Fall of the Magi (Ver 2)

Prologue

July 28, 2000

Midnight bells rang from the temple part of the castle. The courtyard only stired with the returning of scouts; dressed in dark grays and blacks. Castle was were soild polished crystal, from the carefully fitted tiles on the roof, to the polished floor. Towers spiraled like twisting horns into the sky, towering over the rest of the city in sparkling crystal majesty. At eight points around the castle, there stood towers of the same corn shape. Each tower was a slight differnet shade of crystal. Under the towers sprawled the city, starting at the more rich around the towers and sprawling into slums away from them and where they met.

In was in this crowded city- silent as a crypt- that the sharp piecing cry of a baby's first breath was met with such a sudden angry retaliation. The baby located in the slums, was quickly shushed with a rag over the mouth. It would meet a crueler fate if the masters of the council were to hear it's cries.

"It's a girl... She... She bares the mark..." The old midwife, with greesy hair and dirty hands held the child tight againest her heaving boosom. "You bore us a mage..." The woman's eyes were dark with malice. "You would do well to kill her now and not let her live to become one of them."

The mother panted on the bed before the midwife. "Give.... Give her to me...." She reached out just as another spasm grasped her. Her screams echoed into the night. The mothers knuckles were white as they grasped the bedframe, holding on with all her might.

"Another! It is another!" The midwife quickly tossed the first aside, the baby landing with all luck near the family guardian. A black wolf, with eyes the color of the midday sun. He growled in warning to the old woman; who paid no mind to the guardian spirit. "I see a head... strong shoulders... Stronger then her sister..." The old woman's fingers stopped mid pull. "No.. No I will not deliver another!" She stumbled back against the wall. "You are cursed Lady! Your childer are the Devils own! Kill them now!"

"No..." The mother pushed with all her might and the last child, twin to the first, was surprised enough. The old woman, was touched by the mothers compassion, or maybe it was the money that got to her. By a hand of god she slapped the baby's rosy bottom and quickly bound both girls in swaddling clothes. Then she left, taking her pay from the family's secret stash.

The two babys cuddled together for warmth as their mother slowly died on the bed before them. Their father was one of the head mages of teh council, and unaware he had two small daughters both with the deadly gift he himself owned. The soilders of the city weren't so kind. Their armor was heard long before they appeared at the door.

The leader, a middle aged white haired man, slew the mother were she grasped on to life and motioned for his men to ransack the one room hut. The babies were hidden by a growling animal spirit. Once more god himself must of been watching, for the guards left without taking either of the girls and killing them as well.

When morning came a young bride walked the slums, bringing her small gift of healing to those who needed it. It was she who found the sleeping babes and took them into her arms, giving them life and love. When she saw them, craddled only by a worn blanket ripped for baby linens she took them into her home.

Her house was one of the minor council members. She herself was but a distant cousin, married to a small time merchant Her name would be unimporant to the twins, for she would die and leave them alone once more before they turned five.

One man watched over them. Long white hair and beard, eyes covered with a dark stained sashe. He would be the one to take them from the merchants home when the plague hit. He gave them to the forest, in a small hut outside the darkest tower's shadow. There the girls grew up flinching and taking care of themselves. This of course was but an over shadowing of the great future they would set into motion.

Chapter 1

Long stands of unwashed black were tucked sloppily under a boy's wide brimmed hat. Deep brown eyes shimmered with mischeif as nimble fingers reached in and plucked out a purse that dangled to temptingly from a loose belt.

Thin as a whip, all skin and bones, the boy darted around a corner, gasping for breath as he fingered his prize. "A good fiveteen peices..." His voice as slightly high for even a thirteen year old. He smiled and glanced down the street.

The gods were simply not with him, for the man had noticed his purse being stripped, and had contacted a nearby guard, dressed in the silver and ice blue of the Water Tower. A gasp was let out as he was spotted. He took down the small alley and off the iron road. His footsteps were light as he skid into a small bookshop off bird lane.

He crept deeper into the small over laiden store. Eyes rivited on the door and window that lead out. The window was film covered of the dirty city, and the door, while still partly open held no other sign of entrees. He let out a sigh of releif and leaned back.

Books crashed from over his head, causing him to stumble back into another pile. Soon it looked as if a small earthquake had shaken every book off it's lofty perches. The boy sat in the middle of it, mouth open in shock to the chaos one little bump had done.

"Here now you rap scullen!" Rough and strong fingers grasped his shoulder and dragged him to his feet, causing the hat to fall from it's procarious perch and onto his shoulders. Dark raven curls, spilled over the pinched and pale face of the young boy- girl. "Eh? What's this? All Hallows already?" The man who had grabbed the young theif's shoulders peered closer.

"Your.. your pardon sir.. I" A loss for words the girl ducked her head behind her locks.

"Here now Girlchild.. Help me pick up the mess you made..." The man let her go and started picking up the books. The girl blinked again, studing his stooped back. She could easily make a break for it, running until she was safe in her quiet hut outside the forest. "Eh? Child... I didn't mean tomarrow."

"Of course not elder..." She found herself bending over to pick up the books before she could even manage to puzzle out why she wasn't running.

<Incomplete. In Progress.. Not Done.. Deal >

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