The Druidian Chronicles

Book I: Rebirth of Shadow

Prologue

The bright and silvery full moon cast its glow all across the old and wise trees that made up the entirety of the Khine woods. They absorbed the light as if it were some form of alien nourishment giving them a glossy finish on their leaves. In contrast, the grand trees all cast shadows on the ground of the extensive forest all reaching out somewhere; and in the center of it all, protected by its great white stone walls that were two hundred feet high, was the magnificent city of Lynne, and it too cast its own shadow into the aging forest around it.

The city shone brightly even in the black night. The light from the full moon reflected off the white outer stonewall and was taken in by the brown walls of the many buildings and homes inside. In the center of the city stood the masterpiece of a palace. The white marble that made up the exterior could be seen for miles around. The spires stretched into the sky as if trying to scrape the clouds above with their fingertips. But only one spire was able to reach the clouds. This spire would cast the biggest shadow of them all.

At the very top of the highest spire was the throne room. It was a terrace like room in the fact that there was no ceiling. The open room had a wondrous view of the dark sky above it. The moon illuminated the white stone walkway that cut through the center of the room and was surrounded by plants, flowers, and foliage of all sorts. Other than that there was no actual flooring. The floor was made entirely of grass so as to give the rectangular room more of a courtyard feel. The walkway stretched from the stairway entrance at one end to the beautiful red and gold throne that sat on a raised platform at the other end. But tonight, the throne was empty. Its owner was busy pacing the walkway and going over past events in his mind.

He was a tall man of about six foot four. Then again, he could not really be called a man for he wasn't human. In fact, his features were more cat-like than human. The maroon skin that covered his face looked as if it was melting off for the many wrinkles and age lines said that he had seen many, many years. The cat-like ears were prominent on his head and allowed for acute hearing. A small white goatee descended down his chin and ended with a small curl. Unlike his face, the rest of his body did resemble that of a human on the outside, aside from the maroon skin that made up his hands. However, it was impossible to know for sure because he was covered from neck to foot in extravagant black armor that shined in the moonlight. A billowing red cape followed him wherever he walked and was fastened around his neck by a silver clasp.

King Rusade continued to pace the walkway of his throne room, every so often stopping to either ponder a significant possibility or to just gaze at the luscious plant life around the room until another thought sprung into his mind. It had been a long day for the king, a long day indeed. He had no idea how something as massive and serious as a double assassination could happen right under his nose. It simply wasn't possible. Had it been an inside job? That would be even more severe. What was worse was the fact that as far as Rusade knew, there was no one strong enough on the entire planet of Druidia that would be capable of murdering the two individuals. Yet, they were definitely dead, there was no questioning that. Therefore, someone or something had escaped his notice and that was what worried the king most of all.

How was he going to tell his subjects? How was he going to explain to his subjects that the pair of people the whole planet relied on for safety and order were now dead? The thought of not saying a word sprung into his mind but Rusade instantly cast it aside for he didn't want to lose the peoples' trust and nor would he be able to conceal this piece of knowledge for long. When neither of them would be seen in the next few days or possibly weeks then everyone would know something was wrong and he would be questioned anyway. There was no other option. Rusade had to give the dreadful and bleak news in a speech tomorrow afternoon.

He began to pace the walkway again and started planning different approaches to address the matter. The full moon continued to bathe the room in its mysterious silvery glow. The white marble walls reflected the light and they were given a glossy finish. It was as if someone had laminated the entire room in a thick layer of shiny plastic. A slight breeze caressed the plants and flowers surrounding the walkway and made them sway as if on their own. Normally, King Rusade would have cherished this time of night. Normally, he would have sat in his throne and gazed at it all with his wise and knowing eyes. But tonight was different; tonight, he was oblivious to it all.

