FIREHEART
LEGEND OF THE PALADINS
BOOK ONE
THE BOUNTY HUNTERS
Preface
Terra Eternia
The world of Vadis, Adair and Enia
Created by the One
Kept by the Three
Terra Eternia
Where three live as one
Positive, negative and neutral
Magic, science and nature
Terra Eternia
The world where myths are real
Fantasy is history
Fairy tales are factual
Terra Eternia
The world of dangers and adventure
When light and dark collide
And the neutral shed tears
Just like in our world, our dimension, when all beings live in harmony, Terra Eternia is indeed a beautiful world of love, hope and peace. But when evil – the extreme form of negativity – disrupts the balance, there are always conflicts between good and the Trinity of Evil: hatred, destruction and terror.
Evil once ruled supreme in this world, the Evil named Vordac, the Dark Overlord. His domination was ended by Sage the Fireheart, who assembled the Seven Heroes and waged the First Crusade. Vordac has once rebelled against Adair the Sodomos, the Dark God. Adair defeated Vordac, banished him from the underworld and cursed Vordac to roam in Eternia eternally. As a result of that, Vordac’s spirit can possess mediums or hosts, and after his defeat to Sage, he possessed a medium, the Great Sword Deathblade.
Vordac re-emerged with the help of his host, Mildred Urganon, but he again met a fatal defeat from Fireheart’s son, Antoine the Avenger. And again, Vordac’s spirit found refuge in Deathblade.
And now, that very sword is in the hands of an old man with white long hair, eyebrows, moustache and beard. He is standing in a dark, vast room with another old man and a she-elf.
The bearded man talks,
‘At last, we found the perfect, safest place to keep the sword.’
‘Are you sure, Azrael?’ says the blonde, long, curly-haired she-elf inquiringly, ‘Because, honestly, this room is not inaccessible enough.’
‘I agree with Carolyn,’ says the old, half-bald man with a white moustache. ‘I say we better melt this sword in the lava pit.’
‘I can’t believe a scientist like you would say that, Theripides. If we melt this sword, we’ll destroy it. Vordac’s spirit will be free and possess any of us,’ says Azrael.
‘Hmph, I guess we don’t have a choice, then,’ says Theripides. ‘We have searched for months, and Her Majesty here offered this place although she is not sure either.’
Carolyn responds with a sigh, ‘I guess we have to be satisfied with this place. It has all natural barriers, enough to prevent any being from reaching here. All we have to do now is adding some more to make sure no one can claim the sword, even us.’
Azrael nods and makes a decision, ‘Very well, then, we’ll seal Deathblade in here! I will now create a force field using this orb, and I also need some magical assistance from you two. This will be the final barrier should others fail. So, shall we begin?’
‘Naturally,’ says Carolyn.
‘Anytime,’ says Theripides.
Azrael holds the sword with his outstretched hands, and Theripides casts a spell to keep it aloft.
‘Eleviant!’
Azrael releases the sword and reaches into his pocketed belt. He takes out a silvery-white orb, and places it on his upright palm, and chants,
‘Aegis, ma washtar galatre Kraal’shazar, im gemackt an Corona Infer. (Aegis, please help seal the Deathblade, as the Little Sun is being made)’
The orb reacts and emits violent sparks, then flies towards Deathblade. When the orb touches the sword with a devil carved on its hilt and seven runes of Original Sin carved on its blade, the sword suddenly vibrates very hard. The red eye carved on the blade just above the hilt is widened although it’s alive. A thick aura of darkness comes out from the eye, resisting the power from the white orb.
The orb intensifies its energy, and the sword follows suit. As they reach the peak of their auras, anyone can see a visualization of a thunder bird and a black devil fighting each other. Soon enough, the thunder bird still doesn’t get the upper hand against the devil. Seeing this grim prospect, Azrael decides to help, saying,
‘I’ll begin the sealing process now! The dark energy from Vordac is still too strong for Aegis! Carolyn, help Aegis too!’
While chanting an indistinct, long mantra, Azrael releases threads of light from his ten fingers of his hands. The threads of light spin around the devil and the thunder bird as though trying to cover both of them in a bigger orb.
‘Yggmaishduma!’
Carolyn’s Force of Nature spell is much simpler than Azrael’s, yet more focused, giving more and ever-amplified pressure on the sword and also amplifying Aegis’ power. Under such pressure, the devil’s shadow roars. It amplifies its energy threefold and overpowers Aegis and the three wizards. It now looks like a devil’s shadow with an overlarge, open mouth. It’s going to swallow Aegis!
Knowing that more power is needed, Theripides now shows his speciality: his ability to cast two spells in one time. Using his free hand holding the Chrono Chakram, he casts Meteor Shower. Bolts of fiery meteorites pour down from above, and all focused towards one target: the Deathblade. The battle is in an even footing again, but the wizards need something more – because they don’t know how long they can keep this on. If one of them runs out of mana, all will be lost.
A calm loving smile shows on Azrael’s face. He knows at once that for the greater good, he must sacrifice himself. He stares at Carolyn and Theripides in turns, and then nods. Just then, a layer of light appears, covering Azrael’s body and making him shine dazzlingly. Carolyn and Theripides stare back at Azrael in terror: Azrael is going to cast Divine Retribution, the spell that once made him vanish without a trace – until he was found again about five years later.
Before any of them can say anything to stop Azrael, he already spoke the incantation aloud.
‘Eleison ex Tributalis!’
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