Heart of Lore (ep1/35)

Episode 1: New Beginnings.

Narrator:

Once Upon A Time…

In a new realm, there are stories of brave Heroes and they fought valiantly against unbelievable odds. These brave Heroes earned the love of the many races from all cultures, creatures, and dragons on every continent.

The task they were given by the Kingdoms was more than they imagined or anyone could carry but they hesitantly set out to see it through.

Unfortunately, they could not stop the inevitable destruction and chaos to come that reigned for 5 decades; minor skirmishes, small wars and futile land invasions from the fallen, undead and unbound shadows of darkness the people had endured before the heroes arrival - and the enemies quickly overpowered them, and even in their struggle and desperate fight they endured the unthinkable - but in their final moments they accept and realize all they thought they have lost was everything gained.

New friendships, love, and unbreakable bonds were forged and in their selfless actions, they reunited Kingdoms, races and brought all powers together as a unified singular power to overcome this great enemy of all life. They drove the abominations out.

In sacrifice, bravery, courage, and honor; one accomplished the task but this Hero met his end, too.

The question is, can they stop the enemy from re-opening the portals to Earth realm and bring their apocalyptic destruction to Earth?

Or will they fail and allow the higher governing powers to decide the outcome most suitable for their personal gain and survival?

Who will be sacrificed, or which world will fall.

How will this end for all of life?

This is where the story begins.

20 – June – 2021: The Beginning: Episode 1.

Introduction:

Queen Ember: “Can you hear me, Gareth – Can you feel our tears? Our realm’s survival is in danger. You are being summoned, Gareth. You must hurry and come at once. Hurry!” the voice fades away and he sees a vision:

A thick fog begins to come across the land and destructive loud lightning amidst the fog; the sky becomes a dark blood red and small burning meteors come crashing out of the sky and make small craters – The deafening sound of monsters roaring in the distance shake the ground. A sudden silence comes across the land as each creature, man, woman, and child stare at the fog in fear.

The fog slowly begins to fade away from the eerie wind blowing past; the stench of death and decaying flesh fill the air causing those close to become sick, vomit and fall dead like a poisonous gas.

Horrific humanoid and beastly figures can be seen as the fog begins to clear. In the far distance gigantic humanoid figures, that of titans wielding steel clubs and rusted armor, rushing towards the city and seeing the farms, houses, and villages destroyed by them as they come rushing toward the city walls, trampling everything in their wake.

A general ride through the cobblestone streets with his black stallion horse, and yelling, “Get to safety! Seek shelter immediately!” the general public is in a panic and rushing through the streets like a herd of cattle.

Elven soldiers run up the stairs leading to the top of the walls, and yelling for everyone to get inside, and another soldier blows hard into a horn attached on the wall alarming everyone far away to get to safety.

Queen Ember’s voice echoes throughout the city as she yells from the castle’s window; “Prepare for battle! Everyone get to your posts!” The soldiers, mages, and all manner of warriors run toward the walls; soldiers on the walls brings the gun powder cannons and magic cannons into position – The elven soldiers line up with bows, and mages cast magic barriers around the wall while other magicians are centered around the city in groups, conjuring magical entities and enhancing defenses around the city.

Dryads and Fairies rush toward the wall, calling all living wild creatures from the sky, land, and sea. The Draugr’s outside the city begin to slowly march forward at the sound of drums; rotten flesh falls off of their bodies and black liquid exerting through their bodies and burns like acid on the ground, killing the grass beneath them. They begin to attack the villagers outside the walls, cutting them down, and ripping their limbs off; devouring their flesh while they are still alive.

Many die brutally from the surging bloodlust and children are no exception. A guard yells, “Dragon! Dragon attacking! Seek shelter now!” An enormous dragon breaks through the clouds, it’s scales are pitch black like coal, cracked, and broken – Most of the flesh is rotten or gone, one can see the pale cracked bones of its anatomy.

His wings and roar are like a thunderous storm – piercing the sky as he flies fast toward the open crop lands where people are fleeing toward the city, soaring above them, he unleashes fire-breath and burning everything; he spirals upward and with thunderous sound of his wings he flies straight toward the watchtowers half a kilometer from the city wall.

Queen Ember yells from the window at the sight of the dragon in the far, “Furion!” A loud thunderous roar shake the improper structures around the castle, and thunderous sound of wings flapping – A brown scaled dragon fly’s up and spread its wings as it hovers above the courtyard, shading everything close, people stop and stare in awe, frozen and scared – Furion fly’s in a hurry toward the other undead dragon, causing dust and dibree to scatter throughout some of the city’s streets, and they see two other dragons flying behind Furion, roaring furiously.

In a blink of an eye, Gareth stands in the front of the oncoming army of darkness, and losses his posture briefly at the site of them. He hears a small child crying but can’t see from where. They march through Gareth as though he is a ghost, but can smell and nearly taste the rusted metal in his mouth – He falls back at the site of a titan’s foot nearly crushing his ghost and then see the small girl beside him, holding a pillow and crying helplessly, “Mommy, daddy!” over and over, he looks up and see the Draugr behind the girl, he raises his sword while growling… Gareth, without hesitation, springs back up – “No, you bastard! Get away!” The Draugr instinctively notice him and glares at him with red glowing eyes, and send him flying through the ghosts of the marching army – The Draugr brings his sword down above the girl, and Gareth shuts his eyes tightly…

End of Introduction.

Story Line:

Gareth wakes up slowly, tears around his eyes… He rolls over on his back and stares up at the ceiling… He wipes his face off with the back of his left hand. He exhales softly and sits up straight while rubbing the blanket against his cold soaked chest.

He feels disorient as he looks around his room, and the images replaying in his mind he leans forward, resting his elbows on top of his knees, and brings his head into his hands. He covers his face…

“It is just a dream…” He sighs as he says to himself. “Stupid dreams…” He runs his fingers through his short black hair backward and feels his scalp and hair are wet from the cold sweat. He stands up and throws his blanket back over the bed and walks over to the window, he then opens the curtains and windows and sees it is still early and slightly dark outside.

Gareth looks at the clock it is 04:49 A.M. He remembers he has a test to write today, for his basic ambulance course, and he forgot to study last night. “I should probably finish up early on getting ready so I can get some studying in.” He thinks to himself. He picks up his phone from the bed table and calls a taxi.

Agent: “Good morning. This is iSpeed and you’re talking to Chris Benfield. How may I help you?”

Gareth: “Good morning, Mr. Benfield. I’m Gareth Halt and have an account, 900900, from you. I’d like to order a driver at the address 77 AckerField, at AckerField’s Apartments, Pretoria. Can you arrange one for 07:00 A.M?”

Chris Benfield: “Yes, we can. You still have a balance of R500. Where would you like to go, Mr. Halt?”

Gareth: “To 23 Baker Avenue, Hawk Ridge University, in Pretoria please.”

Agent: “It’s going to cost R140.00. I sent you a confirmation SMS, please verify your password?”

Gareth: “Hold on…” Gareth looks at his phone and opens the message and types in the password, 22324252.” Gareth puts the phone to his ear again.

Agent: “Confirmation received. Thank you. The driver is on his way and will arrive at 06:48 AM and will be outside, car’s ID is HCC1990 GP. Thank you for using our services. Have a pleasant day, Mr. Halt.”

Gareth: “Thank you, same to you.” Gareth hangs up the goes to the shower and climbs in. He leans his head against the shower’s wall and closes his eyes as the water fall down his body. He re-plays the dream in his mind. “This dream, same as always, for the last week... I can’t make any sense of it…” He says softly to himself. 20 minutes had passed. He stands outside his apartment, leaning over the rail waiting for the taxi. He thinks about the girl in his dream… He is suddenly pulled away from the replay in his mind when he feels his phone vibrate in his jean’s pocket.

He takes out his cellphone and sees a message in his inbox. He opens his messages on his phone: “Happy B-day, Gareth! You old hag! We’ll come and pick you up at 5:15 P.M. You better be ready!” He laughs at the message and replies, “Thank you, Jason, and last I remember you’re older than me! I’ll be ready. See you tonight.” The sees a black Mercedes car pulls up across the road. A black, young, and handsome man climbs out and wears a black suit and a black hat.

Gareth walks over to the other side of the car, and the driver opens the backdoor for Gareth.

Driver: “Good morning, Mr. Halt.” He smiles politely. “I am Jackson, and I’ll be your driver for the next 30 minutes.”

