1 Prologue: The Night of the Thirteen

The clatter of battle could be clearly heard through the open window of the Northern tower. The war cries of man and beast, the clash of steel, the explosions of magic, and the moans of the dead and dying created a cacophony that would make even the most stoic of men shiver.

Inside the stone tower sat three individuals at a circular table built out of a rough white stone. The first appeared to be a king, wearing long flowing robes of purple and gold. A short brown mustache sat on his upper lip, constantly curled up in a witty smile. Atop his head sat a golden crown adorned with rubies, diamonds, and sapphires, but the most attractive stone was the large red one that sat in the very center of it. It almost seemed to be radiating heat, but the kingly figure showed no reaction to it.

He was looking over to his right, giving his full attention to the knightly figure sitting there.

The second man was leaning forward in his seat, his forehead crinkled in an obvious display of deep thought. His intrinsically designed golen-white armor glistened in the light of the floating lumen-spheres, causing the glowing white wing designs on the back of his breastplate to appear even more majestic.

One of his hands kept stroking his clean-shaven chin, while the other rested lightly on the pommel of a white blade kept in a sheath on his hip. His blue eyes seemed glossy, giving away his concentration on thought.

The third figure, however, was paying attention to neither of them. Instead, he was staring out the window. Every cry or scream seemed to cause him to grow more tense, his gloved hands gripping the table even tighter.

He wore the apparel of a noble, with long flowing blue threads covering the entire length of his body. His auburn hair was combed neatly, making his youthful face appear even more handsome. His golden brown eyes sparkled with an intelligence and wisdom very few his age wielded.

They all sat like this for another minute, before the knightly figure finally broke his concentration by slamming his fist into the table, the white and gold gauntlet covering it scratching the white surface.

"DAMN IT ALL TO SEPHNIUM!"

After the outburst the king leaned forward, his steely gaze showing a hint of worry.

"What is it, Multo? What did you see?"

"One of their damned mages killed my sightline! The bastard crushed me with a nearby tree!"

The king sighed deeply, before leaning back, rubbing his brow to keep himself calm.

"What did you see before then? What about the men?" Taking his chance, the noble individual asked the knightly man, known as Multo.

Multo looked down suddenly, his teeth grinding into each other.

"More die every minute. We barely have a thousand fully fledged magi left, while that traitor and his whore have at least four times that! One of the captains tried to rally a force of five thousand knights to pierce their extended left line, but it all ended in disaster when over a dozen Stone Scorpions burst from inside their ranks and sent them all running!"

At the mention of Stone Scorpions, the king spoke up once more in disbelief.

"A dozen? Are you sure you counted that right? The last estimates claimed they had six at most! With that many, our reserves are in danger! Send two of the Aqua Tigers back to defend! We can not afford to be hit from the back!"

"Two? Are you sure, my king? That will leave only three to hold down their fire mages!"

At this, the noble spoke up. "If you let me go out there and help then I could easily defeat all their fire mages and then help make an organized push towards their left!"

"No, Quelro! It is far too risky! If they spot any of us in the fight, then 'they' will assuredly join the fight against us!" The king yelled out at the noble.

"You told me that if I swore to fight alongside you that you would allow me to lead how I see fit! I let you take the lead this long, but I will not let my men continue to die out there while we do nothing but try and watch! How can you just sit by and watch? What happened to the Great Retnor I once knew, the one who would fight every battle himself? The one who would summon flames far more powerful than anything yet seen? The one who the Eternal Flame Phoenix herself deigned to bond with! How can you do not-"

"ENOUGH" The king, Retnor, roared out as he slammed his hands onto the table. Immediately the room grew scorching hot, as tongues of flame erupted all around the tower. From Retnors eyes small flames shot out, as anger arced through his body.

"If you wish to fight, then go fight! If you are willing to risk all we have done, then so be it! However, do not say I did not warn you!"

These words brought a smile to Quelro's lips, as he quickly jumped up from the table and ran towards the window. However, before he could go farther, Multo yelled out to him.

"Quelro, I have no doubt in your abilities, however be careful! While I was watching, I saw evidence of scorch marks, large ones. Even from here I could sense the immense lightning magic. Only Virokons would have the power to produce strikes that big. If he is down there, then you could be in for far more than you realize…"

The knight showed genuine fear, his eyes almost looking into Quelros soul, begging him to listen to the king and stay. However, Quelro knew that Multo was too chivalric to actually say anything to try and stop him. The knight himself would be joining Quelro, if not for his duty to his king coming first.

