FicWad

(I apologize for the errors, I don't have a beta yet. But let me know what you think. I would love some feedback)



Prologue: Rise to power


~20 years ago~


A man sat deep inside the castle upon his throne. He wasn't really a king, or at least not yet anyway. The part of the castle where he sat was in ruin from the onslaught that he had brought upon it, stones were falling and crumbling under the slightest pressure. For the most part the rest of the castle was still in good condition. It was fairly large compared to some that he had seen. He had just finished conquering this castle from the one he had deemed his enemy. It was a difficult battle, yet he had prevailed in the end. Very few could stand against his prowess in battle. He sat there and closed his eyes as he recalled the fight in his head, replaying the events that lead to his incredible victory.

His forces were fewer in number than the enemy and it seemed as if they were overpowered as well. He had only half the number of the enemy forces. This castle was also known to be a great technological center, with advanced tools and weapons, so their victory seemed almost certain. But that would not stop this man's determination. He had his plan laid out and ready to be implemented. All he had to do was set things in motion and victory would be his. His enemy had their forces dispersed in formation and fully armed, the battle was coming and soon. He looked over his troops and readied himself for the upcoming battle, prepared for whatever the enemy would throw at him. He quickly put on his battle robe and gloves. As a mage it was his job to cast spells and avoid all of the unfriendly spells cast at him. He would need these garments for his spells and to protect himself from unfriendly magic. His robe was a special gift from his teacher, given to him upon graduating from the Higher Magic academy with honors. He was told it would protect him from most unfriendly spells, so he wore his robe proudly, everywhere he went. His gloves had been the first things he bought after earning the title of High Mage, they reduced any fire and ice damage that was done to him. Next he made sure that his companion was ready for battle.

“Shadowstorm how are you feeling? Are you ready for this upcoming battle?” He looked at his companion with concern.

“I am doing well, I am well prepared for this battle Storm. I would be more concerned for myself if I were you. I do not die so easily,” the dragon told his worried companion.

Storm looked over Shadowstorm, he was a beautiful sight to behold. The young dragon was covered in thick black scales and had the most gorgeous red eyes Storm had ever seen. Storm knew that he was very fortunate to have Shadowstorm for a companion.

The battle began with things looking in favor of the enemy, but soon Storm's plan went into action greatly affecting the tide of the battle. He erected a mighty barrier to sever all forms of communication aside from the spoken word. With the communication severed, it left the enemy blind to what was really coming. Next he implemented his tactics to separate the footmen from their commanding officers, with rock slides and explosions of magical might. With no one to lead them in battle, the soldiers had to rely on their own judgment. This lead to power struggles and conflicts within the ranks. Then all that was left was to cut off all of the enemies' supplies and reinforcements, Storm had a small but elite team making their way to do just that. After all this was accomplished the battle was an easy win for Storm. He summoned his companion to the field and victory was assured. He charged forth with his remaining forces to finish off the enemy. Storm laughed to himself, he could still picture the face of his enemy when he forced him to surrender. The man had a drawn, sunken in face with eyes that had lost their color in defeat. His face had quickly been drained of what little color it had left. The man knew that he had to surrender, he was overpowered. So he became one of Storm's many prisoners of war. Storms chest swelled with pride, he had claimed his victory is less time than he had anticipated and he was pleased with his progress.

After he finished recalling the battle he opened his eyes and let out another laugh. It started out small but grew in intensity. Soon this world would belong to him and only him. Storm had already conquered 70% of the surrounding nations. It wouldn't be long now until everything was under his control. He had quickly established his rule of this region and the surrounding areas. He even broke up the local governments, replacing them with his own court. Soon his rules and laws went into effect around the area and his control was rooted deeply in just under a years time. But it was not absolute yet, he needed his rule to be absolute.

After returning home to his base, Storm decided it was time to pay a visit to his seer. He departed from the entrance hall, passing the central garden, the library, several bedrooms and the study halls. He stopped briefly, after seeing students in the classroom studying hard and recalled his time as a student in the local magic academies. He had bought all of his supplies and was ready to go to school. His parents protested his choice in school, but regardless he was starting at the Beginner's school of Magic. He was an adorable little kid, at least that is what other mothers had always told him. He seemed to be a bit intimidating to some people but Storm had always figured it had to do with how he looked. His crimson hair was always fairly messy even as a child, and he had deep onyx eyes. It was fearsome sight to behold for some people. Storm walked into his new classroom, excited to learn magic, he quickly picked up spells and soon excelled in all his courses. He was considered a genius when it came to magic. Storm had made very few friends but that didn't matter, he was far more concerned with learning than with making friends. Most of the kids would say things behind his back and ignore him in class. They all felt that Storm was being an arrogant snob when it came to his studies. Some kids would even go as far as tormenting him during recess or when the teacher was not around.

