Slap! The leather stings when it hits my face. I hop out of bed and close the shutters, shutting out the hazy sunlight of mid-morning. I open the bag to see a leather bound book. I hear a knock at my door, and shove the bag under my overcoat, and grab my bow and quiver.
“William, are you ready?”
“Yes father, let's mount!” I call back.
I’m out the door in a flash, and in a few seconds I’m riding down the game trail on my horse, Gabe.
As soon as my father leaves, I see a large buck in the thicket. I slowly slide off of Gabe, and draw my bow, pulling it back to my ear as my father instructed to. As I approach, the buck’s fur seems to melt away, leaving a tall man, hidden behind a black cloak. He draws a dagger, and gruffly says
“Give me the Book of Fire, or you will suffer great losses”,
I release an arrow, aimed deadly straight for his heart, but instead of a bloodbath, all I see is a flash of light, and no more.

A few days after my affair at one of the many taverns, I find myself outside my old school, The Academy of Wizardry and Witchcraft. As I'm walking home from my temporary job as a blacksmith, a warlock passes me, brushing my red cloak.
"Fairgrounds, three o'clock tomorrow,” he whispers.
I try to run after him and ask what this is all about, but he has melted into the crowd, his brown cloak blending in with the school's uniforms.
I arrive at the fairgrounds out of curiosity, not because the lowly warlock told me to be there. When I am standing in the middle of the field, the warlock approaches me. He shoves me a piece of paper that reads:

Mage Samuel,

You are here on behalf of me, Warlock Peter, and you are hereby declared to step down from your position as Mage of Fire, and let me rise to Mage of Earth. You will respectfully be given the title of Warlock Samuel or Warlock of Fire, whichever you please. In return, I will personally provide you with weapons and money, the amounts which can be agreed upon a later date. If this polite request is denied, I and all those accompanying me, on my behalf, will be taking more drastic measures to ensure you to step down, without the reward.
With all due respect,
Warlock Peter

"I'm sorry Sir, but I'm afraid I cannot do this, for I don't want to, Its highly illegal, and I'm very close to becoming a wizard." I reply. With that, I take off down the dusty street.
Behind me is a unit of warriors from the kingdom not very far from here. I speed up, and in the process, I become a little less careful than usual. One of the warriors dive at me, pushing me to the side of the road. Not thinking, but purely relying on my survival instincts, I realize that I only have one more option. With that thought in mind, I dive into the well next to me.

Searing pain races through my head. I sit up to find all of my hunting gear, even Gabe, lying next to me, in the middle of some sort of tunnel. Everything is here, except the bag. It lies empty and abandon in the corner. The only light source comes from a hole in the roof above me. I decide to gather up my belongings and try to find a way out of this damp tunnel. As I'm mounting Gabe, another boy, about the same age as I am, tumbles through the roof. When he lands, he doesn't move. I decide to stay with him and comfort him.
When the boy wakes up I say to him
"Are you alright? You took quite a fall. My name is William, and I am a worker. My father was a warrior and my mother was a worker, giving me the job of a hunter. I was hidden here when someone in a black cloak took my leather bag containing something he called The Book of Fire."
The boy groans, then exclaims
"The Book! I need that! If I got that I could be a wizard! And you could help me for sake of vengeance!" I think about his plan, then the Alliance of the Three Kingdoms, the workers, the warriors, and the wizards, and how we are supposed to be somewhat nice to each other. Finally, I say
"When I know a little more about you, I will decide whether or not I will help you."
"Yes, right. Sorry. I am Mage Samuel, Mage of Fire. Both my parents are wizards, and the way I came here is a long one. To put it in short, I need the book to complete my quest to become a wizard. After the book was blown away from me I returned to my kingdom without a staff of a wizard. Later, my position as a Mage was challenged by a warlock, and running away from the fight armed only with my staff, I dove into a well, falling down here."
After a moment of thinking, I spoke
"You are very lucky. I will accompany you, and give you what weapons I have on me that have flame enchantments on them. We will be allies under the terms agreed upon in the Alliance of the Three Kingdoms, or as friends, your choice. Also, I wish to know a little more about The Book of Fire."
"The Book of Fire is an enchanted relic. All of the elements of wizardry have one. The elements are Fire, Earth, Water, Ice, Darkness, and Lightning. The elements dictate which kind of magic you have. Among those, Fire is the most powerful. Darkness is the only evil element, and they are the people who stole The Book. Some other relics include the Swords of Darkness, and the Stones of Earth. Each element, which is like a section of the wizard kingdom, with different dwellings and customs, all wear different cloaks. The Fire element wears red, Earth wears brown, Water wears blue, Darkness wears black, and lightning wears yellow. As you can see and have heard me say, I am of the Fire element, and am a Mage. That ranking order is Enchanter, Warlock, Mage, Wizard, and then Sage. Sage is a ranking only archived by elders that are over 60 years old and have achieved the rank of Wizard."
"Can you actually answer my question. I really only want to know the details about The Book." I interrupt.
"Yes, sorry. The Book contains directions to the Mountain of Flames, which is foretold to have an infinite amount of power, which can do anything. The Book was rediscovered only a few weeks ago, and my quest to become a wizard was to find the Mountain of Flames. The Mountain of Flames is a hidden fortress for Flame members only, something which all elements have. The Book also contains directions on how to use the Mountain's power and what it does. If Darkness reads that book, they will have access to the most power ever, and be able to do whatever their evil hearts desire. So there you have it, the history of The Book."
"It seems pretty complicated, but a reasonable cause to die for." I say, relieved that the history lesson is over. My head, mystified with all of the history, tells me to scoop up the bag. With that, we trot down the tunnel, the start of a long quest, and probably a long friendship.

