Knight of The Mist

V - Ryder

The words hung in the air, menacing and terrible. Ryder laid on the ground, the numb feeling he had when he woke up was returning.
"Why would he take away memory?" Ryder asked.
"He didn't steal them, merely used the Mist to cover it. He does this to remove any skill you ever had in your life. He has taken away your ability to defend yourself."
"Your saying he'll is going to kill me and I can't fight!?" Ryder tried to think back to any of his fighting skills. None surfaced, every detail missing.
"Only temporarily," Qantru said. "You can relearn. It will be faster, because the knowledge is there, just hidden."
"I can't learn everything by myself." Ryder said, his voice quiet and defeated.
"You won't."
Ryder looked up at the sage tree.
"My people are slaves to the Mist God and outcasts to man. We find refuge in our own powers over the mist, but they will fade. When they do, so will we. Unless we are freed and brought back into the light, we will perish."
Ryder felt an overwhelming sadness well up inside him.
"We need a hero, young Ryder. A champion to free my people. The Mist has brought you to us, and so charged to prepare you. My sons will train you in the art of sword, combat and all physical skills required for your destiny. I will teach you how to master the Mist."
Ryder saw the many Mist trees surrounding him transform into similar form as Qantru with different and small distinct features. Some were tall, others short, some skinny or large, but all had grim faces.
Ryder stared in shock as he realized why they looked familiar.
"Their faces look like those of my people. I can remember that clearly. The look of hundreds of years of enslavement. To the Mist."
A smaller Mist tree man stepped towards him. He stood about Ryder's height.
"You mistake the Mist, son of Mist." His voice wasn't low, but smooth and pitched a little higher than Qantru. "The Mist saved you, brought us life and safety, and offers you the tools to destroy the Mist God. The Mist is your ally."
"My son, Ionus." Qantru told Ryder.
"The Mist is your God?" Ryder asked.
"No," Ionus said, shaking his head. "We serve it, but it is not our God." He waved a hand to a stone pillar. "That is our God."
Ryder struggled to stand and turned his body to see the picture on the pillar. A sun took up most of the picture, showing trees on a hill and a man farming the land by the hill.
"That sun is so big." Ryder breathed.
"Before the Mist, the sun, the one and only, filled the world with warmth and light," Ionus began. "Man and the world were at peace. Magic was at it's peak."
"Is that how the sun was made?"
"No," Ionus said, smiling. "It was always there. Before any magic, even before man and tree. It was a world of light." he pointed to the next pillar to reveal an armored man coming from the sky's with the Mist at his feet. "The Mist God."
"Is he a real God?" Ryder asked eagerly. He was certain he had never heard anything like this. The real history of the Mist.
"No."
"Then why is he the Mist God?"
"His power over the Mist is godlike. He can manipulate the Mist in any way he wishes. He is also beyond most mortal weakness."
"That's reassuring." Ryder muttered.
"However, the one's he still have are greater."
"What are they?"
"We do not know in detail." Ionus said uncomfortably.
"Young Ryder," Qantru said, placing a massive hand on his shoulder. "You are weak from your ordeal. You must rest. We will aid you as much as we can, so have faith." the Mist Trees moved to one side and allowed Qantru through to a village, where the houses were made of stone and similar pillars from the pavilion was scattered throughout the streets.
"You have houses?" Ryder asked.
"We raised and ordained the pillars, but the houses are not our doing." Qantru led Ryder to the house closest to the pavilion.
"What lived here, then?" Ryder asked hesitantly.
"The better question is what lives here, Young Ryder." On that note, the sage tree closed the door and left Ryder by himself.