Chapter 1 - A little wooden boy

 

 

200 years had passed since the battle in Nazaré and the people of earth lived in a stable time where peace was dominant but evil still lurked in the shadows. In the Kingdom of Cideria where Nionah, one the queens of light reigned, there lived a humble craftsman, Vincent who unable to bear children of his own created toys out of wood for the children in the Kingdom. His skill was highly regarded across many places. However he always wanted to have a child of his own and make toys for them to enjoy. Coming home one night from another nearby town he was approached by a hooded man in a black cloak, with a gentle and calm voice the man whispered as he walked past Vincent “Travel east to the forest of beginning and end, there you will find life in death” the hooded man continue to walk past Vincent, puzzled and scared, he turned back and asked in a shivering voice “Why?” but the hooded man was gone, no where to be seen as the sound of bells from Cideria could be heard across the land. After weeks of thinking about the words that the hooded man spoke to him, Vincent finally decided that he would go to this forest see for himself what it is that this mysterious man was talking about.

 

Once there, Vincent found him self lost deep inside the forest, the ink on his map had disappeared and his compass had spun out of control, The forest smelt or decay and whispers from tree’s could be heard in the wind. Vincent had been there for 3 days already and was running out of food and water, he cursed the forest and the mysterious man for leading him to this despicable place, he wondered and wondered until on the fifth day he noticed that the air in that part of the woods was fresh and he could no longer hear the tree’s speak, there was a small light shining far behind the dead trees of the forest and so Vincent began to walked towards it hoping to find a way out but instead… He found a white glowing tree and by it found fresh water and berries he could eat. After he ate and drank he heard a voice, “This is Life”, it was the same gentle voice as the mysterious hooded man who had appeared before him weeks before. - “Where are you? Show your self”, shouted Vincent but the air stayed still and the forest was quiet. Angrily, Vincent decided to stock up on berries and leave that place at once however, being a craftsman he looked at this glowing tree and felt that he could make a fine present out of it and offer it to the queen in return for a hefty reward.

 

Once he had chopped up the some of the tree’s branches he took one more glance at his map, the ink had returned and his compass had stopped spinning, he thanked the heavens and the Gods for allowing this miracle to happen and began to make his way home. As he walked away from the tree he heard another voice, this time the voice was a lot more terrifying and sent shivers down his spine the voice began to laugh and said “I will soon return to cover the lands with Darkness and, I shall be its new King!” for an instant the white tree burned with hideous blue flames before returning to its normal state. Vincent quickly followed his map to the exit where he had came from, scarred he promised he would never return to the forest. Upon arriving back in Cideria, Vincent became fascinated with the wood he had gathered from the tree, and began to create a puppet, he spent hours on details to make the toy seem like he was a real boy, after weeks of fine craftsmanship the puppet was finally complete. His nose was rounded like a button and his face thin, he had darker skin than Vincent because of the wood that was used. Vincent decorated the toy in a green dungaree, a white long sleeved shirt and a blue short sleeves jacket with little read hat. “Raymond, you shall be called Raymond!” said Vincent full of happiness, “I think this is my best toy yet”. Vincent stares at his clock “Oh, its getting rather late, I better get some rest. Tomorrow I will take you to the queen, I will receive a fine prize for you my little wooden friend.”

As Vincent goes to sleep, certain events begin to take place in his house that perhaps should not have happened, Events so mysterious and peculiar that would leave an ordinary person astonished for a lifetime. Raymond, the puppet began to glow and the mysterious hooded man appeared once again. He placed his hand upon the left side of the puppet’s chest, right above where the human heart would be and said, “You are the last of the four, take the rest of my power and create a path of light that shines in the dark”. The man once again vanished and the night had ended in a shroud of mystery, however what happened that night would change the course of the world.

