Prologue

“Wherever there is light, there will always be darkness.”

Many thousands of years ago, long before the legends of the great Wave Crasher, Zin Alastar, or the tales of the famous Spell Singer, Sharice Kaves, the universe was a very dark place indeed. Chaos reigned supreme as dozens of alien factions sought to establish their dominance.

Amidst this chaos came the unremarkable human race that had traveled from a distant galaxy seeking a new home. Having used up most of the natural resources available on their homeworld, the humans left their galaxy to explore the great unknown in search of a world capable of supporting life. What the early humans could never have imagined was that not only would they find other inhabitable planets in distant star systems, but that they were not alone in the universe.

Aliens, the humans had called them at first; though there was something unmistakably familiar about these creatures, despite the fact that they were most definitely not human. The nonhumans that mankind realized populated most of the universe were very reminiscent of Earth’s ancient legends and myths of old.

Elves from Earth’s fairytales, Werewolves from the horror stories, even Dragons - which had been depicted in some fashion from almost every major culture in human history. Human scientists reasoned that the people only saw the aliens in a spectrum fashioned by their primitive Earth legends, but they soon learned that it went deeper than that. It seemed that extra-terrestrial life had visited Earth before, inspiring much of the mythos and grandeur of early civilizations. However, whereas the aliens had only come to visit out of curiosity, they could see that humankind had come to colonize, and they were much displeased. Salvation for the humans soon turned to doom as they found themselves beset on all sides by powerful alien rivals with not only devastating technology at their disposal, but even more dangerous supernatural powers that none of humanity’s scientists could explain.

To the ancient and uninhabited world of Tarrus did the humans travel. However, unbeknownst to them, this particular planet was considered sacred to many nonhuman races, and therefore was deemed too holy for mere mortals to dwell. Luckily, the aliens ceased their attack of the human convoy after they landed on the planet, the divinity of the world unknown to its homo sapien interlopers. But the threat the nonhumans presented still loomed, and the human race could feel malevolent eyes watching them from the stars, waiting for a chance to strike.

Just as the situation seemed it could not become more dire, an even greater darkness befell humanity. A massive and unstoppable monstrosity appeared in the form of a great Elemental Dragon. So terrible was this beast that not even the formidable aliens dared to oppose it. From the depths of Tarrus’ core did it emerge, and with unyielding resolve to destroy, it set its sights on the dwindling human race. Humanity, once a proud and prosperous people, now stood on the brink of extinction. No weapon forged was a match for this awesome juggernaut. No science could comprehend it.

All seemed lost ... that is until a lone man with a single desire to protect his pregnant wife bravely stood alone against the demonic beast. Despite all warnings to the contrary, despite all his friends telling him that he would die a senseless death, the man gazed into the terrible eyes of the Great Dragon without any technology, without any powers, and without any fear.

Miraculously, the Dragon vanished after its meeting with the human, who returned to his people more than a man. They say that for his courage, the Dragon decided to spare humanity and bless the man as well as all those who followed him or were descended from him. That man’s name was Maranu Toramir, and from his bloodline sprang countless heroes with almost godlike abilities. These heroes went on to forge peace between humanity and their alien neighbors. Seeing the encounter with the Great Dragon as a predestined event, the aliens allowed sanctuary for the human race on the planet of Tarrus.

From the first settlers of Tarrus would later come the Tarrus Empire, and soon after, the Elemental Ministries, whose members inherited their supernatural abilities known as Elemency from the man who faced the Dragon. These men and women became known as Elementals, the liaisons between humanity and the alien races. It is the ancient calling of the Elementals to lay down their lives for the good of the people. This is their legacy.

My name is Zanderius Alastar, and these are my last recollections of what would soon become the great war that has reshaped the very fabric of reality itself ... a war that came to be known as the Final Reckoning. My prayer is that there will be someone left alive to read this when the war is over ... but that is not up to me to decide.

Chapter 1 »