|| The Chaos Mage ||

Prologue - Karma

A/n: Tw: Execution
Major character death
Mentions of a fictional religion

Image above: Nex

Dearotalm, meaning realm of death, is the name of the supercontinent that graces this earth.

It is a land of tribulations, and adversity.

Balance is a force of nature that flows through every being that breathes in its air.

Where there is light, there must always be shadow.

Where there is life, the tendrils of death trail after.

And where one gains power, there must be weaker powers snuffed out.

So tread lightly traveller, do not overstay ones welcome.

Or it will be you who pays the price of others crimes.

———————————————————————————
———————————————————————————

"Nex- help please!" The young child cries. His golden curls are plastered to his face with terrified tears and precipitation.
His pale arms are bound firmly behind him. The ropes coil around his limbs, attaching him tightly to a wooden cross, it's decaying wings stark against rolling grey clouds above.

A crowd of darkened expressions watch on, murmurs of 'Witch!' and 'Sorcerer...' ring through the shaded clearing like whispers of the left shoulder.
They make no move to help the child, only staring as one would an exotic bird in a cage.

The boy sobs, staring up at the monotone skies above. "NEX!" He begs once more, his shrieking becoming much more shrill as he notices another party approaching. Parting the crowd with no effort at all.

The new arrivals consist of a raven haired woman bound in ropes akin to the boy's own bindings. A girl, even younger then the golden haired boy. And the town priest. Ceremonial dagger in hand.

The boy is silenced by his fear. He has heard stories. Stories of witches who strayed too far from the safety of the forest. But he never thought he would face the same fate as the victims in his father's stories.

The priest stops before him, a sadistic grin plaguing his features. He spins to face the crowd, arms spread wide like the wings of the cross. The other prisoner narrowly avoids being cut by his scarlet hilted dagger.

"What you see before you," he booms, silencing any further whispers.
"Is a witch!" the people hiss and recoil with disgust and fear, clutching their children to their chests.
"But fear not, for I, Reverend Roddak, will fulfill my duty as the lords chosen priest to this town." Roddak's smile doesn't falter once as he revels in the absolute control he holds over the situation.

Even the trees that stand guard over the clearing seem to warp and sway at his mercy.

"Order one of the Edotarian kingdom. All suspected witches are to be executed by Xuvslruta plant." He announces cheerfully. "All in favour?" Roddak takes his knife, expertly swiping a strip of wood from the cross the child was bound to. As though he already knew the outcome of the vote. Once he turned back it was clearly decided. The child would die.

The young witch let out a noise that you'd only hear a wounded animal make. His dark eyes swelled with more terrified tears. "Nex...please." He whispered. There was a beat of silence.
And no answer.

Roddak continued, harshly shoving the lick of wood into his second prisoner's hands. And gently seizing the young girl's shoulders.

"Now. You know what I want. And so you will do it." Roddak tells the ravenette calmly. His knife gently ghosts along the little girl's shoulder, a clear threat.

The ravenette's hands tremble where they hold the cursed wood. She turns to the accused. "I'm so sorry," she whispers to him hoarsely. "I have no choice. Iasis forgive me...".

With that the sorceress channels her weakened magic into the wood. The splinter trembles with power in her grasp, before erupting into a black, thorned vine.

The vine is quick to lash out towards its intended target, the accused. It begins to wrap around the cross from the top down. The sound of thorns scratching wood tickle the ear like the flick of a snakes tongue.

The child screams.

And his calls are finally answered.
"SOREN!" A voice rings out, burning with rage of a thousand suns. The witch boy, Soren cries in relief "Nex!". Roddak snarls in anger, his moment ruined.

With no mercy, and an almost complete apathy, he slits the throat of the girl he was still holding.
She falls to the earth, dead.
"NO!" The sorceress shrieks, her vines speed up, powered by the horror of her niece's death. They edge closer and closer to Soren's head. He cries in pain as the first thorn slashes across his face, leaving a long gash across his left eye. Nex finally reaches the centre of the clearing, his lungs are burning, the only thing keeping him standing is adrenaline, but he has to save his brother.
He knows what he has to do.
And he knows the consequences of it.
He delivers a swift punch to Roddak's face, seizing the red hilted knife from his grasp. Roddak shrieks, clutching his broken nose, mortified at the pool of his own and his victims' blood he lay in staining his white robes. The crowds quickly dissipate fleeing after seeing their leader downed. No one went out of their way to help him.
Nex takes a breathy shudder before stabbing the dagger into the sorceress' gut. He can't bring himself to watch as she dies on the ground, clutching her still warm niece. The vines come to a halt, and he quickly tears his brother free, pulling him into a hug.

Soren clings to him, terrified after what he has experienced. He draws away and tries to get Nex to meet his gaze, but his brother is distracted, and looks down to ask only one thing of the young boy - 

"Go on living for me, alright kiddo?"

Nex shoves Soren away as he is struck down by a bolt of dark magic from the withering vines.

All that is left of him, is a pile of ashes.

A/n: Welp wasn't that dramatic....Hope you enjoyed it!

Quick explanation: Practicing magic is treason in Dearotalm, as ruled by the Edotarian kingdom 500 years ago. The execution method used for magic users is death by Xuvsralta plant, which essentially for most is a normal plant. It's only special property is that it thrives off of magical energy. To start the execution you need another magic user to curse a piece of it, it will then feed on the most powerful magical aura it senses. After it feeds it will not be able to handle the power and will die. The reason the Edotarian kingdom uses this method is because as you can imagine, it's pretty tricky to keep magic users from escaping. The Xuvsralta plant will not stop until it's satiated, even if the caster is killed. This is why Nex was killed.

Many towns keep a weakened magic user for small spells like this one. However it is a sin to cast this spell in magic user society they believe if you cast it enough you will be stuck down by Iasis, god of magic

Fun Lore Fact: there are many words used to describe magic users in dearotalm, although witch is more derogatory, sorcerer is more generalised and mage is what most magic users refer too themselves and each other as. The words have no specific gender attached to them except for sorcerer/sorceress. Non-binary magic users will often use sorcerun.

Thanks for reading see you next time!

-Nyx