~Prologue~<br/>Hearken now to me! Listen to you doom! For light and dark shall conceive, twins will be born, one will bring about the return of evil and he will fall by his own blood. The other shall try but his fate can not be escaped, for he shall slay your only hope against his own will. One more shall be born unto you! The stars will grace her birth, she will have the true power and her death will be nigh. For the dark one will slay her and evil will rule.<br/><br/>The Oracle sat down in her chair feeling weekend. Her eyes swimming with images of great horror. Those in the room with her stared at her for a moment theirs mouths hanging open. Everyone there looked around wondering what the words meant.<br/><br/>â€œThe king must be told! Quick send word to him that the oracle has spoken!â€ A man stood up and wrote down on a piece of parchment what the oracle had uttered. They sealed the scroll and sent it to the king.<br/><br/>Midnight lay over the land, the king sat in his study pouring over documents. Work as usual, he was about ready to retire for the night and get some sleep. There was a man sitting in the corner of the room reading a book. No one could see his face, it was hidden behind a hood, the black cloak he wore covered his frame. He seemed to blend in with the darkness around him. The king looked over at the man, â€œWell I donâ€™t know about you but I am tired and all these documents are blending together, they all look the same! Lets call it a night!â€<br/><br/>The man merely shrugged and stood up, there was a sudden loud knock on the door. The king looked surprised for a moment, â€œWhat could be going on at this time of night?â€ In  a louder voice the king spoke, â€œEnter!â€<br/>A man of about 20 entered the room looking as if he had run many miles. He was gasping for breath, â€œMy lord an urgent message for you from the place of the oracle.â€ The king took the scroll the man had and dismissed him. Opening the seal the king stared at the writing, his face paled, he sat in a chair a complete look of horror written across his face. The cloaked man moved closer to the king, the king merely held out his shaking hand giving the scroll to the cloaked man.<br/><br/>â€œWhat does it mean? Is it true?â€<br/><br/>The cloaked man finished reading and set the scroll down. His thoughts were dark, â€œI believe this is the dark prophecyâ€¦. It was spoken long ago, I have read a little that mentions a prophecy about the end but no one can remember it. I think its time for fulfillment has come, if the oracle has spoken then the time has come for the prophecy to be fulfilled. We should keep this to ourselves though, it would not be good for this to be known to everyone. It would cause a state of panic and any child deemed dark is in danger. We can not allow such chaos to spread. I must go to Evaras and inform the king and queen there. They may know more about what the prophecy means.â€<br/><br/>The king nodded, â€œI believe you are right, be careful.â€<br/><br/>The two of them shook hands and the cloaked man left right away, he road away on his black stead riding with all haste to the land of the elves. His thoughts were troubled, he needed to talk with the king.<br/><br/>Two weeks of hard riding and he had made it to Evaras. He was admitted to see the king immediately.<br/><br/>The two greeted each other like old friends, the kingâ€™s wife came in a moment later and greeted the man. The queen was beautiful and seemed to be pregnant, she smiled at the man, â€œIt has been too long, much has happened since you were last here, as you see we are graced with a child.â€<br/><br/>The queen beamed at her husband and rubbed the spot where her child was. â€œI know this child will be special! I can feel it.â€<br/><br/>The man smiled at the queen, â€œ I am very happy for you. This must be a wonderful time for you. Unfortunately I bring news of a dark nature, it concerns the dark prophecy.â€<br/><br/>The king and queen frowned and looked at each other, the king looked at the man, â€œThere is not much we can do, no one knows what it actually says, though some say that the prophecy tells of the end of this world and the final end of Anora.â€<br/><br/>The man nodded, â€œYes I know you have told me before but something strange has happened, the great oracle has spoken and she has repeated the dark prophecy.â€<br/><br/>There was silence in the room. The king and queen stood still for a moment and the man told them the prophecy.<br/><br/>â€œI was hoping you might help me in knowing what it means.