Volume II

Prologue

The thunder rumbled and the lightning flashed in the sky above Alexandria, home of the Royal Family. Luckily, they weren’t at home right now. The whole island was in darkness as storm clouds blanketed the sky. The only substantial light came from the lightning striking the ground close to me. But none of that bothered me, because I was Quinn, half of the legendary duo, Quinn and Maximus.

Maximus stood next to me, his spelled sword in his hand and grim determination on his features. I bore a similar expression on my face. We had a dream, of a world without evil, where people could live in peace and harmony. Together, we travelled all over the Great Archipelago, searching out and slaying evil. They came in all sorts of shapes and sizes. We had seen demons, spirits, fiends and devils in out travels, and together, Maximus and I, had slain them all. Except one.

Looming over us was the last great evil of the Great Archipelago. All the islands would be free of wickedness once we banished this foul creature to the shadow-world. We had been chasing it for a month now, weakening it bit by bit at each island it tried to consume. It was as tall as the King’s palace and its body was made of pure shadow. It exuded a foul, acrid stench that would have driven weaker men insane. The stormy night around it seemed like the brightest day compared to it. Flames of purple, malevolent fire burned in its eyes. It glared at us with the foulest contempt imaginable.

Maximus ran at the dark monster, his sword, glowing with brilliance, raised for the strike. He plunged his blade deep into the darkness of our quarry. It yelled out in pain, causing buildings in the city to crumble.

Suddenly, the fiend doubled in size and power. It grabbed our weapons and tossed them aside like toys. With a flick of its dark arm, the monster riposted at Maximus. He took the full force of the blow and flew through the air and into the dark, frothing sea that lay behind us. I glanced back and cursed.

I was all alone. It was up to me.

Turning back to my foe, I gritted my teeth. Losing my blade was a setback, but I still had some tricks up my sleeves. Before I had a chance to attack though, the demon spoke; a single arcane word with dark power. It froze me in my place. I couldn’t move! Slowly, the fiend raised its dark arm. A ball of dark light, burning the air around it, formed in its palm. It lined it up with my frozen form. There was nothing I could do! Then it fired.

The blast struck me in less than a second, searing through my flesh. The sheer power of it knocked me off my feet. As I fell, I felt strange. It was as if I was slipping away.

I…

Was…

Slipping…

Away…

From…

Myself…

Then darkness. We had lost.