Chapter 2: Prologue

“Don’t worry, this will be the last time” a quiet whisper.. was all that was heard amongst the solitary woods atop a lonely mountain. From the rustling canopy of the tallest trees, and the leaves on the ground dancing with the wind to the river that was roaring with excitement nearby. It was as if they were rejoicing what was just said by the figure that sat atop a tree stump in the middle of a clearing.

The figure was that of a man, but his features were indistinctive, and strangely enough, not consistent. To onlookers, the figure at one moment could be described as a young man brimming with vitality; while at other moments, the figure looked like an old man with both feet firmly planted in the afterlife, at times the figure was a woman in her beautiful youth and at times a wrinkly grandmother.

“She is close… the great mother who never experienced the joy of having a child” another strange whisper, one filled with sadness. From the trees and leaves to the very force of the wind, it all suddenly died down as if they were responding to the feelings of the figure. It started to look at the ground next to the stump, or more accurately, two items made of wood that stood next to some ancient rotten wood. The items were shaped like an oval, with a wooden wall around the outer ring, and were filled with soft white pillows and blankets. One of these two cradles was empty, abandoned quite some years ago judging by the rotting, decaying state of the wood. The other contained a child peacefully sleeping with a weird veil of transparent liquid flowing over and around the entirety of the cradle.

Next to the child inside the cradle lay seven distinct scrolls. Three of these scrolls were colored like a rainbow, the colors flowing across the scrolls like a meandering river, wrapped and sealed with a tie adorned by a rainbow colored gem. Three other scrolls were colored gold, exuding a small light shining like it was the center of the world, wrapped and sealed with a tie adorned by a red gem. The last one of these scrolls was colored in silver, the color didn’t flow across the scroll, nor did it exude a shining light announcing itself to the world, instead it somehow gave a feeling of comfort and warmth to any onlooker.

“It is time. I know that she will sense you, oh small one” It smiled while looking at the child in the cradle. With care, it grabbed the handle of the cradle and with a wave of its hand it popped the veil of liquid that was flowing around the cradle. It walked to the nearby river that was flowing down the mountain into the open valley that lay to its south and crouched down. With care, the cradle was laid onto the river, and the roaring river quickly dragged the child away.

“There he goes..” the figure smiled once again, looking along with the flow of the river as if it could still see the child. After a minute it slowly stood up, looked to the sky, and showcased a smile that was filled with sadness. It slowly turned to the west and flashed its teeth, turning the smile into something more aggressive.

“The whore has been giving birth for four thousand years, her children rampage and procreate across the eastern and western lands. Six of her ten kings are leading the children, two are quickly growing up, the last and most dangerous one is to come soon.”

It turned to the southwest, its aggressive smile turning into one of unrestrained aggression like destruction is to come.

“The angel of seven is blowing her trumpet, heralding the birth of destruction. He who shall sow the earth red and fill the sky with cries of despair. His birth is the start.”

It slowly turned to the southeast, its smile returning to one of calmness, of certainty like a regal lord.

“The angel of one is also blowing her trumpet, heralding the birth of heaven. He who shall guide the world to its freedom and uplift the citizens of the world. His birth is the end. ”

“Well then the other four are born as well… I shall take my leave. I don’t belong here.. or anywhere” it spoke sadly to itself as it slowly walked away from the river and vanished.

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The city of Eind was a prosperous one. Normally the city would be bustling with the activity of merchants roaring over each other to promote their wares and draw the attention of potential customers accompanied by the noise of the furnaces and hammers clinking all over the city, but today was different, today was special.

“Oh may he be wise, oh may he be kind,

We wish for him the happiness of a thousand loving mothers,

We wish for him the kindness of a thousand fathers,

We wish for him to be strong like a thousand warriors,

We wish for him the wisdom of a thousand sages,

May his reign be more prosperous than that of Alaric,

May his reign be more victorious than that of Ademaro,

We wish upon you the brightest of lives!”

The city was bustling with merry people, singing, drinking, and dancing like there is no tomorrow. The bards were leading the people around the city, they stood on the numerous fountains and on the roof of houses singing their lungs out. The entire city was in a state of elation; for their future emperor was just born.

Just an hour ago, the proud emperor held a speech from the balcony of the palace to the common folk, bringing about the news of the birth of his beloved son. It was not just a celebration of the birth of their future emperor, but also for the stability of the empire. Many of the common folk were fearful of a civil war where each of the large noble houses and other members of the royal family would vie for the throne if their emperor perished. Their empire was one of war, like many others, and had been expanding continuously for around four thousand years. The emperor always leads the forces of their empire into the dangerous wars for expansion and as such, they were always fearful of his death, or rather what his death would entail.

