The Chosen: Prologue

Prologue

Italy, 1006:

A majestic griffin sat atop the greatest of churches in Vatican City, surveying the dark streets for any sign of trouble. Yet there was none. It was the darkest hour, right before dawn, and the city slept. Quite honestly, it deserved the rest, as the dawn would bring only more war to the already bloodstained streets. Seeing nothing, the griffin spread its great wings and glided around and into the open doors of the church. A yellow and white garbed figure knelt before the altar, praying feverishly. At the clatter of the griffin’s claws, the figure rose and turned around, revealing itself to be a woman holding a crystal-topped staff. She was quite a lovely woman, with thick, light brown hair and gray eyes. The only flaw was the fog that clouded her sight. She was blind.

“Well, Amhik? Anyone or anything out there?” Aleina, Chosen of Light, asked, petting the griffin gently. Amhik shook his head as he purred in that grumbling, eerie way that griffins do, enjoying her touch.

“Any news?” a hard, deep voice asked. A tall man stepped out the shadows by the pillars holding up the beautiful Gothic church. He was bald, and dressed in a sleeveless red jerkin that had seen better days. He walked with the grace of a panther stalking its prey, and was obviously a seasoned warrior.

“None, Corus.” Aleina replied, sending Amhik out again with a whispered command. “The Truth seems to be waiting until dawn to strike.”

He snorted. “Typical. Deal the final blow at dawn. Pah!” he spat on the floor. “Pitiful.”

“Corus, please!” Aleina reproached sharply. “This is a church, not one of your training grounds!!”

“Isn’t that just like a Chosen of Fire.” A snide female voice came from the door. A woman dressed in billowing blue and green robes stood at the door. Her thick, curly brown hair was pulled back, and she had two rosy spots on her cheeks from hurrying to get there.

Corus’s eyes narrowed. “Liliana.” He said in an icy tone.

“Corus.” She replied in the same tone.

“Where’s Korteni? Weren’t you supposed to bring her? Or did you just kill her off like the wishy-washy Chosen of Water you are?” he accused snidely.

She raised an eyebrow. “For your information, hothead,” she said, causing his face to turn redder than it already was. “She’s locked up in her room scratching away at that dumb book. She threatened to kill me if I disturbed her.”

Aleina sighed. “Liliana, you know we need all the Chosen here to hold a Council. If we have everyone but Darkness, the balance will be upset. Go fetch her.”

“But-“ Liliana tried to protest.

“Go!” Aleina pointed out the door, finding the direction by feeling the breeze that blew in from the open door.

“All right, all right.” Liliana grumbled, stalking out the door. “But don’t blame me if she takes my head off.” With that, she left.

Corus sighed. “Finally. Some peace and quiet.” Aleina shot him a withering glare, dissuading anything he might have said after that.

Suddenly, the doors that Liliana had just closed slammed open again, banging against the walls. A young, blond, good-looking man dressed in vibrant green robes came whirling through and immediately went to Aleina. “What is the meaning of this?! Calling a meeting at this hour?! What of us that need our sleep?!” he shouted, his voice growing in volume.

Aleina’s voice remained a mask, for she was used to dealing with his outbursts. “Calm yourself, Mikael. Where is the patience that befits the Chosen of earth?” she said, as she always did when he got like this.

“Gone with my sleep.” He growled, clenching his fists. The ground beneath them began to tremble, a sure sign of his fury.

Corus placed a hand on his shoulder. “Careful, Mikael. You don’t want to bring the church down on top of us.” He squeezed briefly, then let go.

His friend relaxed. “Forgive me. I am… tense. The ground is so filled with blood that I cannot reach my plant-brothers. It is… difficult.”

Aleina smiled gently. “The war has been hard on all of us. Bloodlust clouds my Sight. I’m afraid I may never see the light of the sun or moon again.”

“Ah. Yes.” He said softly. He raised a hand to pass over her sightless gray eyes, still beautiful even though filled with smoke. “I forgot you were blind.”

She caught his hand and lowered it. “I am only blind in my eyes, Mikael. My heart sees more than you can ever know.” She released his hand and turned away, facing the altar again. Mikael stood there, surprised. She is different somehow. He thought. Like someone going to an execution. He was about to put a hand on her shoulder when the doors that had closed after Mikael had so rudely opened them burst open again.

