MEMORIES OF ICE

A Chapter by Ugo-Peter

The fall of an ancient monarch and the greatest city in Old-Earth. Thus beginning a new era, a new age.

PRELUDE

“A Dark Age they made it, the war of Kings they named it, peace is dead and hope has lost its way. The sun refuses light on a land stripped of honor; darkness has befallen what’s left of man. The one King has fallen to betrayal, the one child a shadow cast into nothingness. Who shall preserve innocence in a malign world? Who shall be the bane of darkness?”

They say the eyes of men is the window to their soul, they say in their heart lies both the will to create and to destroy, they say in their voices you find truth and deception, they say in them you find valor and cowardice, love and hatred, ire and calmness. In this world, our world the Old-Earth, the will of men had coursed in a right path until this day where they shall scruple, choosing one conscience and casting away the other. The legend of the lightborn had faded with the setting sun and soon it shall become a myth, a fable and thence only but a figment in the heart of men.
They do not Know but he has awoken, he who watches from the depth of the abyss, he who was scorned by the bearer of light, he who they call the world eater. Oh, where shall I rest my soul to keep it from the foul darkness that shall besiege the lands of my father; he who had come and is to come is no more to keep us from harm. They who are ignorant shall meet their end ignorant, for the one who betrayed his creator hearkens to neither pleas nor bargains, his steadfastness is his strength, he is coming, oh yes, he is coming...
                          �" Passage from the Tome of Truth, by Theodore the Archimandrite.

Gilgerbesh, third day of the sixth month, Leo; dawn of summer
1st year of Golden Age (G.A)

It was magnificent, the white palace the first men called it. There in the vast chamber, at the far end stood a throne, a wonderful craftsmanship of the early men. A throne with the statue of a large dragon resting above the head, sculpted with onyx as it sits with its wings spread out. In the heart of the city, the palace rests. That city that has kept an undying glory, ages upon ages. From the Early to the Golden age, its reputation is clouded by fame, warring and tranquil days, yet it stands the ever magnificent Gilgerbesh the White city, the city that holds the heart of men.
On this day the King sat on that throne, there was nothing to do except relive his achievements. The war of Kings has ended, he has finally subdued the five kings of the Steelmen, conquering their kingdoms amidst fierce resistance and malicious intents. Alas the halcyon days beckons, the beginning of a new era, which he would call the Golden age of men. Soon the crown would rest upon his head, where he shall be proclaimed King of the Four Ends.
The King sat, spreading his arms on both handles of his throne , depicting statues of serpents carved in high relief. He was flanked by hundreds of his Blackguards; fierce men wielding long lances, clad in black cuirass and plumed helms. They stood abreast behind the large glyph adorned walls of the palace, where long curtains flowed down and on them were imprinted a flaming dragon; stoic sigil of the king.
The King leaned forward as his children approached. The twin wonders of the empire, they were called Gemini. The girl, graceful as ever, walked elegantly and kissed her father's cheek. She sat beside him and combed his hair gently. The boy, rash and brash, came with masculine strides. A quiver resting on his back, a bow on one hand and on the other he held the leg of a hind, dragging it on the quartz floor.
"Father," he bowed to show courtesy. “Look what I caught, it was an impeccable hunt free from the wrath of airy spirits of the forest."
"You said the words to appease the mother of the woods I suppose?"
"Indeed father."
"Then come, leave the servants to tend to your kill. I would join in savoring it after your lessons."
A white cloaked figure went past the guards at the door; the sweet scent of jasmine hovering around him ascended and filled the palace chamber. He walked as if his toes did not touch the floor, drifting past the columns and finally he stopped before the king and bowed his head.
The King turned to his children, “this is the philosopher, Theodore the Archimandrite. He would be your new tutor,” he walked out with his guards.
The philosopher stared at the duo, “The Gemini, Aenock and Ariel. It's an honor to be your tutor"
"It will be a privilege to learn from you" Ariel replied with her sweet feminine smile.
"Indeed, we shall be the judge of that" Aenock turned his face grudgingly.
"Good sire, forgive my brother for he hates learning yet he is smart"
"There is nothing to forgive, my lady."
The philosopher opened a scroll, "The King has asked me to teach you the use of runes"
"I have an idea," the boy came strongly. “Why don't you tell us the origin of our world, what happened in the early days of men?"
"Yes!" the girl added. “Father would not tell us despite our continuous pestering."
"Well, I see no harm in learning the recount of our genesis. But I must warn you, it is a dark tale."
Theodore sat on a chair and narrowed his gaze. “It was the genesis of our world, the Old-Earth," he began.
"The dawn of the first era, where the rivers, moor and mountains were unoccupied. Where the moon and sun held no sway, where no one gazed at the stars or breathed freshness of the morning wind, where darkness and light loomed in splendor, where the sands of the earth stood untarnished. Then they came in the abode of darkness, plummeting from the sky like balls of fire, radiant as the purest beings. They who would be called Mer, first of races to inhabit the world. They were the servants of the Creator, a hierarchy of sentient beings searching all ends of the new world for something they believed malevolent and corrupt. Eons passed like days to them, they who are the Ethereal. They roamed the world until finally they found the Darkness, the entity that was born a mistake by the Creator, an entity that wielded a potency that could rival the Creator himself. It was then that the Arch, the one who would lead the children of the creator fell to will. Drawn to the one power borne in the Darkness, he claimed it heartily, reborn with destitute of virtues, power and destruction became his will for the Darkness would give but would also take. He turned to his brethren and commanded his will to corrupt and contaminate, thus many became tainted and few hid from his ever watchful eyes.
The Arch favored darkness, whipping his powers to the sky, a dark cloud blotted the sun. On the highest peak he would stand to gloat, but then a bolt of lightning amidst roaring thunder and rainless cloud struck his heart, and from thence fell something he would not know. Soon another being sprouted beneath the ebon sky, a willful and hardy race of corporeal beings and would could themselves Men. Men grew in numbers and intellect, some worshiped the Mer and Arch calling him their god Acheron. Soon others found their purpose on a new world, the purpose the Creator made them for. The world would not fit two races and the Creator made sure of it. Men came against the darkness that loomed in their world, raising steel against the Mer. They were the First Men, first to be ruled by powerful kings, in their numbers they fought their adversary and surprisingly they fought the potent Mer to a stalemate. The will of Acheron was strong. But on the night when men gathered amidst bonfires, something plummeted from the clouds, darting through the air in a large ball of fierce flames. From that flame an Ethereal would become a Kin to Men, a king that led them; he would begin the legend of the Lightborn, who brought an end to the very first war, a war that lasted a thousand years, the Battle of Solitude. He fought the armies of Acheron, steel upon steel and then he commanded the fiery winged beasts of the sky. Upon these beasts he rode, scorching the Mer with fiery breaths and sending them to the world beyond. But Acheron was beyond death, he had become death itself. He was bounded with chains, fated to be imprisoned for eternity beyond the borders of Men."
Theodore stopped and Stared at his audience, “perhaps there is a reason the King did not tell you this, and I must stop here for the sake of sanity."
The King strode in with his Blackguards, their feet clattering on the crystalline floor. He ascended the dais and walked to his children.
"Go get some sleep, tomorrow will be a stressful day."

