Magyckal Legends Chapters 1-2

Magyckal Legends: 3rd Draft


Chapter 1: The High Council


In the eye of a small distant galaxy dwelled the planet Atheica. Today, the planet Atheica, originally inhabited by an ancient civilization of intelligent and atheistic aliens, was no longer atheist territory. It was now the center of the High Council of the six local galaxies of the Pacification Cluster. Each galaxy had one representative on the council, and elections were held every six years. The representatives were expected to improve their own galaxies, while maintaining a peaceful manner. What made this cluster so unusual to others in the universe was that it had a high council with generally stable leaders and a common goal: To bring peace to all those who are willing to give their lives for Lord Pheobus.

Pheobus was the God of light and grace. Like all Gods, he was very mysterious and only a few renown prophets were said to have truly seen his grace. But his broad power and influence were undeniable. The galaxies of the Pacification Cluster were primarily dominated by Pheobusan influence. The six galaxies by name were Enchantia: the galaxy of Magyck & wizardry, Fervendour: the galaxy of burning fire, Frice: the galaxy of freezing ice, Turqua: the galaxy of blue water, Wickil: the galaxy of dark Magyck, and Illumistan: the galaxy of light, grace, and white Magyck.

Today was a very long awaited and important day for the Pacification Cluster. For the first time in 150 years, conflict within threatened the stability of the government. Wickil, the galaxy of dark Magyck, was under a lot of pressure. Wickil was quietly frowned upon by some members of the council, due to it’s severe lack of Pheobusan influence. The day that peace among the cluster would be threatened was a day many thought would never come. Of course, no good things can last forever. But the council seemed to be so consistent at working out small problems before they became large ones, that no one could have anticipated this day would come.
It came at a most unexpected time as well. It was year 5 of the six year term in which the representatives served after being elected by the respective galaxies. By this point any sign of instability would’ve been detected and dealt with some time before this.

This was not the only anomaly of the situation. The representative of the galaxy in which Pheobusan influence was the strongest was the aggressor. Pious Augustus, representative of the Illumistan galaxy, was the last representative on the council expected to pick fights or start arguments. He came across as a very kind and warm man, and had worked many miracles in his days on the battlefields and in everyday life. He was so pure in fact, that some radicals actually held the belief that he was a direct descendant of Pheobus himself, a divine entity-not born in this flawed dimension.

Although held in high regards for his spirituality and abilities with white Magyck, he was not physically imposing by any stretch. He was an average sized man with long, gray hair that reminded one of an overcast day, pale as milk skin, hazel colored eyes, and an aged but warm and gentle face. Pious, who was known for being soft-spoken, was quite the opposite on this day. He was shouting from the center of the platform where the high council was being held as he presented his case.

“This doesn’t violate the Lord in any way! This is for his sake! In his name!”

The council looked quite alarmed at Pious’ behavior. It was not like him to be so intense, and it was especially unusual for him to act so firm on a matter that seemed positively outrageous.

Syphress, an able female enchantress and representative of the Enchantia galaxy, asked for the council’s and more directly Pious’ attention.

“It is the sworn duty of all the members of the council to both protect and uphold the will of Lord Pheobus. Without him, the peace and freedom of the Pacification Cluster would not exist. We are very blessed to have his guidance and we cannot take any risks. I think I speak for the entire council when I say that we all respect what you have done in your life, and believe that you are an extraordinary wizard and politician. However, we can’t trust you with something so sacred, especially when your intentions are suspicious. You of all people should know Pious, that Pheobus is bigger than the council itself, no mortal of this universe, and that includes you, comes before him!”

Syphress’ words brought loud voices of approval from the rest of council. Syphress was the youngest and only female member of the council. An excellent speaker, she was just 22 years of age, and had a very beautiful appearance. She was tall and lean, with lower back-length turquoise colored hair, her eyes were a very icy shade of blue, and her complexion was very white, almost albino-like. Her cold appearance wasn’t far off from her personality. She was very firm and straight to the point. She was a very capable speaker and was the most renown representative of Enchantia since the establishment of the Pacification Cluster.
She fixed Pious with a look that suggested he listen to his peers to avoid further conflict.

