Materiarth Genesis: Blue Moon

Prologue

G.C. 5127
16th Day in the Month of the Hawk

Lord Ezzelin dropped his heavy blade and dropped down on his knees exhausted. He panted heavily as his lungs were desperate for air. He felt the dents on his armour pressing against his body, and the fresh scent of blood and oil filling his nostrils. The enormous and powerful guardian has been slain, its iron-covered body had vanished in a trail of blue light like fireflies after Ezzelin pulled his sword from its underbelly.

He looked around at his fallen men, their lifeless bodies scattered around the massive chamber on a carpet of blood. 50 men including him entered this realm, half of them had mysteriously withered like trees in the winter merely moments upon their arrival. The remaining half stood by him as they entered the temple, in which they were attacked by its guardian. They fought valiantly, but even with all the weapons, armours and arcane arts at their disposal, the guardian withstood it all, long enough to slaughter everyone but him.

He was not supposed to be alive, but by pure luck, he did. He was alive, because he had those men protecting him. Their broken shields were now resting beside their bloodied corpses. Lord Ezzelin punched the marble floor, cursing under his breath as tears welled up in his eyes, until he realized that his soldiers would not have wanted to see him like this. He bit his lip and then silently prayed his gratitude to God and those who have brought him this far.

Just as his eyes were starting to get heavy, a bright glow mentally rejuvenated him. Lifting his head up, Lord Ezzelin saw that the light was coming from the large statue at the far end of the chamber; the only thing that existed in this unusually enormous room besides the glowing pool of water in the centre, and perhaps the thing that the iron guardian was really protecting.

"The power ... that rivals that of the Emperor's," Lord Ezzelin muttered to himself, remembering the words said to him by the entity in his dreams. Forcing his injured legs up, he shuffled towards the statue with a limp, his left boot leaving a trail of blood as he moved forward.

Arriving in front of the pedestal housing the statue, his eyes were immediately drawn to the columns of strange letters inscribed on it. Even for a man who indulges himself with knowledge, Lord Ezzelin has never seen this written language before. The letters looked ancient, and did not seemed to have been made by any mortal race. The inscription was probably trying to tell him something, if only he could actually read it.

He looked at the armour clad marble statue, and noticed something that was out of the ordinary. The silver circular ornament in the middle of its waist, it looked like it was made from entirely different material than the rest of the statue. While everything else was giving a pearlescent glow, the ornament itself was shimmering, like real silver.

His curiosity getting the better of him, Lord Ezzelin stretched himself upwards and reach out for the statue's waist. Then, as soon as he touched the item's silver surface, a blinding light flashed before his eyes, forcing him to shield them with his arm.

The circular artefact disappeared from the statue's waist, then reappeared on Lord Ezzelin's own waist. Still dazed by the light, he could barely see what was happening. Streams of blue fire erupted out from the ornament like a swarm of headless serpents. By the time Lord Ezzelin regained his vision, it was already too late. The blue fire was already engulfing his entire body. Although he was feeling not feeling any pain, the sight alone was enough to make him panic.

He felt the fire evaporating his damaged armour, replacing it with a new armour. An armour that was now glowing bright blue. He looked at his arms and the new silver and blue gauntlets that were now covering them, before a helmet suddenly formed around his head. The completed armour then unleashed a blast of energy which engulfed the entire chamber.