Aud to the Dark Ages

A/N and/or Summary

Anya's human name was Aud. I changed the story of the first demon, so sorry about that. Also there ARE slayers, but they only fight vampires at first and don't play a major part in here. Might come back to present time, but I'm not sure. Anyway! Remember! Review and I will continue to write!

876 AD: The Dark Ages

Chapter 1: Truth

Outside of a large city on top of a large hill was a small home, where three family members took up residence, an innocent girl (Aud Brodinya), a housewife mother (Lyla Brodinya), and a blacksmith father (Argon Brodinya). I would like to say that life was easy for these three, but lying is a cruel deed. I will tell only the truth of their fate and of this history I am recollecting. The endless wars had left the lands in ruins. A shadow covered their world, and in the darkness, whispers of immense powers were told, both good and evil. Strange powers were these, witchcraft, invocations, and even talk of Dark Gods pitted against Goddesses of Light. These rumours and the constant power struggle between the people of the world left scars on everyone and everything it touched. Broken spirits and lost minds left in sorrow, pained by the loss of all they knew. Everyone they loved. Death was the cause. Death is the end. Death was a popular wish.

The child, Aud was sheltered from this. Her parents did the best that they could to keep her from the horrid truth. They were like a shield to her young mind. Constantly working to keep the untainted youth as pure as possible. But try as they might, Aud still knew more than they would have liked. She knew little of the war, and the dark magicks in its wake, but her parents would view that as too much for Aud to handle. Today, everything would change. Today, Aud found something in THE ROOM. Today, Aud found the truth.

Access to THE ROOM was forbidden to her, but Aud's curious intentions overcame the echoes of her parent's strict orders that resounded in her mind. She found herself inching towards the black door until she was right before it. Her hand reached out and touched the cool metal of the ornate handle, a slight twist of her wrist opened the door and she pushed it open. She had at least a half hour before her parents would return from the market, so she better make the best of it.

Inside it was dark, for there were no windows in this room of the house. She pulled a match from her pocket and lit it using the stonewall to her right. A small patch of view was touched by the match's light and let her see a bit of what lay within this mystery. To her right she saw a candle on the shelf; she lit it with the dying match and held it in her hand. It's flame roared to an unnatural size and finally she could see all of the room. On the left side were tools of war. Armour was hung in the corner and there was maps spread across a simple table. Markings were scrawled all over the map, battle plans it seemed. A sword and shield hung on the wall behind the table and there was a pile of letters on a side table. She walked over to them and picked up one from the top of the pile and looked at the name. "General Argon Brodinya". These were addressed to her father. She dropped it in horror and snatched up another and another. They all read the same "General Argon Brodinya", "General Argon Brodinya", "General Argon Brodinya".

He lied. Her father lied to her, about himself about everything.

She stepped backward warily, hurt and confused. She stopped suddenly when her foot connected with something hard lying on the floor. She turned around with the white archaic candle and revealed a study in the candle's luminous glow. A bookshelf was filled with books and shelves were laden with heavy ornate artefacts and jewels. Stones and candles were strewn everywhere. Amulets and parchment littered the right side of the room. She walked slowly over to the desk, mesmerized by the intriguing things that she could see. Then something caught her eye, a journal with her mother's name emblazoned on the front 'Lyla Brodinya' laid open upon the surface of the desk. She sat at the worn chair and began to read. It was turned to yesterday's date, the latest entry.

1st Full Moon of 3

I met with the coven today to discuss our defences. Many of my sisters had inspiring ideas and concepts. Many more brought new spells they had created or new spell books they had uncovered to help in our cause, add to our collections. The ritual worked again this night. We have repeated it over the last 2 full moon cycles and every time it reveals the same truth. The prophecy never changes. Each and every time we are shown the same fate from the knowledge of a higher being, a goddess in her own right. This day I was witness to it. We were told that…

The sound of the front door opening brought Aud back to reality, she panicked at the thought of being caught and leapt out of her chair. She grabbed a leather bound spell book from the shelf and dashed out of the room, shutting the door behind her. She quickly hid the book in her bedchamber and went to the door to greet her parents. She knew enough to pretend she knew nothing as usual and everything would be fine, for now.

