Prolog
Prologue
The dark night was like a cloak over the lands of Galdor. No light was seen tonight - neither in the skies nor in the villages around the mighty black castle. Such nights weren’t rare in the demonic country, but tonight it felt different… it was as if all life had left the land. A lonely person stood on the roof of one of the castle-towers, searching through the landscape for a sign of life. The blue mark on his forehead gleamed weakly in the darkness. Silver strains of hair fell around his face, covering the pointed ears. The man leaned forward as a small sounds reached his keen ears and he climbed back into the tower. As he just entered the room through a window again, the door to the chamber went open.
A young lady stepped in. She wore the dress of a maid and bowed slightly before shooting a little fireball at one of the torches at the wall to lighten the room. The flickering fire revealed the true shape of the young man. A black tunic with silver marks covered his slim body and his crimson-red eyes gleamed golden in the firelight. The prince of Galdor in his full glory watched the maiden as she stepped in the room slowly.
“My apologizes, Prince Zeyir… but the messenger has just returned.” The young lady made a shy gesture and stepped aside to not stand in the way.
“Thanks, Minerva. You are allowed to go to bed now.” Zeyir replied and hurried down the tower towards the Great Hall. ‘Was about time he came!’ He growled in his mind and stopped all of a sudden. He had reached the hallway to his father’s chambers… Slowly he tried to sneak past the giant wooden door. No one was supposed to know what he was doing!
“Ah, Prince Zeyir! You are still awake?” A cold chill ran down the prince’s back as a servant with long black hair called him from one of the doorframes on the opposite side of the hallway. Suddenly the giant door next to Zeyir swung open. The young demon had the feeling as if his heart was about to stop beating. His father stood in the doorframe, eyeing him curiously. He still wore his black armor and the red cloak that represented his high status. The grey hair hang wildly over his face. Three scars that made their way over the left eye of the king and the small beard gave him a majestic aura that deserved respect.
“Why are you still awake, Zeyir?” The king asked with a cold voice.
“Uhm, Lord father, I…” He hesitated. “I was hungry and wanted to get something to eat!” With a face-expression that screamed out that it was all a lie, Zeyir turned and wanted to walk on, but a hand on his shoulder forced him to stay.
“Don’t call me Lord father… you always call me this if you hatch up for something!” The golden eyes bored into the young man like little arrows. “I hope it has nothing to do with the rumors about the Spirits of Midgard.” The tone in his voice became sharper with every second.
“Not at all, Kyrin! I swear by Mother’s grave!” Zeyir slapped himself mentally for abusing his mothers memorial so easily, but what he was about to do was just too important to be canceled by his father.
“So then tell me what could be so important that you have to sneak around in the castle past midnight?” The pressure of King Kyrin’s hand on Zeyir’s shoulder became stronger and stronger. The servant that had greeted Zeyir before slowly sneaked past the two members of Galdor’s royal family to not interrupt their fight.
“I…” Cold sweat ran down the prince’s neck. He couldn’t think of anything that might apology the fact that he was still up at this late hour. He went through different ideas in his mind that might save his neck now, but they were either not good enough or he had used them in the past already… Maybe if he could… or better… no, then maybe… that’s not good… the thoughts spun around in his head like carousel…
“I’m waiting.” Kyrin stated flatly.
“I wanted to meet with… a girl…?” Zeyir felt how his mouth turned dry. But all in all it was a great excuse! After all, his father had told him multiple times that he should start dating with girls! So maybe he was even pleased with him if he used a girl as excuse for his manners. “Midnight-Date, you know?” He relaxed a little as he saw a small smile appear behind the beard of the king.
“I see. But I hope you don’t only play with her…”
‘Oh great… he is not going to give me relation-advice now, is he!?’ Zeyir stared at his father in frustration and shook his head unbelieving. “I think I can handle that on my own. I’m old enough to make my own decisions and to keep such things private. And with private I mean private for me alone!” He snapped before turning around and running down the hallway towards the entrance hall of the castle.
King Kyrin only watched his son fading into the darkness before returning into his room and continuing with his duties.
