Merge - 00 - Prologue
#1 of Merge
It's Matt Lancaster's first year at university with his friends Kael (a kangaroo), Laura (a wolf) and Chris (a moose). The young husky manages to do pretty well in his classes until he starts falling asleep at the drop of a hat pretty much anywhere. His dreams are soon consumed by a world of magic, darkness, and prophecy, and things get even stranger when those dreams start to invade the lives of his friends and himself.
Rated Adult as there will be violence and yiff later in the story. Note the prologue is quite short. Later chapters are definitely a lot longer.
This is a re-write of a story I began writing a decade ago, though I've re-written it to star furry characters rather than humans. You'd find the original under the title of Merge on fictionpress with the author having the exact same username. My writing style has, of course, matured over the years, and I've got a lot more planned out rather than just writing from the hip, so to speak. I have a bunch of work already up elsewhere and will be posting one chapter a day until I'm caught up so as to not flood the site with chapter upon chapters of my work. Should be around Christmas!
As this is my first furry story, I may have gotten a few details incorrect. Constructive criticism is welcomed. Unconstructive criticism is not.
Image is of Matt Lancaster, the main character, a husky. Image was commissioned by me, and done by NinjaV (http://www.furaffinity.net/user/ninjav, unsure if the SoFurry profile of the same name is his).
A lion with a greying mane stood in the center of the amphitheater, his head bowed and bright blue eyes pointed at the pale green marble floor. His claws dug into his paw pads as he kept his fists clenched. Surrounding the stooped figure were twenty-one black marble chairs, arranged in a circle and elevated well above the floor. The three chairs directly in front of him were taller than the others and were each covered with differently colored cloth.
On the center chair sat another lion, both chair and lion robed in sapphire blue. Broad shouldered and with a well-trimmed brown mane, this lion held his head high. "Rhisanth, this is the third time you have come before the council, and the third time you have nothing to show for your efforts." The first lion, Rhisanth, just barely flinched as the voice boomed through the amphitheater. "I'm afraid your faith in the prophecy seems ... a little misplaced." The other magi sitting in the circular space begun to chatter quietly amongst their neighbors, their voices creating a low buzz echoing through the room.
Rhisanth bowed low, "Perhaps, Lord Lucent, but I would not claim to perform every spell correctly on the first try." Standing straight again and smoothing his white robes, the elderly lion bared his fangs in a grin. "This is no different."
"You're a fool," a voice hissed from Rhisanth's left: a black-clad mage named Kazar. The jaguar's fur was black as his robe and the marble chair he sat in, his spots only noticeable if you looked very closely. "The prophecy is nothing but lies concocted by those who refuse to accept the dire reality of our situation!"
Lord Lucent glanced over at the dark jaguar and paused for a moment before returning his gaze to the white-clad mage in front of him. He sighed, "I don't believe Kazar is necessarily correct, but he does bring up a valid point."
"And what point is that, oh wise one?" A hint of sarcasm had crept into Rhisanth's voice. He stared at the scar just above Lord Lucent's nose, not quite looking the Head of the Council in the eyes.
Lord Lucent paused again and his brow furrowed for just a moment. The larger lion cleared his throat before continuing, "Perhaps the prophecy is not accurate, or perhaps we have read more into it than there really is." Kazar smiled grimly when Lord Lucent glanced his way a second time. "Perhaps it is just false hope," the Head of the Council growled quietly.
"False hope?" Rhisanth spat, clenching his paws in front of him as if he wanted to grab Lord Lucent's robes and shake the mage in blue. "Better that I have false hope and act against the encroaching darkness than to sit and do nothing!" The elderly mage spun around, his grey mane and long beard wrapping around his head and neck. "Believe what you will, Lucent," he stated as he stared down the other magi in the room. Almost half of the chairs were empty, many of them recently vacated. "You know as well as I that dark times are ahead of us, regardless of the prophecy. At least I shall have a clear conscience when the time comes." He strode towards the large silver double doors at the opposite end of the room, and let them slam shut after him. The heavy echo rung through the room.
Lord Lucent rubbed his left paw over his muzzle and sighed again, then ordered the raucous magi to silence. The head of the council glanced around the room, speaking confidently, "I require three magi to volunteer to research the prophecy again. Retranslate it, cast auguries, compare it to the legends of every race in Ameranth." He let his gaze rest on Kazar before continuing, "Perhaps something was missed. We should do whatever it takes to glean more information from it."
"A waste of time," Kazar hissed loudly, the dark jaguar's claws scraping the black marble armrests. His voice then dropped in volume, "We already researched it. It means nothing. We require all of our considerable powers to slow the encroachment." He shook his head slowly. "Anything less would be folly."
The big lion closed his eyes and sighed again. "Our powers only slow it, not stop it. We must find another solution." Lucent opened his eyes and bellowed, "Now, who will do this?" He met his stare with each mage in turn, until three magi had, albeit reluctantly, volunteered: a white-robed otter, a blue-robed wolf, and a black-robed doberman.
Lucent bit down on his lip for a moment, shifting in his seat. Finally, he stood up from his seat, his large frame towering over the rest of the council. "Thank you. Now, the rest of us must pool our resources and knowledge again and find a way to stop this encroachment once and for all!"