But now, with the birth of his successor, those fears were temporarily abated.

While the common folk were making merry in the streets, the inside of the royal palace was in absolute chaos. Maids were running all across the palace to prepare for the festivities inside the gigantic ballroom. Inside a room in the back of the palace, sat a man with red hooded eyes, his long brown hair fell down his cheeks, unkempt but clean. His jawline was hidden by a decently large brown beard, but you could glean the square shape from how the beard flowed. His skin was tanned from the long campaign this summer. His crimson red robes, unadorned save the royal sigil on his left breast side, sat on top of a bulky frame. His arms bulged as he crossed them in front of his chest. His boots were light-brown and made of Gryphon leather imported from the Hupomenó Kingdom that lay two kingdoms east across the great sea of Demiurge.

He wasn’t wearing his crown or any other jewelry, for this meeting was an informal one. He sat there, on top of a large brown chest, looking down on three kneeling men. All three of them were wearing full plate armor, with the exception of their helmets, which they had taken off to show the proper respect to their emperor. The three armored men were accompanied by a man wearing a full tuxedo.

“What were his scrolls like?” the Emperor asked the man in the tuxedo.

“My emperor, he has four divine scrolls and three grand scrolls.” the man quietly spoke, containing his sheer disbelief about the scrolls.

“…Very well. It seems the time has come… I will go to the treasury and retrieve the one and only divine scroll we have in there.” the emperor replied calmly, but the man in the tuxedo knew that even the emperor was in disbelief. No matter what legends of old tell, seeing and hearing it for yourself will always leave you shocked, no matter how grand you yourself are.

“The three of you are to guard him at all times and costs, even if you have to lay down your own lives for it. I also want half of the red squadron to guard his outer perimeter at all times.” The emperor commanded the three armored men that were still kneeling.

A simple nod was all they gave back, as they had been ordered to not speak a word unless necessary. They stood up and exited the storage room, their armored footsteps slowly fading away in the distance on the non-carpeted floor.

 “Follow me, we will go and retrieve the divine scroll we have in the treasury. After we retrieve the scroll, I want you to send out a message to the death camp near the city of Toekomst and have them look for two suitable candidates for the position of anchor and sword. I want them sent over to the palace as soon as possible.” the emperor commanded the tuxedo man.

“By your will, my emperor.” came the steadfast and practiced reply.

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The wind was gentle, a small breeze was flowing throughout the beautiful, lush and peaceful garden. The cherry blossoms were floating calmly, the water of the pond was flowing freely and the sound of a bamboo swing pump could occasionally be heard. In the center of the garden, surrounded by the flowing water and cherry blossoms, was a small pagoda.

Inside the pagoda, sitting cross-legged on a raised wooden sofa, sat an old man, his hair gray, but long and bound up into a knot. Brown eyes, cold and calculating. While his eyes still showed life in them, his body was clearly showcasing he was approaching his end. The muscles he was once proud of in his youth, disappearing by the day. And yet he was emperor. He was dressed in a golden kimono, decorated with a single azure dragon crawling its way up from his waist to his right shoulder blade. To his left lay a glaive adorned with a blue gem, and to his right, an ancient folding fan, decorated with the legends of the founder of his family’s long dynasty, with a toughness betraying its look. In front of him was a single-aged woman, with her knees, hands, and head on the ground, a position known as a dogeza in the empire. She had been waiting like this for an hour.

“Tell me, oh first wife of mine, what are his scrolls?” The emperor finally spoke with a haughty voice.

“Four divine and three grand, oh mighty ruler of heaven” she replied in a steady and emotionless voice.

“Good, it seems the prophecy has chosen my son. You may leave,” he commanded.

“I will do as you command, oh mighty ruler of heaven,” came the same emotionless reply.

As the woman left the small pagoda and closed the door, the emperor turned around and opened a window behind him. As he looked out across the pond, beyond the cherry trees and lush grass, he saw his best and only friend. A scaled serpentine creature with four legs that turned into claws; its face was long and filled with razor-sharp teeth, and on top of its head were two great horns the size of many men. Across its scaled body on its back flowed beautiful blue fur that went all the way to its tail. The creature had been with him for his entire life and it was guarding a most sacred treasure. A treasure that will be with his son for his entire life.

The creature lifted its head and looked towards the Emperor, a look of acceptance and determination was shared among them. The creature slowly opened its mouth and out came a mighty red blaze aimed at the treasure it was guarding.

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The emperor closed the window and stepped off the sofa as a tear fell down his cheek.

“Hah, finally…” he let out a long sigh.

The emperor, with difficulty, crouched down and opened a small cabin under the wooden sofa and retrieved a certain scroll. A scroll that had been there for centuries, if not several millennia.

