Post by Rashaskool on Jun 28, 2015 20:26:40 GMT
1. The First of the Strange
The world was once straightforward. It was once coded, if you will. Particles moved with fixed purpose and greater functions were carried out by the meeting of two particles. The world was simple and the world was easy.
The Coders changed all of that. They made the world larger. They added excitement and life. They added love and hate, peace and war. Most importantly of all, they added courage.
This world as it was known was entirely their work. This world, not so much unlike ours, was a masterpiece. A set of cogs so tightly wound that every motion was perfection and every new tick was eagerly awaited. The world was vibrant and hectic, bustling but calm, vague but enriching. This world was undeniably brilliant.
Now it is dying.
***********************************************
The streets were bare and barren, silent and yet threatening. Prince had lived all his life in this city and knew every street like he knew his own family. And yet tonight everything felt alien to him. Every twist and turn held new looming architectural strangers, blank and unforgiving.
He ran faster still, sweat beading on the back of his neck, his hair standing on end, almost painful. This was no longer his city. This night was not his friend.
He turned again into a stretch of damp cobbled paving that led the way down a gloomy alley. Those buildings he thought he knew were bearing down on him, empty balconies presenting more unease, dark windows showing no signs of life.
He thought back to when this had been a quick route in and out of The Old Portal, how he and his colleagues had spent many nights wishing away their days on dreams of a brighter tomorrow. How he wished now that he had been solidly enjoying the moment, those evenings of laughter a blurred haze in the confines of his mind.
Suddenly the passage opened up into a broad square headed by a wrought iron archway and a set of brass gates.
That was when the first bolt of blue shot past him.
He smiled and turned to face his assailant, a slim figure masked by a hood that fell below his eyes.
For all the human qualities it seemed to possess, Prince felt its otherness. His slim arms were covered in patterns of a dark blue that could be mistaken for tattoos or tribal markings if not for the fact that they were glowing in the darkness. The veil that masked its lower face seemed unmoving, almost a part of the creature and although it's eyes were obscured, it's gaze was piercing.
Another bolt of blue flew towards him and Prince instinctively brought his arms up above his face. A black shape almost grew out from around him as he felt his power flow up, waver, and then disperse. The blue light faded and the figure was gone.
The sun was rising over the Eastern buildings of the city and Prince thanked the Gods for saving his life. The Paladins were getting bolder and that night had nearly been his last.
Prince turned to the gates and sighed. Time to visit Rahni.
**************************************
Books tumbled off of the desk near the door as Rahni slammed his hands down hard, losing his patience. There was nothing in any of them that gave any clue as to what was going on and there was certainly no mention of anything like this happening before.
Rahni had always imagined something like the end of the world to go the way it was supposed to. He at least thought it would happen in a way that someone expected it to. Instead he was confronted with a phenomena where what they were facing was made up of something altogether unreal.
The Paladins were not something that anyone had anticipated. They were beings that had grown from emotion, feeding on the dead and dying, the grief and suffering that came from the Ether wars. Each side was locked in a terrible stalemate and had been for a millennia. However, the Paladins had been feeding, building power; enough to rise from the very earth beneath them. The magical energies that had been the cause of so much of the destruction had seeped into those cursed grounds and death itself had been given form.
It wasn't all bad however, he reasoned. A common enemy finally gave grounds for a grudging ceasefire, with both participants looking to protect their own rather than stake their claim on what was now essentially a hive of desolation and anguish. Any brief forays into the Ether led to mixed reports. Some said that those who entered never made it out alive. Others stated that the scouts never even made it in and that the exposure to so much tainted magic simply crushed them from the inside out.
Rahni sat back in his chair and looked out of his window. Light seemed to keep the Paladins at bay. Incredibly cliché as it seemed to him, it was the only saving grace in a world confounded by demons and other untoward creatures of the nether. In his eyes, as long as they were kept at bay by something then they had time to figure out what to do. Unfortunately while light was their ally the darkness was drawing in. Nights were becoming longer, unnaturally so, and days were colder and ever bleak.
The winter was on its way anyway but its power seemed enhanced by the growing darkness in the hallowed lands. The Ether itself was dying and had been since the inception of the war. What was once a thriving land built on a natural well of magics was now broken and empty, its once sprawling forests reduced to husks of their former glory, dark and sinister. And at its core the great mist. A swirling, hulking mass of dark energy from which the Paladins watch and wait, testing the resistance of the humans around.
