A Curse of Anger and Lightning

Chapter 1

It was a cold desert night, of the dark ones, of the ones that make your nightmares seem like a child’s fairytale, of the ones that swallowed every light, even the dimmest flicker of a candle.

These nights made cold sweat trickle down your spine, making you jump at even the smallest of sounds. These dark nights made the moon seem like a villainous companion, only lighting the shadows of the darkest parts of your mind, where the monsters lingered.

Creeping around each corner was the whisper of the dry wind, the hollow shadow of the sand dunes and splitting screams, engulfing even the sound of one's own heartbeat.

Pain. The deepest, rawest kind. The whole Kingdom of Zamorra held their breaths, as queen Aryia pushed with all her might for this first prince to be. He was to be the crowned prince of Zamorra, the future King, the bringer of worlds, the new world. For such had been foretold by the Spellmasters of the Temple of Yeifon’hel.

‘’Get me my Spellchanter’’ the queen bellowed, as she threw her head back, covered in sweat.

‘’We have called upon them your majesty’’ A maidservant cooed, as she wiped the shimmering beads on the Queen’s forehead.

‘’Then why haven’t they arrived?’’ She lashed out, in too much pain to maintain her royal demeanor.

‘’Soon, soon my queen’’ the maidservant whispered softly, trying her best to keep her queen’s thoughts away from the pain.

Such awaited this child was, none turned their eye to the other child to be, only unseen swine compared to the much esteemed and expected prince of the Kingdom of Zamorra.

∞

Another woman screamed, for this pain was not of this world. Eoimyra, a noble woman of noble blood was also pushing with all her might. For naught. This is where the Spellchanter was held captive, unable to leave this poor woman, although he had been summoned by the queen herself.

‘’What’s happening?’’ Eoimyra cried out, twisting and writhing in pain as blood gushed out from her womb.

The Spellchanter stood in shock, for he had never seen such a revolting sight. It is as if her womb was tearing open, to let in the stars and the moon, and sucking up all the light in the world. Through the blood and cries, he could see a head, and eyes, already open, staring blankly at him.

‘’By the balance...’’ He breathed out in utter shock, holding back a gag.

‘’Please’’ The woman cried out ‘’Help me please, my baby, save my baby’’

She reached between her legs, as if to pull the infant out herself if that would grant it life. More blood gushed out, tainting the sheets and splattering on the reddish floor, mixing lazily with the serpentines of soft gold and black within the deep red rock and pooled at the Spellchanter's feet. She pleaded again, her face barren of color and warmth, eyes wild and crazed with a mother's instinct, her voice haggard with exhaustion :

“Save my baby!”

More blood splattered, reaching the tip of the spellchanter's feet, he was frozen in horror, unable to muster the courage to approach the protruding head.

Eoimyra bellowed with all the strength she could salvage :

“MY BABY!”

Swayed by the unconditional love Eoimyra was displaying, the Spellchanter snapped out of his frigid trance and sprung into action, focused and ready, he started chanting a spell in the old tongue, pulling string from the power of the Equilibrium.

He kneeled before her and held his hands out towards the small head protruding from her womb, water spilled from his fingertips and formed a net that slipped inside Eoimyra, pulling out the infant and forming a basket with the water strings.

She cried out in pain, but he kept pulling, staring deeply into the child’s eyes, wide open and sentient.

‘’I can help you’’ He heard in his mind. As he stared back at the child, he saw all the weight and power of the world, the sight knocked the breath clean out of him and almost broke the water string basket he was chanting.

‘’Let me help you’’ He heard again, this time much more clearly. He closed his eyes, certain that his nerves were playing tricks on him. He had only recently been appointed Spellchanter, from the Temple of Yeifon’hel, just a few months ago he was still just a novice.

‘’Breathe My Lady, we are almost done’’ He said as confidently as he could, whilst the child was exiting her bleeding opening. The sounds of squelching flesh, dripping blood and ragged breathing made the blood in his veins still as ice.

He closed his eyes and concentrated all the power in his hands, summoning his faith, finally managing to pull out the small infant from the screaming woman.

He handed over the child to the nervous maidservant and immediately started concentrating fire in his palms, closing up the nerves and blood vessels with curing fire chants. The woman felt immediate comfort and started to settle.

Exhausted from the exertion, he threw back his head and let out a long sigh of relief. But it was not over, for he knew he had another child to deliver.

“A boy my lady” He told her, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.

‘’Thank you Spellchanter’’ the woman said, as she stretched out her arms to thank him. ‘’Blessed be Yeifon’hel for sending you to me, what is your name?’’

‘’It is only my duty, my lady, to help those in need’’ He said, not returning the warm embrace she was offering. ‘’My name is Hollmir, it is an honor, to have been your Chanter in this day of new Creation, may the Equilibrium hold you well.’’

With those words he quickly exited the room, strangled by the power and hold this new child was washing over him. Terrified he was, for he stared in those eyes and saw nothing but frightening power and destruction.

How could a baby already hold so much of the power inside of them? He thought, still shivering over the mere memory of those blank, dark eyes.

Eoimyra watched as Hollmir shuffled away, as if fleeing from danger.