A ways into the darkness of the tunnel, as I’m peering ahead, I see a pinprick of light. It’s a vast distance away, but it gives me some hope.
“Look! The exit!” William shouts excitedly, as he sprints away. I jog up to him, only to find that he’s sitting on the hard stone floor, panting like a dog.
“C'mon, let’s go get out of this pit.” I say. Will stands up, and slowly walks away.

Soon, we are climbing out of the hole. After the short climb, I find myself in a gardener’s shack. William is already outside.
When I step out, the sunlight is blinding. As soon as my eyes adjust, I realize where we are. We are in the famous Gardens of Magical Beings, the Wizard’s most prized possession. Few are allowed to the gates. Even fewer are allowed in, to witness the immense beauty. William is standing in the central courtyard, clueless and dumbfounded.
“We should get out of here, we aren’t supposed to be here.”
“Where are we?”
“Exactly where we want to be, the Council Palace is right over there, and that’s where the Great Sage of Fire lives, the guy we want, our leader.
We sneak through the neatly trimmed bushes, careful not to rustle, break, or disrupt anything. Once we are at the gate, William nibley scales the gate, dropping like a cat. He lands silently on one of the guard’s backs, and slits his throat. The next guard slumps to the cobblestone walkway before he can sound the alarm, a dagger perfectly aimed at his heart. He opens the gate just enough for me to slip in, using the keys he found. He pockets them, and without saying a word, we press onward, through the entrance hall, and sneaking past the guards, up the tower to where the Great Sage of Fire dwells.
Upon our arrival, we are faced with a phalanx of private guards, who received word from someone near The Gardens, probably the groundskeeper. This seems hopeless to William, but this kind of combat is nothing to me. I decide to use a Flame Smash, and with a flash of light, a short spell, the pound of my staff on the stone floor, and a loud bang, the spears light on fire, their occupiers thrown off their feet. William, huddled in the corner, is unharmed, as well is our supplies.
When we pass through the doorway, I see a familiar face: the Great Sage of Fire.
“Samuel!” He exclaims, giving me a tight embrace.
“I thought only mages and up could pull that spell off, and with such a young voice, I knew it was the top of this year’s class. How did you two manage to get in here, and with only two deaths. I’m not going to mention the rest of the casualties.”
“The deaths, he’s responsible for, the rest was me. This is William, by the way, and we are going to retrieve The Book, so I can be a Wizard, and for revenge, and for all future magic pursuers. We thought it would be in your interest to help us.”
“Indeed I will. Forget the damage. By all means, let’s do this!”

