Final Chronicles - The Cult of War and Chaos

Prolog

"By the never-dimming stars in the sky, and by the uncontrollable shake of our Mother Earth, will you swear this oath, to protect us, them, everyone?"

"YES", a loud choir of voices answered.

"By the fire of the first forge, and the darkness that lays within it, do you swear to fight for us, them, everyone?"

"YES", an even louder chant followed.

"By the death of our friends and family, and so many more, do you swear to fulfill this oath, for us, them, and everybody else?"

"YES, I SWEAR", was the unified answer.

As the echo of the voices started to vanish in the high dome of the building they were in, a small group of cloaked individuals descended from a big, white gate, located at the entrance to the gigantic hall. The building was old and full of sorrow, everybody there knew that, but for a moment, it was silent and even... peaceful.

As the small group started their walk to the middle of the chamber with the high dome, the torches they carried shone their light onto the faces of around two dozen young people, male and female. In the center stood a middle-aged man with a flamboyant, red cape and robes as dark as dried blood. As the small group of cloaked individuals gathered around him, he whispered silently: "They are ready... to serve... to obey the oath... I'm sure of it!".

A glims of distrust blinked in his eye for a moment, then he stood upright and looked at the tall figure which now stood still in-front of him. Slowly, the figure reached a thin arm forward, showing a closed fist. The others in his assembly did the same. The red cloaked men seemed a bit surprised, if not outright shocked. He stumbled back and gave a silent sign to his flock of young people, who hadn't moved since the individuals had entered the chamber. They exchanged quick looks, before some of them began to walk towards the strange figures. At the end, one young person stood in-front of a cloaked one, and with a hasty gesture of his hand, the man with the red cloak ordered them to leave, which they did immediately, although trough a different door than the strange figures had entered previously.

As the last one of them left, it was just the strange, tall men, the younger ones that seemed to grow nervous, and the red-cloaked man who now had taken some distance and took a long look at the now united group, grinning silently.

In an also silent command, the strange men turned their fists around, so that inner side of their hand was positioned towards the ceiling. One by one, from left to right, the strange figures opened their hands. In the middle of their dry, withered hands laid small and round objects, not much bigger than a penny. A torch suddenly gave of a small Krrrnch, and for a second, the red-cloaked man could see what really was being given there from one side to the other.
He, again, grinned silently.

A sudden burst interrupted his thoughts. Like a wave, a giant pulse of energy seemed to wander trough the building. While the man tried not to fall to his knees, the others the room didn't seem to even notice what was happening. The young people now even reached out, and carefully took whatever the figures wanted to give them. When all the young people had taken their present, the talk individuals took a step back, turned around and started to leave the room trough the entrance they once came, although they didn't took the torches with them again.

A new, bigger wave of earth-shattering energy flooded trough the chamber, knocking the red-cloaked man to all fours. He could only catch a short last look at the young people, who stood still, holding their present in one hand and raising the other one, before a third wave came by and knocked his head onto the ground.

Shortly after, a giant beam of light struck the building. Bricks and some pieces of the facade were blown away, but nothing else happened. While every normal person believed a lightning had struck the building and damaged it, some hooded and cloaked creatures flew from the scene that night. Although the truth was revealed later, nobody could have ever predicted how much pain this night had brought upon them all, onto humanity itself.

But let's start at the beginning, shall we?