It was disturbing. The Tamer, the very symbol of hope and everlasting peace, was dead, along with his Cremage partner. The murder of a Cremage, a member of the very magic wielding race that Rusade ruled over, was already considered the highest possible offence on the planet and was usually punished by either life in high security captivity or death, but the murder of a Tamer? It was unthinkable and made the king sick. Rusade had tried to contact the Tamer's Cremage an hour ago and had received no response. Furthermore, the pair of them were supposed to have been on their way to the nearby city of Algraed but upon interrogation of the city's officials, he learned that neither the Tamer nor the Cremage had shown up at all.

There was only one explanation that Rusade could think of: someone or something had, indeed, attacked them.

The king continued to pace the walkway for several more minutes; always his mind was racing, trying to piece together the puzzle laid bare in front of him. It was at least fifteen more minutes before Rusade's mind was temporarily relieved by a knock on the throne room door.

The King turned to face the closed mahogany door with its golden stripes that were holding the wood together. "Enter," he called.

Into the room walked another Cremage. He too resembled a human, but an unorthodox one. His light blue skin complemented his long, dark green hair. In fact, it was so long that it had to be bound in one extensive braid and was draped over the Cremage's shoulder. His face was flawless and his black eyes were sharp, clever, and piercing. The Cremage wore a small tan tunic that looked to be so tight that it would restrict his movement, however, his physical build suggested that he was quite agile.

"Sire," the Cremage started. "The soldiers you sent to look for the missing Tamer and Cremage. Two of them have found something in the mountains of the Kalandor region. They have brought it with them and are waiting outside the door." His voice was silky and hypnotizing, as if he were trying to put Rusade in a trance.

King Rusade's eyes narrowed. What had the soldiers found? He had sent them out to search but had not expected them to really find anything at all. He had been planning on going out to search in the morning and leaving his apprentice, Klanoa, in charge of the kingdom for the day. Had the soldiers actually found the Tamer; or perhaps the Cremage? Nevertheless, whatever it was, it had to be very important for Vespir to call on him in the dead of night.

"Very well, Vespir. Send them in," Rusade answered.

"I must warn you, Sire. It's not a very pleasant sight." Vespir turned to the door and retreated behind it. He returned with two of the palace soldiers following suit. They were dressed from head to foot in brilliant white armor and were carrying between them what looked like just a black mass of nothing. But when the soldiers stepped into the moonlight, the mass was illuminated to be one of the most disturbing things Rusade had ever seen.

The skin on the dead Tamer's body was as white as the armor covering the soldiers who seemed intent on not looking at the body at all. He was a human boy of about seventeen. His golden blonde hair was parted in the front and was filled with dirt from Rusade suspected the ground. His clothes were torn and burned in many places and there was a substantial hole in his chest that was covered in dry blood. Dry blood also leaked from both corners of his mouth. The boy's left leg had been completely severed at the knee.

Rusade took in the sight of the boy with horror. He turned to look at Vespir, his eyes wide, but the latter just turned his face away. Rusade turned again to the boy. Vespir had been right. The sight of Druidia's Tamer in this state was almost too much for the king to bear. It took every ounce of the king's being to swallow all his sorrow for the time being to lift the body from the hands of the soldiers, lay it at the foot of his throne, and turn back to the soldiers in order to interrogate them. He spoke softly, in whispers, as if he were afraid to wake up the Tamer from the dead.

"Where did you say you found him?" he said. The soldier on his left was quickest to speak.

"Inside the Kalandor Mountains, my Liege. We think his Cremage partner had also been there but the Cremage had been obliterated beyond all possible recognition. There was blood spattered everywhere." The soldier turned to his comrade.

"We are very sorry, Sire," said the second soldier. "We couldn't bring the Cremage back as well. But there were great burn marks all around the valley where they were that suggested some sort of fight took place."

"Of course there had been a fight," responded Rusade. "Cremagi are supposed to protect their Tamers, not the other way around. Besides, humans possess no magic.

"At what time did you discover the bodies?" the king continued. He was no longer staring at the soldier but was looking up into the sky instead.

"Around 4 o'clock," the first soldier answered. It was now well past midnight.

"We took a bit of time to examine the scene," the second soldier added, apologetically.

