The Dark Mage's Journal | Chapter One | Part One

The Dark Mage’s Journal

The wind screamed as it rushed past my ears, my eyes watered and my cheeks burned at the harshness of it. The nights had gotten more brutal. Winter had been creeping up on the land, but that wasn’t my main concern. The raspy, gasping breaths were closing in on my location, so I knew I had to run. When it came to the Fleshless there was no hiding, only running, and I was trapped at the top of a cliff overlooking the clouds. I considered turning back, but this thought was met with the unified screech of a pack of the Fleshless.

The sound was blood curdling to say the least, no description could quite elaborate on the sheer horror that would encompass one's soul when just imagining it. I froze for only a moment, but that was all it took for the pack leader to drag me down. In a moment of pure panic I pulled the dagger from my cloak and drove it through the creature's heart. I pushed it back, rolling out of the way of its acidic blood; which had quickly burned through my dagger. Jumping to my feet, I ran for the cliff's edge, and with one death defying leap, my life and the secret to winning the war were now in fates hands.

 

Chapter 1: A New World

The land of Vertonia had been a harsh but profitable land for those who chose to live there. It was too dry for most food crops, but large portions of flame root had been found growing in the area open to the sun's light. Flame root was necessary for most flame based potions and spells and was slowly dying off. In Vertonia however, flame root thrived, but so did some terrible unidentifiable creature. Over the last one hundred years they had grown and evolved at an exponential rate. After a few unfortunate encounters with the new species they were given the name Fleshless. The name was chosen because of how fast their skin and flesh would peel in the heat of the sun, leaving them with raw skin. Normally that would be a life threatening problem for any normal being, but the Fleshless had evolved to endure pain far surpassing that of lethal heat and loss of skin. It was all part of their evolutionary process. Once the fourth layer had been shed the raw flesh would harden and act as a shield stronger than any metal known to us at the time.

My name is Weston, and I’m a mage. Those who practice magic are looked down upon here due to a murder last season. An intermediate Alchemist snuck into a home to test a new poison she had created. The family was dead in seconds. Some would learn different forms of magic and use it for cruel purposes, but I wanted magic to improve the world we lived in.

“Weston, are you ready? We have to leave, ugh why are you still looking at those books?” Oswyn was stressed about moving. His family had lived just outside of Vertonia for seven years, and they had built up quite a successful business selling spices. Nobody wanted to leave, but the royal guards were ordering people away from the borders of Vertonia.

“Yes Oswyn I’m just about ready. I only have so much room to carry my stuff and these books are important.” He looked offended, almost as though I had struck him with a stone.

“Important!?” He was furious. “I have to leave my entire life behind to move to a peasant town and you’re worried about your books?” I turned from my books to look him in the eyes. “Oswyn these books are the only thing that have kept your crops alive. If it weren't for me you would be a peasant.” His face morphed with rage.

“Wes, do you actually want to have a stable home for the next few months? If you continue to disrespect and belittle me then I will not allow you to stay with my family and I; we have enough to deal with as is.” I chose my book on the elements over the one on alchemy, and put it in my pack. “I’m sorry to insult you, but the land is too dry for anything to grow without serious help. If I didn’t have these spell tomes they wouldn't have even sprouted.” Oswyn was still upset but had calmed down a bit. “I just want to take care of my family and it feels like I haven’t done anything for them. We should go, the guards will be here s-” He was interrupted by a loud thud and panicked screams. We rushed outside, tripping over tipped over chairs and old tapestry. Shouting could be heard in almost every direction, and the thuds had grown louder and more frequent. It sounded as though a wagon the size of a tower were falling in a ravine, hitting the stone walls with immense force. I searched the horizon but found nothing. “Weston what is that?” Oswyn spoke like he had seen a ghost.

My eyes drew near to where he had been pointing when a spine like projectile shot past me. A low growl could be heard under the thuds and screams, but this sound, this sound was much much closer. I drew my sword and pivoted quickly, ready to strike. My heart was pounding. I heard it in my ears like a row of trees falling in perfect synchronicity. Time slowed as I dropped my sword pulling the the book of elements from my pouch. I dove out of the way of the Fleshless spine being propelled at me with lightning speed and hit the floor, flipping through pages. I cut straight to my only bookmarked page and placed my hand on the same shaped imprint embedded within the book. Earth and sand rose up from the desert floor and shot into the armor of the creature sending an explosion and cloud of dirt through the air. It was useless of course, just enough to distract it for a moment while I recovered. Jumping to my feet I grabbed the sword and ran.

Oswyn was already about 30 meters away. He and I had made an agreement a year before that if at any point a creature attacked, he would run for shelter and I would protect him. He had a family he needed to protect and care for, I didn’t have a family. I raced for Oswyn as the dust cleared. I yelled ahead to him, “Hey, where are we headed?” Throwing another spell to distract the creature I heard him call “Xonigal” In response. Xonigal was a shady town not too far off from where we were. Not the most ideal place to go, but great if you're running from a blood thirsty beast which remains undefeated. Harsher lands than Vertonia and lots of rough people who would never dare to stand down from a challenge. We just had to run for another couple hours. “Great start to the day!” I called to Oswyn, who shot back at me with a stone faced glare.