Prologue

As the heavens opened and the thunder pealed, Ark Simet turned to his warriors. The lightning overhead illuminated the large plain of Yllek, a battlefield where two armies were about to meet and fight. The same flash of lightning revealed Ark's strange silver hair. The man swallowed in anticipation, then brought his sword over his head, screaming over the storm. “Victory will be ours, men! As the gods as our witnesses, the darkness will fall, and our light will shine forth!”

The small band of thirty raised their weapons over their heads and yelled in return. From their positions on the ground, they were nearly invisible against the dark grass of the plain. A young man near the front of the group was shaking violently, his eyes clenched shut and his teeth clacking together loudly. Ark noticed this and knelt down in front of the man. He placed a hand on the man's face and turned it up to him. “Sasha? Open your eyes.”

Sasha did as he was told and opened his eyes. They were an icy blue color, but the pupils were milked over. The young man was completely blind. Despite his handicap, he was one of the most formidable warriors in the group, relying on the four elements of water, fire, earth, and air to attack, while using light and darkness to differentiate between friends and foes. At the moment, however, his eyes were filling with tears, and he raised a hand to clasp Ark's. “Ark...”

Ark lowered his hand and spoke softly. “Why are you crying?”

Sasha bit his lip. “You are not afraid of death, my lord?”

“No, Sasha, I'm not. Why do you ask?”

Sasha turned his head to the side. Although he was blind, he could feel Ark's gaze upon him, and it was far too much to bear. “My lord... Today is the day you die.”

Ark turned Sasha back to him and kissed him on the forehead. “And I will have died for the good of this country, Sasha.”

Sasha shook his head furiously, tears spilling down his face now. “You don't understand! You're going to die, and you're going to leave me in the dark again!”

Ark smiled softly and gripped Sasha's hand, pressing it to his lips. “Is that what you're worried about? Sasha, you'll never fall into darkness again. Please, believe me. You're too smart to repeat what you did before. And if I do die, you won't forget me, will you?”

Sasha moaned softly. “No.”

“And if I die, the king has agreed to leave the kingdom to you.”

Sasha gasped. “No...”

“Yes, Sasha.”

A sudden scream came from across the plain. It was inhuman and piercing, and Sasha jumped slightly. Ark stood up, pulling Sasha to his feet as he did. He unsheathed his sword and yelled, “Men, we go to battle now! We may not survive, but if we do not make it home, I want you to know... I trust you with my life. As your leader, I have grown to love each of you as a brother, and if I do not make it through, Sasha will replace me.”

There was scattered muttering through the ranks of men, and Ark raised his voice. “I know that some of you disagree with this choice, but he is a better man than many of you. Despite his sins, Sasha is a good man, and I believe he will lead you all, better than me, even.”

Sasha blushed, and Art turned. “Now, my men, we go to battle! To victory!”

The men echoed his words. “To victory!”

Sasha grabbed Ark's free hand and tried to stop himself from shaking. Ark spoke to him softly, his voice barely carrying over the rush of the wind around them. “Sasha... This is just like every other battle you've ever fought. Just... Be more careful than you usually are. Promise me. Even if you feel that something bad has happened to me, keep fighting. You must promise.”

Sasha shook his head, terrified. “No...”

Ark squeezed the mans hand tightly. “You must! Sasha!”

Sasha lowered his eyes and whispered, “I promise.”

Ark turned to his men and spoke loudly, apparently satisfied with his answer. “Men! If anything, anything at all, happens to me, I want you to keep fighting! This is not just my fight! This is for the rest of you! The rest of this great country! We may be small, and we may be outnumbered, but we are good! We have not given up on the light! Men, do you hear me?”

A great roar from the small band echoed back. Ark felt his eyes tear up and rubbed his eyes, refusing to let himself cry. “We will not all survive. You must be prepared for the worst, men. I hate saying this, but most of us will die... But we will fight, and we will win!”

The inhuman screech sounded again, and Ark flinched so slightly that all but Sasha did not see it. Ark turned and unsheathed his weapon, a thick broadsword so sharply hewn that nothing, not even elven-made armor, could withstand it. He yelled, his voice trembling with anticipation. “The enemy comes! Be prepared!”

The band of men looked at each other slowly. Suddenly, a man with dirty blonde hair stepped forward and spoke softly to Ark, his voice throaty and slightly anxious. “Ark... Some of the men are scared. You must remember that they have families and children at home, and they don't want to have to leave them.”

Ark smiled softly. “All right, Myrdal. I'll address that.” He turned and spoke loudly, glancing over his shoulder every so often in order to make sure that the enemy was not close. “Men, I know you're scared. I am, too. And I know we all have families. I have people waiting for me, too. But we have to be strong, because the very people that make it so we don't want to die are the same people that we are dying to protect. Fear is a dwelling place for darkness, but courage is a breeding place for light. We must have courage, and we must fight.”