Gareth: “Good morning. Thank you.” Gareth climbs into the car and the driver closes the door; he walks over to his side. The driver climbs in and taps on the GPS, auto female voice replying, “On route to 23 Baker Avenue, Hawk Ridge University – Gareth puts in his earphones and listens to classical orchestra music, and thinking about the dream he had whilst absently staring out the window.

They arrive at the university 10 minutes later.

Jackson: “Here we are, right on time.” He climbs out and quickly comes over to Gareth’s side and opens the door for him. “Thank you for using our services and you should have a wonderful day, Mr. Halt.” Gareth smiles and takes out R20 and tips him. “Thank you, Sir.” The driver says politely.

Gareth: “You’re welcome. Enjoy your day.” He adjusts his backpack on his shoulder and runs across the street to avoid the oncoming traffic. He walks up to the gate of the university, and he makes his way to class, passing students and teachers doing their own things. He glances at his watch on his left wrist, “07:30 AM”. “I still have 30 minutes until the exam begins, there’s enough time to oversee some of the context” he thinks.

He walks down the hallway, and pauses in front of the classroom door. He takes out his cellphone and switches it off. Then he opens the classroom door and sees a few students in their seats, being surprisingly quiet and reading through their books as they wait for the exam to begin. Everyone instantly looks up and stares at him briefly as he enters the room. He feels slightly uncomfortable but ignores it and closes the door behind him. He takes a seat on a plastic stool and puts his backpack next to him as he removes his one book. He gently puts it down and starts to read.

Quickly 25 minutes pass, and the door opens. A middle aged woman wearing a long blue skirt, black formal long-sleeve shirt and high-hills walks in; her hair is black with blond highlights, braided and in a ponytail. She gives the students a sharp look while holding a file in her left hand. “Good morning everyone” she says as she walks to her desk. She puts it down on her desk. “Good morning” everyone responds in return.

Samantha Hanne: “I am Samantha Hanne but you can call me Mrs. Hanne. I’ll be overseeing the course of the exam for today. I hope you’re ready because this exam is going to be a tough one”. The students start to put their books back into their backpacks. “After all, this is your second last year. This will not be an easy test and hope you all studied hard. It is imperative that your scores are above 80%. We’ll begin in 5 minutes.”

Mrs. Hanne raise her arm slightly and point to the student in front of her, moving her index finger back and forth, the student approaches the teacher and gives her a few pieces of stapled paper, only revealing the back and clean paper of the exam. “Please pass one on to each person here and return those that are left and then return to your seat with your copy”. The student nods and does as she is told. Mrs. Hanne sits down on her leather chair and opens her laptop on the table. She looks up briefly while everyone is receiving their copy. The student returns 8 copies.

Mrs. Hanne: “Thank you”. The student returns to her seat. She rises from her chair, and says clearly, “You all have 2 hours to complete the exam. If you are caught cheating, you are immediately dismissed. I will not tolerate it and excuses will not be accepted. Understood?!” She says firmly while looking seriously at the students. “Yes, Mrs. Hanne” they all respond. “It’s like high school all over again…” Gareth thinks to himself. “You may all begin.” She says, and she returns to her seat while carefully monitoring them with the camera on her laptop.

Gareth: “Well, she was right when she said it’s no easy exam…” He sighs… “As long I don’t stress or panic I should remember the answers”. He starts to fill in the questions. Gareth writes down his last answer, and stands up. Mrs. Hanne looks up at him as he puts on his backpack and walking to her desk. “I’ve completed the exam”. He hands her the papers. She sees his name and surname on the piece of paper.

Mrs. Hanne: “Okay then, Mrs. Halt. Are you sure you’re content with your answers?” She looks up at him with a serious look almost like being interrogated. Then turn the pages quickly to see if he filled in everything.

Gareth: “Yes, I’m certain.” He smiles nervously. She puts the papers down.

Mrs. Hanne: “I guess you’re done here. You may go, Mr. Halt”.

Gareth: “Thank you, Mrs. Hanne. Enjoy the rest of your day”. “Mhmm” she says, “You too”. Gareth leaves the classroom quietly. Gareth walks a few meters down the empty hallway, and get to the stairs down and see a girl struggling with a vending machine by how she is slapping it and kicking it repeatedly. “So, that’s why their always broken and not work most of the time. I just caught the culprit”. He says, smiling as he cracks a joke…

Emily: “Uhh… excuse me… Who are you?” She gives him a brief sly look. “I am Gar – I don’t care” she interrupts him. “Keep on walking”.

Gareth: “Oh, sorry then… I was planning to help you, but…” He stops himself and continues to walk down the stairs and pass her. “What a rude bitch… at least you’re going to struggle all day with that crap – You will never figure it out”. He grins in thought.

Emily: “…urgh stupid piece of technology! So retarded…” She sighs… She says loudly, “Okay, I’m sorry…” He stops and looks at her, then realizes she is actually beautiful. “I am just used to guys flirting all day with me and trying to undress me, so excuse me for being a little bitchy and aggravated… this damn machine just made it worse”. She heaves another sigh and narrows her eyes scanning for weaknesses on the machine.

Gareth: “Okay let me show you then”. She looks at him suspiciously, and he pauses to wait for her response.

Emily: “Okay then. Let me guess, you want something in return, right? She narrows her eyes and watches him. He laughs nervously and says, “No”.

Emily: “Okay… Show me then?” She smirks slightly as if a slight grin and expecting him to embarrass himself. He grins and says, “Okay, watch then”. He carefully examines the vending machine and side to side, scanning for vulnerabilities he might see. Gareth smiles and looks at her.

Gareth: “Okay, I can get it. The problem is, I can’t get the exact drink you order, but I can get you more than one item. This trick only gives you random items and no money. It’s not like a payphone thing.

Emily: “You’re kidding right? I fed this damn machine R100 note. This is complete bullshit. I don’t have the time to wait for someone to come and unlock this thing either. Gareth laughs softly… “What are you laughing at?” She frowns as she looks at him.

Gareth: “The machine only accepts R1, R2, R10 and R20 notes”. He points at the sign glued to the vending machine on the side. “Fuck! I missed that” she says embarrassingly. Gareth laughs a little again as she laughs too. “Think about it this way, after I show you this trick, you will have all the beverages and snacks you need for the rest of your term here. She nods in agreement as she grins at the idea. “Behold”, he says, “the power of physics!” She looks at him as if though he is weird… “Beholding…” She says. He slaps the machine in the center half of the right and then kick is on the bottom left and quickly bash it with his right shoulder. Three cool-drinks and one chocolate bar falls loose.

Emily: “Whaaat!” She says excitedly and surprised look on her face. “Okay, I am impressed… I didn’t think you could it. You even scored two drinks, one is on me then. Chocolate is mine!” She says while smiling mischievously at him.

Gareth: “Hmm fine you can keep it, not much a sweet tooth person” he says. He opens his can cool-drink and looks at her. “You still haven’t told me your name? I am Gareth Halt and I’m a medical student here.

Emily: “Ah, I see. Well, you’re not another perverted flirt so I guess it is okay to tell you… I am Emily Chase and I’m an IT Engineer student”.

Gareth: “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Emily. I guess you’re not a glorified bitch either. It comes to show that first impressions can be misleading.” He laughs and so does she.

Emily: “Ha! Indeed so, well, thank you for the lesson and free beverages. I’m going for a walk as I live not too far from the university. You want to tag if you’re going that way?” She points past the large hotel building 4km from their current position. They begin to walk together towards Emily’s location.

Gareth: “Yes, sure. I am 7km from here and less than an hour’s drive. So, why you choose to become an IT Engineer?” He looks at her as he takes a sip from his cool-drink. Emily pauses to think…

Emily: “At the time of selecting a major with limited finances, IT was the cheapest and easiest to accomplish as I’ve personally never had problems with computers and I occasionally enjoy writing some software or coding something I’m interested in. It’s more of creating something with a computer and brings it into a reality and inter-link cyber reality. Like parallel worlds I think. It’s a little complicated to explain. Although I picked this course, I really wanted to get into Aviation’s way more but the finances just wasn’t there” she pauses and takes a large bite out of the chocolate and speaks with a half full mouth. “Why did you pick a medical course?” She looks at him as she swallows the chocolate and drinking her cool-drink.

Gareth: “It’s a tragic and gloomy tale. Perhaps it’s best for another time.” He says and smiles faintly, looking ahead as they walk.

Emily: “I guess you can tell me, I don’t mind a little drama…” She instantly regrets her comment and feels embarrassed… “Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to be invasive if it’s private it’s cool…” She thinks that she was insensitive and rude.

