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armies and we serve the dark lord. When you are ready we will lead you to your first trial.”

  I didn’t know what to do I thought I completed my goal a simple farm boy finding where he came from. I never would have imagined that I would be changing the face of the world. Was it something I wanted to do or did I want to sit back in silence content on what has happened? I told him I needed time to prepare and I needed my companion brought to me I ripped a piece of my leather shirt off and handed it to him. Beast would recognize the smell and follow I found him to be a smarter creature than I ever thought.

  The man left swiftly down the tunnel I came in when I first arrived. I slowly paced the room seeing openings that were not there when I first came here. The other men in the room had scattered several went their own while some followed behind the one I gave the errand to. An hour had passed as I heard the sound of metal clanking and men shouting.

  Several men came through the opening quickly making room for the large animal behind them. Beast saw me before I saw him he trotted towards me knocking a few of the men over in the process. Seeing him brought comfort to my heart I met him halfway and patted the top of his snout. I looked in his eyes and heard a gruff voice in my head that shocked me, “I happy, you good.” I jumped back in surprise because the voice was coming from Beast!? “What, I stink?” he began to sniff profusely.

  The first knight who spoke to me returned to my side and explained the powers of the lord’s helmet. It was a helmet that changed sights, sounds and thoughts into an understandable form for the wearer. I laughed…I don’t laugh I have never laughed but there it is for everyone to hear the feeling of contentment began to overwhelm me. I told them I needed to rest and I would prepare for their trials.

  They led the two of us down several corridors, past chambers of armor clad soldiers sparring with weapons and magic as I passed each one they all stopped and bent down to one knee. They finally brought us to a door that was three times as big as my furry companion. It was made of black stone that reflected every light that was close to it. I walked up to the door and saw my reflection disappear after a moment and the doors slowly swung inward.

  The floor glistened black reflecting all light which at the moment was nothing but torches lining the walls. Every inch of the room was made from the same black stone its mirror like surface bore no scratches no scuffs it was…..perfect. Beast and I entered the room seeing only a single large desk in the center of the room. Its four legs melted into the floor leaving no seams. There were carvings on it that matched what I saw on the throne, spikes and skulls seemed to be the dominant form of decoration.

  Beast walked past me and began to sniff around I could hear a few words muttered from him, “stone, dark lake, no meat.” Were a few utterances I paid him no mind. I walked up the desk and a chair formed underneath me made of the same materiel as the desk I sat down and looked the place over. I thought of where I would sleep and a bed formed in the far corner it looked like a tomb but was lined with black velvet and the mattress looked comfortable.

  The first knight came behind me and whispered in my ear, “When you are ready speak with Belatuse he will be your guard he is our most trusted protector and will be waiting outside your chambers.” I waved the knight off; he backed away and left my chambers. The doors closed quietly as he left leaving Beast and I alone in the room.

  I allowed several servants into the room to bringing us an assortment of food and beverages. After a few witty spats with Beast over dinner I began to wonder about the Alcheema and wanted to learn more of their… our history. I tried to visualize a study with books about my kind and slowly a bookshelf formed on the wall to the right of the desk. Beast became tired and fell asleep; I studied a multitude of books that night, mostly learning the history of my kind.

  The writings of our ancestors were very strange not many descriptions very simple and to the point. It took me awhile to get used to their way of writing and after a while I began to enjoy their style. Simplicity over unnecessary description, points of importance over useless ramblings.

  It seems the Alcheema have been here since the dawn of time we were the first created, for thousands of years we lived alone and peaceful. We were loyal to the darkness that created us and had no want for anything else. Five thousand years ago there was a shift of the world and islands began to crash into our lands forming high mountains and large valleys they did not see the presence that controlled these events it was not the darkness that moved the land.

  The creatures of light flooded into our lands killing and eating our livestock destroying our forests for their homes. The Darkness spoke, the earth quacked with anger and the seas began to boil. Our people gathered at the plains of Lindarrass; there we made a stand against these new creatures these….humans.

  They tried to tell us that they were only trying to live; their homes were bare and they needed supplies to build. Their ignorance was astounding their disruption immense they had already tainted our lands with their lights of ambition. We told them at the plains they were to leave and never return to our borders. We waited five days for them, on the dawn of the sixth day an army appeared from the horizon carrying long spears and shields made a metal we did not know. They charged.

  The first lines were quickly destroyed by our magic and we lost no one. The first lord Kroxus stopped us from continuing the fight taking it to their lands and wiping them out. Kroxus had decided to make them slaves which he thought would be a better punishment for them. 100,000 humans were kept alive to be used by the Alcheema.

  Thousands of years later humans had become a part of our lives a supporting workforce of slaves to build our empire. Their ability to breed however was almost uncontrollable we had to separate men from women to try and control the population. We gave them separate villages of men and women which was a mistake.

  There was no way to stem their growth so we gave them the illusion of freedom. They built their places of worship to the light but we had puppets in charge of any leadership, their markets, and their schools all run by the Alcheema. Humans still were not allowed to harm or touch an Alcheema this was punishable by family death.

  There was one human who in secret learned to manipulate and control the magical forces in the world; Dallente. Under their very noses he was learning immense power not only for himself but to train other humans as well. Soon there were enough of these mages to incite revolts across the land acting like brushfires that could not be stopped. We should have wiped them out, genocide would have saved our people, our world…………..

  The Tower Witch had already told me some of this information so I skipped several chapters and had come to the summoning. The summoning started a few years after the rebellion; we were in hiding waiting to strike when the time was right. The sixth lord Dralluckrus and his coven of magic-users began a spell that has lasted through the millennia. They had a created a focus point for our power making a direct link to the darkness. All Alcheema are drawn to the pits where the focus is located.

  I turned the page to find it was blank; I was looking at future history that hasn’t been written yet. My eyes lifted as to the glare of flickering light coming from the wall. I spent the rest of night deciding, understanding who I was….who we were and what needs to be done. A doorway formed when I felt I needed some air leading to a balcony. I stepped out to a starless sky sitting above a dirt covered valley I looked down a saw thousands of warriors looking up at me with hopeful eyes. Not a single mark of white or silver marred the crowd and I knew what the significance was why my hair is brown. I never expected a sight like this, it almost overwhelmed me and soon a familiar sensation passed over me.

  I closed my eyes and let the power wash over me bursting into the light of blue fire followed by a deafening roar from the crowd. They began to grunt in unison, chanting banging there weapons together I felt invigorated, strong unstoppable! I raised my axe high and replied to their instant silence, “Ye
s, we have lied in wait for too long letting the creatures of light breed, squander and destroy our world. Soon we will rise and wipe them from our home; we will find every creature belonging to the light and remove them from our existence. The darkness will reign once again and cover this world!”

  The army roared with excitement I could feel their energy, if it was a physical force it would have knocked me over. I turned and entered my chamber again leaving the crowd to their joys. I opened my chamber doors and found my guard and told him I was ready. He nodded and quickly ran down the hallway. I left beast sleeping surrounding by scraps of his meal he looked content and I knew I would have to do this alone.

  I met the first knight halfway down the hallway. He told me the first trial would be of strength and combat I was to be placed in a dark pit with five Ogles, large, vicious, disgusting creatures known for eating their victims alive. He removed his helmet showing his dark skin, his faced scarred from many battles but he held them with pride.

  He told me the second trial would be of my mind and had no more information I would be alone for that one. The final trial would place me in front of the dark lord himself