Quelro looked back at the older man, remembering all the memories they had together. From being his first tutor, to Multo buying Quelro his first drink when he had managed to hit the knight in a spar.

He nodded once, the cunning smile that everyone associated Quelro with growing on his lips.

"Don't worry, old man. I won't die until I have already buried you and drunk myself into a stupor from it!"

With those words, Quelro leapt out of the window, the battlefield finally revealing itself to him.

What used to be a flat and beautiful plain was now a war scorched battleground. Fires burned everywhere, with the smoke they gave off turning the morning sky a dark gray.

The clang of steel could be heard for miles, as men wearing blue, white, and red armor slammed into legions of men wearing yellow, brown, and green. Behind these front lines were groups of robed individuals casting all sorts of spells into the battle.

Floating in front of each one was a Tome, most looking vastly different from another.

However, from this high vantage point, Quelro noticed something very important: His side was outnumbered, and by a large amount. For every white, blue, or red soldier there were seven yellow, brown, and green soldiers.

What made things even worse, were all of the magical creatures. Griffins fought Thunder Eagles in the skies while Flame Cats battled with ents.

Earth golems and Flame atronachs crashed into each other, causing bursts of flame and earth to kill anyone near them.

As Quelro fell, he began to feel the excitement well up. He let his hands and legs hang loose in the wind, closing his eyes and enjoying the last few moments of partial peace before the slaughter began.

From within his robes, a large blue Tome decorated with sapphires and blue gemstones of all kinds appeared. The large book opened, and the pages flipped quickly, before ending on a page with weird text and the image of a large blue serpent drawn on it.

Immediately the page began to glow, and as Quelro fell a blue glow started to surround him. A large serpent like shape began to appear, as a roar echoed around the battlefield.

The sounds of battle quickly quieted down as the Sea Serpent appeared, coiling around the Northern tower of the castle. Its body was built with massive aqua colored scales, leading up to a large head with two intelligent dark blue eyes and a massive maw filled with razor sharp teeth.

On its back was a pair of large light blue wings, splayed out above it, blocking the sun.

It launched out towards the battleground, Quelro falling onto its neck as it shot out.

He stood upright, the slick scales seeming to do nothing to his balance.

The beast moved straight towards the center of the battleground, where many robed figures wearing yellow robes wielded red Tomes.

Across from them, were three creatures made entirely out of water. They appeared to be large tigers, with jets of water erupting off of their bodies and arcing towards the distracted mages.

Seeing the large Sea Serpent move towards them, the mages seemed to snap out of their stupor.

Their eyes began to glow red, as their Tomes began to change pages rapidly. Beams of fire shot out towards the Aqua Tigers, hitting their bodies and knocking them back, their bodies releasing steam.

At the same time, multiple balls of fire moved to intercept the Sea Serpent, but it kept its fast pace. Right before the balls collide, a beam of compressed water shot from the Serpent's mouth, eradicating the fire and slamming into the mages, leaving nothing but a crater where the robed figures once stood.

Seeing the Serpent get closer, the mages began to summon large shields of fire in front of them to protect them, but it was all in vain. The Sea Serpents body began to fire off hundreds of jets of water, easily cutting through the shields and punching dozens of holes into the bodies of the mages.

Quelro, sitting on the back of his creature, stuck his hand out in the air as his Tome once more changed pages, stopping on one that showed blue birds.

The air around Quelro began to glow blue, as dozens of birds the size of eagles appeared, each made of water. They began to fly out across the battlefield, firing down beams of water onto the unprepared lines of enemy soldiers.

The Aqua Tigers, now recovered, began to move into the gap left by the now dead mages, attacking and killing the few that were left standing.

Quelro gazed out at the now changing tide of war, but couldn't help but frown.

Hundreds of men clad in armor of all sorts of designs clashed into each other, cutting and slashing everything in their path.

Blood and sweat fell like rain to the ground, followed by bodies and the occasional lost limb.

Quelro remembered one of Multos old lessons about death. It reminded him of the comfortable classroom, filled with cushioned chairs and magic made for the sole intention of entertainment.

Birds made of wind dashing through the classroom air, small angelic beings moving pebbles to a pile to keep the floor clean, Fire Kittens lazing in the sun.

That day, Quelro had asked about how glorious war was, eliciting a shocked and cold look from Multo, followed by a look of sadness.

"Never call war glorious, Quelro. The stories after can be glorious, and the riches you gain can be beautiful, but those words hold no place in the actual combat of war. In war, men slaughter each other. Pain is guaranteed, loss is common, and death is constant. All war does is teach men how to die in pain, far from their loved ones."

