The small clearing was empty, `perfect` he thought. It was the middle of the night and Imunzo was alone. He had found little time to have a meditate recently and needed to focus his spirit for the upcoming battle ahead. Imunzo sat with his feet resting against its opposite thigh in the lotus position on a rock and rested his knees on the floor as the unusually gentle night breeze brushed against and past him. Imunzo straightened his back and spine to resemble a perfect straight line and began to breath slowly through his nose, closing his mouth in the process. Imunzo folded his hands so that his right hand was palm up holding the other, also palm up, and the knuckles of both hands overlapping. He then covered his eyes mostly by his eyelids, eliminating the necessity to blink repeatedly and kept them lowered, his gaze resting on the ground about two or three feet in front of him. Imunzo then began to drain his body of all thought and put himself in a state of total relaxation, taking out any tension in his muscles and loosening them completely. Imunzo’s breathing continued to slow as he concentrated his mind on it, focusing on the breathing and letting his mind go of everything else which was inside it. The more Imunzo focused on his breathing the more he began to feel lighter but he ignored the temptation to lose concentration and kept his mind focused. As he continued, his body began to feel even lighter and a sudden bright light made him open his eyes, it was then he realized he was floating. Imunzo covered his eyes and floated around what appeared to be above some clouds. Although he did not know it yet, this was a place he had been once before, the gates of Harnela. Harnela was the hallowed kingdom of the Gods and only those of pure heart were allowed to enter. Entrance to Harnela was only granted after a person of great good had died, there they would live out eternity peacefully. Also dwelling in Harnela were the realm Gods, these in turn ruled by one of absolute goodness and one of pure evil. The last time Imunzo had seen this scene unfold was what prompted him to travel to Legia in the first place. Hyperion, ruler of all the Gods had arrived under grave circumstances, a death had taken place in Harnela, not an ordinary death, the death of a God. Death was a irregular occurrence in the afterlife and only by the tiniest of margins possible, but only by the hands of two beings, one was Hyperion, the other Goldark, God of pure evil. With the power to create came the power to destroy and since the dawn of time, Hyperion and Goldark have existed and a cosmic battle of good and evil had been played out ever since. This however was cause for concern as this was the first time a death had occurred without dual consent from both Hyperion and Goldark, meaning Goldark had broken the only rule binding the two. The departed God in question was Larsaw, ruling god of Legia. Beside Larsaw stood Goreoth and Paix, the respective gods of good and evil in Legia. “What was the meaning of this ?” Hyperion demanded, a booming voice came with no movement of lips and a rumble of thunder rumbled across the sky in synchronicity with Hyperion's voice. “This is only the beginning. Goldark has officially declared a war upon goodness, this shall begin with the taking of all the earthly realms. my personal taking of the land of Legia is imminent. My disciples have allready taken the land, it is now mine for the taking”
“My disciples are ready to fight the good fight” Paix cut in.
“Very well. I knew the day would come when Goldark would stoop to this. Very well. The land of Legia shall be the setting for the battle for good and evil. Humankind shall be the decider of all fates from now on” Hyperion reached inside Paix‘s body and pulled out a strange shaped mass of her body. “Goreoth, you shall cease your attack on Legia or face the consequences“. “In centuries time there shall be a child” Hyperion then picked a piece of Goreoth of exactly the same amount and he compounded the two together. “This child shall be known as the Gloariax, exactly fifty percent good, fifty percent evil. The child will be the deciding factor into victory, whether he succumb to evil or revel in goodness is up to him. The child will have the power to kill either of you” Hyperion said, pointing to Paix and Goreoth “and his destiny will be to do so. He will either become an ultimate force for good, or the ultimate weapon of evil”. Hyperion finished, and so the rules were drawn “That child‘s name shall be Valandt”. The scene then began to dissolve before Imunzo’s eyes and he then saw himself standing in Djian, before the holy temple. A strong breeze began to blow against Imunzo’s face, blowing strands of his hair out of place and making some of the looser aspects of his kimono blow in the sudden gust. As the strength of the wind became more intense Imunzo looked toward the temple and saw a figure approaching. The figure, covered mostly in shadow had a purple glow surrounding him and walked toward Imunzo. As Imunzo recognised the figure, he instantly got on his knees and bowed before it for it was Djogun, the God of Djian and embodiment of the Djiani spirit. Imunzo felt his knees weaken against his will and he closed his eyes and bowed before Djogun. relaxing his muscles once more and making sure all emotions were banished from his body. “The greatest of honours for you to grace me with your perfect presence, holy one”
“You. The last of the Djiani. Vengeance must be taken for the destruction of my land and my people. The Legian God of war and his disciples must pay. This task I give to you. You have your duty now Imunzo, go forth and do my bidding”.
