A Soul To Receive - Prologue. Prologue

Prologue

Once upon a time ….

No, no, no. That will not do. That is a terrible way to start a tale such at this. How about…

A long time ago ….

No, even worse. I don’t know for sure it’ll be a long time ago, this may be read years in the future or before the month is out. How about I simply introduce myself?

Greetings my dear reader. I am Arcturus Stalf, High Mage of the Empire of Resolution. Blame the name on its founder, dear old Izar I. A great man really but he had a thing for strange names. He called his capital city Embracement, after all. I was just an apprentice mage when Izar the Great built an empire, everyone knows the story - rags to ultimate power, cadet in a local militia to ruler of the known world.

Anyway, I’m rambling. Forgive an old fool. I write this many years after Izar ruled Resolution. I have lived a long time; I’ve seen many Emperors pass, watched even the Empire itself crumble into dust. I was cursed with extraordinary long life and have seen eons fade, all I knew disappearing. I’d never believed I’d reach such heights when I was boy. I remember imagining my future on a cool spring morn; my highest dream had been to become a travelling mage.

The one that hit me the hardest was the passing of our very species. We are gone now from the world, forgotten altogether except as fables. Mankind rules Gaia, littering her surface in the destruction they were always so adept at spreading.

Ah, but you didn't pick this up to hear an old man rant. Let me indulge you in a tale before it is my time to pass. Finally I have found a soul to take my mantle and let me greet my brethren in Paradise. I have no further wish to play god, I just want peace. This is the story of the soul who has granted it to me ….