Writing the Past.

[Destroyer Unleased]

Thor sits behind an ornate red wood desk in a shadowed study. A book open on the table in front of him. He holds a pen in his left hand and looks back over what he had just written in the and reads it to himself out loud to see if made any sense.

"Taking one look at me is all it takes to realize that I am not normal by any means. You can see the ivory horns and the fangs lets not forget the fangs. I know most view me as a monster just for the way I look but really what is new? Everyone is different in their own way but well who really cares about that?

Now maybe it would be wise of me to tell you a bit about who I am and for that matter just what I am. Well here goes and settle in for a tale that is full of emotion.

It was a different place and a different time that this tale starts. A land of darkness and terror, some would say a land of fairy tales. Maybe they were right maybe it was all a fairy tale but having lived it I can tell you that it isn't so. I myself find it hard to belief at times."

He leans back and sighs softly as he ponders just how to start his autobiography now that he had set down to write it. He wasn't sure how detailed to make his account of his life of even how much of it he should recount. In the end he decides to just go for it and let it flow and come as it will. With that decision he leans forward and starts to write again as she reads it out loud to himself.

"I didn't always look this way nor could I do the things I can now do. No I was a normal boy or well as normal a boy as as as an orphan can be. Let me tell you of my childhood and then from there I will move it forward tell my tale.

The first twelve years of my life were lived in a church run orphanage. As you can imagine the life was rather dull and structured as each day flowed in the same routine and pattern. Awake by dawn for sun rise prayers then onto the morning chores before breakfast.

After breakfast it was time for lessons on a wide range of topics yet in the end each in turn became a talk about religion and faith. Midday it brought another round of prayers and then more chores before the afternoon meal.

When the afternoon meal was complete a few more chores where invariably found and assigned to be done. Once these chores where finished there was meditation which prepared us for the second lesson of the day.

This second lesson of course was the more enjoyable of the two for it was combat training and the boys in orphanage who showed and aptitude were slowly trained in the use of swords and many other other weapons of the time. Of course the training was not without purpose or agenda.

You see the orphanage served as a means of recruiting and expansion for the church. Each orphan was considered a student and as such was brought up to be its servants."

Thor stops a moment and lets his thoughts wander back to those days where the most pressing concerns were not to anger the priests and to avoid having to go to confession. He smiles softly remembering the days were there were no worries and the future was assured. He taps the pen on the paper a few times then goes back to writing.

"Now in the afternoons the lessons were not only combat oriented but for those who showed no aptitude for fighting were further trained to eventually join the clergy.

The lessons were followed by more prayers and then the evening meal followed by chores setting the day to the end as the routine came to an end with bed to rest from the day.

Now this was the daily routine one that was only interrupted by the weekly mass which meant no lessons or chores and was spent in reflection on one's soul and place in the order of things.

As a boy full of energy the life was a boring one. But at least it was a life of relative order and peace. In the days leading up my twelfth birthday things began to change for me. I had always been different a little faster, a little stronger, better able to grasp things that were being taught then the other orphans. Even then I had a deep understanding of emotions and almost always knew what to do to defuse a tense situation.

But before I continue telling about me let me back track a moment and explain a bit about the world I grew up in. It was much same as this one really yet the creatures of myth and fantasy were real. Magic was a part of life and was actually used by the church. Vampires, werewolves, demons, and angels were only a sampling of the creatures that inhabited the world in which I spent most of my life.

In such a magical world it wasn't uncommon to see many strange things and almost everyone had a tale of some supernatural event or another."

Thor again stops to look over what he had written. As he does he can see the moment his life had taken its first change. The moment where the first part of his journey started. A journey he was going to relate in here if only for himself.

[Destroyer Unleased]

After several minutes of remembrance Thor starts to write again. As he writes he smiles reliving the memory.

"It was a week before my twelve birthday when the first of disturbances occurred. I was in my room mediating when suddenly a fire lit in room's fire place. Now being as the day was a warm summer day this made the room into a sweltering furnace. The added heat to the room brought me out of the meditation. I was startled to see the fire in the fire place.

