Shards of Felwyn

The Beginning

The sound of cannonballs colliding with flagstone echoed through the island of Coeden. An uproar began quickly as families scattered about, attempting to find some kind of refuge with futility. A mother ran past Cosmo holding two crying children in her arms. Another man dashed behind Cosmo, shouting over the noise of cannonfire and chaos.

"Flee to the southbound docks! Take nothing but your loved ones!"

In the middle of the calamity, Cosmo stood stock-still, an enormous weight of guilt upon his shoulders. Cosmo could only think one thing as he stood amidst everything. If only I hadn't taken that damned crystal. Suddenly, he took off in a dead sprint towards the Spirit Tree, Two cannonballs soared over his head, followed by the crushing of brick and thatched roof. The destruction only pushed Cosmo to run quicker.

Horrified, he looked up to see a cannonball strike the very center of the Spirit Tree's trunk, demolishing the natural beauty of the tree. The glowing petals faded from blue into a dark purple and several of the large branches wilted. Cosmo ran as quickly as he could to the base of the tree, now swaying in the wind. Bursting through the door to his home, Cosmo found an unsuspected figure sitting on his bed.

"Lan? What are you doing here? Galdernad has come for the crystal. Flee here while you still can!" Cosmo exclaimed, searching his room for any spare change and stuffing it into his satchel. He quickly grabbed a pouch with a small amount of money in it and tucked in his bag.

"The Dilonwyr, Galdernad's men, have come for you earlier than expected. You must flee and get the stone to Priddel undetected. It is the only way you can save yourself from Galdernad's wrath."

"But what about you?" Cosmo rebutted. "Get on one of the evacuation ships, you can survive too!"

"I told you that I would do what I can for Coeden, boy." Lan snapped, as though he was interrupting. "This is me doing what I can." Lan moved to the floor, where he sat cross-legged and laced his fingers together. "Go, Cosmo. May the gods smile upon you."

Cosmo hesitated at first, before dashing out of the home he had lived in all of his life. He took one last look backward to see Lan surrounded by a light yellow aura and his eyes glowing brightly. Facing forwards, Cosmo stumbled down the last steps of the Spirit Tree to find Galdernad's ships docked at the harbor. Hundreds of hooded figures were emerging from below deck and flooding into the streets.

Warchodethbayan! Lan's voice resonated from the Spirit Tree, echoing through town. The petals of the tree shifted to the color of Lan's aura, glowing brighter than ever. Each petal began to rapidly flutter from the tree, forming an enormous magical barrier between the northern harbor and the rest of Coeden. Even though the bright yellow barrier stretched nearly all of Coeden's width, a large group of figures still made it past before Lan was able to cast the spell.

Gripping tight to the gem still in his hand, Cosmo ran faster than he ever had. As he retreated from Galdernad's army, Cosmo caught a glimpse of the only buildings, street lamps, and foliage he had ever been familiar with in his whole life. He felt a twinge of pain in his stomach as he knew he might never see it again.

Thunder roared in the distance as storm clouds set in on the scene of Coeden's invasion. At this point, Cosmo noticed families were no longer retreating alongside him and he became worried that the evacuation would leave without him. As he began to tire, raindrops started to shower from the sky, followed by more peals of thunder. The wind began to rip at Cosmo's clothing as the storm revealed its true fury. Ducking into a small alleyway, he hoped to avoid the high wind speeds.

"Zar'ciryall." A deep voice ordered Cosmo, followed by the sound of a blade being drawn. Cosmo turned around to find one of the figures that must've breached Lan's protective field. The figure wore a dark purple robe with a hood shadowing its face. In its hands was a long tigerwood broadsword, encrusted with amber. Cosmo had heard about the incredible strength of tigerwood from Lan, and he feared the weapon in its hands."Zar'ciryall. Aln prelendaht Z'ol." The unfamiliar tongue increased Cosmo's heart rate. He scrambled around, looking for a way to escape the soldier and its blade.