Prologue

One thousand years ago…

Cecil stood before Golbez, wielding his sword and magic. The battle was raging all around him, but all seemed to slow, and then stop for the fight about to come. Cecil raised his sword, but at the wave of Golbez's hand, his weapon disintegrated. Then, out of nowhere, a burst of pure darkness flew at Cecil, but he stopped it with a shield of light.

Golbez glared at him, pure evil in his eyes. "It ends now."

Cecil sighed. "Yes, this will decide the fate of the world. Either you die, or I die."

Then, without warning, he struck, sending a ball of pure energy at Golbez. But the energy was stopped and absorbed into darkness. Cecil then noticed energy curling around his fingers and he felt a sword—the Lightbringer—materialize in his hand. All of a sudden Golbez roared in anger and the world around him exploded into darkness. Cecil waved his hand and the darkness dissolved. In a rush of speed, Golbez stood before him, his weapons ready to strike. Cecil barely managed to raise his sword in time to block his blow. The fight was in a blur, weapons moving faster than the eye could follow.

There was a break in the fighting and Golbez struck only to be deflected by a magical shield. Both flew back, stopping in midair. Golbez shouted and Cecil felt darkness eating away at him and dispelled it quickly before it could do any real damage. The fight began again, blade against blade once again. Out of nowhere, Golbez gasped, clutching his chest. The darkness must be eating away at his body, Cecil thought. But the time for mercy has passed. This has to be done. Cecil drove the blade into Golbez. He looked down, confused. Then, he collapsed.

"I-i-is it over?" Golbez asked shakily. Cecil bent over him, a sad look crossing his face.

"Yes, brother it is. You can rest now.

I am sorry it had to be this way…" Golbez shivered. "I am sorry too… I n-never meant f-for things to be this w-way. I hope…I hope you can make this world a better place. A b-better place th-than I did. Live a good life broth—"And so Golbez breathed his last breath and passed on to the next world.

The war was over…