Maleos: Rise of the Old Gods

The Gholgrad Institute

The sound of the gate shutting was still fresh in Levi's mind, as he and the rest of the young adults marched on the trail that the guard adamantly told them to keep to. The path itself was cobblestoned but not too hard to walk upon, but still causing annoying bumps under their feet as they marched onwards. It seemed ominous, yet somehow Levi felt a strange sense of calm, only looking ahead towards what could be the end of the road for them all. Meanwhile, everyone Levi was surrounded by only focused on anything but the path ahead. Looking around and chatting amongst themselves about life outside Oxilian. By this point, Anya had released the grip she had on Levi's hand, and was leading the charge at the front of the group. As they walked, Levi continued to read the book he was given. Griermar, the continent upon which the city of Oxilian stood upon. There was an entire, vast continent of land that Levi lived completely unaware of for so many years, and here he was finally out in it.

According to the book, Griermar was actually the smallest continent on their planet, Dvhlsahm. Levi skimmed through the book a bit, hoping to find more information on the other continents out there, but there wasn't much on who or what he shared this planet with. Still, the knowledge of Griermar was plenty. Levi perused the pages until he found a section about Oxilian, which described it as a "starting point" for all young Warlocks.

'Warlocks, by their very nature, are the most unstable of beings. They are a sordid pairing of direct Dreditte heritage and the infectious blood of demons. Because of this unnatural and dangerous mixture, all Warlock births must be registered with the Red Court and then the family must move into Oxilian. All Warlock families are legally bound to remain in Oxilian until their child shows signs of ageing, which is what Warlocks call an indication of being a Warlock. Once the signs are shown, the child walks Oxilian's Path, a trial by fire walkway where the truest of powerful Warlocks are carved out from the weak. At the end of the path, the final Warlocks are sent through a portal to face their next examination at the Wardstone.'

"Think you're gonna make it to the portal, tiny?" Darrow's voice taunted Levi while he was in the middle of his reading. Levi was not a firm lover of physical contact and Darrow knew this well as he slung a thin, reedy arm over Levi's shoulders.

"Quicker than you will..."Levi sneered, closing the book and continuing on the path. Darrow gave a short scoff, slapping Levi on the back a bit too hard, and placing his hand on the handle of a blade at his side.

"So which circle do you think you'll join?" Anya came up next to Levi, looking as delightful as usual.

"Circle? What's that?"

"Oh, yeah, right. So, at the Institute, they have these things called circles where-" Anya was cut off from her explanation when a sound could be heard coming from the distant forest. Like a howl in the wind but much more distorted and sounding almost sickly, like a diseased patient. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks, with some of the kids looking frightened, whilst a few others were gripping their items close. Everyone whispered among themselves and Levi found Anya holding his arm tight, though he was too preoccupied with what they were hearing to pull away or even say anything to her. Quietly, she asked what that sound might have come from, but nobody could guess. Anya was likely the more knowledgeable of the group, so if she didn't know, then whatever it is was bound to be trouble.

"I'm not standing here to wait and find out what it is." Levi turned, almost dragging Anya with him, and continued walking down the path, though a little more briskly. Everyone else began to follow, some of them crouching a little as they timidly continued the journey despite the screeches, which only became louder, and louder. Whatever was making that noise was getting close. The closer it came, the more the group began to realise that it wasn't just one creature, but many. What started as a brisk walk, turned into a worried jog, then a panicked run as everyone ran down the path. Anya looked back and her eyes widened as she saw where the noises originated. From out of the trees, a huge group of sickly looking creatures sprinted out and charged after them. They all looked exactly like true Warlocks, except their skin had darkened, looking grey and withered. Cracks had formed on all the visibly exposed areas of their skin, and most of them were sporting strange tattoos of varying designs on their arms and necks. They were dressed in tattered clothing, the kind that looked not tribal but more just poor, as if they'd retrieved them from a waywards building. Their faces were almost all skeletal, but some of them looked lean and muscular despite still somehow seeming malnourished.