Prologue

Prologue

The old man sat before a group of younger men and women, preparing to tell a story they had heard hundreds of times before. Years had passed since the most important event in written history had occurred, the opening of an ancient pair of stone doors known as the Gate of Souls. As the children quieted down, he stood up and began his lecture.

“Many millennia ago, magic ran rampant across the world. Even the most common person had access to some magical talent. The people of the world used their magic to keep their crops yielding, to keep themselves warm during the coldest winters, and to help their fellow man. However, magic was also used for more destructive purposes. Warlords and monarchs would use the power of their followers to fight wars against one another. Though most people in the world remained peaceful, the wars fought between the few caused great pain to the many.

“After years of war, a cult of ritualists, looking to save the world from these wars, took it upon themselves to stop the madness of the period. They spent many years preparing for the ritual. The most vital ingredient they needed was the blood of four of the most powerful spellcasters of the time period. Only the blood of those four could be used to undo the ritual, and the ritualists were sure that no one would ever be able to gather all four blood types again, at least not within their lifetimes. The Blood of Frost, Blood of Flame, Blood of Chaos, and Blood of Negativity are what they called the blood of these people. They wouldn’t share the names, though we all know who they are now.”

One of the children raised a hand, a half smile clear on his face. The old man nodded at the young man. “The blood was that of Glacies, Wrath, Terramat, and Shade, right sir?”
“Indeed it was. Glacies, Wrath, Terramat, and Shade, four of the most powerful people on the planet today, were the very same people whose blood was used thousands of years ago to seal magic away for what the ritualists hoped was an eternity.

“Many years passed. We went through high periods and low periods, such as the Dark Ages and the Renaissance. Technology began to crop up in places where magic had been used before. Thousands of years without magic made humans tougher, but it didn’t do what the ritualists originally wanted. They couldn’t stop war. Where magic was once used in the art of war, now technology was. Swords, spears, shields, armor, guns, missiles, and, of course, the most horrible weapon in existence, even today, the atomic bomb…”

The children all looked crestfallen at his statement. No one liked war, though they understood that it could be important from time to time. The power of those weapons was frightening, indeed.

“Finally, at the crux of our current century, the four bloods came together again. I would tell the story of the Gate of Souls, but I’m pretty sure everyone here knows that story already. Since the time the Gate was opened, things have changed. For better or worse, I cannot say. Was it Fate that magic has returned to the world, mere chance brought together by the choices those four made, or maybe both? The decision, my students, is yours…”