He graduated from Beginner's School in just 8 years (even though it normally took 10) and was accepted into the Intermediate Course of Magic following graduation. He graduated from the Intermediate Course at a surprising rate as well. He did the 8 year course in 5 years, and was immediately accepted into the School of Higher Magic. In the School of Higher Magic, he was trained to become a High Mage. Storm was very gifted when it came to studies and magic. At the Higher Magic school, he met the one man that he found he could relate to. Storm eventually asked him to become his mentor and he accepted. Storm graduated as the number one student of Higher Magic in a record of 7 years. The School of Higher Magic had no time limits on their courses , it depended on the student’s individual ability and dedication instead. Many people who strive to become a High Mage take around 12 years to complete training. Storm eventually stopped his reminiscence of the past and continued on to his destination.

Storm walked along the halls of his castle until he reached the room of the seer, Majesty. He never really enjoyed any time with her but he felt that it was needed, to protect his rule. When he finally reached her room he felt something was off, but he couldn't quite place this feeling that flowed into him from the farthest reaches of space. He hesitated for a moment until he was able to pull himself together and finish what he came here to do. He cracked the door open only to witness Majesty in the middle of her daily meditation. When he entered the room however, she began to convulse. She was having a vision of the future.

“E GLOPH ZOXL WZUVH QEVN ZOPP XUSSPI XLI IRGVUEGLORK HEVNRIWW, FIZEVI!” she shouted, still deep in her trance.

Storm just stood there and stared at the woman as she went back to her meditation, Majesty had given him much to think about. A scowl appeared upon his face and he left without a word to the seer. Storms mind grew troubled, he needed to figure out his next course of action, and soon. The seer's vision weighed heavy on his mind. “E GLOPH ZOXL WZUVH QEVN ZOPP XUSSPI XLI IRGVUEGLORK HEVNRIWW, FIZEVI!”. A child with sword mark will topple the encroaching darkness. Beware! He knew that when she spoke of encroaching darkness she was referring to his rule, but who could this child be that was going to topple his power? Storm knew he had stop that from happening at all cost. So many questions swirled in his mind as he paced about his castle, soon he sent forth his legions of minions to search for a child with a sword-like birthmark. He would find this child and stop it at all cost. Storm growled at no one in particular, he would not allow some mere child to destroy all that he had worked for. He tried to calm his mind so he could think things through clearly.

~18 years ago~



A messenger came running into the throne room and quickly knelt before Storm.

“My Lord, Fury believes that he has found the one we have been seeking. The child with the sword-like birth mark.”

Storm stood up from his throne with a surprised look on his face.

“Where is Fury now?” He demanded.

“Sire, he is close to the flowing river harvest. At least that is what he says, as for the exact location he would not say.” The messenger said uneasily.

Storm rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a minute. He then dismissed the messenger. He walked into the next room and pulled out a few maps. He was searching for a river, when he found the river he wanted, he considered what season it was there. It was the fall there which meant that it was time for the harvest. Fury must be near one of the towns on that river, he always did that when reporting something of importance. He would disguise the true meaning, in the ways of nature. Despite that odd quirk though, Fury was a valuable ally to Storm. He gathered up a few things before heading to his companion Shadowstorm.

“Come, my friend, we have much to do.” Storm told the dragon while running his hands over the dragon's scales lovingly.

Shadowstorm looked at Storm briefly, he knew that Storm had figured something out. He could always tell when something had changed within his master. He saw that Storm had a deep curiosity in his eyes. Shadowstorm concluded it had to have something to do with that strange day with the seer 2 years ago. “Where are we going?” the dragon wondered, while remembering that day with the seer.

Even though Shadowstorm was not in the room he could tell that something had happened, just from seeing Storm. Shadowstorm was resting when he heard the strangest sound, it was coming from below him. Curiosity got the best of him so he went to investigate. Luckily for Shadowstorm, the castle was big enough inside for him to move around freely. He went down to where he thought the noise had come from and found himself near the room of the Seer. Shadowstorm had always held a great dislike for the woman, she showed no respect for his Lord and Master, Storm. Shadowstorm only heard one word from the Seer's mouth. FIZEVI! (Beware!) He then saw Storm quietly leave the room with a scowl present on his face. From the scowl on his face Shadowstorm could tell that it was a serious matter. After all Storm hardly ever scowls. He quietly followed Storm as best he could without getting caught, luckily it was not that difficult, for Storm's mind was greatly troubled. Shadowstorm watched him pace restlessly. He could see that Storm was very upset. He thought it best to leave him alone for the time being so Shadowstorm went back to his nest.

