Castaways: Origins

Chapter 1: Middle ground

A young wizard ran through the forest. His breath was heavy, and he was pushing himself to his absolute limit. He was never the person to enjoy running, he much preferred floating, but when under great amounts of stress, his powers weren't trustworthy enough to confidently carry him.

Why was he running? The boy foresaw a detrimental future, a future where the war ended. Not because the races made peace, but because there was no one left to fight any longer. In this future, there were only a few people left, not nearly enough to repopulate the land on time. Some races were even wiped out entirely. Thus, the solution the wizard thought was best, was to seek out the head of every race, on his own, and make them aware of what was going to happen when they kept fighting like this.

The naive boy started with the Elves.

He shouldn't have started with the Elves.

Elves and Wizards were sworn enemies, both being the main cause of this war entirely. The Wizard knew this better than anyone, but he still chose to enlighten the Elven king first. A stupid idea in hindsight, but the Wizard knew better than anyone that one cannot change the past. One should make you sure that they won't make the same mistake again in the future instead. For now, he needs to focus on protecting himself from the Elves that were chasing him.

Using his magic to shield himself from their arrows, the boy was afraid. Afraid of what was going to happen. He was all-seeing and yet... he didn't know what to do, nor what to expect.

The Wizard ran away as fast as he could, with his brain working even faster to think of a solution to the problem he was encountering. How he wished he'd be able to open his diary, and look for advice, hints, anything, as guidance.

From the corner of his gray eyes, the Wizard saw a cave, discreetly hidden out of sight. Maybe, if he was stealthy and quick enough, he could hide there and shake off the trail of Elves behind him. It was his best shot, so he sprinted.

Miraculously, this plan worked, and the Wizard leaned against the mossy stone wall while holding on to his staff as if he were to let go of it, it would vanish for good. He caught his breath and dirtied his blue hood in the process, but the boy didn't care. He was safe at last.

With the memories newly into his mind, the Wizard grabbed his diary, and started to write in it. Wizards always have a book with them to write in. Most of them are used to write in useful information, but this Wizard used it as some sort of diary, describing his adventures, life and the hardships that come with it.

Entry number 1690

Dear reader,

On this rainy day, I tried to reach the Elven king, but got abruptly stopped by Elves who looked like guards, who chased me around the forest. I shook them off by hiding in a nearby, hidden, cave. Even though Elves have always been hostile to people like me, I've always been intrigued by their culture and way of living. Unfortunately, I've never even come close to entering their territory. I've been having unusual visions. Visions of a group of misfits from all races, who live in peace. I'm suspecting that I need to assemble this group, and so this will be my next mission.

Signed, Prism.

Prism's eyes softly lit up.

"What'cha writing there, wizard?" a sudden, low and raspy, male voice spoke. Prism's gray eyes looked up in fear, but this encounter didn't surprise him at all.

"What, are you not surprised to suddenly see an elf in front of you?" the Elf questioned, looking genuinely surprised, a switch of his former, confident demeanor. A cocky smile grew on his face, before kneeling down to the height of the Wizard sitting on the cold ground. The elf leaned in, locked his forest green eyes with Prism's gray ones, and with an even lower, quieter voice, he continued. "You do know I could kill you, right now?" Prism didn't budge.