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  The Watcher

  And the Origins of Magic

  Luis Robles

  Copyright © 2015 by Luis Robles

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email [email protected]

  Contents

  1. The Watcher

  2. The Entity

  3. New Life

  4. The Valley of Serene

  5. Answers

  6. Gavril

  7. The Lives of Many

  8. Pah’s Story

  9. Thirst for Power

  10. Gemini

  11. On Stone Grounds

  12. The Battle of the Deities

  13. Dust

  14. Face to Face with the Gates

  Acknowledgments

  Strange New Books

  1

  The Watcher

  The moon burned a silver-violet light. It was a night when chaos swept the lands of this old world. Humans hid their children from the Rot that hunted for them. The army of the undead looked for the child of power, everywhere and anywhere. Blood tainted the ground of every human village that was under the violet moon. People screamed and pleaded for their lives, but the Rot had no emotion and did not feel.

  Meanwhile, a young couple ran far away from the villages as fast as their human legs could carry them, away from the horrors of that night, away from the Rot. When they could no longer hear the screams of the people, they stopped to regain their breath.

  Celesta, with her entire body shaken due to exhaustion, asked, “How is our child? We can’t let them take her too.”

  Clef took a few seconds to answer. As he was regaining his breath, he looked at their newborn child, whom he held with great care in his hands, and said, “She is still sleeping soundly. Don’t worry, we will save our child.”

  “Are we almost there?” Celesta asked, looking ahead with watery eyes as if their journey would never end.

  “Yes, the cave is just beyond the hill, but we must hurry! We don’t have a lot of time,” Clef said, trying to be strong when in fact his entire world was falling apart.

  The young couple continued running without stopping a second time until they reached the cave that no human dared to enter, a cave long forgotten by humans, a cave that was as old as magic itself. Desperate to save their newborn daughter’s life, they were ready to do anything. As they were entering the cave, the ground started to shake, and that made the young couple halt in fear. They were still almost frozen by the uncertainty of what lay ahead when suddenly, a ferocious beast appeared, standing before them just a few meters, withdrawn into the shadows. Two enormous brown-blue eyes glared directly at the humans. A slow but escalating growl came from within the beast.

  “Wait! Don’t hurt us, or at the very least don’t hurt her. I beg of you,” Clef said, trembling as he uncovered their newborn child.

  The brown-blue eyes fixed their gaze upon the newborn child and blinked once. Slowly, the beast emerged forward from within the shadows. As the beast emerged, a huge wolf-like creature was revealed to the humans in the cave. The wolf-like creature towered over the humans by double their size.

  The beast showed all its teeth and, with an angry expression on its face, said, “Out of all places, you humans dare come here?”

  “Please help us—you are the only hope our daughter has to survive the night,” Celesta exclaimed as she trembled in fear.

  “Help? Help, you say? And why would I help you? You humans have treated every magical creature—including me—like filth and disease! Why would I help you?” The beast said as it took one step closer to them. “Your lives and the life of your child depend on your answer. Answer carefully.”

  Clef got on his knees followed by Celesta, and they humbly lowered their heads to the floor in the hope that the powerful beast would have compassion for them. Clef said with a broken voice, “We weren’t even born when all of these began, and we have always been against it. Please, please just save our daughter; prove every human wrong about the magical creatures. We are sure that there is good in you, you were made powerful for a reason. If you wanted to, you could have destroyed the human village yourself. But you didn’t. We have always known you are good, and that’s why your name is the Watcher.” Celesta continued in between crying and short breaths, “Our daughter can save this world, there is much good in her. She has been chosen by the moon, she is a child of power.”

  The Watcher thought for a few seconds. Then his eyes widened as he realized what was in front of him. He lowered his stance and said, “Indeed she is…I am at your service, you do not need to fear me any longer. I must say, you were brave enough to defy the belief of your village. Against all odds, you came to ask for help from the very thing you were taught to fear. That takes a believing heart, a heart filled with love! And I will not let that love go to waste. I shall take care of your daughter. From now on, she will be safe—for she is the child of power, the one whom I have been waiting for my whole life, the one whom I will watch over and guard with my life.” The Watcher got closer to the child and asked, “What is her name?”

  Trembling out of gratefulness, Celesta said, “Her name…Her name is Bliss.”

  Noticing just how nervous the couple was, the Watcher swayed his long tail just centimeters away from the couple’s faces and said, “Calm, I will not fail.” Magic came out from within the tail’s tip, calming the young couple instantly. As his long tail was still near the couple, the Watcher formed a nest with it and said, “Hand her over. With me, she will be safe.” Clef did not think about it twice, and he placed Bliss on the Watcher’s tail. Once Bliss was comfortably sleeping on the tail, the Watcher said, “Now you must leave. The Rot can smell fear and will trace your trail of fear directly to here. I will head towards the Valley of Serene. There, she will be safe. Go now!”

