Prologue

Prologue

He gazed out over the hills, taking in the scenery. Rolling hills swept into the distance, patches of woodland breaking up the vast green vista. Behind him loomed the forest he’d just emerged from. In the far distance he could see the morning sun glinting off mountainous snowy peaks. Pebbled roads criss-crossed the landscape, leaping over the blue-grey river that wound its noisy way through the foothills. Villages and towns nestled in between valleys and on hilltops, and far away he could just make out the towering spires of Gilmara castle, surrounded by its sprawling city. That was the destination of this man, fresh out of the Gravor Forest, a forest renowned for its dark secrets and creeping creatures.

‘The shadows,’ people said, ‘they'll grab you if you go in there. They pull you in and you will be lost to the forest forever.’ The trees were said to be haunted by spirits of the wood-elves, a spiteful race that plotted evil deeds in the dark. In past ages their cursed magic had clad the land for miles around; they wreaked havoc and did monstrous things until they were banished to the trees.

Other creatures lurked there; poisonous insects that stabbed with pointy noses, great lizard beasts that clawed their prey to death, small furry creatures, sweet and innocent to look at but with minds of murderous intent. Plants also took their fair share of victims, barbed tendrils hung down, poisonous vapours seeped from flowers, giant traps lured creatures in. It was a dangerous place.

But that was all behind him now. This man had emerged from the woods unscathed. Tall and proud in stature, sleek and refined with a dangerous elvish air about him. Wearing green and grey he could blend into many surroundings. A steel sword hung at his waist and he carried a bow decorated simply with carved images. Numerous other implements and weapons were hidden about his person, secreted away for unknown purposes.

This man now stood looking over the innocent land he had been sent to, to revive the cursed magic that was long lost. The magic, he had been told, still lurked beneath the surface of this pleasant land, eking its way out of areas of weakness where the sorcerers of old had failed to seal the evil in. He had been sent to seek out these areas, make them vulnerable as before, and then watch as the power of his ancestors spread like it once had.

He nodded to the dark wall of trees behind him then set forth on the disused path that led down the hill, like royalty walking down a red carpet.

************************