Pious took in the stare and then said, “Listen, I wish to decide this in the most peaceful manner possible. 150 years of general peace is an accomplishment we can all be proud of, and I don’t want it to end any less than you do. I believe that if the council doesn’t grant me access to the Pheobusan Sanctum it will bring nothing but hardship to our peace-loving cluster. My intentions are in the right place, I assure-“

Pious was cut off by Syphress.

“Pious! You have told us your intentions are well minded nearly a dozen times, we need more than that! We need specific proof that your intentions are well minded and safe! We now demand to know what they are, or we will have to request you to end your rant and step down from the stand. Tell the council Pious, what is your business entering the Pheobusan Sanctum, why is it so important to you and why must you be the only visitor?” Pious sighed deeply. His cause seemed hopeless. He was unsure how to persuade the council with Syphress pressing him into a corner. Pious hesitated and then spoke. “My belief is that something has gone terribly wrong inside the Sanctum. There have been several unexplained murders and black Magyck reports in Illumistan. My advisors have provided me conclusive evidence that foul play and severe black Magyck were involved with these murders.”
Pious paused to gather himself, and the council jumped at the first opportunity to intervene in his speech. Firan, the representative of the Fervendour galaxy shouted in aggression.

“So what? Severe black Magyck is a crime, an unfortunate crime at that, but that is no reason to enter his holiness’ sanctum! The sanctum is only to be entered when a direct contact is needed to be made with Pheobus, and that as I’m sure you know, hasn’t even been done in 150 years! The Pacifist constitution states that if the high council cannot correct a problem at hand, a vote is to be held on whether to enter the sanctum to contact Pheobus, and who to send. The vote MUST be unanimous! Clearly, you do not have the support of the council and your reasons are not justifiable. In fact the problem isn’t even evident and you’ve yet to prove it even exists!”

Firan was a unique creature found in the Fervendour galaxy called a red-dragan - a red, fire based dragon but with a very high intellect and relatively relaxed instincts for a dragon. He had razor sharp spikes that stretched from the center of his neck down to his enormous and muscular, heavily scaled back. He was still the most aggressive on the council, and didn’t deal too kindly with things he didn’t or couldn’t understand. Pious was ready to speak again, and looked at the council for approval.

“Proceed, Pious,” said Syphress impatiently.

“This is ancient, wicked Magyck with pure evil in mind! The intention of this Magyck is not just to harm the individual who is being attacked, but also to spread the power and influence of such dark wizardry. After discussing the murders with my advisors, the form of Magyck is the long- forgotten ability of schistic Magyck. The idea of this form of Magyck is to create as many battles and divisions as possible. It can be used for good or evil, depending on the circumstance. In this circumstance, at least in the Pacification Cluster, good is dominant, therefore it is more vulnerable to schistic Magyck than evil. The weaker aspect has far more to gain, while the stronger aspect has far more to lose. I truly believe that it is only a matter of time… before the influence of this dark form of schistic Magyck expands to the other galaxies and strengthens more and more where it started…things we never imagined happening in this cluster could be nearer than we could have ever predicted.”

Pious stopped, the council now seemed to be taking him more seriously and seemed very interested to what things could be happening in the near future.

Firan spoke after a brief silence. “You have the council’s interest Pious.” Pious nodded and continued.

“Numerous things could go wrong, even I am only consciously aware of a few disastrous outcomes. But one of my primary fears is having a corrupt council member next election year with radical evil and immoral political ideas! This will inevitably lead to Pheobus’ influence sharing half the cluster with a dark Magyck religion. From there, who knows what horrors will await the Cluster. The darkness would have the opportunity to seize the council, and establish a new constitution in which Lord Pheobus is completely removed! The only way to prevent these potentially disastrous events from happening is to grant me access to the sanctum! Let me speak to my father for his intervention in this trend, so that we may retain peace now and in the everlasting future of his reign.”

