Gift of the Gods - Chapter 1

 

 

Twenty years later...

 

" Hurry up.Lucius, your taking all day." the womanin bright red robes chided her friend.

" Uh...I don't know about this, are you sure its safe in there. I mean, no loose timbers that could possibly fall, or beasts lurking in the shadows?" the man answered back.

The two of them had been part of a caravan bound for the city of Junijen, A city that lie in the middle of the Great Desert of Junijen. Now they were standing before the ruins ofthe Tower of the Magi.

The woman, Shara Firelund, was the high priestess of the Church of Life. Her companion, Lucius Maldorn, a trader from the city of Babilon, in the country of Seltiya.

Shara was dressed in bright red robes, her hair color, a deep burgundy red, and eyes the color of emerald.

Lucius was dressed in a brown frock coat, white linen shirt, dark red trousers, and a worn pair of black leather boots. His hair was a dark brown, and eyes the color as his hair. But, the most unusual thing about this man was the strange dark, wire rimmed glasses that he wore.

Having had enough of her friend's foolishness, Shara grabbed the sleeve of his brown coat and began pulling him through the crumbling portal, into the ruins of the Tower of the Magi.

" My god!" Lucius exclaimed after entering the portal." How in the world can this room exist ?"

" Magic." His friend whispered back to him. " This place is radiating so much magic that I can't even begin to tell you where the center of it's power is."

" Maybe there's still some one living here." Lucius whispered back.

" No,...no one has been living here in a great long while. That much I can tell you. If someone had been living here, I would have been able to sense their presence."Shara returned, the strange light of the chamber playing off of her deep burgundy hair.

The chamber itself was amazing to behold.A great dark blue and silver rug lay across the entire breadth of the chamber. Lining the walls, were portrait after stunning portrait of strangely clad men and women.

At irregular intervals, in between the massive paintings, were unusual looking lamps. Each glowing with an erie blue-white light.

" How old did you say this place was supposed to be ?"Lucius asked, his curiosity peaked.

" Some three thousand years, I suppose." Shara replied, although she suspected the place to be much older.

" And why exactly are we here.Just clarify that for me." Lucius returned in his same usual light hearted manner.

" Before the war, as you probably already know, this was a place of great magic. I want to find out if it still retains some of that power. You know, I'm looking for an artifact or some like that." The High priestess replied, curious to begin her search.

 

---

 

" The power station in New Canavarel will be on line in a few minutes, sir." The young man in a grey flannel uniform reported to his superior.

" And the populace. Are we still having trouble with them ?" The black bearded man asked his subordinate.
" I'm afraid so, sir. We nearly had a riot yesterday when they learned of their high priest's abduction." The young officer continued.

" If they try to riot again, I want you to round up the ringleaders and have them executed. Am I making myself fairly clear." The lord of Firestorm castle decreed.

" Crystal clear, sir." With that, the young officer saluted his commander and proceeded to leave. But, beforehe was out the massive audience chamber, his lord called out to him " Have Lord Hawthorn report to me immediately."

 

 

 

---

 

" Check it out, I've found a doorway." Lucius calledover to Shara from the area of wall he'd been examining.
" Be right there." Shara called back to her friend, moving in his general direction.

" I think that there's a lever here somewhere. Come on, help me find it." After a few moments of searching, they finally found a small depression in the stone wall. A trigger of some sort.

Carefully, Lucius depressed the small trigger in the depression. With a groan, the stone door slide backward, revealing a stone stairway leading down into the bowels of the earth. The passageway was lit by the same strange lamps that lit up the room behind them.

" After you, milady." Lucius bowed to the high priestess.

" How gallant." Shara said as she stepped past Lucius, into the passageway, a small smile upon her countenance.

" Are you making fun of me, or am I just imagining it."The dark haired man asked, slightly amused.

" Don't worry about it, you are." The high priestess replied.

" Now you are making fun of me." Lucius returned.

" Oh, am I ?" Shara asked, still amused by his almost comical display of mock offense.

" I give up." Lucius finally huffed, and then he gently slide past Shara, starting down the passageway.

