Prologue

It was a beautiful day in the Elven land of Mirrieth. The king was in his chamber, and the prince was outside, playing in the royal court. He had been learning how to wield a sword, but his master had been out of town for a week.
“Zarath!” exclaimed the king, “Come into the castle, it’s time for breakfast.”
“Going your majesty,” answered the prince.
While Zarath put his sword in its sheath, he heard a scream from outside of the courtyard, somewhere in the village. He climbed up the pillars of the castle, and jumped onto the balcony to see what was going on.
“Dad!” screamed Zarath, “The village is burning! Come and see!”
He went into the castle, ran up the stairs, and entered the uppermost chamber to get a better view of the village. Beyond the village, Zarath could see more smoke, in several places.
“What’s going on son?” asked the king.
“I don’t know Dad; I see smoke all over Zania.”
“I’ll call the royal cavaliers; they might be able to tell us more.”
While the king went downstairs, Zarath ran back to the balcony, and jumped down onto the courtyard. He ran as quickly as he could to the town, and searched for a villager that could tell him something.
Zarath found a child no older than him hiding in a barrel and asked him, “What’s going on out here?”
The villager replied to him, “We’re being raided. I don’t know who it is, but there are a lot of soldiers, they have warriors and archers. They’re burning down the houses!”
“Thank you for the information.” Zarath ran back to the castle, already tired, and found the royal cavaliers at the door.
“Soldiers, we’re being raided! Call for reinforcements! The citizens say there’s a great army burning down the village!”
“Are you sure of this Prince?” asked a knight.
“I’m sure; I’ve seen smoke all over Zania. Quick, do something!”
“Take a defensive formation soldiers! You go down to the barracks, and look for reinforcements.” The knight ordered his soldiers.
Meanwhile, the king came out onto the royal court, and was told of the news.
“That’s awful!” he said. “We haven’t done anything to any other kingdom!”
Then the knight sent to the barracks came back with reinforcements. He had rogues, mages, warriors and a shaman.
“I need two rogues to go to the village and find out who it is that is attacking us, and if you can, bring down some of them. Be careful though.”
The rogues quickly ran to the village, jumped onto the roofs of the houses, and turned invisible.
Everyone in town was worried, even Zarath, but he didn’t know the danger of the circumstances.