The burning of the Citadel

“Oh s**t” Harrald exclaimed as he finally awoke to the ringing of the many tower bells that shattered the early morning silence of the city.

He quickly jumped out of his small brown bed and stood on the cold stone floor, stretching as he opened the glass windows of his room to breathe in the some fresh air and also to brace himself for the day ahead. Yawning, Harrald put on his old and patched clothes and headed out of his room to take a bath.

“I see that your finally up you lazy urchin” said Yalmar

“Come on after all that ale you made me drink you think I wouldn’t take my time getting up?” asked Harrald while he picked up a red cushion from the large ancient couch that dominates the small study they had which was overflowing with books on their respective studies.

“It’s not my fault you decided to get drunk before your exams” replied Yalmar in his always serious voice.

  “Whatever I’m going to go take a bath, I need to smell clean or look it since the old man won’t let me in otherwise” Harrald yawned out while making his way across the a mess of parchments, quills and books that were all over the floor.

Yalmar looked around with a tired look at the study room to see what was making that pungent smell. He got up from his seat and went over to the large brown table that he and Harrald used for their meals and noticed how Harrald had left some his left over meal from two nights ago. With a sigh Yalmar made his way back to his seat on the red couch and closed his eyes to rest a bit before his own exams. The loud splashing of water was the only noise that could be heard from these two’s run down residence.

These two individuals lived in the cheap and old part of Elmorat that had rubbish all over the streets and where merchants sold their goods which were imported from all over the Kingdom of Raghul from the peaks of the Dead Mountains in the north to the Serpents Desert in the south as well as Kentor which was the great capital of the kingdom. The city of Elmorat is more famously known as the white city as the streets near the great citadel are paved with white stones that were hewn from the great stones that litter the enormous tundra of the kingdom.

Elmorat is famous for other things apart from its white stones. It’s the center of knowledge for the entire kingdom, libraries the size of temples can be found within the city, most of them only used by mages and wizards. These libraries are also used by the Royal college of Magic, Music and Art. This college is the main attraction of the city and attracts a number of eager young learners from all over the kingdom such as Harrald and Yalmar. Harrald was born a mage which was not common for the barbaric tribes that lived in cold and snowy north of the kingdom. He was born in the north and raised in the north so he is a son of the north. The north was a dangerous place as bandits and giants occupied the freezing tundra so he was sent by the chief of his clan to Elmorat to study magic. Harrald and his tribe didn’t realize he wasn’t just a mage, he found out he was a time mage and being a time mage meant that Harrald was one day going to be the most powerful mage in the kingdom. When he got to Elmorat he immediately went to Royal College where he found out that the people there were amazed by his manipulation of space and his apparent control of time. He met Yalmar who was also received with the same amazement and wonder if not more because of his own unique abilities and especially of who he was. Yalmar came from the Serpents Deserts which is as dangerous as the deep north if not more. No one knows where he was born but they only know that he resembles the nomads of the south with his brown complexion, dark brown eyes, tall and muscular body and his dark hair that grows backwards. Yalmar was received with shock by the Royal College because of his unique ability; he could bring forth anything in creation by saying its name, this ability belonged to the first inhabitants of Raghul who were called the Rits.

It took Harrald an hour to get ready to leave the house as he had misplaced his best robes yet again which greatly amused Yalmar who gave a rare mischievous smile at Harrald when he accused him of stealing them.

“If you don’t hurry up and put on your robes I swear I’m going to summon a pool of acid exactly where you’re standing!” threatened Yalmar as he opened the creaky brown front door.

“Gimme a minute” whined Harrald as quickly put on his boots.

Yalmar proceeded into the hall and started walking down the uneven steps of the stairs when he suddenly stood still with a smile on his face. He turned around and muttered “snake” as he raised his hand towards the house and as he did so his brown eyes gleamed brightly, a snake materialized and sped off toward the house. As Yalmar continued walking down the stairs he heard an ear-splitting roar that came from the house that caused the dust that was on the ceiling to rain down on Yalmar. Equivalency he thought dully as he walked out of the small building and into the sunlight.