Gareth: “Oh, no, it’s not that at all. I became a medical student because someone I loved dearly had cancer and suffered a lot. In helplessness, I watched the person in a lot of pain. The one’s responsible for the care was careless, negligent and poorly skilled in many aspects, generally, in quality of character… it was a bad place and there was no money to get better doctors and qualified staff unlike the half ass crap I saw. So, I decided to become one to help others, and be there in their time of need in a medical condition and ensure people like that get fired…”He eyes harden, and his face seems cold and distant but briefly… He inhales softly…

Emily: “Ah I see. I’m sorry about this person”. She looks ahead and feels uncomfortably awkward as she doesn’t know what to say…

Gareth: “It’s perfectly fine… Like I said, it’s a tragic and gloomy story best for another time I guess”. He looks at her and smiles. They stop by the robot and see the long lane of oncoming traffic.

Meanwhile…

City of Angels.

On a medium-sized island is a small and thriving city that converted from a village that is dependable on the eight kingdoms to sustain the small population of three thousand citizens.

The population consists of eighty percent of children and teenagers, ten percent of priests and priestess’s devoted to various religions and paths and they discipline the population on matters of arcane magic and sacred techniques and indirectly training them to be soldiers. The other ten percent are scholars, artists, engineers, scientists, and doctors in training in advanced and unstable medicine as well as magical aspects within each category.

This island is very rich in a variety of elements and strongly guarded by a legend yet no one dared to test this warning and one place all royalty can come to, to discuss matters of diplomacy, politics, and matters of warfare. There is a large stone slab held up by two large angelic figures near the harbor, and one is an Angel and a Fallen Angel. This stone slab radiates powerful and capable healing magic, but on the stone slab is the carved out written legend “REVELATIONS” depicting the origins of this beautiful island and its infinite wonders.

In the center of this small city stands an enormous tower and from this tower, a powerful blue light reaches the sky like a laser and emitting a calming sound if you come close to it. There is always someone on top of the tower, ready to ring a bronze bell if he or she sees anything approaching the island by air, land, or sea – includes unknown portals.

There are several large buildings and each building is housed or dedicated to one or more practices and research and in one is the Arcane Priests and Mages along with the bishops and other high-ranking persons.

The Arcane Priest strolls along the corridors of the building, and in his right hand is a long golden staff with rubies perfectly crafted into the staff. The Arcane Priest is wearing golden armor and a red cape. He brushes his long grey beard with his hand as he thinks. A student from the Raven’s class is walking behind the Arcane Priest; highly private confidential messages are given to students like this to deliver messages or papers of powerful scrolls and more. They are a more traditional practice than a lack of communicational means.

There are a few dozen large administrative buildings and many are up to 800 meters apart; and behind these buildings are large round cobblestone platforms; on these cobblestone platforms assembles hundreds of students dedicated to one practice of their choice; be it magic or more direct or indirect combat preferences, these students are trained thoroughly from very young ages, most volunteers or abandoned children. These students belong to this island and may only leave on special requests.

In the administrative buildings are Arch and Arcane Priest’s, Arch Mages and other high ranking people, dually responsible for the students and their success as well their overall rating performance and more.

On one platform behind an Administrative building, is over a hundred children and teenagers; all are dressed in fine white-linen clothing, and shoes matching the clothes, each student has a long white cloaked hood concealing most of their appearances. They are standing perfectly aligned shoulder against shoulder and their arms beside them; they remain still and listen attentively to an Arch Mage lady speaking loudly. She is walking up and down, looking at the students as her gold coated steel-plated boots repeat the cling sound of steel, and a silver long sword with a golden handle on her back, she’s wearing a white evangelic dress, gold coated steel breast-plate that reaches all the way up her neck. She has long white hair all the way down to her lower back and deep blue eyes.

Meryl: “Listen well” she says firmly, and folding her arms behind her back; walking up and down as she speaks, “I will not repeat myself and if I catch you dwelling or messing around in my classes, you will come to fear me and regret it”. She narrows her eyes at the students and grins slightly, “Punishment will be severe”. She smirks, and then she pauses briefly and sighs softly, “As of today you will no longer perform daily tasks as usual and no loathing will be tolerated. You are expected to physically train every day for at least four hours before coming to class, and I am going to push you beyond your limitations – If you die, then you’re not cut out for this team. Do not cry if your magic is not as impressive or flashy as the student beside you. Know this, no magician in the world has the same magic no matter their practice; all magic has a unique finger print and expression”. She laughs softly and bites her lower lip as she looks doubtfully at the students. “You have received your schedule manuals, and I expect positive results”. She draws her sword from behind her back, and rests the edge of the blade against the ground, and then rests her hands on top of the hilt. “Let’s begin”. The students begin to breath and exhale altogether a few times, and start chanting “I am the element; I wield the light and bend the light; I am the light” their aura’s creates a large white sphere all around the platform, they become out of vision by everyone outside the platform.

On the other side of an Administrative building, are more students but they are dressed in black-linen clothing and a silver striped long hood. These students are dedicated to dark and chaotic magic; they aren’t inherently evil or generally bad, they are trained in the dark and chaotic do magic to repel and expel far greater and darker magic and sinister monsters that has resistance to many types of magic. These students are praised in the field of war, and first used against necromancers to undo the undead magic at a more effective pace.

Claus: “Good morning students”. He says calmly while looking at the students, he brushes his short black beard while holding a long wooden staff with a dark red crystal in it, and a few skulls on the staff. He is wearing long black pants, shirt and a long black jacket with matching shoes; there are two silver short swords on his back, and his long black and silver hair is neatly tied in a ponytail hanging on his upper-back… He has deep, dark brown eyes and dark eye-shadow. “I am going to remind you again. You practice the dark arts to repel greater evil; you’re not evil nor are you destined for darkness, I’m going to give you the same option as I did with my previous students” He keeps his posture and scan the students carefully, “You can leave now, but if you stay here you will become someone else you may not recognize in the weeks to come. If you don’t leave now, there’s no turning back” He pauses and waits for the students to make up their mind, but no one moves a muscle. “Well now, I am glad to see you’re all dedicated and committed to your choice of profession”. Claus taps his staff’s bottom once on the ground, and the students begin to chant, “I am the shadow of light; I wield the absence; I am the shadow”.

The bell rings loudly and everyone in the city hears it.

Arch Priest Groh pauses as he hears the bell ring, and looks over his shoulder at the student behind him and says, “I must go to the harbor and you must go tell the priests to prepare the round table immediately. We have very important guests”. The student leaves immediately and walks fast back up the hallway. Groh seems worried and continues down the hallway; on his way to the harbor, he relives memories of past wars he had been exposed to as a child and sometime later he had become a wizard soldier on the front lines not just against fiends but humans as well. “All I can do now is pray that it doesn’t happen again, it’s only a casual visit… I can hope”. He thinks to himself.

The people in the city pauses all training and all other activities to see the 8 Kingdom’s arrival, and some students here have never seen a real king or a queen and everyone is excited but the higher ups all appear concerned. Many people are already gathered by the harbor and there’s much talk amongst them. Some people remain in the structures near the harbor while some observe from a hilltop. Everyone at the harbor suddenly becomes quiet as they see the Arch Priest Groh come walking up to the harbor; people slowly bow their heads as if though he is royalty or a noble of high stature. A small grey dove land on the Groh’s shoulder with a small note attached to its leg. He removes the note gently and then reads it, “We have prepared the round table, my Arch. The food preparations are on its way. Signed, Justine Tombley” he sighs with relief.

The eight ships each roll up their sails slowly as they are approaching the harbor quickly and the warships and supply ships escorting them but remain 4km behind them. It is strictly forbidden to bring any military personnel near the island, as this can trigger the legend to return, or be awoken. This can bring great calamity on the surrounding island, or the world.

One by one the ships finally dock, the people cheer and welcome the eight kingdoms and throw all manner of beautiful confetti-like decorations at them and on the ground, making it very colorful almost like a festival. Low ranking nobles, on each ship, seeking to increase their status, joined to replace soldiers. However, these nobles were once adventurers, and quite skillful in combat. The nobles cast the walking planks over and the fisherman by the docks assist in making sure the planks are stable and in place.

King Aloof and Queen Ember along with Princess Lora step off of the ship together, and people bow and crowd welcome them warmly. Everyone is overly eager and excited to meet them, as most of them never seen royal families.