Liliana came through them once again, though this time dragging a young woman whose black robe spread out behind her like crows’ wings. “Why did you drag me here?” the woman demanded. “I need to finish my book!”

Aleina turned around to face her elemental opposite. “You may finish it later, Korteni. There are more pressing matters at hand.”

“More pressing than documenting the war?” Korteni asked pertly. Her rich, raven-black hair fell around her shoulders, accenting her angularly rounded face and dark blue eyes. The slight tilt at the edge of her eyes hinted at Asian ancestry, counteracted by the strong nose and lanky limbs. She couldn’t have been more than twenty five.

“Yes.” Aleina answered, getting slightly annoyed. “More important than that.”

Korteni raised an eyebrow. “If it’s so important, then where’s Crystal?”

As if on cue, a tall, gorgeous blonde came sweeping through the open doors. She wore robes of sky blue, and her wavy hair flowed down past her shoulders to rest at waist length. She had an aura of regality around her, which was merely accented by the string of pearls around her forehead. “Forgive me.” She said in a breathy voice that dampened the aura.

“You’re late.” Corus growled deeply.

“I lost track of time.” The woman said breezily. She caught sight of Korteni. “Korteni! Dear, how are you?” she immediately went over and enveloped the stiff girl in a hug. “Are you eating well enough? You’re looking a bit peaky.” She leaned back to look at her, then hugged her again. “Oh, it’s been too long.”

“It’s been eight hours, Crystal.” Korteni said flatly.

Crystal let go of her and frowned. “Oh, poo. You’re no fun.”

Aleina clapped her hands. “Please. Now that we are all here, the Council may begin.” The Chosen complied, forming a circle seated on the floor Indian style.

“Why have you called this Council, Chosen of Light?” Corus intoned, as was the custom.

Aleina looked around the circle, eager faces all. They looked at her, waiting for her answer. She closed her eyes and lowered her head. “Origion has spoken to me. The final blow against The Truth will be struck when Aska has risen to his highest point in the sky.”

“Today?” Liliana gasped.

Aleina nodded, spurring a roar of grateful noise. “She raised a hand, and they silenced immediately. “However, we must give all our power to the Gods so they may seal The Truth away.”

The Chosen stared at her in disbelief, for they all knew that giving away their power would cause their death immediately. Korteni leapt to her feet. “What about my book?! My Necro-“ she cut herself off, realizing what she was about to reveal.

Aleina turned her head in Korteni’s direction. “You may finish it when the Council is adjourned. Until then, hold your peace.” The Chosen of Darkness shrank back down and took her seat again. They might have been elemental opposites, but Aleina was the most powerful Chosen among them, and most likely the most powerful in history. Korteni wasn’t about to challenge her authority. None of them were. “Now, I know that giving up our power means that we will die as well.” She said. She lowered her head. “It is a small price to pay to seal The Truth for a thousand years or more.”

“Only a thousand years?” Mikael burst out. “That’s barely a wink for him!”

Aleina turned her sightless gaze onto him. “Yes, but it will mean a thousand years of peace for Earth and Cephiro.” He looked down, shamed into silence. She looked back at the rest of the group. “It has been an honor fighting alongside you all. This Council is adjourned.”

Korteni jumped up. “Finally.” She swept out the room, son followed by the rest of the Chosen. Mikael lingered as if to say something, but thought better of it and left.

Aleina walked over to the altar and sank down onto it in exhaustion. “Dear Luna, guide us through this…” she sighed, pleading for the goddess of the moon to help them. Hearing no response, she closed her eyes and slept, a fitful sleep wracked by nightmares.

The next day, at noon, the Chosen died to seal The Truth away. As predicted, he slept for a thousand years, gathering power from his growing group of followers. Then, in 2006 CE, the seal broke. Completely shattered, and The Truth was released into the two worlds once more. Cephiro, the world that shared a magical core with Earth, felt the shock waves and repercussions of such a monumental event, however, Earth felt nothing. Since the days of the war, the humans of Earth had declined slowly into violence and there was only about 20% of the shared magic left on this war-torn world. They had forgotten what it felt like to work with magic, and scoffed at those who still believed it existed. They lived in ignorance until May 13th, 2006.