Harrald came out of the building fuming about the snake that Yalmar had set on him so the first thing he did was go straight to Yalmar while venomously thinking of what spells he could unleash on him, the thought of sending Yalmar to the crypts of Galbazar seemed to satisfy him to some degree.

“Why do you always wear those black robes? The sun will burn you to a crisp” Harrald pointed out as they turned away from the dusty sides and onto to the white road.

“Why do you always wear white? You look like a walking mirror reflecting light into everyone’s eyes” swiftly replied Yalmar causing Harrald to scowl and aggressively push through merchants who were on the road.

 

It took them both an hour to escape the maddening hustle of the merchant area and into the more quiet and majestic part of the city. The buildings were much more finely made and kept after. The road here was smooth and easy to walk on as the white stones there were less chipped and gray with dust.

“They still haven’t found the King have they?” inquired Harrald

“No but rumors are going about that now he’s gone Prince Rinley will take the throne” replied Yalmar as he scratched his chin while wondering how hard the exams were going to be.

“He’s a gigantic oaf! We might as well give the entire kingdom to the elves!”  Harrald exclaimed in disgust.

“Careful now you don’t want to go creating unnecessary problems with his supporters” Yalmar advised as they swiftly moved aside as a cart laden with merchandise wheeled past them.

“Like anyone would be brave enough to attack a time mage” sniggered Harrald

“Anyways there’s a rumor that the elves are going to attack the city in a few days through the eastern border with their dragons” Yalmar informed Harrald “And that Kentor won’t send reinforcement if they do”

“Sounds like rubbish to me there’s no way the elves would dare to attack a city filled with mages and whatever you are” chuckled Harrald.

Yalmar thumped him on the head in reply which caused Harrald to severely consider using magic on him. The both of them started to argue but sudden shouting caught their attention and they headed towards the source of the noise. There was a group of mercenaries that were assaulting a man wearing gray robes. One of them was holding the man while the biggest of the mercenaries who was punching the short man was wearing heavy steel armor and had a long sword sheathed that was hanging from his belt.

“S**t that’s Albert” Harrald shouted to Yalmar.

When the mercenaries saw Harrald and Yalmar they let Albert go but did not move. They stood there laughing amongst themselves while insulting Yalmar and the others.

“Are you alright Albert?” Harrald asked the man who was spitting blood on the white road.

“Yeh I’m alright and thanks for saving me backside those cutthroats would’ve hurt me bad” said Albert in his gruff voice.

Out of nowhere something hit Yalmar on the back of his head causing him to nearly fall on to the road. The trio spun around and saw that the mercenaries were howling with laughter. Harrald started towards them with his fists clenched but Yalmar pulled him back.

“Yeah walk away ya freaks!” shouted the leader of the mercenaries.

A deadly smile formed on Harrald’s face as he freed himself from Yalmar’s grip who was begging him not to do anything stupid. He walked towards the mercenaries and his hands started glowing blue as well as his eyes which caused the mercenaries to start backing away with fear in their eyes.

“We didn’t know you could do magic please don’t hurt us” begged the one of the mercenaries.

“Oh it’s too late for that now, now I was thinking earlier that men could be forced to fly so let’s put that to the test eh” replied Harrald who looked like a risen spirit with his eyes shining blue as well as his hands.

Harrald uttered his spell which caused the ground beneath the mercenaries to open up as a dark void and swallow them. A second later an opening appeared twenty feet above the ground from which the mercenaries dropped out from causing them to plummet to the white road with nothing but stone to greet them.

“I guess I was wrong, men can’t be forced to fly” laughed out Harrald as he walked back to where the shorty muscular Albert and Yalmar were standing.

“You idiot you had to show off and do something like that didn’t you? When will you learn not to be rash?” Yalmar asked in a calm voice as if he had seen this all before.

“I was provoked wasn’t I Albert?” replied Harrald trying to stop himself from laughing as Albert nodded in agreement who was laughing himself.