Arch Priest Groh approaches King Aloof, bows briefly and says, “Hello, friend” He looks at King Aloof and gets greeted with a brief hug… “It’s been a while”. He smiles warmly.

King Aloof: “Indeed, it’s been nearly six years… It’s good to see you old friend”. Groh looks at Queen Ember, and smiles.

Arch Priest Groh: “You haven’t changed at all, Queen Ember. Still as beautiful as I remember”. Queen Ember laughs briefly at his comment.

Queen Ember: “Oh you’re too friendly” she says with slight embarrassment, “but stop being so formal with me, it’s weird! Did you forget we fought on the battlefield against those god-forsaken demons and at one time shared a meal out of a rusted broken bucket?” she laughs.

Arch Priest Groh: “Oh, yeah… I remember those good old days. You were quite the warrior then.” He laughs and turns his gaze to Princess Lora. He smiles as he looks at her. “I remember seeing you when you were only twelve years old you have grown into a beautiful lady, Princess Lora”.

Princess Lora: “Thank you, Groh”. She smiles embarrassingly. “Your beard is longer. We should play a game again, and this time I win and you’re going to cut that beard”. She smiles mischievously at him.

Arch Priest Groh: “I look forward to playing a game with you again”. The other royal families approaching Arch Priest Groh as they wave at everyone they pass and smile warmly at the people. The welcome lasted for 10 minutes at the harbor, and now they are walking from the harbor to the Arcane Tower, where the round table is prepared. King Henry and Arch Priest Groh have a minor discussion about their research within the City of Angels.

Queen Ember: “This is your first time here, Lora. It is beautiful and so much to see here and I’d like for you to take the time and learn some things, okay?” She says softly yet firmly.

Princess Lora: “Yes, mother, I will.” Princess Olla walks behind Princess Lora and taps her on the shoulder, Lora looks back and greets politely. “Hello, Olla.” She smiles and Olla hurries to her side.

Princess Olla: “Mind if I tag along and learn some things with you later?”

Princess Lora: “I think it would be a great idea. To wander these halls along or the thought of exploring alone is rather frightening”. She laughs softly.

The two teenage students open the Arcane Tower’s doors as the Arch Groh and the royal families come closer to the door. The people are still not too far behind and talking among themselves. Following the Arch Priest Groh but they aren’t allowed to enter the tower without permission. Once they enter, they see a large living gargoyle standing guard by the stairs leading upward to one of the nearby magical vaults that hold many secrets and value with devastating magical properties. The gargoyle is holding a large stone spear, shield and steel reinforced plated armor and a horned helmet. The gargoyle’s eyes are red as blood as he watches everyone closely as they walk pass it.

Arch Priest Groh: “Do not be alarmed by the gargoyles you see in the rooms or hallways. They aren’t hostile unless they detect unwanted and hostile energies. They are very intelligent and particular in their attacks. They are like your average guard dog with a keen sense. The Golems were useful but their magic resistance is rather weak, so we stationed them around certain parts of the island that concerns us”. They all stare it as they continue on, making their way to the round table.

King Lien stops halfway and pauses to take a look at everything. Prince Ian stops in front of King Lien and looks at him confused.

Prince Ian: “Is everything alright father?” King Lien nods and says something beneath his breath. “Sorry, father, but I didn’t hear you.” King Lien smiles and looks at Prince Ian.

King Lien: “Yes everything is alright, son.” He looks at the Arch Priest and begins to walk slowly. “I am really surprised and impressed at the architecture and its fast development, Groh”. He says politely.

Arch Priest: “We never imagined we’d get it done so fast either, the golems were used in the construction process, making progress much faster but this place is wonderful and there is a lot more. You will get the chance to explore these halls and look at the recent reports of other accomplishments.” He smiles as they walk. “Ah, here we are.” The Arch Priest opens the door to the roundtable.

The room is a large circle shaped space, and four pillars are in each corner from the floor to the roof with perfect carvings, and every wall is painted white, and plant decorations on the ceiling with other plants growing downward on the walls to the floor. On each pillar is a gargoyle statue, and in each gargoyle’s mouth hangs small flags and on each of these flags are the names of the heroes that has been summoned to the realm over the decades and it is believed these statues can come to life if the room is under attack to protect the people inside such as royal families and the Arch Priest. It is also said the room has secret entrances and escape portals that is only visible to the Arch Priest, and they lead to many kingdoms in all corners of the realm. It’s only a myth to some. As the roundtable is only accessible to the Arch Priest, royalty, certain rank of nobles and of course one staff member which is under close observation. In the center of the room, is a small tree, 2 meters high and 1 meter wide. Also said a Dryad lives within the tree but also known to be a myth to many, including the Arch Priest. A large round white table is circled around the tree, and has gold plated corners and some on the surface area all around. It’s the same with the chairs. It’s quite an elegant room with an elven atmosphere that is very calming and nearly tranquilizing. Along the walls are marble stone seats with soft white cushions all around, those seats are for observers such as the Princesses and Princess’ and high rank nobles of the realm. There is a floating purple crystal balls by each seat on the table, they are for communicating with matters that might require immediate attention to the their respected kingdoms or advisors; these balls can also be used to spy on certain locations within the realm if that location is not protected by magic. Although they can see or spy on another location, those looking back or aware cannot see what’s on their side.

An elven lady, dressed in white golden robes and long green hair hanging over her shoulders, she stands by the door with glasses and a large jug of sweet strawberry juice and medium seize chocolate cookies for starters. The Arch Priest stands in the middle of the roundtable by the tree, he rests his hand on top of his staff and briefly looks at the elven lady, bows her head slightly and approaches the round table, placing a crystalized glass by each one of them with a small white plate and begin to pour in the juice and place two cookies on each plate as she paces each one of them.

Arch Priest: “Right. Let us begin.” The elven lady returns to her post by the door and awaits further instructions…

King Aloof: “First and foremost, it’s good to see everyone here and healthy. I appreciate everyone for coming on such a short notice but as you have seen on the message we had delivered a week ago, it is gravely important that we hold this meeting and come up with a few plans and strategies”. Aloof pauses briefly and gives a brief look at everyone, “Also we need to discuss The Summoning and probability that we’ll need to do it”.

King Henry: “Your message was quite troublesome, and if not for your discretion we’d have a panic on our hands”. He pauses briefly and looks at everyone, “Can you provide any evidence to support these claims?” he looks at King Aloof.

King Aloof: “I believe so... It’s nearly 10 years now, and our researchers recently concluded the spaces between the invasions. They also came up with a theory of when the next attack will happen, and predict the next attack should have a greater number of enemies”. He clears his throat as he feels his wife’s hand on top of his, and she looks at him and smiles faintly – He relaxes more evenly.

King Lien: “You cannot be serious, Aloof”. He says with a worried tone. “We haven’t even recovered from the last 445th invasion. We wiped out the enemy completely, and no portal remains open beyond our realm, the dragons has shut them all”. He looks at King Aloof with desperate concern.

Queen Elijah: “This claim would have been more legit if the dragons hadn’t closed the portals. Lien has a point too. At the cost of many lives and several heroes, we defeated the hoards and their generals along with their commanders; we even destroyed any remaining portals the generals had commanded”. She says confidently but has a hesitant tone, as if waiting to be corrected.

King Julies: “This is absurd, even for you, Aloof”. He says arrogantly, but respectfully. “There are minor skirmishes from the remaining beings hidden in our realm, and we actively search them out. In fact the guilds are making quite the profit with the eager adventurous, and cleaning out the lands. There are no way those fiends can reach our realm again… unless…” He pauses briefly and shakes his head, and laughs faintly beneath his breathe. “It’s stupid…” He looks down, confused and bites his lower lip… as he rethinks.

King Brigg: “Julies, unless what?” He turns and looks at Julius, concerned.

Queen Alicia: “If you know something or suspect something now is the best time to share it, Julies, we need to explore all possibilities”.

Queen Ember: “He has the same theory as our researchers. We suspect gatekeepers might have escaped, and survived most of the dragon onslaught. If that is the case, they can re-open their own portals – Remember, we never learned their methods or understand their research in magic or their capabilities; we only know what we have seen in battle against them”.

King Murk: “Oh no, it can’t be… but wait, the last invasion was nine and a half years ago, the space you referred to earlier, is only by 5 years. In the last 4 decades, they each had a 5 year gap, and always on the 5th of December. We are at the 27th of December. If they were planning to attack, they would have done it 4 and a half years ago, or, 22 days ago on midnight”. He says while sitting back on his stool, folding his arms across his chest and looks confused at the glass in front of him… He sighs.