Storm smirked at his dragon. He knew that the dragon cared nothing for learning, but he was still very smart. Shadowstorm could always see right through him.

“We are going to the Starlight River, my friend. To the village on the northeastern shore, Moonstar. Fury has found something that I seek there, I want to go see it for myself.”

Shadowstorm nodded his understanding to his master and prepared himself for the flight. After he was ready, he picked up Storm and set him at the base of his neck. Then walked out of the castle and took off through the skies. He set a steady pace so he would not tire himself out so easily. He did go a bit faster later, for he knew that his master was in a great hurry. The flight was fairly short for Shadowstorm, and he was forced to landed a short distance from where they needed to be. The area was wooded so he needed to find a clearing where could land safely. After setting down, Storm slid off his companion. The two then moved closer to the village and found Fury near the entrance.

“I knew you would be able to figure out my location, master.” Fury said while kneeling before Storm. “The house where the child sleeps is this way.” Fury gestured with his hand for Storm to follow.

“Shadowstorm, I know you want to follow us but it would be better for you to wait here. A dragon stands out here and we need to be stealthy. I know you understand.” Fury told the dragon. Shadowstorm looked to Storm who nodded his head in agreement.

“Fury is right, my friend. I shall tell you all about it when I return. Stay right here until I return.” Storm told his dragon firmly. He touched the dragon lightly before heading off with Fury into the village.

Storm and Fury stuck to the back roads and the shadows. Upon reaching the house, Storm looked over it carefully. It was fairly small ,but near the center of the village. They gazed through the window to see a woman holding her small baby. Storm used a searching spell to explore the inside of the house. The only ones home were the 3 month old baby and her mother. He nodded and Fury set about his new task. He needed to distract the woman so Storm could confirm if the child was the one or not. Storm cast a spell to change Fury's appearance, once that was done Fury went to the front door and knocked. The woman set the child down briefly to answer the door. As soon as she left the room Storm was inside. He picked up the child and searched for the birth mark. She looked up at him with a focus that was quite unusual for a 3 month old. Though Storm would never admit it to anyone, he found the child quite endearing. She had soft blue eyes, adorably rumpled brown hair and an innocent, angelic face. Storm chastised himself silently, he had seen countless infants, this one was no different. He could tell that she was indeed very special, but it did not matter. If she rose up against him he would end her. She cooed at him softly and giggled as Storm let out a huff, irritated that the child showed no signs of being afraid of him. He quickly continued his search and soon found the mark on the child's neck. He set her down and was back outside in a matter of seconds. The mother came back into the room and picked up her child. “Aren't you just a good girl? Such a happy baby, aren't you princess,” she cooed at her baby. Storm had finally confirmed the existence of the one who would defeat him. Now he needed to go and prepare his defense against this little wretch.

He made his way back to his companion in the woods with Fury close behind. He needed to consider the best option for handling the situation. After reaching Shadowstorm, Storm instructed Fury to keep an eye on things for the time being. He would send assistance as soon as he could. Storm mounted his dragon and they moved back to the clearing to take off. “We need to go to Darkwave, my friend. There is someone's assistance there, that I have need of.” The dragon nodded and headed off to Darkwave.

“While we fly to Darkwave perhaps you can tell me about what you found in the village, like you promised.” The dragon questioned.

Storm gave a sigh. He knew there was no escaping it now. He wanted to tell his dragon but was unsure of how he would take it.

“Well, where should I begin, my friend?”

“Mmmmm............what did Fury find that you might have been seeking?” the dragon asked puzzled.

“A child, my friend, one that has been professed to bring about my downfall by Majesty.” He looked down at Shadowstorm's neck while finishing this statement.

Shadowstorm gasped at this realization. It made more sense to him now. He had only heard Beware! come from the Seer's mouth, now that he knew there was a child involved everything just fell into place. That was why Storm was so distraught that night. He should have figured it out sooner but it was not his fault. He was not one for the finer details of life, he really only cared about battles and similar situations.

“What will you do with this child?” Shadowstorm was curious now. Storm gave a chuckle. “Well, my friend, that all depends on what she wants to do about this prophecy. If she wants to rise up against me, I shall deal with her. But if she chooses to ignore it then I shall leave her be. It all comes down to what she decides she wants to do. I have no wish to kill her unless absolutely necessary, it would be a great tragedy to waste such power” With that, they arrived at Darkwave.