   The words "you shall be the greatest being to walk this earth, but the world should never know of your existence; If they do then the tug of balance shall begin and whatever end you weigh upon shall determine your role in a malign world." said to him by his father, Kept running through his head all night long. The morrow shall mark his twentieth year, the white palace shall hold his rite to adulthood and the crown of the world shall be placed on the head of -the one true King- his father. Could you tell a boy not to look forward to manhood, when even in the frail nature of his mind the festive grew ripe. He could hear the clanking bells at the hands of the Vail mages during a procession, feel the golden cuirass of the Fierce strapped to his chest, see the legendary tethered blade once said to have slain Mer and banished Neiheims, all beckoning. He saw himself before the world, radiant as the sun, with the loftiest exaltation. His father’s legendary Blackguards at his side with their swords stretched out; a gesture of greatness. A true son of Gilgerbesh he is, and the undying light of the Great Kings past shall shine through him.
   An acrid taste of burning peat filled his breath, and with a little support from a feminine scream thumping down his ear, Aenock woke up into the reality dawn held. He stared at his twin with a drowsy eye, the girl stood stripped of poise, crying at a corner. He didn't understand, it was to be a day of boisterousness clouded by jitters enveloped in enthusiasm, or so he thought. Throwing his gaze at the window, he sprung hurriedly from his bed as he witnessed the diabolical Horde forcing their way into the city. He ran towards her and offered a warm hug; his love for his sibling knew no bound. He assumed a protective role going for his spear, but then Lowin of the Blackguards came with a gloomy look, it spelt ‘The King is either dead or dying'.
"Go for safety!" Screamed the weary guard.
   On his way to safety, he speared and slayed. Finally an abode beckons, Aenock fastened his twin on a black steed, and that was the last he saw her. Back at the palace he searched for his father but all he saw was the blades. A young man came to him bearing a fiery look, laying his sword on the floor he swore fealty to a hopeless prince, swearing to fight until death call them to an eternal rest. They fought valiantly, but the deed had been done, the Horde of the one they call 'Destroyer' had ravaged the Beautiful city and yet they seemed unaccomplished.
   The city walls shook heavily, as it stones began to fall consecutively. Then it became obvious to him that the One King- his father- has passed to oblivion as it was always the last act of all kings past to save the secret they guard. He knelt down bowing his head in despair for all was gone.
   For days, Aenock had wandered the unfamiliar route of a gory experience, it felt like been stuck in a desert of desolation, for every move he made , every step he took, every route he traversed, it always took him back to the beginning. all his efforts seemed effortless at certain moments he was filled with tremendous rage clawing its way out of the deepest part of his soul urging him to choose between his unfriendly darkness or the will to beat the odds, it was like been torn between ‘Scylla and Charybdis.’ He succumbed persistently to his temptations and behold vices became his entourage. Upon a stumbling rock he came to an abrupt stop, the future vague, his urges led to isolation, the hole in his heart lies void, the allay of absolution or vengeance still eludes him.
    Standing at the edge of a cliff, the world seemed so small beyond his feet. Dawn approached with its famous beauty, stars faded slowly in the dim sky, the morning wind still as death, the vague red light of the sun seeped through the umbrageous clouds. Water swept through the rocky sea shore, its tide slamming against each other, the trees stood motionless amidst a still air, casting its feathery shadow on the ground, the melodies of a humming bird brought back unwanted emotions. But then all the beauties of this world could not soothe his burning rage, at that moment his whole existence came to one insane move.