavius looked down at his staff. He didn't know what to do, and he also didn' want to accidentally burn Eras either. Cautiously, he explained his lack of experience to his mentor, who just turned around and said: "I Know."

Then Eras told Khavius to take hold of his staff and point a tree. He did, but nothing came out. He had not expected it to. He wondered what Eras was telling him to do, and asked him. Eras responded with a laugh and said:

"You need to practice using a weapon!"

Khavius thought for a moment and decided to go on with it. For hours, he ran laps around the heath, sparred with Eras (losing every time), pointed his staff and muttered useless words, and practiced overall agility. Throughout the course, they would walk to a small stream and take a long drink before continuing. It was tiring work, but Khavius was all for something to do. After a while, Eras told the boy to stop and watch. Eras pointed his staff in midair and soon a burst of purple light erupted from the end.

It seemed a shadow had passed over them, and the air felt slightly cooler. It would have been refreshing in this heat, but Khavius still shuddered. Eras doesn't seem to notice anything, thought Khavius. So why shoulkd I?

Chapter 6
Large fiery eyes sat delicately within the creature's long, hard skull, which gave it a threatening-looking appearance. Several enormous crystal growths sat atop its head, just above its wide, warped ears. Several small fan-like skin and bone structures ran down the sides of each of its jawlines. Its nose was large and had two tiny, pointy nostrils, and it had a horn on its chin. Rows of large teeth poked out from the side of its mouth and gave a slight hint at the terror hiding inside.

A broad neck ran down from its head and into a massive body. The top was covered in reptilian skin and a row of fan-like growths runs down its spine. Its bottom was covered in sharp scales and colored much darker than the rest of its body. Six huge limbs carried its body and allow the creature to stand elegantly and sturdy. Each limb had 4 digits, each of which ends in thorny nails seemingly made of black bone.

Monstrous wings grow starting from just above its shoulders and end at the middle of its back. The wings were almost angel-like, the edges of the skin inside the wings are tattered and damaged and long tendril-like growths grew from many parts of the bottom sides of each wing. Its thick tail ended in a mace-like growth and was covered in the same reptilian skin as its body.

Khavius looked with utter disbelief, hardly remembering the story he had heard the night before. He thought it was all a prank, a joke, and even after witnessing Eras creating flames with a stick he still had doubts, many of which he thought could never even be faked, until now.

The creature moved its head from side to side, and Khavius didn't know whether to stare or to look away, whatever was offensive to dragons, he didn't know. He tried hard not to cower in fear but as the monstrous beast snorted, and smoke fumed out of its nostrils, he ducked, waiting for a flaming burst to accompany. It did not.