"We're almost ready, my lord." These words would be incomprehensible to any human or creature on Earth. They bounced off of the walls and the ceiling of the giant chasm.
"Make sure everything is complete and fully functional. I do not want a halt before I begin," came a soft reply. The voice, soft as it was, carried a hard edge of steel.
"Yes, my lord. When we are ready to start, there will be no flaws in the design." There would also be no flaws in the attack plan, the engineer thought grimly.
"Good. I want to see the machines in action by the Evernight Celebration."
The engineer gulped. Evernight was a festival held every twenty years, and it marked the fifth extra day. During this time, the magic of the shadows increased fivefold from the first extra day. And it was three short weeks away. But the engineer decided that they would be ready, and Acyris the Shadow Lord would not be disappointed.
After all, it was time they took back their world.
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In the days following his birthday (January 31st), Rivend had decided to get back in the field and do some more cave-exploring. He had contacted a scientific research organization, Underground Exploration Association (UEA), and got a job to explore the Shadows, a system of caves to the southwest of Calgary, Canada. Thus, the preparations began.
On February the 7th(Saturday), Rivend ordered plane tickets to Calgary and bought 3 packs of batteries (buy two get one free), a pack of three flashlights (three for the price of two, but two is the exact price of three), and began training(karate, because you never know, weightlifting, because of that rock in the way, and cardio).
On the 8th, Rivend went for another run, and finished level three in Angry Birds, which he had gotten late last night.
On the 9th, Rivend's schedule held true. Well, except for Angry Birds. He had trouble with one of the levels- can't remember which.
After taking 10 runs, one each day, Rivend started ordering supplies on the 17th. He finished ordering his supplies on the 19th. Everything was ready.
And now to exploring the caves.
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In the days following his meeting with the Shadow Lord, the engineer had made many revisions to the almost-finished design: the ability to transform other magics into pure energy, the ability to bestow normal shades shadow magic, and other mechanisms he saw fit. As the machine was built, the engineer often walked around the mechanism, wondering what else he could add and what he had to remove. He decided upon many things during this time, and decided that he would have to design a public toilet somewhere in the city. After he finished with the machine, of course. It was his first priority.
When it was nearing completion, the engineer realized that he would need a human to test it on. He was not willing to test on the humans in the city; it was better to test on your enemies than your friends. So he decided that he'd take a shuttle into the Blue Ocean. There was another horrible thing about the humans. They didn't bother to keep our names after they took over, the engineer thought. Pacific Ocean? What about the Blue is so pacifying to them?
So the engineer prepared. And he was debriefed. And now he was ready. It was now 12 days before the Evernight.
2: Soul of the Living WorldSoul of the Living World
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They speak of the Great Becoming, the elemental explosion of fire, earth, water, air, as well as life. They say the eternal life is not only possible, but it is open to all. They think it is true. They don't know how wrong they are.
The brights that lived on the earth before the rise of the two-legged creatures were a peaceful group. They helped everybody else. They practiced life magic, healing magics, and made it their life-long goal to master light magic. But, even the new current group occupying our old world knows this: All good things must come to an end. A truer statement has never been known.
When the discovery of new lifeforms and a chance for new life was made public, our race saw new opportunities. We would be free to roam the cosmos, free from our earthly attachment. Alas, that was not to be.
When our first shuttle to the Red World was destroyed, we knew that one of our race was not the cause, not unless they had mastered death magic, destructive magics, and ultimately shadow magic. And that was near impossible, in the near-perfect world of the Living World. We found that we were no longer the only Living World, and that we were no longer the smartest beings of existence, and that we were not ready for this new threat.
We were surrounded, and we had nowhere to run. We made the decision and made our homes deep inside of Earth. Now the humans were allowed to roam as they pleased, tearing up our old lives and imposing their own rules upon it.
We should have taken to the cosmos when we had the chance.
We should have learned new and varied magics to defeat them.
But we didn't, and so we are trapped within this subterranean tomb. We waited our lives out. They forgot about us, as all invaders do, but we have never forgotten about them. Our anger is far more than the red of their former world. It runs deep within our souls, bursting through its walls. And so it runs in us, it runs deep within our world.
We now, as shades, have the ability to take our world back. We would never have the chance as brights.
The Living World is not theirs; it is ours. And we still plan to take it back.
