The Night Caster's Grimoire

Prologue

The warm rays of sun glowed as if a halo from heaven, painting everything it touched in an array of colours no artist could ever tame. The pale sand of the desert stretching for miles began to radiate with the heat of another day, waking all those who had slept under the moon's light, and sending night dwellers back to their burrows to escape the light of day. There was not an inch of sand that the rays could not touch for miles, as the ground was unimaginably flat and free of plants, dunes, or anything else that could cast a shadow.

However, it had not always been this way.

Decades ago, this land had once been green, rolling hills and snow-capped mountains all around for the eyes to see. Creatures had been abundant and easy to both hunt and tame, and trees stood tall and proud, guardians to the life below their thick, heavy branches. And of course, fresh water ran in abundance through streams, rivers, creeks and ponds, dancing, liquid life to the land around it.

Lands just like that had been spread out all across the globe. Only a few decades ago, there had been peace between humans, casters, and the earth; an unheard state throughout all of history.

Balance was key; the element that kept life and death in check, light and dark. Harmonious were the intertwining lives of both nature, and the humans and casters who inhabited it. The wars between the two humanoid species had come to a halt, after a world peace treaty had been signed to prevent any further acts of violence, discrimination and criminal activity between the two. Since the armistice had been signed, a peace had fallen over the lands to last throughout the next 50 years.

Or rather, a silent tension.

13 years before this day, a group of humans had begun to form; a supremacist group determined to gain power and influence in order to eliminate casters of all kinds. Magic users were viewed as spawn of demons, a species that had to be eradicated from the face of the earth. However, they were the link between the reckless destruction of mankind and the delicate structure of the earth's systems. Without this link, there would be no balance.

The supremacist group slowly built up their power, however. Eventually, they had come into power as a new form of totalitarian government. Capitalism soon became corrupt, and anyone who wasn't in the government's personal favour weren't granted the money they needed to get by through the high taxes and poor rationing. Poverty spread like the diseases that plagued most of the cities and towns. Only purebloods were allowed out of city walls, or allowed to work, trade, or own property within land of government power. Violence, robbery, illegal trade and other acts of criminal activity were on the rise after a long period of near non-existence, and hate crimes against magic users had peaked.

The city surrounding the Parliament possessed the title of the most ruthless region on the continent. Here, the land was wiped clean of all forms of life and the hills were cleared and replaced by a flat, sandy desert. The city could be seen from miles, with only the Parliament high enough to view over the high walls surrounding the town in order to keep enemies out and civilians in. Censorship and isolationism played an important role in the power of the government here, which kept the humans at bay.

However, just outside of the city walls, was another smaller town - or rather, the ruins of what was once the country's capital city. Buildings were half constructed and half burned and bombed apart, their remains scattered across the roads that were shaded from the hot sun by large spreads of torn fabric between the rooftops. It was here that the ghetto of casters had been created.

Anyone with any form of magic blood was considered a caster, whether they knew how to use magic or not. If pure of blood, they would be considered humans and were allowed into the new capital's walls. Any casters that had been caught at one point or another were either imprisoned, tortured or killed, and every single one that fell into government hands were branded; this kept them from being mistaken as human.

In the ghetto, there were groupings of casters, mostly small-scale without much power. These were called covens, which were an anarchist grouping of magic users that were beginning to form and build their power in order to gain status as a guild against the government.

Guilds were highly regarded and respected, made up of only well-trained and powerful casters that worked together to complete missions, rebel with organized crime throughout cities and regions, and, ultimately, assist the horde of guilds waiting for the day to overpower and dethrone the totalitarian government.

However, guilds alone could not take down such a power. Even with their magic, they would be far too divided to come together and force the Director to surrender, whether that be his position or his life. In order for them to restore the balance to their land, they would have to not only unite and fight as one, but find the missing key to their victory.

However, an impending doom was hovering just over their heads, and it was only a matter of time before they would all be wiped out.