Down in the Great Hall, Zeyir looked around nervously. “Will, where are you…?” He whispered into the dark while keeping an eye on the different doors that lead towards the Hall. He prayed that the servants and maids were all in bed already… He had ordered the patrol that was responsible for the hall to go on patrol at the courtyard yesterday, so beside him and the missing messenger, no one should be around. The prince concentrated all his senses to feel if someone was spying on him or eavesdropping… but no one was here! Where was that idiot!? He said he was going to await me in the Great Hall! Zeyir leaned against one of the many pillars. Two small white crystals gleamed at the main-door of the hall and dived the giant pillars in a surreal light. The hall really deserved its name… The roof was not even visible anymore in the weak light. Only small little sparkles seemed to dance in an indefinable height but Zeyir knew that during daytime, these sparkles were white crystals, placed on a dark-blue roof that represented the night-sky. The crystals didn’t sparkle like stars during, but it was still enough to be seen. Four rows of giant silver-white pillars separated the different parts of the hall from each other. Ornamentations made of pearls and diamonds adorned their sides. Sumptuousness that Zeyir disliked… Of course it looked magnificent for visitors of the castle, but living here day in day out it became annoying to the young prince…
Suddenly, Zeyir felt that someone was eyeing him from behind. He knew this aura…
“It was about time you made your appearance! I’m still the prince of this country, so never dare letting me wait again!” Zeyir turned around to face the dark figure. A grin appeared on his face as his messenger stepped out of the shadow of a pillar to show himself.
“I will never manage to sneak behind you, huh, Zey?” The man with dark blue hair smiled warmly and put away a long spear he was using as weapon. He placed it on a belt that hang from his formal blue tunic and patted over his dusted white trousers. “Man, this was a long ride… next time I use one of the wyverns instead of a horse…” He complained over-sensitive.
“It was up to you, Will… Now tell me. Are the rumors true?” Zeyir’s face-expression changed. His eyes mused his favorite guardian with a worried look.
“They seem to be true… Midgard’s Great Spirits have disappeared a long time ago.” Will nodded towards the dining-room. “Can we talk while I get something to eat? I really need something for my stomach now…” He sighed and walked towards the room, followed by Zeyir.
Will mumbled on a piece of cake while searching through his packs for a piece of paper and a pen. “dothe eid spwits havnd iusd difabbead a few weegs ago…”
“Could you please swallow down first before talking? This is disgusting…” Zeyir replied flatly and shot Will a glare that promised death and suffering if he dared showering him with crumbs again…
“Sorry. Anyway, what I wanted to say was that those eight spirits haven’t disappeared a few weeks ago as the rumors said. In fact they are gone for decades by now! The last remaining reports that confirm the appearance of one of the 8 Great ones was over 80 years ago!” Will paused and looked at his friend’s confused face. “You… know about Midgard’s Spirits, right?”
“A… little…” Zeyir said while trying to remember what that old witch that had taught him years ago had always tried to explain to him.
“Okay, there are three worlds, Asgard the godly world, Midgard the middle world and Utgard, the world of demons, so it is our—“
“I know that!” Zeyir snapped, blushing slightly. “I just don’t know about that Middle-world-things spirits!” With an annoyed glare he leaned back in his chair.
“The source of life on Midgard is Mana and it is provided by the 8 Great Spirits of Midgard. Each Spirit represents one element. Darkness, light, earth, wind, fire, water, wood and metal!” Will paused and waited for a sign of Zeyir that he was following. “Now these spirits have disappeared and can’t provide the world with Mana anymore. It will wither away. Midgard once was the battlefield of Asgard and Utgard and both sides, demons and gods know that whoever manages to fully conquer Midgard will win the war! Our worlds haven’t fought since over thousands of years now due to the armistice treaty but the death or the disappearing of these spirits will cause fights to appear again!” Will hesitated. He took another bite from his piece of cake and looked around in the room to make sure no one else beside them was here, though he knew that Zeyir already controlled this the whole time with his senses. “Anyway… there are rumors that the Gods of Asgard sealed the Spirits away. So it might be a tactical strike against our world!” Will leaned forward to whisper into the prince’s ear. “They say the time of a new Eternal War has come.”