â€<br/><br/>The queen shook her head, â€œThis is very dark, but this much I do know. There will be three children born, two will be related, they will be opposites but will both carry out an act of evil. These twins will be born to one of the races of light and the other of darkness. One will bring about the dark lords return and will be killed by its brother. I believe it is safe to say that. Then that child will carry out the worst act, it seems to imply that the child will be taken over or he will be turned. This child is the most dangerous. He will be in disguise, he will seem to be good and will turn out evil. As for the third child she will be powerful and a threat to the dark lord, she will be hunted to death. She will also be the easiest to find, it has been thousands of years since the stars have graced a childâ€™s birth. We need to keep watch and act fast for this childâ€™s sake lest she fall prey to evil.â€<br/><br/>The man nodded his head, â€œIt seems we are of the same mind. We must act fast I will go to Anora and warn everyone there.â€<br/><br/>The king nodded, â€œGood idea, I would feel better knowing you were there to take care of things. You should stay with us though for a little while. You have had a long journey you should rest.â€<br/><br/>â€œThank you, I will stay for a few days then go to Anora.â€<br/><br/>The man left the throne room and ate a good meal and went to his room to sleep.<br/><br/>That night the queen woke with a start, pain laced through her. The king woke with a start, â€œWhat is wrong my love?â€<br/><br/>The queen had sweet on her face, â€œI thinkâ€¦. I think, I am about to have the baby!â€ A scream of agony escaped he lips as another wave of pain went through her. The king quickly got up and rushed out and summoned the maids. The night was long and painful for everyone. The king sat in a chair on the deck outside his room. The sky was cloudless and the stars shone with a dazzling brilliance. The king looked up and tried to calm himself. He breathed deeply smelling the night air. Everything would be fine he told himself. He heard more screams from his wife and then the most wonderful sound in the world, the small cry of a newborn baby. The king stood up joy written all over his face, one of the maids came out of the room the small baby in her arms. The king smiled as he looked at the beautiful little girl before him. He held her in his arms. As soon as the baby was in his arms there was a bright flash in the sky, the stars shone with a great light and right above the palace a single star swelled with a dazzling silver light and let forth a single beam of silver. The beam touched the child in the kings arms, for a moment the child was bathed in the perfect silver light, another moment it was gone. Te king stood in absolute horror. This was supposed to be a sign of great blessing and that his child was destined to be great but for the king he knew it was a death sentence. His child was now marked for death, the palace was already full of shouts of joy for the new child and her amazing blessing. The king couldnâ€™t prevent the news from spreading, it was too late. The queen laid on her bed the same look of terror on her face.<br/><br/>The next morning the king and queen packed their things ready to run away to protect their daughter. The cloaked man stood in their doorway a look of disapproval on his face. The king glared at him.<br/><br/>â€œWhat would you have me do? I will not let my daughter be killed! I will do whatever it takes to save her!â€<br/><br/>The man stared right back at the king, â€œleaving the safety of your palace will only make you an easier target!â€<br/><br/>â€œWell keeping her here is suicide too! No security is good enough with something like this! At least abroad we can stay hidden and no one will know where we are!â€<br/>â€œFoolishness!â€ The man breathed deeply, â€œI have another ideaâ€¦. Give me the child and I will take her t Anora, we will train her there and no one will know who she is. To keep her safe you will have to say she died, I can make an illusion of her dead body and we can hold a funeral. I will then secretly take her to Anora.â€<br/><br/>The king and queen stopped dead in their tracksâ€¦ they thought for a long moment, then the queen spoke, â€œMy love, I believe this is the best choice, we must give up our daughter to save her.â€ Tears ran down her eyes. The king nodded his silent agreement. â€œVery well, we will do as you say. But if she ever needs to come back here after we are dead she must have this.â€<br/><br/>The king handed the man a bag with a crown, documents and a few other things, â€œThese items will allow her t return home and take up the throne if need be.â€<br/><br/>The man took the things and bowed, â€œI will take good care of her, she will be safe.â€<br/><br/>The man packed all his things and the news was spread that the young princess had died. The land was cast into mourning for the loss, and at the end of six days the man left with the princess.<br/><br/>The king and queen saw them off, tears in their eyes they made their last goodbyes. The king looked up, â€œI put all I hold dear in your hands. Take care of her and be safeâ€¦ I only wish we had more time with her. Be safe my young one.