�Darkin!� a voice called from the darkness�
I heard myself groan and then the voice returned, �Darkin!�
I opened my eyes to see the warm smile of Corli hunched over me with a candle lit in his left hand. He softly shook me once me to make sure I was fully awake and then back away a bit to give me some room. I blinked rapidly for a moment and raised my hands to let him know I was fully awake and also took the opportunity to stretch my arms out and yawn.
This day was a special day. For this day was the day I would set out and take the final steps towards the beginning of my long journey. Corli smiled at me, he too knew this too.
�Sir, I would like to say it was an honor to serve you and help you ever since the day you were born. I just wished to give you my best regards before you set out on your important journey before I would take my leave of you,� Corli said in a joyful tone with a hint of sadness.
I raised my hand and shook me head and said, �No, it is I that must thank you for taking care of me ever since the death of my parents. May the ancient gods look over you my friend and live the rest of your days in peace and happiness.�
We both held out our hands and we shook for the final time. I knew that I would never see him again, but then again, I knew that this day would come. I had to set out and find the last remaining parts of the spell so that I may cast a spell that could most possibly save the world.
As I saw him turn around and leave I smiled to myself, Corli was at least in his eighties by now, neither of us were exactly sure, he claimed to have lost count some where when he was in his fifties. But he also admitted his memory was a faltering one even then. He and I were the only ones who lived in these caves. Ever since my parent�s untimely and unknown death when I was very young, he raised me and taught me how to read and to pretty much everything I know, except my magic. My parents had left me with their arcane library that, in it, held the very secrets of using magic and tapping into its power. Of course not everyone can just pick up a book and learn how to use magic, the use of magic runs through the blood of people, the potential is in everyone but certain people just have more potential than others do. Those who do express this potential (especially found and trained at an early age) can become sorcerers and wizards with great powers of the arcane. My bloodline runs red with the capacity and potential of great and powerful magic. My ancestors from ancient times were powerful wizards and sorceresses and I am sure if I lived in the time where magic was abundant that I too would be great and powerful.
I had been researching through my parent�s collection of book of history and notes and I came across a particular book, bound in blue. It contained part of the spell of Time Traveling a spell that could hurtle me into the past or the future depending on how I want to cast the spell. This book opened a door of thought that excited me because of the possibilities it offered. The thought that excited me the most was the idea that I maybe able to go back in time and save the future from the awful mistake that many people made so many centuries ago. The mistake which incurred the wraith of the gods and the damnation of all the races responsible, and caused all the magic of the world to be taken away and all the former prosperity of the land to vanish.
Back in the time before the Magic Taking, two of the five great races sought ultimate power, the power of the gods. Both Man and the ancient race of magical beings imbued with the powers of the elements became extremely greedy for the powers of the gods. Not only were their powers great and powerful but they had enough power to shake the very foundations of the gods themselves. Thus an alliance was formed between the Xen and the Humans as they challenged the gods themselves to a war which the victors would hold the seats in the heavens. The war was a long and bloody one. Those who were the servants of the gods, the elves and various factions of humans and Dwarves served as the army of the gods. While the armies of the Xen and the great kingdom of the humans, The Kingdom of Kryith, battled for their place amongst the gods. The Great War lasted about ten years but in the end, the armies of the gods were victorious but with the loss of all the humans who served the gods. Though the war was over and the threat of the armies gone, the gods were angry and to prevent the chance of such a battle to ever occur again they took almost all the magic from the world, save some for the servants who so faithfully served them, the elves. Thus the fall of the Xen who fed of the magic of the world, they could no longer survive with out the source of magic in the world. The once powerful race of creatures that lived off magic died out, extinct and not a single one was spared. And to the humans, the gods took away the once fertile lands that formed the very living heart of the world of man. With out it man began to wither away, but just like cockroaches, man has somehow managed to survive.
To prevent this from ever happening was great goal, one worthy of the risks involved. I would travel back in time with the knowledge I hold and prevent the war from happening. To save so many lives I would be more than happy to risk my life for it. Unfortunately the book I possessed wasn�t the entire spell. It seems the spell was broken into three separate pieces, three books so that one must first gather all three pieces of the spell before being able to successfully cast and complete the spell.
