ATHENIUM

Dark and foggy filled air surrounds the city at night and all that is evil lies dormant beyond the city walls preying on the helpless and any poor and defenceless person faced with a creature from the Cursed woods would never be seen again for never knowing what you could come across in the Cursed woods frightened the villagers of Blue Oak village and they never dare to go there. Not one person from the village of Blue Oak would even step foot in the Cursed woods but every so often, a foul and evil creature from the woods would come out and hunt down its next meal.

Desperately seeking a hero, the village of Blue Oak called out to everyone they could find but no one came except one. His name was Joseph, a Saralian from the far east where he had lived out most of his life until he became a summoner, a gifted being who called upon the sacred gods in order to aid him in battle. Knowing everything he needed to know about magic, Joseph could cast any spell whether it was a holy Basilica spell to warn off evil spirits or demonic lure to trap unsuspecting beings.

The village of Blue Oak had never heard of this, Joseph of Saral but they desperately needed a saviour so they entrusted their village to him. The High Council had told Joseph all about the enraged beast that lived in the Cursed woods and if he believe he could rid the evil away from Blue Oak. Joseph had never refused a quest in his life but he had not accepted this one so promptly. He announced that he needed some time to think it over as he himself believed that this was a quest of unsafe passage and he felt that he may not make it out alive. He considered declining the quest and leaving the villagers of Blue Oak to face their fate but he felt compelled to stay after all, he was a Saralian. A long history of adventurers and it was considered a blessing to take a quest no matter how small.

The sun had begun to set over the village of Blue Oak and Joseph had given his answer. He agreed to help the village and rid them of their worries from the Cursed woods. He claimed he would slay this beast and save the village from the woodland fiends for a price of fifty gold pieces, thirty for slaying the beast and twenty for protecting the city from the fiends. The villagers did not argue at the price as they were willing to pay any price for the safety of their village.

Night had fallen and it was Joseph’s first encounter with a woodland fiend in the dark and mysterious woods. It was dog-like and it had fangs that could cut through the bark of a willow tree so tough, it’s claws were long and sharp and it dark roughened fur stuck up on its back. Joseph had never seen a beast like this before so he raised his hand in the air and clenched his fist and a light green sphere surrounded him. The fiends eyes glowed a dark red as it ran towards Joseph and lunged at him through the air.

The light green sphere lit up up so bright and then suddenly the fiend had disappeared. The sphere had faded away as Joseph continued walking deeper into the woods. As he traveled further into the woods he found himself at the core at which came face to face with himself. At first Joseph thought it was mirror of some sort but then his reflection moved. It was not a reflection but an impostor, someone or something disguised as Joseph.

The impostor had started to circle around Joseph until he stopped and looked him straight in the eyes and spoke. It sounded exactly like Joseph and he told him that he would never make it out of these woods alive. The impostor then pushed Joseph to the ground and then pulled out a sword from his buckle and attempted to swing the blade down at the ground. Joseph rolled out of the way before standing up and taking out his sword as well. Now both Josephs were circling around in the dark cursed woods ready to attack one another. They ran at each other with blade in sight of their targets, they striked swords at the same time and attacked and blocked every move they knew. It was as if Joseph was fighting himself but he still believed it was dark magic at bay. Joseph had cast a protection spell on himself but at the same time so did the impostor.

They battled it out for a long time with magic and blades. Each Joseph being exactly the same as each other had lost strength and the will to fight until Joseph had seen a broken branch on the floor so he started the lead the fight towards the branch and pushed the other Joseph making him fall over the branch behind him. At then he thrusted his blade into the chest of the impostor and looked at him with anger and with the lost few breaths the impostor whispered “Are fate be one untill done” The impostor slowly passed as Joseph fell to his knees in exhaustion. He dropped his blade as he started to lose all strength and a sharp pain at his chest when he clutched his hand to and felt blood dripping as he fell to the side of the impostor and rested his eyes for the fate of one that had been done.

Many days and nights had passed in the Village of Blue Oak as they awaited their hero’s return. They lived out the rest of their lifes in peace knowing that their hero, Joseph of Saral was forever protecting them from the evil in the world of Valius.