Chapter One -
That was then…
Thousands of years ago, the world of Ascalon was a world of peace, free from the dark shadows of conflict, its lands unstained by blood. The many different kingdoms of Ascalon were each ruled and governed by separate Kings or Queens, their minds free from corruption, their judgements and laws made through negotiation and compromise, not force.
All the Kings and Queens of Ascalon were human, and therefore had free will - the ability to choose right from wrong, good from bad. It was for this reason that the Higher Order ensured that all the Kings and Queens of Ascalon were human.
The Higher Order, were a gathering of Ascalon's most knowledgeable beings, all of whom were shrouded in mystery, their names and faces hidden and unknown to the people of Ascalon. Even the Kings and Queens of Ascalon did not know who the Higher Order truly were. They believed that peace would be upheld for longer if the human royalties were free to make their own choices, judgements and decisions.
However, the Higher Order had overlooked a fatal flaw in their desire to create a perfect, peaceful world. They had never prepared themselves, should a King or Queen of Ascalon suddenly decide to do the wrong thing by their people, which is what occurred when a young man named Jyrad ascended the throne in Zirale. But Jyrad was different.
Jyrad's father, Calatar, fell in love with, and married, an immortal being known as a Valaine, whose name was Nárelle. But Valaines were seen as cursed beings, who can bring both a blessing and a curse to those in contact with them.
In order to be with Nárelle, Calatar had to surrender his soul. Upon doing so, Calatar also surrendered his kind, compassionate nature which was replaced by bitterness, anger and cruelty.
Nárelle did not seem to notice the change in Calatar until after their wedding the following year, where Calatar suddenly demanded that Nárelle bear him a son. At first, Nárelle refused, as she did not feel ready, but Calatar eventually forced himself upon his young wife for her to provide him with a son. Nárelle was severely punished by her husband where instead of a son, Nárelle bore Calatar twin daughters. As punishment for her 'wrongdoing', Nárelle was viciously beaten and her infant daughters were both cruelly slaughtered, their bodies burnt, the day after their birth.
Jyrad was born a year later, much to Calatar's delight, though Nárelle was determined not to let her violent husband harm her infant son. Nárelle also knew that after her death, Calatar's soul would be returned to him, and he would return to how he once was - kind, fair, compassionate. So, in exchange for her own life, Nárelle relinquished her own immortality to pass it onto her son, so he could not be harmed by Calatar. Nárelle was found dead only hours after giving birth, her infant son cradled lovingly in her arms, a smile of contentment and peace resting on her cold, dead lips.
As Nárelle had predicted, Calatar regained his soul the moment that she passed away.
So overcome with grief, Calatar took his own life in an attempt to be reunited with his young wife once again, to beg for her forgiveness, so that their souls may rest in peace together, united as one.
Almost immediately, the infant was placed under the care of the palace Elder, whose name was Kyan. Kyan was a kind, elderly man, who had seen King Calatar grow up from a boy into a man during his service to the royalty of Zirale. Kyan was also a trusted friend of King Calatar's before the King had sold his soul away to be with Nárelle.
During the first five years of Jyrad's young life, Kyan thought that Jyrad was the perfect young student - well-behaved, well-mannered, polite, courteous and kind.
But several months after Jyrad's eighth birthday, the young boy discovered his gift of immortality, left to him by his mother, Nárelle, after falling from a tree in the palace courtyard and breaking his neck beyond repair. Any other human being would have died almost instantly from such a horrific injury, and yet, Jyrad was conscious and climbing trees again within the hour. However, being so young, Jyrad did not remember barely anything about what had happened to him that day and so, the young Prince simply forgot about it.
However, only a few months later, Jyrad was struck down by a mysterious illness which swept through the palace, killing twelve people in total. Jyrad had lain in his bed for days on end, simply waiting to die, his body ravaged by the illness, its devastating effects cruelly shaking his poor, fragile body to its core.
Jyrad finally discovered his immortality when he was visited by Kyan, whom explained to Jyrad that he could not die, after the young boy had begged the Elder to take his life away, to end his suffering. Jyrad did not seem to react badly to the news at first, and swiftly recovered over the two weeks that followed. But several months later, Kyan did begin to notice a dramatic change in young Jyrad's personality. The young Prince had grown angry and bitter, and hated Kyan for keeping news of his immortality from him. Jyrad had also become incredibly difficult to mentor, Kyan found, for Jyrad would simply refuse to listen and would leave the room in increasingly more violent tempers.
Though in time, things would get much, much worse…
When Jyrad turned sixteen, he confronted Kyan, demanding that he claim his rightful place as heir to the Ziralean throne. Kyan did his best to reason with the young Prince, trying to convince Jyrad that he was still too young to govern a kingdom. However, Jyrad had grown arrogant and refused to listen to the Elder's words of concern, seeing Kyan as a threat, and so, the following night, Jyrad ordered the palace guards to ruthlessly kill the palace Elder.
After that fateful day when Jyrad had had his first taste of great power of a person, the young Prince demanded that he be crowned King the following week, and thus began King Jyrad's iron rule of terror over the Ziralean kingdom and its inhabitants.
However, the way the King was treating his people did not rest well with the braver, more bold inhabitants of Zirale, thus leading to countless attacks on the King's palace and the King's army, all of which resulted in terrible bloodshed and loss of life on both sides, though Jyrad's army prevailed each time, quashing each rebellion with terrible force.
The rebellions that had taken place deeply unnerved the King, and so, in a moment of what seemed to be power-crazed madness, Jyrad ordered that a giant stone wall be built around Zirale, sealing in the Ziralean inhabitants, preventing any escape from or entry into the kingdom.
But, as the years began to pass by, Jyrad noticed that the population of people within his kingdom had greatly diminished since he first came to the throne, due to the large number of elderly residents in Zirale in comparison to the younger residents. So, in order to restore and maintain the population of Zirale back to what it used to be, Jyrad passed a law which allowed a certain amount of people into the kingdom to live every year in the month of August. However, only men and women aged twenty-five to thirty-five where granted acceptance into the kingdom, so that the kingdom's population could be sustained through the birth of many children.
After seeing that this was incredibly successful, Jyrad passed a second law, stating that any woman whom had reached the age of forty-five and any man whom had reached the age of fifty were deemed no longer useful to the kingdom and were almost instantly 'disposed of'.
Over one hundred years have passed since then, but nothing has changed. Everything is still as it was one hundred years ago. The Wall still remains, trapping the people of Zirale within the kingdom they have now come to view as more of a prison than a home, and King Jyrad still rules over his people ruthlessly with an iron fist.
However, once in a lifetime, something incredible can sometimes occur, a miracle, and maybe, just maybe…this lifetime will be the one where something incredible might occur…in the form of two Ziralean orphans - a boy, Xadan, aged seventeen, and a girl, Arabellis, aged sixteen.
Maybe, just maybe, they might be the ones who hold the answers to ending Jyrad's cruel reign of terror of the kingdom of Zirale…