“Never mind, we’re going to be late if we don’t hurry up!” Albert exclaimed “Let’s get a move on!”

With that all three of them ran towards the Royal College, scared that they might arrive late for their exams. They arrived at the large white gate to the college breathless and sweaty. They lowered their hoods to show their faces to the guards, threw the gates open and ran into the main hall of the college whose front doors were open. The hall was scattered with other mages-in-training who were walking about or sitting silently in this cathedral like structure that had two large stairs to proceed through to the practice rooms and offices. Albert left the two that had saved him and headed towards other mages to converse and so did Harrald, leaving Yalmar with his thoughts which was what he preferred. An elderly man covered in red robes walked towards the group of students and raised his hand to silence them. Everyone fell silent apart from Harrald who was singing rather foolishly to a giggling group of girls.

“Harrald will you please stop making that awful noise, you sound like a dying cat!” The old man shouted.

“Sorry Simy” Harrald apologized as he winked at Yalmar who rolled his eyes at him.

“It is a shame that after so many years you still have no respect for anyone least of all for me, I am the Arch-mage and you should give me the respect I deserve” Arch-mage Simy told him “Alright everyone listen up you will all go in to the chamber on the right side of the hall when your name is called, you will then be instructed on what to do by the examiners sitting on the table. Good luck everyone and do not forget to come to the Leaving feast”

With that the Arch-mage walked up the stairs and disappeared.

“Albert?” said a man who had popped his head through the now half opened door which lead to the exam chamber “we are going to start with you, hurry up please”.

Albert walked towards the exam chamber looking as pale as a ghost, Harrald clapped for him to give him some courage. Soon Albert was done and other students were being called into the exam chamber. After a few hours Harrald was called in who swaggered towards the exam chamber as he blew kisses towards his many female admirers. What an idiot Yalmar thought as Harrald winked at him. The student’s that were done with the exam went straight to the courtyard. Yalmar knew he would be picked last so he got comfortable and watched the other students go in. It was dusk when Yalmar was called in; he entered the chamber and saw a long horizontal black table at the end of it with three judges sitting next to it.

“Alright Yalmar your magical ability is somewhat different from the others so could you please conjure up a large boulder, a double edged sword, a pool of water and a sapphire” asked one of the examiners.

Yalmar smiled and did as he was instructed without showing off like Harrald. He was also told to pass certain obstacles planted in the gargantuan chamber by using his abilities which he did with ease.

“Excellent, I think we’re all in agreement when we say that you’ve passed with flying colours” the oldest examiner said delightfully.

Yalmar walked out of the exam chamber and into the courtyard through the right side of the chamber which had a sort of gate that allowed access into the courtyard. Yalmar walked toward Harrald who was now handing out the exotic flowers in the courtyard to his admirers.

“Careful Milly the purple flower is poisonous and could lead to your destruction” Yalmar told her.

Milly looked at the purple flower and opted to take the white one. The sun had set so Yalmar and Harrald proceeded to the Dinner Hall for the feast. The entire hall was alive with talk and laughter as all of the students that wrote the exam sat down and relaxed after the straining day they had. Harrald was looking around to see where Albert went when he felt this blinding pain; it was if his mind was ripped out from his body and he was sent into an abyss of darkness. This darkness was replaced by a sudden blue spiral of light. With great shock Harrald realized that he was looking at the untethered skin of time itself and to his surprise he found it terrifying. As he looked at with great fear he saw what no one had seen; the limitless possibilities. The what was, what will be, what is, what could be, what should be and what should never be all rushed into Harrald’s mind. He realized he was seeing the fire of time itself and he learnt. He learnt from the knowledge that poured into his mind. Harrald couldn't take anymore of the pain that was knifing his body,pain that was becoming too much to bear. Then suddenly out of the chaos he heard a voice. At first it was quiet and incomprehensible but it grew in force and crashed into every fibre of his being causing him to feel even more excruciating pain. The light of this place was blinding him and as well as making him feel nauseous. The voice seemed to come from within the spiraling light, light which had now taken the form of a whirlpool. North the voice kept saying as Harrald was thrown into another dark ominous hole and then with a almighty bang he was thrust back to where he was. He looked around in distress to see if Yalmar or anyone had seen what had happened but all their eyes were fixed on the Arch-mage who was delivering a speech.