Queen Lizella: “Well, I am slightly concerned, though”.

King Brigg: “Why is that Lizella?” He looks at her. She returns her gaze…

Queen Lizella: “In our previous observation, we’ve seen some of these fiends do not get along well. Often times they kill each other, and at random kill themselves without any visible reason. Recently we discovered they are grouping in remote locations, and one of the dragons that were flying overhead engaged these groups in the southern desert mountains, and they actively as a group attempted to kill the dragon, fortunately we managed to heal the dragon upon his return but lost 2 scouts on their way back. One of scouts reported they had a smaller titan as a leader among them. These were random strayed goblins, vampires and imitating decomposing corpses meaning they have necromancers among them”.

King Alan: “With that said, I am now convinced there might be gatekeepers remaining. We all actively targeted all of their necromancers, as they kept raising the dead we defeat in battle creating an endless loop of no success. We killed all of them. So some of them must have escaped, or possibly raised gatekeepers we might not have properly disposed of.” He sighs and rubs his head.

Queen Ember: “Yes, these all theories our researchers all concluded. You’re all now on track. There is one more thing…” She looks at Princess Lora and gestures for her to stand up, they turn around in their seats and looks at Princess Lora. She stands up slowly and holds her hands in front of her she looks at everyone in the room, and speaks softly.

Princess Lora: “I was advised by my mother to go see the oracle, and the oracle told me that an adventurer will come and I will marry this man and have his children, and then she said he will come in the darkest of days”. She pauses and looks at everyone’s facial futures, and they all seem stressed. She swallows softly and continues to speak. “Then I asked the oracle to be more clear about her vision, she said that a known enemy will invade our kingdom first and there will be a great battle and I must prepare before then. She said the enemy will come on Lunar’s Eve on my 23rd birthday with a thunderous step, and poison the sky with blood”. Queen Ember gestures for Princess Lora to sit down as she smiles faintly. They all turn around again and are silent as they think and look very concerned… Queen Ember folds her arms on her lap as she looks at everyone in the room.

Queen Ember: “As you all know, the enemy always blackens the sky and looks like blood in our clouds upon their invasion with a thunder storm and titans in the vanguard. They are enormous and are like an earthquake when they march”. She pauses, and sighs… King Aloof touches her arm and sits up. He clears his throat and speaks clearly.

King Aloof: “With all that has been said, we now have a possibility for another invasion. I propose we begin immediate preparations and invoke The Summoning as soon as possible”. He leans forward with his forearm on the table and looks at everyone seriously. “If we delay as we did last 5 years ago, we’ll have another surprise attack. The last Summoning didn’t go so well, many heroes died and many had coward and fled never to be seen or heard of again. We forced them when they were poorly equipped and lacked skills and proper magic training”. He sighs… “We cannot repeat the mistake”.

Queen Elijah: “Okay, Aloof, the facts are indisputable. I agree, let’s do The Summoning”. She leans forward with her elbows resting on the table, and gently rests her head in her hands… deeply worried. Everyone in the room is in slight disbelieve.

King Henry: “Alright” he says while heaving a soft sigh. “I agree, and the faster it is done the better. However, there are obstacles to consider and that we might not have the option to do The Summoning at all”. He looks at everyone, slightly considered and waiting to be corrected…

King Aligarh: “We’re also facing famine and disease, and our kingdoms moral is completely in ruins and our military barely has food in their stomachs and many of our royal knights have become corrupt, along with our Priest’s. We have 10 years of debt and not even labor workers in our kingdom.” He sighs and closes his eyes as he exhales uncomfortably almost hopelessly. His wife grasps his hands softly in hers and looks down, and feels humiliated. She speaks softly in his place.

Queen Lizella: “We have riots in our cities, starving citizens and ill-live stock. Our miners are being killed in the mines by these monsters, our crops are plagued by goblins and all manner of beasts, we have the dark guilds threatening with assassinations, ambushes and raids in our vaults. We simply do not have the resources to raise an army. The moral alone is crippled in our military meaning not a single soldier will care for this invasion, they’ll flee into any direction, and cross borders illegally and risk of spreading diseases. Our economic is in decay.” She sighs hopelessly and lowers her head more, trying desperately to hide the shame and tears. King Aligarh rubs his wife’s arm as she leans into him.

King Aligarh: “I know most of you think worst in us and so does the public. We honestly try every day, but since the last war we just couldn’t recover from it. We were already in so much debt and had financial problems before the war ended 5 years ago. And our population is now in decline at an extremely fast pace, but also grew by 10% in a manner of 2 years. I’m afraid there is nothing we can do, except announce the news to the public and maybe a few thousand will raise with empty promises if I dare. We’re lost. I’m sorry.”

Everyone in the room remains quiet… It’s too sensitive to comment at their current state. A few seconds of silence passed, and King Aloof rise up from his chair. He leans forward on the table with his palms pressed flat against the table. He looks at everyone briefly and then at King Aligarh and Queen Lizella. His voice is clear.

King Aloof: “We’ve been doing extremely well and are fortunate enough to have plenty of resources, it’s not too much, but enough for 5 year emergency preparations. We can share some resources and aid your people with medicine and food supplies for a few years”. King Aligarh looks confused at King Aloof, King Aloof smiles warmly. The rest of the room agrees they can aid the kingdom but not a lot. King Aligarh and Queen Lizella cries softly and very subtle about it, out of joy and happiness for the help. Arch Priest Groh stomp his staff on the floor, twice, and clears his throat. Everyone is silent and all looks surprised at him.

Arch Priest Groh: “We have a lot of research in advanced magic, advanced weapons and armor, along with many other things. Among those is to allow crops and land to become more fertile and produce much faster. And of course more fulfilling and has a few healing property advancements. However, the use of this is not perfected. Using this on crops and lands will most likely bring life expectancy down by 3 years, and 1 out of every 8 women or man will be unable to produce or bare children. This powder for the crops has been tested on humans that are trialed for terrible crimes and of course animals. It proved to be very sufficient. After careful analyses and examination we realized that side effect. We’re still working on better methods. There are plenty more like this we’ll share later. To the point of the matter, we’ll donate 20% of our research and products to the kingdoms to prepare for the war ahead. Also, we have a visitor and he’ll be addressing us shortly…”

They all seem pleased and slightly relieved at the small donation toward their agriculture, infrastructure and weaponry; each one of them turn their heads toward each other, looking to see if they have an idea who might be coming to the meeting.

Queen Ember: “There is another suggestion.” She pauses and briefly scans the room as she feels slightly uncomfortable as everyone focus on her. She breaths in softly and continues. “We need to settle our differences with the elven and dwarf race and come to an agreement of peace talks. The world still think there’s only 8 main kingdoms, that mindset is because we practice human supremacy for decades now. There are some exceptions, however, there’s still plenty of slavery as well. The problem here with this is that we need to strengthen and prepare everyone, then unify our kingdoms and align ourselves with other races. I realize this can affect much political influence, and surrender much control and of course share land equally. We cannot afford to fight amongst our realm inhibiters while we attempt to prepare for a war. This will be counter-productive”. King Aloof looks down and predicts there’s going to be a dispute…. He sighs.

King Lien: “Queen Ember, will all due respect, we are aware of your last campaign where you attempted to abolish slavery. You saw it nearly cost you a castle, crown and favor of the people. There were mass riots and strikes. This is too risky to attempt. However, we can give the slaves more rights, and of course privileges and raise the cost of taxes on owning and buying permits to own slaves, but we cannot abolish it or attempt to give them equal rights. Unfortunately, this is something none us can risk. This will have a detrimental effect on a large scale especially a hard hit on the economy.”

Queen Elijah: “This is a rather too large of a suggestion to agree there. Even if we try it ourselves it can takes years to accomplish and also to change the mindset of the people will be difficult and nearly impossible. It took us 18 years to agree for the people to accept the equality in black people and brown people. You cannot propose this suddenly on the public this is something that will not work at all. There will be civil wars within our nations.”

King Briggs: “I am afraid I have to agree with Lien and Elijah.” Queen Ember sighs and says, “Very well, then”. She looks down slightly disappointed but expected. King Aloof holds her hand softly and smiles warmly at her to reassure her she tried, and it’s okay.