The council was stirring with mixed emotions of anger and shock. Firan was furious and didn’t hold back his rage.

“Your FATHER? How dare you refer to our father as your own! You of all people know that he is light to millions of believers, he doesn’t pick and choose. Damn it, Pious! I have met some crazed individuals along the road, but this totally crosses the line! Claiming yourself to be the lone son of God! That is treason to the council and your faith!”

The council was sharing in Firan’s rage. Syphress was distressed, almost as if she was beginning to believe Pious, until he referred to Pheobus as his own father.

“I must concur with Firan, Pious. Either the accolades and fame have gotten to you or you have lost your sanity and know not what you say! Do you actually believe that nonsense started by your devout followers and faithful servants? Or you are trying to capitalize on these extreme falsehoods as the truth to benefit yourself? Due to the extreme nature of what you just said, I am going to offer you the option to request the council opportunity to revoke your previous statement.”

The council hesitantly discussed it, many of them were unsure of how they felt. On one hand they were shocked and appalled by Pious’ statement. On the other hand, he walked a heavily storied life, that involved miracles unexplained by modern science or Magyck. They were discussing so rapidly that they were talking over each other, but the idea was consistent among all of the members of the council.

”Outrageous…insane…claiming to be his son-“

“He is my father! This is why I must go! I am the only one who can use the sanctum to contact him! Life forms from this dimension cannot contact my father, there is simply no way around this!” Pious yelled over the disorganized discussion.

The council was both shocked and enraged. Syphress felt especially offended as she gave him the opportunity revoke his blasphemous comment. Firan was instantly taking action.

“On the grounds of violating the very God we serve and the common goals of peace and harmony in the Pacification Cluster, I request the council to hold a vote on Pious Augustus’ expulsion as representative for Illumistan!”

The council had a very short discussion before nodding and giving their individual approvals of a vote.

The vote was conducted by a flawless computerized robot named the Arbitrator. The Arbitrator rose from the floor, slightly off-center to the stand where Pious stood. The advantages of the computer were that it had no biases, it simply calculated each vote and explained laws already established by the council many years before the computer existed. The Arbitrator asked each individual council member to cast their vote. The Arbitrator calculated that four of the five high council members voted “Yea” to Pious’ expulsion and had legit grounds for doing so. There was one abstention and that belonged to Syphress of Enchantia. Following the vote, The Arbitrator made it official that the interim representative duties of Illumistan were left to the remaining council until the next election period. The Arbitrator upon finishing its job, shut down, and lowered back into the floor.

Pious looked strangely calm and unaffected by the council’s decision.

Syphress was the only member of the council to bid him adieu. “Good bye Pious, Pheobus be with you.”

She spoke very softly, seemingly pained at seeing Pious go. The rest of the council was somewhat puzzled at Syphress’ abstention and regretful farewell, but didn’t discuss it.
The stand that he had presented his testimony on was now lowering. It was descending lower and lower, until the hexagon symbol on the ceiling of the high council room was no longer visible. He kept lowering into the darkness, picturing the hexagon and pondering its symbolism of the six governments of the cluster living in peaceful harmony. He laughed to himself.

“They know not what they do. They will curse the day they betrayed their God.”



Chapter 2: Aurelius’ rant


Back on the council floor, the five remaining council members were discussing the events that had just taken place.

Syphress was quiet, pondering to herself. How could that have been the Pious known for healing the sick and resurrecting the dead? Syphress suspected Pious’ behavior may have something to do with Aurelius, the mysterious and quiet representative of the Wickil Galaxy. Aurelius and Pious had never got along and Aurelius was an ex-convict for several crimes tied to black Magyck. Syphress realized however that her suspicion had no real basis. Aurelius had changed since then. And even if Aurelius disliked Pious, there was no evidence that suggested he did anything to Pious. Aurelius himself was, at least on the surface, just as bewildered as the rest. Syphress decided to put her suspicions off for the moment.

