The Call of Fate

Prologue- Midnight Blue

Zaccharias

Zacharias rose from his bed the minute the rooster welcomed the day’s first light with its persistent crows. Today was a special day, and he could not help but feel giddy with excitement. Even though he was old enough to be anyone’s grandfather, the Seer was still young at heart. On fair-weathered days, he could be seen playing with the boisterous children of the great City of the West; the City famed for its scholars and philosophers. Besides, what father would not be excited at the thought of his pride and joy, his beautiful daughter, turning twenty years old at last? An individual aged twenty and above is granted the permission to travel the Chronos Kingdom freely, in search of their one, true Calling; and his daughter had long awaited the day when she would be able to see the Kingdom for herself. Zacharias often told the dark-haired girl with the midnight blue eyes of his adventures around the Kingdom, when he received the Pilgrimage for True Wisdom as his personal Calling. And his daughter, who would be sitting quietly at his feet, would drink in his words, always wondering when she would finally be allowed to start her own journey, and find out her place in the world. The old man chuckled softly at the recollection, for it seemed like it were only yesterday when she would badger him with a hundred questions about the Kingdom.

                The Seer stepped out of his room and padded down the hallway, quietly opening the door where his only daughter slumbered. He was going to wake her, so that they might both get ready for the ceremony that all twenty-year olds were required to go through. It was a simple presentation to the City that happened almost every day, as more and more of the current generation ventured out of their familiar homes and into the strange new world that lay beyond. He crossed the room to her bed, and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.

                A surge of electricity shot through his veins. His eyes turned all but white, and he stood rooted to the spot. The old man shook violently as his mind opened to the dimensions of time past, present, and future.

The whole Kingdom was in mourning. The castle towers were draped with black cloths, and gray clouds only dampened the mood even more. Every Great City of the Chronos Kingdom seemed blanketed in despair. Their common enemy, the Kairos Kingdom, had ambushed them. The King’s army was struck at an hour when they were most complacent, most vulnerable, and they had fallen to the ruthless might of the Kairos army. The King was slain and now the tyrant ruler of the foreign Kingdom held sway over every Chronian. All hope seemed lost.

Until he saw her lower the hood that covered her eyes and face. Light radiated from this lone figure, who held in her right hand a staff, with the revered Pearl of Chronos embedded in its head; in her left hand she held the fabled Sword of the Risen Warrior- the sword that no one ever thought they would have the chance to see again.

So hope was not lost after all. Hope was alive. It was fiercely alive in her striking eyes of midnight blue.

As soon as the vision ended, the Seer raised his head in panic. But he was too late for she had already disappeared. Fate had presented itself to the old man at a terrible price- his daughter with the midnight-blue eyes.