To say that dungeons where miserable is an understatement.
Raina Hikaru lay in the cold damp cell, while the rats scurried past and water dripped over her cot.
As the last of the resistance, she was to be executed in one month to squash all hopes of rebellion. With the passing of her, the fallen one would gain complete control of the kingdom of Rune-Midgard.
It was unfathomable that less than two month ago, Tristram the third was sitting on his throne, or would be if he wasn't always daydreaming in his garden. Unbeknownst to all but a few, this horrible change began 3 years before, in a mages training grounds in Prontera castle
Flashback to 3½ years before.
Raina "Yume" Hikaru was finally going to get her wish. After countless years of training in the novice academy, she had gained the knowledge needed to join the secretive guild of the magically adept, or mages as the commoners called them. After passing the punitive test they placed before her, (making a potion, oh scary!) she had headed to the capital city of prontera armed with only her spell book, in order to pursue the position of apprentice to the High Mage, a mysterious, or more mysterious than usual, wizard who went by the name of Green Mercury. Using raw wits and a little bit of luck, she was able to reach his room, at the top of a heavily warded tower,
As she stepped inside the room, she felt, rather than saw, a tall man, sitting behind a big oaken desk. The next thing she knew, her mental barriers had been brutally torn aside, like a rock through wet paper. She felt a scorching burst of pain at the back of her neck, and she was seeing black.
Slowly she got up, how long had she been down, what had the shrouded man, which she presumed to be the High Mage, done to her, and last of all, how had he done all this without moving?
"First lesson, any mage can take you down if you are not mentally ready to meet them." Came a deep voice like that of a large weighty man from somewhere to the left.
"My name is…" she began.
"Raina Hikaru, though you prefer to be called Yume" interrupted the man, who chose that moment to reveal himself.
"If a mage can gain access to your mind, then they know all that you know, a useful tool to know, but a fearsome weapon against those that cant fight it," He continued.
"I have come to…"she started.
"Seek my apprenticeship and learn the intricate art of magic." He finished for her.
"I am sorry but I am currently in possession of an adequate number of apprentices."
"But sir..."
"I don't care about the promise you made to your sister, I need no apprentices," He replied with an air of finality which said that this was over.
"Sir," she began more insistently, "I will not leave this office unless I have been given apprenticeship."
"If I want you to leave, you will leave, whether by your own power or not," he replied with a stony glare, "But it happens that I like students that are determined, you will begin tomorrow."
"Thank you sir…" she began but was cut off as she sensed a massive displacement of air, like when you pop a balloon, and all the air whooshes out.
The next thing she knew, she was at the bottom of the tower.
"So the rumors are true," she thought.
Delighted with her new position, she studied hard for the next 2 weeks, until the day that came to be known only as the beginning of the end.
As she arrived at the training field, some of the other trainees where arguing. The self proclaimed leader of all of the mages apprentices, Hugensnot, (who will come into the story in a prominent role in the near future) was arguing with the younger but apparently equally experienced, Decc Ramirez. Hugen was claiming that the most efficient kill was just to pierce the foes soul with a powerful skill he liked to call Napalm Beat. Decc on the other hand, was arguing that it was easier to kill them with a skill he had mastered called Frost Diver which froze the foe in a block of ice.
They were both putting up strong arguments, when, out of no where "He" came.
Now, don't ask why he did what he did, I cant answer that. But he did commit, what is known by the few survivors,(all 4 of them) as the most awful massacre ever known.
The shrouded figure, that we will just refer to as "Him," for now, just appeared out of thin air between the two mages. As a reflex, Decc stepped back and swung his staff toward the mysterious phantom. This of course was not the wisest of actions, because with a flash, the wraith vanished. Startled, Decc stepped back, and then a terrible expression appeared on his face, and he gasped, as his head fell to the earth, giving a final twitch, before his eyes clouded over. With another flash, another apprentice fell, his throat seeping blood. There was blood everywhere, as another three mages where brutally stabbed to the point of disfiguration, and all the while there was a terrible laugh, akin to the sound that the evil demon makes as it consumes yet more souls. Whoever, or whatever was doing this, was enjoying this terrible perverse ritual.
All the while, Hugensnot was just standing there, which was more terrible almost than the act being committed to the other students. The other students for their credit, were trying to kill the unseen menace, and spells where flying everywhere adding to the confusion. Yume was later ashamed at her actions, but at the time, hiding under a wagon seemed to be the smartest thing to do. But never the less, she still could not bear to look away as the young mages unanswered screams were painfully and efficiently cut short.
Not 5 minutes later, Hugensnot was the only one left standing, and he flinched waiting for the inevitable end of his young life. This though was a moment that would not come for a long time yet, and with a frighteningly calm sound, the wraith spoke.
"Well now what have we here, a scared little mage boy, torn from his little flock. Well, I can find a use for this little one, and what use he will be, I can sense a great power just beneath the surface, waiting to be torn free. Yes, you will be very useful indeed."
With impossible precision, the wraith appeared right behind Hugensnot, and grabbed him, and then… there was nothing, both Hugen and the Phantom were gone.
End flashback
What happened in the next three hours, Yume never knew, for she had fainted cold after Hugen disappeared. They never found him, or at least not the "him" that disappeared that day. Over the next few years, though, there were unsettling rumors saying that a powerful wizard was gaining strength and followers somewhere in the lands to the north.
One day two years later, there was a stirring to the north. What everyone thought was a harmless immigration began. Many people came into the capital from the north, claiming to be escaping the horde of demons that were laying waste to the mountains there.
Many of these people took up positions in the castle guard, until they made up over 50 of the guard. Many more began moving into the capital and taking up residence near the castle and the barracks.
Then, a year after the beginning of the immigration, It happened.
Yume had just finished her apprenticeship, and was now a full fledged sage, a wise young woman that had gained a position as the head of the king's advisors. But she never told people what really happened that day, and the public belief was that a demon of great power had caused the slaughter, but she knew, and she vowed that she would never let such an atrocious act go unpunished, not unless she was dead.
One day, while she was out in the countryside, she saw a trail of smoke over Prontera. She hurried back, wonder what could possibly have started the fire. As she reached the castle, which was the source of the fire, she had an atrocious reminder of what had happened 3 years before. Everywhere, there were bodies.
Some of the bodies where soldiers, castle guards, while others where townsfolk, but all where mangled. By the position of the bodies, she could tell that there had been betrayal on that night, approximately half of the guard had rebelled for seemingly no reason. Or at least that is what she thought at first, but as she headed inwards, she noticed that the barbarians had been the aggressors, a terrible military coup which was all the work of one group. As she reached the throne room, she heard a terrible wail over the roar of the flames. She blasted the door open, just as a mysterious mage gained his prize. On the floor near his feet, where the king and the queen, both horribly tortured, and brutally defaced.
The mage stepped back laughing maniacally as he placed the crown over his head, the only other person in the room being a thief, with a hood covering his face. Yume knew that she could do no more here, but get herself killed, and was leaving when the figured turned in her direction. Yume almost screamed. It was him, after all these years he still lived, though, any part of himself that was there before was now dead. All that remained was raw power and a black void. Before he had a chance to see her, she darted back into the hallway and raced with inhuman desperation back to the city.