A long time ago, there was an elven prince, Mathew, living in the deep forest of Lathrios. With great care, he looked after his people. By his side, he had a handsome wizard, named Esteban, who promised him, his everlasting devotion.
But even the purest of loves can drain and crumble to pieces along with life itself. On one fated night, a terrible curse hit Esteban, and he changed to the very core of his heart. On that fated night, the young wizard turned evil and tried to steal from the prince.
His target, was the necklace that he kept around his neck. A necklace that could give him the greatest power of all time, the power of the nature. Terrified by his beloved's, change, Mathew tried in vain to stop him, but Esteban's power were too great to defeat. The only thing stronger than his powers were those of the necklace.
Nothing is for free. The magic of the necklace comes to the price of your soul. To use it the soul must link with the necklace. And so, in order to stop his lover, he trapped his soul inside the necklace and forced the wizard to retreat.
Esteban disappeared into the deepest parts of the forest, and although he was never seen, slowly he gathered an army, strong enough to gain him the ultimate power.
The land began to fall apart, and all hope seemed lost, until one fated day. Our story begins, deep within the mines of the Mountain City of Amlod.
The pickaxe collided once again with the sturdy inside of the mountain wall. The Mountain Clan's strongest warrior, Francis, put the pickaxe down to inspect the wall, furrowing his brows upon seeing the minor difference it had made. He looked around the cave, his eyes gazing upon each of his friends who were all working quietly. He sighed sadly, as his eyes landed on Peter, a boy of only thirteen who had too been resigned to work in the mines, as the Mountain Clan became poorer. The boy work without a single break, and it seemed as though there was no end to his young strength. He shook his head as he turned around, facing the stone wall once more and continuing his work, as though there really was anything there to find. He stopped mid-air when he heard a sudden clank behind him. In seconds all eyes had turned to Peter on the other side of the cave. Peter's pickaxe was lying on the ground but the teenager didn't even seem to notice. His eyes were glued to something he had found in the wall. Francis and Scott, the chief's long trusted advisor, quickly made their way over to Peter.
"What's going on?" Francis asked quickly with more force than he intended to.
"This isn't coal." Peter explained simply.
Francis needed only a few seconds to determine that what Peter had found was indeed not coal. It appeared to be some kind of stone tablet, secured behind the cave wall.
"Of course not." Francis said harshly, once again more forcefully than he had intended.
"Francis. Be calm." Scott said, placing a heavy hand on Francis' shoulder. "Peter. What have you found?"
Francis and Scott both stared at Peter who looked increasingly more uncomfortable.
"I-It seems to be some kind of writing, Mr Scott." he whispered.
"How would you know?" Francis asked, sending Peter a questioning glance. "You can't even read."
Peter looked like he was about to answer but Scott beat him to it.
"Francis, that's enough." he said firmly. "Let me take a look at that."
Peter and Francis moved aside, allowing the redhead to take a good look at the tablet. A long silence followed as the other's waited patiently. At long last, Peter seemed to find the silence unbearable, as he suddenly decided to speak up.
"I think it's a message from a ghost."
Francis shook his head in disbelief.
"Don't be silly, Peter. There is no such thing as a ghost." he said calmingly."It's probably just a prank."
Francis cursed himself for how ridiculous that suggestion sounded, but hoped that Peter wouldn't catch on to it. Unfortunately for Francis, Peter did.
"What kind of prank could this be?" he asked, looking sceptically at Francis with his big blue eyes. "It's impossible. Now you're the one being silly."
Francis gave Peter a meaningful looking, hoping that it would get Peter to drop the subject. As silence fell again, he finally noticed Scott mumbling to himself. From what he could gather of Scott's mumbles, it was nothing more than gibberish. To his surprise, Scott looked dead serious as he mumbled the strange words, before he suddenly turned around to Francis, Peter and the others, who had long since stopped working to see what was going on.
