Legends
Prologue
The night was dark and cold, the only light emitted from the half moon. Vascaroon walked, quiet and methodical through the dense forest area. He had abandoned his chocobo a day ago and was now doing the long journey by foot. The woods was an unforgiving place, thick branches and thorn bushes had to be hacked away by his sword and his progress was slow. Tired and worn out from his trek, he decided to make camp. Within minutes, he found a little hill clear from the thick vegetation, a ten metre radius to move, enough to manoeuvre in case he had to fight. A large stone rested at the top and he made camp, lighting a small fire underneath. Taking his pack, laying it up against the rock, he drifted to sleep.
"Vascaroon…my love, rest."Chayel? My sweet, Chayel how can I hear you? Her voice was angelic, a harp playing a low, comforting tune played in the background. A white light appeared in his mind, the light changed slowly, an outline of a woman started to appear.
"Chayel?" Vascaroon's wanted to sound strong but the words were said in whisper.
"She isn't alive, you know this, awake now!" The voice was harsh and cold, snapping him back to reality. The image disappeared and Vascaroon was alone, the hard rock against the side of his face. Lethargy reeked in his muscles, pleading for more sleep, the harp continued to play in his mind and he tried to drift back to sleep. Within a second of his eyes closed, a nearby rustle, the sound faint and barely audible, awoke him. To his trained ears, he could make out that whatever it was, was sneaking up on him. He stirred, pretending to be asleep, his hand curling round his hidden dagger, inside his dark cloak.
"Did you cast sleep?" a female voice whispered.
"Shhh! You may awaken him." another replied. Their steps were quiet and were approaching where he slept. A sword hissed from it's scabbard, Vascaroon leapt up, his dagger catching the moonlight and slicing the first attackers throat. Blood garbled from her wound, the sword dropping, she frantically pressed her fingers to stop the bleeding. The second attacker let out a slow moan and dropped her blade.
"Please, I am unarmed." her voice pleaded.
"Why are you attacking me?" Vascaroon kept his dagger aimed at the second attackers throat. They were both female and they both wore black cloaks with the hood covering their hair.
"On Hyne's orders. We are Arcani." Vascaroon gripped his dagger tighter. The Arcani were the warlord Hyne's, magic warriors. All were female and all knew the dark art of sorcery.
"Dark magic, eh? What spell am I under now to be letting you live?" He pressed his knife closer towards her throat till a speck of blood trickled down her slender neck.
"You are protected from our magic, somehow? Please let me heal my partner." His icy blue eyes meet her light green.
"No, she tried to kill me and therefore she deserves to die."
"I have information that may aid you."
"What possible information could you have of use to me?" he asked, loosing the dagger slightly.
"Hyne prepares for war on the Zebalga tribe. Your journey route will take you days which you don't have. We used an ancient path which makes you bypass the forest. I will lead you to it if you let her live."
"How can I trust you?"
"Because I keep my word. Please." Vascaroon sheathed the dagger, allowing the woman to step into a false sense of security. While she crouched, he would slit her throat too.
"Trust her, Vascaroon. She doesn't lie I sense it."The harsh voice came back.
"Who are you?"Vascaroon asked the voice.
"All we be revealed when you meet the Zebalga tribe."The voice replied. It was a female voice, whomever it was, also knew sorcery. "Maybe you are Arcani?"Vascaroon thought to himself.
"No, else I would let them have killed you. I protect you from their magic."
Vascaroon gazed at the female Arcani trying to heal her partner. Studying her movements, never letting her out of his sight. The green eyed female pushed her hood back showing long black hair, her pale complexion, like that of a ghost, shone in the moonlight. Her features were pretty, a slender face with high cheekbones and a small pointy nose. Vascaroon could not believe the beauty. Rumour had it that the Arcani had rotten flesh and some say they had no eyes but hers shone such a lovely bright green. The Arcani knelt beside her dying partner and put her left hand against her forehead. A blue bubble of light formed in her right hand, then transformed in colour to white before disappearing into the body of her partner. Vascaroon peered over the Arcani and was shocked to see that the cut had healed. The injured Arcani shot up her pale grey eyes staring angrily at him.
"You fool! Why did you agree to help him. Angelin! Hyne, will have our heads for this!" She flicked her gaze away from Vascaroon and turned to her partner.
"He would have let you die and would have killed me also. Would you rather I let you die?" Angelin shot back.
"We are as good as dead anyway. Hyne is unforgiving." She sat down by the large rock and sighed, her anger fading. Vascaroon noticed that she was older than Angelin and her skin was heavily wrinkled by the forehead yet Vascaroon knew that she was beautiful once. The same high cheekbones as Angelin but she had a more prominent nose. She pushed back her hood, letting her white hair flow down to her shoulders and she sat in silence.
"We could run from Hyne?" Angelin meekly put in.
"Run from a god, Angelin. Come on, I taught you better than that? Even if we did run, where could we go? We are Arcani and would be slaughtered in any tribe for being Sorceresses. "
"What about our deal? Show me the path, I will be on my way." Vascaroon interrupted.
"We will guide you to the outskirts of the Zebalga tribe but can take you no further." the old Arcani replied. She cast a dirty look toward Angelin and began to walk away.
"I thank you for letting her live. Her name is Magroon." Angelin gave a quick smile and began to trot off.
Vascaroon grabbed his pack, draping the black cloak over his shoulder, he adjusted his black jerkin and began to walk after the Arcani.
"You can trust the young one, Angelin. But watch out for the old one, Magroon. She will back stab you both for Hyne and she is a powerful one."the voice whispered in his head.