Once upon a time, there was a happy little child in a happy family. He lived a happy life and no harm came to him…but this is not the story you came to read.
The story you are about to read is one of loss, death, war, and demons. The following passages chronicle the journey of a nameless, mute, and deadly Ney monk as he goes from being a small Husten to a King of the plagued land; as he makes the journey from being naive to becoming enlightened.
"Shi show much progress. Although he doesn't speak, his mastery of the prayers and literature of the Ney is impressive. The prophecy might relate to him, just as I thought," said the old father, Se Le Kie.
Shi, the nameless monk, has only been eavesdropping for 5 minutes and he had already heard such things as prophecies, war, and demons. So much for a quite abbey thought Shi.
As Shi observed his surroundings, he noted that the room was better furnished and looked older than the rest of the abbey. There were fur carpets and intricate woodwork scattered randomly around the room. If only our dormitories were this nice. Shi noted mentally how the room was decorated. He noted the dark lighting; the canopy bed that looked like it hadn't been used in days; the massive bookcase with titles mainly related to demonology; the closed and bolted door with a summoning circle imprinted on it.
I wonder what he uses that room for. Summoning circles were very rare in Ney temples and Shi had never heard of one in the Saliendor temple.
What Shi thought was very odd was that this other monk was in the father's study. As far as Shi knew, no one ever ventured into his study uninvited or after the hour of blackness, when the light of Ninglario disappeared.
After being left for dead by Yingandi warriors, he was saved by a monk, the father of this particular Ney abbey, Se Le Kie. He is very adept at healing magic, so Shi's life continued, but without anyone that he loved or knew.
"Why does he not speak… wait, what was that?" asked the other monk inside the father's private study.
"What was what?" asked the father.
"That! Someone must be lurking nearby."
"I see him, it is the nameless boy," said the father to the other monk, who Shi didn't recognize, "come here boy, or suffer the consequences of your actions at the fangs of Nithoo."
Shi didn't want to be bitten by Nithoo, the abbey's large and slightly poisonous snake, so he had no choice but to move into clear sight. As he moved down from the office stairs, his robe caught on a chair leg and he tumbled down the stairs.
"Are all of your monks that clumsy, Se Le?" the unknown man asked jokingly, "What do you have to say for yourself boy, speak now."
"Gandalf, he is mute. His vocal chords were torn out when he was a youngling; that is why he doesn't talk."
"Poor boy, do you think that his disability will disrupt our mission?" Gandalf asked Se Le Kie.
"Of course not. As I said, he channels perfectly and has more capacity than any monk I have seen." Said Se Le Kie very quickly to Gandalf. "Hurry now Shi, go back to your room. You will have double chores and half leisure time for the next cycle of Ninglario."
"Be gone, scrawny monk of Ney, remove your unworthy self from my presence." shouted Gandalf with such force that Shi was thrown right out of the room. As Shi ran off, Gandalf whispered to Se Le Kie, "I don't know how well Gimli will take to fighting and traveling with a cripple."
After taking a quick bow and scrambling off to the fifth year dormitories, he thought about the conversation's events. Why was Gandalf, survivor of Hell and crosser of the great sea Belegaer, speaking to the father and pretending to be an old monk.
Shi tried to remember what Gandalf looked like, two things struck him as remarkable. First of all, Gandalf had perfect white hair and a pale skin tone. It appeared as he was an albino or ultimately holy. Based on the information that Shi had heard about the white wizard from the other monks, he guessed it to be the latter. Second of all, Gandalf had dark-blue eyes. This wasn't strange, but they were so deep, and so searching that Shi could almost feel Gandalf looking into his soul. He would remember all of the evening's events. As he snuck past his sleeping roommates and lay upon his bed, he unsuccessfully tried to recall what had so compelled him to sneak into the father's study.
"Shi, Shi, did you hear? Some man came in the night, impersonating a monk, and told Se Le Kie that something horrible has occurred. I don't know the details, but something evil has made the Mountain of Green Flames to erupt. This has some dark meaning and there is some prophecy, so says the father, which relates to great evil awakening and darkness falling across the land," rambled Nugli Fulaski, the eccentric cook of the temple and Shi's only true adult friend. Shi was not listening, though, because he was making the link between this evil awakening and the prophecy that somehow evolved him.
"Don't scare the lad, Nuffles, let me remind you that weneed him to heal a wounded calf," said Singlumi Usagi, the hunter for the shrine. Shi didn't like Singlumi very much, but he was very useful and somewhat funny. Nuffles is his nickname for Nugli.
"Just givin' him the facts," insisted Nugli in an angry tone. Nugli was very easy to aggravate, which is why Singlumi loved to call him Nuffles. "By the way Shi, the father wants to see you in his office after you fix this poor calf. He also says that you aren't in trouble for last night, whatever that means," stated Nugli in a much calmer voice.
That's a relief thought Shi. After nodding his thanks Shi followed Singlumi over to the cow pen.
The calf was dealt with quickly, as it was just a broken bone. Singlumi could have just patched the bone, but he clearly needed Shi's help.
As they were walking back towards the main complex, Singlumi said, "Shi, whatever happens, be careful, always have some combat and healing spells charged, and your Sliith. Just be wary."
As they turned down different halls, Shi thought I wonder what that was all about. Shi went towards the father's study's door, but remembered Singlumi's warning. I might as well humor him. Shi charged the basic defensive reflection spell, Tinji. Shi didn't carry his Sliith with him, because weapons are prohibited inside the temple, so it had to be left in his dormitory. As he reached towards the door, the doorknob took the shape of a viper and spat poison at Shi. His reflection spell shot the poison back at the vile snake, quickly burning it back into the shape of a doorknob. Wow, that was useful. Shi prepared a fire blast spell and walked right through the door.
"We have been expecting you Shi," said the father. At his left side was the mighty dwarf, Gimli. At his right side was the powerful wizard, Gandalf.
"What you will see and hear is not to be shared," Gandalf said sternly.
"Under pain of death! Hey, why doesn't the kid speak?" shouted Gimli.
"He's mute Gimli," lectured Gandalf.
"What, I'm working with a kid who can't speak!" grumbled Gimli.
"Welcome to the party of the Green Fire," said the father warmly.
A hero was born…