It started with the smaller outlying villages, the shadows lengthened and the children reported tiredness and sickness. People became quicker to anger and strong words led to uncharacteristic aggression. Soldiers were called back to deal with incidents and, with the forces camped in the Ether at their weakest, the Paladins struck. Many of the soldiers escaped, however those with magical potential fell victim to demons of the mind. Strategic leaders fell, some say to their own shadows. On both sides of the field camps were in disarray.
A great battle began, with each side faulting the other for the destruction to their own. Swords clashed, fire-bolts rained down and the magical art of Kayju left the air hot and vibrant. The Ether buckled under the strain of it, threatening to burst.
And all the while the Paladins fed...
A clattering of yet more books falling to the ground brought Rahni back to the present. He turned to where his office door had been flung open against his bookshelf and sighed as the tall figure let himself in.
“Prince, to what do I owe the rather destructive pleasure?”
“Oh, sorry Rahni, in a bit of a rush. We've been summoned.”
“Again?” Rahni picked up a set of manuscripts off the dusty windowsill and slipped on his sandals. “I suppose it can't be helped in this day and age but really, you'd think that we'd have a while to think on the problem alone before having to supply solutions.”
“If you wanted to spend all your time alone, my friend, you shouldn't have agreed to a position on the council.”
“Well, Councilman Rahni sounded so beautiful, how could I refuse? Come old friend, we shouldn't keep Gant waiting.”
The two of them set off down winding corridors past numerous tapestries towards the old war room. The Palace of the Strange had been built aeons ago by the first settlers of Zione and had housed the Council of the Strange ever since. Council members were inducted for life and Rahni had been one since he had finished schooling.
Being a council member had its perks. He could go anywhere in the city unrestricted, his bills were all covered by the King and he had space enough for study and a luxurious lifestyle. However, his entire life was spent in numerous council meetings debating minor aspects of a war he cared little for.
Prince, on the other hand, relished those meetings. As head of the military in Encha, he was in charge of every force that could be mustered within Zione and the meetings had often wound up being the unveiling of his next big plan to defeat the Kurnishmen and take control of the Ether.
Meetings had changed since then. No longer were there bored talks of wartime strategy and inner city politics. Those had been replaced with grave discussion on what they could do about the Paladins and how they would save their people. Rahni's job had become a lot harder in recent months while Prince spent more time outside of the Palace than in it, fighting on the front lines.
The two of them rounded a final corner before coming face to face with a tall slender woman, olive skinned and dark eyed. She gave them a half smile before beckoning them into the dimly lit room behind her.
“Rahni, you're late yet again. And Prince too, not like you.”
“Sorry Lily,” prince replied, smoothing his hair, “I've only just got back in. Picked Rahni up on the way.”
“He shouldn't need babysitting, he's a councilman.”
“He's right behind you.” Rahni gave an irritated grumble and found his place in the main chamber as the others floated off to find their own seats.
“We are all present and correct, I assume,” a great voice boomed. “We'll begin proceedings with the lost.”
A huge door next to the central dais opened and a figure cut in white, face obscured by a veil, stepped out and onto one of the two vacant podiums. A voice, soft as silk, began slowly reading from a large list, the names of those who'd lost their lives since the last meeting.
Rahni let a shocked breath go as he heard names he knew. So many since last week. He saw tears bead the faces of his fellow council members, noticing some seats poignantly left empty, some bearing flowers in the stead of their occupants.
“And ever shall they rest.” The last line echoed across the vast room, murmured in agreement by the rest of the council as the keeper of the crypt bowed solemnly before exiting the vast doors through which she had come.
“Members of the Council of the Strange,” the great voice boomed again, “this meeting is called in these most dire of times. We face a scourge unlike any we have ever witnessed and we must find ourselves a way out before it is too late.” Gant's fist hit his podium as he spoke his last words, emphasising the emotion in his voice. “Too many of us have been lost. Too many friends.”
“We can't fight them Gant, they outmatch us in every way!” The voice from the back carried on when all was silent, “they know how we work. They get stronger as we falter.”
“Then,” Lily interjected, “We should not falter my dear Elhan.”