It was because of that, that I would now set out and find the last two pieces of the spell. However that tasked proved very difficult since almost everyone burned books as fire material since the art of reading was lost to almost everyone except the few who actually valued their collection of books and other literature. It was these people I sought, for if the books I sought were anywhere, I thought they must be with in those collections. But when I finally made contact with each of those who held the last books, I found nothing. I grew afraid that maybe the books I so dearly wanted were burned long ago as kindling. I traveled for a while longer asking questions where ever I went if anyone knew any legends of any other places where books might have been once held. One day it seemed my long searching seemed to pay off when I came across an old elf who told me of a ancient and lost library buried somewhere in the middle of the jungle of Tor�Dil Fan. After being provided with the last whereabouts of Tor�Dil Fan I immediately journeyed to the long forgotten jungle in search of the lost library of Tor�Dil Fan.
For many months did I search in the hot and steamy jungles of Tor�Dil Fan until I finally came across a great and forgotten ruin. I was awe struck at the sheer size and grandness of the structure, and for the most part, it was still intact. I eagerly entered inside, probably too eagerly because as I entered into the first great entry room the door behind me fell to the ground with an earthshaking <<THUD!>>. After making sure that the rest of the area was secure (and not ready to fall on my head) I continued into the next great room. This room was the largest room I had ever seen, the ceiling was at least eighty feet high with the most exquisite stone craftsmanship I could have ever imagined. To top this room off, the collection of books was also so immense it made mine seem like a small handful of books. I excitedly explored each section of the library lost in wonder and fascination at the collection, and to my great enthusiasm, the books were all in very good condition for them to have been sitting here for so long. I was so excited I almost forgot my task at hand so that I may read all the books here but I finally remembered why I had sought out such a magnificent collection of books. To my dismay, after many hours of searching I did not find the books I was looking for and I was about to give up hope when I saw something in the back of the room. It was another room and in it was a chest made of marble. The lock on it was rusty enough so that I could knock it to pieces with a few good blows from my staff (oh yea did I mention I had a nifty staff! It is a great staff built from the wood from the strongest of elven trees, about two-thirds of it is and the last third is made of clear blue crystal, that is stronger than diamond with a red jewel held on the very top by a golden dragon claw. Fairly impressive if I do say so myself, anyway back to the story!) What I found in the chest was something that brought tears to my eyes. Two books, one bound red and the other in green. Looked on the cover of each, the one bound in red was written in the ancient language of the Xen and was the first part of the spell of Time Traveling. The second, bound in green, was in the language of the elves and was the last third of the spell I was searching for. To find both books I sought for, in good condition too, was a stroke of luck which could only come from the gods, I took it as a sign that they too wished that my task would be a successful one. Now I was ready, I had the spell, now all I had to do was to cast this one spell and I would begin the greatest challenge of my life, the alteration of history to save the future, which is my present and past.
After several days of preparation I finally was all set to cast the spell. So I sealed myself in a special room so that I would not be disturbed by anything. I took the jar of magic from one of my pouches and carefully broke the seal. The magic filled the room and I could feel it around me, filling me with the feeling of such power. I began to cast the spell, the casting took about ten minutes of pure energy focusing and chanting. Suddenly I felt a rush of wind hit my face, I felt as though I was falling backward, but not in a downward motion but just backward. The room I had casted the spell in vanished an in it�s place I found myself on dirt ground, in the open air. I looked around and saw many people with the look of fear in their eyes, and they were all looking at me. There were screams and the next thing I knew I had spears pointed at me, keeping me at bay. Something told me that I wasn�t very welcomed here.
�Evil Wizard!� people exclaimed as they went into a panic all around me. Others shouted, �Oh the evil Valmar has come to steal our children and wives.�
To all of this I could only respond in a confused blink and when I opened my mouth to try to say that all of this was a misunderstanding, I almost got a mouthful of spears. I decided to just quietly submit and hopefully I would get a chance to explain myself later. Unfortunately these people just jumped to conclusions that I was this �Valmar� person and promptly tied me up and gagged me and carried me off to the village elder.
They kept me tied up and took away my possessions and forcefully kept me upright while the village elder spoke directly to me.
�Are you not the evil wizard, Valmar, who has been plaguing our village by taking our women and children and slaughtering our men?� The village elder spoke in a surprising patient tone of voice.
I shook my head and tried to speak but my voice was muffled do to the gag in my mouth. I hung my head helplessly as the elder narrowed his eyes at me, as if analyzing me. I looked up again to see him whispering something to one of the guards, who looked slightly different than the rest, I could tell he was no ordinary guard, perhaps the village�s champion or head of the guard. He carried a well-crafted sword at his side, he held what seemed to be a standard spear in his off hand and he had some very well crafted leather armor on his body. His hair was brown and a bit messy, his composure was cool and strong, but what caught my attention the most were his eyes. His eyes were different than that I had ever seen in my life, where the whites of his eyes should have been white it was black and his pupils were white. His appearance impressed me greatly and I assumed he was just as skilled of a fighter as he was so impressively dressed. When the elder was finishing conversing with him they both gave me a stern look and then nodded to each other.