Myrdal pumped his fist in the air and gazed around at the rest of the group. “What do you say, men?”

There was no answer. Finally, a young man with jet black hair answered, his voice ringing out over the plains. “What are we waiting for? Let's fight!”

His answer was met by a loud, echoing screech from the enemies side of the battlefield. The small band yelled back, their morale back up. They ran forward, their weapons at the ready, and clashed with their enemies in a battle of weapons and minds.

Ark ducked and ran through the battle, searching for one person. Finally he saw a dark cloaked man standing far back from the actual battle. He ran over to the man, his sword held at the ready. The being was robed entirely in black, the cloth covering his face and masking all discernible features. Ark froze, the look on his face one of sincere pity. “Nexev... What's happened to you?”

Nexev turned his cloaked head towards the man, and a hissing cackle emitted from beneath the hood. “Ark... My old friend... How isss your life sssince I left been going?” His words were rounded with a soft, sibilant sound, causing him to sound utterly snakelike when he spoke.

Ark stepped forward and his countenance hardened. “I hate you! You... You liar!”

Nexev turned away from Ark once again, resuming his watch on the battle raging before him. Ark yelled at him loudly, his voice quivering with rage. “Don't turn away from me! Stand and fight, Nexev!”

From beneath Nexev's cloak issued the same angry screech that had begun the battle. Suddenly, in a blaze of fire, a redhead appeared beside Nexev. He looked bored, his expression one of utter disinterest. “You called, Nexev?”

Nexev raised a robed hand towards Ark. “Disssposse of him, Edo, and I will make you my general... When we take over thisss pitiful country, and I am made king, you shall be my right-hand man...”

Edo grinned. “Finally somethin' good to do, Nexev. Thanks. I was beginning to think that this was just going to be another boring battle.”

Edo walked over to Ark. “Hello, Ark. I haven't seen you in about a year, and our one moment of being together again is ruined by having to fight. How... horrid.”

Ark stood at the ready, his sword held in his hand as if it were an extension of his body. Edo clucked softly. “I could burn you alive right now, Ark. I do not wish to do that to an old schoolmate, but if you refuse to concede...”

Ark shook his head. “I concede to no man.”

Edo shrugged. “Then I will be forced to make your death slow and painful.” A lazy plume of fire flared up from beside Ark's right arm, singing his skin and leaving the hair on his arm burnt. When Ark did not back down, Edo scowled. “You were always so stubborn, Ark... That's going to kill you, Ark. And what are you going to die for? We are going to crush your men and leave your pitiful army slaughtered on this field.”

Ark shook his head. “No. I will die for this country, for this kingdom, and my death will prevent scum like you from taking Angulon over!”

Edo pouted. “You did not always believe that I was scum, Ark... It hurts me to know that you think I am scum...”

Nexev spoke, interjecting angrily. “I have changed my mind, Edo. I want to kill him.”

Edo stepped aside with only the faintest look of distaste passing across his handsome features. “Yes, Nexev.”

Nexev unsheathed a rather large mace and addressed Ark, his hissing voice carrying well over the twenty feet between them. “I will kill you, Ark... I will kill you and ssskin your body in front of your men, making sssure that all of your men sssee how their leader fell...”

Ark did not bother to answer, instead rushing forward and diving at Nexev. His reasoning was impaired by his absolute anger, leaving him blinded by rage and hatred. Nexev swung the mace at him once, and that was all it took. The greatest warrior in all of Angulon fell at Nexev's feet, his skull split and bleeding. He was dead before he knew what had happened.
Sasha, who had been defending himself against a group of Nexev's soldiers, suddenly felt the psychic connection that had been holding he and Ark together wither and die. He screamed, and a sudden wave of fire burst outwards, burning all of the soldiers in the vicinity. Once he sensed that everyone around him was dead, he rushed to where he was sure that Ark had been just before he died. He sensed a great darkness, the greatest that he had met yet, standing beside the fading light that had been Ark, and a half-choked moan escaped his lips.

He sensed the darkness looking at him and yelled, “What did you do? Why did you kill him?”

The darkness did not answer, and Sasha could sense another being, this one comprised of mingled light and darkness. The darkness was prevailing at the moment, and he spoke, his voice jesting and loud. “Well, isn't it Ark's little pet boy? My, my, he actually let you out of the house, did he? I thought he would be ashamed of a little blind boy, but here you are fighting his battles. He's dead, you know.”

Sasha half-whispered his next words. “I know. But I did not come to speak with you.”