“Yes holy one, I shall wreak your vengeance” Imunzo replied and with that the divine presence of Djogun disappeared and Imunzo’s eyes opened and he found himself back sitting on the rock which he had stopped to meditate on. Imunzo uncrossed his legs and stood up. The first time he had witnessed the beginning of the divine war between good and evil was shortly after his homeland, the island of Djian sunk. Imunzo was the only man alive in Djian at that point and as a last resort to rid themselves of him, Kaiazal sunk the entire island, taking Imunzo with it. Imunzo had fought Kaiazal all the way but could not save the island and fell deep into the water. He blacked out soon after this and then found himself in Harnela, at the time he thought he was dead. After Hyperion mentioned the name of Valandt, Imunzo found himself drifting in the Azadjiani sea. Imunzo swam non stop for two days and nights to the land of Ajazeus and there overheard of the disappearance of the Legian king and that his son Valandt was refusing to take the throne. Imunzo enquired more and even found a picture of Valandt, which he made sure he would remember then made it his mission to get Legia within a day he arrived on the coast of Palestar, the smallest of all the kingdoms adjoined to Legia. Imunzo made his way to Palestar castle to enquire about Valandt and it was there that the two initially met. `So Valandt is the deciding factor in this battle between good and evil` Imunzo thought to himself, sighing. `If Valandt falls to his dark side and the evil overtakes him, there will be no hope`. Goreoth had allready broken the rules once, failing to listen to Hyperion’s order to withdraw from Legia. That was Goreoth’s first reign of terror over Legia and Hyperion’s punishment was to have him sealed under the earth, laying down only one possible way for Goreoth to escape. `Valandt has allready been manipulated once by Goreoth in order for him to escape from his prison` Imunzo continued his train of thought. `I must find the boy king before it is too late, if he falls to evil there shall be no return for everyone. If Goreoth takes Legia, it will lead the way for other lands to be taken, once Goldark has control of the living lands, it would only be a matter of time before he took Harnela` Imunzo began to realize the importance of what was going on and strolled back to the encampment of soldiers. There were just over a million soldiers in the camp, most travelling straight to their respective deaths. Imunzo looked over at the nameless faces, sitting around fires in unusually cheerful spirit, some not far away sleeping to refresh themselves for gruelling times ahead or maybe even to forget the atrocities that had occurred and the fact that they will soon come face to face with evil itself. Imunzo saw Zvire and Skhyzard together, both just about coping with the new found responsibilities they had before them. Zvire had led his beast army before and was not entirely new to commanding, it was the sheer number of troops that he had to command that made it difficult. Zvire had split the army down into ten divisions, each with around a hundred thousand troops, each division had a respective general which would report to him or Skhyzard who was Zvire‘s second in command and whom Zvire was getting along with well. Zvire found it much easier to cope with commanding ten men than over a million. “The time has come to move on” Imunzo said as he approached Zvire and Skhyzard.
“We‘re moving all the troops out now?” Skhyzard asked, in astonishment.
“It would be unwise to attack without a plan, without knowledge of the area” Imunzo responded.
“Imunzo is right. Skhyzard, I am leaving you in sole command of the army while Imunzo and I go forth to scout Goreoth‘s defences, if any and make a direct plan of attack. Are you willing to come with me Imunzo?”
“You have my full support” Imunzo replied.
“Very well. You shall move the troops out exactly ten hours from now, we shall meet up just outside the town of Minorell before launching an attack. Understood?” Zvire gave his orders.
“Fully” Skhyzard replied, Zvire then went to leave and paused.
“If we are not with you at Minorell, you have my permission to do as you please. You can flee with the troops or you can launch an attack, it would be your decision” Zvire said, solemnly.
“Very well sir, however I believe that decision is one I will not have to make” Skhyzard replied, to which Zvire smiled, then turned to leave.
“Dismissed” Zvire said, shouting his final order to Skhyzard as he turned away toward Imunzo. “Come Imunzo” Zvire began “we have a volcano to visit”.
The early morning light struggled through the dark clouds and again through the window of the room. Valandt’s eyes slowly opened and he was instantly met with Astral’s smiling face. As an instant response Valandt smiled back at her, something he would do even if he didn’t want to. He pushed her body tight up against his and kissed her softly on the lips, feeling his smile grow wider as he did. “How long have you been awake then?” he asked, his smile still as wide as possible.
“A few minutes, I didn‘t want to disturb you. Besides you look so peaceful and cute when you sleep” she said with a short burst of laughter afterward, a laugh which made Valandt feel lost for words. Astral leaned over and kissed Valandt on the lips once more but this time Valandt continued it, returning her kiss deeply and holding her body tight. As they parted lips, they both lay in the bed for a while neither saying anything and both of them staring deep into the others eyes. Valandt felt like he could lay this way for eternity, he had never felt any feeling as good as this and anticipated that he never would feel anything anywhere near as good as he felt that moment. Astral then made a sudden move and got out of the bed. “Where are you going ?” Valandt asked, missing the presence of her body next to his allready.
“I would like to watch the sunrise” she said with an innocent smile “I know, its silly isn't it?”
