The Commencement

The Commencement

All characters and ideas expressed in this tale belong to the author. Any similarities to other texts are purely coincidental. Enjoy.

The Maelstrom howled, wrecking its havoc onto all beings, sentient or insensate, that could not scurry out of its way. Trees thrashed in the wind, buffeted and pummeled by the violence. The oceans and rivers crashed against their banks, seemingly trying to escape the constraints forced upon them by the land. The land itself bucked and twisted, roiling over itself. The sky screamed, rain and hail pelting down on the unfortunates below. The Planet cried.

No where was safe. Each creature that had the means to try to escape the aberration of what was once a quasi-peaceful existence. Those unable to make their way through the hell that had become their lives perished, crushed by rock, drowned by water, tossed by wind, or burned in the fires that were quickly engulfing the landscape. All organisms fought to try to get away, to find a sanctuary in the madness. There was no sanctuary. Fleeing was not an option, for the insanity was everywhere.

Mountains crumbled, volcanoes erupted. Lightning made jagged patterns across the sky, and thunder rumbled ominously. Waves were whirled into a frenzy, rivers ran upstream. The very existence of the natural order was itself being tested. And in the center of this vortex, this turmoil, four figures resided.

In stark contrast to the rest of the Planet, the locus containing the figures was serene. No sound, faint light, an almost surreal contrast to the chaos reigning without. The figures did not seem to notice the rest of the Planet’s agony, for they themselves were engaged in a battle, much like the elements outside.

The figures stood in a square shape, one being at each corner. In the middle of the square an orb floated gently, belying the tension between the four powers in the room. The orb glowed with an ethereal light, colorless, but at once appeared to contain the heat of an inferno, the power of a deluge, the ferocity of a storm, and the strength of an earthquake, all at once. Every so often one power would seem to take dominance over another, but the victory was short lived and another element would take its place. And still the silence ruled.

Outside of the protection of the orb, the viciousness of the Maelstrom continued, and seemed to accelerate. Hardly any part of the Planet was left untouched, and almost all living beings were dead, battered by the conflicting forces.

Finally, one of the beings in the center of the Maelstrom moved. Seeming to absorb all light, the dark figure shifted his stance. Long ebon hair swayed, falling to the floor and held loosely by a ruby clip. Masculinity radiated off of the creature, clothed in black, he raised a hand towards the orb. The light from the orb winked off of the platinum trappings on his uniform, his long sword gleamed in the radiance.

This brought about a distinctive reaction from two of the other beings. A woman, pale as the man was dark, raised her head, stormy grey eyes snapping, furious. Her silvern robes shimmered in the light of the orb, and she raised her staff. Wind from seemingly out of nowhere assaulted the hand that reached toward the orb. With a snarl, the man fell back, crimson colored eyes burning with hatred.

The third being, horizontally placed from the woman who had summoned the wind was facing off with the fourth being in the room, placed horizontally from the man in black. As soon as the man had reached toward the orb, the fourth being had moved to distract the third woman from helping the second. Clothed in fabric that appeared to have the essence of growing things, green and fruitful, tendrils of vines shot out from her hand and wrapped themselves around the third woman.

The third woman struggled. The fourth concentrated, putting all of her energy into her magick, and the emerald at the base of her throat glowed with her concentration. Wisps of silvery-gray hair, drenched in sweat, lay against her forehead, as her dark chestnut brown eyes narrowed. Her other hand came up, bearing a glove with yet another emerald, which summoned a great piece of earth and rock to enclose the third woman in. It seemed as though the fourth would win, when suddenly, her powers recoiled.

Vines snapped, the earth crumbled. The third woman was once again free. Breathing heavily, her golden locks falling about her shoulders, her ocean blue eyes bore into the eyes of the fourth woman. Aqua colored attire swirled around her as she fought back, the sapphires placed in tandem in her hair winked as power began to swell. Aiming a strike against the fourth woman, the third stuck with a blast of water, sending the fourth woman back several feet.

And still the Maelstrom raged.

An aggravated hiss escaped the original perpetrator that broke the stillness. The man looked toward his partner, the fourth woman.

“This is getting tiresome,” he uttered. Cloak swirling, he turned toward her. “Could you be more useless? What happened to all of that power you bragged about. Is this the limit?”

The woman glanced toward him, hurt and angry. “You aren’t doing so well yourself.”

“ENOUGH!” The call came from the woman garbed in silver, diamonds winking all along the staff clutched in both hands. “You two! In your selfish bid for power you are destroying the Planet! Upsetting the delicate balances between the elemental forces! HOW DARE YOU?? Betraying your vows, initiating the Maelstrom!” As she spoke, tendrils of power gathered around her, the diamonds embedded in her staff glowing white.

“I do not presume to give you an explanation for my actions. You are weaker, and therefore below me. Submit, and life will go well for you. Resist, and you will perish,” growled the man. The rubies in his sword sparked to life. Little flames licked the air around him, and he raised his sword, preparing for attack.

