Aether Chronicles: Birth Of A Legend

Raegar continued eating his bread and meat while admiring the colorful sky above, putting a smile on his face. After ten minutes, he finished with his food and crawled into his tent before falling asleep.

The night slipped by until distant roars and chirps of monsters reverberated across the grasslands as herds of Plains Deer passed by. None of it stirred him; he'd long grown used to the wilderness's noises.

When Raegar finally awoke, he felt refreshed and climbed out of the tent before stretching and hearing his back crack just as he noticed a thick mist settled over the empty land that put him on edge.

'What's going on here? Maybe some fun after all this working?' he thought while looking over the edge.

Following that, he packed away everything and jumped off the branch only to land with a quiet thud while putting his mask back on. Once on the ground nothing came to him so he carried on north.

Hours passed, and he crested a hill only to spot a plume of black smoke drifting into the air, which caught his interest. He headed toward it only to see a small Lunathyrian army besieging a trade city on the banks of the Western River.

''Let's hit the rear with a Titanfall before rushing in to kill the survivors,'' he muttered while rushing toward the palisade they erected behind them.

Once close enough, he quickly cast the spell and flung it into the air with a burst of wind Aether. He watched it shoot into the atmosphere as he aimed it for the enemy's rear so it wouldn't damage the city.

Without wasting time, he dropped his hand, and the metal tree-sized rod plummeted toward the ground. Seconds later, it slammed into the ground and caused utter chaos as the demi-humans were sent flying everywhere.

As the shockwave died down, it allowed him to rush in so fast that he was just a blur before reaching the first enemy soldiers. Raegar danced around and cut them apart, causing their bodies to explode.

He landed with a thud and his mask was stained with blood, which scared the survivors even more before he continued to attack by throwing his daggers that whizzed around thanks to his Aether.

While doing this, he started casting Stormfire Bullets into the chests of the Lunathyrians chest. The reddish projectiles pierce through their armor and bodies with ease causing them to drop dead.

When the Dawnfirians saw this, they cheered and rushed in to finish off the attackers. He watched as a group of heavily armored soldiers in silver armor with a black sun emblem on their chests approached while killing any demi-human who charged them.

'The Dawnfire army,' he thought while cleaning his blades. 'I wonder is Jasper is down this way, I know father is in the north.'

''Thank you, stranger,'' the oldest man said with a friendly smile. ''We were trying to figure out what to do when that star rock slammed into those dogs. Was that your spell, young man?''

Raegar looked at the commander and nodded. ''Yes, I've been causing the enemies problems on my journey to the Blackwood Duchy. I want to see if my family is still there.''

The man yanked off his helmet, exposing a bald scalp crisscrossed with scars that carved down one side of his weathered face, lending him a battle-hardened air. His brown eyes narrowed. ''You a Vaelthorne? That white hair of yours isn't exactly common.''

'Great, just what I don't need, prying eyes,' he thought, stifling a grimace before offering a curt goodbye. ''Anyway, Commander, I've got to head north before sundown. Nightwalkers are spilling out of Bloodfang Forest thanks to all this chaos.''

Following that, Raegar left the battlefield as the man went to speak, but he wanted no part of the attention and just wanted to find his family. He continued along the Kingsway and noticed hundreds of refugees traveling toward Deadwater City.

Hours passed and he spotted a camp in the distance with the Dawnfire army protecting civilians. When the people reached it, they were ushered into the protection of the wooden wall.

Raegar didn't follow them, instead looked for the commander who was giving orders to the soldiers before turning to him. ''What do you want young man?''

''Where is the enemy?'' he questioned.

When the man heard this he sighed before pointing west. ''A Korrvethian fleet alongside a pirate flotilla has landed on the western shore, General Darius Vaelthorne has held them back but the enemy are getting reinforcements every day.''

His eyes narrowed as he thought. 'Darius is mother's older brother, maybe I can clear the way to the Blackwood Manor while meeting him?'

