Chapter 5: The History of the Fortress Pt. 2

We sat down and she started telling me her story. I will quote her and her exact words;

I was born 200 years after the 7 days of hell in the southern region of the Amazon Jungle, in a town that was once known as Amakara.

My father was once an avid Hunter and tracker, but when I was only 3 years old he was commissioned by the town guard to serve his city by helping fortify and secure the walls surrounding the town, he was killed when I was 6 by a roaming band of Spidarians -which are basically humanoid spiders that stand about 10 feet tall on average- while he was on patrol outside of the wall. From that day on I lived with my only brother, Raythen and my mother. Raythen had gone through the Arcane Initiation and was gifted the ability of Lightning Magic. He left shortly after -when I was 9- to travel the world and to learn more about his magic and abilities. So it was just me and my mom for many years.

When I turned 15 -which is the age that most youth attempt to acquire magic- I went to the town square and stood in the initiation circle, lifting my right arm towards the heavens I uttered the phrase to activate the circle. It activated and before it was completed, the town bell rang loud and alerted everyone to a breach into the city from an unknown enemy. The ritual was interrupted right as I saw the faces of the enemies that had entered, they were Raptarians. Large dinosaur-like humanoids with scales, sharp pointed teeth and vicious claws. Their chief was larger then them all, standing well over 7 feet tall and he carried a large crudely made saber on his side.

He spotted me in the square as I turned and tried to run away. He then roared loudly and charged at me with the intent to kill me. I ran as fast as I could to duck into the closest alleyway, but he was to fast for me. Reaching me in only a few steps, he hit me across my back with the back of his large hand, hard enough that I spun a little and flew over 20 feet into the wall of the building adjacent to the alley I was running towards.

I crumpled to the ground, barely able to move. The last thing that I saw was a brilliant bolt of blueish purple lightning streak over where I lay and strike the chief square in the face, sending him about 10 feet away from me and onto his back.

When I awoke, there were about 100 or so people walking away from the town and into the forest. The town was ablaze behind us and I was being carried by a muscular man in leather armor with long blonde hair drawn back into a ponytail, and a goatee that was well kept and a long spear-like weapon strapped to his back. After a few moments of becoming aware of my surroundings, I recognized the man was me eldest brother, Raythen. I expressed my joy in seeing him come back from his quest of learning about his magic. But he simply said, "It is good to see you too Amy, we will catch up when we are someplace safe.

We walked north for nearly 6 weeks, having to ward of many assailants in the night, unfortunately there were quite a few people that were either killed or brutally mamed. By the time we reached the river that separated us from the northern lands, we had about 70 or so people left. Many of whom were woman and children. My brother organized us to build a raft that was big enough to carry all of us to the other side. It took a few days to assemble it and gather all the trees from the surrounding area.

After we crossed the river we continued northward until we came to a spot about 10 miles south east of this glacial wall. We then began to build up a village similar to the one we had left behind. We decided to name that village after our original founder, Asimov village.

After the village was made safe and secure, I asked my brother how his journey had been and what he had learned. He told me that he was an Apprentice and that in a few months he had to face his Sage to earn not only respect, but also the abilities that come with the Sage rank. When the time came for him to face his Sage, he was skeptical of his abilities. I told him that he was the strongest mage that I knew and that he was able to do anything he put his heart in. He was gone for only a few minutes, but when he came back from the battle, he had the title of Lightning Sage and told all of the people on the village that he was now able to help us learn some simple spells.

Over the next decade we built up that village until we felt it was better than the one we left behind. There were many other people and races that fled to our home for safety and my brother helped us all to learn some of the basic forms of magic that common folk could use in a pinch. During that time, we also had a few mages come to our village in order to learn more about themselves and their magic. Among these mages were Sage Akela and Sage Terran. However they weren't sages when they first came, they were cavaliers and let me tell you they were a motley pair. Akela was always teasing Terran verbally and Terran was pranking Akela frequently.

