We had to sleep the night in that man's tent, his eyes investigating the two of us as we lay on our sides, feeling his peering gaze from behind. The two of us kept our eyes wide opened that night, ready to be attacked at any moment, although it never came.
"Rise." He told us, as the morning sun slowly crept in through the door, illuminating the room. "Where do you come from, and how did you find this land, you are not from these parts I suspect."
Pez was the first to rise, and then me, the two of us turning arround to face the shaman in all of his glory. Pez answered formally, despite his lack of sleep, "I come from the kingdom of Mibernia which lays eastward across the sea, the two of us were sent here to explore these lands, and learn of the secrets."
"Is that so," he murmurs to himself, before he slowly erupts into flames. "I have waited a century for you, and in my last year of life you have arrived, sorry for my men's incompetence for the way they have handled you," his head bowing down in submission.
"Warmonger told me about the future, and that I must train the two Mibernian twins, as the fate of the world relies on it, this being the only revelation I was ever given by him," his tone filled with shock, as he stumbled over his words.
Pez was curious, yet skeptical of the man's words, although a part of me deep down belived that there may be something more to what he was saying. "Train us? What do you mean?" I asked, my voice star struck.
"I will tell you all he told me, and nothing more;" the shaman said, "You must spent meditate for a week in this settlement, and the gods will grant you the power to use magic. Once you gain powers, you must travel back go back to Mibernia, and find a place that has high firmament energy."
"Firmament energy? What is that, and how do I find it?"
Pez enquired, who was now leaning in, and more curious than ever. The man stumbled over his words as he replied, "Oh sorry, yes. Firmament energy is the essence of the gods, as when they meddle in our world, the barrier between the land of the three gods, and the mortal world breaks a bit, and invisible energy accumulates across the land. And now, onto how to find it? You must first follow your gut, and then you must meditate for a few days, and if the gods do not speak to you, you are simply not in the right place."
I felt my heart race as he told me this, my jaw dropping as I tried to formulate a response. "Yes— when do we start." Pez too was just as shocked as me, he too struggling to generate a response, "I understand."
"Now please, sit on your knees, rest you palms on your thighs, close your eyes, and breath in and out, only focusing on your breathing. Make sure your mind doesn't wander, and when it does, bring it back to your breath. We will do this today for two hours, then the next day, and the day after that, until a full week passes." He told us, as he sat down and began meditating.
Both me and Pez soon after went down into position, and we began to meditate, those two hours dragging on forever, our mind's constantly wandering off, as we contemplated the shaman's words, although we forced ourselves back to the task.
This continued time and time again, and day in day out we would meditate for that week, each time difficult, but becoming easier each session, although we feared the outcome of if nothing happened.
When we weren't meditating, we went outside and talked with the locals, trying out their strange foods, although that putrid smell of soot never really dissapered, as it standed as a stark reminder that we were stranded out in the undiscovered continent.
The locals told us about these creatures called moosemen, which were strange human like creatures covered in fur, standing at eight feet high, and with the head of a moose—which you could guess. They were known for stalking lone travelers, and scalping them. Oh, I'm glad we never met them.
Anyway, on out last day of meditation, both me and Pez felt as if a strong energy came over us, the two of experiencing a sharp stabbing feeling in our chest that just beckoned our eyes to open, and so we did.
Standing before us was a man who was the height of two people, yet he did not seem human. His skin was green, and adorned in thick scales—the likes of which a sword could not peirce. His face was devoid of features, except for one large eyes that lay in the middle of his face.
"Rise!" His voice comanded, "I am Warmonger, the god that lays between Samh and Olic. I am neither whole good nor evil. I am the greatest warrior of the heavens, and I will judge you fairly."
The two of us rose together, and stood in his presence, neither of us able to form a coherent sentence. His aura was immense, with every second we stood in his grasp feeling like one thousand years.
"Tell me which of these four you belong to, and answer truthfully." He told us, before a brief silence. "The first option, a necromancer; a bringer of evil, a controller of the dead. The second option; a master of the four elements, a free spirit, a myth amongst men. The third option; a wielder of the firmament, a force to be reckoned with, a man who is not bound by laws. The fourth option; a reinvigorater, a force for good, a hero," he told us, his voice ringing with importance as he slowly explained each title.