  With great heartbreak, Celesta and Clef got up from the ground and headed away from the cave. They looked back every few steps, trying to catch a final glimpse of their newborn daughter. Suddenly, the Watcher ran towards them, passing them on one side. All that they were able to feel was a gust of wind made by the fast movements of the beast.

  The Watcher stopped a few meters ahead of them and shouted, “Run as fast as you can, they won’t get past me!”

  Little did the Watcher know that just a few more meters away from them was a large group of Rot, quiet and well hidden in the shadows of the night. Although the Rot did not have feelings, they could speak and carry out any order that was given to them by their master. One of the Rot’s generals said with a faint, deep, and dark voice, “Beast...Surrender the child, and we will consider sparing your life…”

  However, the Watcher responded with a brutal blow that cut the Rot’s general in half and said, “Those who cannot die feel no fear, but tonight... you will learn about fear, and you will fear me.” Then, the Watcher began attacking the rest of the undead without hesitation. A single blow from the Watcher was all it took to render the undead inert. As the Watcher continued his attack, he yelled at the unmoving couple, “Get out of here, there is no need for you to die tonight. Your daughter will be safe!”

  The unmoving couple reacted to the Watcher’s words and looked at their daughter, who was still sound asleep on the Watcher’s tail. Quickly Clef said, “Let’s go! I know she will be safe. We have to have faith in him. If we die tonight, we will die knowing that our daugh
ter is in good hands.” They then disappeared into the night.

  Although the Rot stood no chance against the Watcher, they kept coming. For every undead that the Watcher managed to destroy, another seemed to appear. Once he knew that the young couple was a safe distance away, the Watcher crouched and said with a loud, echoing voice, “Lightning!” Hundreds of bolts emerged from his paws, loudly incinerating all of the Rot surrounding them. Yet Bliss did not seem to hear the incredibly loud thunder that followed shortly. She was completely sound asleep within her tail nest. The Watcher’s tail acted like an insulated nest for the tiny little one, keeping her safe from all harm, including loud noises.

  As soon as the threat of the undead had vanished, the Watcher headed towards the Serene Valley, walking at a normal pace throughout the night, keeping a safe distance away from any nearby village. As they traveled through the shadows of the night, many screams were heard, and fires of burning villages spotted the land. Humans were still dying everywhere, and the Watcher knew that Bliss’ parents would not make it through the night. When the sun rose, the screams of dying people stopped, and silence blanketed the land.

  2

  The Entity

  Wandering the Galaxy, an ancient and powerful Entity looked for its final resting place. It had been looking for many centuries but had never found a place suitable enough. With little time left, it finally came across Earth —the most beautiful of all the planets it had seen in its long existence. It thought of Earth as a fascinating place where creatures of many kinds lived in peace and harmony. At the time, it couldn't think of any other planet as beautiful as Earth. So it decided to stay.

  On earth, it was a day just like any other until the sky began to open, cutting itself into half, creating a sound many times louder than thunder. Then, two giant gates appeared, opening inwards; the sky around the gates was decorated with growing stems of gold. Through those two giant gates, a dying Entity entered the world. The vast power of the Entity affected every living thing on earth. Plants died and then they were reborn, rivers stopped flowing, animals and humans fell to the floor into a deep slumber. Overwhelmed by the enormous power, every living being succumbed into deep slumber.

  The Entity only had mere moments to live. It looked upon the world and decided to give away all its remaining burning power.

  The Entity looked upon the lizards of the world, turning them into many breeds of dragons. Then there were dragons, dragons of many kinds, some with wings and some bound to earth, but all were great dragons, and all were mighty and powerful. Happy with the results, it moved on. Then, it fixed its gaze upon the plants and gave them some actual life. They began to manifest the ability to speak, to walk, and to roam the grounds freely in which they feed. After that, it had its eyes upon all the flying creatures in the world, and it gave them the ability to fly even higher and longer than they could have ever imagined. It gave voice to the wind, and the flying creatures gained the ability to hear such a voice. Then it turned to the great oceans, making them more vast and turning their already beautiful creatures even more awe-inspiring. Immense power flooded the world, creating and expanding many life forms, adding beauty and grace to the already beautiful world.

  However, when the Entity looked upon the humans, it was overwhelmed by a feeling it had never felt before. The Entity became utterly confused. How can something so beautiful, so perfect, be so empty, so harmful to its very home? Humans of that time had the ability to do great things, things that other animals could only dream of doing. Nonetheless, humans made no effort and chose to do nothing. Maybe some of the Entity's vast power could fix that; maybe all that humans needed was a little push towards the good. But something far, far much darker dwelled in the human heart. It was something that the Entity knew it could not fix. Humans were born with a void in their heart, a void that could never be filled, not by power, nor by love.

