The Ancient World Order

Prologue

The bright moonlight illuminated the path for the three merchants in their endeavour to find riches in the most treacherous of lands. They were riding in a search for Mardelia stones, at the intersection of the Scorched Lands and the Dark Forest. During the full moon, Mardelia was the only thing shining in the dark, a real treasure for those experienced enough to find them.

There had been reports of outlaws lurking in the edge of the forest, attacking travellers at will. Being on the safe side, Lord Dan of Morrowvale had given them an escort of three fresh recruits and a veteran, named Sean, to lead them.

"There are no more wars, they need the experience." Lord Dan had told them.

Fred had been a miner since he was a child. He had this instinct, like a compass pointing him to the direction of rare valuables. He had been around the world and seen everything. But nothing he previously encountered out there had been as dead as the Scorched Lands.

John and Harry, two poor youngsters, had by the promise of finding riches, followed Fred around the last years. They felt worried as they tried to ease their horses, which suddenly resisted their commands. As they were now deep into the Scorched Lands, an uneasy feeling settled in their stomach as they ventured further.

"Can't we head back to the village, the horses are acting scared." Harry urged as the darkness was creeping in around them. Their escorts seemed to agree. "They are just stones, they won't move anywhere. We can go back tomorrow!"

"Didn't you learn anything?" Fred asked with an irritated tone. "Mardelia reflects moonlight. There is no better way of spotting them than on a night of a full moon."

"But we have seen none so far. It will not be any use to us if our horses protest more than they already do. They might kick us and run away." John pointed out to Fred, who pretended that he didn't hear it.

"The reason Mardelia is so rare, is that nobody ventures out to places like this and searches for them." Fred lectured his apprentices. "That is why you will be rich, you go to places that nobody else does, to get things nobody else has. Supply and demand my friends. That is the principle of trade. In the area between the Dark Forest and the Scorched Lands is the only place left you can find these gemstones... The rich lords will pay us a fortune to get their hands on Mardelia. I have told you that hundreds of times!"

"Or just murder us for them." Harry mumbled.

Fred burst into laughter. "Typical, here I come and serve valuable gems on a silver plate, and yet you refuse to take them. No wonder that you are poor."

Sean, the veteran in charge, ordered a halt. He rode ahead of Fred and cut his path, staring him right into his eyes. "Do not dismiss their words with ease! I recognise fear when I see it. You are their leader! They look upon you to make the right decisions! If they have doubts, straighten them out instead of laugh at them!"

Fred did not move, he was used to handling grunts as he called them. All his clients had them and Sean was nothing different.

"I will give your lord a fair share of our findings!" Fred assured Sean. "However, I can promise you. He will not be pleased to hear that his men interfere with my business and cut his shares."

Sean just shook his shoulders. "My lord is aware of my position, these are grim lands we are travelling through. Perhaps it's wiser to stop for the night. If you only knew what horrors lurking these lands, you would have thought twice before coming here."

"Yes, I have heard about witches, demons and evil spirits roaming these lands."

Sean said nothing, he did not share Fred's humour; he had grown up in the area next to the Scorched Lands. Besides, nothing was living here, it was devoid of all sorts of life. Of those who ventured out into the Scorched Lands, few returned. Those who did, never spoke about what they saw. Whatever it was, it was soul killing. People dismissed it as madness, paranoia or just fairy tales, but Sean knew there was something more. He had found a man floating in the molten river at the edges of the Dark Forest. The body was naked; the feet covered in burnt coagulated blood. His eyes were wide open with scratch marks in them. His dead face wore a frozen scream of fear. That sight had forever changed Sean's life. It was the moment he had witnessed raw fear. He would never have come back here, if it wasn't because of the express command of his Lord.