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The engineer had wondered about the humans. What did they look like? Why did they need our earth? Did they just want to satisfy their thirst for blood? The engineer, in the end, had settled for the conclusion that humans were insensitive, hated all lifeforms other than themselves, and also hated themselves. Humans were the prime cause of their own troubles.
These humans will be sorry the day they find out that I'm not only a spy in their masses, but a spy for another race, the engineer thought. The race they hate the most.
And, maybe, just maybe, he could master what the humans practiced: Mundane magic, the ability to increase capabilities inside of oneself.
The engineer was somewhat right. The humans would not be happy.
3: Red World & IoranRed World
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The dawn rose above the metallic red landscape. It made everything look barren, more so than it already was. Gisam looked at his land, bitterly. It was once a green place. Now it was eternally condemned to this eternal blood-red hell. Not one day passed without Gisam thinking and cursing his ancestors. They had not cared for what they left behind - they only cared for the present. They had created a deathly ill planet to pass to Gisam's father's red came from the fuel exhaust that had, over millennia, covered the land in dust and rust. The water supplies had all been contaminated, and so water was processed.
Everything on this diseased planet was perfect poison.
But it was all he knew. He had heard of the other planets, the Shining Planet, closest to their sun, the Bright Planet, the Tropic Planet, the Great Star, the Ringed Planet, and the Sky Blue Planet. Gisam only knew of the color sky blue from descriptions passed from his ancestors, when they still had the skies. Gisam was bitter. Gisam wanted out of his world.
So he sent his best astronomers into the field. Thirty to the Tropic Planet, thirty to the Great Star, and twenty to the Ringed Planet and the Bright planet, and ten to every other.
Twenty-three of them had come back with good news. The Tropic Planet was good, except that there were already lifeforms there. Gisam had told them not to worry about it, that the humans would once again come out on top.
So he sent soldiers. Menacing soldiers, armed with guns, armed with shields, armed with spaceships, armed with conviction. Because Gisam needed them to win, so win they would.
It was thirty years before the news came back: They did not know where the lifeforms had gone, but the had killed as many has they could and it was now safe for humans.
So Gisam sent civilians who wanted to seek a new destiny.
And not too late, either. Their Poisoned Planet would not be able to house humans for much longer. In three years, the Poisoned Planet's orbit was now studied from the Tropic Planet. Nothing was left of its once humming cities, its once green land, its once powerful nations. There was no water.
In time, humans forgot and blended with the animals, displaying such savagery that would've been frowned upon not only by their former selves, but by the aliens that once housed the Tropic Planet.
They learned again.
They created again.
They destroyed again.
The once-alien world of the Tropic Planet was now home. And the peoples that once lived in it were now alien.
But they had seen what had happened to the Poisoned Planet. And they were determined not to let it happen to them.
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Ioran
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Rivend checked his equipment one more time before boarding the train bound to Calgary. Three uneventful hours ensued, Rivend using his phone to keep himself busy.
Once he was there, he decided to stay there for a day. So he ate dinner from a local Italian foods restaurant, took a shower, then went to bed.
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He awoke fresh and recovered. He ate cereal for breakfast, then prepared for the journey ahead.
He walked out of the hotel's doors and waved a taxi over. Instead of opening the door and walking in, he asked, "Can you take me to the Shadows?"
The driver looked surprised for a moment."Sure. You might have to pay extra, since it's outside of the city."
"That's fine."
Rivend opened the door and walked in.
It took another hour before they arrived. Rivend stepped out, stretched his limbs and surveyed his surroundings. The driver did the same.
"Whoa. Nice park. Wanna have lunch together?" the taxi driver asked. "Name's Ioran, by the way."
"Sure. I'm Rivend." It was a nice park, with a few benches and picnic tables.
"So, what brings you to the Shadows?" Ioran asked, handing him a sandwich.
"Well, it's sort of a job," Rivend said, looking around. "Well, I explore caves for researchers."
Rivend was still looking around. Where was that cave? He saw a swingset, a playground, a few tables like his, a parking lot like the one they had parked in, and a small stream, all in the icy white of falling winter.
Ioran noticed him looking around. "Well... The cave's not here. We're actually not there yet." He stopped here and thought for a second. "It may take another hour or so."
"OK. Let's finish lunch and keep going."