 

 

 

---

 

Flying over the lowlands of Arcadia, Hawthorn's private shuttle made its way toward Firestorm Castle.
It had been twenty years ago today that he and the rest of the crew of the space freighter " Firestorm" had crash landed onto this strange and fantastic world.

Some six months after they're landing, Mathers, thecaptain of the " Firestorm ", had build what would come to be known as Firestorm Castle. After a year or so of preparation, the crew of the " Firestorm " had launched a massive ground assault on the neighboring city of Claion. The defenders of the city never had a chance, considering the fact that they were only fighting with long bows and iron swords. Mathers had taken the city after only three hours of fighting, and the use of only 2 tanks and 1 attack helicopter.

But, back to the present."Why would Mathers want tospeak with me" Hawthorn thought to himself as he guided the shuttle toward a secret shuttle bay located in the side of the cliff that Firestorm Castle rested on.


" You are cleared for landing, Manta I." A voice blared at him from the loud speaker of the shuttle's cockpit.
Slowly, the sleek silver and black craft eased it's wayinto the shuttle bay, and with a final jerk, the shuttle settled onto the ground. After a few moments, the shuttle depressurized and its entry hatch slid to the side.

As Marcus Hawthorn unbuckled himself from his safety restraints, a weasely young officer appeared in the entryway of the shuttle.

" Lord Hawthorn, I presume." the young officer said as he looked at Marcus.

" Yes, and who might you be. Eh ?" Hawthorn asked the young officer." I see that Mathers has changed the uniforms again."

" Yes sir, his lordship did that quite a few yearsago." The young officer replied.

The officer was dressed in a grey flannel coat and pants, and a pair of black leather boots. His hair was whitish-blond in color, cropped short in the usual military fashion, and his eyes were the color of the ocean.

" If you would follow me." The young officer said as he turned and started toward a long corridor leading awayfrom the shuttle bay.

Becoming impatient, Marcus asked again " I said, boy, what's your name ?"

Turning to face Hawthorn " Thomas Horne, sir." And with that, he turned around again and started walking down the darkly lit corridor.

" What's your rank here, son ?" Hawthorn asked the already flustered young man Without turning around, Thomas answered " Chief of Base Operations, sir."

" A mighty big job for someone so young, don't you think." Hawthorn questioned.
" No sir, just alot of work." Horne answered back.

" Good answer son, don't take shit from anyone." Hawthorn said, smiling." Except from me, of course."

" Yes sir, whatever you say, sir." Horne said, becoming annoyed by the older man. With that over with, the two of them continued on downthe corridor in silence.

" Welcome my friend, I see that life has treated you well." Mathers greeted warmly as he stepped down from upon the dais his throne sat.
" Alright, what all this about.Your mysterious summons here." Hawthorn asked rather bluntly.

" I never could fool you, could I ?" Mathers asked his old friend.

" No, am I the only one you have called, or just the first to arrive ?" Hawthorn responded sarcastically. Looking around the vast chamber, nervously fingeringthe hem of his royal purple cloak." The later I'm afraid."
" What's this all about ?" Hawthorn finally just blurted out.

" Danger is awaiting us all upon the horizon." Mathers spoken crypticly.

" What in God's good name are you talking about, what the hell does that mean ?" Hawthorn shouted back at his former commander.

" What did actually happen to that fool, Anderson?"Mathers questioned Hawthorn.

" You know exactly what happened to him, I ejected himout into space." The brown haired man replied.

" I don't think so. As of late, I've been having this strange recurrent dream. Do you want to hear about it?"
" No!" Hawthorn answered.

" I think I'll tell you about it anyway..." Mathers paused for a moment, as if to collect his thoughts. " In this dream, I see Anderson, alive. I see him coming toward us, and with him he brings our destruction."

" My God, you've gone mad." Hawthorn returned.

" Not mad, just cautious." The black haired man answered back." You see, in this world. I gained the use of magic, and magic is a very unusual thing. Sometimes it can even foretell the future."

" You are mad, and I'm leaving." Hawthorn said, turning away from the madman.

" I'm afraid not." Mathers replied. Then the aging man drew some strange design in the air in front of him and pointed his right index finger at Hawthorn.

 

" What the hell's going on around here? " Hawthorn screamed out in rage, unable to move a single step.

" Now you're going to listen to me." Mathers began.