REED Chapter 1

REED Chapter 1 The swirling blue light appeared again, this time just after midnight. Reed knew to pay close attention to the contents revealed within the boundaries of its glow, for the image would only be visible for a short while and he could be woken at any moment by a bomb blast or the Sound of his dog Stridus playing with the farm equipment. The water again, lately the visions always showed water, this time what was shown looked more like the sands of a beach, rough waves crashed repetitively on the shores and the color of the water was as green and the leaves on the elder trees outside the shrine of mount Olerian that Reed used to climb as a child. Quickly now the image distorted and began to change into the face of an old man. Reed could sense this vision was from the past, he could always somehow know wether the images described the past or the present, rarely did he sense the future, and often confused it with what visions in the present felt like. The language that the man spoke invoked no messages to Reeds ears, the tongue, ancient and long forgotten sounded sweet to his ears, like the sound of the waves themselves, soothing and seemed to caress his ears. The image shifted to a library of old wood and stone , books and scrolls lined the walls and the pillars in the center were carved with craftsmanship Reed had never seen. The sound of a scream horrible but quiet now began to dominate his mind, the blue glow began to darken and the image of one scroll in particular , encased in glass and placed on a marble pedistool began to slowly consume the vision, it was calling to him. Closer and closer it slowly pulled at Reed and though he struggled he felt a gravity toward this scroll unlike any he had ever felt, the glow now almost darkness. He heard the scream louder and louder as he was pulled to the scroll, and as if from within his mind he heard his own voice speak "Find the Mage." Reed opened his eyes as his ears were met with the sound of the alarm. The attacks were becoming more frequent and he often wondered why he chose to live in the wilderness, in defiance of the Byro Nation. Most of the people lived in one of the five large city states on the continent , easier access to food rations and a sense of safety offered by the Byro Megacorp and its soldiers. Those like Reed who lived outside the system were subject to hoards of bandits and rouges who liked to attack the smaller villages for food and supplies. Likely a small band of rouges looking for food, he thought. The Byro rule has left many without work and if one refused enlisting in the Byro army there were few options for those who once thrived before the Byro invasion. It used to be different , He thought. He remembered stories his father had told him of what it used to be like. Officials were voted in by the community and served the public to create jobs and feed the citizens, technology was used to enhance life, not to distract the people. Bandit raids and farming were all Reed ever knew, his father taught him the trade, how to set up the electric barrier fences , how to plant and care for the seeds , the mysteries of the seasons and how to work with the land to survive. It was a small village of about 50 families, known as Rhoasia. located approximately 100 miles from the nearest city, the Capitol, Byro City. Some baked bread, some made clothing , some were watchers in the night, Reed was a farmer, his family had always been farmers and he was good at caring for the land. A part of him wanted to run after the alarm and help the older boys defend the village, he would practice with his sword when the work was done each evening and often fantasizes about the danger, but his duty was here, his mother and sister depended on him, his father was still in charge of the farm, but Reed knew as much of the business as him and the whole village relied on them for food, he couldn't risk being killed in a bandit raid , and besides Geord and Lucus would handle the invaders, his closet friends and members of the village guard, they were the toughest boys in the village and quiet good at defending the village. All he could do was wait inside until the coast was clear and think about the vision he had just received. The visions started when he was young , he was bid by his mother to tell no one of theses "dreams" and instead write them into a journal, dreams of this sort were not normal and he didn't want to attract any unwanted attention from the Byro army. The dreams always came true or showed him something from the past. As the sounds of the cannons and rail guns echoed in the night he scrawled his latest entry into the leather bound confessional, conforming his sights to poetic prose as to disguise it's meaning to any how may read its contents accidentally, he wondered if others shared his gift or if he was unique in the world, but above all else he wondered, who is the Mage? "What are you writing?" Asked Reeds younger sister Lily. Lily had just seen her seventh harvest and was as skilled with the gears and pullies of the farm machines as Reed was at 17, her face lit intermittently by the glow of the cannon fire, now becoming less frequent , she held a small candle as she walked closer to Reed. "Poetry.." Answered Reed, but Lily knew about Reeds leather book of poems. They were close since their mother nearly died of spring sickness a few harvests back, Reed had to journey into Byro city for supplies and medicine while Lily watched over the farm with their father, that was the only time he had seen a big city in real life, the photos never did justice to how big they were. Their mother and father were fast alseep, always up early to attend to the land, and all too comfortable with the sounds of the bandit hoards to stir from the cannon blasts. A shriek, the voice called out over the air and they knew something was wrong. "Stay here," Reed shouted pointing to his sister as he turned towards the mantle to retrieve his blade, part of him had waited for this day but he was no less frightened. The door was thrust open and his eyes met the night, bursts of light blinded his way and sounds of panic filled the air. Others were leaving their homes to see what was going on, tradesmen and younger boys like Reed were armed and all seemed to be heading towards the western watch tower.