"Sure." Ioran agreed.
They finished a few sandwiches each and continued southward.
4: Making the PlungeRivend looked at Ioran. "This is it? An entrance to the Shadows?"
"Yeah, unless you were expecting a behemoth door. I'm telling you, I've been here before while driving south. It's the Shadows's entrance, all right." Ioran said, peering into the inky black depths of said entrance.
It was a shaft into the earth that somehow felt foreboding. Rivend looked into it, and could not see the bottom, even with the noonday sun, and the reflective white snow. What he didn't see, and could not see, was that there was no snow, in a clean line, thirty meters down the shaft.
"Well then, fine. I've risked my life before. But before that..." Rivend looked up mischeviously and pulled out his phone. For a second Ioran thought he had some sci-fi weapon, then realized that he was asking something.
"Phone number?"
Ioran thought quickly. "718-992-0822."
"Wait, where's 718?" Rivend asked while inserting the code in.
"You'll know when you call me. My name is Ioran Diren, and my address is 991 Engineer Avenue. I live in Polar Reach."
"And... Where's that?" Rivend knew an interesting figure when he saw one, and Ioran Diren was turning out to be one. "Oh well," he signalled to Ioran. "Hope we meet again."
Rivend tied a rope to a nearby tree, rock, and another tree. He then jumped into the shaft and started scaffolding the snow down.
The engineer was now out of the inner city Zoumbouke, and was now heading towards the nearest city, Calgary. He had taken a crash course on mental magic, and had a disguise now.
The engineer had then rested in a travel motel with human money for a day, frowning at the accommodations. He had then gone off with some of his shadow magic - he was no master, but he could get by, to move faster. He would have reached Calgary in a day, or rather night (he is revitalized and has more power if left in the dark), but a child stopped him to get him to play with him.
Oh well. It wouldn't be nice to kill a kid. It would draw attention, too, and that was the last thing the engineer wanted. Killing innocent children was just what the humans did.
So the engineer did play with her: Hide and Seek, Tag (he ambled along slowly on purpose), and when the child had to go to bed, the engineer was almost sad to go. He saved a picture of her face in his head.
The engineer continued his journey northward.
About thirty meters down, the snow stopped. Rivend marvelled at the wonder: A straight line of melted snow and ice, and ice flowers right on the point of cutoff.
Right, Rivend thought. I have work to do.
Rivend strung up another rope, and began his descent again.
Another thirty meters down, there were glowing algae in a straight line.
This can't be natural, Rivend thought. He thought he had discovered some ancient civilization's last memory. He was happy.
And he was wrong: Ancient civilization, yes, last memory, no.
5: Point of ViewOnce, long ago, we were kings of the great fertile plain. Now we are reduced to the inhabitants to the metal and rust of our ancestors. Who is to blame? Is it us, or is it them, or is it the Great Deity?
"I don't know why, but I've been thinking overtime. If we could somehow get back our former world, would you do it?
"I would. I know it sounds difficult, but if there is a way, I will find it. This world will no longer be our world. The humans deserve better. I may not be the best ruler, but even I know what will happen to my people if we stay. We will all pay the price - in blood.
"We cannot stay. If we do, we are certain to die. Our world's story must end, don't you see? Everything has a price. And for the humans, the price was losing our homeland.
"Ah... If we can, though, we could settle elsewhere, where the sky blue skies are still ablaze with stars, the green lands uncontaminated with our presence. It may be possible, and if it is, I want to find it."
Isonian King Gisam, the Poisoned Planet (Mars, the Red World), thirty million years ago
"Once, long ago, we were the world's light, the world's greatest race. Now we are reduced to subterranean dwellers, reduced to practicing shadow magic. I know who to blame. Thirty million years ago, the humans took our world. In five thousand, they had forgotten about us. We have not forgotten about them. I have an announcement to make!
"On the eve of Evernight, we will prepare an attack to destroy one of their cities, to show them what we have learned, what we have not forgotten, and what they will regret.
"So I ask you, who among you will join us, who among you will take back our world, who among you is worthy of the lush green plains and the sky-reaching mountains, who among you will serve in the making of a new world?"
Shadow Lord Acyris, the Living World (Earth, the Tropic Planet), February 18th
"Mr. Pranton?" Yeven Pranton was the President of the UEA. His secretary was outside of his door, and she seemed to have a note.
