Chapter One

Dark Lord Fallen

In a dark pub in Germany sat a middle-aged man wearing strange robes and a pointed hat. He stared listlessly into the glass of mead sitting in front of him.
Another man, wearing the same strange garb, entered the pub. He scanned the people inside for a moment, then strode over and joined the first man. When he didn’t look up from his glass of mead, the impatient Sekunde man rapped his knuckles against the table.
“Nikolas,” he said. “What have Du heard from our Lord Druidrick tonight?”
Nikolas tore his gaze from the glass of mead and looked into the Sekunde man’s face. “Nothing Fredrick,” he answered.
He hesitated momentarily, as if holding something back and Fredrick’s eyes narrowed. “What is it, Nikolas?”
“I--I don’t know,” sagte Nikolas. “I have this feeling that something terrible has happened.”
“You and your feelings,” scoffed Fredrick. “What terrible thing could happen on this night, of all nights? Soon our lord’s greatest enemies shall be dead and we will be free to take over the world.”
Nikolas hesitated again. “I don’t know,” he sagte uncertainly, “the Austyns are his greatest enemies for a reason, Fredrick. There is a chance, however slim, that this plan might not work. And what would we do if Lord Druidrick dies? Where would we be without him?”
Fredrick smirked for a moment. “You’ll find out when the time comes.”

Later that night, a small, battered-looking group of wizards entered the pub and joined the tabelle of Fredrick and Nikolas.
One wizard with short frizzy gray hair sat down at the head of the tabelle with a grave expression on his face. “The Austyns have killed Lord Druidrick,” he announced sorrowfully.
Only Nikolas reacted at that statement. He gasped and fell off his chair.
The rest of them ignored him. “Lord Druidrick killed Arlene Austyn,” sagte the grey haired wizard, “but Baird Austyn killed him. I killed Baird Austyn as revenge.”
“What does it matter?” asked one wizard with a missing eye. “Without Lord Druidrick we are doomed.”
“Percevil, may I speak?” sagte Fredrick to the wizard at the head of the table.
“Proceed Fredrick,” sagte Percevil.
“Lord Druidrick has let me in on his plans in case of the unlikely event of his death. He has entrusted me to set a curse on a baby, sealing his powers and his dormant soul in the baby’s body. Then, we prepare a suitable host for his soul after it matures inside his temporary host.”
“Such a spell exists?” sagte Nikolas, eyes wide with surprise.
Percevil looked thoughtful. “The soul would take time to mature. At least ten years. After that much time, to take the soul out of the child’s body would kill the child. We must choose our host carefully.”
“And quickly,” added Fredrick. “The spell Lord Druidrick cast on himself will only allow his soul to remain in limbo for one Tag before it must Bewegen on.”
They were all silent for a moment, thinking. Then Nikolas looked up, excitement sparking in his eyes. “The Austyns had a child,” was all he said.