Arch Priest Groh: “There is one thing you can do to encourage all slaves to fight with a high moral.” Everyone looks at him confused… “You can offer them this: If they serve in the military for a few terms or years, they can earn their freedom and live as an equal among the people. However, they cannot obtain any form of nobility or leadership in any field. A noble man of high stature will feel worthless or less of important if he had to obey or follow a rule that is given by a previous slave. This will make the public upset and also disrupt balance.” Everyone seems content with the idea, and slowly appraising its strategic values as they think about it. Yet no one answers but remains quiet. Queen Ember seems pleased with the suggestion, and smiles slightly in thought.

Queen Elijah: “There is one more thing that concerns me. How are we going to summon the heroes?” She raises her left eye brow as she looks at everyone…

King Briggs: “Oh yes, we nearly forgot about that dilemma.” He laughs softly…

Arch Priest Groh: “We have thought it over and discussed this issue among the other arcane priest. We might have a solution but first our guest has arrived and is now outside.” He pauses briefly raise his arm and points at the door, the young elven lady opens the door and a handsome, tall and elegantly dressed in silk robes with concealed daggers and a bow with arrows own his back. He has long black hair, tied in a ponytail, and a crescent representing his rank and kingdom on his forehead.

Elven General Mekhi: “Good afternoon, everyone”. Mekhi bows his head slightly and rest his fist against his chest; he then stands straight and holds his hands behind his lower back. He looks at everyone attentively and resumes, “The news had recently reached our borders and been made aware of current economical struggles and a desperate need of resources. The eighteen elven clans held an emergency meeting this morning, and we all agreed we will lend our aid to the eight kingdoms. King Alga and Queen Zarla sent their regards and apologize that they could not attend this meeting as they are currently in another matter of diplomatic concerns. However…”

He removes a small sealed scroll, and holds it in front of him, and breaks the seal. He unrolls the scroll and says while looking at it, “Greetings, on behalf of the eighteen elven clan chiefs and leaders, we lend our support and sent resources. We have arranged 40 million elven soldiers; 10 million elementals; 10 million elven mages; and 5 million warships – The arrival of our militia will be in the course of the coming week. Along we are preparing and breeding several dragons and griffins to aid in aerial counter and defense; we’ve reopened all available trade routes, and offer discounted prices and minimum tax charges to the eight kingdoms for all merchants and traders alike”. He rolls up the scroll as he looks at everyone and speaks, “King Alga and Queen Zarla once again apologize for their absence in this time, and we look forward to further meetings”. He places the scroll gently down on the side of the small round table by the door, and bows slightly again. “I apologize but I must leave immediately as there are other important meetings to attend. Furthermore, we are sending resources and medical supplies. They should arrive shortly if there are no other complications. Thank you all, have a safe trip home.” He bows slightly and leaves quietly as the elven lady closes the door. They all look very happy and rather cheerful as if they’re motivated.

Arch Priest Groh: “I can tell you all are very happy about the news and I am as well. At this rate it appears we might make a good recovery and for once everyone is working together for a better future. As for our last dilemma, we need to come up with a solution. We’ll require 120 Grand Mages and 8 adult dragons to restore and re-open the portals to Earth Realm.” He rubs his beard gently while holding his staff in his right hand, looking at everyone.

Queen Ember: “We have 33 Grand Mages and 4 adult dragons and one elder dragon resting on Mt. Dunma. According to our most recent records, there are 288 Grand Mages on Earth Realm, and they are still in contact with us through the astral realm. We can prepare them for the summoning ritual, because it will take both sides plus a tremendous amount of energy to keep the portal open for a small duration of time or else all may be lost.” Arch Priest nods, and looks at everyone else…

King Lien: “We have 22 Grand Mages and one adult dragon.”

King Henry: “We have 18 Grand Mages and one adult dragon, unfortunately our dragon was recently wounded from a goblin ambush in the forest of Furcay one week ago, I doubt he could be much help but we’ll ask him ourselves.”

Arch Priest Groh: “It is best we don’t put more strain on your dragon it might cost him his life. It is better only to list the 18 Grand Mages.” He smiles politely and King Henry nods in agreement.

King Brigg: “We have 15 Grand Mages and 3 adult dragons they are currently stationed near the zombie lands. We can recall them. We have seen an increase of minor attacks from them near the coast line villages.

King Julies: “I have 12 Grand Mages and 2 adult dragons.”

King Aligarh: “We have 5 Grand Mages, and a very ill dragon.” Arch Priest Groh narrows his eyes in thought and then looks at Aligarh.

Arch Priest Groh: “What do you mean by ill?” Aligarh frowns slightly and sighs as he speaks softly.

King Aligarh: “The dragon, Jayson, become depressed and refused to eat and somehow became sick with something and that was after his rider had passed away. We’ve tried to reason and encourage him but nothing is working. We offered him complete freedom, but he refuses to leave the tower and sleeps all day too. We have no idea what to do not even gold gets his attention.” The Arch Priest looks down, confused and continues to rub his beard…

Arch Priest Groh: “Hmm… I will look into this and see if we can do something. Some dragons that forge packs with humans usually die instantly after their rider had died, but somehow this one is still alive. Perhaps it depends on the questions and the answers that might motivate your dragon, some dragons can develop mental diseases too.” He sighs… King Aligarh looks down sadly.

King Murk: “We have 7 Grand Mages and 4 adult dragons”

King Alan: “We have 2 Grand Mages and one dragon.”

Queen Estela: “We need 6 more Grand Mages...” She sighs. “We will need to send out a small party of adventurers from the guilds to seek out 6 Grand Mages or 2 Arch Priest’s to aid in the summoning.” Queen Alicia clears her throat softly and speaks softly up.

Queen Alicia: “What if we ignore the ritual steps and still use the much extra dragons to lend us the needed energy?”

Arcane Priest: “The ritual wasn’t created by man the ritual script was discovered in a burial tomb far below this island a few decades ago. It was written in angelic symbolic language and there was only one man that was capable to communicate with these beings but he passed away and didn’t leave any documents for us to study this language. So, we can’t edit the ritual. We only understand partially but what was recorded through his student’s observations and fragments of scripts. There’s nothing solid we can go on. If we tamper with it, it might bring calamity or worse to our realm.” Queen Alicia frowns slightly and sits back with her arms rested on her lap as she bites her lower lip in thought.

Queen Alicia: “The World History Museum might have records on it we can look into it. It’s worth a try.”

King Julies: “Unfortunately most of our historic records were destroyed back in the last invasion. There’s nothing concrete we can go on. We’ll need to use the ritual as described. No one is brave enough to attempt a ritual as to summon these celestial beings as they have proven to be hostile toward the one summoning them; they were all butchered and scattered around the temples like it was a clear sign not to do it. In fact it’s banned by mostly all churches.”

Arch Priest Groh: “Yes, and for a very good reason too.” He clears his throat and has a seriously gaze, no one continues to pressure on the matter. “I’ll aid in The Summoning ritual, if it comes to it. Once we have enough Grand Mages, where are we to hold The Summoning?”

King Julies: “There’s another matter.” They all look confused at King Julius, “The spheres and pillars are broken and destroyed; the Dryad’s and Will o’ Wisp’s are hard busy at repairing them, and this could take several more years even if we push the progress.” He looks at King Aloof and speaks calmly, “I can remember your archeologist’s also discovered another source similar to the one we used previously. Is it still intact and can it be used?” King Aloof smiles slightly and nods.

King Aloof: “The spheres and pillars are in excellent condition but the pool of resurrection is not. The waters have some kind of coercion, an odd fungus we are still investigating. We will be able to perform the ritual in the west side of the city. There’s enough room for the dragon landings and mages.” They all seem relieved and pleased, at ease. A loud knock on the doors outside and the elven lady opens the doors. A scholar walks quietly into the room, wearing a long brown cloak and a hoody. The light barely shines on his face, but enough to make out it is an elder man from the grey rough short beard. Arch Priest Groh gesture’s for him to speak.

Scholar: “My Arch, we have received word from the astral realm that our Grand Mages is prepared and already scouted the 20 heroes to be summoned from the earth realm, but they say they cannot hold the portal gates open for longer than 6 seconds, the ritual need to be precise. They have only 200 Grand Mages, as most had fallen ill to a virus circulating in their realm. They say they will have the heroes ready and in the circle at exactly 08:00 PM tomorrow. It is the only chance they have.”

Arch Priest Groh: “Thank you. You are dismissed.” The scholar bows his head slightly as he walks backward briefly and then leaves the room quietly. “Alright it is all then in place and settled. The Summoning shall commence tomorrow at 08:00 PM at Crystal-Wood Kingdom. Is there anything else we need to discuss?” He says calmly and looks at everyone.

