Ashes+of+Time

** //It all began in Aberson in the land of Alän. He was a stranger to some and a vision to none. He could never get enough; get enough of the one thing he loathed most. For a fortune he’d quit but it’s hard to admit where his tale ends and begins...//**
 * In the distant mist, I could see a tiny light. As more appeared, the mist cleared and the lights turned into ships, sailing through the vibrant waves of the black ocean. I knew where I was, but did they know what they were in for? A huge army had overtaken the island of Alahna and the Light was fading, dying, sacrificing itself in the hope that mankind could be forgiven for its sins. Darkness covered the whole of Igstan and was slowly spreading. Only three people could stop it, Jason Orion, Belach Jitmonger and Jimmy Presan. All were ancient Kings...all still alive for one purpose and one purpose only; to find and destroy the man in charge of all the suffering that had been afflicted upon Igstan these past one hundred years. Ever since The Shìan Wars, Gallow had ruled the world. He struck fear into the hearts of the bravest men and slaughtered anyone who got in his way. His army of blood thirsty Griethians was the reason for all the destruction, the death and the dilapidation of mankind. **
 * I closed my eyes and, for a time, remembered back to my childhood. It wasn’t a time I’d particularly like to remember but I knew I had to. You see, I wasn’t always around people who cared about me, let alone knew what it meant to actually live. Although my past was brutal, I could now see that I had come out a better man because of it. But if I achieved what I set out to do, here in the past, maybe I might just get that second chance and know what it feels like to have a real family. Is that too much to ask? **
 * It would all end here! Or would it begin here? Nobody knew the real answer; only I did. I knew what had to happen and I knew what I had to change everything. But could I really stop time with a single dagger? Could I go back and change the past without affected what was happening in the future; where I was from? I guess you could say that I was about to find out, for this part of my tale was just a dream. A dream of the reality of my parents’ fate, a dream of what might have been if only Belach and Jason had not died. All it was going to take was a single stab from this dagger. A single stab into the heart of Gallow would destroy him and I would not have been left with the burden I was left with. **
 * Could I do it all before time ran out? After all, time is in my hands. But did I really want to change the past? It isn’t right to play God, and I above all people should know that. I would not have become the man I did if it wasn’t for the deaths of both of these men. If I changed the past, would I be able to go back, or would time continue and I remain a spirit of darkness, trapped in nothingness? Was I to remain a Prince or would I return to the lowly life within the orphanage of Hasaghar under the rule of a tyrant King? Would I stay in the orphanage? Would I still have a brother? Why would I want to lose everything I had gained? Was this power imaginary or did it really exist? Was it really just a legend or was it just destiny and fate that I ended up with the dagger in the first place? Was this Divina’s will? Did the power to change time really lie within my hands? My whole tale was just a dream...a figment of my imagination; I was sure of it. What I’m about to tell you was all just a dream...or was it? I know the answer but do you? Can you answer my questions...or will I answer them myself within my tale of time, my tale of destiny and my tale of how death is just the beginning. **
 * You see, time is like a river. It ripples and flows throughout the challenges life sets for us. But like a river, you never really know when the tide will change, what way you will turn next and what surprises the ocean holds. You see, destiny comes to pass in strange ways, just as my tale will explain. Was it all just a dream? **
 * //  On his face is a map of the world. They came from yesterday and from yesterday, they called to him, but he doesn’t take the hint that the people he loves are dying...  //**
 * //  On a mountain he sits and below him they strike. Through the bloodshed he can look, see the lives that are taken. When the blood is dealt, he’ll decide whether he’s lost or won, and from a council of one he’ll decide when it’s time to avenge the innocent...  //**
 * //  He was a stranger to some and a vision to none. On his face was a map of the world. They came from yesterday and called to him. It’s hard to admit why he picked him but only one place was left unturned and that’s because Light always defeats darkness and the Avallujah shall show the way, for peaceful freedom came with the deaths of two men and the destruction of another. But was he really gone forever? After all, on his face is a map of the world where blood covers every part except one; the Avallujah, the place where freedom exists peacefully and is never disturbed. But the possibility of him being alive is very very possible, for time exists in two dimensions, that of Light and that of Shadow...  //**