He spoke, “I sensed something awry in both his mind and in his heart, he clearly is not the Pious of old.”

Although his words spoke of concern, his tone didn't sell them. Aurelius was a very dark looking man in a hooded cloak that barely exposed his red eyes. Aurelius’ galaxy had by far the least amount of Pheobusan influence. If any council member was expected to do something illegal or immoral to gain an advantage over others, it was he. This was one of the weaknesses of the Pacifist Council: in order to avoid warfare, imperfection was tolerated.

Syphress, at least concurred with him on Pious’ strange behavior: it was unexplainable.

“I am uncertain what has happened to Pious. Although his story and intentions seem distorted, I can only suspect some kind of foul play was involved. Pious Augustus has never acted so foolishly and outlandish. I suspect dark Magyck, extremely powerful dark Magyck that has consumed him, despite him being unaware.”

Aurelius then spoke, sensing that Syphress was just moments away from mentioning him as a suspect.

“The council isn’t better without him, that much we can agree on. But as he is no longer an asset to the council, I request the council to cease discussion of Pious Augustus, and discuss the more important matters at hand.”

The council was both puzzled and cautious towards Aurelius’ request. Firan didn’t seem to think ignoring Pious’ rant earlier was the best idea, and was suspicious of Aurelius’ request.

“I don’t care if Pious didn’t make a damn bit of sense all night or even in recent memory. We cannot ignore his behavior. Pious is not as senseless as he acted today. He has done many great things in his life, and great things as a member of this council. Through common respect, we should take this strange occurrence with more than a grain of salt. Seeing as whatever sort of Magyck affected Pious is powerful enough to affect a member of the high council, it should be taken very seriously.”

All except Aurelius on the council strongly agreed. Aurelius always had a rebellious type of attitude, he was not afraid to share his opinion even if it was commonly disliked. Aurelius most frequently clashed with Firan. Firan was always aggressive towards Aurelius. He suspected him for anything related to dark Magyck, due to his galaxies long and continuing history of using dark Magyck. However, Firan never managed to provide any proven evidence against him in the past. Aurelius curled his lip and scowled. Syphress noticing Aurelius’ displeasure, jumped at the opportunity to challenge him further.

“Aurelius, I fail to see your reasoning to cease discussion of Pious. He was possibly the most influential member on the council and if he has gone mad, surely there is reason to take caution.”

Aurelius now looked even angrier than before. He shot out of his chair and shouted at Syphress.

“Whatever happened to the six chairs having equal say? Pious, if anything was the weakest link of this council! He was far too reliant on prayer rather than taking action on the urgent problems of this dimension.”

Firan interrupted. “The basis of this council is divine! There is nothing wrong with Pious’ strong-willed faith. I don’t know what it is you have against Pious, but-“ Aurelius interrupted with explosion.

“You’d have something against him too if he accused YOUR galaxy of foul play! While you’re misplacing the world’s troubles on my people as usual, you’re missing where the real sacrilege has taken place! Pious tried to get into the sanctum, refusing to listen to the laws he agreed to obey when he joined this council. Beyond that, he tried to deceive this council into believing that my galaxy was going to corrupt the cluster and overthrow the council! It’s clear why Pious chose my galaxy too, and you all know it’s true.”

Aurelius didn’t have to say what it was; the council already knew what Aurelius meant, and they knew he was right. Pious called out the Wickil galaxy because of its dark history and low percentage of Pheobusan influence. The five other galaxies were always weary of an anti-Pheobusan emperor having his say on the council. It was not Aurelius’ presence on the council that made the rest of the council nervous, for if he did try to pass anything to lessen Pheobusan influence, it would be unanimously denied. The council was far more concerned that the past few representatives of Wickil had been growing more and more powerful and influential amongst their people. Aurelius was far more powerful outside of the council room than in it. The fear was that Aurelius’ ideas could spread into another galaxy in the cluster, and continue to extend and overthrow the government of the council to worship Magyck. After being almost entirely silent during Pious’ proposal and Aurelius’ rant, King Breezer of Frice, the last remaining monarchy in the cluster, spoke his opinion.

