The Seal: The Five Metals

By M.A. Al-Sadah

Five unique metals sprung from the core of the earth. Those metals were taken by kings & lords and forged into powerful weapons. But troubles began when a king named Acula seized another metal then disappeared. 40 years later, Acula appears with forces and martial abilities capable of achieving his lifes ambition, controlling the whole realm by seizing all of the metals to forge one powerful weapon. Now he has his own territory and army of Orcs and other false creatures to strive after his goal. The only question is whether Acula will achieve his goal by conquest or consent.

Acting upon an old covenant of peace, Men, Elves, and Dwarves will unite against Acula and his allies of corrupted Men, Elves and magicians. This unity will bring a variety of heroes & heroines to friendship and bonding as they march armies to battles, defend cities and castles against Aculas will. Together they will investigate the true story behind the metals and how to get rid of them and their accompanied greed. To restore life to its former state, theyd put their lives at stake and do the impossible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Release date: Oct 2, 2012
• ISBN: 9781482897302

M.A. Al-Sadah

M. A. (Mohammed Ahmed) Al-Sadah was born on 3rd September 1990 in Safwa, Saudi Arabia. When he was ten years old, he used to make a weekly magazine in which he drew and wrote everything from cover to cover by hand. It contained puzzles, news, topics, tests, and comics that all were about one thing, Digimon. Though he’s a collage dropout, he taught himself everything you’re going to see in this book. He likes learning and reading in a variety of genres especially the esoteric. Through the appendixes, he intends to share some of his knowledge and make his novels little beneficial inshaa Allah.

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Copyright © 2014 M.A. Al-Sadah. All rights reserved.

ISBN

978-1-4828-9729-6 (sc)

978-1-4828-9730-2 (e)

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05/06/2014

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Contents

Prologue

Chapter One: The Four

Chapter Two: The Promised Journey

Chapter Three: Friends from Northeast

Chapter Four: King of Laythria

Chapter Five: Darial Dul

Chapter Six: Caught in Darial Dul

Chapter Seven: The Awaited Council

Chapter Eight: The Council of Dallas

Chapter Nine: The Augur

Chapter Ten: Battle at Shadow Forest

Chapter Eleven: The Arrival of Forces

Chapter Twelve: Unexpected Guests

Chapter Thirteen: Clash of Brightness and Darkness

Chapter Fourteen: Elven Feast

Chapter Fifteen: Sudden Wave

Chapter Sixteen: Moments of Peace

Appendix A

Armor

Weapons

Characters’ Weapons

Appendix B

Battalions and Troops

Appendix C

Tangwar

Noorian Language

Eldamalda

Appendix D

Names, Places, and Things

Map

Prologue

History of the People of the Island

M any races have lived in this island for centuries, including humans, Dwarve, Elves, and other creatures, good or bad were they, starting with the ages of the Elves. They were called the Ages of the Elves because the Elves had dwelled in most parts of the island and were the majority of the population, for there were four kinds of Elves: High-Elves, Night-Elves, Light-Elves, and Dark-Elves.

During the First Age of the Elves, most of the Elves dwelled on the right side of the island. High-Elves built their city on an isle and named their city Ageldrel. Night-Elves preferred living on mountains, for it was closer to the moon. They chose a mountain on the left side of Stail Barial Cordillera and named their city Fiona Celing, meaning ‘white moon’. Light-Elves liked the sunlight and wanted a place where no mountain could block the sunlight when the sun rose, and they could not have found a better place than at the edge of Galad Orod, Mountains of Light. They dwelled there and called their city Darial Dul, meaning ‘sunlight’. Dark-Elves hated the light of the sun and wanted to live in a place that was surrounded by mountains, so they dwelled in Gallobet, an area surrounded by three mountains. There, they built their castle, Seven Sins Castle, and city, Ural Gal, and used their magic to make Gallobet fall into everlasting darkness, caused by dark clouds covering all of Gallobet that never rested or blinked.