When I was 16 I decided to undergo the arcane initiation again, to see if I could possess magic and if so which kind. My brother, Akela and Terran were all standing on the edge of the circle and they started the ritual. The pain that I felt in my arm was a sign that I was going to have magic. The ritual lasted for about 5 minutes, when it was over, I fell to my hands and knees with the feeling like I had just finished an hour long run. When I looked at my arm, I saw that I had the mark of earth magic just like Sage Terran.

My brother came over and helped me to my feet and said, "now your journey begins." And that it did, for the next 5 years I trained as hard as I could with my Sage. By the end of those 5 Years, I had reached the rank of Knight. That's when the Great War started it's first phases.

We had received word from one of the neighboring villages that there were large beasts making monolith like structures in various parts of the world. No sooner had the village chief received this missive, we were visited by a large humanoid centipede like creature that called itself, Centrus. He told us to either pledge our loyalty to him or be destroyed. My brother and Sage Akela drove that thing away and decided to create a council of Sages to come up with a plan to thwart this foe.

The chief said that they weren't allowed to have the council within the towns boarder but that there was a ridge not far to the north east that would work. We traveled to that ridge and we saw that it would be a great spot for a building to be erected for the council to gather and plan a course of action. I assisted Sage Terran in creating the general shape and structure of the building including the stairs and partial pathway. It took many days and hours of preparation and gathering of materials before we could start the process. When we started the process over 2 months later, we had 2 other sages join us: Sage Flint of metal and Sage Rover of beasts.

Sage Terran and I spent over 14 hours constructing this citadel, but during the final minutes of the work, my arm was shot with a large arrow right where my mark was and I was rendered unable to use my magic permanently. As such, Master Terran and my brother bound my life to this citadel. I'm still able to leave at any time, but I won't leave unless this citadel falls.

The other sages that joined the following 6 months were: Sage Jacque of Wind, Sage Tiffany of Water and Sage Abani of Fire.

After the council was formed, they sent people out the various areas of the world to find out what was exactly going on. They discovered through these people that there was a self proclaimed ruler of the World that could use all 8 sources of magic: Wind, Water, Fire, Earth, Metal, Lightning, Ice and Beast. He could also call on the power of the shadows to create various necromantic creatures. He could also to a small degree call on the power of the sun for light and radiant bursts of energy. He called himself the Equinox Sage.

The council gathered together to discuss how they should proceed but before their meeting could start, there was a heavy pounding at the door, I went and opened the door and discovered that it was a girl around my age and she was mortally wounded. I rushed her to the medical area and began to treat her wounds to the best of my ability. After I treated her, she was asleep for 19 hours. When she awoke, I asked her what happened to her. She told me that she was being hunted by the Equinox Sage and his monarchs. She then explained what each of the monarchs looked like and the description of Centrus was among them. She also showed me her magic mark and it was in the shape of the sun.

I took her to the council and presented her as the Sun Sage in training. They were all silent for what felt like a long time. Then my brother stood and said "What can we do to help you?"

"I have to learn each element in order to have the strength to combat the Equinox Sage." She said

The council over the next year began to teach her everything they could 1 element at a time. By the time the year had passed, she had mastered every element and was experimenting with possible combinations of them for more powerful attacks and defenses. The time for her to face the Equinox Sage had come and she said that she was "As ready as she was going to be."

We gathered over 1 million people of various races and backgrounds to fight against the Equinox Sage and his 8 monarchs. The final battle was fierce and long, lasting over a month. Many lives on both sides were lost, when she went to face the Equinox Sage, she did so with a confidence and determination that was both inspiring and terrifying. Their battle lasted only 5 minutes and ended with her striking of his head with her bare hands.

With the battle ended, the 8 monarchs turned into stone statues which as far as I know, are still standing on the battlefield in the very stance they had when the final blow was dealt.

After the battle, each of the Sages returned to this citadel and went into their training areas to await their trainee's. As the years have come and gone, I have been here trying and preparing for the next time the council is needed.