Tainted Balance

It Begins

Jordan groaned, stretching out on the bed that Wag had generously let him sleep in, hearing it creak slightly under his movements. He'd spent the night as the wizard's house due to them getting a bit carried away in making and casting spells together. Jordan yawned, straightening out his clothes as he rolled out of bed. He'd need to change when he got back to his own home but he would cross that bridge when he came to it. He took a quick glance at his communicator, the device that allowed him to connect with the others in a relatively decent manner, seeing it was rather early in the morning. He briefly contemplated retreating back under the covers before deciding against it. Jordan had a lot of things planned today and sleeping in wouldn't make his schedule any easier.

He made the bed as a last second decision before leaving the room, it would be the least he could do as thanks . Jordan decided to let Wag know that he was heading out, so he wouldn't worry when he woke up to find Jordan gone.

However, a quick peak into the aforementioned wizard's room showed that he was fast asleep, slumped against his desk and surrounded by loose pages, crumpled balls of parchment and a spilled inkwell that has leaked some of its contents onto Wag's face. Jordan snickered quietly at the large ink stain that had spread all over Wag's face.

"Oh man, good luck washing that off, dude." He said, mainly to himself. He laughed quietly when Wag mumbled incoherently in his sleep (something about magic rats taking over something called a 'Purge'). Jordan grabbed a strip of paper that wasn't stained in ink or crumpled beyond use and scrawled a quick note onto it, opting to stick it to Wag's face. At least he'd find it quickly.

As Jordan left Wag's house he looked up at the sky, seeing the sun slowly make its way higher into the air. It was a peaceful morning. It was.. Normal. A normal day. Jordan hummed in pleased surprise at the fact that nothing had jumped out trying to kill him or destroy the kingdom the second he stepped outside. He smiled faintly as he gazed out at the landscape as he made his way slowly, but steadily, to the village. And things continued to be quiet. No monsters, no life or death situation, no angry god raining down fury, or anything really. It seemed that it was going to be a normal day. A normal day.. This was something that the kingdom did not experience very often. Each day seemed to be filled with some kind of excitement and the occasional mortal peril and most everyone had just become used to it, even accepted it.

However, as Jordan grew closer to the village he noticed something that sort of ruined the quiet, sunny morning. Jordan felt.. Unexplainable worry. Like, something was very much wrong. He worried at his bottom lip, speeding up his pace to get to the village faster. He'd gotten feelings like this before. And experience told him it meant nothing but trouble. The only other time this had happened was when the Taint had been threatening to take over all of the village and its surrounding area. He knew better than to shrug this off. Perhaps he was being paranoid but this feeling was much stronger than it was back then, that had to mean something. Right?

As he grew closer and closer to the village, his jaw dropped and he slowed in shock at what stood, no, towered above him. An incredibly tall and elaborate statue..crafted entirely out of Taint. Jordan felt his heart stop at the sight of so much Taint crammed into one spot so close to the village. He craned his neck in an attempt to see how tall it really was. He shuddered in nervousness, slight disgust and some.. Indescribable third emotion he couldn't quite put a name to. The statue looked to be female. It held in one deep purple hand that was raised, almost proudly, in the air a set of scales. It had no face that Jordan could distinguish but the way it seemed to be angrily marching towards the town conveyed more than any facial expression could.

Jordan's eyes widened in realization as he looked at the statue, finally seeing what it was supposed to be.

"Is this supposed to be-"