The man laughed slowly. “Really? Now, that's a crying shame. I may just have to burn you, too.”

Sasha raised a hand and swept it outwards. A sudden burst of mixed fire and lightning burst outwards, rendering the sarcastic man unconscious. Sasha turned towards the greater darkness, and suddenly the being spoke, its voice hissing and cold. “You... Boy, you have injured my general... Do you have a death wish?”

Sasha looked back to the battle, his heart icy with fear. He yelled above the din of the battle, his voice carrying clearly. “Lieutenant Myrdal!”

Myrdal looked around for the source of the yell and finally located Sasha. He cocked his head towards the boy, who screamed, “Ark's dead! Please, keep them away from me until I can kill Nexev! Please, Myrdal!”

Myrdal nodded and yelled back, “All right, Sasha! Take care of yourself!”

Sasha did not bother to respond, turning back to Nexev instead. He concentrated as well as he could under the circumstances, only to have this concentration blown away by the sudden intrusion of Nexev's voice. “Boy... Are you really ssso foolish that you believe you can kill me? Ark issss dead, and you are blind. There issss no way you can defeat me in combat.” He hiss-cackled, his voice amused and piercing. “I do not know why you even try, boy... You are foolish for even trying, child.”

Sasha spoke defiantly, his voice loud even as he was shaking on the inside. “I will kill you. Ark... Ark was my friend... He forgave me for everything I did and helped me... And you killed him...”

Nexev laughed. “Kill me? Don't make me laugh, boy. Ark forgave everyone in life, even me. Can you imagine him forgiving hisss worsssst enemy? I doubt it. He was ssselfish, egotissstical... Lived only for himsssself, yet he forgave everyone in hisss path... Why do you think he did that? It wasss becaussse he had ssinned himself... He wasss a horrible perssson, and he made me what I am now. Do you really want to avenge hisss sssoul now?”

Sasha screamed in anger and raised his hands. Thrusting them outwards, he allowed a thick wall of water and wind to flood forward. The darkness remained untouched, but did not issue a counterattack. In fact, he spoke instead, his hissing voice soft and holding a trace of humanity that had not been there before. He sounded nearly pitiful, as if he were pleading with Sasha. “That'sss right, boy. Jussst... Jussst a little more and... and I'll be dead... Kill me, boy... Kill me!”

Sasha blinked in surprise but obliged quickly, sending forward a wall of earth and lightning. There was a sudden piercing scream that echoed across the plain, and Sasha felt the darkness disappear and evaporate, leaving to the heavens above them. The darkness' scream was echoed by the vehement screams of his warriors, dark beings who had now been exposed to light and were unable to handle it.

Sasha stumbled and fell, running his hands over Ark's body, finally reaching the bloody wound on the mans head. He began to weep, collapsing into the mans body, which still held some warmth from when he had been alive.

Myrdal suddenly found himself surrounded by dead enemies. He looked around, thoroughly confused, and saw Sasha sobbing over Ark's body. He rushed over after making sure that the remainder of the band, five men who had survived out of thirty, were in no great trouble.

Standing beside Sasha and staring down at Ark, Myrdal felt his heart break. Before him lay the greatest warrior the Continent had ever known, and he was only twenty... Myrdal shuddered when he realized that he could have been so much greater with time, and that one luxury had been ripped away from him almost instantaneously. Myrdal placed a consoling hand on the blind man's shoulder and spoke softly. “Sasha... Are you all right?”

Sasha sniffled loudly and wiped his eyes. “I... I'll be fine...”

The other survivors had wandered over by now, and they were staring at Ark's body in horror and pity. An older man with salt-and-pepper hair stepped forward and spoke gruffly, sounding oddly like a big basset hound barking. “He's dead, then?”

Myrdal nodded slowly. “Yes...”

The elderly man clucked softly, his attitude one of utmost sorrow. “I can't believe it... That boy was a real prodigy... What do we do now?”

Myrdal turned and gestured to a long white wall in the distance. “We need to go back to Yllek... Although...” He glanced down at Sasha and shook his head. “Sasha, you're in charge of us now. You need to step up and take us back.”

Sasha staggered to his feet, attempting to pick Ark up as well. “We... We're going back to the city.”

Myrdal lay a hand on the man's arm softly. “Leave Ark. The king will send a party back out to bury the dead.”

Sasha's grip tightened on Ark, and Myrdal took his hand. “It's all right, Sasha. Just leave him...”

Sasha nodded slowly and lay Ark back down on the ground, whispering his goodbye before he stood and led the men back to Yllek, the Walled City. They left Ark lying there and made their way back home, unaware that Ark's death was more than just the loss of a close friend; it was the spark that would start a fire, one that would burn for another thousand years before finally being extinguished.