  Fair in all its vastness, the Entity decided to give humanity a second chance. It decided to look upon its future and the future of Earth. The world was doomed, it saw, and it would be at the hands of none other but a human. But amongst all the chaos and destruction they would bring upon the world, the Entity also saw hope. It saw hope in the form of seven humans to be born without a void in their heart. These seven humans would be born under the violet moon. These seven humans would be selfless and kind, good to humanity, and would do as much as they can to protect it from itself. The Entity left all its remaining power to be delivered by the moonlight to each one of the children that would be born under its light. Seven great Watchers will come to existence to watch over these humans until their magic would be fully formed. Depleting all its power, the Entity simply disappeared. The gates behind it closed as if nothing was ever there.

  Once the Entity was no longer present on earth, everyone woke up, as if from a dream; but they woke up into a dream. Because of all the changes that the world had inherited, nobody really remembered how it all began or how all the mystical creatures suddenly came to life. Humans then called everything that happened that day Magic.

  3

  New Life

  The great change brought many new and good things to the world. All creatures were able to communicate with the humans now. Thanks to their ability to speak, commerce flourished between humanity and the magical creatures. Some of these creatures even owned a store or a farm. But no matter how hard they tried, agriculture was a niche for the humans. Many magical creatures tried to have cornfield or perhaps grow some fruit, but they all failed; they didn't know exactly how the humans do it. So in many cases, magical creatures ended up working hand in hand with the humans as allies, as friends, and as partners in the great world of agriculture. Humans liked the idea of having magical creatures to carry the weight around the farm, to do all the hard things that was almost impossible for a human to do in one day. Indeed, the strength of the magical creatures helped the humans to cultivate much faster. And the magical creatures liked the idea as well. Now they had a purpose in life; now they had something to wake up for. In return, humans traded food, money and living accommodations for the magical creatures’ labor in the farms and hunting grounds. Most humans took the magical event that happen almost twenty years before as a gift from the heavens. They called those events New Life and the creatures that sprang from those events, Nulians.

  Life became better for both Humans and Nulians. Everything was at peace. But as the seventh rule of magic implies: Wherever there is a great light, there is also a great darkness waiting to overshadow the light.

  ...

  One normal nightfall, a small village was preparing for the night by closing shops and putting away tools used throughout the day. That night, the bright silver-white moon started to turn violet. Nulians felt the surge of magic in the air, and they warned humans that something would occur that night. Humans in the village did not know what to do or expect from what was happening. Even the non-magical creatures hid from the violet moonlight.

  That same night, an unassuming couple did not worry about the color of the moon’s light, as they had bigger problems at hand. The birth of their firstborn child was just minutes away.

  “Is there anything I can do? Please, tell me! You look like you are in a lot of pain,” said Mal, the soon-to-be father.

  Glaring at Mal with a furious and commanding stare, Lyn yelled, “Get over here and hold my hand! All of this is your fault. Is there anything you can undo? That’s what you should be asking yourself!”

  Mal quickly went to stand next to Lyn’s side to embrace her as much as he could just as she was giving her final pushes. Suddenly, with a cry for air, a new life was born into the world. As Mal handed the newborn child to Lyn, its tiny black hair began to turn dark violet, and although dark it was still very noticeable.

  In the gravest of tones and with tears running down her face, Lyn asked, “What’s happening to our child?” Lyn was still unable to move due to exhaustion from giving birth.

  Trying to keep calm for Lyn’s sake, Mal s
aid in a low voice, “Don’t worry your heart yet; our child is sleeping calmly. Whatever is happening is not bad for him.”

  “It’s a boy?” Lyn managed to ask before falling asleep as her body succumbed to exhaustion.

  “Yes, it's a boy,” Mal whispered ever so softly.

  The next morning, the small village was alive as if nothing had happened during the night, and life continued as normal. Humans and Nulians went on with their lives, soon forgetting all about the violet moon that happened that night. A few weeks passed before Lyn took the newly born child out to the sun for a walk around the tiny village. The newborn child looked just like any other child—that is, if his hair was covered. Nothing seemed to stand out. As months passed, people grew used to seeing the young child’s dark violet hair and did not think much of it. Everyone in the tiny town was perfectly fine with the child having violet hair; even Lyn and Mal grew into it, learning to love the violet hair of their child and thought of it simply as unique.

  On the opposite side of the village to where Lyn and Mal lived, near the outskirts of the small village, lived Gavril, a middle-aged man who cultivated the fields to the south of the tiny village. He was a respected, hardworking farmer who employed dozens of Nulians on a daily basis. Anyone who lived in the village could easily say that he was the man behind the working force of the village. In fact, it was because of him that the village prospered so much in the last few years.