The Song of Eternity

Canto 1

Parm: The Forsaken Realm

Verse 2

The Meeting

The princess stands face to face with the usurper,

All is calm until he tries to gain the power.

The protector comes and secures survival for a little longer,

Only to be in danger again,

When the thieves are called.

            Pearl, the Princess of Haven and Cid, the Lord Protector of Avalon looked at the map in front of them in the Haven throne room.  Pearl had taken over the rule of haven a month ago, following the death of her father, the king.  Haven was one of the few native kingdoms of Parm, situated on the edge of the great plains and with easy coastal access, it was one of the major powers.  Cid was a knight through and through.  He had been dragged through to Parm over a decade ago with a hundred other knights.  Since then, they established a fort city in the frozen north or Haven and developed close relations with Pearl's father.  They lived to protect the innocent across the land.

            "The ogres have finally stopped fighting Rhu's people thankfully.  I still am uneasy though, they are likely to go off again with the slightest enticement," Cid sighed as he gestured at the mountains to the west.  The ogres were led by their chieftain, Daggoth.  He was a huge ogre, over eight feet tall, able to rip knights, trees, anything he wanted apart.  His father had led the medium sized tribe of ogres that originally lived in the mountains, but once ogres had begun to arrive from other worlds, the tribe had tripled in size and had to expand, taking more land.  The humans they were fighting were Jo' Rhu and the kingdom of New Eden.  Their entire city had been transported to Parm, and they were too stubborn to make peace with the ogres.  It was situated at the edge of the mountains, by the plains that the ogres controlled.

            "At least the dwarves are doing well," Pearl pointed out as she looked at the other end of the mountain range.  The dwarves she spoke of were the two, soon to be one, kingdoms of Dugan Blackrock and Jewel Bloodstone.  They were at war with each other and themselves up until a few weeks ago.  Pearl's father had gone into the mountains with some of Cid's knights and aided them in ending the battle, but at the cost of most of their lives.  One of the kingdoms was native to Parm and the other was created for refugees, but only the dwarves knew which one was which.

            "What about Firewall?  What did he find in the crater?"  Pearl asked Cid who grabbed a sheet of paper and looked over it.  John Firewall was the leader of the UIG, United Inventors Guild.  Intellectuals from all over lived there all or part of the time.  They created huge mechanized warriors and other wonders, which they sold to the other kingdoms up until several months ago.  They were on good terms with everyone, since no one dared attack them and their unknown amount of mechanized soldiers.

            The crater they were talking about had appeared about six months ago, between the UIG and Avalon.  During the night, something impacted the ground, creating a fifty foot diameter crater, melting all the snow within a mile, and turning a five foot circle of ground to glass.  No one had any idea what it was, so Pearl and Cid hoped Firewall had sent them some good information.  "No signs of life anywhere," Cid read as he scanned down the paper.  "Nothing that gives any idea of what it was…inconclusive…no conclusion can be made…  Looks like a whole lot of nothing," Cid said angrily as he turned the paper over and stopped.  "Firewall and his scientists couldn't find anything, but some of their guides, hunter-trackers did.  They found some small grooves in the ground and tracks leading away from the crater towards here.  Whatever it was has probably been in the city for half a year now."

            "Great, how was father dealing with it before he died?"  Pearl asked as she looked back at the map.

            "As long as whatever it is doesn't do anything wrong he didn't care."

            "As shall I.  The forests, seas, and mountains?"  Pearl asked Cid, referring to the cat-people, the harpies, and the merfolk, all alien to Parm.

            "Keeping to themselves thankfully, I wish the same could be said for Lim-Dul…" Cid added gravely as he stared at the dark area far to the south, representing the swamp.  "Bodies keep disappearing daily as the swamp expands.  There's no way to tell what he's planning."

            "That's easy, the death of the living…"  Pearl concluded as she looked down at the dark area of the swamp.  Lim-Dul was a foreigner to Parm.  He was also a necromancer and had been expanding his army and swamp ever since his arrival a decade ago.  They stopped talking as the door opened and another of the 'leaders' of Parm entered.

            When most people came through from other worlds they were no worse for wear, but some weren't so lucky.  Some were changed into strange human/animal/monster creatures.  He was one of the unlucky ones, the wereman.  He was about half wolf/half man.  He looked like something out of a nightmare, but was really a good man.  He led the rest of his kind in their quest for a way to undo what was done to them.  "Cid, Pearl," he greeted them as he approached them and the map.

            "Yes," Pearl replied politely.

            "I need to talk to you two…." he was cut off as the door crashed open and the leader of the vast southeastern desert entered the room.

            He was a huge brown skinned creature, ten feet tell, four arms, huge muscles, and a bad attitude.  He was Ashura, he had emerged as the leader of the desert nomads fifteen years ago and now commanded a huge army of soldiers and mercenaries in the desert, waiting to strike.  "I am departing for my land tonight princess, I have one last request to make before I go.  I would like to purchase that pendant of yours, it appeals to my eye like not many things can," Ashura demanded in front of Pearl.

            "My father gave it to me Ashura, I am sorry, I cannot," Pearl said as she grasped the crystal pendant around her neck.

            "There is no way I can persuade you?" Ashura asked menacingly.

            "She said no," the wereman stated calmly as he stepped between the two rulers.

            "As you wish," Ashura replied angrily as he turned and left the room.

            After Ashura left Cid spoke to the wereman.  "What was that all about?"

            "Nothing… now that he is gone," the wereman countered as he left the room as well.

            "Calm down Cid, I'm sure everything will work out, we need to leave now, they need to prepare the throne room for the ball tomorrow," Pearl said quietly as she and the knight left the room and the servants came in to prepare the room.

            Ashura stood at his airship and waited.  "Where are you?"  He shouted angrily to no one.

            "Right here," came the unexpected reply from behind him.  He whirled around to see a figure covered in a dark cloak emerge from the shadows.  "What is your bidding master?"

            "She has refused to part with the pendant, you are to contact your help, then kill her and take the pendant and return it to me as quickly as possible.  Make it a public death, but that pendant is the first priority, it must be brought to me in the desert," Ashura ordered before leaving the figure alone in the dark.