Even more startling was that it went out with in seconds of my breaking my meditation. Now of course I didn't say anything about this to anyone. This was just the first weird event to befall me that week.

Several days after the fire incident there was a major lightning storm. Now as boys that age are want to do, I was out in playing in the rain. Nothing strange there I admit but to understand what happened next one must understand the lay out of the church compound.

The compound was a walled community with the church itself on the north wall. The western wall was taken up by the orphan students living quarters and the library. The eastern wall housed the priests and the kitchens. The south wall housed the gate and the stables. In the corners of the compound were training areas to practice various fighting styles. The area between the buildings was a paved courtyard.

Now that you have the compound layout I can continue with relaying the events of the day. Now it was in the middle of the afternoon and there were several other of the orphans and several of the priests outside with me. I was in the center of the courtyard dancing in the rain.

As I danced the rain around me started to turn into ice drops around me and soon there was a wall of ice around me. Moments later I was surrounded by a shell of ice. In those days I stood about 4 in a half feet tall so the shell around me was just a little taller than that.

Now that in its self would have been amazing and a little troubling but it is what happened next that was the real shocker. As I said this was a lightning storm and as such there were bolts of lightning that were rampant.

Now as I stood there in the shell of ice in the center of the courtyard the priests and other orphans had by then all stopped to look on in interest and shock. So it was that there were about a dozen pairs of eyes locked on me to witness what happened next."

Thor smiles at the recollection of what had happened that afternoon. He chuckles to himself at the memory and realized that the moment he was relating was one that had changed his life forever. A moment that for all intents had purposes had made him what he was today.

"Now as the others on the courtyard watched the shell of ice that surrounded my was hit by a bolt of lightning. As the lightning hit the shell it sent the ice shattering outward in tiny shards. As I stand there a bit startled my body is enveloped in a field of lightning.

The others watching me stand startled as I start to levitate a few feet off the ground as a lightning bolt hits me. As sudden as the lighting around me had appeared it disappears. As it disappears from around my body I fall back to the ground unconscious.

The priests rush forward to examine me as I sit up. The only thing to show for that adventure was a few scrapes I got from hitting the paving stones from a few feet off the ground. Those soon vanished as my natural healing abilities came into play.

Now the priests were intrigued at what they had seen and asked me if any other strange things had happened to me. I then told them of the weird fire a few days before. Now it would be worth mentioning that my voice was starting to deepen and other physical signs of puberty had started to be displayed.

A few days later it was my twelfth birthday and there was a minor celebration done in the manner of the church. But on that day I was also given a sword and horse. I was also given the news that I had completed my training at the church and would be sent to and academy for gifted people.

The night of my twelfth birthday was bittersweet. Yes I had the right to celebrate my birthday and thus have a happy day. But also it was my last night at the church. I was to leave his home for the last twelve years and enter a world I had only heard about."

Thor sits a moment and looks over the written account of twelfth birthday. The day that the first chapter of his life closed. He sighs softly as he continues to remember as he leans back in his chair and closes his eyes.

[Destroyer Unleased]

After several minutes of thinking Thor reopens his eyes and then looks at the book he was writing as he leans forward. He taps his pen lightly on the paper and smiles softly as he again starts to write.

"The next morning came and it was time for me to be taken to the academy. A short farewell service occurred after a simple dawn breakfast. After the service wish was tearful as I said goodbye to all of my friends and teachers, I headed to the courtyard.

In the courtyard were four mounted priests and the horse I had gotten for my birthday. My horse was a pure black 2 year old stallion who ha been named Shadow. He had been saddled and his reins were being held by a stable boy.

So I entered the courtyard and saw the mounted priests. Now I had my sword strapped to my side and walked with the grace of a trained swordsman. I mounted and was told that I would have an escort since the lands were dangerous.

After a few more words of farewell and a blessing for safe travel from the Church's head priest, the journey to his new home begins. The five of us left the church. The student and the guards."

