Chapter 4
The faculty and students began to filter into the wide meeting place of the college. There were some various people talking, but most were apprehensive. Very seldom was there an emergency meeting called, and they had no idea of the reason. Lord Markalion stood at the front of the group. He was obviously stressed out, by the appearance of sweat beading on his forehead.
"Students and staff," he called out, "I regret to tell you that the Dark Lord has returned." A silence fell over the crowd. They all knew what the evil warlock had done in the past, and that he should come back after his defeat was disturbing. "There is reason to think that he is out for revenge on the lands. Therefore, we must defeat him as we had done before. I have sent messengers to the Borderlands, the elves, the dwarves, the eagles and the Mii tribes. Within a week their representatives will meet here and we will decide how to deal with this issue. The Dark Lord is not yet as strong as he was, and so we have some time. Be alert, and do not panic. We are the leaders of the races and we will not fail here, for we have never failed before. Prepare, my friends, for no good will come of this. We must hope for the best, and the odds are currently in our favor because he does not know that we are aware of his return. We must not lose hope, or we will already have lost."
He left then, the room in shock of what they had been told. A thousand years earlier, when the lands were in harmony and there was no war, a child came upon a box in a cave, far in the Westland. This child opened the box and inside he found one single book. Inside it were spells and magic that had been trapped there and forgotten for thousands of years. The child's name was Lonthor. At one point, evil was destroyed from the world, but now it had returned, and it was all concentrated into one being. The child was the keeper of the evil, and he used it to try and take over the lands. He had subverted the minds of the trolls and gnomes and some of the other races to his thinking. Before he took total control though, the remaining races resisted. Fifty years of battle left the lands ravaged. They would never again look as they did during the time of peace while there was no evil. Eventually, the might of the free races prevailed, and the gnomes and trolls were destroyed from the earth. For many years they searched for the holder of the evil. He had come to be known as the Dark Lord. Finally, they left the Westland, thinking the evil gone again. For hundreds of years there was peace. Now, though, there was a rift in that peace that could not be righted again without the final death of the Dark Lord.
As Jolin went to find his friends, a teacher came up to him in haste and told him he was to meet the Lord in his office immediately. Jolin took a last glance around the room for his friends, and then followed the teacher to Lord Markalion's quarters. As he stepped into the office, Markalion was reading a book with gold engravings and unfamiliar characters on the cover. Jolin sat down, and Markalion dismissed the teacher with his hand. "Jolin," he started, but seemed to have trouble finding the words. "Jolin," he repeated, "everything you know about your life up until now has been a lie. Your parents were members of an organization named Lok. Like you, their magic was sent down to them by their parents, and before them, and so on. The organization had learned of the return of the Dark Lord, and they tried to eliminate him themselves. They were too late to stop his growth, however. He had already begun to amass an army, though he had little strength as yet. The Lok organization was easily overcome and most were slaughtered before they could do anything. Few survived, and many of those were hunted down before they got too far. You were just a child at the time, and were left behind when this attack was performed. I was there also, and I had just begun to learn of the magic passed down to me by the time of this attack. When I learned of the results, I fled with you to this college. Because of my magical abilities, they accepted me and I eventually became Lord of the college. I gave you to a foster family that I trusted, and had you protected by the magic that I controlled. I hoped that you would have time to learn to use your magic with ease, but it seems that the times will not let us do so." Jolin sat, pondering what he had been told. He thought of how possible this was. His foster parents had no magic so he did wonder before why he had the use of it. He continued to think when Markalion brought out a box from a locked drawer in his desk. "This box is now yours to inherit from your parents. I kept it secret until it was time for you to know of them."
Jolin opened the box and the first thing that came to his eyes was a portrait of his parents, standing side by side in dark robes with the hoods back. He stared at them for a moment, and then he moved on to the other contents of the box. He found a short sword, engraved with characters unfamiliar to him. Next there were a few cloth packages wrapped with strings. He opened one up and was amazed to smell an aroma that took away his tiredness so that he was wide-awake even though it was late at night. He felt refreshed, in a sense. He looked to the Lord in question and Markalion told him "those packages each carry a different form of earthen magic. One held an elixir that could revive someone just by its smell. The others are a mix of earth magic, elven magic, and magic from other creatures of past ages. They are now yours to use. Use them wisely. As for this sword," he said, picking it up, "It was created by gnomes before the Great War. It was infused with magic, and it was given to the Rok to take care of. Fearing that it could fall into enemy hands, I took it with me when I ran. It has had use in every magic conflict in the world since it was forged, and now I think that it will be used to end this one. The uncorrupted peoples of the lands will soon rise up against the might of the Dark Lord. It is the only way to stop his power. You must use the magic that is in your possession to help these lands, as must all of the other students in this college." He put his hand on Jolin's shoulder. "Your parents were good strong people. Show them in the days to come that you are their son." Markalion walked to the window. "A storm forms in the West. Let us hope that we can stop it before it destroys us all."
