Chapter 2: Chapter 2: A Peaceful Life Turned Upside-Down
May 9th, 1789
In the village, there was a hill on which a single house was built. This house was sanctuary to a normal sized, 22-year-old man who had zero attraction to adventure and detested anything fun. His name was Silas Addington.
Silas's life was very bland and average. In the mornings, he stumped downstairs and ate porridge. Then he went out along the main street, and to the market in which he sold fruits and vegetables. He had a steady business and he never missed a day. Then, at around 4:00, he went for lunch and a bought a cup of tea for his only friend, John Ainsworth. After that, he went home, ate supper (always soup, beans, and a bowl of rice), and went to bed.
This schedule never changed, and was never to be interrupted, unless you wanted a grouchy man yelling at you that he has places to be.
Nobody disliked his ill temper or his drab personality, but people chose to stay out of his path either way (to avoid being yelled at by a grouchy old man). He very much disliked the children because they were always making fun of his grouchiness.
This was why he was so surprised when somebody knocked on his door, and it wasn't John. It was a plump old man in purple tinted robes. His face looked old, but still moved around with easefacebelly. He was taller than Silas but only by a little bit. Silas asked in a shell-shocked voice:
"Who are you?"
"I'd rather not say out here, but I will tell you once we're out of others' company," he said in a deep, reverberating voice.
And without waiting for a welcome-in, he barged in, ignoring Silas' protests. He went to the living room and rubbed his orb, muttering incoherently while he did so.
Immediately, a beam of light shot like a bullet out of it and into Silas' fireplace and illuminated the room. After everything had cleared, he fireplace immediately burst into flames and a roaring fire warmed up the whole room. Silas, completely dumbstruck from what he had just seen, rubbed his eyes, as though if he rubbed them, the man would go away. The man however stayed in Silas' vision.
"I don't mean to be rude, but who are you and why have you come?" asked Silas.
"I," he said in the same echoing voice "am Jasper."
Silas let out a small laugh which he converted into a cough. He had never heard such a peculiar name before.
"I am a sorcerer, one of the only ones left in the world" Jasper continued "and I am here to recruit people."
"For wha- "started Silas but he was interrupted by Jasper.
"I don't have much time so let me speak. Are you familiar with the story of Morde the Great?"
"Of course!" said Silas "Everybody here knows the story; we literally pray to his Infinity Sapphire whenever we go through hardships."
"Then you will be familiar with the prophecy that was made right after his death."
This, he knew nothing of. A million questions flooded his mind. What prophecy? Who made it? How did they make it? Before he could voice them however, Jasper continued
"From your silence, you obviously are not. Let me tell you one of the most important and potentially deadly prophecies that has ever come to be."
Jasper then started rubbing his orb, muttering words that Silas could not hear, nor from the way Jasper's lips moved, could understand. Suddenly a bang issued from the orb and a vapory figure took form in front of them, though a narrow beam of light connected it to the orb.
It was a young lady. She looked like a very beautiful woman gone to seed from old age. She had well carved features but had so many wrinkles, she looked like a prune. But this was nothing compared to what she was doing.
Her eyes had rolled up and she was talking in a rough, eerie, multivocal tone. The words coming out of her mouth were English, but seemed nonhuman, somehow.
"The fall of the king means the rise of the enemy," she said "The enemy will come, stronger than ever before. One must rise, give the village hope of victory. And vanquish the dark enemy, once and for all."
She stopped and faded away. Jasper pocketed his orb.
"I didn't understand a word of that," said Silas confusedly "And I thought all the prophecy whisperers were wiped out by Lord Mortifur."
"One wasn't. And she is still alive. She hid among the other women as they were escorted out of the battlefield along with the children. Her name is Konstantina Anagnos and she spoke that prophecy." replied Jasper "But never mind her. I know you are wondering what that prophecy has to do with you. I know this might come as a shock to you, but we uncovered Morde the Great's will, and we found he left all his belongings to his son, Sir Aegeus."
A rush of feeling surged through him.
"That was my dad!!" cried Silas. "But he never told me he was related to such royalty."
"That's because he knew nothing of it either." said Jasper simply "nobody was aware that he was the heir of Morde the Great, due to Morde's will being lost. However, since your dad told the chief of the village on his deathbed that he left everything to his only son, which is you. I have come to give you the possessions."
Jasper took out his orb, did a twirling motion with it, and a black rucksack appeared in his hand, bulging with whatever was inside it.
"Here we go," he said, and he pulled the first item out.
