Dawn brings death...

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High in the hills of the eastern rim, where the mountains met the sky, smoke fell like a blanket from the clouds high above and rested upon the peaks of the Rift Mountains, a gathering was being held. The Rift was a range situated between the border of the Kodaia and Maruvia, a virtually impassable labyrinth of deadly scales and twisted paths. The gather was of the elders of the forests, the watchmen of the trees, often called in the common tongue, “rangers”.

Rogathir, Prince of the Ethirim sect sat upon a carven throne in a palace of forest floor and tree branch overhangs, built on the natural fissures in the mountain which seeped with its inner heat, providing warm in the cold heights of the Rift. Rogathir was dressed garishly in purple robes over top his simple leather tracking garb. Rangers were not much on formality and pomp, but situations occasionally called for grand meetings and chain of command.

The Price of the Ethirim was a soft faced man, his features smooth and molded, not chiseled or crassly carved. His long grey hair he wore loose an flowing neath a crown of holly branches, signifying his Princedom over the lands. Before him stood 47 men and women, rangers from the west, from the great Northern Wasteland to the Southern Sea. But also a curious, out of place man, clearly not a ranger, but his origin was impossible to guess.

This unknown stranger broke form the rangers to stand beside Rogathir who was seated on his throne, awaiting the coming of time to convene the gathering. All of the ranger representatives and powers faced the head of the natural chamber and waited for Rogathir to explain himself and why he had called them all together. Such a gather of ranger sects had not been seen since before the first war.

Let’s see there was Elwain of Dorringwood, the high rangers from the borders of the lost lands, and even general Soren, a commander on the side of the common folk of Kodaia, against the Imperials in the first and second conflicts. Soren was a ranger of rangers, bearing gruesome scars upon his fair face as signs of the battles he’d won. The man’s rough, worn face seemed to mock the place smoothness of the others who’d never fought in a war or felt conflict.

Rogathir beat a staff in his hand upon a root beneath his throne, the thumping reverberated through the room and out between the staggered branches from the trees on either side that met together to form the awning of the chamber. The noise caught the attention of everyone standing before the throne, and Rogathir waited for full attention of the room before speaking.

“Let’s begin, gentleman.” The Prince’s voice was full and warmed the back of the chamber just as much as the front. “We have gathered here for a uniform and manifold purpose which many of you are, as of yet, unaware. Thus, I thank you for your trust and also your forbearance in attending this gathering. My methods were…uncouth, but couldn’t be helped. The gravity of this matter is far too delicate for an idle word to fall on the wrong ears. There are many enemies in our wood; the trees have eyes and ears, and we would do best to hold our tongues in the presence of many foes else our plans will be our ruin.” Heads nodded in agreement with Rogathir’s wisdom and approval at his explanation as to the unorthodox means of their summoning and gathering.

Elwain of Dorringwood, a fair, young stripling of a ranger, was the first of the gathering to speak up.

“Why have you brought us here?” The young man’s voice rang clearly through there chamber in the mountains as he had spoken quite a bit louder than he had intended. The eyes of the elders turned to Elwain. It was uncustomary for the younger to speak before the elders in a ranger gathering. Elwain wasn’t daunted by their gaze, he’d never been one for the formality of these meetings, though this one seemed to be on another level.

Rogathir looked down slowly upon the young ranger with a gaze of chilling steel, his very eyes shamed the lad for his lack of protocol and respect for the order of the gathering. Still, Rogathir answered the young man.

“The elder beings have resurfaced. Aphaliax has been seen raising villages on the outer reaches of the barrens.” Rogathir began, then motioned to waiting eyes of Calvus, the Prince to the borderlands.

Calvus stepped up from the others and turned to face them.

“My people have lived in peace on the skirts of the barrens. It is a hard place to live the ranger way, but we have survived these many centuries. Now that the beast has returned and is raiding and burning things in the night, the tensions between my people and the common folk are high. The people blame rangers for the devastation as their eyes are blinded to believe in the beast and his power. We have already encountered frays and incidents upon my rangers in our own peaceful forests. Blood flows in once hallowed halls of the glades, Aphaliax must be stopped.” Calvus stepped back into his place among the others and Rogathir nodded in thanks for his report.

“Aphaliax is a terror. Many of you here fought with me against the beast in another age and trapped him in a prison without light, but he has returned. Even still, he is merely of the ancients, and reports have reached these mountains that the demon has been awakened in the heart of the marsh.” Rogathir nodded and gestured a hand for anther man to take the floor. This man was dressed drastically different than the others, though he had the same, long, blond hair and fair face, he garments were as many tattered rags with seemed to move as if alive as he floated rather than walked to the front of the assembly.