What? I open my eyes to see a candle lit room, decorated only with a oval shaped table, with two figures hunched over papers, talking. I stand up from my chair in the corner. They're still at it? When will they stop with the planning? We need to sleep tonight too. A journey is tiring, and it will do us good.
"Good-morning, William" Samuel says.
"Why can't we all be saying good-night? We'll need the sleep, and by the looks of it, its around 1:00."
"We have all of the arrangements, except for a few little details. We already know our route, who will be in our party, and how we will retrieve The Book!" Samuel says excitedly.
"Indeed, give us another hour William, then we can all turn in. If you wish though, you may leave." The Great Sage of Fire says.
I head to my quarters, where I immediately crawl under the blankets, and close my eyes.
When I wake up, sun is streaming through my window, and I can see horses, my supplies, Samuel's supplies, and other's stuff in the main courtyard. I get out of bed and find Samuel.
"You know that for the first half of the journey we will be traveling with a company of six other people. They are Albert, Matthew, Jonathan, Louis, Franklin, and Marcus. We are leaving in two hours, and in a week, we hope to reach a Darkness outpost near Granadel River in the Ponasal Pass. We will fight on from there, and a week after we leave the outpost, three will leave us for an exploration trip previously planned. The rest, if any are to come with us to the end." Samuel tells me, helping me prepare for the journey ahead.
It seems like only ten minutes before we have to leave. We set out, me on Gabe, the rest on their horses, to the outpost.
I seem to be the best suited for this journey. It has been three days, and Louis is already ill and Samuel is worried about the paths ahead, and everyone else is starving. We eat provisions a little, but every night, I make camp and unpack, Samuel sits in his tent, planning. I will usually leave to hunt, and when I return with a decent amount of meat, they are all snoring like bears. I eat my share of the meat.
In the morning, I pack up while everyone else eats. I eat only a small breakfast. We set out in under an hour, and travel for up to twelve hours, then repeat the process.
As I walk, I ask if anyone else would mind sharing the work, because I have been doing all the work.
“Sure I will, William. Sorry, I have just been so tired.” Jonathan says, always the nicest of the six.
“Thanks Jonathan. Maybe you guys could all set up camp while I hunt, then when I come back, we can all have a feast. Same goes with the morning.” I suggest. I hope this will our progress forward.
“I have to finish up the plans for when we travel through Ponasal Pass. It's very tight, and I assume that we will be being pursued, so I need to ensure our safety.” Samuel says.
“Oh, ok.” I say, slightly disappointed.

Today we arrived at the outpost. We turned left and found a perfect outcropping of rocks to camp near so we wouldn’t be seen. We ate some provisions, then went to bed. We couldn’t risk a fire for fear of being seen, so the night passed slowly.
In the morning, we hid our supplies, all but weapons and the smallest amount of gear, and left to scout out the outpost. It turns out that it was more of a fort, maybe Fort Ponasal, which was destroyed during a previous battle between the forever warring elements.
I heard a shout in the distance.
“What was that?” Louis asks, trembling.
“I think they’ve seen us, the guards on the walls.” Jonathan says, obviously the leader of the six, and chosen to follow us later on.
An arrow whizzes by my ear. I am petrified by fright, by then I realize that it was headed in the wrong direction. I look up to see a guard on the wall topple backwards, falling into the fort, dead. Behind be, William is knocking another arrow, ready for a fight.
“Draw your weapons!” I shout, holding a flame enchanted sword in my left hand, my staff in the other.
Just then, the gates of the fort open. Was it that easy? An enormous army of Black Magic demons marches out.
The six new members of our party rush forward, but they are held at bay by the demons. William shoots again and again, each time taking a life, one arrow at a time. I confer with my spells, this time it is harder to choose, I need a spell that will kill. I finally choose the Flaming Volley, which launches an entire army’s worth of flaming arrows at the fort. I stamp my staff and yell. There is a quick flash of light, but then I see the arrows. Most of the arrows hit guards, demons, or even some combat wizards, but there is one arrow does the most damage. It flies through a window, between the bars. Soon enough, I see fire leaping out of the window.
Enough of the spells. I tuck away my staff, and now grip my sword. I run at the main body of the army, void of any strategy. In no time at all, I am surrounded by magical beings, all trying to take my life. I barge through a row of soldiers, hacking at one’s arm and another’s head. I become subdued in my “work” until Jonathan fights his way to my side. We may be more experienced, but they have a huge advantage because of their numbers. This becomes even more obvious when hundreds of archers and crossbowmen appear on the stone walls. A tower collapses because of the fire and a pile of stones buries Louis, killing him instantly. The archers fire volley after volley at us, only they mostly hit the ground troops. Then a wave of cavalry charges aimlessly at us. Just as I’m realizing how unorganized these fighters are, Jonathan is hit in the chest by a flame enchanted arrow.
As well as their army, we are becoming disorganized and confused as well, without their leader, Jonathan. From what I can see, Albert and Franklin have retreated and are picking off the archers with their crossbows, too afraid to enter the bloodbath at the gates again. Matthew and Marcus are running around wildly, trying to avoid the ballista bolts being fired at them. William and I are the only ones hacking away at the main body of the army. William has drawn his two daggers and is slicing every target around him, and I am concentrating on single targets, then destroying them.
Now, the enemy is charging at us in waves. Marcus' clothes are hit by a bolt, pinning him to the ground, making him an easy target. One of the waves crashes into him, but I am surprised to find him still alive when they retreat. He is relatively unharmed, but when he rolls over onto his back again, I see a gaping slice across his stomach. Now it is only Matthew running of to the side, but as I glance at the gates, I see that we will soon be faced with our biggest problem yet.