It was a long, brown, slender piece of wood that smelled faintly of gunpowder. It looked old and worn, and it had an aged look to it as though it had gone through lots of hardship and tragedies.
"What is that?" Silas asked curiously.
"This, is Aeturnum firewood," and he pulled out his scroll "'I would like to give my son Aeturnum firewood, or eternal firewood. I want to pass this onto him because I want him to remember me by how I struggled through the forests of Frigidus Inferni, as I scouted for more Morgaras coming my troop's way. How, whenever I thought the insane cold of the hell-ice lords would be the end of me, I persevered until the end. I also want him to have it, so he has warmth wherever he goes.'"
"The next item," he said reaching his hand inside the bag again, and this time pulling out a giant, beige horn, "is Morde's war horn." And he took out the scroll again, "'My second item I want to pass on to my son is the war horn I blew as my army charged into battle. I want him to know my courage and have it seep into him when he goes through times of confusion or fear.' "
The bag was considerably smaller and lighter now. Jasper reached inside a third time and the bag literally went up to his armpit, it was so deep.
"'The third item I want to gift my son is my old dagger' ," and he pulled out a rusty, grey dagger.
"'I want this dagger, which was the first one I ever got, to be gifted to my son, because I want him to know that all hope is never lost. When my camp was ravaged by Gondras, I didn't run and hide like a child. I stayed and fought and managed to subdue them enough for my camp to escape'"
Jasper smiled bitterly, as though he was having an unpleasant recollection.
"I remembered that day. Bodies everywhere with great, gaping holes in them. Your grandfather saved me, when I was cornered, rather than fleeing with the rest of the camp. Ever since that day, I had heaps of gratitude and respect toward him."
"Wow. You really fought in the war alongside my grandfather? That must have been scary. "
"It was. But couldn't let your grandfather down, even though I didn't even live here. He had done me a service by saving me, and I was grateful."
He shook his head like an animal bothered by flies.
"You'll find this final one cool," he said looking inside the bag, and smiling. "The final item I wish my son to have is the Gondra sting I collected as a relic of the great battle between our village, and dark forces of Lord Mortifur. I want him to think about the bravery of the warriors who fought in it, and have it give him strength when he goes through rough periods." and Jasper pocketed the piece of paper and looked up
"Now that's settled, I will answer your question on what any of this has to do with the prophecy. Remember the part of the prophecy when it says one will rise to vanquish the enemy, once and for all?"
"Yes." replied Silas
"Well we are very sure that she was implying that the heir of Morde was the one in question."
Silas's eyes opened in horror. It was partly because he was destined to kill off an entire army. but also because he could have sworn that he had seen somebody at the window, eavesdropping. He went over to it and peered out. All he could see was the great view of a creek. Still looking quizzically at the window, he sat back down.
"And who exactly do I have to defeat?" he said, his voice shaking.
"Ah," said Jasper, his face falling "I see we have reached the problem. You see, without a leader, all the dark monsters were driven into exile. But a new force, a new entity that I have never seen before, has taken rule over them and is assembling an army to take the infinity sapphire."
And Jasper took out the sphere, muttered words and rubbed it as usual, and held it at arms-length, outwards.
Apprehensive about what he was about to see, Silas reluctantly leaned forward and peered into the orb. He did not like what he saw.
Tens of thousands of creatures, too repulsive to even imagine. Giant serpents with long, narrow stingers not too different from the object he got in his grandfather's will. He rethem as Gondras.
Then there were the utterly horrifying trolls with great, bulky bodies and grey dirty skin.
There were also the great, maroon dragons who snorted flame every other breath, and had long, treelike necks.
But worst of all were the small, but utterly terrifying creatures that were sitting in a giant circle. There were thousands of them, all with bony bodies, and oddly humanlike.
They had grey skin and were conversing in a tongue that Silas could not decipher. It was garbled and distorted and was inconsistent and irregular. But he couldn't see the overlord that Jasper was talking about.
"Where is the new ruler?" he asked.
"Oh, sorry." Said Jasper and he tilted the orb up.
What met Silas' eyes was not ugly and foul like the monsters below it. It was genuinely the most beautiful yet the most unsettling thing he had ever seen.
He was looking at a giant, multi-colored mask. It was perfectly proportioned and had a black aura emanating from it.
Yet the colors didn't make the face more prepossessing. On the contrary, it made Silas feel woozy and entranced. The mask was commanding orders at a troll and its voice made him even more repulsed yet intrigued.
It wasn't distorted, yet it was so clear and monotonic that even listening to it made his head ache. He wrenched his head away from the orb and stared, incredulously at Jasper.