Rusade continued to stare into the night sky. All the stars seemed to stare right back at them. Each one of those stars had, at one time, been past Tamers of Druidia. As he looked on, a new star suddenly shined into view. The blonde haired boy had joined his kin of Tamer blood. Rusade turned back to the pair of palace guards.

"Very well," he sighed. His face suddenly became very grave. The change had been so quick that the soldiers were thrown off guard. "You are to call back all the other guards who are still out searching as soon as you leave this room. The pair of you are relived of duty for the rest of the night and tomorrow. You will speak of what you have found to absolutely no one. If anyone asks what has happened then tell them you know nothing. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," they responded in unison. Each gave a small salute to their king. With a wave of his hand, Rusade dismissed them both and they turned and marched through the door, closing it behind them. Rusade continued to watch the door after the soldiers had left. He couldn't seem to get his mind to work anymore. The sight of the mutilated Tamer had shaken him up so much. He turned around and looked again at the dead human boy now lying at the foot of his throne. Rusade walked over and with one finger gently closed his still open eyes.

"A shame," he whispered. "to die so young and so harshly. May his soul be at peace with the Tamers of Old."

Vespir walked over beside the king. He too looked at the boy, but not with the same sorrowful look that his king had. Vespir acknowledged the former Tamer with curiosity, specifically at the boy's left wrist where a jet-black, technological wristband that consisted of two square buttons and a wide screen was fit snugly over what appeared to be stretch marks on the boy's wrist.

"Sire, do you see those?" he asked, pointing at the stretch marks.

Rusade looked where his trusted attendant was pointing. He lifted the blonde haired boy's wrist into his hands and stared at the marks. So the target had not necessarily been the Tamer, but the Tetraband.

"Yes, Vespir, I do now. It appears that whomever attacked our young friend tried to remove the Tetraband by force, crudely and unsuccessfully." Rusade gently flipped the boy's hand over and traced the length of the bottom of the wristband with his index finger. Instantly the wristband unlatched itself from the former Tamer's wrist. It was almost as if it had been waiting for Rusade's touch. The king was about to speak again but was interrupted by a second knock on his throne room door.

The pair of them turned in time to see a very small creature wrapped up in a brown cloak enter in to the terrace like room. The hood of the cloak was pulled up over her dark green and extremely wrinkled face. The hood covered the creature's eyes and gave the illusion that it had no idea where it was going. The miniature Cremage spoke with a mystic tone that seemed to linger in the air afterward.

"Forgive me for intruding upon you in this ghostly hour," she wheezed.

Rusade's face softened for the Cremage. "Not at all, Deigh," he answered. "Vespir and I were just talking about past events."

"Ahhh, yes. The matter of the missing Tamer, I trust? Have you found him yet?" Her question was answered as Rusade and Vespir both stepped aside to reveal the cold and lifeless body of Druidia's former Tamer. Deigh gingerly stepped as close as she could to the soundless teenager's face and almost touched her nose to his in examination. She then continued to examine the burned hole in his chest, his missing leg, and his torn and charred clothes until finally, she too rested her eyes onto the Tetraband which was now next to the boy's hand on the ground.

She picked the wristband up and laced her frail fingers around the technological marvel. "This boy has suffered a horrible fate. There is Dark power at work here, very Dark power, indeed."

Vespir's eyes narrowed. "How can you tell? How do you know it wasn't the result of an accident or a Cremage who got a bit too big for his ego? There are plenty of those."

"He has the distinct aura," she answered simply, replacing the Tetraband next to the boy's hand. "The aura of Black magic surrounds him." She turned back to face the king and his attendant. "But, alas, although this is a sorrowful sight and should not be taken lightly I might add, Sire," she continued with a nod of agreement from Rusade. "I come bearing some other news; news of a more…prophetic area.

"Approximately one hour ago, I had been sitting in my back room. I was staring into my crystal ball. Suddenly, I blacked out. I fell forward onto my table, passed out cold and-"

"Are you alright, Deigh?" Rusade interrupted. With a wave of her hand, Deigh silenced the wise king, a power no one else had over him.

"I stand before you on this cloudy night. Therefore, I am fine."

