Prologue
Prologue
Location: ???
Date: ???
The warmth from the pool of his own blood vanished along with the stinging pains resonating throughout his body. The darkness of the night sky disappeared above him, replaced by a blinding light. Cayden’s vision slowly adjusted to the new brightness, revealing an empty room which seemed to stretch infinitely in all directions. He felt a presence other than his own. His head shot around in all different directions as he frantically looked around for it.
“′Ello.” It said in a friendly, casual tone, as if talking to an old acquaintance it hadn’t seen in a while. Yet, despite its friendly tone, he still jumped at the suddenness of the voice.
“Hello?” Cayden replied, hesitantly. His tone was frightened, confused, perhaps even impatient. “Where am I?”
“You’re on the brink of death.” It said, though its face was featureless, its tone expressed emotions clearly; a smile.
“Ah, makes sense.” He replied, remembering the smell of rust that was perfumed by the puddles of blood pooling under the hundreds of corpses surrounding him just a few moments prior. The sounds of having to step over them, their bones crunching under the soles of his feet still echoed in his head along with the screams, the yells, the cries of hatred, of sorrow.
Of war.
"Let’s be honest, neither of us want you dead, it’s too early.” It said, holding what looked to be a hand, resting what could only be assumed to be its face on it.
“I mean, I don’t necessarily want to die, but... I’m already dead. Not like I’m surprised, I joined the war knowing full well I was probably going to die.” Cayden laughed a bit. Though he did a poor job at hiding the slight disappointment he felt.
"Ever heard of Equinox Magic?" It said, louder than anything it had said prior, its voice booming, echoing around the nonexistent walls that surrounded them. It looked as if it was laying down in the air in front of him, kicking its feet around, resting its head in its hands, looking upside-down at Cayden.
“Equinox Magic? That... doesn’t exist. What’re you on about?” He asked, an eyebrow raised and his eyes squinted with speculation.
"I’ve been... watching over you for a while. You aren’t exactly dead, you’re lucky I brought you here.” It said, a slight resemblance of a chuckle coming from its voice as it spoke, flipping around to lay on it’s stomach.
“Yeah, you lost me.” Cayden said, his tone returned to the confusion it was earlier, holding a hand to his head, which felt like it had gotten bashed in with a rock.
"I can give you a second chance, as long as you’re willing to take a risk." The being spoke in a reassuring tone, soothing and caring, no malice behind the words whatsoever, or if there was, it was masking it well enough for Cayden not to notice it.
“I’m already dead, what’ve I got to lose?” He sighed, and walked up to the creature, and in return it extended what could only be assumed to be a hand. Cayden grabbed it, and as soon as he touched his hand down, his legs gave out, forcing him into a kneeling position, one he couldn’t get up from. He lost all control of his lower half, like it had sapped all of his energy in an instant. “Hey what the hell-”
"Don’t worry, you’ll be alright.” It reassured him, putting its other hand on top of his. A strange sensation filled Cayden’s body, Magic filling his body like he’d never felt before. Strange, foreign mana flooding and replacing the heated flames which had previously had inhabited his veins, and before long, the white void slowly started shifting to a black, silent darkness. The last word he heard before his consciousness fully slipped came from the being, a single word.
“Chro.”
Cayden awoke once more on the hard ground, staring at a purple, cracked sky, the shouts of bloodthirsty warriors coming from all around. The volcanic rock beneath him began searing his skin with the new apparent lack of his resistance to the heat. He felt a new sensation, one he’d never felt before, a strange new power flowing through his veins, in the absence of the fire that once flowed through him, foreign, but welcome.
He felt stronger.