At the time, the depressing response had confused Quelro, as he remembered the knights sharing war stories as if they were the best thing ever. It was only when he first saw real war that he understood the real meaning behind Multos words.

'All of this death, and for what? Why did you do this to us, Endour…'

A particularly high pitched scream of a nearby soldier that was almost cut entirely in half broke Quelro out of his memory. He realized his job here had been done, and with nothing but a mental word, the Sea Serpent shot out towards the enemy's left side, where there were multiple noticeable organizational gaps for the enemy.

As they were moving, a massive bolt of lightning ruptured the skies and slammed into the head of the Serpent, killing it instantly and sending Quelro flying through the sky.

He slammed into the ground hard, but his constant Water Skin spell kept most of the injuries to a minimum.

Quelro breathed hard in the wet dirt, coughing from the impact. A nearby soldier in brown saw his noble blue clothes, and charged at him with a long spear.

On pure instinct, the Tome still floating around Quelro swapped pages rapidly, as a long sword of water appeared in Quelros hands, matching an image on the page the Tome revealed.

The sword was more similar to a rapier than a typical longsword, but had a slightly thicker blade than usual. It began to spin rapidly, as Quelro dashed forward under the spear and thrust the weapon into a gap between the enemy's chestplate and helmet.

A torrent of blood exploded outward due to the rapid rotation of the blade, showering the area in the young soldiers' vicinity. Quelro was covered in his blood and flesh, but water quickly rushed up his clothes, cleaning it all off.

Quelro looked down at the soldier and saw that he was at most 17 years of age.

'Old enough to fight, but not old enough to understand anything about this world. A true waste. His armor isn't decorated at all, so this is probably his first battle too.'

Quelro began to walk away when a voice addressed him.

"Wow! Just… wow! Look at you now Quelro! I remember when you used to cry over losing a summon, but now look at you ruthlessly murder a human, barely old enough to be called a boy! How far you have come!"

Quelro turned around, and saw a tall lean figure wearing a tight fitting tunic and pants. It was all colored yellow and purple, with images of lightning all over him. Floating by his head was a large purple Tome, decorated with large purple stones and depictions of lightning bolts.

He looked young, revealing his 19 years of age, just like Quelro. He had black hair, and emerald green eyes. His pale skin showed not even a single blemish, and his sarcastic smile made him seem funny and approachable.

However, Quelro knew better. This was not someone he could leave his guard open with.

"Virokons. Multo mentioned he saw evidence of you making a mess everywhere you went, like always." Quelro replied with barely veiled hate.

"Oh Multo, nothing ever did get past his sight, huh Quely ol pal?"

A massive torrent of water blasted from Quelros hand, aimed at Virokons. However, before it had even crossed half of the distance between them, a bolt of lightning thicker than a carriage fell from the skies, destroying it and killing dozens of nearby soldiers sitting stunned at the discussion between the two young mages.

Seeing this power, soldiers on both sides pulled far away from them, continuing their fighting a safer distance away, with only the bravest or most stupid trying to intervene, quickly getting killed by an arc of lightning.

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO CALL ME THAT AFTER WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!" Quelro screamed out at his former friend, the pain and hurt in his voice plain to all who heard.

"Tsk tsk tsk, you need to get that temper under control! I see even if you have finally grown a pair, some things never change! I came here peacefully and yet you still attack me. What can a powerful mage do to be treated kindly around here?"

Quelro sputtered and looked at Virokon in disbelief.

"Came here peacefully? You attacked me first! You betrayed everything we stood for! You helped start this war! We were part of the Thirteen and yet you still weren't satisfied!"

Virokon raised an eyebrow.

"Did I attack first? Oh! Yeah! I did! Sorry, I forgot! Oh, wait! That reminds me of what I was coming here to do!"

Without another word, Virokons eyes shot out sparks, as he raised his right hand and shot out three arcs of lightning.

Quelro reacted fast, with jets of water propelling him to the right, making the lightning slam into a nearby engagement of four soldiers.

The blue Tome flipped pages as a dozen water javelins appeared in the air around Quelro, launching towards the lightning mage.

Virokon simply waved his hand as static electricity from the armor of the young soldier coalesced into a shield, destroying the javelins.

Following up, three large orbs of water come from above Virokon, formed from water in the air.

The powerful warrior, however, didn't even move as the lightning shield moved to defend him.

However, from the water orbs burst forth dozens of curved blades, flying around the shield and towards Virokon.