"Yes, Ola? Do you have a report for me?"
"I do. It's about Rivend." Oh. What now? Has he gotten into another accident?
"OK, let me see it. You are excused." Yeven looked at the page. "Oh yeah, and thanks."
The page held a report, as he was told. And it was about Rivend, like he was told.
He read it. The first page seemed to contain a handwritten letter.
"Hi, my name is Nerid Naroi, and I have something to tell you. I'm a taxi driver, thought you might know. Anyway, I drove Rivend to the Shadows. I thought you might know that this entrance was extremely dangerous, but it's the safest. I was wondering if you would contact Rivend about the dangers. I've added a Wikipedia page, though it has precious little, as not many have come back from the venture.
"Thanks in advance, Nerid Naroi"
The said Wikipedia page detailed about ice flowers, glowing algae, and nothing else. There were no pictures. Yeven supposed this was because those who managed to get back didn't bring their cameras - or couldn't.
"Get the phone!" He said to no one in particular, while grabbing a phone. He dialed Rivend's number. It didn't work. "Get the messaging pigeons! Get the underground drills!" These two were not nonsense - they were a new technology that Yeven's company had invented that allowed them to contact any diver and get them a message, and return one if needed.
Yeven could only hope that Rivend could receive the message.
6: Deep TroublesRivend continued down, stopping every thirty meters to admire the new phenomenon. Ice flowers, glowing algae, shining metal, metal that seemed to fill him with a sense of dread, and so many more.
Rivend switched on his flashlight once it got dark.
180 meters down, he started hearing whispers.
And when the dust settled, we were banished. We are ready. You are not the only one to try.
Rivend was really starting to get crazy. He shook his head, tied another rope, then continued down.
He was down by the time he tied his eighth rope.
He looked around. He was in some kind of a subterranean artifact center. There were many, many different things here. The room itself was pitch black, but it seemed to be made out of granite... infused with shadows.
OK, Rivend was really crazy now. Best get the mission done first.
But, as Rivend was not an archeologist, he did not know the rules of excavation. He picked up the nearest artifact to examine it. It was a gemstone as big as his fist.
All of a sudden, the room darkened. He was surrounded by shadowy figures, brandishing shadowy weapons. Rivend picked up the weapon nearest to him. It was a balanced sword, but sadly, it was an old balanced sword.
As these thoughts went through his mind, the stone in his left hand began to glow, his mind began to run faster, and the sword began to gleam in the darkness.
His mind was filled with the knowledge of the ancient times. He knew why these shades attacked him. Rivend quickly put the gemstone into his pack's open section.
The shades prepared to attack. Rivend swung his sword experimentally. A blade of flashing light flickered through the first rank of shades, whose shadows were no more.
"Whoa," he said, staring at the sword. There were ancient glyphs on it. Rivend could read it though. He still had the knowledge of the ages in him.
We once were the glory of the world. We will do it again.
He held the sword threateningly, the tip at chest height.
"One step closer..."
Another shade stepped through the crowd. He seemed to be the leader.
"I know your language. I will try to convince you. My name is Nerid Neroi. You may have heard of me."
"Uh... No, I hasn't." Rivend replied.
"Yeah, that should have been 'No, I haven't', but this is no time for grammar Nazis like me," Nerid said. "Perhaps this will convince you that I am real."
Nerid's form began to shimmer. Then it began to darken. Then it became mist. Then a recognizable form appeared.
Rivend was in shock. "Ioran... Is this you?"
"Oh yeah. I introduced myself to you as Ioran. Sorry about that.
"But it was for a reason. You hold all of our knowledge inside of you, do you not?"
Rivend nodded. He did, and the facts still shocked him.
"Thirty million years ago, our race came from the stars to terrorize your race, who were the brights before... and you transformed into shades from the once-great people you were?"
"Yes, and it was all your race's fault." Nerid sighed. "I know how you can help. We want to test if our machine works."
Rivend was frightened now. "What does it do?"
"Well, for starters, it can kill, but we are not humans, so we don't want to use that, but it can also remove your magic, temporarily." Nerid said.
Rivend snorted. "Humans don't have magic. We lost that centuries ago."
"No, you have not lost it. It is called mundane magic. It infuses your own body with power. See, the other disciples of magic can be internal or external. But because mundane magic has specialized in internal, it is most powerful for its purpose."