"We need to get the chief here right away." he said determinately. "Clear the area around the text while I'm gone. Do not under any circumstances damage the tablets."
Scott barked out his orders to all presents, as if he had done so every day, even though it had been years since the last time Scott and the rest of the clan had been to war. Francis and Peter nodded in understanding before Scott turned on his heels and ventured into the tunnels.
Scott's feet took him quickly through the maze of tunnels, knowing every crook by heart. Not once, did he stop to look around or think through what way he was going. Like all of the Mountain Clan, he knew these tunnels since he was young.
As he hurried along, the feeling of a mine began to disappear and the tunnels offered a much more inviting feeling. On each of his sides where brightly coloured doors, that lead in to the homes of the Clan members. Scott did not cast a single look to either of these doors, because he knew what he was looking for. His pace slowed down as he finally reach the great hall, a giant cave that had been carved out of the mountain many centuries ago.
Scott's eyes instantly landed on the man that was calmly sitting by a desk at the far end of the room. The blonde man was too engrossed in the old book that he was currently reading, to even notice the arrival of Scott before the redhead was standing right in front of him, coughing loudly. The forest green eyes of the chief looked up in surprise.
"Bloody hell, Scott. Whatever is the matter?" he asked, a little disgruntled at having been disturbed.
"There's something you need to see in the mines, Arthur."
Arthur furrowed his brows as he looked at the redhead, looking for any indication of what could possibly be going on. There was no sign of sadness in Scott's eyes. There was in fact a sign of hope and joy in the older man's eyes. Arthur quickly ruled out the possibility of another death in the mines, knowing Scott's strong loyalty and love for his people.
"What have you found?" he asked, but he didn't exactly need an answer, since he was already standing up and gathering his things.
Scott began to explain to Arthur as they walked, the blonde walking a few steps ahead, knowing the tunnels better than anyone in the clan.
"Well, it was Peter." Scott began.
"Peter?" Arthur asked, turning slightly to Scott. "Is he hurt?"
"No, not at all." Scott assured. "He found what appears to be a tablet hidden behind the cave walls."
"Tablets?"
"Tablets with inscriptions in them." Scott continued. "Inscriptions in the ancient language."
Arthur stopped momentarily and looked at Scott.
"You don't think...?" he asked.
"I didn't understand all of the text." Scott admitted. "But it definitely said, "evil", "dark" and "gods" among a few other words I just barely made out."
Arthur nodded grimly and began walking again, walking faster this time with his heart beating in his chest. When he and Scott arrived at the mine, Francis and the others had finished their job, leaving the tablet and it's inscription in full view. Arthur didn't waste any time. He instantly headed for the tablet and began to scribble in his notebook, shutting out the rest of the world.
After a long silence, he finally looked up, looking at each and everyone one of the present clan members.
"Never in my life did I think I'd get to see such explicit example of the ancient language." he whispered, casting another glance at the letters, covering the tablet.
"The ancient language?" Peter asked, looking up at Arthur with a confused set of eyes.
"It's the language that was spoken in this land, up until the time of king Meron." Scott explained calmly. "After years of studying I still only know fragments of it. Few people alive still knows it by heart."
"One of them being me." Arthur reminded. "I took the liberty of translating the inscription, and it seems to be a prophecy."
"A prophecy?" Francis asked in amazement.
"Judging by the message." Arthur confirmed.
"So what does it say?" Peter asked.
"Well, let's see if I got this right." Arthur said, as he began to read from his notebook. "168 lunar moons after evil has trapped our nation in its' dark clutches, the god's messenger shall once more travel to the dark forests. Three children, selected by the gods, shall unite and as one strong bond, free our home from the great evil."
Arthur paused and looked back at the tablet.
"The rest, is unfortunately impossible to make out." he admitted with bitter smile. "However, I dare say, that this is the best news we've had in years."
He looked at all his clan members with a sense of hope in his chest.
"I dare say the gods have something planned after all."