Queen Lizella: “We have approximately 2 years to prepare after the summoning. Our lands are occupied with all manner of hostile beasts, and among those are daemons, vampires and a few spotted goblins close to the agricultural borders, and other manner of creatures inside the mines. We’ll need to consult the guilds to send more adventurers to clear out these places and offer high rewards.”

Queen Ember: “Yes, it does pose a serious problem. It’s a good suggestion and we will also send skillful soldiers and royal knights to assist adventurers if needed. The lands need to be cleared out as quickly as possible.” They all nod they heads in agreement. “We can also make use of the elven militia to clear out more regions throughout the land’s vital points of production.” She smiles slightly.

Arcane Priest: “Now that all is in order, let’s have a feast in the dining area. Please follow me.” He says politely and smiles; everyone stands up and chats among themselves informally, walking out of the room behind Arch Priest Groh.

Meanwhile…

Gareth sits outside his apartment on the balcony, overlooking the city and can hear the people chatter below him on the street. He looks down at a photo in his right hand, seeing his mother, father and sister that had passed away very recently. A warm tear runs down his cheek, as he sighs while looking at the photo. He hears a cup breaking from across the street in the café shop. He kisses the photo as to seek comfort and places it in his right jean’s pocket and climbs off of the balcony. He walks into the room and takes his jacket hanging on the chair. He leaves his apartment and locks the door he then turns the lock to double check that it is locked. He makes his way down the stairs and across the busy street of oncoming traffic and enters the coffee shop. He takes a seat in the back of the shop, and a young female waiter excitedly comes to his table.

Martha: “Good evening, Gareth. It’s good to see you as always.” She says shyly as she has a secretive crush on him. “Are you going to take the regular again or try out our new addition - the Vanilla Bubblegum Cake?”

Gareth: “Hi, Martha. It’s good to see you’re okay and doing well. Yes, I will give it a try.” He smiles faintly and is oblivious to her interest in him for the last few weeks.

Martha: “Okay, that’s great.” She says excitedly, and writing it down in a small notebook. “Check and check. Bringing your hot chocolate now with the slice of cake.” She turns and pauses briefly, then she turns back and looks at him, she looks embarrassed as she speaks, “Gareth… would you… like to go…” A waiter behind the counter calls out to Martha in a hurry… “Nevermind. Talk later.” Gareth smiles faintly again. He looks outside the window beside him and he sees Emily walking and she notices him too. She waves at him and he smiles at her, she walks into the shop and to his table. She’s holding a small wheel backpack and another backpack on her back.

Gareth: “Hi.” He smiles at her again.

Emily: “Hi, again… It’s odd running into you out here.” She laughs.

Gareth: “I was about to say the same. What are you doing here?”

Emily: “I am on my way to the airport. I need to go visit my parents and the bus stop is like twenty minutes from here. You live around here?” Gareth gestures for Emily to take a seat across from him.

Gareth: “I live right across the street. I like this small casual environment. I mostly picked it because of the coffee shop.” He laughs. He pauses as the waitress brings his order to the table.

Martha: “Here you go, Gareth. Let me know if you need anything else.” She smiles and looks at Emily. “Can I take your order?”

Emily: “No, thank you.” The waitress leaves.

Gareth: “You never told me you’re a foreigner.” He says surprisingly.

Emily: “Oh, yes, I forgot to mention that. I’m a transfer student and I’m from Ukraine.” She says confidently. “I get a little homesick sometimes and occasionally go back home to check on my family and my friends.” She looks down briefly, though, slightly saddened.

Gareth: “Is everything alright? You seem a bit –“ She interrupts him.

Emily: “Yeah! I’m perfectly fine.” She smiles faintly. “I guess I’ll have to get going before I miss my flight.” She stands up.

Gareth: “I can come with you if you need me to. I don’t mind…” He stands and removes the money out of his pocket and puts it on the table… He gestures to Martha behind the counter.

Emily: “You do not have to but thank you I guess.” She smiles. “The taxi is a few blocks away and it is already 06:04 PM.” Gareth nods and they leave the shop together. There are two men wearing a black jacket and a long black hoody. They stand across the street and watch Gareth and Emily closely, slowly beginning to walk at their pace.

Grand Mage 1: “We are nearly out of time and cannot wait much longer. We will need to move in quickly and I get the idea these two will be resistant like the previous ones we captured.” He says with a deep, rough and concerning voice. The second Grand Mage nods and sighs beneath his breath.

Grand Mage 2: “I am aware – We can’t risk exposing ourselves but maybe we can get their attention by simply approaching them directly and ask to speak separately with them.” They cross the street in the dark avoiding the street lights. They are closer to Gareth and Emily.

Grand Mage 1: “It looks like we have an opening, they are making their way down that narrow alley way. It will be our only chance or we might lose the girl when she climbs into the taxi.” They begin to walk faster and are only 2 meters away behind them.

Grand Mage 2: “Just be careful and we can’t let them run away… We need to do this quickly.” He says with a serious tone. Gareth and Emily walks down the narrow alley way and they take out their phones and switch on their flash lights.

Emily: “I don’t like this shortcut at all but it saves me 2 blocks. Thanks for walking with me again.” She looks at Gareth and smiles warmly.

Gareth: “No problem, these streets can be dangerous at night.” He laughs softly… “You know…” One of the Grand Mage’s touches Gareth’s shoulder, and Gareth startles forward pulling Emily away to behind him. Gareth raises his arms and makes a fist and is ready to fight… “What the hell!” Emily looks for a weapon on the ground and picks up an empty beer bottle and remains behind Gareth.

Emily: “What the hell do you guys want? Try anything and I’ll stab you to death!” They can’t see their faces beneath their hoods…

Grand Mage 1: “Good evening, Gareth.” He removes his hood, and reveals his rough face, no older than 45 years, grey short hair and a grey short beard… His eyes are a deep light blue, nearly glowing. “We need to talk to you and Emily.” The second Grand Mage does the same, and stands next to his partner holding his hands in front of him. Emily quickly looks at their hands, searching for weapons.

Gareth: “How do you know our names?” He says with a serious tone, still holding his fighting pose.

Emily: “Who the hell are you guys and what do you want from us?” She narrows her eyes as she glares at them…

Grand Mage 2: “We are from a realm called Heart of Lore, and we have been informed to search for potential warriors. I apologize for the informality, but there is no time to waste. The point is, you need to come with us and prepare for your ascend into our realm.”

Gareth: “What are you guys even talking about? You mean another world?” Gareth looks confused and looks more cautious as he suspects them to be on drugs, drunk or possible human traffickers… Emily doesn’t hold back and speaks her mind…

Emily: “Listen, you guys have had way too many of whatever you used and I suggest you leave us alone. I already speed dialed the police on my phone and they are on their way.” Emily tugs at Gareth’s shirt and slightly pulls on it and suggesting for him to move backward…

Grand Mage 1: “You are mistaken. We are not using your world’s chemicals, and we are not associated with any illegal activities. You must believe us; this is a matter of worlds. If you refuse or continue to stall we will be forced to take you. So, please do not resist and come with us. We can explain on our way.

Gareth: “No buddy… It’s not going to happen and if you think you’re going to lay your hands on us then you are the one mistaken…” He says with an arrogant attitude as he smirks. The Grand Mage’s frown and sighs, one of them say something beneath their breath.

Grand Mage 1: “You and your partner has been summoned by the Queen, you must come and prepare for the war. There is very little time left.” He asks politely as he bows his eyes briefly.

Grand Mage 2: “You remember the visions you had of our realm? Those weren’t just dreams those were events that happened in our history. These visions you received led us to you. You know they are real, as they have been with you since you were but a child. You know we are telling the truth. Please come, now.” They step forward and closer with caution to Gareth and Emily… Gareth notices it and he steps back while watching them carefully.

Emily: “Yes, the same dream every night.” Her voice is soft, calm and a hint of sadness as she looks down briefly. Gareth tilts his head slightly and looks at Emily from over his shoulder and then returns his focus on the Grand Mages… “If it’s real…” She says softly, but Gareth interrupts her.

Gareth: “Still we are not going anywhere with you.” He feels Emily’s grip slowly release from his left arm as she still stands behind him. “Yes, I too have had these visions as you say. And if it is true, you want to drag us there to do what? You want us to fight them?” Gareth laughs softly and shakes his head… “It’s not going to happen, old man. We aren’t warriors…” Emily steps out from behind Gareth and stands next to him, still holding the bottle beside her. She looks at them calmly.