 

When the sun came up Vincent awoke and began to get ready to visit the queen, as he walked up and down the house he heard a voice “Where are you going father?” he looked around but there was no one around, just his puppet sitting down where Vincent had left him. “Who’s there”, Vincent replied to the voice looking very puzzled, “It’s me, Raymond”, said the voice, “Raymond? Raymond who? And what are you doing in my house?” the puppet then began to move and spoke “Raymond, me, you haven’t given me a last name so I am just Raymond” Vincent jumped up in fear, grabbed his cane and pointed at the puppet, shaking and stuttering “h-h-how are y-y-you m-m-moving?” he said. “Please father don’t be scared, I woke up like this, I heard a voice and next thing I knew I could breathe, please don’t be afraid of me… didn’t you always want a son of your own?” said Raymond. “A voice?... and yes but how did you know?” replied Vincent. “I don’t know why but I could tell, the way you made me, you put all your heart into it and I could feel your feelings”. “This is amazing” said Vincent whilst lowering his cane and slowly making his way towards his puppet, “A son, I finally have a son” Vincent hugged Raymond and began to cry. “are you sad father?” said Raymond, Vincent replied “No… these are tears of happiness”. On that day November 20th year VI91, Vincent decided to not give Raymond to the queen, and instead raised him as his own. Year after year Raymond grew as if he was a real human being however his skin was hard hollow and slightly cold like the wood he was made from, Vincent taught him how to live in the world and taught him many things to help him in life. For thirteen years Raymond and Vincent lived together in peace in the kingdom of Cideria protected by the light of queen Nionah.

 

To the east of the kingdom an evil shadow grew ominous, the evil witch Nokomis wondered through the forest of beginning and end bringing death along with her. She comes a stop and glazes in front of her “I have finally found you, my master”, appearing before her was a white glowing tree, the same tree which was used to make Raymond. “The Kings Legacy” she called it as she placed her long hands against it and began to cast a spell, “from the ashes of the underworld and shadow of emptiness, in the cave of the beast lies the trident of gods, use it with my power. Awake from your slumber and rise to rule again, Lord of the dead, Hades.” and from within the tree an evil spirit came out. This was the tree in which the great king had sealed the soul of Hades and Nokomis had came to free him from the light. The evil spirit spoke  “I see that you are still faithful to me Nokomis, I have finally returned to this world, and with my rebirth the land will once again be covered in darkness, however I am still too weak I will take some time to regain my full power. Before sealing me, the king split his power among 6 little girls so that they could seal me if I were to ever awaken once again. I command you to steal their light along with their hopes” – “yes my lord, I will summon my forces… I mean of course, your forces and destroy the kingdoms of light so that you can rule the lands and govern the pathetic people who cling on to life”.  The tree in which Hades had been kept was now burnt to ashes and the Hades along with Nokomis made their way across the sea even further east to the forest to the Kingdom of Ormrod, the terrain was filled with razor sharp rocks and mountains of ash rained from the sky. It was there in the dark area of Mt. Escuro, where the Demon’s Tower arose from the earth, this was the castle of Hades 213 years ago when the battle of light and shadows took place. The castle was filled with dark books and ancient spells to repel the forces of light.  With the power of these spells, Nokomis and another sorcerer, Athalos, who served the evil Emperor, managed to keep themselves hidden from the power of the light kingdoms so that they could allow Hades to recover his strength. Once preparations were made, Nokomis appointed 4 generals to help the army to take over the lands, the first was Akhan, an Archer who’s poisoned arrows could pierce through almost anything. He was ordered to travel west and take the light of Nionah, queen of Cideria.

 

As the army marches towards Cideria, Vincent is still working, making toys for the children in the kingdom. They believe they are still at peace and have no idea what terrible things are about to happen. Raymond is away from the kingdom collecting parts so that he can take back to his father to help with his work. Raymond walks past a lake and is drawn to it by its crystal clear water, in the water he saw his reflection like he was looking in a mirror, he began to speak “I don’t look the same as the other children, I don’t have feelings, all I can do is interpret them and pretend that I understand I wish that I could feel the Love which father talks about as well as the happiness or sadness”. As he glazed in the lake, he saw the reflection of black smoke coming from the direction of the kingdom “I wonder if something bad has happened?” said Raymond.  The Kingdom of Cideria was being attacked, Led by Akhan, the buildings were being brought down with great big boulders being flung into the towers by huge catapults, houses were being burned and people were killed. “ Leave no one alive” shouted one of the soldiers. Screams could be heard and the sound of stones falling to the floor was like the sound of drums of death being played as a merciless killing spree occurred.  When Raymond arrived at the kingdom he saw the brutality being thrown to the people and so he ran home to try to find Vincent. Upon arriving at his home, he noticed that it had already been caught in the destruction of the army. Nevertheless he proceeded to search for his father, after searching the area he heard a faint voice “Raymond, over here Raymond”, he looked down and saw that Vincent had been crushed by a large boulder “what happened father, why is the kingdom being attacked?” asked Raymond, Vincent replied in a quiet voice “you must get away from here this instant, take the road north from here, get on a boat and go to the kingdom of Tutsani, you will be safe there. Look for a man named Tapiwa, he is a good friend of mine and powerful man. You must go now”, “why father? I wont leave you behind” replied Raymond, however Vincent insists “quickly now you mustn’t stay any longer, if they catch you I would have failed as a father. You must live.” – “looks like we missed one boys”, shouted one of the soldiers from the army. “GO!! NOW!” screamed Vincent. Knowing that these would be the last words from his creator, Raymond decided to obey Vincent’s last command and ran away, he managed to get away from the army and ran into the forest where the trees gave him cover to hide.

