A Path of Beginnings, Book One of The Rose and the Storm.


Prologue: The Aftermath


          He lay on the broken fields, eyes bathed in dirt and sweat. His greatsword Teffen rested feet away, worn and beaten, as if it were one with its master. In truth it was, wielder and blade tied together by destiny over the passing of time. His eyes searched around wildly for her, "Was she still alive?". A desperate thought, only the power of the high priestess could seal away the eternal evil.

          A sudden warmth radiated, as if in a frantic attempt to turn back the darkness that lurked. Then he saw her, staff gripped in both hands, the pure essence of the light pouring from the staff or her, he couldn't tell, but it was a glorious sight. As he lay shattered, dying, he noticed that she was terribly wounded as well. A deep gash had left her drained of more blood than any mortal could survive without, yet still she clung on, channeling the last remnants of her lifeforce into Oras de Sieun, the Rapture of Time. The wind heaved and the earth moaned in agony.

          A life amongst lifetimes raced against the winds beating around him. Practicing the blade with Kiel as youths. Being ordained into the Order of the Silver Blade. Journeying across the realms chasing prophecy. Ascending the throne of a people who were surely now lost to the war. And her, the heart of his life, an existence in being itself. All the years they'd spent together, all the hardships, had come to this moment. Would these memories linger in the afterlife? Or was this the end of time itself? He knew not the answer and it saddened him more than the sight of her dying. The fallen king of Tyrar had one last glance before her being disintegrated into sheer energy and emanated through the bloodied battlefield. Light flooded from where she'd stood and engulfed the legions of the shadow, ripping corrupted beasts and men alike from their very existence, pulling them out of time itself.

          Then the silence came, and his consciousness slipped away into the void.