Emily: “I am sorry for your world but I am still at disbelieving that this could be real. I don’t know what to make of this, but Gareth is right, we are not warriors and there’s nothing we can do this. You can ask the world government to aid your world but I’m not going either, I’m sorry. Now leave us and go away.” They remain quiet as there is a brief silence between them all and a long intensifying stare. The Grand Mage breaks the silence by heaving a soft sigh and scratches his forehead.

Grand Mage 1: “You must understand that this is not something we wanted and we really do mean well but there is absolutely no other choice…” The Grand Mage jump forward and a small bright light appears in his right hand and trying to move it toward Gareth’s head, but Gareth moves in while he bends down and punch him hard in the stomach, knocking the man’s breath out and Emily throws the bottle against the other Grand Mage’s head and he falls over, cussing in his language from the pain.

Gareth: “Now! Let’s run, go!” They begin to run down the alley, and they both look back over their shoulder and see they are both gone. Gareth and Emily stops dead and nearly run into a brick wall that was conjured up by one of the mages.

Grand Mage 2: “This is the end of the line. You are coming with us and there is no escape. I suggest you surrender or experience pain.” The 2 Grand Mages stands feet away from them, and they are both having a bright light in their hands, nearly blinding as it lights up the alley.

Gareth: “Like I said old man. It’s not going to happen.” Emily looks at Gareth and speaks softly.

Emily: “They are using magic - They aren’t lying about who they say they are.” Gareth narrows his eyes while looking at them, trying to see an opening to escape with Emily.

Grand Mage 2: “There is no reason for us to lie to you, Emily.” He sighs and smiles faintly, “Queen Ember sent her messages in forms of dreams, these dreams travel throughout the cosmos, into many galaxies as you may know, and eventually they reach potential candidates through the astral realm; once the receiver is aware we are sent to bring you to our realm.” He pauses briefly and breathes softly and continues, “Queen Ember’s will is not without careful thought and consideration, and this particular magic has its own intelligence; it’s initial design is to seek out Hero’s as our realm would call you, the attribute of the spell examines the individual’s soul and their spiritual resolve and selects with precision.” He smiles again and continues to speak calmly, “As such we cannot call on your government as they are powerless, and modern technology can do very little.”

Gareth: “We told you, we aren’t warriors and there’s no chance we are leaving our lives behind we’ve worked so hard on to fight some war we know nothing about. We are not going to come with you.” The Grand Mage’s appear agitated as they look at their pocket watches, and then back at Gareth and Emily.

Grand Mage 1: “This is the end of the line. There’s no more time.” Gareth realizes there’s no chance he can talk their way out of it or prevent it but fight and maybe escape. Gareth rushes forward with a right arm swing, but the Grand Mage is quicker at his reflexes and cast a sudden wind force knocking Gareth back into the brick wall, Emily is stunned as she looks at Gareth.

Emily: “Gareth, are you alright?” She kneels beside him and inspects his wound on his forehead… “You will pay for this!” She immediately sprints up and the other Grand Mage waves his hand in front of her face and the light instantly blinds her and then she loses consciousness and falls next to Gareth.

Grand Mage kneels down beside their sleeping bodies, and they each pick up one and carry them on their shoulders. One of the Grand Mage’s stops behind the other one, and the one looks back confused at him.

Grand Mage 1: “Is something the matter?” He looks carefully at him.

Grand Mage 2: “Have you seen their eyes when they attacked us? There was a change of color in their eyes, it was quick.” He looks at the Grand Mage.

Grand Mage 1: “No, I missed it. It can only mean one thing, that they are reincarnated. This is really strange.”

Grand Mage 2: “Yes, I agree. Why are they after reincarnated candidates...? Do you think it might be something to do with dormant power?”

Grand Mage 1: “It’s possible but this is slightly troublesome. All the previous Hero’s weren’t reincarnated, and look how powerful they had become that most of them gone mad.” He sighs… “No matter all this we’ll discuss it later. We need to open the portal, there’s only one hour left before the portal to Heart of Lore opens up.” The other Grand Mage nods in agreement. They point their index finger on the ground, and draw a blue magical circle, they step into each their own circle and they vanish, leaving no trace behind.

A few minutes and the portal open close to all their comrades, 200 Grand Mages, circled around Stonehenge. A female Grand Mage, wearing a long cloaked black dress and hood, approaches them as they walk toward her with Gareth and Emily on their shoulders.

Female Grand Mage:“You are nearly late. What took you so long?” She says with irritation in her voice.

Grand Mage 1: “There were some minor complications that needed some alterations.” They say clearly as they walk past her toward the center of the Stonehenge. The Female Grand Mage notices Gareth’s forehead bleeding, and demands they explain it.

Female Grand Mage: “You received clear instructions not to harm the candidates. Why is this one bleeding?” She says furiously.

Grand Mage 2: “There were complications. They resisted and we had to compel them.” They sound irritated as well.

Female Grand Mage: “Fine, just get them in the circle. The Summoning is about to begin.” They remain silent and do as instructed by her. They walk into the circle put Gareth and Emily down beside other candidates; they leave the circle quickly and join the circle formation around the Stonehenge. Gareth slowly begins to wake up and looks around him and sees other people close to him but his vision is slightly blurred; he notices Emily beside him and wakes her up.

Gareth: “Hey, Emily, wake up!” He says strongly while shaking her shoulder. “Emily?” She wakes up slowly and looks up at Gareth and holds her head…

Emily: “What happened to us?” She moans slightly, “Ohh my head really hurts…” She sees the other people around them. “What’s going on and where are we?” She sits up straight.

Gareth: “I am just as confused as you. I have no idea. We’re also surrounded by many magic users as well.” He hears a man talking behind him.

Michael: “We are inside a so-called portal.” He looks around and then back at Gareth, “I suspect we’re somewhere in Europe because these are the Stonehenge stones, but we can’t escape or leave because they have these invisible electrical force field all around us.”

Gareth: “So everyone here was kidnapped and brought here and was told the same story of being summoned by some Queen from another realm… How long have you been here?”

Michael: “I am, no, we are here for over an hour now. I overheard you’re the last they waited for. No idea what’s next except they are sending us to their realm to fight some kind of monsters; apparently we’re the heroes in their realm which is absolutely ridiculous.”

Gareth: “Yea, we were told the same and we refused to come and next thing I know we are here. We need to try to get away…”

Raven: “Haven’t you been listening? There’s no way out of this even if miraculously escape the force field, all these strange occultists will catch us again.”

Emily: “We can’t just sit back and do nothing!” She says as she tries to stand but buckles under her own wait and sits still instead. “I’m so damn weak I can barely stand up.” She says frustratingly.

Michael: “Yea it’s going to wear off in a few minutes. The more stress you have the more strain it places on your body. Just stay calm as best as you can.” They see the Female Grand Mage walking up to the circle while all the other Grand Mages are a few feet from her. She holds a thick paper silver scroll in her right hand, and stands in front of the barrier. They can hear her chant something but can’t make out what she is saying as she whispers it softly.

A light blue flame begins shoot up from the ground all around them, but no one get burnt. Some of them begin to panic slightly.

Female Grand Mage: “Good evening, brave heroes.” She says clearly and calmly. “My name is Risaralda, Grand Mage and Priestess of the Universal Order.” She pauses briefly and unrolls the scroll slowly while looking at them, and continues to speak to them, “You all are aware of you being here, and you are now going to be transported to our realm where you will meet King Aloof, Queen Ember and Princess Lora. We wish you success and wait for your triumphant return. Good luck, heroes.” She smiles slightly. The candidates are all quiet and still in a bit of shock and frozen.

She continues to read from the scroll, and the Grand Mages all raise their arms and point their palms toward them. The flames are rising higher with each passing second. The Grand Mages project glowing particles from their palms as energy slowly making its way into the circle, and begin as a choir to repeat after the Female Grand Mage, and they begin to feel the dirt move like sea sand beneath them and rocks floating up from the ground and higher up. Emily looks extremely frightened as she looks at Gareth and shouts loudly…

Emily: “What are they saying I can’t hear anything with this loud wind?!” Gareth can see she is talking to him but he can’t hear her either. He shows his hands to his ears, indicating he can’t hear her. They all begin to float up as gravity becomes none existent. Some try to cling on to the grass in the ground, but the pull is too strong and loses grip and some are screaming while others are crying and trying to resist but all their efforts are in vain.

To be continued on Episode 2: Arrival.