Fires raged across the plains, men fighting off invading armies that were bent on destroying all civilization. A horn blew, and a man in black armor on a horse rode in. He killed anyone who stood in his way, until every single soldier was dead. The sun set on the cloud-covered horizon, and everything went dark.

***

The road from Var to Kalleth, the capital city of Sarran, normally takes five days on foot. Because of this, many small settlements were built along the road, providing shelter and supplies to travelers. Quin Var had stayed in a few of them, but he hadn’t stayed long. Usually he was on a mission for the King at the time, such as now. As a Captain in the Sarran army, he had to report back to the royal court with the latest activities in the province of Var.

Although the trip was short, Quin was ready to deal with whatever might happen. He wore a set of light armor, with a brown jerkin over it; more comfortable for traveling, while still being good in an emergency. On his back he carried a spear, which he had received when he had been given the rank of Captain. He had occasionally used a sword, but he didn’t think they were as comfortable to fight with. He didn’t carry a shield, but if he needed to block something then he could use a small bit of magic. Most people in Sarran could use magic, if only slightly. A small shield wasn’t that hard for Quin.

The wind had grown quite cold, which wasn’t normal for summer. And the sky seemed to be getting darker. “Must be a storm,” Quin muttered. He decided to look for a place to stay until the storm passed on.

After about 20 minutes of walking, he spotted a town, just on the edge of the forest. But something didn’t seem right. There wasn’t any light being cast on the road by any fires, or smoke coming from any of the many chimneys. As he got closer, he heard an abnormal noise coming from the town. When he got to the gate, he discovered the source of the noise. It was the sound of silence. Nothing made any noise, because nothing was moving. Wary, Quin drew his spear. He wasn’t scared of much, but this was something that scared him.

He quickly ran from house to house, hoping that he could find someone that might know what was going on. The darkness started to get to him, feeling like a black curtain hanging over everything. He rushed into the inn, near the center of town. He got into the main hall, and still saw no one. On the tables were half empty mugs of beer, and some food on the tables. Quin walked over to one table, which had an empty mug, and a half empty plate. It was cold. He heard something - or someone - fall onto the floor upstairs. He ran upstairs, and saw a woman lying on the floor. She was wearing a gray dress, and her face was covered by her dark brown hair. Quin walked up to her, and knelt down. “Hello?” he asked.

The woman’s eyes slowly opened, and she started to sit up. “What happened?” she asked. She turned to Quin, and said, “Who are you?”

“I am Captain Quin Var. Do you remember anything?”

She closed her eyes, then shook her head. “No, I don’t remember. I just remember waking up, here. Why?”

“Because everyone in this town is gone, except for you. What’s your name?” Quin asked.

“I’m Karen,” she responded. “I... I live about two blocks away from here. I came here to visit with someone, but I can’t remember who.” She blinked slowly, then stared over Quin's shoulder. He shuddered, as if a cold breeze had blown through the room. This place was not comfortable. But he had to do something about this woman.

Quin sighed, “That’s all right. But right now, we should probably leave.” He helped her stand up, then they both ran down the stairs, and out the door. They paused in the town square. Quin looked over at the inn, and thought that he saw shadows walking around inside. “We need to go, now,” he said. They ran to the gate, and stopped when they got to the highway. Quin turned around, and saw the inn burning. The fire spread out to the other nearby buildings, and soon the whole town was on fire. He turned, and ran down the highway towards Kalleth, Karen following closely behind him.

After what seemed like a short time, Karen yelled, “Wait, I’m getting tired!” Quin stopped running, and walked over to the edge of the road. Karen came up behind him, and collapsed. “That’s the most I’ve run in a long time,” she said. She sat up, and asked, “Do you know what did that?”

“No,” Quin said. He looked around. He had thought they had been running for only a few minutes, but it was pretty obvious that it had been longer. He couldn’t see the town any more, or any of the smoke that was being put off by the fire. He looked into the forest, and couldn’t see anything unusual. All he heard were the noises of the forest. “We’re staying here for the night, and in the morning we’ll head for Kalleth.”

“Don’t you think we would be safer if we went to the next town?” Karen asked.

Quin turned to face her. “No, I don’t think we’d be safer. Whoever did this seems to be targeting villages, or we would have been followed. Now, I’m going to get firewood.” He pulled off his bag, and gave it to Karen. “There’s some camping things in there, if you want a blanket or something. It’s getting colder, and that dress doesn’t look too warm.” He turned, and went off into the forest. Karen opened the pack, found the blanket, and wrapped herself up in it. She lay back down, and tried to get to sleep.

***

Ryu was in a sour mood. The shouts of soldiers rang out as they marched from the remains of Keto, the citizens of the town following close behind. It was late at night when they received warning that the town was under attack by some unknown force. Ryu and his men were sent out to fight off the enemy, but it was too late. The town had been destroyed. He decided to escort the survivors back to Thror, where they would be relatively safe.

