• CHAPTER 1- IN THE BEGINNING

    “Mom, look I’m about to do it!!” I say excitedly
    “All right dear,” mom says looking up from her book
    About ten feet away, I have a human training dummy set up with all the vital organs marked. I run forward with my toy sword in hand, and at about three feet I start slashing. After my flurry of blows, I strike a pose as the strips of paper fall cleanly cut from their posts on the dummy.
    “Wow Anthony, you’re really getting good at this,” mom exclaims surprised
    “I know,” I beam, “I think its because of all of swordsmen that come through our village. They think that I have the potential to be a great swordsman one day. Lately, I’ve also been working on my magic casting, but all my spells are incredibly weak. I mean, all I can do is cast a basic healing spell and my fire spell is so weak, at best I can only make it the size of a Quotal. The elders say that if I use my emotions to power my spells I can do better, but when I did, I think my spells got weaker.”
    “Well Anthony, you just have to take learning at your own pace,” mom says
    “I know, but how can I protect you if I can’t defend myself,” I sulk
    “I can understand your concern son, but if you try to rush your learning, you won’t learn a thing,” mom states as if in another place, “just learn as best as you can, and remember to stay calm. Staying calm gives you the ability to see the world with your mind and soul, not just your eyes, and that will allow tapping into your maximum potential and using this power to its greatest strength. With this ability to fully use your energy and power to its fullest, few will be a match for you.”
    I sit there stunned at this little speech until I ask, “Mom, how did you know all of that?”
    “Uh..., um, uh, hey what do you want for dinner?” she says avoiding my question
    “Mom, why are you avoiding my question with dinner talk?” I ask looking annoyed
    “I’m in the mood for chicken, does chicken sound good?” she continues
    “Mom,” I say annoyed
    “I could tell you, but you probably won’t believe me,” mom says sarcastically
    “Try me,” I say
    “All right,” mom says trying to remember, “It all happened fifteen years ago. It all began around the time the war of Blaze was raging. It was horrible, there were endless battles, brutal massacres, and bloody devastations. That’s when he showed up. The most brutal, vile, evil, atrocious, manipulative, despicable warrior that the war ever produced: Greisblade. He was the one rumored to have started the war, but when the fighting started it didn’t matter what anyone said. Greisblade obliterated any one who opposed him. Soon after a year of fighting, Greisblade had an army of his own to rival that of the Resistance. The Resistance army was about 2,857,394 men and women strong, against Greisblade’s army of about 5,783 members. If you think that numbers counted in this battle, you would be wrong. Greisblade’s forces consisted of monsters, beasts, assassins, and dark mages; this is what made him the victor of many battles and taker of many lives. Yet, there were none as powerful as the five generals, vile beings of the purest form of darkness. Olin was the first general, a dark mage of tremendous power. He knew every spell ever made except of the four most powerful spells only known to the Circle of Nine. The second general was none other than May the Seductress. She used various ploys to lure unsuspecting men into her castle where she would enslave or torture them. Then there was the third general, Gale. Any beast you name, he could tame, and that is what made him so valuable. Mimi is fourth general and she’s a bit creepy. Being a druid priestess, Mimi has the ability to resurrect all fallen warriors and lead them in battle. And then there’s the final general, but..... no one knows anything of him but Greisblade. Uh, where was I?”
    “You were talking about the war, but got wrapped up in talking about the generals,” I say
    “Right,” mom starts, “anyway, all hope seemed lost, until a band of nine warriors appeared on the front lines decimated the main forces of Greisblade’s army. When news of defeat reached Greisblade, he immediately dispatched his generals. It was then that a fierce battle erupted between the nine warriors and the four generals. This superhuman death match raged for seven days and seven nights without either side giving into the urge to give up. By the eighth day, the warriors were giving out, their powers and energies exhausted. The generals took this as their sign to initiate their final attack. As the heroes lay defeated, the generals continued to gather as much dark energy as possible to completely annihilate the fallen warriors. All hope seemed lost when the generals launched their culminative dark energies, until a small, silver lotus blossom fell from the sky. The blossom’s power was so great, that it purified the dark energy and restored the fallen heroes. The warriors were about to strike, when Greisblade teleported to the battlefield and merged with his generals. By doing this the evil warrior Eivo was born. It was then that the warriors used their most powerful technique: The Triple Trinity Eon Gate. They did this by combining their power with the lotus blossom and chanting the incantation to open the gate. The cleansing light released from the gate healed the land and imprisoned Greisblade and his generals within its celestial confines. Greisblade’s final words were ‘You think you have won this battle, but this was only the beginning!!!’”
    “Ooooooooooookaaaaaaaaaaaay,” I say
    “What, you don’t believe me?” mom asks
    “Nope, not at all, you lost me,” I reply
    “Well, I’ll tell you how I know all of this,” mom says
    “I’m all ears,” I say
    “I know all of this because I was one of the warriors,” mom says proudly
    Three minutes of silence pass by.
    “I’m going to bed,” I say
    “Why?” mom asks
    “I need rest in order to take you seriously,” I say
    “What do you need rest for?” mom asks
    “Because I need to see if this is a dream or reality, and it seems that dreamland is fighting a losing battle,” I say
    “Fine, but don’t say I never told you,” mom says
    “Okay, then I won’t,” I say going to my room
    I sit awake in my bed unable to sleep, so I start reading a book and writing my story I had been working on. Even though these were good distractions, it still took me a long time to actually fall asleep. And while I was having insomniac problems, some people were just about ready to wake up. Elsewhere....... In the stasis of the Triple Trinity Eon Gate, Greisblade sits meditating until he abruptly awakens from his trance.
    “It is time to leave this wretched place,” Greisblade states
    As Greisblade focuses his dark power, the stasis dimension collapses and he is granted the freedom he so desperately sought. As he lands, Greisblade creates four orbs and places them on ground and they morph into his generals.
    “Where am I?” May asks yawning
    “You’re outside of stasis as all of us are,” Olin answers
    “Yay, yay, I’m free to have fun again!” May exclaims
    “And I’m free to roam wild,” Gale says, “but why the hell did it take so long Greisblade?”
    “Shut up Gale, you knew it might have taken this long to get out,” Mimi says, “personally a few more years of rest and I would have been better off. But you can’t always get what you want in life.”
    “Oh be quiet you walking freak show,” Gale taunts
    “Gale you don’t have to be so mean,” May says, “it’s not like anyone is chasing you around.”
    “Nobody asked for your opinion May,” Gale counters
    “Says the beast,” Olin says
    “You know I hate being locked up,” Gale says, “it makes me feel weak.”
    “ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!” Greisblade shouts, “This is the exact reason I sealed you four up in the first place, all you do is argue. Now that I have your attention, it is time for us to exact our revenge.”
    “What is your wish master?” The generals reply in unison
    “We shall kill those that opposed us so long ago,” Greisblade says, “now go, but leave their leader to me, I want to kill her personally.”
    “As you wish master,” the generals reply in unison
    The five of them left to carry out their respective missions as we flashback to me in my bed, finally asleep. Explosions disturbed the peace as Greisblade ravaged the village, calmly searching for my mother. All the noise wakes me up. I search the house for my mom and I finally find her out in the front yard. I see the village and I know what to do.
    “Mom come on we have to go!” I say
    I try to move her so that we can leave, but she just sits there staring as if paralyzed. I don’t understand why she won’t move until I follow her transfixed gaze to the sight of Greisblade marching up the path to our house through the flames.
    “It’s so nice to see you again Sera,” Greisblade says