Ashes

Arch I. Enia and Xentaron. Story 1. My Church

Somewhere in the north, far away from The Capital, small city Thais located. It's been ruled by wise lord Mist Darkthrop. No one knew grief or fear while he was ruling. This lord had a son that became the lord of Thais in future, but for now he is just a kid. And this story not about him at all. 

There was a family living in Thais. Father, mother, little daughter and a son. My father's name was Ulf. To be honest, I would never wish the same father to anyone else. The mad person who never let me do anything I wanted. We never choose the parents, eh?
My mother's name was Helen. She was too kind with me and my little sister. She always defended me when my father went mad. Every day, if I can say so.
I had a little sister Emily. She was the only one I was living for. She had the purest heart in the whole Thais. How unfortunate that it's been destroyed.
And my name was Ahriman. At least, this name people still use to call me. This... This is the story how the Darkness was born.

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There was a winter day. People of Thais were preparing for the Flame Festival. And on this day the Mayor of Xentaron arrived to us. We couldn't imagine that someone like him would ever visit us. So we've gathered at the main square. Then the Mayor started his epic speech about... Magic? He said that the magic was evil, and that we have to destroy everything that has the magic in it, so no one will learn the magic. How stupid he is. He doesn't know that the magic is a gift from above. 

Magic... Very loud word, eh? Never understood why they are afraid of it. I mean, when you have magic, you can do whatever you want. You can stop death. I didn't want to listen to that person anymore, so I tried to escape the crowd, but I've been caught by Ulf (I can't call him my father). He asked me where I was going, so I lied that I started to feel bad and that I wanted to go home to take some rest. Ulf never believed me. Well. It seems, this night I will spend outside. Thanks, Ulf.

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I didn't notice that I was lost in this forest. Seems like, my own thoughts led me far away from the Thais itself. It's quiet here, but I swear, I feel someone's watching me. And so it was. I heard the strange noise behind me that made me run. That noise was chasing me, becoming louder and louder. I've reached the chasm. It's a dead end since it's the river that never been frozen. I turned around. The person who was chasing me went to the moonlight. His face was hidden behind the mask, but I saw his black eyes.

"Stand if you value your life, little boy" the stranger started to speak. His voice sounded friendly. Seems like, he doesn't want to kill me. He was... Worried? "I've been watching you for some time. And I want to help you"

"Help? How? You want to take me from the forest?" I asked him

"Yes. That's what I want to do. But first, can you please take a step from the chasm? Be careful. Every wrong move... Well... I'm not sure if you want to be in this river"

He made an accent on the word "this". But why? Well... I still don't know the answer. Or... I don't remember? The last thing I remembered was falling down and loud shouting.

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It's so warm here... I slowly opened my eyes. It's a... Home? Why am I here? I noticed Tressa, local healer, was sitting next to my bed. What the hell happened?

"Finally awake?" her voice echoed in my head "How do  you feel yourself?"

"My head hurts..." I replied barely hearable.

"Not surprised" Ulf's voice brought me back to reality. "The man that brought you here said that you fell in the water. Can you explain how you got to the Endless River?"