Before True Light: The Awakening 2nd Edition, Page 2

The sun was beginning to rise and the moons fading. The roar of rustling leaves heralded the first sweet summer morn. The air was warm and sultry, and a sea of refreshing dew rested on the grass. A mountain range stood mystically in the background. Harmony was in balance…life was good.

  Deep in this grand oak forest, a secluded society resided. They had sacrificed themselves to save the world during the Era of Shadows, and had been living here, in secrecy, for over a millennium. For generation after generation, they kept their traditions and knowledge alive. No one knew of their existence. They, however, were not oblivious to the world outside of their own.

  As the sun continued to spread its golden rays through the dense forest, the early morning songs of the birds heralded the dawn of the new day. In one hut, nestled under a majestic oak, a teenage girl was just beginning to stir awake.

  “Wake up! C’mon, why must you be so difficult in the morning? You are going to be late! Wake up, Izanami!” a girl’s voice shouted. In response, the sleeping girl turned over. While doing so, her arm inadvertently struck the other girl, whose face appeared to hover just above the level of the bed. The sleeping girl uttered a few grumbling sounds, but then was deep in sleep once again.

  “Alright, I tried to be nice to you since it is your birthday, but you leave me no choice!” The other girl went outside for a moment and when she returned she was carrying a bucket. SPLASH! She poured the water on top of the sleeping girl. Instantly, the dark brown eyes opened. Soaked from the water, she slowly got up and turned her head towards the culprit.

  “Really, Artemis? Water? Hey, come here for a second. I want to show you something,” the now soaking-wet girl deviously requested.

  “I’d rather not, Izanami. You could transmute the water into something and hurt me!”

  “And why would I possibly want to harm my best friend?”

  “Because you have that look in your eyes again!” Artemis whined in a high-pitched tone.

  Izanami started laughing, followed by Artemis’s nervous laughter. As soon as Izanami dried and dressed, the two girls left the hut and went outside to enjoy the warm summer breeze of a new day. Other people were beginning to leave their homes to start their daily routines. Before long, the serene environment bustled with life. The two girls sat down on the grass and observed the villagers while eating fruit from a nearby tree.

  “So, Zu-Zu, what will you be doing today, on this special day?” Artemis teased her.

  “Really…I’m seventeen - technically of age now - and you still call me that. Well, I’ll be doing the same thing that I do every day. Learn more transmutations and reactions, experiment, all the while being bored to death with the same ol’ speech of how ‘you must be responsible or the world will blow up’!” Izanami answered.

  “I don’t think your teacher says it quite like that, Zu-Zu. Besides, I think it’s cool that you are able to tap into the ancient power of our ancestors. You know, we’ve known each other all our lives, and I still don’t understand you. One minute you’re all serious, staring at your surroundings, or studying like crazy and acting all wise and mature, but then the next minute you’re the complete opposite! Sometimes I wonder if you’re going crazy!” Artemis ranted.

  Izanami laughed hysterically while holding her sides. “Nah, you could say I’m ‘dynamic’, though! Well, I should get going. I highly doubt Teacher will be any more forgiving if I’m late just because it’s my birthday. Have fun hunting, and whatever else it is that you claim to do. See ya later!” Izanami shouted as she turned and walked away.

  As Izanami walked to the training grounds she observed the life flowing around her. The sun gives energy to the plants to grow, the animals eat the plants to survive, and the villagers eat those plants and animals to survive. In some way, everything on the planet has a connection to everything. This is what Izanami believed, or was told to believe. Every action has an effect, somehow, on the planet. It all follows that theory of the flow of life that her teachers kept talking about, she thought to herself. But she also knew the flow of life was much more complex than that, even if she didn’t understand how or why.

  Walking down the path, she saw a group of small children playing while their mothers called out at them. Instinctively, her hand rose to touch the delicate pendant that hung on a chain around her neck. Her mother had given her that pendant, shortly before she died, and Izanami had never taken it off since.

  She lived alone from that time on, but the other villagers came together to help her out…when she allowed them to. As for her father, she never knew him. She was told that he abandoned his family because he was originally an outsider who accidentally discovered their settlement, and died while trying to leave the forest. The only relic she had of her father was a drawing of him, with her mother, from many years ago. She was also told that she had an older brother, as well, but that he died of an affliction when she was very young, and she had no memories of him.

  Izanami continued towards the training grounds. Her mood had become more somber, and she slipped into the usual melancholy state of mind for which she was known throughout the village. Most of the time, she seemed quite mysterious to many of the other villagers – detached from mind and spirit, at times, and then, suddenly and unexpectedly, alert and anxious… she often heard the whispers behind her back, and many were not as good-natured about it as her friend, Artemis.