“I will have to call my first wife back later and have her start the anchor and sword competition. I also have to send out a few messages…” he calmly spoke.

“This is it, let us call down the curtains on this world,” he whispered as he slowly stood up and sat down on the sofa, resting his weary body. 

“A shame I won’t be around to witness it” he chuckled as his eyes grew weary and he laid down with his old, decaying body across the sofa.  

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“hah”

“hah”

“QUICK! RUN!” a man shouted to his two friends behind him. They had been running for minutes straight at a brisk pace, away from the field of horror long behind them. They had high hopes when they entered that field of horror, hoping to score some big names and earn themselves the ingredients to become a warrior. But the enemy... the enemy was a demon.

“Fuck that bitch!” shouted one of them.

“God fucking dammit, she really is a demon. I guess the rumors were true, she really outclasses every single fucking general around by miles.” He heaved as he spat on the ground to clear his throat.

“Hey Matthew, Rick! I can see a river up ahead, we can drink some water and escape across it!” shouted the last of the males.

“Let’s go!”

After a few more minutes, they finally made it to the river and quickly threw themselves into the river to cleanse all the sweat and blood of them and drink some of the heavenly liquid that will bring their dry throats back to life.

“Hah, *spat* water really is the source of life. I really needed that!” Matthew, a young man with buck teeth, a belly that would make even the god of alcohol proud, and a protruding nose filled with warts, shouted as he swam across the river.

“Hey, Matthew! What is that behind you!? Something is flowing down the river!” Rick, a barely adult with broad shoulders and a muscular body from working in his father's smith, shouted to Matthew.

“Looks like a cradle! Is there a child in there? I can hear crying coming from the cradle!” The third and last one named Pepijn shouted.

“I’ll grab it!” shouted Matthew back as he grabbed the cradle.

“Let’s get on land on the other side! We need to escape!” Rick shouted as he started swimming.

“Yes!” came the reply from Matthew and Pepijn.

Soon the three found themselves onshore. Rick and Pepijn quickly dried their clothes as best as they could and were getting into position to run again, but as they looked back, they could see Matthew looking inside the cradle with his jaw wide open and fervent desire in his eyes.

“What's up Matthew??” Rick asked cautiously, he had never seen Matthew like this since the day they saw Patricia, a beautiful young woman, in action in the shed of their town with three men during their early teens.

“I think we just found the JACKPOT! WE CAN RETIRE AND LIVE LIKE KINGS… NO EMPERORS! We can BECOME WARRIORS and LIVE A LONG LIFE!!!!! We can have EVERYTHING WE WANTED!” shouted Matthew back.

“What kind of horseshit are you spewing Matthew?” Pepijn asked back.

“Inside the cradle… inside the cradle is…it is A LORD CHILD!!! I can see three emperors/empress scrolls and one high-king/queen scroll!!! I can see three other scrolls as well, but I have no clue what the fuck they are!” Matthew shouted back.

“WHAT!? The other two shouted back and quickly ran over.

“Let’s quickly kill the child and toss the cradle and the body back in the river! Then we run like there is no tomorrow from here!” Matthew shouted to his two friends.

“Are you serious Maththew!? You’re talking about killing a baby!” Rick replied back, his emotions flaring at the mere thought of killing a helpless baby.  

“Think about THE MONEY RICK! Think about your Elaine, your beautiful and loving Elaine! You can buy her everything she desires when we sell these scrolls!” came the reply from Pepijn once he sat down next to Matthew.

“I... I can’t… I can’t do it! It is a BABY! My father taught me to always look out for children and protect them at all costs. He adopted me, me who had nothing and he gave me his everything. And you want me to MOCK everything my father stands for!? came the thundering voice of Rick as he started to threateningly walk to Matthew and Pepijn.

“Fuck your old man Rick! I am going to live a long life and have everything I want, all the women, jewels, and glory I want!” as Matthew moved his hands to the neck of the baby.

In their hot-tempered bickering, they never noticed the woman who leaped across the river like it was a small droplet of water. She landed without sound, her sword drawn and dripping with blood from the battle she left earlier when she sensed the cradle and the baby. She took a single step and appeared next to the three men.

“WHAT?”

“SHIT”

The three cried out before she swung her sword. Forever separating their heads from their bodies.

“What do we have here?” her gentle voice flowed out. She casually collected the scrolls that had been grabbed by Matthew and Pepijn as she made her way to the cradle.

As she took a look inside the cradle…

“Well then, why is a lord child being abando….HUH!?” she let out a shout of surprise.

“WHY DOES HE LOOK JUST LIKE HIM!?”