Vespir looked up into the sky, narrowing his eyes yet again and Rusade knew he was thinking the same thing. There wasn't a single cloud in the dark sky above them.

"As I was saying," Deigh continued. "I passed out onto my table and was visited by the image of a boy, a human boy to be exact. He seemed carefree, almost naïve. But his courage and his heart were undeniable. He was a strong boy, indeed, although, I'm sure he didn't know it. And then he spoke, as if to me intentionally. It was not a normal conversation or random chatter," she looked into the king's eyes.

"It was a prophecy of events to come."

Rusade nodded his head in understanding. Deigh was the most famed Seer in Druidia. There were others who claimed to be just as good but Rusade knew that Deigh was unparalleled. Her predictions had never been wrong in her 3500 years of life. It was then that the wizened Seer recited the prophecy back to the king as if it were a fairy tale that she had heard hundreds of times and knew by heart.

"Shadow grows stronger.

On the eve of the death of Light,

The seal on Shadow will break.

But with the death of Light,

Comes the Rebirth as well.

Light anew will take shape

In one who wields the Cremage birthright.

Shadow grows stronger.

So, too, does the Light.

So, too, does the Eternal Darkness."

As she finished, Deigh looked to the sky. It was almost as if she expected some miracle to happen right there in the blackness above them, slightly illuminated only by the glow from the silvery moon.

Rusade pondered the Seer's words with great interest. He now understood why she had said it was a cloudy night. No doubt she had taken an hour to come to him because she had taken time to figure the prophecy out for herself so as to give him a better idea of what was in store. Rusade decided to try and pick it apart one line at a time.

Shadow grows stronger… that was self-explanatory to an extent. The eve of the death of Light would have to be last night and the Light would have to represent the Tamer. But what was the seal on Shadow? Surely it couldn't be the seal he had made thousands of years ago… that evil was still locked away as far as he knew. The rebirth of Light would naturally be the new Tamer to aid Druidia. But what was the mention of wielding the Cremage birthright? Surely the new Tamer couldn't possess magic. No human had the ability. However, the last part was what worried Rusade the most. Eternal Darkness was growing stronger according to Deigh. Any form of that kind of Darkness usually referred to powerful and evil magic, and Deigh was never wrong.

"So, Deigh," Rusade said, turning to her. "what do you believe this prophecy foretells?" He could hear the anxiousness and slight fear in his own voice.

"Nothing more than what you have no doubt already figured out," she smiled. But it was a sympathetic smile, as if she pitied the wise king. As the frail Seer turned to leave, she added, "I would send that wristband out to a new Tamer quickly. The sky is darker than normal tonight. Have you noticed?" She closed the door behind her.

Vespir turned to Rusade. He hadn't understood as much as Rusade had but he had gotten the gist of it.

"My Liege, I will take the Tetraband now to be sent off to Earth."

"Yes, Vespir. I believe that would be a good idea." Rusade answered gravely. "We must also do something about the boy as well, otherwise-" But Rusade was unable to finish his sentence. He suddenly clutched at his head, which had abruptly grown cold and was now echoing with a high, maniacal laughter. A deep despair filled his soul and he was robbed of his breath. Then, just as soon as it started, it stopped. Rusade took a few moments to catch his now cold breath and suddenly realized that he had stumbled and was being supported by Vespir.

"Sire!" he exclaimed, startled by Rusade's sudden fall. "Are you alright?"

The Cremage king regained his breath and stood up unsupported again. "No, Vespir," he answered darkly. "No I am not, and neither will anyone else be if this isn't taken care of." Rusade had been wrong. The seal had, indeed, broken after all these years. Shadow was free.

He retrieved the Tetraband from the side of the permanently sleeping Tamer and placed it in Vespir's hand. "Take this to be sent to Earth immediately. This can wait no longer, not even until the morning."

"Yes, Sire," Vespir answered. He turned to leave.

"And Vespir?"

"Yes?"

Rusade's face became hard and severe. "Send Klanoa to me when you're done. The time has finally come."