∞ Chapter 1

Jaka'liel Arahan stood atop the 7th tower, the manifestation that represented the most eclectic and difficult of keys. The key that had first allowed Sirion to conquer the world the way it did.

Even as he walked the spiraling stairs to the top of the tower, he saw the gemlights lining the walls flashing as they went out one by one. He was in shock. How could something like this be happening?

People all over the world would have had to start destroying the gates at the same time to accomplish something like this, but how? How could they have coordinated everything so perfectly? The dominions alone were not capable of this, unless...unless they were involved somehow.

Jak glanced down at his pale white digits, and thought of his mother. He thought of her fangs gently gracing his neck as she whispered ancient dökkalfr rhymes into his ears. How they bit each other and exchanged blood. The rhymes had never once failed to comfort him, to allow him a peaceful and undisturbed rest. Not until today, that was.

Now she was out there by his fathers side, his Master, Ma'tuum Blacktongue holding back the horde of ants at the southern gate.

Jak did not need a telescope to observe the battle, for he pulled back his eyepatch and gazed upon the field with his inheritance, a blood red iris that pulsed sinisterly, surrounded by a black void.

That eye was more than capable of observing things from afar. Huge armies surrounded the city on all sides, stretching as far as his eye could see. He couldn't see the sand for the people. Jak saw banners of every nation there, the largest presence being Dorwine of course.

It didn't come as a surprise to him. The Dorwinians had always fancied themselves the true leaders of the Empire, yet they had not the strength required to rule. Not alone.

Scattered among the endless sea of people, Jak saw his trainers standing alone, carving huge swaths through the enemies by themselves, as the four elements flowed wildly from them in impressive bursts of raging destructive magic.

The people who had trained him. Drom'mel Duruhan of the Quaking fist, Liris Wadhan, the Icy death, Old man Kal Enthana, and of course, his father. Kagoreh'liel Arahan.

They stood in a loose square formation, lone defense against the assault on the northern side, and with them stood his mother, darkness swirling around her diminutive form as she flickered about the battlefield ripping people apart with her bare hands, tearing arms from sockets, blood spraying in her wake as she plowed through the numerous ants. Too numerous.

Jak got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he watched the endless armies converging on Heabury from all sides.

His fists clenched as he watched the ever increasing expanse of pandemonium spreading before him. He should be down there with them, fighting to his last, taking with him as many as he could. A last stand to make his ancestors proud. He clenched his fists so hard that his nails bit into the palms of his hands, and blood trickled from his hands, dripping onto the floor as he shook with rage.

Oh how he hated them for this, and he swore they would pay. If he had a say in this, they would pay dearly for their crimes. Every. Single. One of them.

With every booming sound below, every sizzle of a spell every clash of magic, his heart died a little bit, withering away as Sirion withered away. Dying as his people died.

How they had managed to arrive here without the border scouts alerting them was a mystery. Jak himself suspected treachery. Half the court was practically against them at this point, and it was all due to him. His failures as the heir, the damned dökkalfr prophecy, the meddling of the Ljosalfr and their damnable Codex Fobius.

Narrowing his eyes, Jak spotted a blurry white light near the horizon. They were there, the damnable Ljosalfr. Watching as always, plotting, scheming, molding fate as they saw fit. If it was the last thing he did, he would see to that so called 'fate' of theirs and destroy it!

Since his parents were holding the north, Jak turned his eyes south. His Master was there. Ma'tuum blacktongue and his regiment of the royal guard held bravely. Even though the royal Entelecheian guard only numbered 113, they were the strongest battle force beside his father's group. And yet they were being pressed back by the endless sea of attackers. Even though Ma'tuum Blacktongue was there with them, they were slowly being pushed back...

The eastern and western sides were being held by ordinary Sirionean soldiers. Of course, each of those soldiers would be worth a hundred normal troops, but even taking that into consideration, they could not hold for much longer.

Especially with the dark clouds that now crested the horizon behind the army of ants. His so called 'people' had arrived, and they were not happy. Jak had a sinking feeling that it would come to this, so he had sent her away before the battle, knowing that she would not survive if she stayed. None would, not against such an unholy alliance as was descending upon them now.

The primordial Light and Dark uniting with each other, joined by endlessly swarming hordes of rebellious humans.

Closing his eyes, he felt the tears flowing down his cheeks and wondered just what the history books would say about them once all of this was over.

Jak gasped, a terrible stabbing pain tore through his body, spreading from the base of his spine. He doubled over the railing nearly falling from the sky-piercing 7th tower.

Blood spurted from his mouth. Then the magic surged, and he laughed.

He laughed and cried until the world blurred and faded away. He knew now, why his parents had insisted on him going to the 7th tower. Why the 7th key master had followed him instead of joining the battle. Jak wondered just how huge the crater would be. Just before his consciousness was totally consumed by the inky black void, Jak heard a sharp tearing sound as if reality itself was being ripped apart.

Just as he felt the unimaginable destruction ripple forth from the anomalous 7th key vortex, darkness consumed him and his consciousness faded.