 * As I looked, I saw Belach and Jimmy crouch down behind a rock. Jimmy was a Draenei and his name was short for Jimato. His hoofed feet thudded on the stone ground as he swung his staff around behind him. His long black hair trailed off behind him as it blew in the slight breeze. He wore travelling clothes of green and red with a huge gold belt round his plump middle. He must have been about seven foot tall, maybe more, with a long staff to match his height. It had Isidar crystals sticking out of either end that glowed with a fluorescent light. His muscular shape held the weight of the blue bodied Draenei, bravely, as he stood tall and proud. Bandages were strapped to the tops of his faun legs and the bottoms of his arms, concealing the burns which showed that he was King of the Mountains, King of the Draeneis and he was here to weigh out time. Belach was King of Blood Elves, King of the Forest. His long ears and eyebrows stuck out the sides of his bony, flawless face and his blonde hair fell below his shoulders. He wore a red tunic with matching breeches. A belt of gold and blue perched around his waist. He wore sandals with materialised guards wrapped around his ankles. His black cloak swept in the breeze and two scabbards rested on either side of his belt. He was a considerable foot shorter than Jimmy and probably a head taller than me. **
 * This was it, this was the place where I would change everything, but could I do it. Gallow stood in the centre of the circular room with archways all around and several floors above. We were standing on an elevated platform with water, sacred, pure water falling like a waterfall but never landing. I looked over at Gallow but looked away again, for on his face was a map of the world with blood smeared across every part, even the Avallujah. I could hear noises, screams and shouts as the Griethians claimed many a life and...chimes, as if time for someone was running out, and I knew who...me! Now was the time for me to make up my mind, could I save them; Belach and Orion, or would time be better if I left it be? After all, because of them, Avallujah still exists and no-one has to hide from their shadow. **
 * “Hey Gallow!” I looked over to the entrance and saw Belach there. He walked slowly towards the centre of the room where Gallow stood and I watched. **
 * “Come alone did you?” Gallow asked. In his voice, I heard the screams of his victims and as I looked into his envious eyes, I saw them...those who had died at his hands. **
 * “Of course not!” said another voice as Jimmy joined Belach. **
 * “So where’s the other one! Too chicken to come out, or is he already dead.” Gallow smirked and looked directly at me. I froze, wondering if he had seen me or not. I looked behind me to see nothing and then looked back; he knew I was here, but how? He looked back and faced Jimmy and Belach who were now standing a little way in front of him. **
 * “Think you’d get rid of me that easily, I think not!” I looked up and there he was; Jason Orion, my father. I looked down at the floor and wondered whether he could see me or whether he was proud of what I had become. He looked exactly as I remembered only better. //Silly storybooks!// I thought to myself. I didn’t know him but I knew of him, how he was a stranger to some and a vision to none. He had wavy brown hair, much like mine, with shocking blue eyes. He wore a white tunic which was slightly open at the chest. His leather jacket was patched with different shades of brown and he wore black gloves like a blacksmith. He wore brown trousers with big black boots and a brown belt with his sword; Shanthi, the beholder of Light, resting in its scabbard, its sapphire blade powerful enough to crush the gates of hell. He jumped and landed to the right of Belach. They stood as brothers, as the wielders of justice, as the protectors of the innocent for it was now time to avenge the innocent! **
 * “I am glad! Now, I get to destroy each and every one of you!” He laughed haughtily and struck a bolt in their direction. They raised their arms and deflected it, shielding themselves from the danger. As Gallow struck again, I heard the words of Avallujah, the song of the Narions, of the tortured children, and the undead mothers and fathers who fought for their right to be free of their enslavers. **
