The Awakening

by Ryan Sova

  While the sorcerers were indeed a very powerful force, they would not have had the power to subjugate the entire human populace without the help of their non-magical counterparts. The magical energy needed to fight the entire human race would have been too much for them, even if the entire Unbardigo Order united in this fight. Therefore, the sorcerers used their power to keep the people in fear while they simultaneously used their army to maintain a brutal control over the masses. It was a cruel system that had worked remarkably well for thousands of generations.

  Having been raised by a non-magic family, Noah could see the Unbardigo Order for what it truly was—a cruel and evil form of government. His talent for magic had been discovered much by accident by a traveling sorcerer, just as Nephal and Eliak had been discovered. In addition to his talent for magic, Noah also had a knack for befriending people. Over the years of his magical training, he had developed a strong friendship with a large group of fellow magical students. Many of these young sorcerers followed Noah when he rebelled against the Unbardigo Order, forming The Council of the Magi.

  When the rebellion began, Noah got word out to the non-magic masses using his family and other non-magic friends. The rebellion didn’t immediately start with violence. This was because of the fact that Noah’s goal was not to overthrow the Unbardigo Order. Instead, he wanted to lead people to freedom.

  At first, Noah and his Council of the Magi were able to orchestrate a mass exodus of the common folk without raising too much alarm. It would not take long, though, before their activity was discovered by the Unbardigo Order. The Unbardigo Order responded to this exodus by sending an army to slaughter the fleeing masses. Their mistake, however, was that they did not realize that there were a group of renegade sorcerers leading this exodus. When the army from the Unbardigo Order finally reached the members of Noah’s exodus, what they expected to find was a disorganized group of peasants and farmers. What they actually met was an organized army that was also supported by powerful magic users.

  When the two armies finally met each other on the battlefield, the army from the Unbardigo Order faced volley after volley of magical power that came in the form of tremors, shifting earth, violent winds, fire, and lightning. This magical assault demoralized the army of the Unbardigo Order and put them into a state of chaos and confusion. Noah’s non-magical army then used this chaos and confusion to their advantage and began slaughtering their enemies with a great slaughter, even though their army was less than a fourth the size of the army they faced on the battlefield.

  The battle finally ended with a mass surrender. Many of the soldiers in the Unbardigo army only followed their magic user leaders out of fear. Once it was realized that there was another force that actually had the power to stand up to the Unbardigo Order, the loyalty of many of the men in the army faded. The size of Noah’s army more than tripled that day.

  After their massive victory, many in Noah’s renegade army, including some members of his newly formed Council of the Magi, urged Noah to lead a counterattack into the heart of the Unbardigo Order. Noah decided against this and stated to his followers that such a rash move would most certainly lead to their defeat. Instead, he urged his followers to settle this area and in so doing, founded the city of Bragsdale.

  Eventually, the leaders of the Unbardigo Order tried again and made preparations to make war against Noah’s rebels a second time. Their second army included a large company of sorcerers as well as another massive force of non-magic users. Noah and his rebels were prepared for their coming, though. The rebels of Noah did not have nearly as many magic users as the Unbardigo Order had, which was a definitive disadvantage for Noah and his rebels. But he did have something that the Unbardigo Order did not have, himself.

  Even then, Noah was by far the most powerful sorcerer alive, and while he didn’t necessarily have the strength to stand against the combined magical might of everything that the Unbardigo Order had to offer, he did have another tool at his disposal. Noah had laid enchantments and magical traps around his newly founded city of Bragsdale prior to the coming of this army. These traps were designed to lay dormant and hidden until an intruder spoke in the language of magic and set them off. The traps and enchantments were so well laid out that the sorcerers of the Unbardigo Order’s second army could not find any trace of them when they scouted the area prior to their attack. The only enchantment that they could find was the enchantment that is still in place, even now, blocking unwelcome magic users from teleporting directly into the city.

  When the second army of the Unbardigo Order arrived, Noah’s army fortified the gates of the city to meet them. Before the battle even began, Noah’s followers already knew it was over for their enemies. The second army had marched to the precise location where Noah had foreseen prior to their coming. They were now lined up and in perfect formation for the many traps that Noah had previously laid out for them. Noah’s army waited for the magic users from the Unbardigo Order to speak, to try in their arrogance to tear down the walls of the city so that their armies could invade.

  Finally, the moment at last came. Hundreds of magic users from the Unbardigo Order began speaking, exerting a magical force that they believed would completely overpower Noah and his rebel sorcerers. The trap had at last been sprung.

  The men from Noah’s army shielded their eyes from the blasts that rippled through the army of the Unbardigo Order. These blasts were unlike anything that anyone had ever before seen. Noah had ample amounts of time to lay his traps prior to the coming of this army and had managed to exert his full power in each and every blast. Each blast looked like miniature nuclear explosions that vaporized all who were in the blast radius and sent out shockwaves that shattered bones for nearly a full three-mile radius. Noah’s followers were protected from the blasts by a magical shield that was erected just in front of the city gates, which was also hidden from the view of the sorcerers from the Unbardigo Order.

