see you. Magician Pew described you so well. Let me try to give some small explanation of what is happening to you.’
‘Long ago, in a time now known as the Great Age, a future was foreseen by several of the leading magicians. They saw a day when the world would be at the very tip of all that was good and on the first slippery slopes of decline. For this world as we know it to exist, there has to be a balance, think of it as good and evil, positive and negative, or Order and Chaos. All are similar and related, yet each is completely different. There is the necessity for a little Chaos in the world to complete a balance, but no room for evil in the hearts of man. What the magicians of old foresaw was a point of balance between Order and Chaos, the forces of nature. That point of balance, if allowed to pass, would mean Chaos becoming greater and greater, gradually leaving no room for Order. However, if the battle between the two could be halted at the right time, then a period of perfect balance, of peace and plenty, could continue indefinitely.’
‘To accomplish this, a great spell was needed. This spell was conceived by my master, Magician Pew, one of the greatest magicians of all time.’
‘And you were there to see all this, a thousand years ago?’ asked Loras.
‘Oh yes, I was there,’ Mahra confirmed. ‘Many years of work went into the spells casting and placing into three crystal skulls, but to complete it, someone had to wait for the right time to unite the skulls. That time, it would seem…is now. The Book of Challenges was created and heroes plucked from the future to use it. You are those heroes. You are the soldiers for Order, you must complete the challenges to finish the spell and stop the world from slipping further and further into the control of Chaos and the dark days of true evil.’
‘We already have a mystery soldier recruited to Chaos, although he may not even realise it. I believe he is the one who now tracks you, and Chaos will be aiding him in every way that it can. For now at least, it would seem the balance remains.’
The stars shone down brightly and an orange moon hung large and low on the horizon, its glow scattered on the water’s surface. Tarent was leaning back against the mast; he shivered as he sought the omen in his head - A Hunter’s Moon . He instinctively knew this omen prophesised trouble and, more to the point, that a demon would walk the earth. Well isn’t that wonderful, he thought. Just what I needed to know; magic, danger, and now demons, what joy knowledge can sometimes bring.
****
Matheus Hawk was not a happy man. He’d tracked the thief easily enough to a boat anchored in the harbour. A simple ‘find’ spell had allowed him to trace the boy who had been in the merchant’s room and a morning’s vigil had singled out the old hulk, hiding in the corner with several youngsters living on board. Matheus had a horrible reputation, which he was always careful to nurture. It paid to have people fear him in his line of work; however, setting himself and his methods loose upon children was lower than even he had been prepared to go. He had decided to wait until the boat was empty, search it, retrieve whatever was the merchant’s and leave. If the merchant didn’t like it, then so be it; they were, after all, only youngsters.
It had started to go wrong when nothing of the merchant’s could be found on the boat. Magic didn’t seem to work and even the listening spell he’d placed had failed to perform, which was strange. The final thing to take the edge from his humour had been the sight of the boat slipping out to sea early the next morning. He’d learned a valuable lesson in underestimating the thieves simply because they were children. Had they been adults he would have confronted them from the moment he’d traced them and slaughtered them without a regret, thought or prayer. He vowed to chase them down and children or not, he would show the world once more
‘Long ago, in a time now known as the Great Age, a future was foreseen by several of the leading magicians. They saw a day when the world would be at the very tip of all that was good and on the first slippery slopes of decline. For this world as we know it to exist, there has to be a balance, think of it as good and evil, positive and negative, or Order and Chaos. All are similar and related, yet each is completely different. There is the necessity for a little Chaos in the world to complete a balance, but no room for evil in the hearts of man. What the magicians of old foresaw was a point of balance between Order and Chaos, the forces of nature. That point of balance, if allowed to pass, would mean Chaos becoming greater and greater, gradually leaving no room for Order. However, if the battle between the two could be halted at the right time, then a period of perfect balance, of peace and plenty, could continue indefinitely.’
‘To accomplish this, a great spell was needed. This spell was conceived by my master, Magician Pew, one of the greatest magicians of all time.’
‘And you were there to see all this, a thousand years ago?’ asked Loras.
‘Oh yes, I was there,’ Mahra confirmed. ‘Many years of work went into the spells casting and placing into three crystal skulls, but to complete it, someone had to wait for the right time to unite the skulls. That time, it would seem…is now. The Book of Challenges was created and heroes plucked from the future to use it. You are those heroes. You are the soldiers for Order, you must complete the challenges to finish the spell and stop the world from slipping further and further into the control of Chaos and the dark days of true evil.’
‘We already have a mystery soldier recruited to Chaos, although he may not even realise it. I believe he is the one who now tracks you, and Chaos will be aiding him in every way that it can. For now at least, it would seem the balance remains.’
The stars shone down brightly and an orange moon hung large and low on the horizon, its glow scattered on the water’s surface. Tarent was leaning back against the mast; he shivered as he sought the omen in his head - A Hunter’s Moon . He instinctively knew this omen prophesised trouble and, more to the point, that a demon would walk the earth. Well isn’t that wonderful, he thought. Just what I needed to know; magic, danger, and now demons, what joy knowledge can sometimes bring.
****
Matheus Hawk was not a happy man. He’d tracked the thief easily enough to a boat anchored in the harbour. A simple ‘find’ spell had allowed him to trace the boy who had been in the merchant’s room and a morning’s vigil had singled out the old hulk, hiding in the corner with several youngsters living on board. Matheus had a horrible reputation, which he was always careful to nurture. It paid to have people fear him in his line of work; however, setting himself and his methods loose upon children was lower than even he had been prepared to go. He had decided to wait until the boat was empty, search it, retrieve whatever was the merchant’s and leave. If the merchant didn’t like it, then so be it; they were, after all, only youngsters.
It had started to go wrong when nothing of the merchant’s could be found on the boat. Magic didn’t seem to work and even the listening spell he’d placed had failed to perform, which was strange. The final thing to take the edge from his humour had been the sight of the boat slipping out to sea early the next morning. He’d learned a valuable lesson in underestimating the thieves simply because they were children. Had they been adults he would have confronted them from the moment he’d traced them and slaughtered them without a regret, thought or prayer. He vowed to chase them down and children or not, he would show the world once more
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