Forsaken Hero

(This story is based off characters from the game Gauntlet: Dark Legacy. The events of this chapter take place before the game.)

A lone figure walked through the graveyard, alone. The figure was the Sorceress, a practitioner of magic. She was not an evil practitioner, which was contrary to the current belief of the townsfolk, but a good one. The current belief that she was evil came from that happened many years ago. It was an event that she looked back on in dread.

The Sorceress, whose name was Lilandra, always looked back at that moment with dread. It was the day she lost someone dear to her, due to carelessness. She was still unsure whose carelessness it was, but the results had been staggering. At first, she thought the loss had been the only bad thing, but after that things had changed. Her spells started backfiring, or going wrong after they were cast. The bigger the spell, the more disastrous the backfire.

Then there was the effect on the fields. In the years since the incident, less and less grew, and the livestock started dying from eating what was harvested. Some of the townsfolk were certain that the population would start dying off soon. The worst, however, was just starting to happen in the past month or so, which made her trek to the Mausoleum all the more perilous.

A month ago, someone had stepped from the graveyard. At first, no one thought much of it, until the screams of terror started. It had been a zombie, a reanimated corpse. At once, everyone blamed Lilandra, and that made her feel worse. Every day since then, people were trying to scare her off, but they still were too afraid to actually toss her out of the town.

As she neared the door to the Mausoleum, Lilandra thought back to that disastrous day. She had come across a rare spell book. It had been mentioned in one of her other tomes, one that spoke about the various legends of the realm. According to the legend in the book, each realm had a Legend, a hero who could transform into a bestial form. The key parts of it were having a Legendary item in their possession, and to be of one of the legendary classes.

Lilandra, at that time, wondered if she was one of them. Something in her sensed that was the case, and on that fateful day, she thought she had taken all precautions She had a guard at the door to her lab, and she had made sure nothing would disturb her. At least she thought she had taken all the precautions. When she had put enough focus into what she was doing, she felt her body begin to change.

Her dark skin turned into green scales. Her long hair turned into a mass of writhing snakes. Even her dress seemed to take on a snake like appearance. She had become a Medusa, or a Gorgon. She had not known this would be the form a Legend might take, but it was the reason she wanted to be undisturbed. Tragically, it had been that moment that her own brother, Liam, came barging in. At that moment, when she turned in shock to face him, he had turned to stone.

She almost started to cry again, after thinking about that day, when she heard murmuring. Although no one was close, she heard on the wind some of the townsfolk's fear mongering. "She probably going to raise the spirits of the dead, or ruin her good brother's body. Poor lad was just trying to save us from her wicked ways." This brought another tear to her eyes, mainly because of the nature of her magic.

Her magic wasn't evil. If it had been, she was certain the rare spell book would not have worked. Even all the spells she had done, including the one's before the fateful day, were life giving. Dark magic was destructive, which was sadly easier to do. What was worse was that had she been a man, they would not have been saying those things. Wizards were held in higher regard. In fact, even from her cottage, she could see the tower of one of the greatest Wizards of all the eight realms.

That tower was the home of Sumner. Lilandra had heard many years ago that the tower was so mystical that it stood on many lands. It was due to that special mystical nature that Lilandra's request for help to cure her brother had been answered so quickly. Sadly, when the help arrived, it didn't work. While it should have restored his body, it had instead turned him into a rotted corpse. That also fuelled the fear in the villagers. It made them all think she was practicing very dark magic.

When she reached the door to the mausoleum, she heard one of the few villagers who still didn't believe the rumors say, "I don't think so. I think she is going to pay her respects. I've seen that book she carries before, and it says it is a good book. Might even be the old Book of Protection." She wanted to respond, to thank the person, but the others laughed, as if that person was a fool.

She quickly entered the mausoleum, and closed the door, shutting out the hatemongering. Once inside, the air felt colder, and her dark skin was covered in gooseflesh. That was to be expected in a place like this. These places were homes for the spirits of those who passed on, and luckily the hostile ones were greatly outnumbered by peaceful ghosts. As she moved through the place, she paused long enough to say a prayer in the buildings chapel.

Once she passed the chapel, she noticed a more malevolent feel in the air. Lilandra knew this could not be right. The peaceful spirits had always outnumbered the hostile ones, but now it seemed different. It seemed the peaceful spirits were becoming more hostile. Even this place, which had to have been sacred ground, was becoming tainted.