  Nearing the training grounds, Izanami looked up at the sky and, from her position, she could already tell that she would be late for her studies. She didn’t really care because, deep down, her heart had always told her that there was more to life than training and studying. The science and practices that she was taught since the age of six must have a greater purpose. This was one of the conflicts, among many, that stirred in Izanami’s heart. While many other of the young people in the village worried about what they would wear that day, or how to improve their appearance, Izanami worried about finding her purpose, and why she ended up being what she was.

  As Izanami approached her peers, she stopped and hesitated. “Well, Miss Izanami, it is nice of you to join us. If you were here on time you wouldn’t be standing there with such a stupid look of bewilderment on your face. Sit down, please,” Izanami’s teacher ordered. "You've already missed the first part of the lecture."

  Izanami sat down next to one of the new Mages, who seemed too young to be even six years old. She turned her head and looked at him, wondering, as always, why such a young child would need to learn how to fight and survive. Izanami, and her fellow students sitting around her, belonged to a group whose roles were very different from those of the majority of the villagers. They were…gifted. Only a select few of the inhabitants could harness the old practices that this society had been exercising for centuries. These individuals were, ultimately, the ones who kept the principal traditions alive. A gifted child could display a proficiency and understanding of the ‘abilities’ at a very young age, as had Izanami.

  The teacher had already turned her attention from Izanami, and was continuing with the lecture she was giving before Izanami’s late arrival interrupted it. Izanami had heard it many times before, when each new group of youngsters made their first appearance at the training grounds.

  “Nature, and the elements, holds the basis of any Red Mage’s power,” resumed the teacher, with arms folded and eyes burning at the students. “There are laws that need to be followed in order to perform the simplest skills. The Law of Conservation of Mass is fundamental. No Red Mage can create something out of nothing, and something cannot be destroyed completely. A pure substance cannot be transformed into another pure substance. A Red Mage, or Red Mage Warrior for that matter, is able to use any earthly material at their disposal to transmutate into a useful object – they can also channel chemical reactions through their bodies and release them into their immediate area. To someone from outside our world, or even to the less-enlightened of our own, this would seem like witchcraft. But, it is not! To a Red
Mage, this skill is as natural as the flow of life itself, based on an ancient science that is no longer known to the outside world.”

  The teacher paused for effect, then asked the new Mages if they had any questions before the older Mages would show them some transmutations and reactions to get them more interested in their science studies. The child sitting next to Izanami blurted out excitedly, “When do we get our beast guardians?!”

  The teacher motioned for Izanami to answer. “Why do I have to answer?” Izanami complained to herself. The teacher glared at Izanami, who quickly began, “Well, technically, there is no such thing as a beast guardian. In the past, there were stories that only Red Mage Warriors could receive them, but it’s impossible to prove if that ever happened. I’m not a Red Mage Warrior, but I do know that it was believed that a Mage’s beast guardian was a reflection of their heart.” The instant Izanami finished her explanation, all the new Mages broke out into a disappointed whining.

  The child who was sitting next to Izanami poked her and shyly whispered to her, “Your teacher, she sure is really scary. I think I’m going to get nightmares because of her!” Izanami smiled and quietly laughed. Not noticing that her teacher overheard this exchange, Izanami was unprepared for the impact of a leather booklet thrown at her by her teacher. Everyone was too afraid to laugh at the red mark it left on Izanami’s arm, fearing that they would also fall victim to the teacher’s wrath.

  For the remainder of the morning, the older Red Mages demonstrated their skills to the youth, who had just begun to learn the way of life of a Mage student. Eventually, it was time for combat training. According to their lessons, they learned that Red Mages cannot transfer their transmutations or reactions through a weapon the way Red Mage Warriors can. Therefore, it was important to be well trained in combat and be able to create a reaction or transmutation at the same time. This was Izanami’s favourite part of her studies. She was exceptionally skilled with a blade, in combination with the arts of a Red Mage. The teacher paired up the older Mages and they began their intense training.

  By this time in the day, everyone had already become filled with excess adrenaline from showing off their skills while the younger Mages watched in amazement. Izanami was paired up with a Mage by the name of Zane. He was intelligent and quite talented in the arts. During their years of training together, he and Izanami had many fierce competitions to try to outperform the other. Zane was the son of the Elder of Black Heka. He was just over six feet tall with a slim build, and had shoulder-length black hair and dark brown eyes.

  Izanami and Zane had exploded into a heated fight. Soon, all attention was turned to them. Even the older Mages stopped to watch. Both of them were creating massive combustion reactions by manipulating the oxygen in the air and harbouring trace amounts of explosive elements from their surroundings, creating ignition by using friction, and focusing the built up energy and directing it towards the other. Izanami had transmutated a young tree and wrapped it around her target’s leg. She lifted up her blade with one hand as she manipulated a ball of flame in the other. In an instant, the fiery mass launched down her arm and through her blade, leaving a massive trail in its wake. In the process, the blade shattered and shards flew in every direction.

  Chapter 2