It had been a day since Laya had fallen to the demons. Jedin and Jerith had been walking on an old road that followed the east shore of Lake Laya as they traveled north. In the distance, they could see the ruins of Eluthane, a city which had fallen in the time of the old war. It had been home to Dezin, the last wizard king to have held the Ice Wand. Jedin had known that Aljen had been an apprentice to Dezin before the ancient war, but not much more was known of the old king.

The once-majestic shattered towers of the old city loomed before them as they traveled toward it. The sun was low in the sky, and it would be dark by the time they got to there, so they decided to stay the night in the ruined city.

“I think we will stay in the castle tonight,” stated Jedin cheerily.

Jerith looked at Jedin as if trying to figure out what he was so happy about. “Thanks for informing me, I suppose,” he said flatly. 

“Well if we have to stay the night here we might as well spend time exploring something interesting,” Jedin said, feeling more excited to go exploring.

Jerith rolled his eyes; Jedin bit back a laugh. He really did wonder about the man’s personality. Jedin didn’t know if he even had a sense of humor, and that did make him chuckle. When he thought about it, he didn’t think that he had ever heard him laugh. Oh well, Jedin thought.

They eventually reached Eluthane, and though the city was cast in twilight, Jedin looked around in awe.  The walls were overgrown in vines, and many of the buildings were fractured. The place looked ghastly, yet wondrous. They walked through the winding broken roads as they made their way to the abandoned castle. Much of their path was covered in grass, and moss covered the lower reaches of the buildings. Soon they stood before the castle. Jedin studied it with a look of fascination on his face. Much of the structure looked solid, but parts of the walls had gaping holes in them. I wonder how much of that is from age and decay, and what is from the battles that ruined the city, thought Jedin with an intrigued grin.

The ruins were on the banks of the of the North River that ran into Lake Laya; that would have to be crossed tomorrow, but Jedin thought little of that now.

They pushed aside what was left of the rusted old iron doors to the keep’s entrance, and immediately the smell of damp mold filled their nostrils.

Jedin produced an orb of magic light as they entered the dark chamber. “Well, it could use a small touchup, but aside from the cobwebs, it looks like it’s in real good shape,” said Jedin as he walked toward the other end of the room.  Jerith shook his head, and Jedin did a double take when Jerith snorted a quick laugh.

The inside of the keep’s walls looked like it was made of dark granite that shimmered oddly in the magic light. At the opposite wall from the entrance, there was a large archway, and before the arch there were several white marble pillars that supported a balcony. I wonder how you get up there, thought Jedin as he made a mental note to investigate.

Jedin wandered through the archway to the next chamber that seemed to be the throne room. Jerith remained in the archway as Jedin walked over to examine the throne.

The seat was rotted away, but the carved stonework of the throne was left largely intact. In the base, there seemed to be a metal hatch that crumbled when Jedin tried to pry it open. Jedin reached into the base of the old throne and withdrew its contents: a book that was surprisingly whole. That’s odd, Thought Jedin, I wonder what magic someone would put on a book to make it do that.  Jedin began to flip its pages. It seemed to be the journal of Dezin.

Paneiros has opened three gates that lead to other worlds in the forest of Eli En. He has moved the army of that cult following him into the worlds

-Dezin

Paneiros’ forces are holding the territories surrounding the woods. We are not yet sure, but I believe this odd power that Paneiros channels is the energy of our own darker natures.

The other wizard kings have come at my request to counsel on the matter. Aljen was glad to see his sister when she came with Palmer. 

-Dezin

As Jedin read, he went to cast a spell that would have made the pages shine for reading, but when he touched the book with his spell, it reacted with the book, and an apparition of a man wearing odd robes stood above him in the air.

“Jedin, I am the memory of Dezin, a wizard king of an age long past,” said the apparition as Jedin stood in shock. “That Paneiros that you read about in my book was a mage that had been under my tutelage. However, he gave into the power of a profound darkness, an evil influence bound to this world. He sought to control this power, but it controlled him as much as he controlled it. Once Paneiros had completely given over to the dark influence, they merged and blended together and became the terrible Dark Force. The merge lent the dark energy a will, and as the Dark Force, Paneiros’ already great magical power was augmented. His twisted demon armies attacked this world and the wizard kings fell.

“After my death, my apprentice, Aljen, and his Sister, Laya, lead the battle against the Dark Force.  Aljen vanquished the Dark Force in part, and sealed the gates between the worlds.

“I have watched the events of this part of the world for the past thousand years. Moira’s work to restore the Dark Force is near complete, and he will regain all of the power that he once had.

“You, Jedin, are a true descendent of Aljen, and have great magical potential, but that will not be enough to stop the Dark Force in this age.”

“Then what can be done to stop him?” asked Jedin.

“You have and must gain allies that will give you strength that you need to fulfill this task.  Only then can you stop the return of the Dark Force…” With that, the apparition of Dezin vanished.

“But…” said Jedin; he had so much he wanted to ask.

“Well Jedin,” said Jerith who had walked up behind him, and put a hand on his shoulder, “It looks like Volerum rests on you. Just know you can count on me to be one of those allies.”

“Thank you Jerith. I knew I could, but it still remains to be asked: what are we to do now?” said Jedin.

“I don’t know Jedin. I don’t know,” was the reply.