"We have to fight that?!" he asked in a shaky voice.
"That's the plan, yes." replied Jasper plainly.
"Absolutely not!" said Silas quickly "Do you see what's in store for anybody foolish enough to fight?? Instant death!!"
"I thought this would be your reaction." said Jasper "do use your commonsense Silas. Even if you don't come, they are still going to fight for the sapphire. Not coming basically means that you are destroying the one opportunity we have at winning. Staying means that you are making your death inevitable."
Silas insulted by these words stood up, glaring at Jasper's heavily lined face.
"Get out. Now." he said coldly.
"I just wanted to give the information." He said, raising his hands in defeat.
Jasper got up and walked to the door. Silas followed him all the way to the door and shut the door with a ferocity that only meant he wished Jasper nothing but ill.
He marched back to his chair and sat down. How dare Jasper make him out to be a coward in his own house. He had the right not to come. But then Silas thought about his father and his grandfather. Both had fought their own battles. His dad, Aegeus Addington had fought the spring sickness. Silas remembered his dad's dying day and tears welled up in his eyes. How his dad promised him everything would be alright. How he would recover, and they would go home together. But that didn't happen. They didn't prance home with not a care in the world. Silas had to watch his dad, a short man with small eyes die, sweat pouring down his face.
And he thought of his grandfather. Destroying giant beasts and defeating sorcerers. Silas knew what he had to do.
"Hey! Wait up!" he called to Jasper, who was riding his horse on the main road, away from the village. "I've decided to come with you!"
Jasper turned around, beaming. "Excellent, I'll introduce you to the others."
"The o-. More people signed up to fight?" he said excitedly and curiously.
"We obviously have more allies than just people. You just wait."
And they continued to travel, Jasper riding his horse and Silas jogging to keep up. After they went over a nastily steep hill, and Silas' legs were starting to feel like spaghetti over the weight of the supplies and object's in Morde's will stuffed in his backpack. Then Jasper stopped suddenly.
Silas couldn't blame him, there was the most horrible stench in the air. It smelled as though an animal had died. He thought to just keep going but hold a cloth over his face, but Jasper looked at him, scared. It was coming from the forest.
"Silas, follow me quick!" he cried, diving into a bush.
Silas followed. "But Jasper, your horse!"
"There's no time" Jasper breathed "There are Morgaras coming this way. Keep your head down."
And sure enough, the stench grew stronger and stronger until they heard the rasps and thuds from the creatures. At least twenty of the horrid things he had seen in Jasper's orb. One of them was sniffing the air through its flat nose.
"Kli necanesjexjex chisrezcaravenne." It croaked to its companions.
The rest of them smelled the air as well.
""Klivon'ne dratrocaklivengron dresomtroca vonchisnes kesomreznechis, kerezvon vonchisnestoz cakligronchisvon kenes jextrovengron grontrovennes," said one of the bigger ones "krognes'jexjex carapoznes shertro krogklivonchis jexrezvendrachis krogklivonchis vonchiskline chistrosomnenes."
And to Silas' horror, they launched themselves onto the horse and hacked off its legs with brutally serrated blades.
"We go now, while they're occupied." Said Jasper swiftly and he pulled Silas with him as they made their way into the brush, trying to ignore the panicked and pained whinnying coming from the doomed horse.
"Damn." Said Jasper sadly "I liked that horse, but at camp we have many different but better creatures called Lizaroids. That reminds me, we need to fit you a weapon and a Lizaroid to travel on."
Silas, thoroughly excited by this asked in a shaky voice "what kind of weapons are there?"
Jasper suddenly turned a tinge of scarlet, looking embarrassed but excited.
"Last time, we used to sing, or rather chant a song. It used to give everybody hope. Music, a beautiful and uplifting thing. One that tells a story silently."
And without warning, Jasper struck up a tune.
"Weapons. Weapons. To protect or to attack. They help you. They help you, to save your army's back. If you're a brutal, and brawny sort of man. An axe will help you kill lots, as good as a man can. But say you're really scrawny. And like to hide in trees. Then bows are the best bet for you. To sink the arrows into the Morgaras' knees. But say you don't like fighting. Killing isn't your thing. Then get your ass out of the army. And go with the women to drink tea!" he finished with a long, note.
Silas applauded Jasper politely.
"Well I'm no great shakes at singing but I like the song." said Jasper.
"You got that right Jasper!" called a happy voice from out of a clearing.
And a green, pudgy face poked his head out.
"Silas, meet Tucker the Procerus." said Jasper smiling.
They walked into the clearing.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone