A special thanks to JonB1969 for his quick responses and amazing editing. Without him this story may not have been finished. If you're looking for a quick fix this story isn't for you, this is my longest story and I hope you all enjoy it and remember to vote/comment if you do.
This Story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright Β© 2014 by Yshomatsu
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this story or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. The following is meant for Adults only, if you are under the age of 18 leave now.
An ancient evil was unleashed upon the unsuspecting world. Mysterious sightings of strange creatures have been seen within the shadows of the night. Villagers started to go missing, first women, and later men. Panic spread amongst the land, many blamed the Horadric Legion: An army of knights and warriors from distant lands. They conquered all they set their eyes upon. The Monk Order secretly infiltrated every kingdom in the known land. Their goal to keep the balance between good and evil, they ignored the Legion's invasion believing that the true threat was from somewhere else.
They were right...
*****
A man sat upon an old, dusty desk within a monastery. Medium length golden hair hung from his tilted head. Determined creases formed on his brow as he looked down with bright Peridot eyes at an aged parchment in deep thought. The parchment detailed an order given out during Anders the Great's campaign.
The old, worn down chair creaked as the monk shifted his weight. It had been hours since he sat down with the old parchment. Something was happening in the world, but he couldn't figure out what. He had looked through a bunch of old books, yet kept coming back to the parchment. Something about it gave him a bad feeling.
"Athanatos, why are you always reading that scroll," asked a voice behind the man. Athan turned slightly, to see the youngest recruit in the monastery. Many secrets were kept within the Order, including the important role the Monk Order has had within the world. The boy didn't have the proper rank for clearance, he wouldn't understand.
"I miss my King," Athan replied. Elpis leaned over the monk's shoulder and looked at the scroll.
"How is that possible? Anders died one hundred eighty years ago."
"One hundred seventy seven to be exact young Elpis," Athan sighed, remembering when he was called away from his King's side shortly before he was mortally wounded in combat. "I fought alongside him nearly to the end." The parchment detailed a mission from the Monk Order to stop an evil ritual.
"But how, you are only slightly older than me," the boy of only eighteen asked, amazed, yet in utter disbelief.
"I'm a lot older than I look. Shortly before his death, I was called away by the Order to stop a forbidden ritual of dark magic."
"You're joking, demons aren't real."
"Demons? Ha no, not demons, they are but myths created to scare children. Yet I really shouldn't say anymore, you will learn it all in time with your studies," Athan replied, the memory still burned within his mind as if it had just happened yesterday. He didn't mind talking about it, but wanted to give the boy an exit before getting carried away. The old parchment was a reminder of when he turned his back on his King. He couldn't help but blame himself for Anders' death, had he only been there at his side.
"Please continue, what harm could it bring to learn now?"
Athan chuckled under his breath. The Order always chooses those most eager to learn to advance within its ranks. Elpis was constantly asking questions when he wasn't training his martial arts. Come to think of it, Athan recalled the boy asked them even in combat training. He chuckled a little louder before covering it up with a cough.
"Alright," Athan enjoyed telling stories; his long years carried wisdom only the elderly truly know. "Once I was just a boy like you, accepted into the ranks of the monks. When I turned twenty-two I was assigned to Anders. My orders were to make sure he remained the best leader that he could be. I stayed by his side during his campaign to unite the known world."
"Okay, I get that part but if it's true, how have you not aged a day if you're what two hundred," asked Elpis.
Athan's shoulders dropped as he sighed, "One hundred ninety-nine, where did you learn basic math? When I received the orders to stop the dark ritual along with my mentor," he looked back down at the parchment, his eyes lost focus as he retold the story. "We intercepted the culprits responsible and sent each one of them to the afterlife. I believed our task complete, but later learned instead, we had the spell cast on ourselves."
"What was it?"
"They were attempting to make a deal with an ancient evil for power and eternal life," Athan replied.
"Who wouldn't," Elpis laughed, not actually believing him. Not believing any of it really, immortality and dark magic, a little far-fetched right?
Athan continued, ignoring the boy's naive attitude, "When I entered the room I became part of the spell. Their efforts never would have worked, but we didn't know it at the time. It needed a mass sacrifice, instead of the one they had planned."
"Unlimited power right..."
Athan took a deep breath and held it for a second before releasing it. "Heh, we had been instructed to stop them as I said before and in my young rash mind, believed we had. Shortly after that my mentor Yshomatsu went into self-imposed exile."
"So you guys can't die," Elpis asked, his interest peaked even if he was skeptical.
"I don't know, haven't had the desire to test it. I do know that I never age and any wounds I get can be healed quickly if I concentrate on it. The Order wasn't sure what to do with us after twenty years, when it was certain that neither of us were aging. The elders had mixed feelings, some thought we should lead the Order, others thought we should be cast out. Over the years the Order limited itself to one elder chosen by trials. It was decided wisely that an Immortal in power would become power-hungry after a century or two."
I settled for being the Order's Keeper and adopted the name Athanatos, which means 'the Immortal one'. I swore to uphold the balance we monks have dedicated our entire lives to create. My mentor, however, had other ideas. He relentlessly pursued answers for our 'curse' as he called it. He became an obsessed book-worm and we fell out of contact."
"Why have you been shut in this old monastery though if you're a Keeper?"
"What exactly do you think a Keeper does young man?" A grin formed on his face, "Have you read the ancient scrolls on how we have kept balance," Athan replied with a question to Elpis' with more questions.
"A Keeper is the hand of the Order that holds the balance with something called a Dream state."
"Close," Athan couldn't hold back his laughter now. "I record the history as I see it take place. Do you know what it means?" The boy looked confused, the subject jumped leaving the boy lost, a moment later he shook his head and shrugged. "I mean the Dream state," Elpis' eyes opened wide, realizing what Athan had meant.
"It means that the Order had discovered a way to walk the world of dreams." Elpis looked completely lost, enticing a smile from Athan. "When you sleep your mind begins to dream, we figured out that all minds go to the same spirit world or plane of existence to dream. We also figured out how to control our thoughts in that world, even communicate with each other."
"So basically, that is how the Order secretly rules the world?"
Athan leaned back and laughed loudly before he noticed the boy's embarrassment, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to laugh at you, just the idea of us ruling the world was too much. However, you're right in a way, we don't rule, rather we keep the balance. Any time evil rises we are there to stop it."
"That doesn't explain why you are cooped up here."
"Well, recently we have lost contact with a few of our Order. I came back here to research any possibilities but I keep coming back to this parchment of my instruction to intercept the dark ritual. I can't help but think it's connected somehow," Athan explained.
In 349 the Horadric Legion spread its borders, slowly the valley villagers paid homage to the Horadric. The Monk Order paid close attention from the sidelines, only to intervene if ill content was found.