Prologue

By: Erik Brown

And they stood there, and the spirits peered down on them, hoping that this time the conflict might be resolved. Two warriors stood facing each other, both clad in armor and mail, ready for battle. And this very same conflict had happened before, but forgotten, it begins anew.

For an hour the two just stood facing each other, when abruptly the silence was forcefully broken, as one of the warriors, a rat in shining gold armor, shouted, "Fool! Stop wasting the Enlighteneds time!"

"Why," the other warrior, a young turtle in black armor, rebutted, "I thought the Enlightened were immortal? What could time possibly mean to one who is immortal, unless you fear that your dark masters lie to you?"

"Give me the orb, you cannot stand against us!" The rat that spoke to him flicked his tail, then he unsheathed the long sword that hung on his back. Its metal flashed with hidden fire.

From beneath his armor the turtle brought forth a perfectly round metal orb, light pulsated from it, as if in reply to the sword, "Never shall I hand this over to you, you and your dark masters do not deserve it!"

"Hah, I smell the flesh that burns from the mere touch of the orb," the rat stretched out his open hand, "You haven't the ability to control that power! Now, give it to me!"

The turtle put the orb underneath his armor again, and then he put his right hand to his sword hilt and braced himself, "Never, Beuter, oh vilest of all kings!"

The rat threw back his head and laughed, "Bah, your bravery is astounding," then Beuter looked at the turtle and narrowed his eyes, "I give you one last to chance to join me, to join the Enlightened, your bravery would make a great addition to our ranks."

But the black armor clad turtle only laughed at the offer, and spat in the dirt, "I'll never join you, eater of flesh. Again I tell you, that you and your dark masters shall never hold the power of the Eclipse Stone! Your mad ideals shall never succeed!"

"Oh? And who shall stop me? You aren't still expecting the two heroes to come, are you?"

The young turtle scowled at Beuter, "They will come! You doubt ancients predictions, 'a bird with red feathers, and a bird with feathers as bright as the sun', you are the fool, to ignore the prophecies."

Beuter raised the sword, and gripped its hilt with two hands, allowing its power to flow through him, "Too bad, even it were true, you'll certainly never live to see them."

Reaching beneath his armor again, the turtle touched the Eclipse Stone, and whispered, "May I ultimately do what is right, and may my actions justify the means," and then he hardly knew what happened afterwards. And the sounds of combat echoed throughout the forest that morning for several hours, but none were around to witness the battle.

And history swirls around, weaving among the actions of those who are shortly trapped by the pressures of time. And it is because those of mortal flesh become corrupted by time, the actions of one in the past, shall force another in the future, to reap harvest planted long ago, and sow his seeds to be harvested in the future. And the power that is absolute shall corrupt absolutely, and nothing is learned.