 

Back in the Kingdom, Akhan raids the castle and kills the guards protecting the queen he engages in a fierce fight with Prince Jen-Je who alongside Nionah rules over Cideria. They exchange blows but Akhan eventually overpowers the prince and knocks him unconscious, Nionah regretfully attempts to flee before having a chance to escape Akhan pulls out his arrow and shoots Nionah, nailing her arm to the wall. “Who are you, and what do you want from us?” screamed Nionah in pain. “We are the new bringers of Darkness and we will cut through anyone who dare try to stop us” Akhan proceeded to say “Whilst you are here in your little perfect world, you had no idea that Hades the new king of this land has awaken and that he will extinguish this disgusting light which you’re so proud of. Starting with you, your majesty”, “that cannot be. The King sealed Hades soul over 200 years ago and The Tree of Life could never be found among the forest.”, “oh but it can, and it has, the witch Nokomis, managed to find him and with her power we were able to bring him back to life” replied Akhan. Shocked that Hades has awakened Nionah could do nothing but sit in despair whilst her kingdom was destroyed and they are taken as the first prisoners of this war between good and evil.

 

Meanwhile as Raymond goes through the forest, having lost track of the soldiers following him, he stumbles. He looks around him and realizes that has been left all alone. The trees around him are silent as if they are watching him in secrecy; their leaves are brown as if they are about to fall off the branch, almost as if they are clinging on, trying to stay connected to its source of life. He gets up and dusts off the dirt from off his clothes, he takes another look around at the trees before he carries on. In the air he hears a gentle voice “what will you do now” the voice asks him, it is the voice from deep inside him, a voice he had heard before, it was the same voice that breathed life into him and now it was inside him. “I am alone…” Raymond replies to the voice and continues to say “Father will no longer be there to help me live in this world, but I am not scared… nor am I sad that he is gone.  I will go to Tutisani and I will seek out the man called Tapiwa. There he will help me”. The voice had now disappeared, so Raymond continued to walk through the forest not knowing what would become of him. As he walks through the forest Raymond see’s a light getting closer and closer, it suddenly engulfs him. In it there stands a lady, a beautiful lady, as white as snow, who’s gentle grace warms Raymond’s fragile wooden body and for a moment Raymond feels a heartbeat and begins to cry. “That is sadness that you are feeling, it is an emotion all humans feel when faced in dark times, but you must remember my dear boy, when there is darkness the light shines brighter” said the woman “are you an angel?” replied Raymond, “My father always talked about them, they are fair creatures and the most beautiful beings in he world” she smiled and said “I am no angel” – “but who is fairer and more beautiful than you” said Raymond. A figure appeared from behind this lady, covered in a golden armor he said “milady we must go, there is no time”, the lady once more looked at Raymond and whispered in his ear “in your body I will engrave hope, and remember, when there is darkness, the light shines brighter”. All of a sudden the light in which Raymond was engulfed in, disappears and he is back in the forest, the heartbeat inside of him is gone and his body is once again cold. However from that moment Raymond became more determined to reach the kingdom of Tutisani. “I wonder who that was? Whoever she is I believe she can turn me into a real boy” thought Raymond to himself and as he made his way through the forest all he could think about was the word “hope” which was said to have been engraved in him.