White Mage Tales

ANAMARION

Prologue

Long ago, when all beings spoke with one language, there was a palace of many coloured stone known as Ællearsë, in which resided the Lady Eledhwen, who was the wisest and most fair of all beings. Her hair was as if spun from gold, and her skin was pale and flawless. Her eyes were of such dark blue that they seemed black, and she was ever garbed in raiment of white and silver. All who knew her loved her, and she loved all her people, but five among them did she love above all, and they were Byakko the Tiger, Genbu the Tortoise, Seiryu the Dragon, Suzaku the Phoenix, and Kagetsuchi the Fox. These five loved the Lady Eledhwen above all else, and were great friends, unmatched in their chosen skills, and gladly did they serve their fair Lady. Under the watchful eyes of the Five and the Lady, the land and its people flourished and prospered, and there was peace.

One day, a strange enemy came to the lands, killing and destroying all that came in its path. The enemy spared none, and could not be stopped for none could perceive its presence until it was too late, and its form could not be perceived. To protect the few unstricken people as well as their Lady, Genbu delved the earth and raised mountains and sheer cliffs and deep ravines around the land. Byakko sent chill winds racing over the mountaintops and thick freezing mists into the valleys and cyclones to deter the enemy and drive away the stricken. Suzaku filled some mountains and valleys with fire, while Seiryu poured waters into the ravines and valleys and basins, forming the oceans, lakes and rivers and coated the mountains with ice. Kagetsuchi planted thick forests with towering trees and grasping vines and created from some of Seiryu’s lakes the marshes and filled the seas with large flowing weeds to capture those who dared the great waters. Ællearsë was a valley within a valley, and the Five felt secure.

They watched with satisfaction as the enemy’s progress was slowed, and rested from their labours. Even as they rested and made beautiful the lands inside the ring of mountains and cliffs and oceans and forests and fire, they were ever watchful, and strove to hide the suffering of the outside from their Lady. Time passed, and the Hidden Valley passed their lives in peace, untouched by the sufferings of the outside world, and soon, Byakko turned her eyes to the north, Genbu turned his eyes to the South, Seiryu turned his eyes to the East, and Suzaku turned his eyes to the West, and they were ever watchful for the enemy, yet they never strayed from the protective confines of the Valley. Kagetsuchi alone dared wandered the world outside the Valley, and soon perceived that the marshes were become dank and wretched, and the ravines dark and forbidding. The deep seas and lakes were become dark and foul and in the forests, a strange shadow dwelt.

Kagetsuchi, unsure, said nothing of her thoughts and set to watch and wait. As the years passed, the enemy made no move, and so Kagetsuchi relaxed her vigilance, and retreated to Ællearsë to attend to the Lady Eledhwen. There, she took the power of the Five, and wrought them into five black jewels, and Eledhwen hallowed them. Kagetsuchi then took two, which she wrought into a crown of silver and gold, which was placed upon Eledhwen’s brow. One she wrought onto a broach, which she hid in Eledhwen’s scrying pool, one she wrought into a ring, which she hid in the courtyard of the palace, and the last, she wrought into daggers which she placed in the five towers of the palace. Why Kagetsuchi did thus, only she and Eledhwen knew, and the reasons would not be revealed until years later.

The enemy perceived that its time had come, that the ever vigilant black eyes of the Fox had withdrawn, and struck. The Hidden Valley crumbled, and with the last shards of their power, the Five sealed Ællearsë in a spell of sleep and lifted the valley into the air, and Kagetsuchi hallowed the spell that no force, not even their own, could undo their work. Content that Eledhwen at the very least was safe, Genbu delved for them a mansion under the ground and they vanished into the earth. There, the Five set to work and with their power, wrought five clear jewels filled with their power and their knowledge, which Kagetsuchi hallowed.

Wearied from their labours, Genbu, Byakko, Seiryu, and Suzaku laid themselves down to sleep, and as they slept, their spirits left their bodies. Then, Kagetsuchi, unnoticed, took the last dregs of their power and with the last of her power, wrought a single black jewel into which she placed the powers of her companions, and sealed them. She hallowed the jewel and laid a spell upon it, that when the enemy came again, a child would bear the jewel, and in the many coloured Palace of Ællearsë, serve Eledhwen and restore the world once more to its former glory with the power of the jewels. The five clear jewels which she had wrought with her companions, she placed on a golden disk surrounding the black jewel, and strung it with a silver chain. She then hallowed the necklace and laid a spell upon it, that when the enemy came again, a child would bear the necklace and in the many coloured Palace of Ællearsë, serve Eledhwen and restore the world once more to its former glory with the power of the jewels.

Weary from her work and drained of power, she laid herself down beside her companions, the necklace held to her breast, and she slept. There, in the dim halls of the underground mansion, her spirit departed her body and entered the black jewel, adding her power and all the knowledge she bore to the collective power of her companions.

Time passed and the enemy vanished. The world changed and the living creatures became sundered, and no longer spoke the same tongue. The memory of Ællearsë and the terrible enemy faded and became history, history became legend, legend became myth, and soon, some things which should not be forgotten were lost.

Then one day, a little girl child stumbled upon a door of stone carved into the side of a mountain…