During this age, Humans were few in number, at least when compared to the Elves, and didn’t have much authority or reputation. They dwelled in three villages to the north of Stail Berial Cordillera: Water Village, Breeze Village, and Blossom Village, which was the most beautiful one of all three.

As for the Dwarve, they chose Driken Eld, Snow Mountains, to work on their mines. During the first decades, they kept themselves busy and isolated to work on their mines, which later came to be known as Mines of Minetory.

Two hundred years later, the Elves woke up on a morning with a refreshing sunlight. A light that had not been seen for a long time had come that morning with its warmth. The Elves wondered what had caused this sudden change, and Gallobet had their answers, for the dark clouds had finally gone to sleep, and the sunlight, for the first time in two hundred years, had reached the arid land of Gallobet.

The Elves sent several riders to Gallobet to explore and to find out what had happened. Later, the riders came back with the news of the disappearance of the Dark-Elves and the abandonment of their city and castle. Thence ended the First Age of the Elves.

The Dark-Elves hated the other Elves, and they had many battles with them. Now, with them gone, the lords of the Light-Elves, High-Elves, and Night-Elves had a meeting that was held in Ageldrel, with good feelings of a new age of peace. They promised and agreed on a covenant to make peace with all elven countries and to aid each other, at all costs, and whoever came to them asking for help. They also promised to fight injustice and to help the aggrieved and oppressed ones. This covenant was called the Covenant of Peace.

The news of the Covenant of Peace spread across the island within a few days. The Dwarve didn’t care much for it, for they did not see how it could affect them. On the other hand, happiness filled the hearts of Men. And soon, the royal Men of the three villages went to Ageldrel to show their gladness and goodwill to the Covenant. It was the first interaction between Men and Elves, and so the ambassadors took care to build relations and to show that Men were trustworthy.

Trust and love came between Elves and Men, and their relations kept growing and growing. After many years of living in unprotected villages, the condition of Men would soon change, all thanks to the Elves’ favor. The Elves ensured that stones, rocks, and other necessary materials were available to Men and counseled them to build their own fortress. The Men took the counsel with many thanks and immediately started working on the new fortress. The Men made the design, and the Elves aided them in building it since it was Men’s first time at such a task. After a few years, the building of the new fortress was finished. The Elves and Men celebrated this occasion together, and that day, they chose a name for it: Laythria. In a few months, roads and bridges have been laid, connecting the villages and the fortress of Men with the cities of the Elves.

High-Elves were the most intelligent of all Elves, for Ageldrel possessed advanced teaching methods and had amassed knowledge in its great libraries. The High-Elves wanted to improve their knowledge even further, and so the thought of studying magic came to be. They chose to study only the elements of Water and Earth. Back then, the magicians of High-Elves dedicated all their time in learning and practicing magic, and they even invented a special language for magic called Eldamalda.

Within a decade, the High-Elves finished studying magic and opened their magic schools. With that, the Second Age of the Elves, which lasted a century, came to its end, and the Magic Era began.

The High-Elves were generous; they opened their schools for everyone, both Men and Elves, and didn’t keep it for themselves. After three decades, a group of top magicians of Elves and Men made a request to study other elements, but the lords of the Elves rejected and denied their request. The magicians did not show any sign of objection, but in their hearts, their stubbornness and desire grew deeper. Thus, the magicians, with a few followers, left their land and traveled to the far northwest of the island. They dwelled there and established a small community and started studying other elements like Fire, Wind, and Lightning.

In a few years, and after mastering all of the three new elements, the magicians decided to work on another two elements: Light and Dark. With Dark being in the subject, an argument took place which led to a strife that ended in the separation of the party into two groups: a group with all the Elves and a few Men who chose the Light element, and a group of Men, who chose the Dark element. The group of Light made their own village and called it Vostanova, while the other group also made their own village and called it Darstralek. A few decades later, both Vostanova and Darstralek announced their acceptance of students. The news did not bring happiness and excitement to the Elves, except for a few of them who were interested only in Vostanova. For Men, the news came as if it was from heaven, and their choices were divided between both Vostanova and Darstralek.

Vostanova and Darstralek enlarged and became cities. Their knowledge grew, and so did the hatred for each other. Soon, war began, and the battles varied, and their strife became the main talk of the island. Then the time came to put an end to this madness, for it had gone beyond control. Some Men and Elves united and sought all the advance magic books and sealed them away in a sanctuary, causing people’s memories of them to be sealed as well. Ever since, the island has been called the Sanctuary Island, and the Magic Era finally ended with hopes of a new, honorable age.

With the fall of the Magic Era, a new age, the Age of Industry, was dawning. The Elves started manufacturing again, and soon, they produced their mighty weapons. The Elves were known for their strong yet light weapons and armors, and the heavenly blades were featured in their swords, spears, and arrows. Men were known for their great designs of weapons, but they did not have strong materials like the Elves. The Dwarve rejected and neglected magic for many years and kept mining and manufacturing. They had created various weapons, mostly axes, from iron and unique metals. Dwarve surpassed Men in their strength of weapons, for they mined to the far depths of the earth and found new and strong materials, but even with those, they couldn’t surpass the Elves’ heavenly weapons.

It has been a hundred years since the Age of Industry began, and the lords of the Elves saw that it should come to an end and a new age shall rise. As a result, a council was held in Ageldrel to discuss the matters of the new age. The lords of the High-Elves, Night-Elves, and Men participated in the council, but the lord of the Light-Elves did not come. The lords agreed in the council that it was time for them to spread throughout the Sanctuary Island and build new cities and fortresses, and thence, the Age of Resurgence began.

After the council, the High-Elves sent for the Light-Elves to find out their reason for not attending, only to be shocked by the news of their vanishing. The High-Elves quickly investigated this, but clues and explanation they could not find and they all fell in deep sadness and sorrow. Upon the coming of the second anniversary of the disappearance of the Light-Elves, the Elves and Men decided to carry on with their tasks from the last council.

Night-Elves did not wish to separate themselves and to go live in faraway lands, so they satisfied themselves by expanding their main village from one mountain village to five mountain villages.

High-Elves, on the other hand, liked to expand and to increase their strength. After counseling the Night-Elves about Darial Dul, the High-Elves decided to dwell there. Within months, they moved to Darial Dul and sorted the houses among the High-Elves, who wanted to leave Ageldrel and live in Darial Dul. High-Elves respected the Light-Elves even in their absence and considered that their dwelling in Darial Dul was not permanent. They did not change the name of the city, and if Light-Elves happened to return after many years, they would give them Darial Dul in gladness and without hesitation out of respect to their word, which they had given upon the Covenant of Peace.

After dwelling in Darial Dul, the High-Elves built a little seaport village near Darial Dul and named it Caladwen. In that new village, they started building ships. In a few years, High-Elves traveled down the Elven Sea and landed on a shore between Vorlan Mountains and Merdain hills. There, they built the city and the seaport of Elliasur. This was the end of the high-elven expansion.

Men traveled beyond the Elven Sea to the Mountains of Donia. There, they dwelled and built their second fortress, High Deria. Years later, they came to the end of their expansion with the building of a walled country named Anareth, in a land of high hills northwest of High Deria.

Dwarve had started traveling a few years before Men and Elves had. Dwarve were known as hard workers, so it was an important rule for them to live next to a mountain. While seeking a site for their new city, the Dwarve traveled to the north till the east end of Center Demostren Cordillera. There, they built their fortress, Solidias, and immediately started mining. During the last decade of the Age of Resurgence, Dwarve traveled to the far northeast of the Sanctuary Island to Oster Rel, Glacial Mountains, and made their village, Gledar.

Ever since Dwarve established their fortress, Solidias, and their village, Gledar, Men and Elves interacted more often with them. Dwarve proved with all honor that they were trustworthy, friendly, and reliable. After exchanging good relations and manners with the Dwarve, Elves, with the approval of Men, invited the Dwarve to join the Covenant of Peace. The Dwarve had heard about the Covenant of Peace since its first years and knew of it only good and fair; therefore, they accepted the offer gladly. Dwarve insisted that the lords of the Elves and Men bare witness in Solidias and the Covenant be signed and promised on there. Since, the Age of Races began.

Elves, Men, and Dwarve were able to travel and dwell around the cities and the villages of the Sanctuary Island freely, except of Darstralek, for evil was still lurking there. Soon, relations between Men and Elves strengthened, and many of them led to love, and love led to marriage. Then, their offspring, of half-elves, came into existence. All of the half-elves featured a long lifespan, not as long as the Elves but longer than Men, and some of them had the eyes of the Elves. The half-elves spread widely among the cities of Elves and Men but they settled mostly in Caladwen, the seaport village, which later came to be known as a half-elven village. Decades after, they made a second seaport village, Denian, which was located where Lurdalia Gulf met the Elven Sea.

The Rising of the Five Metals

A hundred years have passed since the beginning of the Age of Races. The passing days were all the same, peaceful and tranquil, without much of a difference. Then, during a night with a full, clear moon, there was a sudden strong earthquake that shook the whole island and put everyone in a great fear never felt before. In all of the history of the Sanctuary Island, there had never been a single earthquake. Elves and Men thought that it was the work of magic, but it wasn’t. The earthquake lasted for a few minutes and ended with the sound of a blast. Those who were living on the right side of the island heard the sound coming from the direction of Gallobet, and from there, a shooting star-like thing rose in an incredible speed to the starry sky. It darted to the sky, making a tail of fire, and shone brighter than all stars. Then, it separated into five parts, and their varying speeds led them to fall in different locations.

The first one fell between Galad Orod and Caladwen. The second one fell between Daria Geldon and the east part of Stail Berial Cordiller. The third fell in the Phoenix Mountains. The fourth fell inside Daria Geldon. The fifth, the last one, darted higher and faster than the other four and fell between Vostanova and Darstralek.

Paris’s Sons

D uring the seventh decade of the Age of Races, the king of Laythria was named Paris. Paris had two sons, Angel and Acula, from his wife Haala, who had died when Angel and Acula were young. Years passed, Paris aged with them, and fell fatally ill. Then, Angel, the elder brother, inherited the kingship of his father.

Acula and Angel had a great relationship, and everyone knew that. Angel loved his brother Acula very much and treated him as his equal. Angel had played with Acula when he was a boy and trained him when he grew up. Angel even ordered two royal chairs to be made and placed in front of their father’s crown. Everyone who came to meet the king of Laythria saw Angel and Acula sitting on the two chairs, welcoming them as kings and rulers of Laythria.

Many years passed, and the relationship between the two brothers only got stronger. During a night with a full moon, Angel and Acula were having dinner in their palace when the earthquake occurred. Angel and Acula were terrified and headed outside the palace. After a few minutes of trembling, they heard the blast and saw the shooting star darting toward the sky and then separating and falling.

Angel and Acula took a dozen riders with them and headed to the two nearby areas where parts of the shooting star had fallen. Angel headed with half the riders to the one that had fallen inside Daria Geldon, and Acula took the rest and headed to the one between Daria Geldon and Stail Berial Cordillera. Later, they brought what they had found, which would later be known as the Metals, to Laythria. To gain more knowledge about the two Metas, Angel ordered some experiments to be done on them. The results came and showed that the solidity of the Metas had never been seen before. Angel and Acula were pleased with the news and decided to forge new weapons with them. In a few days, the Metal weapons were completed, and the brothers felt empowered when they wielded them.

Days passed, and with them, Acula changed. He was so attached to the power of his Metal weapon that he desired for more, and the darkness took over him. He wanted to get stronger, stronger than anybody on this island. Acula saw that the only way to satisfy his desire was to seize his brother’s Metal and fuse it with his own to form a more powerful weapon. Acula’s greed for power justified fighting