The Summoning

Chapter IV Ludvig I

                Ludvig Kron had been researching the Heroine of Light for weeks now, growing more and more fascinated by the concept of time travel each day. Ludvig knew he needed to make a journey to Arcadia to interview the young woman to complete his research but he was also aware that he must have a reservoir of knowledge beforehand to allow him to ask the right questions. It was only two hours ago when Ludvig felt his research was sufficient enough to make to trip out to Arcadia.

                The Heroine of Light was born about a year in the future in a village south of Arcadia known as Amstelveen. No one, not even the heroine herself, knows who her father is and her mother was slain by vampires when the young girl was two. The heroine's neighbor had raised her to womanhood, clearly disapproving of the girl's interest in swordplay. But the Heroine of Light practiced anyway, quickly mastering the art looking to take a stand against the Darklings and vampires that plagued the realm.

                In nineteen years, the world will be very different than it is today. The world will be on the brink of collapse; vampires and Darklings will run rampant throughout the realm, killing every living thing they come across. Towns burned and smoke blanketed the orange sky. Screams were a welcoming sound; where there were screams, there was life. The present world knew all of this from Lucia Adele, the Heroine of Time.

                In her time, Lucia Adele meant to take a stand against evil. She swore to all the gods that she would do everything in her power to kill the Vampire Lord and put an end to the Darklings. Most of the realms knights and warriors and fighters were already slain; Lucia was one of the few meaning fight back and she was the best at it. Lucia showed the most potential. It was for this reason that Aesir, the God of time, spoke to Lucia in a dream. Upset that vampires were destroying relics, artifacts, and monuments to Aesir, the God of time sent Lucia back in time to a day before the vampires and Darklings had destroyed almost all of humanity. That day was a little over four years ago; Lucia Adele came back in time and slew the Vampire Lord in the Temple of Blood. They proclaimed her the Heroine of Time, but it so happened that the dark mage Tarja had knowledge of a prophecy concerning the Heroine of Time, a prophecy Ludvig Kron has yet to hear firsthand.

                There was much and more to be learned about Lucia and the God of time; Ludvig has just scratched the surface. What was it like when Lucia traveled back in time? What does she remember? Can anyone travel back in time?

                Not everyone had faith in the gods; the world was messed up enough with mages, werewolves, Darklings, and wraiths, but some believe it is by no work of the divine. Ludvig has been fascinated by the gods ever since he was a little boy. It amazed him to know that every mystic event and creature was made possible by all-powerful divine beings. Wraiths, werewolves, The Entombed, Darklings, mages, and vampires were all creations of a god.

                Ludvig took a step back from his research and gazed out the window of his tower. His room in the Herningway keep overlooked Bismarck's market. It was near nightfall and commoners and nobles alike were trading for fish, bread, cloth, and more. Ludvig's quarters were too high for him to hear them but he had browsed through the market many times before in search of books to help him with his studies. He seldom came across anything he hasn't already read.

                The city's wall was also within sight. It stood about fifty feet high but it was being built higher. Out of sight, Ludvig knew, a shorter outer wall was under construction. Ever since the Darklings gained the power to go as far as Arcadia, it was only a matter of time until they could reach Bismarck. The Darklings were getting stronger with each passing day, slowly gaining strength, speed, and the ability to travel farther from Mt. Rogenal before collapsing and dying.