Despair-Prologue
#1 of Despair
... and so the guilds were formed. As the King had decreed, each and every one was tasked with a certain task in the Kingdom. There was the Guild of Transportation, given the decree to provide and enhance any and all forms of movement throughout the Kingdom. There was the Guild of Mail, a subset of the guild of transportation tasked with the delivery of all parcels and letters. There was the Guild of Masonry, tasked with the advancement of construction. And, considered to be the most important, there was the Guild of Defenders.
This Guild is strange. Compared to all the other Guilds, it has more factions than all of them combined. Magic, leadership, swordsmanship, cavalry. The list goes on and on. By far, it was the most difficult and most prestigious moment in anyone's lives, to be accepted into the Guild of Magic. The Guild of Magic was in charge of exactly what its name stated. Anything and everything to do with Magic, magical creatures, magical situations. Anything your mind could possibly conjure up.
The Guild of Magic is the oldest in existence. It was created and run even before the Kingdom rose, before even the cries of pain from wars and hunger were echoing throughout the world. Before the Apocalypse, as some are wont to call it, the entire world collapsed into chaos and anarchy. Before, however, the world was at peace. Everyone was fed, all were taken care of, and Death was a rare thing.
But that changed when Helion arose. He called himself 'God's Champion' and harnessed magic far greater than anything discovered in those days. With it, he sundered the world, casting it into shadow, and in the process, killing himself. For years afterwards, the world trembled in fear at his return, but eventually...
-Excerpt from The History of the Kingdom and Before-
Prologue
The torch flickered weakly, casting morbid shadows onto the walls of the large cavern. Voices whispered excitedly within its confines, echoing off of the strange statues carved into the walls and the frescoes of faded gold and white.
Multiple bright white tents were spread throughout the large caverns, magical light spilling out of a few, and campfires sitting in front of the others. On the side of all of them, printed in dark black letters, the words Guild of Archeology sat in rapt attention to everything going on around them.
One tent in the center was larger than all of the others. It was one of the few with magical light spilling out of the open flaps, and it was also the only one occupied by anyone. Indistinct and blurry shadows moved across the wall of the tent, depicting the image of a man walking briskly back and forth.
, "We need to stop this operation right now Yttik." A harsh voice was issuing forth from the briskly moving shadow, "you know the implications of what that tablet said!"
"Bah! Myth and legend, that's all. I would have expected better from you Liam." A voice said from deeper within the tent, its shadow hidden from onlookers.
Inside the tent was very crowded, a small desk sitting in the center, chests littered randomly across the stone floor and a small cot shoved between some. Yttik sat at the desk, glaring at Liam as he paced in the small open space. Yttik was, to say the least, a very fat human. His jowls jiggled at the slightest movement, and his barely restrained stomach took up more room than most of the chests in the room.
How he had gotten into the tent at all was a question best asked of higher powers. Liam, however, was the complete opposite. Where Yttik was fat and bald, and human, Liam had was a large and heavily muscled Lion. His huge mane of hair hid the scarred and pockmarked face.
Any sane person would be terrified of him while he was in this mood.
"Damnet Yttik! This is not a joking matter!" Liam said as his paw slammed into the small desk.
"Unfortunately, it is. What kind of thick headed buffoon would believe the rumors that float around a camp like this?" Yttik said calmly, simply writing on a sheet of paper as Liam raged in front of him.
Yttik was clearly not sane.
"I WOULD! You don't tempt fate Yttik. It will kick you in the balls, if there's any in those thick rolls of fat on you, and then eat you whole."
Another slam of Liam's fists was accentuated with a loud explosion and cries of pain and fear.
A booming voice echoed throughout the cavern, casting a wind throughout and putting out the torches and campfires.
The magical lights designed at the beginning of the apocalypse to fight off the dark and evil shattered. The cavern was plunged back into its eternal darkness, and was accompanied by three words.
"I AM FREE"
-
Sunlight streamed through the tall Academy windows, lighting the room with a dappled golden glow. Students were arranged among the seats, barely taking up a tenth of those that were available. Each one had a large book in front of them, different colored lights streaming out of them.
Eris walked around slowly, examining her students with care. This batch of first years appeared to be particularly skilled, but one boy in particular stuck out. A young man at in the corner, a book identical to all the others in front of him with a dim green and gold glow coming out of it. At first glance he appeared to be almost a hundred pages ahead of all the other students.
He was in truth, napping. She could see the illusion spell easily, but she wasn't angry. The fact he could cast illusion this early was a remarkable sign, but he would have to be taught discipline before this class ended. She wandered over carefully, and in the blink of an eye, smashed his illusion to pieces.
She was surprised at what was revealed. Instead f napping, like what she had expected, he was reading a small book on top of the first one. A much brighter glow came from this one, showing that the magical strength of the spells within was much greater than a first year student should have been studying.