Lying in his bed, Zeyir stared at the roof, thinking about what Will had just told him. So he was right… the world had started to change… the little sparkling stars of Midgard that had symbolized its life over all the years started disappearing. Why haven’t he noticed it before!? He loved gazing at the stars… Legends of Midgard said that those stars were the servants of the Great Spirit of Light… his old teacher had told him this… wait…
“Of course! Yamura-Sensei!” Zeyir jumped out of his bed and packed a small bag. He looked around. For a journey he needed some replies and his favorite weapon… Zeyir looked at his hand and concentrated for a second. Flames formed around his fingers and a golden sword with crimson blade appeared in the air before him. “Good.” The sword disappeared again and he hopped up from the ground. He packed in some of the food that he was always hiding under his bed and a bottle with water. What he needed now was a matching set of cloths… not the whole royal stuff he had to wear all the time here… just some regular every day cloths! The prince looked around… his father hated it when he wore such things, so he didn’t have any custom-cloths in his chambers… but when he went to town with Will he always used the cloths he was hiding behind a bush in the courtyard.
Slowly Zeyir opened the door. His chambers were much closer to the exit than the tower he was in before, but he still had to pass his father’s room and the knight-guild… If Will was still awake he would be in there for sure!
The young demon-prince gulped and started to walk down the corridor. He didn’t want Will to come with him here… it was his quest alone!
It was more like a miracle to him… but he had managed to come down to the Great Hall without being spotted! Zeyir slowly opened a window to the courtyard and looked around. Two guards were patrolling the entrance-door. About a half dozen of guards was patrolling around the garden-area. But the bushes were the best spots to sneak through the courtyard and he needed his cloths anyway… So Zeyir hopped out of the window, landing silent like a cat on the soft grass. He used some of his demonic magic to fuse with the shadows that were covering the whole area at this time of day. Slowly he sneaked past two guards that were talking about the latest results of the knight-games that were held in town right now… They didn’t even try to guard the garden… Zeyir only shook his head, grinning while walking towards the bushes behind which his secret cloths were lying.
“There you are…” He slowly pulled out the bag and took a look inside to make sure his cloths were alright… in it there was a fir-green vest, black trousers with a silver belt and a black halter top. Turning towards the wall, he put some branches of a tree aside and moved his hand over the stone-wall… “Where are the hidden ones!?…” Zeyir hissed in frustration while searching for the right stones. Finally he found a stone that moved with a little pressure of his hand. “Finally…” He pressed another couple of stones and it formed a small ladder to climb up on.
On the other side of the wall was a way that led towards town and Zeyir was just about to walk towards town as…
“Excuse me, Sir? What are you doing here by the castle-walls?” A guard walked towards him. Zeyir’s heart seemed to beat faster now. He was still standing in the shadows and so the guard wasn’t able to figure out who he was… but if he came close enough he would know for sure!
Zeyir turned around and started running like mad towards the houses of town. The guard ran after him and a couple of other guards followed them as well. Zeyir hoped to be able to hide in one of the small streets of the town…
After a few minutes of running through the alleys, he couldn’t hear the guards anymore. The sound of metal clinging against other metal was gone…
Zeyir sighed and sat down behind a few crates to change his cloths. He put on the black trousers and fixed the silver belt and a few little chains. After finishing dressing up, he hopped up and walked towards the marketplace. The town was like dead… no one was out and even the pubs were closed already. Yet it was too early for the shops to prepare their opening. A cold breeze blew through the empty streets and sand from the streets danced in little dust-clouds around the feet of the demon-prince.
After a few steps Zeyir finally reached his destination: The Dragon-Port.
He looked around. It still was closed, but he didn’t care. With a jump he crossed the wall and landed on the other side of the entrance gate. Slowly he moved towards the stables. Every sort of dragons slept in the stables… from small forest-dragons for one person to fly on up to the giant Wind-dragons that carried whole passenger-ships to other countries. Zeyir stopped on one of the stables that had a silver sign on them. It was the sign of the royal family of Galdor: A pentagram with a circle and a yin-yang sign in the center.
With a smile Zeyir touched the silver plaque and looked over the door into the darkness of the stables. A pair of poison-green eyes stared back on him and a hiss ran through the silent air.
