[ CS ] The story begins .

Genre: Fantasy/Sci-Fi 
 
 
 Torlin stood at the top of the mountain, looking down upon the land like an eagle searching for prey. On the ground to the North, where he was heading, the golden trees with their emerald leaves flourished, encircling crystalline lakes and lush fields. A few large castles stood in the distance, the setting sun hanging over them in all its glory. 
 
 
 Torlin shook himself and continued scanning the ground. He could not afford to waste time admiring the scenery. With a sudden start, he swooped down, having found his objective. He gently glided into a tree, his cape wrapping around him, and stared at his target. A small boy stood with his mother, laughing in the nearby clearing. They jumped around, playing with their pet dog, a small golden pup. Wasting no time, Torlin dove at the child as they passed the tree he had lodged himself in. The boy shrieked and his mother echoed his cries as Torlin rolled to his feet and quickly darted up into the sky again. He dared not to look back, but as he flew upwards, gaining altitude, his first “ purifying ” had come to mind. He had taken a young girl from her parents, straight from their home. His trainers had told him to never look back, no matter what, but he could not resist a peak at the house and its wailing occupants. What he saw made him almost plummet to his death. The house ’ s wooden boards had turned a sickly grey, the flowers around them wilting. And as the area was desecrated, the parents ’ bodies constricted around the bones and collapsed. From the corpses rose a pair of banshees, screaming their pain. 
 
 
 He swallowed, steeled himself, and headed back south as the sun began to set. Similarly desecrated land greeted him, a vast plain of entangled, brittle branches and vines. He landed inside a metal fortress. He paused and began condensing the whimpering child, until he was simply a ball of glowing light. He walked onwards into an old building, seemingly identical to the others, his cape billowing in the brisk air. Once inside, he slammed the latch and placed the ball of light onto a square platform. The ball flattened and was absorbed into the machine with a flash of red. It would be used to power the empire. At least that ’ s what they told him. He sat down, the rusted chair squeaking as he did so. Strapping himself in, he went back to the real world. 
 
 
 As he emerged from the dream world, he awoke to the typical scene of himself with his hand held by an iron clamp to an azure medallion. In front of him stood the source of the dreamworld, his friend Maeno. He pressed down hard on the release button with the bottom of his left fist. His hand shot free. He turned, typed a four digit code into a number pad, and watched as Maeno began to stir. 

