Karr - Epic Legion

Velkren tried to kill the boy, to squeeze the life from his heart, but It couldn't. Since his birth, Falkyn had been chosen for great things, and the stars protected his life, their presence displayed by the silver band around his pupils, marking their power.

Velkren reemerged and Falkyn, drenched in perspiration, gasped in relief and went limp. When he saw the shadow he tried to shout for help, but the shadow's hand shot forward to grasp his throat in a vicelike grip.

At that moment Felawyn burst into the room. She saw the shadow and her blood ran cold. It turned to look at her, Its fiery red eyes boring into hers, seeming to burn a hole into her very soul.

She forced her eyes away. The boy she'd rescued was hanging from the shadow's grip, his eyes closed in pain, struggling to breathe. His head lolled on his shoulders and he had his hands at his throat, weakly trying to pry away the hand of the shadow.

"Let him be," Felawyn whispered in a low, threatening voice, hurrying to the boy's side and grasping his shoulders. "Let him go!" She tried to push the shadow's arm away, but her hand passed right through it.

Suddenly It moved Its face close to hers, until the horrible red eyes entirely filled her vision. A terrible hissing sound filled the air, seeming to come from everywhere at once, a cross between the hiss of a snake and the sound of a sword sliding from its sheath. Overwhelming fear gripped her mind and heart, constricting her chest so that she could hardly breathe. She clung tighter to the child with all of her strength, but the hiss grew louder and louder. A sudden weakness took her; her hands slipped from the boy's shoulders and she slumped helplessly to the ground.

Velkren turned back to Falkyn and tightened Its grip. "I cannot kill you," the shadow hissed. "For you are protected. But someday I will be powerful enough to vanquish you, mark my words. As for now, I cannot allow you to have hope, because if you have hope I will eventually fall. So, elfling, since you like the legends, and you like magic, you ought to enjoy this spell I place upon you, for it will combine them both."

Velkren began to weave a dreadful curse and place it within Falkyn's heart and soul, sending it pulsing through his veins. It sent pure Darkness into the enchantment to ensure its strength, and then It spoke the words that sealed it to Falkyn forever.

"Death shall hunt you but cannot take you. Agony will bring you to death's door but you will be sent back to life for more. From this day forward you shall bear all manner of suffering. Misery, pain, illness, and the worst torture will forever be yours." It paused, contemplating what to say next. "But Velkren is feeling merciful: There is but one way for you to escape this torment. Even as only a creature from another world can destroy me, only a creature from another world can free you by giving you its heart, and you must give it yours in return. Only thus can you be released. But the hope that this knowledge brings will flee from your mind and your only recollection of this night will be pain and the knowledge that you are forever cursed."

And with that the shadow vanished, returning to the Dark land over which It ruled.

Falkyn was released from its grasp and instantly went limp, weeping bitterly out of fear and pain. Felawyn rushed to embrace him, holding him tight and murmuring words of peace and comfort.

As the shadow had commanded, Falkyn forgot most of the words that had been spoken, leaving Felawyn the only one who knew how the curse could be broken. The stars commanded her not to tell anyone about it until the time was right, and she obeyed.

Falkyn grew in strength and mind. He learned more of the legends and prophecies of old and became known as Legendheart because of his fascination with them. He became the kindest, most virtuous, most loyal, and most purely good of his entire race. But the curse of Velkren was always with him; he suffered more anguish than anyone else in the history of Kelsien. Yet he was optimistic; he never gave up hope that Darkness could be destroyed and somehow he could be freed, and in doing so he thwarted Velkren's purpose in cursing him.

And the powers of Darkness grew ever stronger, biding their time in the volcanic wastelands of their homeland, waiting for the time to come when they would destroy all goodness forever.

Out of Allagandria

Out of Allagandria

The young elven prince lay motionless on his back, hands clasped behind his head. Sleep would be hard to come by tonight; the moon was full, casting a silvery light on his bedroom. Renthic's fair face looked strangely pale in the white light coming in through his open window, and his long, pale yellow hair gleamed silver.

Renthic found it difficult to sleep even when the moon wasn't shining so bright. His father's kingdom was at war, and so far the forces of Light were losing. The elven armies were powerful and highly skilled, but they were outnumbered fifty to one.

Renthic had done experiments with paint; it took a great deal of white to overcome the black. If he added a drop of white to the black and stirred it in, the darker color remained untainted. But it only took a little bit of black to tarnish the white paint.

He compared the paint to the current situation in the world of Allagandria: the forces of Light were miniscule compared to the vast hordes of Darkness, which would win the war and destroy all goodness if the elves didn't receive reinforcements.

But there was little hope for that. Dragons cared nothing about the doings of smaller folk, and even if they did, they'd be equally likely to join the Darkness as they would be to join the Light. Griffins were good creatures, but they lived on the opposite side of the world. To get to them, the elves would have to cross an ocean full of devastating storms in one direction, and an ocean that had never been successfully crossed because of its vast size in the other. The unicornswell, the elves didn't really know much about them. There was a chance that the unicorns were kind and noble, but they might also be despicable. No one knew for certain.

Elves were pure light and goodness in a physical form, hence the reason they were called the forces of Light. Honest, virtuous, noble, brave, loyal the list went on forever. Renthic was no exception; he was elven through and through. Never had he been tempted to do evil or unwholesome things, and his desire to do good works was stronger than iron.

He stared through the open window, gazing at the pure light of the moon. It was truly beautiful, and once it would have given him comfort but not now. Now he feared that the Lightall Light, not just the elveswould be forever extinguished.

As if in reply to the thought, a shadow hid the moon's glow, plunging the forest into utter blackness. After a few moments the light of the moon broke through, but Renthic sat bolt upright, his heart pounding. All of a sudden he felt an overpowering sense of fear and discomfort. There were Dark creatures nearby; he could feel their evil presence, which caused his entire body to tremble, and he felt abruptly drained of energy and as feeble as a newborn rabbit. He fell back onto the pillows, dizzy and nauseated. Wearily he closed his eyes. Maybe it's just some sort of evil raven passing by, he thought hopefully. It'll be gone soon.

And then the alarm horns of the elves rang out, calling the elves guarding the castle into battle. Renthic's stomach lurched. Not a raven, he thought anxiously as he fought the Dark illness and staggered out of bed to his window. Clutching the windowsill as if his life depended on it, he gazed down at the courtyard and instantly felt sickening dread seize his heart and choke the hope from it.

A host of demonsservants of Velkren, King of Darknesswere swarming beneath him, and he could see faint flashes of light where the elven soldiers were fighting back. But he saw one of them fall after a broadsword cut across his midsection. Another elf died soon after, his head chopped clean off. Renthic's eyes widened in horror at the gruesome sight and his knees buckled, sending him sprawling on the floor, gasping for breath.