This was Glade, of the Orynx, called Forbidden Wood, he was a ranger without a faction or sect, but one often utilized for his valuable information as he roamed Kodaia unseen and unnoticed. The tattered tassels of his garments were statically charged and thus always moving against one another and away from themselves, making it impossible to determine the next motion of the man. Such was his way.

“I have heard screams from the deepest dungeons in Agva’s hoard. Otherworldly cries and reports of the dead coming back to life. Many of this gathering know I have been watching Agva for years, noting his strengths, determining his weaknesses, seeing him grow in power as he was in the olden days.” Glade paused and paced the front of the assembly, floating over the ground, his long, tattered garments obscuring his feet as he flowed over roots and rocks in the chamber without stumbling. The ground of the chamber was as natural as the covering of trees, the forest floor combined with the rocks of the mountain to create a rather rough meeting room.

The mountains encircled this gathering house, obscuring it from sight at nearly any vantage or distance, the ideal place for obscure personages to share dangerous information. Glade continued his reports as he eyed the crowd determining their allegiances. One thing Glade was infamous for was his ability to read people, and he read them like children’s books.

“Agva has a new weapon; one engineered to be devastating. One that Jame’s Savoor hand crafted: Khali, the witch of Kodaia.” At these words and the mention of Khali’s name, the entire gathering gasped, Rogathir, who knew the news was still immensely troubled. He motioned for Glade to remain at the head of the assembly, but took the speaking floor from him.

“We have seen this coming in forebodings and forewarnings for quite some time. This council knew the dangers with which James Savoor tampered and now we find ourselves in a unique time. The evil of Khali may soon be unleashed, and know what power she possesses. For anything of Agva is of Xuum. Let us pray the devil itself remains hidden in the shadows from which he was born.” The Prince of the Ethirim spoke with foreboding in his voice that caused the green in the trees to grey and the light coming through the branched roof to cease.

The universe knew Xuum by name and feared his power, as it should. No beast of the elder days hated more the green and the beauty of the earth than Xuum, the demon of slime and darkness. An insatiable bloodlust for human flesh and a deep perversion of light and good gave Xuum a reputation darker and more fearsome than any other elder creature.

“If he has awakened, and again breathed his power into a mortal, it may well be that Agva’s return to power is a greater threat than we imagine. And if Khali has been turned, the power within her and Xuum’s possession of her body could be devastating to peace and light.” Glade resumed his report, though this part was more conjecture and speculation, it was as unsettling as if it had been set in stone.

Darkness was awakening in the depths of the earth for a final surge to demolish good and light from Kodaia and the far reaches of the west. This could only mean one thing? The ranger’s knew well the balance of the universe, that darkness only rose to depose light, and evil seldom showed its face unless good was on the rise.

“The chosen one must be close to their emergence.” Rogathir addressed the entire assembly as Glade returned to the crowd, the common man standing next to Rogathir said not a word but simply observed the proceeding. Many wondered what part he played in the course of events or perhaps what was to be decided upon for action. “Darkness would not make such an effort to reveal itself unless light was gaining strength in the west. Now all that is left is to decide what we must do to protect this light.”

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Thanks for reading episode 28!

We begin the final chapter of this story with a looming evil as we come fast to an unresolvable end. How will this story conclude? Upvote, share, comment, (please), all that jazz:) You're epic!

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For More Episodes:

Episode 1-…it all began when…
Episode 2-…an East wind…
Episode 3-…ghosts in the night…
Episode 4-…where am I?…
Episode 5-…a forgotten past…
Episode 6-…an old friend…
Episode 7-…the dragon’s mouth…
Episode 8-…born of shadows…
Episode 9-…into the after…
Episode 10-…midnight witch hunt…
Episode 11-…dead man walking…
Episode 12-…finding the sky…
Episode 13-…the lady brilliant…
Episode 14-…in the wind…
Episode 15-…just hanging around…
Episode 16-…one with nature…
Episode 17-…into the woods…
Episode 18-…long lost love…
Episode 19-…this is awkward…
Episode 20-…back to reality…
Episode 21-…city of blood…
Episode 22-…the chosen one…
Episode 23-…a devil’s lie…
Episode 24-…the gospel truth…
Episode 25-…before the council…
Episode 26-…it is coming…
Episode 27-…the real virus…