Elementalist: The beginning

Prelude: Tragic beginnings Part 1

Year:  X190

They came without word or warning; clothes pitch black and unmarked, with eyes that burned with unjustified fury. Aaron, the young leader of the army had watched them, staring helplessly from the western watch tower as they tore down their once proud walls and swarmed and raided the city of Mese like the deadliest of insects; fearful and condemning. His fists flattened against the stone wall in blind rage at the sight. 

As if receiving its signal; a young black raven glided down from the wooden boarding of the ceiling and came to rest on the man's left shoulder.

"Gather the wolves!" The commander hissed urgently through clenched teeth and the bird let loose a shriek, rustling it's feathers excitedly at the chance to stretch its wings. With what looked like a nod to it's master, the raven descended out of the open window, searing over the roofs of houses and hills before making a sharp turn in midair. It shot up straight into the cold night sky in an array of circles and graceful loops before elegantly plunging down towards the earth at deafening speeds. Just before it could hit the roof of a vegetable stand, it changed direction again and began it's dance from the beginning. To most it would be a sight to behold; to watch a raven in such a display of grace and agility, but for those with the knowledge, it would mean one thing and one thing only.

War.

Cries of howls soon filled the skies. 

Descending the uneven stone staircase, Aaron could already feel the traitorous cold grip of fear slowly start to close around him. With every step he took closer to the bottom of the tower, the beating of his heart seemed to rage harder against his ribcage. 'It is the greatest honour to die for your land on the battlefield,' he began to repeat to himself; the aphorism that the Mese soldiers lived by, but it did nothing to ease the knot developing in his stomach nor still the quake of his lean fingers that brushed against his sides as he moved.

He reached the entrance and let loose a shaky breath as he acknowledged the older men gathered before the tower. They were all dressed in the traditional Mese uniform; loose black trousers and thick, green, long sleeved t-shirts with metal netted vests above them. Each man had dark grey fur decorating their uniforms one way or another; be it as a head band or belt, but all had the rich fur sown to the brim of their boots. Grim determination shone from their eyes. 'No, not men...Warriors.' He ran a hand through his short ginger hair, calmed by their presence.

There was an echoing crow from above and his eyes reflexively rose to follow the decent of the black raven to the earth. It was mere meters from his side before it twirled in mid air and in an unraveling of black feathers, it started to change; wing and talon stretching and bending to become lean, pale arms attached to callous hands. Long legs sprouted from the rear covered in loose black trousers, tucked into furred leather boots. The feathers dissipated revealing a head of long white hair framing a narrow sharp face, completing the change. The form landed on the ground on one knee just as his cloak fell to wrap around him.

"They've arrived captain and the rest are on their way," the shifter said in a calm monotonous voice, raising his head to stare up at his commander with the darkest of pupils. The commander hardly batted an eye-used to the sudden transformations of his long time friend and sent him a nod of gratitude. His was a dying species; the race to have suffered the most losses over the years out of the five ancients. He was of a rare kind; not a lot of the remaining shape-shifters had it in them to hold their forms for a long period of time, but he was able to do it effortlessly. The shifters lived around Mese because they preferred the colder weather. Only a few gave their loyalty to the city, the others choosing to live in the wild in small packs, unaccustomed to following orders.

"That is all Nell," Aaron stated and the white haired teenager rose to his feet with an elegance that seemed to follow him in all forms and moved to stand by his side. It was then with no other distractions that the captain turned his hazel eyes onto his men; they hardened steadily seeing the confidence draining away from their faces at the distant sound of the enemies marching.