Shattered

Prologue

Once upon a time...

There lived a great King and a great Queen. They ruled together in a land of peace and acceptance.

The ancient Kingdom of Tretni.

It was peaceful and prosperous with not an ounce of hate in its people. And so it was for 97 happy years.

But nearing the Festival of Life, a grand celebration in Tretni, the Queen fell ill. It was not long after that she passed away.

The King, driven mad by his greif, ran far away into the Wild leaving a grieving, broken people behind. They were leaderless and confused.

A struggle ensued for the Crown and it seemed as though all the land was at each other's throats for it.

In the end, the Kingdom of Tretni split in two: the Meadow, run by the faes, and the Wood, controlled by the elves.

But the splitting of Tretni was not enough to calm the furious creatures and wars broke out between them. To keep the peace, a crystal was forged. A crystal that would form a powerful force between the Meadow and Wood.

And so it was placed in a tower to seperate the two races for all eternity.

And, as the Barrier stood for years, the hearts of the faes and the elves grew riddled with hate.

281 years later. . .

A thief snuck into the tower at the darkest hour of night. He had one goal in mind: get the crystal. He crept past the two faes at the entrance and past the elves at the base of the stairs. Like a shadow, he was in and out with the magic item. Oh, how he loved it! The feeling of power thrumming in his hands. But, just as he was about to get away, a fae noticed him and sounded the alarm.

"A thief in the tower! A thief in the tower!" The fae screamed. The elves darted down the hall to the entrance just as the thief leaped off the edge of the cliff upon which the tower sat. All four beings ran to the edge and peered into the shadows into which the thief had plunged. No trace of him. No trace of the crystal. They stood in silence. They had failed. The crystal was gone. Just as they were about to leave they heard a sound. A slight  clink.

And laughter.

Loud, insane laughter. They knew, somehow, they had done worse than failed. They had let someone destroy the Barrier.