The Complexity of Humanity | Prequel

Gathering Recruits | Chapter One

Dallon Weekes wasn't surprised when he was faced with yet another tragedy.

Another friend of his had passed away, or, rather, been brutally murdered. The worst part was, Dallon knew it was coming.

"Ryan, please," he had pleaded. "I know why you want to go, and I respect that. But you can't just expect them to be reasoning!"

His friend had merely flipped his blue fringe out of his eyes. "I know the risks," he said. "I know they kill people like us, but I have to go see it for myself. Maybe if I just act calm, they'll see I'm not a threat."

Dallon was unable to convince him to stay, and barely flinched when the news of his death came back to their camp. Whispers fluttered by, and the aura of sadness around his fellow wizards and witches was almost repugnant.  Disgust wretched it's way into his gut.

That kingdom was rotten. They killed every wizard or witch that stepped foot in there, no matter how they presented themselves. A wizard could step in there, words of forgiveness, honesty, and trust on their lips, and come out with a sword through their chest.

They never cared. They never even bothered to consider how the rest of them would live when the King placed the ban.

Many years ago, Litraxia had been a Utopia for the magical and the non magical. They lived in harmony, and one extremist had ruined it all, ruining the reputation of a group that had once never posed a threat. Litraxia never seemed to bother to consider that the wizards and witches whole live's depended on the Kingdom. Twenty years later, they were still scurrying away, hiding away in camps like they were disgusting creatures rather than beautiful creations.

Why did they have to take it? Why were they supposed to still plead for peace when Litraxia had shown them only terror?

Another week passed in their camp, and resolve had made it's way to Dallon. He gathered the attention of some of the wizards and witches among the group that he was close to and announced his plan.

"We should show Litraxia that they can't treat us like this," Dallon proclaimed. "We'll make them regret ever placing the ban. We'll make them all pay."

A wizard among the group, with lime green dyed hair, piped up. "And how will you manage to do that? You couldn't possibly unite all of us."

It was true. There were many wizards and witches who had practically fled to the other side of the planet, but his point was that they shouldn't have had to do that. Dallon wanted to be optimistic, but even he knew that organizing an army of his own would be difficult. "Maybe I can't," Dallon said. "But there's got to be another way. Magic's stronger than any blade."

"Yeah, right." The wizard, Awsten, sighed obnoxiously loudly. "Talk to me when you've fallen back to reality."

He was met with similar responses. All of them didn't believe it was possible. Though he'd love to spend more time swaying them onto his side, he knew he needed other followers desperately, considering he was solo at the moment. "Fine," he said. "I'm going to visit another camp, and I'm going to find other wizards and witches who believe in this. And then I'll come back to show you guys it's not fruitless."

And after that, he gathered his things and left the camp, a giddiness in him. He felt hopeful, like nothing else could ruin his plan. Dallon expected to also face some doubts even among another group, but there had to be others who believed a war was the only way. There was no way all of the wizards were completely fine with the deaths of family, friends, and lovers.

The trek over to the nearest camp only took about two days, and that had been because he was taking a slow pace and taking breaks. Truthfully, most camps were pretty close to each other, in order to make it possible for them all to band together. Camps were mainly designed for around a hundred or so, in order to protect themselves. With that in mind, Dallon entered their camp peacefully, stating that he wanted to talk to some of them. 

He was let in, and immediately his gaze was set on a small group of wizards, split off from the main group. Dallon walked over to them confidently and introduced himself. 

The other wizards introduced themselves as well, and none really stuck out to him. There were two, however, that seemed closer to each other than to the rest of the group. "How many of you have lost someone dear to you because of the kingdom Litraxia?" he questioned.

To be honest, it was a pretty stupid question. Every wizard's hand shot up, with curiosity burning in their eyes. "Okay," he said. "And how many of you wish you could do something about that?"

All of their hands were still raised. "What if I said it was possible?" he began, explaining his plan. "We could make an army, and show them what we got. We could take that kingdom over for what they've done to us!"

Murmurs ran through the group, and hands were dropped, as they were no longer following his thoughts. "You may leave if you don't believe in it," Dallon said, "but if you do, stick around and talk to me."

Five out of the seven wizards ended up leaving, with the two wizards that he had noticed from before still  remaining. Dallon smirked, glad he was able to pick that out earlier. "So, you two want to join me?"

"Of course," the first wizard, Pete, replied, as if it were a stupid question. "I want to see that kingdom in ruins."

The other wizard, Patrick, didn't seem as hostile. "I think the people are innocent," he responded. "I think it's just their king that's rotten."

"To do this," Dallon said, "innocents will have to die. Would you be fine with that?"

Patrick seemed conflicted for a moment. But his expression cleared, and he declared, "As long as that king's forced off his throne, I don't mind."

Through the rest of the night, Dallon became more familiar with his two new friends and followers in his movement. He could care less if they were even talented with magic, but the two were quick to reassure him of their worth.

"I do mainly elemental magic," Pete informed, lazily lifting his palm and conjuring a small flame. "Fire, ice, thunder, you name it."

"I see," Dallon nodded. It was practical, and he knew many wizards who's focus was the elementals.  He turned to Patrick, "And you?"

Patrick was flustered under the pressure. "Um, I use more of the emotions," he explained carefully. "Some general attacking spells and healing as well."

Pete nudged him. "Show him that thing you can do," he said, detecting Dallon's hesitance. Patrick looked confused for a moment, before he added, "That thing you did, the first time we met?"

"Oh," Patrick replied, then turned to Dallon. His eyes flashed gold as he performed magic, and it was subtle at first. But Dallon felt his anxieties seem to lessen, as well as his doubts. They were still there, but only fractionally remained. It was without his own doing. His jaw dropped.

Pete appeared smug. "Pretty cool, isn't it?"

"How does that even work?" Dallon questioned Patrick curiously. He'd never really encountered magic like that before.

"It's hard to explain," the blond wizard responded shyly. "It's kind of like, opening up someone's mind and searching within it, and just... taking some emotion out. Sometimes, if I take out too much, I have to put it somewhere, and that typically ends up within myself."

Dallon's mind was swimming with the possibilities. "Could you place it in other enemies, theoretically?"

"Well, I guess so," Patrick reasoned. He seemed happy by Dallon's interest.

Meanwhile, Dallon was remembering how the emotions already originally existed within him. "Could you add anything, even if it doesn't already exist within them?"

"I don't really know," Patrick sheepishly smiled. "I don't normally use it against people, but in theory... I think I could."

Dallon nodded to himself. The two wizards he recruited seemed to be more useful than he had thought. "Well, we'll have to train before we actually go into war anyway," he mused. "Especially when we recruit the entire army."

Both Patrick and Pete agreed to this. 

With those two by his side, Dallon felt more confident in his abilities to take revenge against the kingdom that had wronged him and his people.