She grabbed it out of his hand before he could react, and slammed it closed, reading the title. Greater Healing.
"Where did you get this?" She asked calmly.
He pulled himself tight in embarrassment, and mumbled quietly, "My sister. She's a fifth year."
"You shouldn't have this book. Nor should you even be imagining casting spells like this yet. If you mess them up, you could do more than kill someone else."
"I know, I'm sorry... Who's free?" He asked curiously at the end.
Eris didn't even have time to get another word out before she felt a strange echo in her head.
I am Free the echo had just finished saying before she felt the wards around the room shatter, and the magical energy stored in each of the books exploded. The book in her hand exploded with much more force than the others and threw her across the room.
She barely had any time to sense the multitude of death spreading throughout the entire Guild before she was claimed by blackness.
-
Sweat dripped annoyingly into Erik's eyes, nearly causing him to miss parrying a strike from his opponent. He growled and swung his sword roughly in an arc, but stopped suddenly when he felt a sharp prick on is neck.
"You swung to wide Erik. You need to learn to control your anger. Don't let it rule you." His master said from in front of him.
"Of course master. I am sorry for failing you yet again."
"There's no need to be so stingy Erik. It's only practice. This is when you're supposed to make mistakes."
"I know, I know. It' just, agh! So aggravating! I'm a third year student; I shouldn't be making these mistakes. Not now."
"True, but you do seem a little off your game today." His master said as he sheathed his sword.
His master was a tall man, with thick muscles and a short white goatee. His clothes looked homespun, but Erik knew they were enchanted to absorb damage. Unlike his master, who was calm and collected at all times, Erik had a... fiery disposition. This was revealed in his fiery orange coat of fur. His revealed stomach was a bright white color, and his annoyingly fluffy tail swung behind him in irritation. His parents had always said 'Be proud you are a fox! We have it off much better than most others'. He was not very proud of this annoying form.
Erik himself was also tall, but with much less muscle. He was larger than most other kids his age, but still quite small compared to his master. His eyes were a bright green, contrasted sharply with his masters dark blue. He puffed out his lips and sat down heavily, narrowly missing sitting on his tail.
He had only just started to remove his armor when he felt a strange... creaking in the air around him. His master stood up quickly in surprise and dropped his sword.
I am Free the creaking seemed to say, than an explosion sounded in the distance. Somewhere near the Magic Academy. A strong glow began to surround the sword in his hand, than it exploded outwards, silencing his thoughts of curiosity.
-
Lisa smiled guiltily as she heaved a clinking pouch into Fillin's hand.
"Lisa, you know what I told you about stealing," he said with a smile, "you do it way to well.
She beamed that radiant smile of hers, making Fillin smile back at her as well. He was definitely falling for her, even with their separate species. Lisa was a fox, and Fillin was an otter. Lisa had a brother in the Academy, one that didn't greatly care for her, and no parents.
So instead of living with her fiery headed brother, she had headed off into the city to do things on her own. And she had found Fillin. The otter had been kind enough to steal her only money, and then returned it to her when he found her crumpled in an alleyway crying.
He handed it back with a smile and an apology, and they had become fast friends.
Fillin was an orphan. He had grown up on his own, and despite his position in life, had become quite the morally correct person. He stole from the rich, and gave to the poor. He hardly even saved enough money to stay in the business.
Lisa and he had joined forces, and after she had proved to be quite the deft thief, he had fallen in love with her.
"Hey Fillin, I want you to meet my brother." Lisa said from beside him.
"What? I thought he hated you!" He replied, perhaps a little to quickly.
"No...his system is based on honor and things like that, but after I told him more about what you do, he didn't find you so... repulsive."
"Oh."
The door in the ware house they had been sitting in slammed open, and a young tiger boy ran in, his green eyes spilling crystal tears.
"What's wrong Henry?" Lisa and Fillin both asked in unison.
"The Academy, it's burning! What if My Mom gets hurt!"
"What?!"
Lisa and Fillin both rushed outside.
The streets were filled with panic, people running and screaming, and even looting. Henry followed closely behind them, whimpering in fear at all of the angry and fearful people around them.
The Academy was indeed burning. Fires were burning within various portions of the shining gem at the center of the city of Guilian. Most of the damage was incurred to the Magic ward, where Henry's mother worked as a professor. The once beautiful glass windows and spires were shattered and falling, and a thin shimmering could be seen surrounding the building.
Fillin recognized it as a shield spell. Someone in the Magic Guild had put up a shield to keep fires and damages inside of that area from spreading.
"Erik! He has classes today!" Lisa screamed.
Fillin turned to her. "You go find him, I'll help Henry."
Fillin grabbed Henry and put him on his thin shoulders, and began running up to the Academy with Lisa.