As they closed in, one of the lightning images on the mage's tunic lashed out, turning real as it arced across each of the blades, destroying them before they reached their target.

Quelro looked at his opponent in shock. He had expected a fight, but it was is if this wasn't even a challenge to his former ally.

Gritting his teeth, he ripped off his glove, revealing a large symbol on his hand. Within a circle was a leviathan, the lord of the seas. The symbol began to glow blue, as Quelro felt his bond begin to materialize.

Suddenly, as he was channeling the power, a large bolt of lightning slammed into his chest, cutting off the connection.

"You have grown slow! I told you that you would stagnate without my help! Look at you now, not even a challenge! You can't even summon your bond!"

Quelro felt like his entire body was seizing as the lightning moved its way through him.

He laid on the ground convulsing, unable to move.

Sighing, Virokon began to move towards him, his hand forming a spear made of electricity as he walked.

"It really is a shame things are going to end this way, I really expected more from you."

Standing over Quelro, he raised the spear high, and began to drop it down as a burst of fire slammed into his chest, followed by three beams of pure light shooting towards him.

Quickly, Virokon imbued himself with lightning and moved out of the way in the blink of an eye.

Near Quelro, two figures were standing tall, mana dancing around them.

One was an older man with a bald head in white and gold armor, and the other was a man in the attire of a true king, the red gem in his crown glowing brighter than ever.

"Well, now that is interesting! The great Retnor and his pet Multo decide to grant us the gift of their presence. I would have dressed better if I knew this would happen!"

Multo and Retnor looked at Virokon harshly, but said nothing. The older knight moved to Quelros side, helping him to his feet.

"Are you hurt? Tell me!" The knight gruffly demanded of the young noble.

"I'll be fine, it was the shock that was the worst part."

The three of them stood, facing someone they once considered a brother.

"Well, now that the three of you are here, I suppose I've done my job!" Virokon yelled out with joy.

Suddenly, the ground began to quake, and around all of them a large wall of earth appeared.

From the ground next to Virokon, a hole appeared, and two figures rose out. One was a large man covered in a massive suit of brown armor.

Hanging on his arm, was a gorgeous red haired girl wearing a green dress more suited for a ball than a battlefield. Adorning the dress were flowers and vines wrapping all around her.

"Well done little Virokon! You have done your job fantastically!" The woman yelled out with a gorgeous smile on her lips, causing Virokon's smile to double in size.

The large armored man stepped forward towards Quelro, Multo, and Retnor.

"It has been so long since we were together, hasn't it Retnor? The six of us is all that remains. Six! We were unstoppable, but your leadership led us to ruin! If not for you, Unte would still be alive! Aman would still be alive! Nikolo would be with us here!"

The king stood tall and strong, but it was clear in the way he tensed that the words had some effect on him.

"They died due to my arrogance, I have admitted my guilt and my sorrow. It is you who has caused this to grow to these levels of pain and suffering! It is your own choices, not mine!

The massive warrior laughed a deep laugh at this.

"All of this doesn't even matter, Retnor. This all ends here. Little Quelro can barely even fight, Multo has grown older, and you are still too weak to do what needs to be done. The Great Retnor that I once fought beside could have eradicated my entire army with nothing but a thought!"

Sadness crossed Retnors face, as he looked over at Quelro and Multo. A single nod from either was all it took to confirm to Retnor what he had to do.

Virokon, the large warrior, and the woman all began to ready themselves for battle, but what Retnor did next shocked all of them.

He reached up into his crown, and pulled out the large red stone.

The large warrior suddenly tensed up, before charging at Retnor using the earth to propel him.

"DON'T DO IT YOU FOOL!" he bellowed.

However, it was too late, as the solemn smile on Retnors face was replaced with a massive blaze of fire.

A plume of fire the scale of which had never been seen erupted from Retnors position, instantly evaporating all six of the mages in the walled area.

The suddenness of it all stopped the battle outside, as the skies opened up to accept the massive tower of pure fire.

When the fire had finally disappeared, the soldiers quickly cut through the walls to see what had become of their leaders.

Inside they found a charred wasteland with no life.

All that was left was a blue, white, and red Tome on one side and a brown, green, and yellow-purple Tome on the other. In the very center of the burnt area sat a large red gem that seemed to radiate heat.

Shocked, the soldiers turned to a nearby officer.

"Sir… what do we do now?"

The officer sat there unmoving for a moment, before sending out an order.

"The kings are dead. The order is to surrender. The war is over."