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“Endure his foolish crucibles”
Our village is a small one to say the least. Situated on Shell Island, out on the western edge of the Bronze Sea, Monoah Village is mostly home to fishermen and hunter gatherers. Ravenna has some of our tribesmen working in the coal mines, too, but nobody really has a problem with it. Everyone who works the mines says it’s good work, and in exchange for it, The Bronze Legion keeps us safe from pirates and criminals.
I’m one of the first mages born to our tribe in a long time. Or that’s what everyone kept telling me when I was little. None of our ancestors were known to really practice “sorcery,” so Magic blood flowed very thinly in our people. Wanahton, the village alchemist, would always tell me I was very special, that I had a future beyond the village’s horizons. Captain Larcos said I could make a name for myself in the Legion, that my Magic would be invaluable in defending the village and Ravenna. Miss Caria always said I was too good to be tied down by anyone, that I should go my own way, sail the seas, live life.
I didn’t really care about any of that. Why would I? I didn’t really know how special my Magic was, I just thought it was a cool trick some people could do. I thought the village would be the rest of my life.
I grew up not knowing a care in the world. The other village kids always wanted to play, to see the “kid sorcerer” use his Magic. That’s how I spent most of my days, running around under the village, or up in the forest, playing around with my Magic. I had a peaceful life, a good life.
And then it all came crashing down around us in a single day.
It was just another day. Me and the other kids were up in the forest, hunting for a giant banana. Sometimes the giant ones would get so heavy they’d fall from the trees on their own, so we’d try and find them as a quick snack while we were playing out there.
We all heard it then. Felt it, too. A deafening roar, from the direction of the village, and the ground beneath us suddenly trembling. Then, the sound of screaming, and loud shouts coming from the Legion Camp not far from where we were looking for bananas. Kids being kids, we all rushed to the cliffs to look down at the village, curious about what happened.
The village was… Destroyed. What used to be the main square, now just splinters of wood and a giant burning crater in the sand beneath. And standing there was… A Devil. The thing that has haunted my nightmares for years since. It looked like a person, but I couldn’t see their face. Their body was covered in black armor, like some kind of dark knight from the old tales. And more than that, their body was wreathed in swirling flames, the same flame burning the village and in the crater around them.
All we could do is stare. Then all of a sudden we heard the valorous cries of the Legion, and looked to see them descending what remained of the ramp to the sand below, advancing on the Devil. We all cheered then. The Bronze Legion were like local heroes to us kids. We thought for sure, if anybody could save the village, it’d be them.
We couldn’t have been more wrong.
The Devil tore them to pieces. Every Ensign that stepped forth to swing his blade was crushed or burnt alive before they could get the chance. Eventually, only Larcos stood before it. He yelled, louder than I’d ever heard anyone yell before in my life. Fear, anger, desperation, all in one mighty shout. I thought for sure that this was it. I thought that Larcos would fell this creature and everything would be okay.
He swung his blade, almost faster than I could see. And in the next instant, his arm just wasn’t there anymore. Before he could even react, or scream, or fall, or do anything, his head was gone, too. No sound, no sign of movement, nothing. One moment his head stood upon his shoulders, the next, his corpse had crumpled to the ground, headless.
There was silence, then, besides the crackling fires of the village burning. Such absolute, deafening silence. We couldn’t react, couldn’t say a word. Our heroes, reduced to nothing in an instant.
And then the Devil looked up. And then we all truly couldn’t do anything. None of us could move even if we had tried.
And before we could blink, it was standing in front of us. In front of me. The other kids ran then, turned and fled, but I couldn’t look away. I just heard dull, sickening thumps to either side of me. I didn’t have to look to know that, somehow, it had killed them. And I thought it would kill me, too.
But then the Devil spoke.
“O, small ember of the Ruinous Fate. Doest thee hate me?”
I could not speak. I just nodded, terrified.
“Doest thee wish to slay me? To take thy revenge against me?”
That riled me a little. I could still only manage to utter a quivering “Yes” in response.
“Then if thee wishes to take my life, thee must awaken the powers within thyself. Become stronger, O ember, that you may slay thy enemies. Only then may thee face me, and triumph…”
And in an instant, with a great rumble like thunder and a gust of wind, the Devil had disappeared. Whatever it did to leave like that, it sent me flying, and then my vision went black…
When next I woke, it was to the familiar rocking of a boat. I recalled that my father would sometimes take me out with him when he’d fish, and wondered if I’d fallen asleep on the way home again. That terrible dream must’ve been just that, right?
“You up, kiddo?”
That was not my father’s voice. “Miss Caria?”
I opened my eyes and looked up to see her face.
“Told you it’s just Caria.” And I quickly noticed how bloody her face was.
“What happened to you? Why are we out here?” I looked around, and realized I couldn’t see Shell Island at all. And we were in some unfamiliar sailboat, not one of the little fishing rowboats we’d use.
She made a face, then. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but it felt like a knife in the gut seeing it. I started to realize it then.
“Kid… No, Cain… Monoah Village was… Destroyed.” She looked like she was the one taking the knife in the gut as she spoke. “There… There weren’t any other survivors. Believe me, I looked. There… Was nobody left alive. I only managed to survive because I was knocked into the bay by that thing.”
She looked into my eyes, and by then I knew. That wasn’t just some nightmare.
“I woke up on the beach, and it was all… Gone. Nobody was left alive. When I found you up there with the other kids, I… I thought you were all dead, too.” She shudders before she can continue. I was right, it had killed them. The Devil had killed my friends. “But I saw your chest still rising and falling, thank the Gods, so I decided to grab you, some food and my Galleon stash and take off in my old sailboat, before that thing decided to come back.”
I didn’t even realize when it started, but before I knew it, the tears had started flowing. I began crying my eyes out, crying for my father, crying for my friends, crying for my heroes in the Legion, crying for my tribe, crying for my home. Miss Caria took me into her arms then, hugging me close and telling me it’d be all right.
But it wouldn’t be. The Devil had taken my life from me. It had taken everything from me. Killed my family, my friends, destroyed my home.
It asked me if I hated it before it left. Asked if I wanted revenge for what it had done. I had my answer at that very moment, more than ever before.
I cried out of grief and sadness for my loss. But more than that, I cried out of anger and helplessness. I wasn’t some special child that could use his Magic to protect his people. I was a fool. A fool who’d lost everything, and couldn’t do anything to stop it.
But I would change that. I’d get strong, stronger than anyone. I’d never let myself lose anybody ever again. And I’d kill the Devil for what it had done to my people.
I am Cain, the foolish last Sorcerer child of the Monoah Tribe. And this is my vow.
