Chronicles of the Kingdom

Kedemar : The Journalist

Yes, it is true.

I used to be an admirer of Cylor.

He worked for the king. I worked for the king.

Since I was a young boy, my passion was to write, I kept a daily journal since I was six years old, and I enjoyed studying and reading.

Like most men, I fell in love and began a family. I had two sons and a daughter, and I loved them more than the world.

I wrote about Cylor's adventures fervently. I followed his work carefully, and listened to his tales critically, for I knew his work was great. He was a beacon for Layrucia, I was sure of it. And his life would go down in our history as one of the greatest men of all time.

I wish I had been wrong.

On that fateful endeavor, where he was gone for weeks... he brought man's worst nightmare out of the shadows.

The Crystal of Power.

It started a war that never would have happened without its influence.

I watched as my two sons and my wife went to fight that war.

I never saw them again.

I clung to my daughter with a broken heart. After I grieved, I vowed to help bring an end to the Crystal of Power - and its wielder.

Cylor was my friend.

Now he was my enemy.

I was not a man of war, but I was a man of knowledge. I used it to my advantage. I removed myself from my service to Varus, and traveled to Cylor's castle in the North. I was greeted not by a past friend, but a monster.

I tricked him - yes, I tricked him into thinking I supported him and his schemes. I told him I was interested in the study of the Crystals. In his greed, and his ignorance, he allowed me to commence study on it, so long as I did not keep any notes for myself.

I agreed.

But of course, I disobeyed.

The Crystal of Power was fascinating. I spent years studying its nature and behavior. It was powerful; so powerful it had the potential to wipe out entire nations. but I knew it was incomplete. I carefully recorded everything I learned. I taught Cylor about the Crystal, and gave him my notes. but I kept a copy for myself, in my private journal.

Then, one fate turning day, Cylor came to his fortress with the Crystal of Fire. A sad day, because it meant the wielders would never attain it. But that was not the worst of him finding this Crystal.

Cylor, that wild monster of a man, decided he would make me study the Crystal of Fire.

He took my freedom away and just like that, I went from Cylor's teacher to his slave.

For weeks, the king of the North kept me awake for days at a time, studying the Crystal.

How do I truly add its power to mine? he would demand. What are its capabilities together? Show me. Show me, Kedemar, you slave!

Exhausted, beaten, and mentally almost dead, I eventually found the key to unlocking the potential of the Crystals. I cannot reveal the secret in these pages, but I was forced to tell Cylor.

For he was my master, and I his slave.

I knew of his intentions for the power of fire. He had often spoke of the great, terrifying beasts that haunt the sky. I begged him not to create with the Crystals.

But he didn't listen.

He threw me in the dungeon and swore I'd never see the light of day again.

The reason I do not kill you, he seethed, is I may need your pathetic genius someday.

Then he was gone.

But I escaped.

With the help of the wielders. They snuck into Cylor's fortress and brought me back to Layrucia.

The hid me on an island. To repay them, I gave them my notes on the Crystals. Impressed, they brought me the Crystals of Lightning, Earth, and Ice. I stayed on that small island, studying the Crystals and even the nature of the wielders, I found certain character traits in each that were only present in them because of the Crystals, as if they had helped determine the genetic code of the wielder.

I spent the rest of my life on that island, studying and taking notes that all went into that journal of mine. I was only allowed to see my daughter once a year. I never saw my son - in - law.

It was a lonely life.

But it was a necessary life.

It was necessary to bring an end to Cylor's tyranny.

That monster.

Cylor had been my friend.

Now he was my enemy.