THE PROLOGUE

“I must go. You cannot stop it this time. Look within yourself when you are in doubt and I will speak to you. The journey is yours from here on. Hope is the code for our fight that never ends. As of this moment, I have taught you all that you need to move on from here,” Master Jorness said as the last parts of his mortal essence dissolved into starlights that shone brightly and absorbed into cosmic consciousness.


Darsom sat with his back against the wall in despair. Master Jorness was the only father he knew. He taught him everything that qualified him for the trials into the Institution of The Light-Order. Tears flowed freely down his cheeks as he replayed in his mind how he failed his master in the last stand against Mogravus. His arrogance was the sword that his master fell upon to end his life ingloriously. His master gave up his own life to save him. He should have died. His own life was worth nothing. He did not stand the slightest chance of challenging Synic Mogravus to another duel. Even now, he failed to understand why Mogravus had not killed him and ended his misery. He sobbed and laid a curse on the day he set out to be a swordsman.


Luciana ran in to the room kicking the door wide open. She ran to him, knelt beside him, with her hands touching his tight fist decorated with a labyrinth of blood veins projected with pain, and wept. She harmonized with his pain like the perfect delivery of a duet. She knew his pain.


“Master is gone Anna, he is gone. I killed him,” Darsom sobbed as he buried himself in her embrace. “My arrogance has finally taken a life,” he said removing himself from her embrace, shoving her away and slowly rose up, his countenance changing from sadness to quiet rage. “They were all right about me. I am an abomination. Master was wrong about me, you are wrong about me. Look at me,” she slowly raised her face as she knelt down “no, just look at me!” he whimpered, speaking more with wind produces from the nostrils than the mouth while avoiding a direct stare, yet this rattled her and caused her to shiver, “I am everything wrong with this path that many have...