The impressive man spoke to me in a stern voice, �Okay, we will remove the gag from your mouth wizard but if I think you are doing any funny business I will cut you down. Understand?�
I nodded slowly and he then removed my gag. I closed my eyes and said in my soft voice, �I hope you can forgive my rude and odd appearance in your village but I am no threat to anyone, I promise.�
The elder looked at me skeptically and said, �How do I know what you are saying is true? How do I know you are not Valmar in disguise or one of his minions trying to trick us into false security and then once we let you go, bring a reign of terror upon us?�
I looked up into his eyes and spoke, �I am not any of that, you have my word. I swear upon my skill as a wizard that I am not to harm anyone here. In fact I have a proposition that may help clear my name��
The two looked at each other and then looked back at me with curiosity, the warrior spoke, �What kind of proposition?�
I sighed in relief as I thought to myself, <At least they are willing to give me a chance, thank the gods. > I took in a breath and said, �Since you seem to fear this wizard, Valmar, may I propose that I aid you in ridding you of this person?�
The elder narrowed his eyes and gazed deeply into mine as he spoke, �I see pureness in your eyes. I will accept this proposition under one condition, that you bring evidence that you have dealt with the wizard if you come back successful. Also that our head of the guard forces here, Blaze Fenfur will accompany you, to make sure this isn�t all a ruse, you must understand we have to take precautions.�
I nodded, just happy they had allowed me a chance and I was determined to make this person who had, apparently, brought so much suffering and fear to this poor people, to pay for his deeds. I just couldn�t fathom why someone would use their magic for such evil and wrong doings. Do they not understand that their magic is a gift, something that they should use for good and productive uses?
The guards cautiously untied me and began to escort me away before Blaze stopped them and motioned to them that he would escort me.
He turned to me as we were walking (to wherever they felt the most secure about putting me for the night) and looked at me. With his midnight black eyes of his staring right at mine he said, �Who are you, if you are not the evil Valmar, who are you and what is your purpose here?�
To this I smiled slightly and said, �Would you believe me if I were to tell you I am here to save the world?�
He looked at me with a confused look and obviously not believing me he spoke, �I was not aware the world needed saving, and you still haven�t told me your name.�
I sighed and raised my head to the now night sky and said, �My name is Darkin, and I am here to save the world from what will possibly happen.�
I glanced to see the expression on his face, which was very confused as expected. I knew that this information would make no sense to anyone because none had any knowledge about what was to come.
I smiled to him and said, �Do not worry about it, you just need to know that I am here to do my best and save the world from itself and nothing more.�
Blaze seemed distance for a while and then replied, �So, you come to stop them then are you?� He let go of my arm as he started to look up at the sky and said, �For years now, there have been rumors that the Great Council of the Xen has been building up an army to challenge the gods.�
I was surprised and taken back at Blaze�s knowledge of what was going to happen. I had not expected anyone to have any idea about the soon to come events which would eventually lead to the destruction of the Xen and most of the human race.
I stuttered as I said, �H-how do you know what the Xen are planning?�
He shrugged and said, �The rumors of the Xen amassing a grand army have been spreading and seeming more and more true every day since information had leaked out of the Xen High Council three years ago.�
This information was a surprise to me, I hadn�t realized that the knowledge of such actions was such public knowledge. However this changed little, my goal of stopping the rise of power of the Xen and the human rulers was my job and I would do anything to stop it and save the future.
When I finally realized where I was I was standing in front of a guarded hut and inside was a bed and a blanket. Blaze led me inside and whispered, �I do not like the rumors I have heard. An army powerful enough to challenge the gods, such ambitions are insane and will only lead everyone to ultimate destruction. Well anyway, I leave you here for the night, please understand why we must take such precautions but we still do not know if you are truly who you say you are and keeping you here alive is taking a big enough risk as it is. Although I hope you are who you say you are for your own sake. And as soon as you dispatch the evil wizard Valmar, you name will be cleared and you can go on your way, for whatever your ultimate goals are may be completed.� Blaze paused for a while as he headed to the door of the hut and before he left he turned and said, �I do not believe what the Xen are planning is a good for the world. For this reason only am I giving you a chance to prove yourself innocent, so that if you are truly innocent, you may go forth and stop the Xen.� With that said, he left.
I laid down on my straw bedding and covered myself in the blanket. I let out a sigh as I thought about things. I have been in the past for not even a full day and I already have to deal with an evil wizard, well at least I made it in one peace. I closed my eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.