The Tiller's Prophecy

Chapter 3: The Kingdom in Chaos

Kael

The wind howled as we crested the ridge, and I squinted into the distance. Below us lay the ruins of what had once been a village. The smell of ash and smoke still hung in the air, clinging to everything. Houses—what was left of them—were blackened husks. The fields, which should have been golden with crops, were nothing but patches of withered soil.

For a moment, no one spoke. Theron stood beside me, his face hard as stone, but even he couldn't hide the shock in his eyes. Lira, silent for once, picked her way through the rubble, her sharp gaze searching for signs of life—or at least for something that hadn't been destroyed. Zorin stood a few paces back, gripping his sword like he was ready for a fight, though there was no one left to fight here.

"This wasn't the work of bandits," I muttered. "No raiders could cause this much damage."

"Azrathos' minions," Theron said, his voice grim. "They're moving faster than we thought."

I felt a knot tighten in my stomach. I had known, on some level, that Azrathos would come for the land—his return had been foretold, after all. But seeing the destruction with my own eyes made it real in a way the prophecy never had. This wasn't just about a fight between heroes and villains; it was about the survival of everything we knew.

I turned, and my gaze fell on Maelis. He had been muttering under his breath for hours now, his eyes scanning the sky and the earth like he was looking for something only he could see. If anyone understood what was happening, it was him.

I made my way toward him. "Maelis, what do you make of this?"

His head snapped up, his eyes sharp and unblinking. "The Essences are disturbed. The balance has been broken."

"The Essences?" I asked. "You've mentioned them before, but I don't understand. What do you mean by 'balance'?"

Maelis

The boy's curiosity was predictable, but it was also necessary. He would need to understand the forces at play if he was to survive what was coming. I could feel the pull of the Essences here—darker, twisted, as if the land itself had been corrupted. The minions of Azrathos left their mark on everything they touched.

"The Essences," I began, "are the natural forces that flow through everything in this world. They are the invisible threads that bind the elements—fire, water, earth, air—but also life, death, time, and even magic itself. They exist in balance, and that balance is what keeps the world as it is."

I could see Kael struggling to grasp the concept, so I continued, my voice softer but urgent. "Think of it like this: magic is not just a thing you pull from thin air. It comes from somewhere—these Essences. They are woven into the fabric of reality, but they are not infinite. Tap into them too much, too quickly, and the balance shifts."

Kael furrowed his brow. "What happens when the balance shifts?"

"Reality warps. The land withers, storms rage without end, fire consumes where there should be life." I gestured to the village below. "This is what happens when the Essences are disturbed—this destruction is not just from the minions. It's a sign that Azrathos is feeding on the world itself, twisting the Essences to his will."

I could see the weight of my words settling in Kael's mind. He was beginning to understand, but he needed to know more. "Magic isn't just dangerous because it's powerful. It's dangerous because it demands a price. To wield magic is to take from the Essences, and if you take too much..."

He looked up at me, fear flickering in his eyes. "What happens?"

I didn't blink. "Madness. Or worse. The Essences are not meant to be controlled by mortal hands for long. Those who attempt to do so lose themselves. They become vessels, corrupted by the very forces they sought to command."

Kael

I swallowed hard. I had always thought of magic as something... distant. Dangerous, sure, but also powerful, something that only the elite could use. But this... this was something else entirely.

Maelis' words painted a picture in my mind that I didn't want to see—people torn apart by forces they couldn't control, the world itself breaking apart because of a shift in power. And Azrathos? He wasn't just a villain. He was a force, something that could twist the world itself into something unrecognizable.

We stood in silence for a while after that, just watching the ruined village below. The sky overhead was heavy with clouds, dark and ominous, like a storm waiting to be unleashed. I had never seen the land like this. Even the forests we passed through had lost their life—the trees were sickly, their leaves a dull brown, the rivers running slower, thicker. It felt as though the world was holding its breath.

"How are we supposed to stop something like this?" I asked, the question heavy in my chest.

"We can't stop it alone," Maelis said quietly. "But the prophecy speaks of balance. It speaks of the Essences. Azrathos is only one force. If we can find a way to restore the balance, we may stand a chance."

We traveled in uneasy silence after that, moving from village to village, each one worse than the last. Some had been abandoned entirely, others reduced to little more than piles of stone and ash. The people we found were broken—scared, unsure of what was happening but certain that something terrible was coming.

The kingdom itself felt divided. In the cities, rumors flew like wildfire. Some said that Azrathos was just a legend, a story told to frighten children. Others whispered that the kingdom's leaders were in league with the dark forces, that they had sold their souls for power. The royal court, it seemed, was as fractured as the land. Some lords were rallying their soldiers, preparing for war. Others were fleeing, taking what they could and abandoning their people to whatever fate awaited them.

"It's chaos," Lira muttered one evening as we sat around the fire. "The nobles are too busy saving their own skins to care about what's happening to their people."

Theron nodded, his eyes hard. "I served in the royal guard long enough to know that the court is more concerned with power than with honor. They'll tear each other apart while the world burns around them."

"And that's where we come in," I said, though the words felt hollow even as I spoke them. How could we hope to fix this when the very kingdom we were trying to save was crumbling from within?

Maelis

The boy had spirit, but spirit alone wouldn't be enough. Not against what was coming. The Essences were growing more unstable with every day that passed, and I could feel the strain in the air—like a thread pulled too tight, ready to snap.

"Kael," I said, drawing his attention, "there is something you must understand. This isn't just about stopping Azrathos. It's about restoring the balance."

He looked at me, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Azrathos feeds on chaos. He corrupts the Essences, distorting them to serve his own ends. If the balance is not restored, even defeating him won't be enough. The damage will be done, and the world will continue to wither."

Kael was silent for a long moment, his eyes flickering between the fire and the darkening sky. I could see the weight of it all pressing down on him. He wasn't ready, but none of us were. Not for this.

"We'll find a way," he said finally, though his voice lacked the confidence it had before. "We have to."

I didn't answer. The truth was, I wasn't sure if there was a way. Not anymore.

Kael

By the time we reached the next village, the sky had darkened completely, the clouds swirling in angry, unnatural patterns. The world felt smaller, somehow, as though it was closing in around us.

And as I looked around at my companions—Lira, Theron, Maelis, and Zorin—I realized something: we were all that stood between Azrathos and the destruction of everything we knew.

We weren't ready. But ready or not, this was our fightnow.