Weaver

Prologue

Magic was common in the ancient world and the number of people who possessed some kind of power outnumbered those who didn’t by at least triple. There were the Protectors, who used their power to protect humans without Magic. There were the Reality Shapers who sought to destroy the world as it was. They believed that those who could use Magic were superior to ordinary humans and should rule over them. The two sides often fought because of the differences in their beliefs, with the Protectors, the strongest among them called Weavers, keeping the Reality Shapers at bay.

Weavers had dominion over many different elements. The strongest could control wind, fire, lightning, water, ice, or certain metals. With this power, they could do incredible things. They could have even ruled over humanity if they wanted to. However, their morality stopped them from using their power to harm others. They also knew that to view themselves as anything other than people meant to help others could invoke the anger of the gods.

Reality Shapers, known more commonly as Reshapers, had dominion over darkness and shadows, as well as many other things considered mysterious and evil. They could travel through the darkness, appearing anywhere that a shadow was cast. They could also infiltrate minds, plant thoughts and even use their power to control people’s actions. This made it easy for them to use people as puppets. They’d even managed to do so to a couple of weaker Protectors in the past.

For centuries the battle between the two sides had raged on, but Protectors always managed to keep the upper hand, never quite letting the Reshapers tip the balance. They knew what it would mean if they failed, and so their mission became to protect the world as it was, knowing that their loss meant the world would dive into a darkness never known by humanity.

The Reshapers did not give up easily though. They continued the battle until, at last, they managed to overtake the Protectors. They struck down even the most powerful among them, the Weavers, obliterating their opponents. This victory gave the Reshapers control over the world as it was and soon everything was overwhelmed by the shadows. The world fell into the Dark Ages and, for a time, the Protectors ceased to exist.

From that day on, any mention of a Protector, and especially a Weaver, was a crime that bore a death sentence. Reshapers would publicly execute those who dared to break the law, doing so in the most ghastly and horrifying manner. Any resistance against the shadows would be enough for a person to be sentenced to a life of forced servitude, doing the bidding of the Reshapers. Many who had been convicted of crimes preferred the Reshapers’ twisted idea of death over the idea of being enslaved.

It wasn’t until the Renaissance that another Protector was born. A new Weaver came into the world, born to a peasant couple in a small village. Her parents discovered her power when she was quite young and feared for their child. If the Reshapers found out about her, they would surely execute her. They loved their daughter dearly, but they also knew that she was a gift of hope in a world that had endured nine hundred years of darkness. They raised her in secret, keeping her away from the public eye until she learned to control her abilities.

Her parents sought out a person who was familiar with Weaver lore to help train her. It took some time to locate a person who knew about the Weavers. They knew it was dangerous to even ask about it, but they needed to make sure that their daughter was prepared for her destiny. Although there hadn’t been a single Protector for nine centuries, they found a woman who was well versed in Protector history and power. The new Weaver eventually learned that she could control wind, lightning, and ice with the woman’s tutelage. This made her a force to be reckoned with.

When the Weaver hit the age of twenty-five, she came out of hiding. The Reshapers finally learned of her existence and sent the strongest among them to kill her. They never came back. Rumors of her and her power grew. She soon took the battle to the Reshapers, defeating them easily and decimating their ranks. Few were left and those who survived went into hiding.

It wasn’t until the Weaver defeated the Reshapers that the gods realized what they had done. The person they had created to defeat the darkness was far more powerful than they had imagined. The gods removed her from the world, afraid that if she was allowed to exist as she was, she would go mad from the Magic. They feared she would seek to destroy the fragile peace that they had helped achieve. It was decided then that there would never be another single being with such power, for to do so would be to tempt the very fabric of reality.