With fear for her brother's spirit foremost in her mind, Lilandra ran down to the crypt where her brother's body was. The air felt thicker, full of the taint of evil. Fear started to consumer her thoughts as she opened the door to the crypt. She dashed in, closing the door behind her, saying "Brother, I hope your spirit is alright. I'm sorry for what happened to you long ago."

She had not expected what she heard, but when she heard it, it chilled her to the bone. "No need for you to feel sorry, sister. Everything has gone exactly to my plan. In fact, it has gone better than I hoped." At that point Lilandra watched in horror as a corpse broke through the ground. It looked like her brother, except it was twice his size, and the flesh was decaying.

She started to back up, but fell backwards. To her horror, a skeletal hand had grabbed her ankle. She quickly got a hold of her senses, and blasted the hand with her wand. The bones scattered, and she got back on her feet. She backed up to the door of the crypt, something the figure had said hit her. "What do you mean 'your plan'?"

The corpse laughed, its rotten breath fouling the air in the room. "My foolish sister, doing all you could to correct your mistake. All that time, as my body prepared, I was fouling your magic, just as I fouled the land. Now that the transformation is complete, I can fully bring the zombies and ghosts to the land, and this land will be back as Skorne wants it."

Hearing those last words made ice go through her. She had read the legend of Skorne. Long ago, the demon had almost destroyed the eight mystical realms of the land. The one that dominated the province was a Lich, an undead wizard. The very book she had was used to defeat it. However, she also knew that the original person who defeated the Lich had also been a Sorceress.

She glared at the thing that had been her brother. "You will not succeed. There are people who will stop you. I shall.."

The creature laughed again, and cut off her words. "Do nothing. You can't get anyone to believe you. I've befouled your magic, and they will even suspect you. I've even made sure they can't see the truth of the book. You might as well die now." With those last words, Lilandra saw the Lich pull an axe out of the ground.

She realized what would happen, if she allowed it. She raised the mystical Book of Protection, and light magic shot out of the book, striking the Lich. It staggered, and Lilandra ran through the crypt door. She was no longer surprised by the number of hostile spirits. The Lich would definitely increase the power of them, and make the things a real threat to people.

When she got out of the Mausoleum, she noticed that more zombies were rising from the ground. Just the sight of that made Lilandra run for the cemetery exit. She was surprised that when she reached the exit, she saw all the villagers waiting there. For a moment, she thought they knew about the Lich. Her thought changed when she noticed that all of them looked at her as if everything was her fault.

Before she could say anything, one of the more prominent people in the village stepped forward. "So, you were trying to bring more of those creatures out with that evil book of yours." She was about to respond, but the man just continued. "You cannot lie to us, witch. You entered, and more of those monstrosities started showing up. We know what we need to do to get rid of them."

Suddenly, the only thing she knew would defeat the Lich was ripped from her hands. She reached forward, shouting, "No. That is not an evil book. It's the only thing that can help end this." Her words were met with loud jeers. None of the villagers believed her.

Lilandra was then shocked by the man's next words. "Don't lie to us. We know it is evil. We even know about your late night attempts to seduce the men here. You are banned from the village." She didn't know which was worse, being banned or the accusations. Before she could protest, she felt two other villagers grab her arms, and then escort her to the gates of town.

As they continued to move, she saw in the distance, Sumner's tower. It was a connection point between the eight realms, and Sumner was known to move freely through all of them. Even if the people here didn't believe her, he would. She wasn't sure how old Sumner was, but the great wizard would definitely know the truth and what to do.

Once she was out of town, and the gates closed. Lilandra set her gaze on the ethereal tower, and walked to it. As she walked, she said to herself, "They may have run me out of the town, but I will return. I will not let my home be destroyed. They must be blinded by the Lich's magic. Sumner will have an answer on how to make them see, as well as save the land." At least, she hoped he did. Still, if Skorne was back, the world was on the edge of destruction, and she was certain that one hero would not be enough.

Author's note

This is the first part of a rewrite of the fic that is titled Heroes to Legends. I had dropped that several years ago, mainly because I was trying to write each chapter from a first person limited perspective. I have changed tactics with this attempt, I plan to at least get the chapters I had planned out writen. The following three chapters will also be rewrites, while the one after those will be a partial rewrite, since the fifth chapter was never completed. If you have played Gauntlet: Dark Legacy, I hope you enjoy this, and all future chapters.

From the Author

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