Chereads / Saltbearer's Chronicle - Past and Future / Chapter 5 - The Clan Of Light

Chapter 5 - The Clan Of Light

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--The second Mage War signaled the end of an era. In the year 55 B.B it was obvious who will reign supreme on the realm of man. The mages were extremely weakened and the allied forces of all the clans that took part with the Kaspera at their head have won the war, doing a great service to arch-mage Maren, by dealing with his son's forces. But as the dust of wars settled down with Maren sealed away by his son, and his son disappearance following, the clans all of a sudden had the control that no elemental user could sustain before. The era of mages was over but the era of elemental users was at hand. The kaspera's were dealing with their own problems at the same time, having lost their leader to betrayal so a new grand master was elected .He answered to the name of Ezkeil, But still they remained unchallenged, claiming the kingdom of Emperos crowning themselves leaders of the land and placing their grand-master as the king and by doing so submitting the other clans of the land and their futile resistance. (Sadan Gil ''an Era past'')

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Ezkeil looked through the window of his marvelous, kingly decorated room, mists were looming above his new kingdom, and night was drawing near. The dead shall not be remembered the stone tablet read that his clansman found as they were settling above this land, it was the only line of the text that they were able to translate, what it meant was still a mystery, whether it was of importance Ezkeil knew not, but it somehow turned into a hobby of his, trying to decipher all he could about the ancestors of this place.

Ezkeil stood from his desk and moved towards the golden door, where his honor guard was standing, ''leave me, I would like to rest'' they bowed their heads and gracefully left. They did not even ask how that was possible since the room was empty; they might even think he was mad. Ezkeil took a moment and went to sit back to his desk, a flash of light blinded him for a second and a man appeared, 'are you already having fun in your new position, ordering people around?''

''Like you didn't enjoy it when you were in my position'', he countered.

''good point, but kindness goes a long way''.

''ha'' Ezkeil exclaimed ''yes we displayed a lot of kindness when we invaded this place''.

'' The casualties were minimized, there was hardly any resistance, and soldiers stayed of the people's home after entering the city, most forces can't even claim that kind of restrain'' Raylee said defensively.

Ezkeil waved his hand towards him in a dismissive gesture, and walked to a small cabinet to draw out his wine and pour himself a glass, he did not offer Raylee a drink but he did not seem offended by that gesture ''what? Don't look at me like that, even a king needs to get out of his lucidity every now and then or he will go crazy''.

Raylee sighed ''sometimes I wonder if I chose the best for this job''.

''I think you should wonder whether you chose the worst for the job'' Ezkeil said smiling slyly,

''Anyway, why are you here?'', Raylee approached the king and sat opposite to him on an armchair, ''Ezkeil you need to choose a grand master to serve the clan's needs''.

Ezkeil did not seem flustered by the request to relinquish power, taking a big gulp from his wine ''but I am the grand master ''.

''yes but I see you are keeping your distance from your clansmen''.

''My job keeps me preoccupied''. He said defensively.

''And that's why you need someone to take on that position'' Raylee countered. '' The clan needs someone close to them to confide in; someone unaffected by the court's problems. It is important to keep internal disputes at a minimum as well; Quer would be a good choice ''.

''You can't be serious. He did nothing during the disputes, but he is a tough one I will give you that''.

''he is no coward he just realized there was nothing he can do, he might not be a natural leader but he is currently the best the clan has after such devastation we faced''.

'' I am not so sure about that''.

Raylee got up and walked around the room, after a moment he turned towards the king ''this is not a suggestion Ezkeil'', his serious expression asked to be defied. Ezkeil looked down as a kid getting scolded by his father. ''very well, what else? I can see this is not all you came for''.

Ezkeil looked to the window, he seemed lost in thought '' I am leaving''. He said flatly.

'' don't be so dramatic you always come and go as you please'' that was true statement considering during the last months since the end of the war, he was gone on regular intervals only returning to drop suggestions and leave again. The other clansman did not know he was behind the scenes on many occasions. He refused to let his clan go even after relinquishing the power to Ezkeil keeping regular contact with him exclusively. Raylee went through a lot, treating him like an enemy exposing him to danger simply because of a man's ambition. But eventually Raylee returned to save his clan from obliteration, they considered him a hero.

And he was. But Ezkeil as much as he respected that man he feared him as well, after the way he killed the previous grand master in a duel that will be remembered, he played around like a cat with its food. Eventually ending him with the grand master's own sword, it's not that their previous master was weak it was just that Raylee was that much more powerful. Already building a legend around him, his clansman saw in him the Father-the creator of the clan as he was referred to regularly.

Even after all his achievement he did not wish for the position of the grand master so he just left, leaving Ezkeil to clean up this mess, but he was not sure why, maybe he was afraid he will be consumed by this power if he assumed any more, he was powerful enough. Ezkeil knew his friend was a changed man, he went through all these experiences and he did not come out intact, he didn't easily trust anyone anymore and he kept his distance from everyone. But he loved his clan and he wished to see them prosper, even if he was not part of it. ''No, this time I am leaving for good''.

''What? Why?'' Ezkiel asked shocked.

''I am dying my friend, and there is something I wish to do before I leave this world''. Ezkeil was confused by the statement.

''Dying? That can't be true, after all you have been through….and all you could do…''.

''Don't pity me Ez, I do not fear death, I have accepted that path for some time now''.

''Then why are you saying that you are leaving? If you still have time you need to be here with your clan, they need you, never mind that, I need you''. Raylee seemed amused by the selfishness of such statement, he stepped forward putting his hand on Ezkeil's shoulder encouragingly.

''you do not need me, not really, I did everything I could. Besides I have a feeling you have quite more to offer to the clan than you care to admit. Though, I have two requests before I leave Ezkeil I plead you to honor them.'' He paused for a moment before continuing with the same grim expression ''firstly a great deal of danger still looms around our clan as you might know the threat of the curse is hardly neutralized, another dark one will be born. History should not be repeated, the dark one is to be treated equally and his growth with caution. He should not be alienated under no circumstances, this would be the toughest obstacle that then clan will face in the future. Is this understood?'' Ezkeil nodded.

''good, secondly; well… this will make little sense, you need to understand that this is our land now and even if war brews around it is very important that this place remains under our control, even if you have to give up our old land''. That surprised Ezkeil who touched his chin in an unconscious thinking motion.

''But why is this place so important?''

''That I am afraid I can't answer, well not yet anyway but know that it is of outmost importance it is regard to the future, my requests might seem unreasonable at the moment but keep them to heart, you need to spread this information as well, make sure the new grand master knows of it and keep a record so that it will get passed to the future generations as well.''

''You are afraid of something, I can see it''. Ezkeil himself was too scared to know but he had to know.

''Our ways need to change or we will perish like the mages did, they were powerful controlling all the power structures around them, but they fell, due to their overconfidence, they close themselves towards change that should not happen to the Kaspera''. Raylee turned to face the window ''It's up to you Ez, I leave you with everything I know'' cutting him of before he stated any more arguments. Light shimmered inside the bedroom and Raylee moved towards it, he turned behind his shoulder ''one last thing, make each ones responsibilities clear between you and the new grand master, I don't want this to lead to a civil war within our clan''.

''Wait. Where will you be going?'', he smiled one last time.

''I am following a path with the time allotted to me'' and with that, he disappeared.

Ezkeil's thoughts that night were full of terror and worry. He was assigned an important mission at the same time his clan was becoming too powerful; he felt lost, despite that, Raylee's words shined within him, and he would not let his clan take the wrong path, not on his watch.