Everlast: Story of the Horizon

Chapter One

A tight-knit community. That's the kind of place my little village was. It had a group of about one hundred or so people who live contentedly in our mountainside home. A peaceful place, really. It always had been. At least, for as long as I could remember, but that was all it was. Nothing really changed. Everyone went about doing their jobs, living their lives like that was all they wanted.

How would you feel if all you could do was your job, the only thing you could see was inside your village, and the only experiences you could ever have would be the same as everyone else?

It was a numbing thought.

We all basically did the same things as each other, day in and day out. Sure, there were different jobs to chose from like farmer, hunter, patrol guard and so on. It wasn't like we had no choices, but I wanted to do something different. Go somewhere new. See things no one here thought existed outside of our barriers.

We'd always known there was more to our world than this. Years ago we had travelers passing through. You know, before our home was surrounded by a magic veil that concealed us from outsiders and anything new and exciting they might bring with them.

For whatever reason, the village elders had deemed it unsafe to remain open to the rest of the world and sealed us away behind our barriers.

I had a bad habit of wanting to leave the village, wandering off anytime my Grandmother took her eyes off of me and heading in whatever direction I so pleased. Let me tell you, she didn't appreciate it and neither did the other villagers.

When I was six years old I somehow managed to make my way to the nearby gorge where Grandma Esmie had a near heart attack trying to pull me back up from the ledge I'd climbed my way down to. I vaguely remember her scolding me for days on end about doing something so dangerous.

Most of the people in the village called me a troublemaker or an adventure seeker. They were right, of course.

Everyone else seemed content with their lives and wanted nothing more than what they already had. That kind of thought process and complacency was beyond me. We lived in this village hidden in the mountains, magic power in more than half of our people and they refused to go any further than our little forest encircled home.

During lessons, children had it drilled into their minds that everything outside of the village was dangerous. Not all of us believed it, though. Naturally, there were some who felt adventure wasn't the end of the world. Those of us who thought the same way became friends pretty quickly. We would get together and talk about what it might be like to take a journey through the forest and discover other lands. We even sorted out who would be in charge of what when we finally made our move.

I longed for the day we could travel on our own and find out what there was to know. Unfortunately, that was against the village law. Our people were meant to stay put, to stay safe and stay hidden. It was depressing at first, but I'd decided that wasn't going to stop me. I would find a way to prove there was nothing to be afraid of, but of course, that would have to wait. It was training time.

"Jay! Pay attention!"

The voice snapped me out of my thoughts when I heard my name called.

Looking up, there stood my mentor, Master Gaian.

Do you remember how I mentioned people with magic? That includes me. The aforementioned Master is my teacher. He'd started teaching me about magic when I was fifteen after exhibiting signs of possessing it and then attempted to help me learn how to use it about four years ago.