â€<br/><br/>The queen in return bent down and kissed the princesses forehead. â€œFare well my sweet and you be careful tooâ€¦. Eckl.â€<br/><br/>The man nodded and rode away on his horse, the child slept soundly and it took them a few days to reach a port from whence they departed to Anora. That same night the princess fled from her home tragedy befell the elves, their king and queen had been murdered in their beds. With no heir to the throne the nation was plunged into confusion and grief.<br/><br/>--<br/><br/>The oracle sat in a chair all by herself. The room was empty, the oracle was never to be left alone but her caretaker had abandoned her. She sat motionless, shock on her face, the one she had trusted had turned on her, and now he was gone. Her prophecy was now in the hands of evil. Her eyes glazed over once again, Listen now! Hope is not lost, not all is dark, evil can be vanquished! The dark prophecy ended. Hope remains, for in the hour the heart is brought back evil will die and destinies will be reversed.<br/><br/>The oracle fell out of her chair on the floor motionless. No one had heard his or her only hope.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>~17 years later~<br/>Morning dawned on Anora. The birds soared through the air making music wherever they went. The small school was bustling with activity as students went around doing their chores and practicing their magic. Elleth sat in a large study. A large desk was in front of him and on the other side of the desk sat his teacher and mentor. Eckl sat there looking at Elleth.<br/><br/>â€œWell it seems you have done extremely well this year, you have mastered the art of making illusions. I am impressed, normally illusionists are weak, but you have a gift with them. I am very impressed with your progress. Now I called you here today because I believe that you hold the power within you to make you illusions come to life. I am sure you have heard something about this.<br/><br/>Elleth nodded, he had heard rumors and wasnâ€™t sure if they were true, he was sure Eckl knew how and that he was about to learn if he could too.<br/><br/>â€œGood, now before we begin you need to understand that you cannot make life! For example we can cast illusions of people but we can not give them life, we can make illusions of trees, birds, and all sorts of creatures, but we can not make them real. Now that being said there is plenty we can make, such as fire, water, a sword even.â€ A sword appeared in Ecklâ€™s hand and he gave to Elleth.<br/><br/>Elleth stared at the weapon in his hand, it was indeed real. â€œHow can I do that?â€<br/><br/>Eckl smiled, â€œIt isnâ€™t easy to master this art you must first master the object you wish to create. You must know every aspect of the thing you want to make real.â€<br/>Elleth nodded, he knew about the art of mastering an item, it wasnâ€™t easy either, you had to learn its true nature and understand it. â€œI think I understand.â€<br/><br/>â€œGood now I want you to pick something and learn to master it, once you have come back to me and we will see if you can master this.â€<br/><br/>Elleth stood up and bowed to Eckl. He had a lot on his mind. The sun was high in the sky and Elleth let it warm him. He sat at the waters edge thinking about what Eckl had said. He didnâ€™t know what he was going to master. He figured he had a little time to figure it out. Meanwhile he would enjoy his day.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Oriana looks around the school. She was so very confused and lonely. Dreams of a place she'd never seen before haunte her sleep. She sighs as she looks around. She needed something to do. Something to keep her mind off of the dreams that were occuring more and more frequently.<br/><br/>She decides to go for a walk. She had nothing else to do today. Her teacher was busy dealing with other things. So that gave her time to go exploring. Something she'd been itching to do for a long while now. But had never had a chance to do it. She smiles happily. She was walking absentmindedly.<br/><br/>Staring at everything around her. Sure she'd grown up here...but the didn't mean she knew this place like the back of her hand. There was still so many mysteries that surrounded this building. That surrounding the people who resided here also. She starts humming. She liked to hum when no one was watching. Liked to sing when no one was around.<br/><br/>As she's walking she finds herself on the waters edge. Snapping out of her daydreams and thoughts as she sees someone else on the waters edge. She walks towards the person. And sees its Eckl's student. She smiles. She'd heard rumors that he was one of those progidy kids. Ones that were talented extremely in the magic they were endowed with.<br/><br/>She steps next to him. Sitting down next to him. "What you doing all by your lonesome?" she asks in her soft voice. Smiling at him. "You done with your studies for today?" she asks. Trying to start a conversation with him.