Mage Of Shadows - Chapter 12 Dunkel

A dark mountain range covered as far as the eye could see, with various streams congealing together to form a river that ran through the Drow Woods. Moonlight shone down onto the river and glistened radiantly in the light. Fish could be seen swimming under the surface of the water, and the banks of the river were filled with flowers which would serve as precious resources for any who could find them. Had the various kingdoms on the continent found out about this place, they would not have hesitated to start a war that could span centuries just to claim this territory. This was how precious the resources found in these woods were.

This forest was hidden within the Amity Mountain Range, and a spell had been cast to conceal this location from any intruders. The Drow people called this place home, their own sanctuary hidden away from the eyes of the other races on the continent of Ortu Solis. Drow, also known as dark elves or fallen elves were the distant cousins of the self-proclaimed ‘High Elves’, who under their pretentious nature believed themselves to be the only true elf. Needless to say, drow and elves did not get along.

Their hate for each other was fuelled by the ten thousand-year war, ‘The War for unity’, where millions of each were killed and seas worth of blood was spilled. The two factions of elves that were embroiled in the ten-thousand-year war had changed so much in this time period, that they had become two distinct races. The Drow grew darker in complexion than their former brothers, mostly having a blackish or blueish hue to their skin, and their ears were not as long as those of the high elves.

The War for Unity had been ignited by the brothers Ignis and Pyros, the dual kings of the ancient Elven nation, who both fell in love with the high priestess of the Elven goddess Kamilla. The high priestess of the goddess Kamilla had been ordered to relay a message to the kings, a message that triggered the longest war in the history of Ortu Solis. The message had been a simple one, “Only the blood of the 1 true Elven king can combine with a priestess of Kamilla.”

Despite having already reigned for a thousand years of prosperity together, Pyros and Ignis decided that their own love for each other was not enough for the spoils of war which they so desperately sought. Whilst embroiled in the war, Ignis realised that his faction would not be able to win, their manpower was too weak and their numbers too small. Thus, he made a pact with the God of the underworld, who vowed to give him the power over his domain, but in return for his soul upon death.

The war was lost the moment Ignis made a pact with the underworld, as all of the other kingdoms banded together to fight off this ancient evil. In a last-ditch attempt to at least save his people, Ignis sacrificed his remaining essence to cast a high-level magic that would forever cloak the Drow Woods and stop any being that was not a member of the Drow from entering.

“But that can’t be true Baba, why would Ignis have made a pact with the God of the underworld in the first place. Isn’t it said that he despised dark magic the most?” a small youth, with glinting purple eyes questioned the older lady whom he called Baba.

The older, short lady holding herself up with a wooden cane looked at the child with an apologetic smile on her face, “One day you will understand yourself Dunkel. Love is what bonds us together as people, but it is ultimately also what tears us apart. Our ancestor had fallen so far in love that he ventured towards the means even he despised just for a chance to be with whom he loved.”

Dunkel looked at the woman with a face which betrayed that he did not understand. He was only a 4 years old child, so it would have been a miracle if he had been able to. Dunkel spent most of his life here in the Drow Woods, along with his family and friends. Life was easy here; there was always food on the table, the most risk one had was to drown in the river. He spent his early years in a perpetual state of joy; a sheltered life was what he led.

His community didn’t let him know of a prophecy foretold a thousand years ago. “A child born under the light of the next blood will lead the Drow to an upheaval of history. Ignis will be resurrected, and the war of ten thousand years will once again be reignited.” The said child born just happened to be Dunkel.

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Back at the Dusk Academy

Favian had been listening to Dunkel spewing out rumour after rumour for almost 10 minutes before he realised that he had left his room to meet up with the voice transmitted over his communication device earlier. Luckily for him, this was only a short walk from the fountain he was sat at right now. He quickly bid farewell to Dunkel and went on his way.

‘What a funny guy, I hope I can see more of him here.’ Favian thought to himself. He’d been too shy to ask whether Dunkel wanted to hang out some time or to ask for him to get added to his communication device, and of course he had also been in a hurry. Favian always thought of himself as being socially inept, however the case was that he was just too shy to approach others to talk to. The moment somebody else tried to make friends with him, he’d be completely fine. Of course, this had been a rare occurrence back on Earth, partially due to his ‘resting b*tch face’ or the fact that he looked like a stone-cold murderer when outfitted in his nurse garb.

The scenery for this part of his walk consisted of less indoor corridors, and more buildings and greenery from outside. Favian quite enjoyed this, and was able to appreciate the unique architecture of the academy. He passed a pretty huge building which reached about 100 meters into the air and had the signpost of Library next to it. Finally, Favian arrived at his destination. A pretty average sized house. The name Aria Pencost hovered like a cloud above the roof of the building, all bold in capitals.

Favian walked up towards the door. There was no doorknob, so he decided to just knock on the door.

“Come in.” shouted Aria. The door opened on its own accord, and what Favian’s eyes met were spacious room with an oak desk in the middle, piles of books and scrolls on the table. There were various vials placed neatly on a shelf to the side of the room. The room looked like a fusion between an office and a science lab, and had the inviting feel of a home to it.

Aria was sat behind her desk, browsing the contents of a scroll, after which she took out a vial full of a red liquid and mixed it with a vial of a blue liquid. The moment the two liquids came in contact with each other, a loud sizzling sound could be heard, followed by an explosion.

“F*ck what did I do wrong this time?” Aria shouted, as she rubbed her temples in a circular motion. A barrier was erected around the vials and stopped the explosive mixture from releasing into the room.

“Anyways, Favian how are you feeling now?” she asked him, looking at him with a face full of worry. What Favian didn’t know was that Aria had been the most worried after he didn’t wake up this whole time. She felt responsible for not knowing why Favian caused for an arcane rift to occur. She believed that if she had given him a more thorough examination, she could have been able to prevent him from being put into such danger. What she obviously didn’t know yet was that Favian had been stuck in a time-lock, imprisoned by a crazed fanatic who looked like Evelynn.

“I’m fine, my body just feels a bit sore, except for that everything’s as good as can be.” he replied. ‘At first I thought it was going to be hard to explain how I jumped from a lower initiate to an upper level initiate instantaneously, but it seems this whole arcane rift business has brought me some luck.’ Favian thought to himself. He still wasn’t sure whether to tell anybody about him being imprisoned in time, he couldn’t know exactly who to trust. For all Favian knew, there could be somebody spying on him from within the academy.

Aria looked at him with suspicion, not believing completely that he was fine. He wasn’t acting like somebody who had just come out of a coma. “Well since you are now awake and fine, it’s time for you to get enrolled into the academy!”