Darkness Awakens

A short time ago, there was a dimension filled with wonderful magic, but then Darkness came into power and the Great Battle began. An army of the undead led by a powerful warrior swarmed over the land, setting their sights on the human realm and beyond.

All seemed hopeless when a small legion of brave and true wizards came forth. Against insurmountable odds, they battled heroically, driving the evil back from the edge of the human world.

Then the most powerful of them all, the mighty Gatekeeper cast a spell to seal the darkness inside giant gates for the foreseeable future and evil disappeared from the surface world.

But with great victory came great loss.

The human world never knew of the great battle or the sacrifices that were made to save them from destruction.

Even till this day, they live in peace… unaware of what is about to awaken…

Twenty Years Later…

A young squire was all alone in the middle of a frigid tundra. His hair was long and tied in a ponytail. He wore a silver circlet around his forehead and was clad in a white suit and a pale red waistcoat over it. The symbol of the mystics was emblazoned on his belt in shining gold.

Bowen gritted his teeth, trying to keep his cool despite the anger that threatened to consume his thoughts.

He squinted. It was impossible to see anything amid the swirling snow or hear anything over the loud bellowing of the strong winds.

His senses were useless, which was exactly what his master wanted.

He let out another shudder from the cold winds that would have frozen him hours ago, if not for his fire magic.

He removed the glove from his left arm before channelling his fire magic. But no sooner than a flame lit up in his palm, it was swiftly blown away by the icy winds.

Great, his magic was useless here too!

Bowen let out a frustrated groan, before putting his glove back on.

Moments like this made him regret his choice to become a squire under the Snow Prince. Any other knight worth their title would have knighted him long ago and allowed him to serve the kingdom. He could best the strongest warrior of the realm in bound battle and his mentor still wouldn't think he was ready.

He didn't know what the Snow Prince was thinking of achieving by sending him here! This was his final test as a knight. All he needed to do was find the nexus point of this dimension and find a way back to the Forest. It wouldn't be a hassle at all, if it weren't for all this snow that made accessing his fire magic almost impossible.

He trudged through the snow determinedly, trying to search for any clue to the nexus point. Maybe he would be lucky and stumble upon it.

Either way, failure was not an option for him.

To everyone else, it was a perfect day. Birds chirped, a cool breeze rattled the branches of the trees lining the road and the skies were picturesque.

Krista Mills wished she could appreciate it, but she couldn't. To her, even the vibrant of colours felt subdued and the soothing ambience of nature fell flat. It irked her to see other people laugh carefreely and the world look so beautiful when she knew how horrid it really was! Everything was transient and fickle. No one had control over their lives, least of all her.

She steered her motorcycle to a stop. She took off her helmet. Her brown hair was fashioned into a neat pixie cut, giving her a sharp look despite her green eyes and soft features.

Krista took out a bottle from the duffle bag tied to her bike and looked over the skyline. Her eyes drifted over to a placard a few feet away.

"BRIARWOOD, 25 MILES"

She shook her head before taking a gulp of water and putting the bottle back in the bag.

As she put her helmet back on, she really hoped Briarwood had the answers she was hoping to find.

A wave of power that send ripples through the Sanzu River, ignited an inferno in the Shadow World and sent tremors through the Abyss of Evil and the Underworld till the vibrations slammed against the Giant Gates of Hell and a crack appeared in the Gates. A beam of nefarious green energy burst through the crack, ascending through the crevices of the Earth till it reached an opening and shot to the skies.

The darkness hurled through a tiny village in the middle of a forest, razing it to the ground as the beam crashed against the soil and took solid form.

A knight in green armour rose from the ground, carrying a jagged sword with a red sash tied to its hilt alongside a green shield, edged with gold same as his armour. His silver pauldrons were fashioned after the heads of wolves, who bared their fangs. His crimson visor as well as the golden crest on his chest looked like a "W" that was stylistically twisted at the edges. A collar of silver fur framed his neck.

The villagers screamed in terror, running away from him as he laughed menacingly.

The ground shook and Niella clutched the railings of the staircase for support. She scrambled over to the table that held the crystal ball and gasped as it showed beams of dark energies crash against the various settlements in the forest, transporting monsters and the henchmen of darkness, who proceeded to pillage the innocent villagers.

"No…" She murmured disbelievingly.

The earthquake stopped as abruptly as it had started and Niella turned around on hearing a flutter of pages. The latch that kept the book closed had been enchanted open and the book had opened by itself. It only meant one thing… a prophecy!

She stood up and walked over to the station that held the tome. As her eyes ran over the lines of the new prophecy, her face contorted with confusion.

It foretold that five warriors from the human world should become the next team of Mystic Force.

Part of her didn't want to abide by the prophecy but the Xenotome had never left them astray before.

She gulped, turning towards the crystal ball. She needed to act fast.

Hope you guys like this chapter and please review. :)

Thanks to RPM Shadow and D.J. Scales for their reviews on the last chapter.

Bowen is not going to be clumsy like Clare. On the contrary, he is training to be a knight.

I have interesting things planned for this story but updates will be slow, since I am focusing on my other Mystic Force story for now.