Astrolic: Kingdom of the Psynergens

The Forbidden

The next morning, Xavier woke up to the sunlight on his face. He sat up and felt the necklace in his hand. Looking at it, he felt comforted by it. He then thought about the dream he had the night before, wondering if there was something his father hadn't told him. He got out of bed and put the necklace on. As he got dressed, Xavier saw that Griffin was starting to wake up.

Griffin stirred for a moment before finally sitting up. He looked at Xavier, drowsily. "Hey." He said in a tired voice. He got up and started getting dressed as well. Xavier noticed markings on Griffin's back and arms. "What are those?" He asked. Griffin looked at Xavier and then at the markings. "I guess you could say birthmarks in a way," He explained. "It helps with identifying our tribe and magic." He added. Xavier looked at the markings. "Do all Psynergens have them?" He asked. Griffin nodded. "Once their magic begins to reveal itself," He explained. "Some Psynergens don't have any magic." He added.

The two were silent for a few moments and then Xavier thought about something. "You and Hestia mentioned something about a prophecy yesterday." He said. Griffin nodded. "As I said before, a pure light and pure darkness will return us to our kingdom," He explained. "Reaper is the Psynergen with purely dark magic." He added. "One day we will mind someone with pure light magic and the two of them will balance the kingdom." He added. "Only the two of them will be able to do this and bring peace to the people." He explained.

Xavier nodded. "I can't begin to imagine what your ancestors went through when the Queen died." He said. "Ancestors?" Griffin asked. "How long do you think it's been?" He asked in confusion. Xavier looked at him. "I was told it was centuries ago." He said. Griffin shook his head. "Most of us were children when your king-" He started to say but Xavier interrupted. "You're blaming my father for this?" He asked in disbelief. "He was the ruler then, just like he is now," Griffin responded. "Which is why Reaper doesn't want him here," He explained. "But he does trust you." He added. "Why can't you just-" He started before gripping his chest, gasping for air as he fell to his knees.

"Griffin," Xavier said rushing to his side. "Are you okay?" He asked. Griffin took a few breaths and had a worried look on his face. "Something's wrong." He said. "We need to go." He said before getting up and walking away. Confused, Xavier followed him outside and noticed all of the Psynergens were walking in the same direction with the same worried looks.

After walking some distance, Xavier noticed a purple and black, crystallized area that wasn't there before. The plants were destroyed and looked as if a bomb had blown up. Reaper appeared from the crowd and went to the center of the area. Hestia and the other tribe leaders were following the crowd as well. Griffin walked closer and saw what reaper was looking at and paused, shaking his head. "This can't be happening." He said. Xavier looked at him confused but realized what he meant when he looked for himself.

In the middle of the crystallized forest was the young Psynergen Hestia had been training when they arrived. "Oh my god," Xavier said in disbelief. Griffin turned to see Hestia coming closer and stopped her. "I'm sorry," He said to her. "I can't let you go over there." He said. "Why," Hestia asked him. "What happened?" She asked. Hestia then noticed the worried looks on both Griffin and Xavier's faces. "What aren't you telling me?" She asked. She didn't even give time to answer as she pushed past him and saw the child.

Hestia looked at the child for a moment while her eyes filled with tears as she fell to her knees. "No," She said, shaking her head. "Why did it have to come for him?" She asked. "What was he even doing near the barrier?" She asked. Griffin knelt beside her and tried comforting her. "There's no way you could've known." He said. "I don't know how The Forbidden entered our realm either." He said. "The Forbidden?" Xavier asked them. Griffin nodded and looked at him. "The darkest magic there is," He explained. "A threat to us Psynergens."