Chapter 3

Two centuries ago...

Deep in the heart of the Palace, in a lab that looked to be from the depths of hell stood a man in a flowing brown robe. He was huddled of an ancient looking book whose language and origins were lost to history. He looked to be just under six feet and in his early thirties. Around him on the walls of the lab were his "assistants"; men, woman, children of any race chained up spread eagle. Moans and screams came from different parts of the lab, the victims in different stages of the ritual needed.

The book was the last part of the puzzle that he had spent years solving. When he was an apprentice, he dreamed of becoming the most powerful being in Udenia, one that rivaled the gods themselves. He searched and searched for a way to make his dream come true, but it wasn't until he found the ancient book that he found what he was looking for. In the book, a ritual can make the castee a mage of so much power that the gods could not oppose. The down side was that it required the life energy of three Mages. Life energy is in every living being, the higher the intelligence, the more life energy. Now, magic users had more life energy than anybody else did with Mages having the most. A Mage had enough life energy of 15 non-magic users.

The ritual was only to be used when there was no other choice because there was a tendency for the castee to die in the process. It has taken him years to gather the necessary life energy to make the attempt. When he found the book and decided to attempt the ritual, he realized that unless he was in a position of power he would be found out before he completed the ritual. Therefore, before he started to gather the life energy needed, he became an advisor to the King of Mengis, Pensoar. Once he had the position of power, he took the criminals from the dungeons as his first "assistants." Once they were no longer of any use, he started to go after the citizens of the Kingdom, little by little, to keep suspicion low.

Pensoar, being a Mage as well as a King, had an inkling that this was going on but being a man of justice, he could not do anything without proof. He tried to look for the proof with and without magic, but he hit a dead end every time. Every ruler before Pensoar, going back to the founder of Mengis, Howen, are Mages. Howen was the Clan Leader for the Eagles, the Clan along with the remaining part of the Bear Clan, sent the forces of Prius, the Darkened One, to the four winds; and resealed and strengthened the magic keeping him in his pit. The remaining Bears joined the Eagles and named Howen their King, naming their Kingdom Mengis. Since then, from father to son, the Kingship has gone with every ruler a Mage. When Sentria, his wife, gives birth to their son in a few months, he too will become a Mage when it is time, and with it the Crown of Mengis.

It wasn't until the ritual began that Pensoar got the proof that he needed. As a Mage, he was sensitive to the casting of magic and this was the largest he had ever felt. Yelling to his wife to stay there, he ran down to the source of the magic; he feared that a source as big as he sensed could destroy the whole city.

As Pensoar busted through the door of the lab, he threw a sleeping spell at the castor. With the amount of energy in the room, the castor didn't see it coming. It was then that Pensoar saw the "assistants" and knew where the missing people went. Unfortunately, they were all dead.

Who could have done this? He asked himself. This is Dark Magic at its worst. It was then that he took a good look at the sleeping Magician, Mortican, one of his most trusted advisors. Pensoar cast two spells, one to bind Mortican's powers, so that he could not escape, and the other to transport him to a cell in the dungeon. He then went to think about what to do.

Mortican woke from the spell. He found himself in the cell that he was transported to. He tried to use his powers but they weren't working.

What happened? The ritual should have worked, and what happened to my powers.

"Ah ... hm," called a voice form the cell door.

"Your highness, what am I doing here?" asked Mortican trying to play dumb.

"Don't even try Mortican, I know everything now. Why did you do it?" Pensoar retorted in a voice displaying his anger.

"Power. I wanted to become the most powerful being in the world. I would do anything for it."

"Justice must be served. You will be banished from the Kingdom, if you ever set foot back in the lands you will be killed on site. Furthermore, your powers will be binged so that you can never use them again. The only reason why I don't have you killed is that we were once friends. You leave at dawn."