Pez finally spoke, "What does each one do," his question left to linger in the air as the Warmonger stared briefly. "Go with with your heart desires, not with what your head wonders," the god advised, his tone calm yet confident.
"I- I chose reinvigorater," I stuttered out, as I looked over to my brother, he soon too coming to his own conclusions. "I pick to wield the firmament."
"Very well," said the Warmonger, as his words echoed into our heads, crescendoing and crashing into an unbareable noise, until our souls were pulled back down into earth, and the shaman lay across from us, with one eye peaking open, as our pupils that once lay in the back of our skulls slowly rolled back.
"You're back?" He whispered, as we gently collected our thoughts, and shook off this new and heavy feeling that burrowed deep into the darkest depths of our soul. "We met warmonger," I muttered back, as I tried to stand up to regain my balance, my head spinning.
"As he foretold me, you truly are the ones who were destined to become great shamans," he told us, his voice soothing and wholesome. "We have no time to waste, come with me you two, and we will test your powers outside the camp, before sending you on your way."
The shaman abruptly then stood up and headed out of the tent, signaling for us to follow, and that we did. He lead us to the edge of the settlement, and beyond, into a clearing amidst a derelict forest that lay not too far from the settlement.
The trees acted as walls to hide our new and taboo powers, encircling our surroundings, and twisting over our heads, leaving only a small hole where the sun can shine in.
"Here you will attempt to use your powers, so try now." Declared the shaman, as the two of us stared back at him dumbfounded. "Do what feels natural, just try, it will come to you."
Pez, his spirit ever so adventurous, stepped forward and reached into his pocket only to feel the wand that he found so many years ago, and in an instant, he pulled it out and swung it infront of him, his eyes squinting, and brow furrowing as he clenched every inch of his body.
Nothing happened for a second, leaving only the wind to answer his commotion, until a small rumbling echoed from him, followed by a blinding white light which erupted from his fists, and then through his wand, before it swiftly flew off and pierced a hole through many trees, until the beam tapered off into nothingness, the rumble picking up pace into an unbareable sound, until it too mellowed down into nothing just like the beam.
Pez was taken aback by his new found talent, as he fell back and onto the ground after preforming such a power, his mouth hanging open, and his eyes widened. "Did I just— just do that," he asked while staring at the line of destruction that he caused, before his gaze drifted to the wand that lay in his hands.
"It was not the wand that caused the magic, you just conducted the power through it, don't be mistaken," reassured the shaman, who stood tall over my brother.
The man then drifted his eyes over to me, before he asked me to, "fix this mess, I belive you can," his tone cold, yet bearing a heartfelt understanding.
I stepped forward and stared adamantly at the destroyed trees, my fists clenching as I attempted to focus on it. "Work," I murmured to myself as my eyes shut tight, a strong energy overcoming my chest. When I dared to open one eye, I didn't just see the trees slowly coming back together, but also felt them, as each end met the other again.
I let out a gasp before I backed away. "Now you must leave this place and return, as this is what I was told in prophecy. I will miss you Oz Vill and Pez Vill," he told us, his words seeping with a newfound nostalgia.
He silently walked us back to the village, before he let us lend two horses. He told us one final message, "We will find these horses, so don't fret, now leave, and live a long life, and may we meet again one day," and with that he helped us up onto the stead's and the two of us rode off down the river path.
I would love to tell tales of our journey back, yet it was uneventful. We went down by the river and to the sea, where we found our abandoned and bruised ship, although that wasn't an issue as I yet again used my newfound powers.
We boarded the boat and went across the sea, storms battering the ship, although their was no fear of an unforeseen sinking, as I could easily just patch them. We spent a long six weeks aboard that vessel until we returned to a small beach.
The moment our feet touched the beach, we grew wrinkly, yet our bones were still young, and our powers intact, so we just assumed it to be a byproduct of our powers, we did try to heal it with my powers, but it didn't work on me or my brother sadly. Anyway, instead of worrying about our appearance, we searched arround for some time, until we found horses off of a strange old man who lived out here all alone his entire life, which we promised to eventually bring back.
Thus began our treck back to the edge of Vlain, where I learned that I too could regenerate food, so the journey became rather easy for us. Me and Pez took our sweet time on our journey, causing what should've been a eight week strenuous ride, to instead be a ten week holiday where we took our time.