“Not at all” said Valandt getting out of the bed and putting his arms around her from behind. “Don‘t you think it would be a better sunrise without those clouds though ?” he said as he opened the window.
“Every sunrise is magical, especially one spent in your arms” she said turning around to face him and smiling. Valandt kissed her gently and she turned her face once more to the sun, rising beyond the black clouds which now seemed like a permanent feature of the Legia sky. Outside the house, just out of Valandt and Astral’s sight was Presto. His insomnia had continued to the point where he had left the house and had spent the last two hours strolling along the empty city of Kastellion. Presto lay down on a grass bank against a tree, the grass where Presto was sitting being green instead of black due to his own ability of do such tricks. Presto had a long blade of grass in his mouth, again his own creation and sat chewing it. Presto stared at Kastellion castle which was in the distance, it was just as he used to do as a child. Presto felt a strong early morning breeze blow past him and dug his hands in his pockets, something he rarely did. Presto was then amazed to find that there was something in his pockets and he took it out. In his hand, Presto held a small container of red liquid with a H marked onto the bottle. “What is this stuff?” Presto said, trying to recall how he acquired it. Then he remembered. `In my knapsack there is my last potion, restores whoever drinks it to perfect health` the dying words of Schard came back to Presto and he realized that what he held in his hand was the potion in question, although Presto could not remember taking it. Presto took off the cork on the container and sniffed at the contents, pulling the bottle away when the pungent smell was too much for him. As Presto pulled the bottle away from his nose, a single drop fell from the bottle onto the black grass, the grass where the drop had fallen then changed from black to green in an instantly. It didn't stop there either, within the blink of an eye, all the grass in the entire area was back to its natural colours. Presto put the top on the bottle and stood up, looking into the distance, he then saw that the grass everywhere had been restored and the trees all around had changed back to its true colours and the buds of leaves were allready starting to show. Presto stood open jawed and looked at the bottle once more and remembered more of Schard’s words `use it as you see fit. You will know what is right`. Presto then closed his eyes and thought hard about what to do with such a powerful potion. `There is someone who needs it more than me` Presto thought, opening his eyes. `Valandt` he finished the thought and raced his way back to his house, where Valandt was staying. Presto knocked on the door of his parents room, the room which he had allowed Valandt and Astral to stay in and opened the door. “Going somewhere at this time of the morning?” Valandt asked, turning around from the window and commenting on the fact that Presto was fully dressed.
“Been actually” Presto replied. “There is something I...” Presto was then cut off by Astral.
“Oh my, Valandt, the grass. I was too busy looking to the sky to see it. The grass is no longer black, and the trees, they‘re as good as back to normal. Oh this is wonderful” she said feeling happier and kissing Valandt on the cheek.
“Why do I get the feeling that this has something to do with you?” Valandt said to Presto with a smile.
“Not me” replied Presto, taking the potion out of his pocket. “This” he said, pointing to it.
“What is it?” Valandt then asked.
“A potion like no other. It restores whoever drinks it to perfect health” Presto replied with an eager smile.
“and the grass?” Valandt asked.
“I accidentally spilt a drop on the floor” Presto replied, slightly embarrassed. “What I came for was to give this to you. You‘re more important than me Valandt, the people of Legia need you more, if I kept it, it would be wasted” Presto continued, handing over the potion to Valandt.
“Yes, but you did not keep it. Because you are not a waste, because you are a good man” Valandt then replied. “I thank you for your gesture Presto, from the bottom of my heart”
“Very well. I will be going now” Presto replied.
“Don‘t be gone too long, we‘ll need you back here soon in case Kaiazal attacks” Valandt said sincerely.
“No, I mean im going for good. Sierra and I are going to Legia castle” Presto then said, to which Valandt was shocked. “I should have told you earlier, we aren't leaving til Sierra comes back with some horses, I‘m sure she would have told you” Presto went on to say.
“Yes, I‘m sure she would have” Valandt said sarcastically. “Right. You wait outside, Astral and I are getting dressed and we‘re coming with you two” Valandt said, to which Presto nodded and left the room. “I‘m sure Sierra meant no harm” Astral replied.
“yeah of course, like Goreoth means no harm too” Valandt snapped back, he then calmed himself down. “Look im sorry” Valandt said, hugging Astral “but Sierra has only caused me bother, I do not trust her and I do not like her” he said letting Astral go slightly. “Anyway, there is something I want to give you” Valandt said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the potion that Presto had just gave to him. “Here” he said, putting it in her hand “that is yours now”.
“But.. Presto gave it to you, I can‘t take it” Astral replied.
“Yes you can, I insist” Valandt came back with.
“But what if something were to happen to you” she said, concerned.
“Astral” he said, putting his arms around her once more. “The worst thing that can possibly happen to me is to lose you” he said genuinely, she then looked up at him in the eye.
“I love you Valandt” she said, words which melted his heart.
“I love you too Astral” he said, and then the two embraced.