"Aud, honey, I hope you were fine by yourself while we were gone?" Her mother asked her when she walked into the door, concern lining her voice.

"Mom, I was fine! Aren't I always?" Aud answered, rolling her eyes playfully.

"And you stayed out of mischief?" A smile crossed her mother's lips in reply, although the twinkle was gone from her eyes.

"Of course!" was Aud's reply even as her heart fluttered.

"Hello Dad!" Aud exclaimed, hugging her father tight.

"Oh careful Aud, your Dad had a hard day at work today, I am a little sore, so I think your mother and I are going to turn in early," her father cautioned, his face showing his obvious pain and stress.

Aud nodded and saw that her father was weary and had worry lines carved into his face. How did she not notice this change in her father, before now? Was she so self-involved? And for the first time it was plain that her mother's face was drawn from fatigue and her usual bright eyes were dull. Lyla had lost the strong energy she used to possess, whether that was from too many spells or the intense responsibility she was under, Aud could not be sure. Her mother smiled lightly at Aud as she walked by and ran her hand through her brown hair.

"I think its time for you to sleep too my love,"

"OK," Aud replied

Aud's parents went into their own bedroom and shut the door after tucking Aud in for the night. Although Aud did not sleep, she lay in bed contemplating what she had seen in the room. Why hadn't she seen this before? The same questions and realities kept replaying over and over in her mind. Her Mother was a witch, a leader of what seemed to be a powerful Coven, and her Father was the leader of the City's armies. How had they hidden this for 15 long years? Why had they not told her? Do they not trust her? She needed to find out more. She needed to finish her Mother's journal entry, to see what the coven saw. What they were preparing so hard for. She needed to get back into the room, and she would fulfill that need. She slipped from her bed and landed softly on her feet. Padding to the door she opened it as silently as she could and tiptoed to her parent's bedchambers. Darkness surrounded her, but on this night she felt no fear. The sound of even, relaxed breathing could be heard through their door, they were asleep. Satisfied, Aud made her way into the room. This time she was prepared; she lit her match and once again lit the candle on the desk. She could see the same shocking image that had held her captive attention earlier today. Her father's armour and war plans and, her mother's spell books and crystals filled the large dark room. This time however she knew what to do and where to go, she wasn't confused anymore. Aud made her way to the journal again and began reading where she had left off. The truth will be revealed.

We were told that there would be a war. The words began to shift on the page and a strange energy could be felt inside the room. Aud felt herself slipping from reality and she was hit with the vision her Mother had witnessed just a day ago. She felt as if she was living it as she read the words. A great evil is at work, an evil man that possesses strong dark magicks. He is even now using those powers to conjure up an immortal enemy, one that would conquer our world, swiftly and mercilessly. No village would be unscathed. No Castle left standing, no free people left living. Our world as we know it, taken by an army of demons. Raised from hell and spawned by the darkest Gods that we know, these demons come in many different species and forms, and every one of them have incredible physical strength, supernatural strength. Some even possess magical powers that may rival that of our Coven. And to lead this army, this evil man has brought the son of the darkest most devilish God known to us, so secret is his origin his name is unknown, we call him the Devil. This demon would be the only one of its species in existence. It is called The Judge. We were told that he was immortal, but we believe that we may have come up with a spell strong enough to banish him for a time, but we have no way of knowing if it will be successful. The demon's will be raised on the third moon of this cycle and will begin their attack a fortnight after that date. If the prophecy stands true, they demons will split their army in three, leaving three thousand demons in each party. That is why we were blessed with this vision, so that we could help stop the spread of this invasion and save our world from destruction. That is all we know. Now, we wait for an attack. I only hope we will be ready, when the time comes.

Lyla Brodinya