By the-key-of-the-twilight

A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome to Tales of the Guardians! I hope you all enjoy the prologue! I put in a lot of effort so please tell me what you think!

Prologue:

Blood. That was all he could see. Fresh, crimson blood blended with luminous pale green hair. It was as if everything was in slow motion as the ‘angel of the battlefield’ began to fall.

“Midori!”

She slowly fell to the ground, her gorgeous tresses concealing her face. Despair and sorrow rang through the battlefield as if a mighty goddess had fallen. Struck with horror and shock, the black-haired warrior watched her collapse into a bloody heap of crimson and pale green.

“Midori!”

And then, a flash of the murderer’s long snow-white hair.

He ran towards her and laid her head against him. He shook her violently, hoping that this was all just another dream. She did not answer and the young man screamed for help as he groped for her hand to feel for a pulse. But his cries of help were in vain; no one could hear them over the shrieks and clamors of war. He found no pulse and scrambled through her clothes to see where she had been struck. And to his horror, she had been pierced through the heart. Cold sweat and blood rolled down his face as he stared, appalled by her still face that was once so cheerful and bright. Her hand was ice cold, as if her body had not seen the sun in many years.

The putrid smell of iron and decay surrounded the battlefield and there was never a step one could take without stepping on either an enemy’s or an ally’s carcass. Every minute there were screams and every minute, a few more soldiers would die. It was indeed the way of war, but the raven-haired warrior had not expected her to die out of all people. She meant everything to him. She was his light and now, his light was gone.

Someone had murdered his goddess.

He suddenly looked up, his good eye, in which was his right, shone with a merciless glint and as he laid the girl on the ground, a ruthless smirk appeared over his lips. As he reached for his sword, an enemy soldier had spotted him and immediately charged at him. In less than a second, the raven-haired young man unsheathed his luminous blade and it ran through the soldier like a hot knife through butter. He gleefully watched as the crimson liquid slowly slid down his blade and onto his scarred hands. It wasn’t long before other warriors began to attack him, but one by one, they fell like dominos at the feet of the “black demon”.

And then he heard it; a faint shout amidst all the chaos of battle.

“Retreat!”

He could not believe his ears as he stood with a greedy look on his face and his blade ready to strike. He listened again, wondering if he was hallucinating as he began to notice the enemy troops backing away.

“Retreat!”

It was unbelievable. They were retreating? He was so occupied with his thoughts that he did not notice the tiny droplets of water that had landed on his shoulders. He watched as little by little, the enemy soldiers began to withdraw with their once vividly blue flag they had held proudly above their heads before the battle now torn and ragged. It was an incomprehensible and uncanny feeling to watch them, the Lumerian army, fade off into the distance and leave behind the battleground that was once complete hell.

Rain began to fall, quietly and softly, like a mother showering her child. The stench of death and decay vanished beneath the scent of fresh rain. It felt as if the rain was washing away all their sins away, all their pain away. Suddenly, he speared his blade into the dry and cracked ground as he heard someone call his name from behind him.

“Shira!”

A warrior ran up to him, his blonde hair messy with dirt and sweat and his clothes damp with blood and mud. He halted beside him and bent down, panting. “Shira… thank God you’re okay…” However, the black-haired soldier ignored him and pushed past him. “Shira?” But then, the blonde warrior saw his friend slowly pick up a corpse; a female corpse. He gasped and could only stare. “Shira… I…”

But Shira merely overlooked him again and began walking back to his sword with the deceased girl in his arms. His left leg had hurt uncontrollably before, but he completely disregarded the pain as his limb was dark and wet from blood. He stared up into the heavens as if he was in a daze and felt the rain pour down his face. And then he realized that he was crying.

Silver tears rolled down his cheeks and slid down his chin as his golden eyes watched the sky as if a god would appear and revive all the dead and rescue all of them from hell. He choked on his tears as he held the girl closer, realizing that he would never be able to speak to her again or to anyone else that had perished in the battle. He felt frozen in place and in time as it rained harder, washing the blood away from his face. And then, he felt something pierce his side.

“Shira!!”

The blonde warrior hurried towards his wounded friend. Shira’s knees buckled and he fell to the ground with an arrow protruding from his side. The agony was indescribable as blotches of red flashed before his eyes. He doubled over in pain and a horrible groan escaped his lips, but he didn’t let go of the goddess in his arms. The blonde soldier came over and knelt beside him. He glanced at the arrow in his friend’s side and cursed under his breath.

“C’mon, I’ll help you to the medical tent… you’ll be fine, I promise…” he said to him and tried to support him up.

“No,” Shira objected plainly in a monotonous voice.

“Don’t be stupid, Shira. I can’t lose you, too!”

“No, Roger.”

“Don’t be an idiot!” he yelled, infuriated that his friend wasn’t moving. “C’mon, drop the girl and save your own life!”

“No.”

“Shira, listen to me. You can’t die, you hear? I won’t let you!” Roger shook him hard, but failed to convince him. “You, you idiot!” Red flashed past Shira’s eyes as his vision blurred. His left eye was bleeding horribly as the hot liquid slid down his cheek and his leg was numb from excruciating pain. But then, he heard footsteps running towards them. “Julia!” A girl with luminous blonde hair ran up to the two and let out a muffled gasp.