“Sh… it’s alright.” He opened the door and stepped in. A creature with black scales appeared in the shadows. It had a long neck and blood-red fangs. The dragon’s wings were crimson as well while the belly had giant orange scales that covered the soft parts like armor. A black leather-saddle hang on it’s back – the royal emblem attached on the knob. “Hope you slept well, Korar. I need you to carry me to Yamura.” Zeyir patted his dragon’s head and hopped on the saddle. They moved outside slowly to not awake the other dragons… He feared they were going to make a tumult.
On the plaza of the dragon port they stopped. The sun slowly started to go down over Midgard and now sent its rays of light towards the demon world. A small roar of Korar told Zeyir that his dragon was ready for take-off. “Okay, you know where we are headed!”
Spreading his wings, Korar pressed himself off the ground and flew up into the skies of Galdor.
“You soon will be the king of this land, so don’t wait for an old demon to allow you to enter her house.” The rough voice of an old demon-witch rang through the air. Her grey-silver hair hang in wild strains down her head while framing her face perfectly. Despite the creases on her face and the freckled skin she still looked rather vital.
Zeyir stepped into the old wooden hood of his former teacher and closed the door behind him. His hair was rather wild due to the flight with Korar to the outer skirts of Galdor to the hood of Yamura. His dragon was waiting outside for his return while enjoying a mouse that had the misfortune to pass it’s way…
“I guess you are here due to the rumors spread lately?” Yamura sat down on a small old oak table and placed a bowl on it that was filled with strange items like bones, shaped stones and crystals…
“I fear those are not only rumors.” Zeyir replied flatly and sat on the chair on the opposite side of the table. “My spies found out a lot of facts about the missing of the Great Spirits. They have been gone for quite a while now. What does this mean for Utgard and Asgard?”
“Zeyir… you know the answer already, don’t you?” Yamura smiled weakly and threw smashed the bowl on the table. The small items fell on the wooden surface. The long tin fingers of the demon-witch moved over the items as if she was reading a book. “A new war will burn the lands to ashes. Midgard will turn into the battlefield of the Gods and Demons once again like it was thousands of years ago. Without the protection of Mana the ground will turn dry on the middleworld and life will die. But this is the logical consequence if the very source of life has run out.” She paused and looked at the young demon. “Is that all you wanted to hear? Or are you here because you want to find a way to prevent this?” A smile formed on Yamura’s creased pale lips.
“And now I guess you know the answer to this one, right? Now can you tell me about my destiny?” Zeyir tapped on the table nervously while looking down on the bones and crystals.
“Your destiny is clouded, young prince… I see death, I also see new life and rebirth. I cannot read the signs of destiny for you. Your decision is too important for the worlds to dare influence you with my words. But I can tell you who to search for if you decide to take the road that leads you to the Middleworld. I can tell you who you must find to make the Spirits return to Midgard.” Yamura took the items from the table and placed them into another bowl. Her eyes fixed Zeyir who was deep in thought now.
“If… I just let these things happen… the logical consequence will be a second war against Asgard… but I can’t just send troops to fulfill this quest. This will endanger the armistice treaty and again the consequence will be war!” Zeyir shook his head frustrated. “But… if I go alone…” He met Yamura’s gaze and a hopeful gleam appeared in her age-paled eyes. “If I go, no one will bother and I can search for a way to fix the Mana on Midgard!” The demon-prince slapped with his fist on the table. “I will do it! Yamura, please tell me what I must do to change Midgard’s destiny!”
“Very well, young prince.” The witch smiled brightly now. She stood up slowly and moved towards one of the book-shelters. After a few seconds of staring she finally pulled out a very old looking book with dark-blue cover. On the top was a sign that looked like a crescent moon with a sun inside and a beam of light shooting out of the crescent moon’s opening. “This is the old legend of the Guardians of Mana, if this tells you something?”
“Not yet.” Zeyir pointed out but didn’t dare interrupting her with questions.
“The so called Clan of van Tirith is a clan of humans with the blessing of the essence of time. They obsess the ability to summon the Great Spirits – an ability that is said to be only possess-able for this very clan and for no other living being on neither Asgard, nor Midgard, nor Utgard. If you can find these summoners, you will be able to change Midgard’s destiny! There is only one problem…”
“And this problem would be?” Zeyir grew more and more nervous. The weight of his decision slowly started to show it’s effects on him…
“Their bloodline is nearly fully obliterated… there is only one summoner left.”