Thor sits back in his chair and ponders just what to put down next since the journey had been uneventful. As well a long time ago. He purses his lips slightly then taps his chin in thought. Several minutes later he starts to write again.

"Now the journey took several weeks. It was a mostly uneventful trip. I soon learned why the four priests had been chosen to escort me. They each possessed at least one of the elements I had shown to be able to control.

So it was on that trip from the church to academy that I learned the basics of controlling my powers. I learned how to keep my powers under control. They told me I would learn to control the powers as I wanted at the academy.

I remember the day I arrived at the Academy. More truthfully I should say the evening. I first saw the academy as the tips of a six towers in a pointed star out around a central taller tower. That first sighting was in the middle of the morning. All day that last day I was nervous as each hour brought us miles closer to the growing taller.

We entered the academy just as the sun was setting. The academy was a small city with six 50 foot tall towers set in the points of a six pointed star. In the center of the city stood a 75 foot tall tower. In between the towers were six main streets.

Now it is worth mentioning that the towers were made out of different colored stone. The southern tower was blue and moving clock wise the rest of the towers were white, yellow, red, black and purple. The center tower was green.

In between the towers the buildings of a city had been built. Now after entering the city after a brief conversation with the guards I was shown to the center tower. The main offices of the academy we located on the ground floor of the tower. I met the Head Dean of the Academy of Mages.

Leans back smiling at the memory of that meeting. He had to laugh as he thought back to that night.

"The Head Dean was a short elderly balding man with a long flowing white beard. Just taking one look at him you could tell he was a scholar. He hands were ink stained and he wore a pair of large horn rimmed glasses. His name for life of me I can't remember but that isn't surprising with all I have been through over my life time.

Now the escorting priests nodded respectfully to the Head Dean then hand over a letter. Now I knew found out the contents of that letter. But I suspect it had something to do with the abilities I had shown at my twelfth birthday. After they handed over the letter the priests left. Their departure was the closing of a chapter of my life the last link to my childhood.

The Head Dean interviewed and tested me and then told me something that would forever shape who I was. He told me that I was a half breed. Half vampire, half werewolf. He went on to explain that this blending was what was allowing me my amazing psychical abilities.

After the meeting with the Head Dean I was taken to one of the dorms that sat on between the towers. I was told to return to the main offices the next morning to get my schedule of classes.

Now the dorms were four story brick buildings. He dorm had a kitchen and dining hall on the first floor. The rooms we set up to house one person comfortably and were two room suites. I later learned that there was room for seventy-five students in each dorm."

Grins rubbing his chin and looks at the account of his past. He taps his fingers on the desk and chuckles as he remembers what was happened next.

[Destroyer Unleased]

Thor leans forward and chuckles as he opens the right top drawer of his desk and pulls out a crystal glass and a bottle of vodka and pours himself a drink. He takes a sip of the vodka. After a few sips he sets the glass down and then starts to write again.

"At first life at the academy was a bit rough. Not because of anything he did but rather because it took a while to adjust to his new life. There were close to 250 students in the dorms when he arrived. Now on top of that there were 100 general purpose teachers to mentor the students on a 2-3 student per teacher basis. Now once each of these students reached a certain point they were put into an advanced study program with a group of teachers.

All in all there close to 450 people just in the academy and that was before you added in the support staff such as the cooks, janitors, maids, and the like. Then you had the city around the complex. There were close to 5000 people living outside of the Academy.

Growing up at the church there was a max of maybe 200 people at any given time. So to say the least the sudden immersion to a not only a new life but one that had a lot more people in it."

Chuckles and takes a sip of his vodka as he realizes something about his account. Something he would now remedy.

"I have related how the towers and the dorms were laid out. Now let me tell you about the walls and the bridges. The towers were connected by a 10 foot tall, 5 foot thick alabaster walls. In the center of each wall was a gate through which a road came through.

Now onto the bridges. 25 feet up the outer towers was a bridge that spanned between the towers acting as quick travel routes between the towers. Also from the out her towers as the same height as the other towers was a bridge the sloped up to half up the center tower. This created a spoke like effect with the central tower as the hub.