Following that, he said his farewells to the Dawnfirians and started heading north through the war-torn land. While traveling, he spotted a battlefield littered with thousands of dead soldiers as scavengers picked the bodies.

Without paying too much attention, Raegar continued on and soon spotted a Dawnfire army marching toward the western coast. As he caught up with them, he noticed they were reinforcements as they were too clean.

He passed by the soldiers who looked at him like he was crazy just before the commander of the force approached him while speaking. ''Young man, it's not wise to travel the Kingsway wearing such a mask.''

Raegar stopped walking when hearing this causing him to look at the response while removing his hood revealing his hair. ''I'm Dawnfirian, so me wearing this doesn't matter.''

When the commander saw this his eyes widened as he quickly introduced himself. ''I'm Gideon Duskmoor. Are you a Vaelthorne? Sorry for asking but it's the hair, you see it's a famous feature of one of the top families in the empire.''

''Yes, I'm Raegar Blackwood,'' he introduced himself. ''Son of Victoria and Alaric Blackwood.''

The old man's eyes widened in disbelief and shock as he stammered, ''You're the Tetraarch Mage from the Vaelthorne family, aren't you? I've heard whispers of you training deep in the far south.''

''I'm on my way home first, then heading northwest to Drakenwood Magic Academy,'' he explained as they began their work together. ''My grandfather was supposed to meet me, but he's vanished.''

The older man nodded while speaking in a frustrated tone. ''Yes, those filthy devils ambushed them, but the empire believes him, and Lady Elysia will return soon. Nothing can beat that couple, they are monsters.''

Raegar let out a weary sigh, though a flicker of understanding stirred as the sun dipped below the horizon. He turned to the man, his voice low. ''See to it your camp is well-protected. Nightwalkers have overrun the southern reaches of the empire.''

Gideon and his commanders halted in their tracks when the old man's voice cut through the air. ''What's a Nightwalker?'' he asked, bewildered.

The question was so absurd it nearly made Raegar stumble, but he steadied himself and replied sharply. ''Foul creatures that stalk the night, preying on unwary travelers and lone caravan guards.''

''Thank you for that, young master,'' one of the women said before rushing off to sort it out.

He stayed with the camp until it was fully set up and the Dawnfirian soldiers. Once that was done, he said his goodbyes to Gideon and his commanders. This shocked the soldiers as one of them stepped forward.

''Young master, it's too dangerous out there if what you speak of is the truth,'' the younger man said.

Raegar waved him away while summoning his daggers. ''I'll be fine. I've spent months in the dark among the monsters of Bloodfang; Nightwalkers are nothing to me,'' he replied with a confident expression.

Following that, Gideon and the others reluctantly agreed before saying their farewells before he continued north as the night grew darker, and by the time he came across the first group of creatures he could hear explosions in the distance.

'Must be uncles army fighting,' he mused before attacking the Nightwalkers and Tier One Night Wolves.

Raegar darted forward with blinding speed, his blades flashing as they carved through the monsters before they could react. He leaped from one spot to the next, striking with skill, his swords piercing their skulls in seamless, deadly arcs.

When he finally came to a stop, the creatures froze mid-motion, then collapsed in lifeless heaps, hacked into pieces. A faint smile tugged at his lips as he thought. 'This is getting easier. Tier Two beasts are no match for me now.'

Afterward, Raegar continued until he came across a massive battle that was underway as the Lunathyrians, Korrvethians, and Dawnfirians were engaged in a fierce fight that looked like it was a stalemate.

Excitement washed through his body just as his daggers appeared in his hand before he cast Titanfall. He sent the metal rod into the air with a boom that caught the enemy camp's attention.

Raegar's eyes narrowed as he spotted dozens of soldiers charging toward him. With a flick of his wrists, he spun his blades, dropping into a low crouch. He cast Enhancement, and a surge of power coursed through him.

In an instant, he launched forward like a thunderbolt, meeting the enemy head-on with unstoppable force.