 * Gallow had clearly lost his patience by now. He shouted with rage and stamped his foot into the floor. Dark shadows billowed in the mist as he gathered up all of his strength one final time. Not too far away, I heard the chiming again and again and again. My time was running out! I placed my hand on the hilt of the dagger and waited. Gallow shone with envy and power, shouting in the name of his lord, The Shì. Now was my time! I pulled the dagger out of my scabbard and walked towards Gallow. When I was almost upon him, a voice rang in my head. I had no idea who it was, all I knew is that it had been there all my life, and in case your thinking it was my conscious then think again for this being was powerful and here to protect me. **
 * “Don’t do it Libra! This was Divina’s way! Time must not be meddled with. You should know that by now for one who has seen the essence time! Remember Azard, the girl, the dagger, the sand timer...and time; the essence of time may be within your hands but no being on this Earth should have the power to change time. Ultimately, what happened in the past is the reason we achieved so much in the future. Those who fail to learn the lessons of our past are condemned to repeat its mistakes. For we must learn from the past, live in the present and believe in the future.” **
 * Gallow had now turned into a roaring flame, beaming with energy. I looked over at Jason, Belach and Jimmy as they stood ready to destroy their enemy. Energy balls appeared in the centres of their hands as they concentrated their energy all in one single place. I looked down and reflected upon the words of the voice within my head; this was Divina’s way and no matter what, this time, there was no way I could change what happened in the past. For I had meddled with time for far too long. If I changed it this time, there would be no going back and perhaps this time, it would have more grave consequences then last time. I dropped the dagger but did not hear it touch the ground; all I heard was the sudden blasts of energy as they shot towards Gallow. He yelled with pain as they struck him and tore him apart. Hammerite scriptures appeared in the archways around the room, adorned in red. They pointed their hammers at Gallow and struck him with bolts of truth, of freedom, of union. Gallow yelled with even more pain as a bolt backfired and shot at Belach, carrying him up and landing him on the tusk of the statue of the elephant behind them. He yelled, as pain, darkness and death struck him. Orion and Jimmy called out after him, their bolts only growing stronger. The bolts ripped at Gallow, tearing him apart. As Light struck Darkness, the fire roared and Light claimed its victim. As Light enveloped Gallow’s body he roared with pain as his Griethian army and black hearted dragon Hriesa turned to ashes. Then, the Light disappeared, taking Gallow with it and leaving behind a pile of ashes. **
 * My time was now up as the final chime struck. I had missed my chance, and now, I could never go back and save them. As darkness consumed my sight, I heard the scream of my father as Darkness struck him and he lay in a pool of black blood which was to be his eternal rest. The same had happened to Belach, but as I said earlier, this was Divina’s way, for without the deaths of Orion and Belach, the Avallujah would remain broken, cold and dark. Peaceful freedom would be a sin, and I would not be the man I was today. Inside of me, a revolution had begun. My ultimate defence from now on would be to pretend, for I did not know my father, nor who he was. I had to revolve around myself, just like an ordinary man, learn from the past, live in the present and believe in the future for the only other option would be to forget and if I forgot the past, I would repeat its mistakes.  **
 * To find yourself just look inside the wreckage of your past and to lose yourself, all you have to do is lie. The policy is set and we are never turning back, for what had just happened was Divina’s way and there was nothing I could do to change it. For this is just the beginning. It did not end in Alahna, it begun. You see, my tale is not as simple as that, for if travel is searching then home is what is found. By thinking I could change time, I had ultimately thought that I could organise freedom. **
 * It is hard to tell where my tale ended and began. I know that it started in an orphanage but where it ended is in time. But before I tell you my tale, if there be a lesson that you were to learn from it, then let it be this; let the choices you make today be choices you can live with tomorrow, for if today were perfect, there would be no need for tomorrow. Remember, time is like a river. It ripples and flows throughout the challenges life sets for us. But like a river, you never really know when the tide will change, what way you will turn next and what surprises the ocean holds. You see, destiny comes to pass in strange ways as my tale will explain, but the question I leave you with is this; Is it possible to change the past in order to make a better tomorrow? **