What I see is utterly terrifying. The Great Sage of Darkness rides out of the gate, sword drawn, clinging to his horse, that looks to be half vaporized. Everything about him is black, his cloak, horse, even his sword, which I presume is their enchanted relic. His face is revealed when he pulls off his hood, and it is more hideous than I could have ever imagined a human to be. His skin is pierced in so many places, he looks like he is half metal. This metal glimmers in the sunlight. Around his face is are many lines, all permanently tattooed on him. The rest of his face is painted black, as if to scream at me that he is the leader of all darkness.
I shout at the others not to attack him, because I would. I thought that it would be the best, because I am the best at fighting, aside for the use of magic.
Yelling the entire way, I rush at The Great Sage. First, with my dagger, I cut a deep wound into the horse's side. It collapses into a pool of blood, temporarily trapping The Great Sage. He stands up, stunned, but recovers quickly, pulling a staff from his cloak. More comfortable with the sword, he lunges at me. Fortunately, the delay gave me time to prepare for this move mentally, so I quickly avoid it. I throw a dagger, aimed at the most deadly place on his body, but he skillfully avoids it. He lunges, but he misses. Now that he is closer he manages to graze my stomach. As soon as the pain subsides, I can feel the evil eating at my insides, with a little blood seeping out here and there. He swipes at me again, but I move my right foot in his path, catching him off balance. I kick him in the stomach, and even with the power he wields, that kind of blow is too much for a 60 year old man. He crumples to the ground, defeated. I put my daggers away and take out my bow, ready for the final blow. I quickly knock an arrow, and draw back, aiming for his almost lifeless head. I release, but before I can look at my handiwork, there is a flash of blinding light, and an explosion. This knocks all of us off our feet, and into the dust. The demons are less lucky, and they don't stand up, unconscious.
The remaining people in our party are already up and dancing, shouting about our miraculous victory. I have more serious thoughts.
Even though The Great Sage of Darkness is dead, they will elect another. A larger part of their army may have been destroyed, but more will be mustered. I decide to lighten up.
“We did it!” Samuel shouts in my face. Then he sees my stomach, and glances at Marcus.
“We should patch you guys up.” He says, more seriously.
We pass through the fort all of which is now abandon and burning, aside for the demons outside. The atmosphere is really creepy, but we are through the back gates quickly. After a few short hours of riding, we recovered our supplies after the fight, we arrive in a grassy meadow, surrounded by forest. We set up camp, and I lie down ready to fall asleep.
“It's just the six of us now, me, William, Matthew, Albert, Marcus, and Franklin.” Samuel says.
“Lets get you two to sleep, so I can finally try some healing spells I learned awhile ago on you guys. Unfortunately, you will have to be sleeping. We'll make up camp, just fall asleep.” Matthew says kindly to Marcus and I. I'm so tired I have no trouble performing this task.
When I wake up, I am very confused. It looks to be midday, but it was almost night when I fell asleep. When I walk out of the tent I was placed in with Marcus, I am meet with the entire party. The lively discussion stops.
“How long was I asleep?” I ask Matthew, careful not to wake Marcus. Matthew seems to be the medic among us.
“Four days. We decided to wait out the rest of our week here, gathering supplies, when Marcus and Franklin will depart.”
“Louis would have been with them, and we would be even safer with Jonathan around.” I say sorrowfully. Matthew nods as he starts cleaning up camp. I return to the tent, and the rest start chatting again.
Once inside, I take off my cloak. When I look at my stomach, I can't even tell I was just in a strenuous battle. The same goes with the rest of my body. I dress again, and step outside. I soon join the discussion, happy for the company and the much needed food.