It might be of interest to not what each of the towers represented. The northern red tower was dedicated to the study of fire. Moving clockwise the next tower the black one was dedicated to studying life and death or rather known as the art of necromancy. Next we have purple tower in which darkness and shadows were studied. On the south side the blue tower was dedicated to the study of the water and ice. The white tower housed the studies of life and healing. The last of the outer towers, the yellow one, was dedicate to the study electricity and lightning.

As you have already read the center of the academy is where the administration offices where. Now as well the tower was made of green stone. This tower was also dedicated to the study of fields not already dedicated in the other towers. This tower was for thing like divination, telepathy, and summoning.

As you probably gathered by now the Academy of Mages was a school for the magically gifted. It didn't matter how the the ability had been passed on. So to say the least there was some rather strange individuals in the academy.

On top of the magical studies there were none magical studies. These included mathematics, history, science yes those were all of major importance when studying our abilities. Also each student was given training in a career outside of our magical training.

I of course continued with my weapons training. For some reason it was comforting. Maybe it was because it gave me a think to my childhood. Whatever the reason was I enjoyed the moments when I was training."

Thor leans back and thinks a moment as he sips his vodka a moment as he looks over what he had written. He was satisfied that the scene was written to his satisfaction. That the mental image of the place was as good as he could remember it.

[Destroyer Unleased]

Smiles to himself and takes a sip of his vodka as he chuckles remembering what had occurred after everything had settled down and he had adjusted to his new life.

"A few months later after things had settled down and his life had become a quiet routine of classes and study sessions Thor again experienced a change. Now by this time He had shown his skill and was one of the most eager students in the history of the academy. So he had become a role model for some of the younger students. He had risen to become a floor adviser for the dorm building he lived in.

It is worth mentioning that the dorm I was in was the one that had the most free suites available and I had no neighbors. This soon changed though as I was on hand for the arrival of a very special new student. He looked like he was about eighteen or nineteen years old. I helped to get him settled into the dorms and was interested to learn that he had been assign the rooms next to his own."

Smiles as he remembers how his life had changed after that night. This was going to be an interesting account from here on out.

"After things had settled down with the new student life took on an interesting change. You know how every school has a joker and comedian. Well the new guy was just that. His name was Wolfrevan and we soon became the best of friends. Well that is after I was the brunt of a few of his pranks.

All in all life took on an interesting complexity with Wolfrevan and I becoming a tag team of practical jokers. We soon got a reputation as trouble makers. Though we also got a reputation for being two of the Academy's brightest students. Wolfrevan was a natural fire adept and far out shone my own fire abilities.

There soon became a routine of things with regular pranks and jokes committed by the pair of now best friends. In fact the two became so close that the become blood brothers in a short private ceremony that blended their blood. I learned a bit of his past and he learned my past. Something that is worth mentioning is that the two of us looked like brothers anyway."

He leans back with a laugh as he thinks about the most memorable prank that the two of them had been involved in.

"It was during our third summer vacation that we had a bit of fun. Outside of the city on the north side was a forest. The Head Master had a cabin in the woods where he allowed some of the students to spend time in during vacations. Wolfrevan and I have been part of a group of four of us who had been picked to spend two weeks at his cabin.

Now we all had a great time out there what with Wolfrevan and I as well as a pair of the female students. Well suffice it to say that time flew by and the weeks were rather informative as well as being a blast of entertainment.

But it was what happened the last day of the vacation that will forever be in my memory. You see Wolfrevan and I had been experimenting with combining our talents. I had become adept at combining lightning and ice into a controllable elemental ball. Wolfrevan had become a fire adept. The two of us decided to do a bit of showing off for the girls.

So we went outside and started out elemental show with a bit of flair and soon were merging two elemental balls to create a ball of fire, ice and lightning that we were both controlling. Everything was going as expected until I looked over and was distracted by the girl and added more power to the elemental mix. This caused an explosion that took out the cabin but left us all unharmed.

Thor takes a sip of vodka and smiles to himself having to laugh about that mistake and what had happened as a result.