The Land is not ready for this.
The Land cannot handle this.
The Chaos must be contained and managed,
Or The Land will be no more.
Edmund awoke from his dream covered in sweat, with four lines repeating over and over again. Four lines that made no sense to him, yet were deeply unsettling. Edmund knew they must mean something. He was a Warder, a noble descendant of a family that had once held great religious power in the city-state of Kazadaegha. It was said that the blood of Angels ran in his veins. Edmund had had dreams before, and they had occasionally guided his actions. But this dream was not like the others. This dream was a truth revealed to him, and he needed to know more.
Grabbing a quill and parchment, Edmund leaned out his open window to write the words down. Using the dim starlight to see what he was writing, Edmund wrote those four lines down, even though he was sure that he could not forget them, even if he had tried. He then noticed something else interesting – was the night sky brighter? Were there more stars in the sky, or was the sky itself just brighter? Perhaps he was imagining it, just startled by his dream. He was not a practitioner of magic, but somehow he could always sense its presence – something he tied to his supposed lineage. And he felt the magic, everywhere above him, unlike anything he had ever felt before. Was he imagining it? Or was he just sensing the change he had dreamt about?
It didn’t matter to him. Her Exalted Radiance must know. Surely the ruler of the most powerful City-State for thousands of miles must have some knowledge of this. She trusted him – he had shared his visions with her before, and they were generally true. But this was the truth, and he must warn her. Perhaps the Plague was ending? Or perhaps there would be a new Plague? What Chaos can even The Land not handle? That thought stopped Edmund from dressing. What horror could threaten the very existence of The Land. And what could mortals such as he do to stop it?
These were not Edmund’s questions to answer, and he knew it. Her Exalted Radiance had many advisors. It was said she could still commune with the Court of Light.
And so, Edmund the Warder left his chamber for the last time, as he would never see it again. Little did he know that he would be a small but vital part in changes wrought by the Chaos.
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