We eventually got nearby our home town, where a thick and suffocating smoke filled the lands, yet it didn't bother us, as we became accustomed to the smell when we lived across the sea. The roads were silent, and not a sinner to be seen, making these once familiar country roads feel almost eerie.
The thick soot burrowed into our skin, and covered us in a shroud, as we entered the town, an everlasting red glow coming form the horizon. We could hear the sound of distant voices, and footsteps, yet we could not see anything, as the air was thick.
We soon figured out we have walked into a familiar market square that was not too far away from our house, and with that we knew where to head. A sinking feeling filled our hearts as we ventured back to the old house, the place where we grown up. We dismounted our horses and walked to the door, my hand shaking as I debated whether or not to open the door.
With the sound of distant voices getting closer, and sounding more violent by the minute, we decided to open the door, as to atleast have somewhere to be safe.
"Who are you!" Shouted a man who stood in the doorway, a battle axe in his hand, and his voice weary. We stood motionless in his presence, as he looked us up and down, not daring to speak.
Suddenly he grabbed the two of us by our collars, and threw us inside, where several other armed men stood in our childhood home, the place being a shell of its former self, as the once lovely house has been turned into a military base of sorts.
The men thought of putting us in chains, although our wrinkled appearance advised against it. Pez asked one of the men, "What are you doing in our house?" His sorrow and fear seeping through his voice.
The man looked down on him for a second, before deciding to speak, "why do you speak of this place as your home? This place has not been lived in since the Vill family died arround seventy years ago, we researched this place well before taking base, so who are you?"
"Seventy years? We haven't even been gone a year! Less of the joking, where is our family!" I stuttered out, the color draining from my face.
The man replied swiftly and coldly, "You look far too old to have parents! Nice joke," before he walked back over to a table and begin to mutter a future ambush plan to some of the other men.
Pez looked over at the men who continued their talk, before interrupting with a loud shout, "My name is Pez Vill, born in nine hundred, January eleventh, and this is my families home! Tell us what you have done to them?"
Some of the people arround the table raised their heads, shock filling their eyes as they stutter, although the man we talked to prior looked calm, he told us, "And I am Ray Lynn, born nine hundred and seventy. If you're as old as you say your family is dead."
"Ninety? Never heard of someone that old before," whispered another man, who happened to be sitting beside Ray, "Well anyway, I'll guess you haven't heard the news, or woke up from a coma, but we've been at war for a while with Fantasium. Mibernia is no longer safe, so flee, and about your family, well forget about them, if you were your parents only kids, then I don't fancy the odds you have any relatives alive."
I looked to the ground briefly before looking back into the man's eyes before letting out a soft murmur, "Well it's only realistic to take your words as truth, but I haven't wrapped my mind around it yet. Anyway, you're name?" I can't quite remember thinking much at the time, grief dawned over me much later.
"I'm John Swift, now be on your way, and don't tell tale of what you seen."
"One last thing!" Asked Pez, "What year is it?"
Ray Lynn looked to John before he responded to us, "nine hundred and ninety."
It was lucky we left when we did, as soldiers begin to pour into the place, and a battle occurred. I do not know if John and Ray survived, although I wish to thank them.
We both mounted are horses, and then went north, so we didn't run into any military trouble, the journey taking well over another month, before we started heading east, and into the Fantasium heartland.
We then found ourselfs on a hill, where we mediated for another week, and luckily this was a place with high firmament energy, so soon enough we established camp. Over the last many years we built this hill into what it is today, making it a little utopia for the two of us.
Pez is no longer with us sadly, he died of a failed experiment, where he tried to use firmament energy as a ride, although unfortunately he burned himself to death, and it was too late to revive the body. For the last who know's long I've spent my live grieving.
——————————————————————————
"Now when I'm sober you two aren't gonna bring it up, right?" Asked Oz, who had just came to the end of his story, his drunken face curling up, as he held back his tears.
"Oz," Judith asked, "You said you were ninety right?"
"I suppose so… yes… why?"
"You told the people at your house that aswell right?"
"Yes! I just told you the story!"
"Well that was ten years ago, you're actually just a little over one hundred."
…