Born from Thunder

Chapter 1

Autumn
Year of the Phoenix

                 The setting sun cast its final rays on the tips of the trees as it sank down beyond the surrounding mountains. With the absence of the sun's warmth the light breeze from the northern mountains began to bring a chill to the sparsely forested vale. The leaves were beginning to change from green to red, orange and yellow, heralding the beginning of autumn.

        As the night closed in on the denser woods to the west, a peaceful silence began to settle around the entrance to a cave carved into the side of the mountain. On either side of the entrance were inscriptions that had not been used for more than five thousand years and whose meaning has been lost to time. Buried in the stone ringing the arched entrance were ruins that glowed with a blue radiance that penetrated the very stone that covered them.

The entrance was dark except for a faint glow that could now be seen in the deepening night. Through the arch and down the long and winding tunnel there was a small spherical chamber. The walls of this chamber radiated tremendous heat and gave off a brilliance that rivaled even the sun. The heat from the chamber was being absorbed by a large green liquid sphere that floated at its center. As the night drew on the outer liquid began to harden into a hard green shell with raised gold rings around the axis.

As the dawn encroached on the vale small fractures in the green shell began to appear. Just as the first rays of sunlight touched the vale the light in the chamber ceased. All was dark in the chamber as faint light began to escape the tiny fractures in the shell. The light's brilliance increased rapidly until with enough force to crack the encompassing stone chamber, the shell exploded.

The ancient stones of this mountain had born witness to many events that had transpired around and within its vast bulk, but only once before in all its years did a similar event ever take place. That little known event had heralded a terrible age for the kingdoms of Cale. Much bloodshed had occurred during that dark time leaving few races untouched. If it had not been for the messenger the goodly races would not have withstood the onslaught of evil that descended upon Cale.

Unknown to the dark powers that had been secretly gathering their forces for a surprise assault on the human kingdom, the messenger had came with a warning of the impending attack. With supernatural speed the messenger took flight and was able to get word to the elves and the dwarves as well as to the si’el. With haste the forces of the goodly races were marshaled and ready for the attack that soon came. It came like a dark flood flowing across fields and through forests, over hills and across rivers. The dark forces were not expecting much resistance from the humans and no involvement by the other races. This failure to surprise the humans was the only reason Cale was not conquered by the dark forces. The war lasted well into its tenth year and the populations of all were decimated. In the end the dark forces were routed but the losses to the goodly races were so great that pursuit was not an option. The dark forces fled back to where they came from but their leaders vowed to return and would be ready for any that would interfere in their conquest of Cale. Now after five thousand years a similar event was occurring in the same chamber as the first. But this event was only similar to the first; the first time the explosion had not cracked the chamber. This caused the mountain to worry.

Of the shell there was only a drifting green vapor that began to settle to the bottom of the chamber and into the fresh cracks caused by the explosion. Gradually a figure within the chamber was becoming visible through the decreasing vapors. The figure seamed to be a boy with the height and build of a seven year old. The boy looked human without the pointed ears of an elf or the squat body of a dwarf, he had brown hair, and green eyes that were so intense they seemed to glow with an inner light.
With a sure step the boy exited the chamber and began his journey down the long tunnel that led outside.

The huge gray wolf had heard the summons during the night just as he was stalking the deer that was to have been his snack. Mourning the loss of his meal he had begun to run towards the call. Now, just after first light had reached the vale he was still running.
By name the wolf was called Taker. He was the oldest and largest wolf in the entire vale and more than likely beyond it as well. He was as large as a pony and near as strong as a young bear, and for all his size and strength and age, he was still more agile than any other wolf around. Throughout his years, all four hundred fifty of them, Taker had never felt a need such as the one to come over him this night. He was filled with an eagerness that was not daunted in the slightest by several hours of running. Needing to go. Needing to run. West.

Dim morning light bled through the tree branches and into the cave as the boy approached its entrance. The boy was aware of the presence from the moment he stepped out from the cave. He could see only trees and undergrowth but knew there was definitely something out there, watching from the east. The boy watched the wall of forest that surrounded the cave’s entrance waiting for the presence to make itself known.
With no sound greater than a whisper a monster of a wolf stepped from the forest and began to stalk towards the waiting boy. Without fear the boy watched the approach of the gargantuan gray wolf and looked curiously at a ring of white fur on his chest with two perpendicular lines of white fur crossing at its center.

A few feet from the boy the wolf stopped and looked directly into those radiant green eyes and understood. There was no need for any conversation. No reason to explain what was going on. For the wolf, all was made clear. He knew what needed to be done if not the why and now had the answer to the question that had plagued him for most of his life.