As soon as we decided to spend the week at camp, not too far from the outpost, I knew that it was going to be a long stay. The point of this week was to restock our supplies, but with only four healthy men, that is not easy. At any given time, we could be attacked, and Albert and Franklin are usually out hunting or tool-making.
When William woke up, it gave me a glimmer of hope, but he set to work replenishing his arrow supply. I have no doubt that Marcus is up in his tent now, because his injuries were even less serious than William's. If Marcus was outside, he could convince the others to start moving.
When Marcus does come out, he is really lazy. At least I help around camp. He just sits there and eats our hard earned food.
The rest of the week passes slowly, and with little to do but exhaust ourselves. Even though I am glad that this idle time has passed, I am sorry that we have to lose a third of our party. There exploration will provide better maps for the fire element, and it was already set when we arrived in The Gardens.
“Farewell Marcus! I hope you feel better! Farewell Franklin! I hope to see you soon!” William says sadly.
Good riddance to you Marcus. I think.
“I really am sorry to see them leave.” Matthew says.
“And then there were four. Why do we always seem to leave in pairs? First Louis and Jonathan, and now Franklin and Matthew.” Albert says.
“I'm standing right next to you, it was Marcus that left with Franklin.”
“Oh, sorry Matthew.” Albert says shamefully.
“Haha, sorry, it's just pretty funny how you still don't know everyone's names and where they are going.” I say, immediately regretting my rudeness. The entire party stares at me.
“Sorry.” I say, embarrassed.

The next day, we continue onward towards our destination: the Castle of Darkness. Since we were idle for a week, we are low on provisions, so I will have to hunt more later on in the journey. We are also slowly running out of water, and we need to frequently stop to replenish our exhausted supplies.
When we set up camp, I leave for a hunt. It is almost daybreak. I was out for so long, because this area of short underbrush, and almost nothing else but soil, is scarce of life. I return, for once in my life, empty handed.
It is because of this failure, and the sun starting to rise above me, that I am restless and cannot fall asleep.
About an hour after my return, I hear a rustling in the bushes. I get out of my tent and grab a stick from the fire. I search around the bushes, but find nothing.
If I had the time and I wasn’t so tired, I could track whatever that was. But instead of using my amazing skills, developed from hunting with my father, I return to my tent. There, I finally fall asleep.
The next morning, the three of us meet outside.
“Where’s Albert?” Someone says.
“I don’t know,” says someone else. Immediately, the two other members burst into a heated argument about where Albert could be.
“I thought I heard him leave last night!” I shout over the ruckus. It is unbelievable how much sound two people can make, especially when one is a quiet medic and the other is a Wizard that mostly keeps to himself.
With Albert gone, we decide to make the best of what we have. I think that Albert was terrified of Darkness, because of what he saw at Fort Ponasal. He had a right to be scared, but now I feel even more alone, travelling on this wasteland.
Now, a few days after Albert left, we saw the first signs of a Darkness stronghold. The terrain has gotten even rougher in the past three days, when we were faced with the constant threat of being seen by Darkness scouts or patrols in the area. The terrain has morphed from a dry, scruffy wasteland, to just a flat expanse of dirt with a darkening sky. This whole place is probably one giant battlefield. Other things we saw were giant scorch marks beside our route, remnants of a dark and evil power, unknown to us. To lighten the feeling we say that they are works of the late Great Sage, or campsites of their armies. The campsite theory doesn’t help me, because they, and everyone else, will be searching for us. And if we are found, our heads will give a small fortune to an evil wizard.

