The Species of Power [Draft 1]

Chapter 17

Thousands of years ago, after the Great War of the Species of Power and the Under Species, the Children of Peace lost a significant amount of their people. During that time of weakness, the Children of Peace didn't want to risk losing any more of their kind; they wanted to separate themselves from the rest of the inhabitants of planet Earth, so they made their own world, far away from the chaos on Earth. Only one Child of Peace could be chosen to use their powers to create their new land, and that child was Eryx, a son of Crism. Eryx, was known to be very skilled with the magic of portals, he was famous for his talents. He could travel to faraway lands at his leisure; some even said he knew how to travel to different dimensions and parallel worlds.

Eryx, at the young age of thirty was chosen to give his existence to the Children of Peace, and bind his soul to the Kingdom forever. He would never age, never wound, and never die. He opened a portal to an empty, lonely spot in space, and picked up a piece of the earth and placed it there. The other Children of Peace transferred their powers and concentrated them on Eryx. With that power, Eryx let the piece of earth expand and grow until it was fit for a kingdom. Many people died from the power transfer alone, and did not see the new world they had helped create.

Eryx, was soon crowned the High Sorcerer of the Kingdom. For thousands of years he remained hidden inside the palace, hardly seeing anyone. He stayed in his study in pure solitude. He only came out of his study for two, or maybe three days in a decade. Today, was once of those special occasions.

Almost immediately after Ruth had woken up, she was pulled into a council room and with no time at all, she was sitting next to royalty. The walls of the room were sky blue with detailed designs of silver flowers resting on top. Crystal chandeliers dangled above them from the high ceiling throwing rainbows as the sun shined on them. As Ruth sat at the long round table in the center of the room, she felt completely out of place. She sat directly across from the king, who looked at her with extreme disgust. Beside him was the High Sorcerer, who looked at her with intrigue.

King Arthain, the ruler of the Children of Peace. This wasn't the first experience Ruth had had with the king. She had been on duty for some of the banquets; one of the many annual banquets for celebration of the peace between the Species of Power, and even though he didn't see her, she saw him, and she didn't like what she saw. Children of Peace were arrogant in general, however their kings and queens throughout history had always been just a little bit more arrogant then their subjects. Even though they claimed to be supportive of peace and equality for all of the species, their words always seemed hollow and artificial. However, this king nearly had Ruth fooled, he was a good king to his subjects, but she knew he was as shallow as all the rest.

The rest of the table was filled with other important council members and the rest of Ruth's alliance. Half of them were complaining about the short notice of the meeting, others were simply curious as to why a meeting was called in the first place. Mindless chatter filled the room until, the High Sorcerer stood from his seat; his pale face calm but stern, demanding the respect and attention he knew he deserved.

"Council members," he said, as his light blue eyes looked upon every face in the room. "As you all know, I don't come out and visit that often. However when I heard that a Child of Rage strolled into our home, I couldn't help be a little curious, and you can imagine my fascination when I heard that she was travelling with a member from each species."

"Come now Eryx," said Arthain. "Surely this isn't a council matter!"

"I beg to differ, Arthain," said Eryx; his voice calm and confident. "With these dark times and strange occurrences, I do not believe it wise to have these things overlooked."

"I do not believe," said Arthain, growing more irritated by the second. "That we should take valuable time out of these people's busy schedules, to lecture five teenagers."

"You, Child of Rage," said Eryx as turned his attention to Ruth. "Why have you come here?"

"Actually," Samia cut in. "It was my idea to bring the Child of Rage here, your highness."

"Please," said Eryx. "Let us keep things simple and to the point; there is no need to call me anything but Eryx. Now please continue."

"As you wish, Eryx," said Samia. She told the council about the rebellion and didn't spare any details about the corruption of the Children of Rage, and the Shape Shifters. She told them about the rebellion and of how Ruth became a member of their cause. She finished by telling Eryx that the Elders were after Mark's pure soul.

"Interesting," said Eryx. "But why would they need the pure soul of a boy..."

"Eryx," Ruth said. "First, my name is Ruth, and I would appreciate it if I was called by my name instead of my specie, second, how much do you know about the crafting of a shadow blade?"

"A fair bit," said Eryx. "It is a soul that gives it its power."

"That's true," said Ruth. "For most of the shadow blades, but there's the first blades of the Children of Rage that were crafted a long time ago, that never lose their charge, and are unbreakable."

"I've heard the legends Ruth," said Eryx. "With the demon, Mox, and the first weapons."

"Well," said Ruth. "These weapons exist, and they are powerful enough to destroy your kingdom and everyone in it."

"This is absurd!" said Arthain. "This is a very imaginative story you children have created, but I think you should go and play this made up game somewhere else! We haven't the time for this nonsense!"

"Ruth," said Eryx. "Do you have any proof of the existence of these blades?"

"I got it right here," said Ruth. She pulled out the map of Zarr and spread in out on the table, she kept a hand on it at all times, so everybody would be able to read it.

"Where did you get this?" said Eryx.

"Does it even matter?" said Arthain. "Let's pretend that these weapons do exist, and this is a real map leading to them, how the hell would you even manage to retrieve these items, and keep these items secure? I don't want any of you collecting these items and expecting me to keep them secure for you. If anything I would have my soldiers retrieve these items, and you kids would go back to whatever it is you do!"

"Well, your majesty," said Ruth. "It's a little bit impossible for your soldiers to go and retrieve the weapons."

"Oh really?" said Arthain, with a smug tone to his voice. "Tell me, why is it impossible for us to retrieve the weapons."

"Because," said Ruth, as she took her hand off the map; leaving the parchment completely blank. "You wouldn't know where to find them."

"If I may," said Samia. "It is true, your majesty, we most likely won't be able to retrieve these weapons on our own, which is why we are asking for help. Even if you only give us a secure place to keep these weapons, for a period of time, until we can figure out how to destroy them or something..."

"You have my support," said Eryx.

"Eryx," said Arthain. "I would strongly advise against this-"

"Honestly, Arthain," said Eryx. "I only invited the council today so I wouldn't have to waste time by telling you about my decision, and answering all of your questions. We are going to give these kids a place to stay and further investigate this subject."

"Eryx," said Arthain. "If you would please listen-"

"I have decided," said Eryx. "We are going to support this cause. Council dismissed."