“If it were only that simple. How many have fought these things and lived to tell of it? How many could? We can't send common place soldiers and yet if we do nothing the people feel we have abandoned them. Need I remind you that the last excursion beyond our gates-”
“Led to the deaths of four of our good friends who would be here today, I am well aware of my brother's sacrifice.” Lily's face was blank, her stare icy, daring Elhan to make another move. “Need I remind you that we are the only ones who can do anything.”
“I apologise, Lily. My words were spoken out of passion and were untamed.” Elhan smoothed his golden hair back across his shoulders, letting it hang gracefully across his back, his pale face and pointed chin at odds with Lily's olive complexion. “I merely fear more loss when it is not merited.”
“Elhan is right, Lily. The loss of your brother is a burden we all bear, none more so than you. But we must learn from that mistake. If we are to venture forth with no plan other than to extract vengeance then we will fail.”
Lily sighed but sat back in her seat. She knew better than to argue with the Speaker and she couldn't fault Gant in his reasoning. But Rahni knew the anger that burned within her and he himself felt great pain at the loss of Ceil.
Prince's voice cut through the silence bringing Rahni back from his thoughts. “I've fought them.” This brought a gasp from the rest of the council. “I was outside of the gates before today. Only just arrived back from the front as it happens.”
“Welcome back Prince, I was not expecting you.” The Speaker's relief at the sight of his eldest son was obvious on his face yet his tone held steady in his role. “Pray, relay what it is you know of our enemy.”
“They're strong, we know that. Stronger than anything we've ever fought. But their strength relies on emotions. They seem to feed off it, Rahni found that out himself shortly before he returned to the palace to research for me.” Prince nodded his head in Rahni's direction who smiled. “They find you when there are already cracks in your resolve and they attack relentlessly preying on your dwindling hope.”
“You say you've fought them,” Elhan called out, “and yet you stand before us. If they truly prey on the weak of heart as you suggest then why were you in the fray at all?” This drew mutterings from the other council members, most of whom struggled to believe their enemy was beatable.
“I was looking after the sick and wounded. They must have been drawn in by the dead and dying. There were two of them and they cut my men down faster than they could draw weapons. One of them left and the other struck at me.”
“And yet you live?”
“When you train to lead men into battle, Elhan, you learn to keep your emotions in check. A steady head is often-times superior to a strong arm. When the Paladin had nothing to feed on his attacks became weaker.”
“That I find hard to believe. If the beasts feed on emotion then that tent should have been the death of you.”
“Actually, that's not how they work,” Rahni interjected. “See, at first we thought that the individuals were growing stronger but it turns out that the emotions they use were merely stronger. And they don't keep the energy they gain, they use it.”
“How so?”
“The Paladins fight using a form of energy, we all know that. However what we recently discovered was that this energy is the emotions. They literally manipulate negative emotion into pure energy. They can hold a little back inside them to initiate a fight but never enough for sustained combat without another incoming source.”
“Right.” Prince put his hand on Rahni's shoulder. “And so when I fought as I had been trained to, the Paladin had little to manipulate. Sure, any anger I had was thrown back at me but for the most part it gradually ran out of energy while I merely blocked and conserved my own. When I felt I had an edge I struck it down.”
“And it died?” Gant asked dubiously.
“It... dissolved. I don't know if it died or if it simply didn't have enough energy to sustain a form but it was no longer there and, more importantly, no longer a threat.”
“But we haven't all had your military training. Some of us can't hold back our anger and frustration. How do you suggest the rest of us deal with these things?” Elhan retorted, seeming unhappy with only slight progress.
“I don't know,” Prince answered bluntly. “I only know what works.”
“The important thing is that we know something does work. I call this meeting adjourned until such time as research has been furthered. Until then the city is on high alert. Nobody leaves and nobody enters unless vouched for by someone within its walls. Prince and Rahni I would like to see you in my chambers to know more of your findings.”
As the council filed out Prince looked to Lily, still in her chair, and sighed.
“She'll be okay, Prince,” Rahni offered. “Just give her time.”
“I'm worried she'll do something reckless Rahni.”
“Wouldn't be Lily if she didn't. Come on, we'd better go see to your father.” Rahni squeezed his shoulder before walking out of the lower entrance.
With a reluctant sigh Prince left the chamber, now empty bar Lily, still wrapped up in her thoughts, and turned to follow his friend.