“Oh God…”

“Julia, take Shira! I can’t knock any sense into this guy!” Roger yelled as Julia hurried over to Shira and reluctantly attempted to push Midori out of his arms.

“No, stop! Don’t touch her!” the black-haired warrior shouted in protest as he pushed Julia’s hands away. He glared maliciously at her. “Don’t touch her…”

“Damn it, Shira, she’s dead, okay?!” Roger shrieked, infuriated that his best friend was refusing aid, and with the help of Julia, managed to shove off the girl’s carcass as Shira sat there with a shocked expression.

She was dead. Indeed, Shira had admitted that fact, but now hearing it from his friend returned him to reality. He could feel himself being pushed away and he could feel the cold body in his arms slipping away. Soft and gentle hands caught him from the back and strong and rough hands supported him. He felt himself being carried away and a horrible sick feeling overwhelmed him. He could taste blood in his dehydrated throat and his vision began to blacken. All he could see now was his friend’s worried face and his placid azure eyes.

“You’re gonna be okay, Shira, you’re gonna be okay…”

And then, everything became black.

“He’s going to be alright,” Julia said with a relieved look on her face as she emerged from the medical aid tent.

“That’s good to hear,” panted Roger as he leaned on his axe for support. “I’m glad… I thought he wa- ” Abruptly, he began to cough and then doubled over, gasping for air.

“Roger!” Julia screamed as she immediately ran to support him. “You need to rest right now! You’ve went far past your body’s limit!” Supporting him with both arms, she led him into the tent. The blonde lass carefully laid the wheezing boy on a bed and quickly turned to one of the other nurses. “Lettie, take care of Roger while I get him some water.” The other nurse nodded and promptly went to the boy’s side while Julia rushed to retrieve water for the poor boy.

After she returned with a bowl of fresh water, Roger had calmed down considerably. Julia rushed towards him and lifted his head up so he could drink. Roger gulped down the water ravenously as if he had been dehydrated for days; the cool water felt so refreshing as it slid down his parched throat. After the bowl was emptied, the blonde nurse turned to retrieve some medicine while Lettie laid a cold towel upon the warrior’s temple.

Julia fished through the many medicine cabinets to find a remedy for his cough while a few nurses nearby were whispering eagerly to one another. She half-listened to them.

“Thank God that this war’s going to end…” one of them whispered.

“But don’t you remember? This is only the third war…” the second nurse hissed. “Remember what the hero Arish said? He said there’d be four, four great wars before peace would return…”

“Bah, nonsense! You actually believe what that arrogant young man says? I think all he says is hogwash!” the third woman retorted.

“But… everything else he said did come true… What if…” the second woman started. Then, another nurse came by the three young women and scolded them.

“Ladies! These honorable soldiers need you! Hurry and tend to them instead of bickering in a corner!” she said with a high and mighty tone. The three nurses promptly apologized and headed of to tend to the patients.

The hero Arish…, thought Julia as she rummaged through another cabinet. She still remembered when the Aegean Empire bustled with the news of his prophecy seven years ago. I hope he is wrong… We cannot afford another war…At last, she found a bottle of pills and walked back to Roger’s side.

There cannot be another war… For these warriors… She looked towards the coughing blonde boy. The “White Thunder”… And then she turned to gaze upon the injured black-haired soldier on the other side of the tent. … the “Black Demon” and many others…

… have suffered enough pain and regret…

Long ago, in the land of Araelia, there was a great day, now known as the Day of Judgment, in which angels fell from the heavens and built two great towers: The Tower of Oraci and The Tower of the Guardians. Upon The Tower of the Guardians, on the Stairway to Heaven, these angels created a magnificent power, Oraci, and unleashed it upon the world. Human beings all over Araelia fought to obtain this god-like power and wars broke out. The angels, traumatized by what they have caused, took away the source of Oraci. However, more chaos arose as mankind greedily searched to retain this immense power. The tyrants pursued for this power with aggression and threatened the angels. Frightened, the angels turned towards their god, Araes, and begged for his assistance.

Araes scolded the angels for being so foolish in creating a power so strong and thought of a way to end this chaos. He split the land of Arael into two empire: the Aegean Empire and the Lumerian Empire and equal amount of power between the two. However, Araes sealed the remaining Oraci inside the Stairway to Heaven.

All was at peace for hundreds and hundreds of years… until a foolish noble became the king of the Lumerian Empire. He had read about the legend and decided to pursue after the Oraci sealed within the Stairway of Heaven. A massive war broke out as the Aegean king attempted to cease this movement. Thousands and thousands of people died fighting for their empire and almost all hope for peace was lost. It was then that a hero emerged.

Arish, the son of a powerful duke, arose from the other ordinary soldiers and fought his way to glory. He defeated everyone who stood in his path and finally, the Lumerian king surrendered and a peace treaty was made. And thus, he became the hero Arish, but however, he made a prophecy on the day of the peace ceremony between the two empires.

“Do not believe that this chaos is over… This has only been the beginning. This has only been ‘The War of Awakening’. There are three more; four great wars in total. Do not think that this will not happen, for war is inevitable because of the sin in the hearts of men…”

Many were shocked by his prophecy and the next day, everyone tried to find him, to ask what he meant. But he was gone… he had disappeared…

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this story or at least, I'm enjoying writing this so far! Thank you for reading and reviews will be greatly appreciated!