However, she was too tired to give it more thought, she just wanted to hold her son, she waved at the maidservant to bring him over, she had been cleaning up the infant and had wrapped him in a blanket. With a crease of worry in her brows.

He had not uttered a cry, not even a whimper since leaving the warmth and tranquility of his mother’s womb, he only stared blankly, looking around as if aware of his surroundings.

‘’Well aren’t you a quiet one?’’ Eoimyra cooed, gently brushing his cheeks and forehead. ‘’And those eyes, what a beauty you are my son, my sweet boy.’’

‘’What will you name him my lady?’’ The maidservant asked sheepishly.

‘’Bring his lordship to me, we shall decide together!’’ The lady ordered, her strength and commanding tone returning to her. Holding her son had given her back much strength, as if a power was feeding her, lifting her up.

The maidservant rushed out, calling out to Eoimyra’s husband, a Zamorran diplomat of rank, also of noble blood, a descendant of heroes that had sided with Feol’daria during the war of separation and the King’s only male relative, a cousin. He ran inside the bedroom and kneeled next to his beloved.

‘’Let me see him, let me see my son!’’ He exclaimed, filled with excitement and wonder. As he laid eyes upon his child, a perplexed look on his face appeared as he said: ‘’What’s wrong with him?’’

‘’What do you mean what’s wrong with him? Nothing is wrong with him!’’

‘’What’s wrong with his eyes?’’ The lord questioned, frustrated by his wife’s answer.

‘’Nothing is wrong with his eyes, he is perfect my lord, how can you not see? We have brought a gift of creation this night, the Spellchanter delivered him in a basket of water strings and healed me with fire, our child will be as solid as Feol’darian steel!’’ She proudly boasted.

‘’Feol’darian steel you say?’’ He chuckled, suddenly amused by his boisterous wife, a blanket of calm had enveloped him as well. ‘’Well then, he must hold a name worthy of such and worthy of our House name Val’heim’’

‘’And worthy of you, my beloved Riothan, Lord of house Val’heim, look at his beauty, those eyes as dark as night, what name indeed, I feel like he is meant for great things, greater than us, what about Taeryn? Tae for short”

“Taeryn?” The man repeated, his eyebrows raised. “Like the general of God Cephus of the war from the great separation? A powerful name that is. I like it, Taeryn, my son, my little warrior” He took his son in his arms and stared at his unusual child, still silent and looking straight back at him. Sentient.

∞

Hollmir was quickly making his way towards the capital, where the queen had already begun pushing the new prince into the world; it was customary for the appointed Spellchanter to be present during the arrival of new royalty.

However, something extraordinary had prevented him from arriving on time. The new born of House Val’heim had left quite the impression on him, such striking dark eyes, it was obvious he already had quite an affinity with the power of Equilibrium.

Nonetheless, he could not linger, for he had a duty to uphold for the Royals of the Kingdom of Zamorra.

As he walked through the long strips of road made of lustrous redstone, he took in the dry and coarse air into his lungs. So thirsty he thought to himself. Zamorra was a desert country of metal and stone with very little to no water, if it wasn’t for the oasis around which most of the kingdom was built, except for the Port city of Clegane, there would be no water for miles around.

After the war of separation, the first god kingdoms being destroyed, the realm of Ar’jah, to the north, was generous enough to open the gullet of their river and the god Leilom gently pushed the stream and distorted the shape of the direction of the water to permit the Zamorrans to have access to fresh water.

This not only created the oasis, but the sudden gush of water caused erosion to deepen the stones of the land, creating a valley and canyon in which the new castle had been nestled ever since, with a river at the bottom that flowed from under the castle gates to the bottom of the canyon.

Did Leilom do it out of the kindness of his heart or simply to keep the Zamorrans away from his lands, he did not know, nor did Hollmir care. Since then, no one had even heard of the people of Ar’jah. They simply disappeared. He chuckled, such fickle Gods we have been bestowed with.

Lost in thought of Gods and power he arrived at the grand gate of the capital city. The gate was decorated in gold metals with red sunstone and jasper accents. From over the wall, Hollmir could see the tips of the tall palm trees lining the road to the castle.

From the watchtower, he heard a guard hail him, adorned as well in red stone and gold armor, his deep, harsh voice echoed deeply, reverbing against the canyon walls, his fiery red cape flapping behind him as he bent over the stone palisade:

‘’State your name and business my good sir, it is past curfew’’

‘’I am Hollmir of Yeifon’hel, appointed Spellchanter for the Kingdom. I was summoned by Queen Ariya’’

‘’Another?! Another has arrived!’’ He exclaimed. ‘’OPEN THE GATES, LET HIM PASS’’

Another?

A loud metallic clanking resound in the air, lifting the sand up and pushing gusts of wind in a twirl.

The mechanism of this gate was quite ingenious, using large bags of sand, the door was heaved with a counter weight that the guards only needed to activate with a switch, attached to chains on a rotating gear, the gear was aided by the current of the water pushing from underneath the city.

The gates opened just enough to let Hollmir pass and closed back up tightly behind him. Zamorrans were not known for their ‘’warm’’ welcomes. They were a robust, arduous and enduring people. As the sand settled and vision unblurred, Hollmir’s eyes widened, as he took in the magnificence of this kingdom.