Prologue
Eight thousand years ago, when the earth was still young, there was a great war between the forces of Ruby Eye Shabranigdu and the forces of the Flare Dragon Ceiphied. Ceiphied's army was made up of three races: Elves, Human's and Dwarves. Ruby Eye's army was made of Lesser Demons, Mazoku and various other Demi-human/demon races.
After many years of battle, it became clear to Ceiphied that his army had enough power to defeat the Demonic Hordes, but they couldn't harness it. So Ceiphied created three swords. Although they looked like regular swords, they had the power to draw out their users inner strength and made it something tangible, a symbol to the people.
The three swords were given to three generals in Ceiphied's army. One to each race. The swords united the people and they quickly rallied under the three generals: Kansaki, Welthor, and Gabriev. Soon the generals mastered their sword's powers and led attack after attack against Ruby Eye's army. This power soon turned the tide of the war, and the end was in sight.
In desperation, The demon god gathered his all of his armies on the Plains of Despair and prepared for an assault against Ceiphied himself. Ceiphied had sent his armies to meet Ruby Eye's unholy horde and the final battle started. The magical battle raged on for two weeks until Ceiphied's victory was at hand. Ruby Eye Shabranigdu would be defeated. What happened next is an historic mystery. A magical blast leveled the plains, destroying both armies simultaneously. The war was a draw, but the two gods continued their ancient battle. The gods left their armies dying on the plains, not caring about or not wanting to acknowledge the loss.
Of the three generals, two survived. Kansaki and Gabriev walked alone on the desolate field, searching the bodies for survivors. Among them, they found a Mazoku, injured and dying. Gabriev drew his sword to slay the unholy monster, but Kansaki stopped him, saying "Leave him be, there has been enough killing today." The two turned and left the plains of despair, vowing never to fight again.
After that day, the world experienced many centuries of peace, until the final climactic battle between Shabranigdu and Ceiphied in the Sea of Chaos. In the end, both of the gods lost. Ruby Eye was cut into seven pieces and sealed away, and Ceiphied sank into the Sea of Chaos and left four parts of himself in the world in the form of Dragon Lords. The Earth Dragon Lord, Water Dragon Lord, Fire Dragon Lord, and Sky Dragon Lord kept watch over the world, incase Ruby Eye Shabranigdu was ever revived. After this event, the world was plunged into darkness.
* * *
The three towering beasts lunged for the boy and girl, their terrifying roars striking fear into all those whom watched. The blue-haired boy, flaming sword in hand, started foreword, ready to defend his friend; the Elf girl called Mellyroon. Rowdy Gabriev took up a fighting stance, willing to lay down his life for his friend. The demon beasts continued foreword, saliva dripping from their mouths in anticipation of the meal they would never have.
From somewhere off the battlefield, a female voice rang out, "GAAV FLARE!" A typhoon of fire rose into the air and washed over the charging beasts in a deadly tide of crimson flame. When the flame and smoke cleared, all that could of the demons was a small pile of ash.
Another spectator looked up, astonished that someone could destroy his minions. He was not human, no, far from it. He was a Lesser Demon: demon spawn created by Ruby Eye Shabranigdu, a horrible beast that feeds of the negative emotions of other beings. Emotions like greed, lust, hatred, anger, and fear. He was tall, easily seven-feet, and much taller than the citizens of the elven village he was attacking.
His body was one of a painfully contorted human, two arms, to legs, and a head. However, he did not resemble a human, not at all. His limbs where long and thin, his fingers and toes ending in sharp talons. He had bulging red eyes, a snouted, frog-like face with a mouth full of serrated teeth, and black hair, standing on end, running in a straight line from the top of his head, down his back, and ending in a bushy tail. He also had, imbedded in his chest, three jewels. One of the jewels was a blood red jewel the size of a man's fist; imbedded in the center of the demons chest. The other two jewels were dark green, the size of a human head, and positioned above and to either side of the red jewel.
The monster's gaze went from the pile of ash to a tree. Sticking out from behind the tree was a black-gloved hand, still smoking from the spell. "What the?!" The demon spat, throwing down a barrel of ale that he'd been drinking out of.
A girl stepped out from behind the tree. She was a short girl, wearing knee high boots, red pants, a yellow shirt, and a bead necklace. A black cape fluttered behind her in the wind. She had red hair and eyes and a playfully superior look on her face. "So we meet again for the first time. Cruel circle Joyrock."
"Well, well, what do we have here?" The Lesser Demon sneered. "Do you want to play with Joyrock, little girl?"
"You're too late," the girl retorted. "I'm already playing with you."
The demon's eyes narrowed. "Heh. Play with this!" Joyrock thrust his palm foreword and a thin band of energy shot out of his palm.
The band flew at the newcomer with lightning speed, but didn't find its target as the girl rolled out of the way. Her hands glowed green and pointed at Joyrock. "BRAM BLAZER!"
A green beam of energy bolted from the newcomer's hands and at Joyrock. It struck the beast in the lower torso, leaving a faint green glow where it had struck.
This, however, had no effect what-so-ever on the demon lord. A devilish grin came across the demon's face. This should be fun.
"Here!" Joyrock shrieked as a ball of fire appeared in his mouth. The ball flew from his mouth and headed straight towards the red-haired girl.
Again, as if expecting this, she jumped clear of the blast. Again and again, balls of fire flew at the girl and each time she skillfully dodged them. Hurry kid, she was thinking. I can't keep this up forever.
Elsewhere, Rowdy and Mellyroon had made their way off the battlefield. At the sound of another explosion, Rowdy drew his sword and turned around. "Miss Lina!" He cried in concern. Earlier that day, the girl calling herself Lina Inverse had saved him from a sneak attack by a Lesser Demon. She had then flown him to the village to just in time to save Mellyroon, now it was his turn. "You stay here!" He ordered the Elfmaid.