“Don’t you care? You are killing the very thing you want domain over! The Maelstrom has disrupted the order of life! There is nothing left outside of this area! Raven!” The man turned toward the third woman. Her face softened, trying to turn him to reason. “You have power. You are the wielder of Fire, elemental master of the Flame. What more power could you want?” She turned to his partner, who was still glowering. “Sprite. YOU are the wielder of Air, elemental master of the Wind. What more power could you want? There is no one being who can harness the power of more than one element! What can you hope to accomplish?”

Sprite turned towards the third woman. “There is a reason for everything that happens, Brine. This world…trapped in corruption and greed. Think of this as a purging. It needs to be done. Planet was dying long before Raven and I initiated Maelstrom.” She fisted her hands, emeralds embedded in her gloves glowing.

“Look outside. At the Planet. At the creatures,” Raven said. The three woman did so. “In a pathetic bid to survive, the misery of everyone is the same. Finally, the elements are being allowed free reign to shake off the bindings placed upon them by beings reaching for power far beyond their grasp. Finally, the Planet is getting a chance to break free of constraints and abuses that should never have been placed upon it. This is WHY Ceres. To free the Planet. Not to kill it.”

“But you ARE killing it! The Orb itself is about to burst! The elements should NEVER be pitted against one another! We were making progress, getting the sentient beings to see the folly off their ways. To make them realize they cannot keep abusing the Planet! That they should not try to enslave the elemental pathways! And YOU! You unleashed Maelstrom! Without even consulting Brine and I!” Ceres cried out.

Sprite’s eyes softned. “Ceres.” The woman turned towards her. “The Planet cannot die. Even ravaged by Maelstrom, the Orb and the elemental pathways will remain. This is a cleansing. You know the creatures of the Planet were not listening. The Planet was in more pain before the Maelstrom. You know this.”

Brine’s eyes turned serious. “I still cannot allow this. You have killed untold innocents. You have tried to steal the Orb of Elements. You have chosen to make war. And your query will be answered.”

“So be it,” Raven uttered. “You two have always played by the rules. Never realizing that to make headway against those that BREAK them sometimes you have to break them yourself.” His black cape swirled as Raven lifted his sword over his head. Pitting all of his concentration, he sought within himself, to where his power, granted to him by the element of Fire, lay. Drawing it out, it flowed around him, and he began to chant in an old, archaic language.

“Words are useless. Fools. Breaking laws makes you no better than those who broke them first. Brine!” Ceres and Brine reached to their own sinks of power, granted to them by their own elements. Air for Ceres, and Water for Brine.

Not wasting time on words, Sprite reached within herself, to lend support to Raven against the other two elemental masters. Her emeralds sparkled as she drew against her own sink, given by the power of Earth.

Each being called out in a language long dead, weaving strands of power around themselves for the final strike. The air was tense, infused with power which crackled and seethed.

And still, Maelstrom raged.

Suddenly, the tension between the four elemental masters reached a breaking point. At once, four different powers were let loose. At that moment, all laws of physics were abandoned. The Orb shattered, abandoning the four masters to Maelstrom. Fire, the start of a holocaust, poured out of the stones set along Raven’s sword. Sweating, he strained to form some semblance of control, fighting to keep the strength of his attack. He was fueled by Sprite, calling upon all things that grew and lived, along with rock and soil. Emeralds channeled the power, almost breaking in the effort.

Brine and Ceres threw their own powers in contrast, trying to protect the Planet from what they saw as its demise. The four powers met, swirling and roiling against each other. There was no more control, only trying to stay alive as the masters were tossed about like so much garbage as the Maelstrom and the four Elements let loose against each other. It was a melee of power, each trying to usurp the other four, and it seemed as though the very fabric of space/time would tear apart at the seems. No one could tell how long the powers battled against each other, or what caused the Maelstrom to finally abate, but suddenly, there was silence. Time seemed to freeze, and a hole opened up in the middle of the fight.

Raven, Sprite, Brine and Ceres looked up. A tunnel, a vortex of endless night had appeared in the sky. Moving toward the four with impossible speed, the vortex began to suck up anything in its path. Approaching Brine first, it drew her in. Unable to fight against the pull, having exhausted her powers, she gave a short scream before being drawn in.

“BRIIIIIIINE!” screamed Ceres, tears streaming down her face. Raven and Sprite looked on, horror apparent. The vortex then moved toward Raven. With a hoarse cry he too was drawn in. The remaining two elemental masters braced themselves, thinking they were the next to go. But there was nothing.

Opening her eyes, Ceres looked around. She and Sprite were no longer fighting. Maelstrom had ended, and she could not sense the powers that had been Raven and Brine. Slowly, she looked at Sprite, and coughed. “What…..?” She questioned, blood dripping onto her once pristine silvery robes. That was the last sound Ceres uttered, as she was dead before she hit the barren ground.

“Heh.” Sprite looked toward the sky, as she herself collapsed in the aftermath, a green spherical light escaping from her body as her emeralds shattered.

The wind whistled forlornly across the barren landscape.

In another world, a man with black hair and crimson eyes and a woman with golden hair and blue eyes were found wandering without memories.