Babiin to tell him everything he knew about the Stones, or face instant death. He surrendered all knowledge without hesitation, and for this, the clan leader spared his life.”
The stained glass morphed again, this time, unraveling a horrific scene: A bloody and terrifying massacre.
“In the weeks that followed, the clan leader ordered the slaughter of every Mazaruk in the surrounding villages, for each single Stone had a limit on how much magical energy it could contain. Therefore, the more Stones one possessed, the stronger one could become.
Thousands of Stones were collected from these beasts, and with them, the Vetala collected power. More power than they had ever thought possible.
“Unknowing villagers suspected nothing. The Vetala appeared as travelers, just passing through. It was at first feared that some terrible plague was to blame, as village after village 56
discovered their magic was weakened, and then one day, completely gone. The Stones left everything in their wake alive, but powerless and magic-less.
“This is when the Vetala clan made a disastrous error. They grew arrogant, allowing someone to discover their secret. The news spread like wild fire, and soon, any village that still retained their magical powers began executing Mazuruk, in hopes of defending themselves in the battle that would inevitably follow.”
Colby had a thousand questions he wanted to shout, but knew his father would not approve. His eyes never left the stained glass, where the pictures continued to shift and change.
“Over the months that followed, this news spread across the magical world like a disease.
At the height of this massacre, nearly every Mazaruk had been exterminated, and you had either lost your magical powers to someone possessing a Stone, or possessed enough Stones to steal other people’s powers.
“Wars broke out all over the world, village against village, clan against clan. Those with the Stones, kept the power. The Shogharne clan still possessed the largest number of these Stones.”
She stopped for a moment as the stained glass darkened and then lightened again, once more displaying a scene with Babiin Balick.
“Seeing the destruction his discovery had caused, Babiin spent the remainder of his life making amends for his actions. He created a group of warriors that wandered the earth for many years, painstakingly collecting and destroying the stones, and those that used them for harm.
“But it was during this time that nine of the most powerful Vetala learned an awesome truth: The Mazuruk Stones could give them the immortality they had so long desired. Using their innate powers as Energy Vampires, they could combine the magical energies from a single Stone, into another, fusing them together. They did this with hundreds of Stones, until they had built a Stone large enough to contain the magical energy required for immortality.
“Babiin Balick and his followers learned of this plan too late. They set out to stop it, but fate had determined otherwise. The nine remaining Vetala, from the Shogharne Territory, simply needed to touch the Stone simultaneously, and its power would be permanently fused with their own, filling their life force completely.”
At this point Jurekai Fazendiin’s mother stopped and looked at him, as if to ask if she should continue.
“Yes, Mother,” he told her. “If I want the truth known, I want the entire truth known.” She nodded and began to speak again.
“The Stone was then hidden, its location only known by the nine, to ensure that it could not be destroyed. For if it was destroyed… their immortality, and thus their lives, would end.”
Colby breathed out in disbelief. He had known his father was immortal, but could his immortality end? Did this also mean that his father was one of the nine original immortals?
He had often heard of him spoken as the original… if this were true, Colby again desired 57
greatly to know how this affected his own life.
The stained glass morphed again, this time, unraveling a horrific scene: A bloody and terrifying massacre.
“In the weeks that followed, the clan leader ordered the slaughter of every Mazaruk in the surrounding villages, for each single Stone had a limit on how much magical energy it could contain. Therefore, the more Stones one possessed, the stronger one could become.
Thousands of Stones were collected from these beasts, and with them, the Vetala collected power. More power than they had ever thought possible.
“Unknowing villagers suspected nothing. The Vetala appeared as travelers, just passing through. It was at first feared that some terrible plague was to blame, as village after village 56
discovered their magic was weakened, and then one day, completely gone. The Stones left everything in their wake alive, but powerless and magic-less.
“This is when the Vetala clan made a disastrous error. They grew arrogant, allowing someone to discover their secret. The news spread like wild fire, and soon, any village that still retained their magical powers began executing Mazuruk, in hopes of defending themselves in the battle that would inevitably follow.”
Colby had a thousand questions he wanted to shout, but knew his father would not approve. His eyes never left the stained glass, where the pictures continued to shift and change.
“Over the months that followed, this news spread across the magical world like a disease.
At the height of this massacre, nearly every Mazaruk had been exterminated, and you had either lost your magical powers to someone possessing a Stone, or possessed enough Stones to steal other people’s powers.
“Wars broke out all over the world, village against village, clan against clan. Those with the Stones, kept the power. The Shogharne clan still possessed the largest number of these Stones.”
She stopped for a moment as the stained glass darkened and then lightened again, once more displaying a scene with Babiin Balick.
“Seeing the destruction his discovery had caused, Babiin spent the remainder of his life making amends for his actions. He created a group of warriors that wandered the earth for many years, painstakingly collecting and destroying the stones, and those that used them for harm.
“But it was during this time that nine of the most powerful Vetala learned an awesome truth: The Mazuruk Stones could give them the immortality they had so long desired. Using their innate powers as Energy Vampires, they could combine the magical energies from a single Stone, into another, fusing them together. They did this with hundreds of Stones, until they had built a Stone large enough to contain the magical energy required for immortality.
“Babiin Balick and his followers learned of this plan too late. They set out to stop it, but fate had determined otherwise. The nine remaining Vetala, from the Shogharne Territory, simply needed to touch the Stone simultaneously, and its power would be permanently fused with their own, filling their life force completely.”
At this point Jurekai Fazendiin’s mother stopped and looked at him, as if to ask if she should continue.
“Yes, Mother,” he told her. “If I want the truth known, I want the entire truth known.” She nodded and began to speak again.
“The Stone was then hidden, its location only known by the nine, to ensure that it could not be destroyed. For if it was destroyed… their immortality, and thus their lives, would end.”
Colby breathed out in disbelief. He had known his father was immortal, but could his immortality end? Did this also mean that his father was one of the nine original immortals?
He had often heard of him spoken as the original… if this were true, Colby again desired 57
greatly to know how this affected his own life.
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