Prelude

Dark and thick clouds covered the benighted sky preventing the moon from looking down on the scene below. Suddenly heavy raindrops started to fall; the world itself seemingly weeping about what had transpired just a few hours ago. After dawn broke the next morning, the sun finally managed to illuminate the scene below. Corpses. Thousand upon thousands of bodies covered the land, bodies of the defeated army. Littered by arrows, skewered by lances, smashed by war hammers, hacked apart by axes, and cut into pieces by swords. None survived. Of the dead many were human, and many were not. The helmets, having fallen off during the battle, revealed the faces of the fallen. Some lay peaceful, devoid of all emotion, while others still seemed to scream in agony and pain.

Behind the dead, lay the ruins of Qasha. For millennia, the golden city, the capital of Zhoria, the largest empire of the continent of Argos, stood proud, looking down upon all creation. Now, nothing could be seen of the city's former glory. The once-thought impregnable walls were no more, the once famous ivory temples were unrecognizable, smeared with blood and guts, and the golden palaces, once filled with riches greater than most can even imagine, were now robbed and destroyed. The empire has fallen. Now, nothing could be seen of its former power.

It was ten years ago when the first changes started to appear. One morning, at the Western Coast, a black dort appeared at the end of the horizon. The empire quickly started to explore the area, but after not finding anything, discarded the scene, diminishing it as just another weird phenomenon that was occurring regularly. Eventually, the black dot slowly grew in size and then the first fisher crew disappeared, and then the second one and another one. Within the span of a few months, more than 100 fisher crews disappeared, not to be seen ever again. At this point, the empire started to send out one of their expedition crews, hoping to find the root of the problem. However, none came back.

After many of those expedition crews had vanished, the empire declared the area surrounding the black dot a strict no-entry zone and after a few months, people eventually returned to their daily routines. A few years later, when the horrors of the black dot moved back into peoples' minds, disaster struck again. One morning, the black dot was directly at the coastline and most curious not a single human could be, as if they just vanished overnight. 

The empire acted swiftly and immediately evacuated the surrounding area and stationed its army at the border. But by then it was already too late. During the evacuation, the black dot suddenly expanded by more than a thousand times in size, tearing the fabric surrounding it and revealing a massive army of black, monstrous creatures. 

The Zhorians, descendants of Kula, the great hero of the past, and rulers over the majority of the continent for the past five millennia, have been defeated in a single year. This unfathomable and untouchable superpower, which had conquered most of the continent and ruled over it with an iron fist was no more. Their lands were plundered, their cities were destroyed, and their people were killed. Nothing remained of the empire, which once only stood for power and fear. There was no memento left behind and no people alive to remind future generations of the horrors of the black army.

Only the black tower remained. Since the beginning of time; long before the first humans stepped foot on the continent of Argos more than ten millennia ago, long before the first villagers settled themselves at its feet and long before the empire started to unfold its wings that covered the continent, the tower was there. Nobody knew of its origin or its purpose. Even after the empire is long forgotten and new dynasties have risen and fallen, the black tower will stand proud and tall. It shall remain, unscaled and unfaced until the day the thirteenth-pointed star will rise for the last time.

...

Suddenly the soft steps of a man could be heard. Nobody knows where he came from, he just appeared. His stature was large, easily surpassing two meters in height. He wore a black gown, and heavy black boots, and had a hood covering his face. The man walked impassively across the battlefield before him. The streets weren't visible under the endless puddles of blood, the houses were unrecognizable under the layers of dirt, blood, and shit, and the sewage systems were clogged up with dead bodies, guts, and severed limbs. But the man did not care. The man did not say anything. Wordless, he waded through seas of blood, his gaze shifting impassively across the faces of the dead. Men, women... children. The nameless man did not seem to care. He walked past all of it, his cloak covering his face, hiding any expressions he might have had. He walked out of the gates of the city and climbed up the hill in front of it. He didn't need to look back; he knew that Qasha, the centrepiece of the great empire of Zhoria, once known as the centre of academics and arts and for its immeasurable wealth, would eventually be forgotten in the dawn of time.

Reaching the top of the cliff, the man sat down and closed his eyes, exhausted from all the stress that had plagued him for so long. "How long has it been", he thought; the nameless men could not remember. He did not even know who they were, where they came from, what their goal was or why they started fighting. The only thing the man was certain of was his anger. So many of his comrades had fallen, but even after all this time, he still could recall their faces as it happened all yesterday. He also remembered his master, the person who was much more of a father figure to him, than his actual father. For millennia he begged him to let him participate in the war; he was convinced that he was the one who could lead them to victory. But his master always denied his request. Then on this one faithful night, everything changed.

The man suddenly snapped out of his thoughts, as a figure started to form in the morning dusk, slowly approaching him. The whole figure was covered in darkness, making it impossible to discern any remarkable features, but one could still make out that the person was tall, his stature easily surpassing three meters in height. The approaching figure stopped a few meters behind the first man, looking at his back, remaining silent. The air surrounding the new figure radiated and distorted his surroundings, but the figure knew, and even though he was capable of destroying entire cities with a wave of his hand, in front of this man, he was no more than a mere ant facing a giant. 

After some time had passed the nameless man, without turning his back, began to speak: 

"Why have you come, Cazio?" 

"To take you back; you are not supposed to be here." 

The nameless man chugged upon this reply and then replied without any emotion in his voice: "Really, is that it? Have I fallen so far, that you have come here to command me now?" 

The figure, covered in darkness, suddenly fell to the ground, feeling his back continuously being pushed into the dirt. The cloaked figure grasping for breath, felt his life force quickly leaving his body and just barely managed to press out: "What are you doing? I don't care who your father is, but here I am your superior. If you kill me, this will mean your death." 

The nameless men did not lift a finger. He continued to expressionlessly look forward. Cazio, the cloaked figure, now started to scream hysterically. "Stop! What are you doing? I command you to stop. Think, about your family. Your mother, your master if you kill me, they will also be killed." Suddenly, the figure on the ground burst apart, turning into darkness and slowly dispersed in the air.

For the first time since sitting down, the men started to move from his position and stood up, saying: "You do not need to be hiding; you can come out now." Just as he finished speaking, a bird emerged on top of his right shoulder. The bird, no larger than the men's fist, was golden with blue shining feathers and emerald green eyes. 

Suddenly the bird opened his mouth and began to speak: "You know, you should not have done that".

"I am aware, but Cazio, I just cannot stand him. How dare he?!? Using an avatar to command and order me around?" 

"I understand, my master", the bird answered. "But Cazzio was right. We are not supposed to be in this place; it could break the balance. Why did you even come to this place? Everyone within a thousand miles is dead. What are you hoping to achieve? Moreover, what will happen if the council finds out." 

"The council?", the man chuckled. Then he continued in a low voice: "I am sure Cazzio, has already told them. They really might be a problem."

After a while, the man continued to speak: "Anyways, I am here because of the prophecy." 

"The prophecy", the bird chirped "are you sure? Here in this place? A member of the thirteenth pointed star will appear her?" 

"You should not look down on them", the men said. "Everyone has a right to live their life and just because we were born in that place does not give us the right to look down upon others. For the prophecy, we will just have to wait and see."