"Rowdy!" Mellyroon cried after the human boy, but he couldn't hear her. The boy drew his sword and charged at the towering demon.
"Finally!" Lina breathed as she saw Rowdy's charge. The young sorceress planted her foot and skidded across the forest floor. She made a fist, slammed it into the palm of her other hand, and pointed her index finger at the giant demon. "INFERNO ARRAY!" she called. Her finger glowed an eerie red and a dozen small balls of energy flew towards the attacking. The spell hit its target, but not hard enough to inflict any kind of pain on the demonic beast. It did, however, engulf Joyrock in a cloud of thick, black smoke.
"Well that was totally pointless." Joyrock muttered. The demon stopped and listened, trying to find his prey. He couldn't find the small sorceress, but he heard the sound of footfalls coming from behind him. Stupid boy! I guess he'll do.
Rowdy ran full bore towards the tower of smoke, flaming sword in hand. He would not allow this monster to hurt anyone else. He wouldn't let him get near Mellyroon. The human child jumped into the cloud but was sent flying by the titanic hand of the Demon. Rowdy landed on his feet and drew his sword up in a defensive posture. He could faintly hear a voice chanting from behind the cloud. It wasn't Joyrock's voice; it was Lina's.
"Heed me, thou who is darker than dust."
She was preparing a spell and, from the power even he could feel radiating from her, it was a doozy. He knew he had to give her time to finish, spells this powerful always took a few minutes to cast. He had to distract Joyrock.
"Hey," a guttural voice snapped Rowdy back to reality. Joyrock stuck his ugly, distorted face out of the dissipating cloud. "Isn't that pig-sticker of yours one of the Swords of Light? Give it here!" The demonic beast ordered, extending his hand.
"Heed thou which is more red than blood. In the name of that which has been buried in the bottomless abyss of time eternal."
Joyrock swung at the boy again and again, but missed every time. Rowdy was too fast for Joyrock to catch.
"I summon the, master of the ultimate darkness! Have no pity on the fools who stand in our way! Infuse me with power, let your strength become mine!"
She's nearly done! With that, Rowdy leapt backwards again, looking around for someway to help Lina. All he saw behind him was a tree and he remembered something Lina had said on the flight over: "Our options are either casting this spell regularly or on your sword. The thing is, casting it on your sword might be too dangerious. I could end up hitting you or destroying the sword."
If I could get high enough into the air, Lina could cast her spell on my sword and we might be able to kill this thing! Rowdy leapt backward into the tree and started up to the top.
"To wipe them from the face of the earth, To deliver unto them the ultimate doom:" Lina chanted, standing at the edge of the battlefield, surrounded by a pale red Aura. A ball of shimmering red energy appeared between her hands and blue lightning scorched the ground around her as she completed her incantation. "DRAGON SLAVE!" The young sorceress thrust both her hands foreword and the ball turned into a beam of dazzling energy, Flying right towards the preoccupied demon.
"What!" Joyrock turned around to see Lina's spell bearing down on him. Rowdy, now at the top of the tree, jumped into the air above Joyrock, his blade poised to slice the foul creature in two. Lina saw this and curved the beam so it missed Joyrock and headed towards Rowdy, hoping he knew what he was doing.
Joyrock turned, his gaze following the beam into the air and toward the human boy. She missed, and now her little friend's going to pay for it. The demon watched but, to his surprise, the beam didn't hit the child, it hit his sword. Rowdy's Sword of Light absorbed Lina's Dragon Slave spell, making the blade double in size and glow blood red. Gravity threw Rowdy Gabriev to the ground, and as he fell he sliced the towering beast cleanly in two.
A screech that made the deft cringe rang through the air. Black blood poured onto the ground, burning the grass and scorching the earth. Dark energy spewed fourth, as if the Lesser Demon was deflating. There was a flash of brilliant white light and Joyrock vaporized.
After that battle, Mipros Island began to drift away from the continent and an impenetrable fog surrounded it for 8 months of the year. The Elves disappeared soon after and the humans who came looking only found the ruins of a few villages and the once great city of Elmdoks. Humans later settled the island, making it a hot-spring resort for the rich and famous.
But, every once in a while, a child will wake up screaming, or a man, or a woman. They will complain about hearing a voice in their dreams. A shrill, high-pitched scream would awake them from whatever blissful dream the may be having. 'Beware,' it would say. 'My brother will avenge me, and kill you all!'
* * *
The ruins of the city where quiet, the fires had already burned themselves out. The only sound was the rain pelting the ground, and the defining thunder that crashed overhead. Every few seconds, the rubble of the once great city would be lit up by a crack of lightning. The lightning wasn't white or blue; it was an unnatural red or green.
A figure moved slowly through the rubble. He was a small elven boy, not more than 35 in human years, still a child by elven standards. He was nearly four and a half feet tall, with short blonde hair and metallic blue eyes. He carried a sword, two books, a bow and a quiver of arrows. As he left what had once been his home, he didn't look back.
Behind him, in the center of the burnt out city, stood four gravestones.
Here lies the memory of the Somoran Elves
Our trust betrayed on the Day of Remembrance
We learned the ultimate lesson,
At the cost of the ultimate price.
Kranalas Kansaki
Father, Last Speaker of Semora
280A.P. - 480A.P.
Leirathalasa Kansaki
Mother, Wife of the last Speaker of Semora
294A.P. - 480A.P.
Eondralan Kansaki
Hero, Brother, 'Lightbringer'
400A.P. - 480A.P.
'With him, all hope dies.'