“There are naturally certain precautions we must take with the lack of Pheobusan influence in your galaxy. I think I can speak for the council when we say that you have our full trust.” Breezer was an extremely large beast man, somewhat resembling of a large minotaur. His skin was a frosty blue and he had a thick white beard and moustache. His muscles bulged out of his chain armor, and he also wore a helmet that fit over his horns. Despite his intimidating appearance, he was very soft-spoken, and liked to avoid conflict. So he was usually observing when Firan and Aurelius went at each other’s throats.

He continued, “However, your galaxy is not showing satisfactory improvement in areas of crime, corruption, and Pheobusan influence. In fact, as Pious spoke truthfully earlier, it is going in the opposite direction. I personally must question your ambitions. Do they lie in self-gain or in improving your galaxy’s standing with the council?”

Aurelius looked uncomfortable, began breathing deeply in an attempt to calm himself down, to no avail.

He bursted out “The government of Wickil will believe what they want to believe, I don’t see why this is becoming an intergalactic matter. It’s not the responsibility of rulers of other galaxies to decide how to run mine!”

“You may not see why this is the council’s business, but the founding fathers of your new government did when they signed on with the Pacification Cluster.” Syphress said to impressed and approving responses from the rest of council.

She had a knack for saying the right thing at the right time. Aurelius, flustered and angry was unable to respond. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but thought better of it after witnessing Pious’ expulsion earlier. Firan whispered something to Breezer, and he passed it on to Syphress joined in.

Syphress spoke, “The council feels it best that a new contract is signed promising increased Pheobusan worship, lowered crime rates, and corruption before the next election is held. Aurelius, feeling that the council was siding with Firan more due to habit than anything else, exploded again.

“Rubbish! I refuse to defy my God and my people to support the rest of the council! My home comes first, and I am now being falsely accused of being the instigator of these crimes found in my galaxy, merely due to our history!”

Firan’s enormous dragon-scaled body burned with rage as he issued a restrained response.

“You’re treading on dangerous ground Aurelius.”

Aurelius shot Firan a cold look, showing no signs of intimidation. Syphress made an effort to cool Aurelius off and make him see their side of the issue.

“It has nothing to do with the history of your galaxy Aurelius, but rather the present. We need to see improvement soon or else-oh, wonderful.”

Syphress eyed the main entrance door to the council floor, and rolled her eyes. A large puddle of water slipped underneath the entrance to the high council floor, and morphed into an alien with skin composed of crystal clear water, exposing his bones, organs and a brilliant multi-colored core.

“Relax Firan, you totally need to cool off man! I think Aurelius is definitely right on when he says the council is trying to push things on people who just don’t wanna believe.”

Firan looked at him, grinding his razor sharp teeth and then snorted at the man composed of water. It was the representative of the Turqua republic, Aquis. It was not unusual for the council to go on without Aquis being fully in attendance. It was not necessary for his whole body to be there to listen, and if he felt his input necessary, then he would flow the rest of himself into the council room. This was just fine with the all the members of the council, who found his auspicious personality annoying at best. Because Aquis was only the representative of a republic, he needed to consult with his advisors outside the council floor before making any rash proposals or votes.

Aquis was very flamboyant and at times out of control. Nobody was quite sure what exactly he was; nobody had ever seen anything quite like him, and nobody hoped to see another thing like him. It was believed that his bright illuminating core was the source of what was expected to be great and mysterious powers. Many believe that this core gave him the ability to manipulate others. There was no other viable explanation as to how someone so incompetent became a representative on the council. Firan was turned off by his presence. He, along with the rest of the council, felt that Aquis was a numbskull relaying information from a strong group of advisors back in his home galaxy Turqua. Despite Aquis’ incompetence, representing many voices may very well have made him, at least from a political sense, the most powerful member of the high council.