  Suddenly, and in the blink of an eye, the battle was over. An army of nearly three-million lay mangled and crippled on the ground just outside the gates of Bragsdale. The few men who had survived the initial blasts all died within days of the explosions. It was a devastating blow to the Unbardigo Order and one that they never recovered from.

  After their second great victory, Noah was anointed as king by his people and was forever known as King Noah from that day forward. This was also when the Kingdom of Noah was first established.

  As for the Unbardigo Order, Noah’s second victory was the beginning of the end for them. After their defeat, their entire empire fell into unrest. The common folk were now emboldened by Noah’s victories and rose up in rebellion. This brought about decades of civil war for the Unbardigo Order that ripped the entire empire apart. But if the unrest with the common folk was not bad enough, there were also major divisions that broke out within the magical community as well.

  These divisions started with two sorcerers who decided to follow in the footsteps of Noah. Herald and Dominic, seeing the chaos that had consumed the empire, secretly began recruiting a group of supporters within the magical community. Then, after they had both formed their own two separate Councils of Magi, they began offering their support to two of the most prominent groups of rebels. The rebels gladly accepted their assistance and soon became allies in the war against the Unbardigo Order.

  During this time of war and death in the Unbardigo Order, the Kingdom of Noah flourished. For Noah’s people, this was a time of great peace and prosperity. During this time, Noah’s people spread out throughout the land, founding cities and towns and expanding the borders of their newly founded kingdom.

  The leaders of the Unbardigo Order were in trouble. The betrayal of Herald, Dominic, and their magical supporters turned the tide of the war with the rebels. Those left who were still loyal to the Unbardigo Order (magic user and non-magic user alike) were forced to abandon their territory and flee north to the frozen ice lands of Farcos. It was here that the Unbardigo Order at last died. Ma
ny perished from hunger, many from exposure, and even more died from civil unrest. Even in this frozen hell, the survivors of the Unbardigo Order could not seem to get along with each other. Civil war tore the remnants of the Unbardigo Order apart. They would eventually separate into two factions—the Vestillian Empire and the Yessitic Empire.

  Back in the free lands, aside from King Noah, who was loved and revered by his people, magic users were generally mistrusted by the common folk. This was disappointing for Herald and Dominic who had defied the Unbardigo Order with dreams of becoming great rulers themselves like King Noah had done with his people. In spite of all this though, Herald and Dominic did not come out totally empty handed. Their contributions to the war effort did, in fact, inspire some loyalty from the common folk, though not nearly as much as they had hoped for. Their followers were but few and, subsequently, the nations that they would found would be both small and weak. When the territory of the former Unbardigo Order was divided up between the newly formed nations, a tiny portion of this territory was given to the nations that Herald and Dominic founded. Most of the land that had once belonged to the Unbardigo Order, though, would be ruled by strictly non-magical nations for many generations to come.

  The Kingdoms of Herald and Dominic would remain small and weak until The War of the Empires in recent years. A twelve-year war where the remnants of the Unbardigo Order, both the Vestillian and the Yessitic Empires, tried to exact revenge on the free people of the Earth and assert their dominance over the world once more. The non-magical nations of the Earth were slaughtered mercilessly at the beginning the war seventy-two years ago and every such nation was violently overthrown. Survivors and refugees from these fallen nations flocked to the Kingdoms of Herald and Dominic. Finally, after all these years, the Kingdoms of Herald and Dominic would become the great nations that their original founders had envisioned. Though, the original founders of these nations never lived long enough to see any of this happen. It was Herald and Dominic’s ancestors that would see these two nations become great world powers.

  None of this would have happened though, had it not been for the Kingdom of Noah. The Vestillian and Yessitic Empires were intent on quickly sweeping through the land and tearing down all of the weak nations first before focusing their attention on the strongest most formidable nation, The Kingdom of Noah. King Noah caught the invading empires off guard with a vicious counterattack before they were able to finish with their murderous plot. This gave the ravaged people from these fallen nations a chance to regroup under their new banners as members of the Kingdoms of Herald and Dominic.

  The fighting then carried on for another eight years before a truce was finally declared. At the end of the war, the Vestillian and Yessitic Empires divided much of their conquered lands at the center of the continent. The Kingdom of Herald claimed the island territories while the Kingdom of Dominic claimed the northern lands. The Kingdom of Noah retained their original territories after the war and now shared a tense border with the Vestillian and Yessitic Empires.

  The boundaries between these nations remained tense for several decades after the war. Then in recent years, the treaty between these nations was modified to allow open trade throughout the continent. Hostilities between the world powers were continuing to decline as time healed the wounds of the past when suddenly, King Noah ordered a complete stop to all international trade within his kingdom and began construction of a wall at the Borderlands.

