Embracing Love and Power

Chapter 1 - New World

The sun had started to set as Tillie Amor started her surveillance run around the town. It wasn't exactly a town it was more a settlement constructed in an old abandoned industrial cite in the middle of the desert. After what people refer to as 'the big ending' happened, the world as we know it had been destroyed.

The people who survived, started to rebuild civilization on a city that wasn't completely destroyed. The capital Levi rose from the ashes. Since Levi was thriving more cities were founded. Not all people were welcome there. Some were blamed for what happened. They were chased out of the cities, they were hunted and killed. Soon the council was formed, a group of power-hungry men that forced and exploited the people in and around Levi. They even organized a structured hunt on some people. The outcasts sought refuge, a place to live. They started a new world here in the middle of the desert, hidden in plain sight far from the original cities, Tillie was one of those outcasts.

Tillie searched the horizon for incoming danger but luckily all was calm, too calm as the silence before the storm. She checked the magic veil that covered the settlement, but everything seemed in place. She walked around until she stopped at the ruins of an old tower near the edge of the settlement. With ease she climbed up and sat down. There was something calming about the evening, the cold of the night dispelling the scorching heat of the day. Although the night surveillance shift wasn't for her, she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep and would be much more useful up here. It was a strange and difficult time; Tillie was looking for her place in the world. Meanwhile the people in the settlement were expecting her to lead them into a new future, but she wasn't sure what that future held.

Tillie dusted off her grey pants and settled into her brown fur coat. She untied her long black hair from her neat bun. It fell in waves on her lap. She fiddled with the ring on her finger, the only memory left of her parents. The emerald green stone cast a warm glow as her fingers brushed over it. When she touched it and closed her eyes, images appeared. Her parents died not long after she was born, they wanted her to have something to remember them of, so they imprinted the ring with magical memories. Tillie watched them meet in a world so different from hers. The great Silver Meadow academy still existed and was used to train the most powerful mages from around the world. The academy's sole purpose was to defend human kind. Magicians were respected and loved by people.

Tillie smiled as she saw how her father laid eyes on her mother for the first time. It warmed her heart, her father fell for her mother instantly. Tillie studied her mother; she was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She had a good heart, filled with only good intentions. People loved her, always sought her advice. Her father was the exact opposite, people were afraid of him. Some whispered that he was purely evil and that his magic was dark and twisted. That may have been true until the moment they met. The problem with mages is that some of them are just too powerful to control their emotions and powers. Instead, they let their emotions run their powers, resulting in chaos and dark magic. But the moment her parents met, everything had changed, her mother became the beacon of light her father needed. She was able to help him keep his powers and emotions in check. Tillie watched them fall in love. Together they became the most powerful magician couple the world had ever seen.

But every good story needs a villain, there was one magician who wanted the rules to change. Humans enslaved or exterminated and the world ruled by magic. His name was Mrithun, he was just as bad as her father used to be. He didn't have anyone to ease his emotions, nor did he want someone. No one knew how far his power reached. He declared war on the world. And with the magical army he had built, he marched to the Silver Meadow academy. His army consisted of some other mages, magical creatures and humans forced by magic. They all looked fearless and ready to kill anyone. The academy lined up his best and many mages fought side by side with humans to end the evil. What followed was an epic battle greater than ever seen in history. It took years, until Tillie's father and mother finally cornered Mrithun themselves.