Descendants: War Is Brewing

Chapter 1

(The book can be purchase on Amazon in two format. Ebook and Paperback)

[I decided to republish these 4 chapters, so that a difference can be made as to why a second edit was necessary]

Long, long ago, there was a distant land, inhabited only by all sorts of beasts. Mankind in an effort to conquer all, came upon such land and sought to conquer it. However, such tasks proved too great to accomplish. This was because the creatures that ruled over all that roamed the land were these humongous beasts, casting shadows over all that was beneath them. Each in their own rights ruled over a type of beast, but that was not all there was to them. They were also talking beasts, given the intellect of mankind by the one known to a very few as The Old One. She was a powerful witch who gained her powers through the depth of darkness. In her centuries, she sought to rule over mankind and bring about an era of chaos to destroy that which was good. And throughout the centuries, she has always been met with resistance. A certain king and his descendants waged war against her and her kind, till all that was left for her to do was to seek refuge in that unknown land.

That unknown land was infested with mighty beasts mentioned. To tame them, she used her magic to bring them into submission. Those she could not bring to submission, she killed. Breeding them for war, she made them rulers over the creatures of darkness she created. She didnt stop there, but went as far as giving the mighty beasts, twelve in total, the intelligence of man. Unfortunately, that was her biggest mistake. Although she taught them human intelligence and though under her control, they began to think for themselves, knowing right from wrong. In order to retain sovereignty over them, she twisted their truth and nature, making them believe that all she said was the truth.

Once the descendants, seven in all, discovered her viciousness, they sought to put a final end to it. The bells of war sounded and a huge army gathered for an all-out battle. Mankind and beasts died on that day. In an effort to kill the descendants, she sent her mighty beasts after them. However, their flames could not hurt them, for they stood for truth and righteousness. Seeing this, the beasts sought to attack them physically, but that proved difficult and impossible. For some reason, they couldnt view the descendants as enemies any longer, and Alshbar, the leader of the mighty beasts called for a temporary ceasefire. Upon realizing the truth about the one they followed and obeyed, they sought to put an end to her.

As a reprisal for disobeying her commands, she ordered her creations to attack the mighty beasts, which, however, yielded no positive result. And in order to run away from her corrupted beasts, she cast her strongest magic, thereby creating a forest where only darkness reigned which both she and her creation fled to and none that wasnt evil by nature could enter. In an attempt to never lose sight of her again, the descendants with the help of the mighty beasts created a barrier over the witchs forest so that nothing could ever leave. While the building of the barrier was ongoing, one of the beasts became power hungry and took sides with the witch. In an attempt to stop the process, it attacked its kin. Being stronger than all the other seven beasts combined, a great battle ensued. Soon, the descendants joined the battle in order to keep mankind from knowing about such evil. By the strength of their righteousness they were able to overcome the evil beast and with the help of the seven beasts, it was banished into the forest. The barrier was completed and evil was contained.

Knowing that they were brought back to life by magic, they knew not how long they would live. With the knowledge that the witch has lived for centuries, they knew not how many more centuries she would live, so they had to devise a counter plan. In order to ensure that no evil was let out of the barrier, each beast chose a descendant upon which to brand them with the key to the barrier. Each brand to the form of the kingdoms emblem so that, the safekeeping of the barrier no longer lies in the hands of beasts but in the hands of man. Six of the descendants decided to go back to their own land and with each one a beast in the event that they should gather again. While the seventh descendant stayed in the land, serving as guardian with Alshbar.

And as with human civilization, war broke out, leaders were overthrown and others killed. The same happened in the kingdom of the seventh. The land was split into two, and the descendants kingdom became smaller. But the goal was the same. The story was passed down from generation to generations. With each royal birth, a child was born with the royal crest so as to ensure a continuing legacy of guardians. When the legacy of a descendant was no more, the beasts went back home, awaiting their death or that of the witch if she ever managed to get out.

As the centuries rolled by, the mighty beasts made their presence less known. Stories were told of them, but very rare was a sighting until now.

______________________PAST______________________

Its the dragon sir, it has stopped resisting.

Ill be on my way. Prepare my armor and horse.

Your horse sir?

Yes, if it pretends to be weak, it may be planning on flying away. If that happens, I dont want it to be shot down by arrows. We shall chase it down.

With all due respect sir, our arrows wont be able to even scratch it, very well sir.

The king impatiently bursts through the tents door to see his half captured prize. Immediately, his armor was brought to him and his horse was made ready just in case there was a need. His heart beat louder than the sound of his heavy armored feet against the ground; this was the day and moment where destiny would decide his fate. If he fell, then his brother would help the queen in the process of ruling the kingdom.

No, there wont be any death, nor shall I die today. Ive come so far and so close to capturing this dragon. Success is my only hope. What destiny reserves for me, shall have to wait another day. The king thought to himself.

Loosen the chains! the king ordered upon getting close to the beast.

The sound of metal chains hitting against each other sounded like coins falling in a pot of coins, which reminded the king of his flourishing kingdom. It isnt bad for the king to think of his kingdom and its wealth but for some reason that only reminded him that death was near at hand.

As he got closer to the dragon, his heartbeat increased more and more. Not even the noises around him were overwhelming enough to serve as distractions and peace. Now, being five horse lengths away from the dragon, he could see the beast clearly. It was ferocious, ugly and yet magnificent. However, it was calm, almost as if unconscious.

Tighten the chains, its a tr! the king started to yell. But alas, it was too late. He never got a chance to utter a full command when the dragon rose up with such speed that the wind of its flight threw him to the ground. In a blink of an eye, a blazing flame came from the beasts mouth, setting ablaze all that was near: trees, grass, wagons, and soldiers. Scared, stupefied and yet too fascinated, the king was unable to realize what the dragon was doing until it was too late.

The king was totally surrounded by blazing flames. The dragon had planned everything from the start. Magnificent, the king said in awe. No help, no escape, no hope was its plan. The only breathing, living being encircled within the fire was the king and the beast. Almost as if the dragon wanted to face the king alone without any interference. With the surrounding blazing fire, the soldiers will have to evacuate. Who can blame them, thought the king.

Despite his circumstance, the king refused to give into hopelessness. He had no plan of escape nor was he counting on help. Remembering he held in his possession three stones that could help him defeat the beast, he stood up. Unbeknown to the king, the stones served a different purpose. They neither gave strength, nor magic to par with the beast.

Picking up his sword with his right hand and his shield with the left, he charged at his foe. Sword ready in hand to slash at the throat. No dragon would simply await a death blow. It dodged the kings attack and immediately showed no mercy in roasting the king with its full fury of spitting fire.

Is this the end? Is this really my end? I should have listened to my queen. Was I really insane to think I could control such a beast? These were his thoughts, as the flames burst forth toward him. There was no way he could run or even try to run. As the flames got closer, the king was slowly falling to his knees, awaiting the flames that would cremate him.