  Author’s note:

  This diagram is provided to give the reader a visual reference as to the layout of the prehistoric world

  As Nephal and Eliak were walking the streets of Bragsdale learning all about its history, they were both in awe of what they saw. The streets were wide and well-kept with light poles that would glow at night with a magical light, providing light to the city throughout the night. The intersecting roads spread out for miles within the city. Before witnessing this city for themselves, neither Nephal nor Eliak would have believed that any man-made community could have ever grown to become this big. Shops, inns, churches, schools, homes, and just about any form of entertainment imaginable could all be found here.

  At the city’s center was a giant coliseum where hundreds of thousands would swarm to see the weekly games. Whore houses were also in abundance here as well as a vast assortment of gambling halls. As one would gaze around from any corner of the city, they would see buildings and roads stretched out for miles with the occasional massive structure towering above its neighbors. The largest, most magnificent structure, however, was the king’s palace.

  The king’s palace was several times larger than any other structure in the city. It was a giant castle with dozens of towers that stretched to the heavens. The walls of the castle gleamed white with an exceptionally bright luster. The top of each of the many castle towers was bright red and also gleamed with an exceptional luster. It was a magnificent structure that would simply take one's breath away.

  After their tour of the city, Nephal and Eliak went with Atonick to see a late afternoon showing at the theater. The show was called “Randolph and his Kingdom of Misfits”. The play followed the reign of the young King Randolph who had just been anointed as king over the land of Xifalace. This new young king had a terrible lust in his heart for power and glory. He longed for the day when he would, at last, have a kingdom of his own to rule over. What Randolph did not anticipate though, was that his new kingdom was infested by a meddlesome race of creatures that were known throughout the land as kender. These kender looked almost like the young king's new subjects, except that they were much smaller. They were mischievous little creatures and had a knack for getting into places that they were not supposed to. Their absolute favorite place to break into though would be Randolph’s personal chambers. There, they would make off with things such as the king's nighttime clothes, his toiletries, and an assortment of other meaningless things. These creatures posed no real threat to the new king but nonetheless, managed to find an unending number of clever ways in which to drive him crazy. The show was a terribly amusing comedy that had Nephal, Atonick, and Eliak laughing from beginning to end.

  After the show, the three went to one of the many inns in Bragsdale. They were met there by Heragald. As the three entered the inn, Heragald invited them to her table.

  “You boys enjoying the city?” she asked.

  Nephal answered, “Yes we have been, very much so! This city is so massive, with so much to see and do, I have never seen anything like this before in my life!”

  The three men joined Heragald at her table. After a short while, a waitress arrived asking each of them what they wanted to have for dinner. Each of the members at the table made their order. The waitress then quickly jotted the orders down on a small pad of paper just before leaving.

  While waiting for their food, Eliak asked Heragald a question. “How long is it going to take before Nephal and I will be able to cast spells ourselves?”

  Heragald answered, “That depends. Some students learn faster than others. The language of magic is a tricky thing to master and there are other challenges that you will face as well, but this is not the place to discuss such things. Better to save those questions for your new teacher, Atonick, tomorrow during your first lesson.”

  Atonick continued, “For me, it took almost a full year.”

  The table went quiet for a few moments, then Nephal asked a question, “Is it true that King Noah can see into the future?”

  Heragald paused a moment thinking of a response, then answered, “That’s a tricky question to answer and not a thing that I would discuss openly here even if I had a clear answer to give you.”

  There was a slight pause, then Heragald continued, “Now listen to me closely gentlemen. You are a part of our order now, and as such, you are going to learn things that must not EVER be shared with the general public. While neither of you have said anything YET that would be considered treasonous, be very careful with what you say in public. I am going to give you
a rule that I want you to live by from now on. Whatever you hear in the palace stays in the palace. Are we clear on this rule?”

  Both men nodded their heads and then answered in unison, “Yes ma’am.”

  Heragald continued, “Good, even sorcerers can be beheaded for treason. I have seen it happen too many times. As for your question Nephal, I will talk with the King tonight before he retires. Maybe he can drop in sometime during your lesson tomorrow. He is really the only one who can give you the answers that you are looking for about time travel.”

  The table then went quiet for a short while. After a few minutes of silence, Heragald addressed Atonick, “Atonick, when we get back to the palace make sure that our two new students receive their robes.”

  Atonick responded, “Yes ma’am, I was already planning on doing so. Earlier, before we left the palace, I spoke with the house servants and requested a full set of student robes for Nephal and Eliak. They should both have the robes in their rooms by now, but I will check and make sure before I retire for the night.”

  Heragald then addressed Nephal and Eliak, “After today, you two will not wear anything aside from your sorcerer robes. The only time in which you will be excused from this requirement is when you are alone in your bedchambers at night. Are we perfectly clear on this requirement?”

  Both Eliak and Nephal nodded their heads and then answered, “Yes ma’am.”

  The food from the kitchen arrived moments later. After taking his first few bites of food, Eliak exclaimed, “By God, this food is delicious!”

  Atonick smiled and then responded, “Welcome to Bragsdale!”

  After the group had finished eating, Nephal addressed Heragald, “If I learn how to teleport in the coming years, will I be allowed to teleport home from time to time so that I can visit my wife Debra and our son Joseph?”