"These bandits are becoming more bold, sir," Ryu second in command, Maglor, said grimly, walking up beside him. "Perhaps the King should start setting the military around to catch them."

Ryu nodded slightly. "Anything can help at this point." Maglor was right, things had been getting worse. There were rumors of hunters fighting amongst each other in some of the more far-flung cities, along the borders of Theeds and the Northern Lands. Some people had reported large groups of bandits entering towns and causing grief, but never had they destroyed a village so thoroughly.

Soon, the band approached the Candrid Mountains, which were located right in the center of the Avaelan desert. One of Ryu's soldiers said, "We should go another way, sir. Who knows what awaits us in the mountains?" Fear was obvious in his voice, and it was reflected by many of the men.

Ryu turned to Maglor, and asked, "Maglor, what do you think we should do?"

Maglor thought about it for a moment, then said, "Well, sir, it does look dangerous. But this foul night makes me think that we would be in more danger taking the longer way. I say go through."

Ryu nodded in agreement. "My thoughts exactly," he said, smiling slightly. He turned to his men, and commanded, "We will go over the mountains and face whatever may await us at the top. Form up close around the civilians, we must protect them."

The men nodded, and went to work gathering the civilians together. They made their way as quickly as they could, but with so many it was much slower than Ryu wanted. When they reached the highest point in the path, he looked north, and saw the city of Thror waiting for them. He was excited to return to his city, after being in the borderlands for the last year. He missed his home in Emil, his wife and daughter. Soon he would be able to see them again.

A shout from the west caught his attention. He looked down the hill, and saw a small town that appeared to be burning. He judged the distance was only half a mile. The shouting continued, and the clash of steel. Maglor ran up to him and said, "Sir, we should go and help."

Ryu nodded. He pointed at two of the soldiers, and said, "You two come with us. The rest of you, keep these people safe. Go as fast as you can to Thror." He drew his sword, and said, "We're going to that town."

The four of them quickly ran back down the trail, turned towards the besieged village, and sprinted into the town. Many of the buildings were burning, and people were running everywhere. It was complete chaos. Ryu saw men running between the buildings, carrying torches. "Attack! For Thror, attack!" he shouted, and they charged at the men. The men, startled, dropped their torches, drew their swords, and attacked.

Ryu picked one of them off, tried to get him away from the group. He thrust his sword, which the man easily parried. But he wasn't well trained, he left himself open. Ryu kneed him in the chest, then hit his head with the pommel of his sword. The man fell with a loud thump, giving Ryu the chance to stab him. He turned, and saw the others had already dealt with the rest. One of his men had a deep gash in his arm, but the others seemed to have been unharmed. "Let's get these people to the main group. Watch carefully, I don't trust this night any more."

It was morning the next day when Quin and Karen arrived in Kalleth. The guards, knowing who he was, opened the side gate for them. They walked swiftly through the streets, heading for the Royal Palace.

"Now, I didn't tell you this before, but I was on my way here for a meeting with the King. Do you know anyone here that you could stay with?"

Karen smiled slightly. "No, I don't know anyone here. I've never been to this city before..." Her eyes sparkled as she took in the towering structures of Kalleth. The walls themselves were gilded with gold, silver, and many other shiny metals. The buildings, while less ornate, were incredibly tall, so that you felt almost like an ant in a maze. The streets were crowded with people coming and going, barking for their wares to possible customers. Amateur magicians did simple tricks of misdirection to entertain the crowd as they went about their business. The sun reflected off of metal and glass, making it appear as if the city glowed on its own. In the distance, a bell rang, marking the time for all the city to hear.

Quin smiled. "You really haven't been here before. Well, how would you feel about meeting the Duke of Kalleth?"

"That would be great!" she said excitedly. "I've never been in a Duke's house."

"Well, then, let's go." Together they navigated the streets, passing by all kinds of different people with different business. Quin would have liked to stay in the streets a bit longer, but he did have an appointment with the King, and that's not easily put off. But he loved wandering around the city, hearing and seeing what was going on.

It wasn't long before they reached the gates to the Royal Palaces. It was the largest building in Kalleth, built to house battalions of soldiers and their supplies for at least a month, more if they took over some of the greater halls. Its grand walls were covered in gold, and magical defenses were woven into them to protect the palace from any outside force. "The King's Palace is in the center of the Palaces, with other buildings for running the government built around it," Quin explained. "That tower to the right of the palace is the Mage Tower of Kalleth. The Archmage lives there."

"It's incredible!" Karen exclaimed. "I never imagined buildings like that!"