Rivend still looked unsure.
"Well, see, what I just cast to allow you to see Ioran was mental magic. That's internal, and it is only in the mind that you see me as Ioran. Once you have full mastery of mental magic and mundane magic, you can master the most powerful of internal magics: Enhancing magic."
"Oh." Was all Rivend could think to say.
"Oh, indeed." Nerid replied. "And 'let's leave a trail of breadcrumbs,' said Hansel."
"What does that have to do with mundane magic and enhancing magic?"
"It has to do with your sadly failing records of magic."
"OK then." Rivend's muscles were starting to tighten. "Can we move somewhere else?"
"OK. Let's go see the machine."
"Whoa."
"Whoa indeed."
"Stop saying indeed."
"Indeed I will, then."
"I'm not talking to you anymore."
"Indeed."
Five seconds later, Rivend felt he had to ask Nerid something.
"OK, I know I'm breaking my promise, but what is this for? I really want to know."
"Indeed you do. It's to take back our world." Nerid said.
"OK... Stop saying indeed."
"Indeed, but only if you stop OK'ing me."
"O- alright."
"So, what are you going to do with the humans?" Rivend wondered.
"Um.. Well, better than how they did to us - they attempted to exterminate us."
"You know, I'm right here..."
"Indeed you are."
Rivend snorted off his frustration.
"So why don't you address me like an ambassador of the humans?"
"Why should I?"
"Never mind."
"And to answer your question: this machine will teleport them to our dungeon, food, blankets, all provided."
Rivend looked at him in horror. "All of them?"
"Yes...?"
"Even the women and children and sick and wounded and disabled and elderly?"
Nerid shrugged. "Gender equality," he said. "Also, they didn't care if we were children or sick or wounded or disabled and elderly."
Nerid looked at Rivend. "So why should we?"
7: Shadow Lord and MigrationShadow Lord
The year was 1204, and it was the prime time to strike again. Last time we had lost and almost revealed themselves. This time we would be more careful.
Our first target was the village of Sari. It was a small village, but, up in the mountains, it would provide a good center of operations.
The world had changed since we first grew into the sentient beings we are now. There used to be a flat plain in these mountains. But we knew what we were dealing with now - mountains and a few sticks, spears, swords, and almost none of them trained. But when we got there, we confronted another army. An armored, fully trained, and armed force that was waiting for us.
There was a traitor in our midst. We had to find out who before our homeland was common knowledge. They had had the idea that there was magic in the world. They were right, but since the first time we attacked, in human guises, they were convinced that magic was only external and that humans could be guilty of these practices.
It was now a danger to us that, now that our spies were convicted and executed, we didn't know what we were up against. We thought we were ready, we thought we were prepared, we thought that nothing could stand between us this time.
It was in the battle of February 29th, 1204, that we were defeated again. We swore that we would not lose again, and that we would be more prepared. If they were going to use sharpened sticks, we had better use sharpened metal. If they were going to use sharpened metal, we had better use metal bullets. If they were going to use metal bullets, we had better make them useless and use metal against them ourselves.
But we lost that time, and it weighed heavily on Shadow Lord Aportune. So he had left, to never return again.
In time, most of our world forgot him. I still remember, and I wonder if he remembers what he left behind and the vow he took.
Migration
I never knew what happened to the seven that did not come back from the earth. Most of the twenty-three say Cris was swallowed into the earth, along with Norena. Some say Haun fell into an ocean. Some say Pan walked into the woods and never returned.
But the twenty- three that did return gave my lord Gisam good news. The Tropic Planet was safe, save for some suspicious lifeforms that they had seen on numerous expeditions. These may have to be 'relocated'. Gisam decided this meant 'exterminated', and so gave the order to kill off all of them.
I do not know where they will go, but I wish them luck and hope they survive into some distant future, when they can coexist with us.
The next spaceship would arrive in about 6 hours. I had decided that I would join them, along with Gisam. I was not to tell anybody that Gisam was on this flight. Why? Was it because he wished to remain secret? If so, why would he tell me? And why does he want to?
I decided to wait. There were thousands of humans on the Tropic Planet already. Maybe one of them could answer me, even if I was to keep it secret.
This is my journal, and I am commiting to memory the history of our journey to our new home.
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