Â鶹Éç

Prologue

The sun sank over the snow-capped mountains, and the shadows of countless spears lengthened into a grey mass. A soldier turned to look at his comrade beside him who leant his head until they almost touched, the first soldier whispered to his friend 'look, I've known you since we were children playing in the gardens of Sht'urri so please tell me truthfully. Do you think this is going to actually work?' His friend blinked, he knitted his bushy eyebrows until they formed a single line 'here, what's this Rynn? Doubts? We stand before the great enemy with a thousand of our fellow brothers in order to execute the greatest and only chance we've had to end this war and you're having doubts? If the Wise Ones say it'll work. It'll work, trust me.'
Rynn smiled, his sun-tanned skin creasing with gratitude 'that's just what I needed to hear. Thcuk Na ' thank you my friend. I'm in your debt.'
He turned to face the entrance to the chasm. 'They don't call this the crack of Dnuti, crack of destiny for nothing; an entrance well over three leagues wide leading to a small lake, it's like in the legends.' He friend turned to face him completely his face serene yet eyes smouldering 'clear your head of anything, your mind must be clear or you'll meet your end here.' Rynn just carried on staring. His friend sighed and turned back to face the growing black line at the entrance, he straightened up his gleaming armour. Inscribed with runes and crystal it was his pride and joy, he placed the helm he'd put on the hilt of his sword back on his head 'this will be a night to remember' he muttered.
Distantly the cries and war shouts of the enemy rang out as they approached, their numbered had been growing without any sign of stopping since daybreak, Rynn could now make out individual men, he grunted 'look at that, they've got at least two Mancers per squad.' 'What are they thinking of?' he wondered shifting his grip on his trusty spear. Remembering gratefully that he'd got his weapons Rosetti-tipped after the previous battle 'ah well' he grinned 'with all their mastery of the elements not one of them can protect against Rosetti' he grimaced 'and for the price I paid for it, it better do its job.' The soldier behind Rynn gasped 'you got your weapons Rosetti-tipped? Oh man you're so lucky.'
'Not luck' Rynn smiled in remembrance ' I had to first track down the guy ' not an easy feat, beat off a couple of those stinking Alzurian scouts and even then the damn guy wanted nearly fifty-thousand for it! I mean for the love of Middiina! I just saved the guy's life.'
'Well the people around here are desperate, I remember a time when Rosetti-tipping was army standard' the man behind him reminisced. Rynn turned in surprise to look at the man 'that's well over ten centuries ago how did you manage to survive that long and still look that young?'
The man tapped the side of his nose 'that is my closest guarded secret and I intend to take it to the grave' he turned to face the enemy 'and by the looks of things I face my grave here. Well there isn't a better way to die than to die at this place'
'What?' Rynn thought he tried to ask the man what he meant but was met with silence, he sighed again and returned to facing the enemy, the more he looked the more he realised this was a hopeless struggle.
He shook he head 'no' this was the wrong way to face things. Remember Tudai the Brave and Gaian the Merciful, did they quail or fall to their knees when they were surrounded by the darkness? No they didn't! They fought on until all their foes lay dead before them; Rynn employed the technique taught to him by his father, he imagined a tree ripe with fruit. He focused on the fruit and imagined each one being a distraction or an emotion, carefully he picked each one off the tree and placed them within an ebony chest and closed it. Upon closing the chest his vision suddenly cleared, now he could concentrate solely on the matter in hand with no distractions.
The night drew on yet everybody was able to see clearly, it's a strange property of Morsei, when two opposing forces face off against each other a light glows around them. 'But that only happens when there are mages on each side' Rynn thought 'we've seriously got our work cut out if the light is that strong.' He cast his eyes around the chasm once more, a pretty sight he mused, if there wasn't a war on I would spend a lot of time here I think.
Abruptly the rising din from the entrance of the chasm stopped, every man in the army stood to attention weapons at the ready, Rynn looked expectantly down the line watched the armour-clad commander-general approach on his war stallion. The general was the last of an ancient, even in the people's terms, and highly respected dynasty, he stood proud with his banner, a blue circle with a hawk on top of it, flying above him. His armour was incised with runes describing the many feats of his house; he bore no helm preferring to let his long mane of copper coloured hair fly loose in the breeze. His horse of pure white shone brilliantly in the glow, its majestic strides transporting it far with minimal effort showing it to be of Temlari training.
The general came to rest three platoons away from where Rynn was standing and addressed the massed army. 'Tonight we make history my brothers' he spoke clearly without shouting yet his voice could be heard at the back as clearly as if they were standing right next to him. 'Here we make our final and mightiest stand. Tonight we avenge our fallen comrades. We will destroy the enemy and wipe their filth from Morsei!' He drew his blade from its sheath and held it above his head its Rosetti-tipping shining like a star.
'We attack in a fishtail formation, striking a direct blow into the enemy while protecting out mages who will be locked in combat against their Mancers. Once fully strove into the enemy we form a double V and force sideways pinning them against the chasm walls. Do not worry about them slipping past. The archers will be positioned in a large line to take out any that break free.'
While he explained his strategy a bird's eye view of the chasm appeared in their minds showing where they were supposed to go and how the plan work be executed. 'Now we wait for them to make the first move.' Sure enough a huge dust cloud rose up around the Alzurian army announcing their movement 'and now we charge!' the general shouted with passion as he sprung forward with the army in tow.
The two armies raced towards each other with increasing speed. White versus Black. Good versus Evil. The final battle had begun.

The Guardians, once the most powerful of all races, wage a war longer than time itself in order to survive, over the centuries they've been pushed back little by little, diminishing little by little. But this is where it would stop, where the Guardians would deliver a crushing and decisive blow to the Alzurians, wiping them off the face of Morsei and in so sacrificing themselves.