“Yalmar did you see what just happened?” asked Harrald shakily

“Keep quiet Harrald the Arch-mage will kill you otherwise” whispered Yalmar

“Listen something happened! I don’t know what exactly but I know that the elves are coming we should warn everyone” replied Harrald furiously.

“Get a grip!” replied Yalmar with murderous look in his eyes “You can tell whoever you need to tell later but for now shut up and listen”.

“A toast to all of our futures and the kingdom” finished the Arch-mage.

He picked up the glass of wine next to him and drank from it. Harrald remembered from the place beyond the abyss that the cups were poised and he knocked the glass out of Yalmar’s hand as the wine reached his lips.

“EVERYONE THE WINE IS POISONED!” screamed Harrald who had stood up with cold sweat running down his face.

All of the students laughed thinking it was a joke. Suddenly screams erupted around the Dinner hall as the Arch-mage began vomiting out blood with what horribly looked like organs and then everyone who drank the wine started exhuming and vomiting out all of their insides. Harrald and Yalmar looked around and watched in fear and utter horror at the bodies falling all around them. The blood of the poisoned flowed to all corners painting the gray stone floor blood red. A roar erupted from out of nowhere causing them to finally realize the situation they were in. There was a roar again but this time it shattered the stained windows like a vengeful hurricane.

“Dr…Dragons?” Yalmar stammered

Harrald regained his wit first and that was mainly because he felt something building up inside him. It felt as if the doors to his inner energy were flung open and all the power was now at his disposal. The college shook causing chairs and paintings to topple over. In an almighty crash the solid secure walls were ripped apart and fire invaded the entire hall hollowing souls and devouring anything. Yalmar looked as if he had accepted death as the fire danced and twisted its way towards them and Harrald instinctively cast a spell. The fire slowed down and so did everything around as rubble and stone were flying slowly to different parts of the hall burying the dead. Harrald grabbed Yalmar and ran as fast as he could through the wreckage and into the courtyard where he forced his way through the blazing plants. He and Yalmar jumped over the wall lest the fire destroy them as well. They looked at the city that was burning below them. Shriek, screams and roars reverberated through the air shattering the very skin of the world. Harrald started forward toward the elven army with murder in his heart. Yalmar twisted Harrald towards him and punched him across the face.

“You idiot! You always do this! You’re going to go down to the cathedral and then what? Get yourself killed fighting for a fallen city. The citadel has been breached! Even if we had a hundred mages we wouldn’t be able to take it back! We have to get out of here not         for our lives but for theirs! Take this anger and rage and hate and use it to get out of here! One day we will get what we deserve but for today that day we have to go!” Yalmar insisted.

“You’re a coward!” spat Harrald

“No I’m smart and because of that we will have our revenge so we must run and leave this city!” Yalmar explained as he pulled Harrald up who was wiping the blood if his face.

“Grab my shoulder and I’ll get us out of here” Harrald mumbled out.

They gazed at the city below them. It burned and crumbled in front of them. It looked as if the sky was falling down through they’re teary eyes and they heard people screaming out for a savior. As they closed their eyes and entered the portal Harrald had made they vowed to return one day and dispel the darkness that threatened the remaining lives of their brothers and sisters. They swore to hone their skills and abilities so that they can return for vengeance. While entering the portal Harrald heard the voice again inside him saying “north”. Harrald looked at Yalmar and he whispered into the darkness surrounding them “north”.   

Reviews

[Isabel N.]

I loved the way you used dialogue, it helped with the development of the characters and made care for them. I also love the story line! can't wait to read more!

[Hasan Hersi]

Thanks a bunch!!! This is exactly what i needed to get up, forget my revision and write my third chapter!