Our progress is delayed because of giant holes in the ground, made as an opening statement to tell attackers to get out, or earthen fortifications made as a last stand, but two weeks after Albert’s departure, we get our first glimpse of the Darkness stronghold in the distance, atop a steep hill. I note that the hill would give us a distinct advantage if we were ever seen and had to fight our way to freedom.
We travel for two more days until we finally arrive at the stronghold’s walls, where we follow them, under the cover of dusk, and out of the guard’s field of vision.
We set up our camp in one of the large craters, with a fortification to protect us from being seen. With this being another night without a fire, we all turn in to get much needed rest for our big invasion tomorrow.

Today I am up early, making arrows and preparing a hearty breakfast. The others get up two hours later, when I’m all ready for battle. We eat, and set out to find the easiest way into the stronghold. As we explore, I can’t help but wonder if today will be my last. A fateful mistake inside the walls, and no more.
I decide the best way in is over the walls, so I shoot an arrow, which catches in a crack in the turret. I yank, but the rope attached stays firm. I shimmy up the line, and beckon for the others to follow. Samuel comes up without looking back, but it takes a while for Matthew to work up the courage. As we walk along the walls, cautiously, I am forced to shoot a guard on patrol, without being seen. Finally, we reach the main entrance.
What I see makes me doubt how successful our quest may be. There is a huge army mustered in the front courtyard, drilling, preparing for a bloody war.
“Ahhh!” Matthew slips on a loose stone brick, and falls, down, into the army. We duck behind the corner, and all we know now is of Matthew’s certain capture, and probable death. Shouts can be heard below us, such as
“Spy!”
“We gotta get into the vault, now!” Samuel whispers.
“Indeed. Let’s go.” I turn, and swiftly jump onto the thatched roof of a villager’s hut. Samuel follows. I slide down, as quietly as possible. Its lucky that the army is distracted, otherwise we would have certainly been seen. I dash to a stone building, hoping its the vault.
What I find is even better. We are in a narrow hallway, with horse stalls surrounding me. We are in the stables. I lead out two horses, one for me the other for Samuel, who is waiting outside.
“Hold these, I’m going to find the vault.” I give Samuel the reins, and run off, hoping he doesn’t have to defend himself.
The vault isn’t hard to find. It is the only guarded building, and is made of thick stone walls. Without thinking, I draw, pull, release, repeat. After four shots, I hop over the bodies, and into a room with more riches than I could have ever imagined.
There are overflowing chests along the walls. On shelves and racks are very expensive and well made weapons and armor. In some corners, there are piles of coins, jewels, rubies, and daggers. In the very center, on a polished pedestal, is what I am looking for: The Book of Fire. I grab the book, put it in the leather bag, and run out of the room.

As soon as William runs out of the vault, I mount, handing him the reins. He is with me in a flash, and we were soon riding out of the gates, leaving hopeless pursuers inside, not ready for a chase.
We ride for days, hoping that we may survive, and that a search party isn’t following us. Thankfully, the return trip is mostly uneventful. Our food is steady with William around, and we always rode well into the night.
We arrive in the citadel where we first met the Great Sage of Fire. I jump off, extremely happy.
Marcus, Franklin, and even Albert rush out to greet us. After a few short words, the five of us walk into the palace. We will discuss terms to enable peace with Darkness, and celebrate our return, hopeful we will not need to open The Book for a very long time.
We party for a straight week. Every day is filled with dancing, feasts, and other festivities, with little down time. I am the happiest I have ever been, full of joy and laughter, all hard earned, because of a few weeks time. All day and night, the city glows orange, the people inside celebrating.
After talking with The Great Sage of Fire, I have decided on what to do with myself, until the next quest. I am now going to permanently live in the palace, as a nobleman to the Sage, which I didn’t even know existed.
William too knows what to do with himself. As William is leaving to go join the Warriors as a General, and free-time hunter, which word has been sent that he now is, we exchange only a brief conversation, afraid of what might happen if we faced the facts.
“Goodbye Wizard Samuel!” I grin, remembering that I have completed my final quest. I have ranks of nobleman and Wizard.
“Farewell friend, I will visit soon!” I return.
“So will I! Farewell!” With that, William mounts Gabe, who was restored to him by returning scouts, and rides off, down the road, until again.