Quin smiled. He knew many outside the province of Kalleth would never see great buildings like this one. He pointed to the building to the left of the King's Palace, and said, "That one's the Duke's house." It was much like the King's Palace, but smaller. On the top was a small tower, with windows overlooking the city.

A guard approached them, and said, "This way, Captain Quin." He led the two of them to the Court House, behind the King's Palace. Karen continued to stare at the architecture she found, how different it was from the town she had just left yesterday. A pang of grief went through her, as she realized that everyone she had known was probably dead. She suppressed the feeling, telling herself that there would be time to grieve soon.

They were let inside the Court House, and led into the main chamber. A servant quickly came to them, bowed, and asked, "How may I serve you, Captain Quin?"

"Do you know if the Duke is here?" Quin asked.

A man rounded the corner of the hallway, shouting, "Yes, Quin, I'm here!" The servant jumped, and retreated to the wall. The man wore the colors of Kalleth, red and gold, with a silver ring on his left hand bearing the crest of the city. He briskly walked over to Quin, and shook his hand vigorously. "Quin, it's good to see you!" he said, smiling. "So, what did you need to see me for?"

"I have a request for you," Quin said. He gestured to Karen. "This is Karen. Her home was burned down yesterday, and I was wondering if she could stay with you."

"Well, of course!" The Duke bellowed. He bowed to Karen, and said, "My Lady, it would be an honor to help you out in this time of need."

Karen blushed. "Well, thank you m'Lord Duke."

"Servant, come here!" The Duke said, calling for the servant. He approached, head bowed. "What's your name? Never mind. Take Lady Karen to my house, and make sure she has everything she needs. Especially clean clothes. And wash the ones she's got, they look like they're in fine condition. Did you get all that? Get going!"

The very confused servant bowed, and ushered Karen out the door and towards the Duke's Palace. At the door, she turned to Quin and said, "Thank you!" Quin nodded, smiling. She bowed, and then followed the servant.

When she was gone, the Duke's face changed from care-free to serious in an instant. "Quin, other towns have been attacked, burned, as you said her's was. What exactly did you see?"

Quin closed his eyes, trying to remember. "The town was dead. Food was left on plates, half eaten. The only person that I saw in the town was Karen, and she didn't remember where everyone else had gone. We had only just reached the highway when the town lit on fire. And it wasn't a natural fire, the entire town caught on fire at the same time."

The Duke nodded, "You're right, that isn't normal. At least you're the first person to see it happen and escape. You'll be asked to tell your story again in the Court. We will have to take action against this, but without more information we're going to have a tough time finding a solution." He sighed. "Well, might as well get to the meeting room."

They walked down the main hall, then entered into the center chamber, where the Royal Court would be held. It was a large room, twice the size of the entrance hall. Guards were placed at the five different entrances to the chamber. A large round table was in the center of it, with 21 chairs placed around it. There were two seats for each province, with 5 provinces. Three were for the King, the Duke of Kalleth, and the Archmage of Veladion. Five of them were for the Representatives, whose main purpose was to go out to the provinces and make sure things were running smoothly and report back. The last three were for the Harbormaster of Tentai, the High General of the Sarran Army, and the Minister of Intelligence. Quin remembered his first time here, how he had accidentally sat in the Duke's chair. He smiled at the memory. That was some time ago now.

A few were already sitting at the table, talking with each other. The governors of Kalleth and Dahle were discussing something very heatedly, probably the farming along the Dahle River, who was using too much water, or something like that. The Duke of Kalleth walked over to the Archmage, and they began to whisper to each other. Others were sitting alone, scribbling notes for the meeting to come. One man who sat alone stared at the table, absorbed in his thoughts. Around his neck was the signet of Captain. Who is he? Quin knew all the Captains, yet this one was new. He walked over, and said, "Welcome to the Court, Captain. What's your name?"

Startled, the man jumped. He looked up at Quin, and said, "Caleb, of Tentai. Who are you?"

"Quin, of Var." He pulled out the nearest chair, and sat down. "So, do you have any idea what this meeting's about?"

Caleb shook his head. "Governor Darin hasn't told me anything yet. But I did notice that this isn't a normally scheduled meeting. Maybe something's come up. Why, do you know?"

Quin looked at the Duke, who was still speaking quietly with the Archmage. "I think so, but I don't want to say until after the meeting has started," he said slowly. He turned back to Caleb. "It's only a guess, and a poor one at that."

Slowly, the other members of the Royal Court entered the chamber. Within the next ten minutes, the rest of the Court had arrived, and were talking among each other. The door to the King's chamber opened, and three of the Royal Guard came through, followed by the King. He wore his most plain robes, white with a slight hint of gold. On his right hand was a ring with the crest of Sarran, the Elven symbol for both peace and war. "Would everyone please take their seats, please. This emergency session of the Royal Court will now begin."