~present day~


Aryn had kept impeccable tabs on the village of Moonstar. It was scary how good he was at his job, not even the smallest piece of information made it through his net. Aryn had established a network that covered the entire village and the surrounding area. He had also trained his daughter in the art of waging war with information instead of weapons. He felt that she may need to rely on something other than a weapon to make sure her job was a complete success. It was always good to have more than one skill set when doing this kind of work.

Rose had also done a superb job training the girl in the art of combat, She was a quick learner. It had surprised Rose at first, but that allowed her to push her harder and longer. She made sure that her daughter was ready for anything and everything. She quickly mastered weaponry but she was a bit slower with hand to hand combat. Their daughter could give any professional a run for their money in a fair fight. Rose was proud of the progress that she had made over the years. She never gave up, and always wanted to do her best for Storm. Like all of Storm's followers did.

Aryn had been watching his network very carefully for any signs of resistance. He was watching a known traitor household when he spotted what he was searching for. The parents were talking secretly. He listened in on their conversation. They were going to tell their daughter about her destiny later that night after school was finished and Aryn couldn't allow that to happen. He quickly got up from his chair and went to find Rose, this was her area of expertise. He quickly searched the house for her, but she was no where to be found, upstairs at least. He figured that she was downstairs in the basement, he ran down there and finally found her, training hard.

“Rose, we have a problem that needs to be dealt with right away.” he quickly told Rose.

“What is the problem that needs dealing with, Aryn?” She asked him cockily. She already guessed that it was something that she needed to do. Otherwise he wouldn't have sought her out. He rolled his eyes at her.

“Those traitors that we have been watching intend to tell their daughter tonight that she is supposed to destroy Storm. We cannot allow that to happen. They intend to resist Storm's rule and we are supposed to take care of any resistance, remember?” He looked at her suggestively.

A smile crept onto Rose's face. This is what she had been waiting for all these years. For someone to go against Storm's chain of command. Someone that she could “take care” of permanently. She quickly formulated a plan with Aryn on how to rid themselves of this little problem. With Aryn's knowledge on the house it would be easy for Rose to get in, take care of things, and get back out. Rose was an expert assassin with her various abilities. Killing someone without leaving a trace was a simple as breathing to her. Rose and Aryn's planned to make it seem like the daughter killed her own parents. The poor unfortunate girl is going to be framed for killing her parents. There was nothing she could do about it though , it was all part of the job.

Rose geared up to do the dirty work that her job required. She made sure she had plenty of weapons. Swords, daggers, hidden blade, wires, poisons, gloves, cleaning supplies, and various other assortment of tools and supplies. She loved this part of the job, but was probably why she is Storm's combat specialist. She loved to fight, sometimes she wondered if she loved it too much. With everything in place she set of to their residence. With some small contact with Aryn, he would make sure that everything went according to plan and that they would be completely undisturbed.

Rose snuck into the house and drugged the husband first. He was in a bedroom in the back of the house, and she didn't want him getting any funny ideas. Next she confirmed the location of the wife with Aryn. Upon hearing that she was in the kitchen Rose made her way there quietly. Spotting the woman Rose readied her wires. She wanted to capture her then force her to watch her husband die a slow and painful death. Rose shivered in anticipation, she was getting excited. Rose roped the woman skillfully, she quickly dragged her to the ground and gagged her. She then proceeded to drag her into the bedroom where her husband lay drugged. She set the poor wife up so the she could view the proceedings perfectly. Rose laughed, taking great pleasure in this. As she finished setting up the treacherous woman for the show her husband began to stir. It was faster than she had anticipated, so she quickly moved to silence him by striking his vocal cords. With the vocal cords damaged little sound could be produced. Rose could hear the foul woman struggling against her restraints. She gave a small chuckle as she began her work.

Rose wished she had more time to enjoy this but school would be getting out soon. Pulling out a dagger she began by removing one of The man's ears. She then severed his left foot from his body followed by his right arm at the elbow. After cutting off the limbs she proceeded to stab him several times in the chest. He managed to stay awake and alert through all of the pain Rose had inflicted upon him. This pleased her but also made her agitated, how could he still live after all that? With his wife sobbing in the background, Rose slashed his neck ending his existence once and for all. At this point Rose was already covered in blood, but she had one more to thing to deal with before she could clean up. Rose looked over to the woman and gave a creepy smile. She finished her off quickly with several jabs to the chest and taking off her head in the end. Rose confirmed they were both dead and then proceeded to clean up traces of her presence. After she removed all evidence of her presence she began framing the daughter for her parents murder while leaving a small present for her to find. Once everything was set and taken care of Rose departed from the house. She went back to their base and cleaned up herself making sure no one was around to witness her leaving the traitor's house. Now, to add the finishing touches to their masterpiece.