The faculty and students began to filter into the wide meeting place of the college. There were some various people talking, but most were apprehensive. Very seldom was there an emergency meeting called, and they had no idea of the reason. Lord Markalion stood at the front of the group. He was obviously stressed out, by the appearance of sweat beading on his forehead.
"Students and staff," he called out, "I regret to tell you that the Dark Lord has returned." A silence fell over the crowd. They all knew what the evil warlock had done in the past, and that he should come back after his defeat was disturbing. "There is reason to think that he is out for revenge on the lands. Therefore, we must defeat him as we had done before. I have sent messengers to the Borderlands, the elves, the dwarves, the eagles and the Mii tribes. Within a week their representatives will meet here and we will decide how to deal with this issue. The Dark Lord is not yet as strong as he was, and so we have some time. Be alert, and do not panic. We are the leaders of the races and we will not fail here, for we have never failed before. Prepare, my friends, for no good will come of this. We must hope for the best, and the odds are currently in our favor because he does not know that we are aware of his return. We must not lose hope, or we will already have lost."
He left then, the room in shock of what they had been told. A thousand years earlier, when the lands were in harmony and there was no war, a child came upon a box in a cave, far in the Westland. This child opened the box and inside he found one single book. Inside it were spells and magic that had been trapped there and forgotten for thousands of years. The child's name was Lonthor. At one point, evil was destroyed from the world, but now it had returned, and it was all concentrated into one being. The child was the keeper of the evil, and he used it to try and take over the lands. He had subverted the minds of the trolls and gnomes and some of the other races to his thinking. Before he took total control though, the remaining races resisted. Fifty years of battle left the lands ravaged. They would never again look as they did during the time of peace while there was no evil. Eventually, the might of the free races prevailed, and the gnomes and trolls were destroyed from the earth. For many years they searched for the holder of the evil. He had come to be known as the Dark Lord. Finally, they left the Westland, thinking the evil gone again. For hundreds of years there was peace. Now, though, there was a rift in that peace that could not be righted again without the final death of the Dark Lord.
As Jolin went to find his friends, a teacher came up to him in haste and told him he was to meet the Lord in his office immediately. Jolin took a last glance around the room for his friends, and then followed the teacher to Lord Markalion's quarters. As he stepped into the office, Markalion was reading a book with gold engravings and unfamiliar characters on the cover. Jolin sat down, and Markalion dismissed the teacher with his hand. "Jolin," he started, but seemed to have trouble finding the words. "Jolin," he repeated, "everything you know about your life up until now has been a lie. Your parents were members of an organization named Lok. Like you, their magic was sent down to them by their parents, and before them, and so on. The organization had learned of the return of the Dark Lord, and they tried to eliminate him themselves. They were too late to stop his growth, however. He had already begun to amass an army, though he had little strength as yet. The Lok organization was easily overcome and most were slaughtered before they could do anything. Few survived, and many of those were hunted down before they got too far. You were just a child at the time, and were left behind when this attack was performed. I was there also, and I had just begun to learn of the magic passed down to me by the time of this attack. When I learned of the results, I fled with you to this college. Because of my magical abilities, they accepted me and I eventually became Lord of the college. I gave you to a foster family that I trusted, and had you protected by the magic that I controlled. I hoped that you would have time to learn to use your magic with ease, but it seems that the times will not let us do so." Jolin sat, pondering what he had been told. He thought of how possible this was. His foster parents had no magic so he did wonder before why he had the use of it. He continued to think when Markalion brought out a box from a locked drawer in his desk. "This box is now yours to inherit from your parents. I kept it secret until it was time for you to know of them."
Jolin opened the box and the first thing that came to his eyes was a portrait of his parents, standing side by side in dark robes with the hoods back. He stared at them for a moment, and then he moved on to the other contents of the box. He found a short sword, engraved with characters unfamiliar to him. Next there were a few cloth packages wrapped with strings. He opened one up and was amazed to smell an aroma that took away his tiredness so that he was wide-awake even though it was late at night. He felt refreshed, in a sense. He looked to the Lord in question and Markalion told him "those packages each carry a different form of earthen magic. One held an elixir that could revive someone just by its smell. The others are a mix of earth magic, elven magic, and magic from other creatures of past ages. They are now yours to use. Use them wisely. As for this sword," he said, picking it up, "It was created by gnomes before the Great War. It was infused with magic, and it was given to the Rok to take care of. Fearing that it could fall into enemy hands, I took it with me when I ran. It has had use in every magic conflict in the world since it was forged, and now I think that it will be used to end this one. The uncorrupted peoples of the lands will soon rise up against the might of the Dark Lord. It is the only way to stop his power. You must use the magic that is in your possession to help these lands, as must all of the other students in this college." He put his hand on Jolin's shoulder. "Your parents were good strong people. Show them in the days to come that you are their son." Markalion walked to the window. "A storm forms in the West. Let us hope that we can stop it before it destroys us all."