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>Elleth turned around and smiled. He had seen Oriana over the years; she was one of the few here at the school that was given the power of raw magic. Most students who had the raw magic went through tough training and werenâ€™t out much. Elleth on the other hand figured he had it just as bad, Eckl was one tough taskmaster and he always expected his absolute best. Elleth liked it though, Eckl was tough but he was very kind and caring, he was the best mentor, teacher and father figure Elleth could have wished for.<br/><br/>Elleth looked out across the ocean and let the air warm his face; he loved the smell of the sea.<br/><br/>â€œKind ofâ€¦ Eckl dismissed me early because he doesnâ€™t need to be around for this lesson. I am finishing up the last year of school and Eckl is pilling on the work. So seeing as I have a little time on my hands for this task I figured I would relax for a day and clear my mind. I am trying not to get to nervous though, I donâ€™t think I have ever been assigned such a chore.â€<br/><br/>Elleth breathed deeply and looked back at Oriana, â€œI have to learn the true nature of something, not an easy task in of itself but Eckl is making it harderâ€¦ heâ€™s got a lot of faith in me and I donâ€™t want to let him down.â€<br/><br/>Elleth frowned a bit, the more he thought about it the harder it seemed, it took most people years to master something and Elleth had much less time than that, plus he needed to make the item he mastered! Elleth kept that part to himself; no one seemed to know that the rumors were true and that some illusionist could actually create. That was big news to Elleth and he was an illusionist. He looked forward to mastering this art and going out into the world and doing something good, Eckl seemed to be preparing him for something big.<br/><br/>â€œWhat about yourself, you not doing much today? You must be nearing the end of your training too, we canâ€™t be far apart in ageâ€¦. Though I think you were here before me.â€ Elleth looked at Oriana again and noticed how elven her features were. She had the soft pale skin, the pointed ears, the eyes that seemed to pull you in. Elleth looked elvenâ€¦. To any one who took a quick glance at him one would automatically assume elf. But upon closer inspection one could clearly see that Elleth was not a pure elf. He had slightly slanted ears and deep eyes, his skin was just a little darker than elves but still white. He did get facial hair though, not a lot but enough to cast a shadow on him. His body was lean like an elf but he looked like he had some muscle. Elves had muscle, you just canâ€™t notice it, with Elleth you could kind of see it. Elleth wasnâ€™t sure what his other half wasâ€¦. He assumed human. It wasnâ€™t that uncommon for elves and humans to marry. No what bugged Elleth the most was the fact that he never even knew his parents! All he knew was that he had been found by an elderly mage in the wreckage of an abandoned temple. The man took care of Elleth for a few years and then he had written to the people here at Anora telling them of his strange powers. Eckl came right away, took Elleth in and had been training him ever since. Simple but vague. Elleth just wish he knew who his family was. Elleth mentally shrugged, thinking about these things wasnâ€™t going to help him with the task at hand.<br/>--<br/><br/>Eckl stood in his room looking into the embers, Elleth was growing into a powerful mage, Oriana was almost of age. Elleth Eckl had his doubts about, there was something wrong about his past and Eckl was feverishly trying to learn everything about his parentage. But he had hit a dead end. Eckl was afraid though, he knew Elleth could very well be one of the children of the prophecy. He wouldnâ€™t say it to anyone thoughâ€¦ there was no proof, and Eckl did in fact care about Elleth, he had never seen a mage so powerful and yet stay pure. Elleth was not power hungry and wanted to do good. There was hope for him. Then there was Oriana, Eckl had kept her past a secret from everyone including her. She was in danger and if Elleth was one of the children of the prophecy he posed the greatest threat to Oriana. Hence the reason Eckl had never introduced them, on the other hand though Eckl had trained both of them and knew that their powers were great and they could make a powerful pair. Eckl looked out across the school his thoughts running around in many different directions. Something was moving, he new when Oriana came of age something was going to happenâ€¦ the dark had already started moving, a mage of unnatural power was causing trouble. Eckl didnâ€™t have much time to prepare Oriana and Elleth, it was time for him to talk to Oriana about her past, and give Elleth a mission.