Firan was watching Aquis intently. As Aquis walked towards the center of stand, he gave an attempt at a charming wink towards Syphress.

Breezer shook his large head, while Firan muttered to himself, “Scumbag.”

Syphress spoke as Aquis took the center of the stand, ignoring his ineffective wink. “On what grounds do you take the stand before the council Aquis of Turqua?”

“On the grounds that my bro Aurelius is not guilty!” he responded in an attempt to sound cool, which, as usual, failed miserably.

“I’m not your brother.” snorted Aurelius.

King Breezer grew impatient. “It’s been a long evening, please make this as short and to the point as possible.” he said in a restrained harsh tone.

“Gee-wiz, so serious man.” Aquis said in a final failed attempt to win the council over with his misplaced charm. He was met with a cold stare from the entire council.

“Awe, alright, you guys are boring, but alright. My buddies back in Turqua have been doing a little studying. Apparently, lowered government intervention in religious practice lowers the use of illegal Magyck! My buddies reckon that in this case, where Wickil is just not a Pheobus lovin’ place, the council should let it hang loose.”

Breezer was unsure of his feelings about this proposal and Aquis’ use of slang didn’t help. “I agree that the people of each galaxy should be able to govern themselves. But in this case, there isn’t enough order. I respect the republic’s stand on this issue, but I am unsure of how to deal with the deficiencies of Aurelius’ empire. What are your feelings on this matter Syphress?”

Syphress pondered to herself for a moment and then gathered what she wanted to say. “I think that if the republic feels we shouldn’t interfere, we should respect that decision. However, I do suggest some security precautions be taken. Aurelius, I cannot speak for the council on this, but I do personally apologize. Your people deserve freedom, even if I don’t agree with some of their ways. I request the council to approve an unwritten proposal that Aurelius’ handles his galaxy how he wishes, but that he tighten security and focus more resources on law enforcement. Therefore, neither the council or Pheobus is threatened, and the Wickil galaxy can live in peace.”

Aurelius graciously accepted the proposal, but Firan cut in.

“And what if he doesn’t tighten security? What happens to him then?”

“We will have a vote on whether he should be removed from power” replied Syphress. But this didn’t seem to appease Firan, since all but Firan voted for Aurelius’ independence when dealing with Wickil’s homeland issues.

“You have our well-natured trust, Aurelius, please don’t disappoint us.” Breezer said as if he were still unsure he voted correctly.

“Then I ask the council to adjourn this meeting. Does the council approve?”

”Yea,” spoke the representatives tiredly and almost simultaneously. As the council dispersed, Aquis approached Syphress as she was preparing to leave with the others.

“So whaddya say me and you get some late night munchies eh sweetcakes?” Firan was walking past as he heard this, and was tempted to vaporize Aquis with a fiery breath, but just sighed and stomped off loudly.

“Get lost Aquis, I am here to do business and see that Lord Pheobus’ will is served. I have no interest speaking to you outside of the council.”

Aquis spoke as though he hadn’t heard a word she said. “Jee-wiz sis, ya don’t gotta play hard to get. Could ya be a little feistier for me? You know I like em ‘ saucy!”

“Enough Aquis!” Syphress slapped him through his liquid face, knocking half of his face off, and stormed away.

Aquis reassembled his cheek and thought to himself, “Hmm…wonder if there’s any chicks hanging around the lower levels? Didn’t they say something about the bottom floor?” And off Aquis was to do some more of his favorite sport: ‘bird watching’.


*To Read on: http://www2.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1017046

Please note that chapters 3-6 are the original drafts, so it's not quite detailed and well-written as the first 2.