Uziel

In the small village of Moongrove, in the forest of the Alysian kingdom, lived Alerifon, the Alysian village leader. He was a great, kind leader and when there was a battle against the humans he was made captain of the army because of his wise battle strategies. At the end of one of the battles Alerifon found a human girl on the verge of death and decided to take her back to the village and nurse her back to health. To make sure the villagers didn’t suspect anything, Alerifon told them that she would be the worker of his household and his personal servant. The human slept for many weeks and the more Alerifon took care of her the more he realized how beautiful she was. Finally, she awoke to him taking care of her and she was shocked to see an Alysian taking care of her so kindly when there was supposed to be a hatred between their races. Seeing that she was awake, Alerifon ran to her side eager to speak to the human he fell in love with and asked her for her name. In a whisper she said, “Salandra.”

As the days passed by they quickly fell in love, and by the next year they had a beautiful baby boy named Uziel. But Alerifon knew that he couldn’t hide their love child much longer and he would soon have to tell his village about the wrong he had done. Before he could call his people to a meeting the whole village was gathered outside his home. “Where’s the hell spawn you hide in your home?” they shouted, ”We know of the crime you have committed.” “I am guilty of no crime,” Alerifon replied. “I realize that it is frowned upon to be with the humans that our race despises, but we are wrong, for I have fallen in love with a human woman and we now have a son that can join our races together in peace.” Outraged by Alerifon’s words the villagers charged at him and began destroying his home. By the time the villagers controlled their anger, Alerifon and Salandra were dead. The villagers found the baby in its bed and they couldn’t bear to kill the child, so they sent a messenger to the land of the humans to give them the baby to take care of. The humans decided to keep the child despite the hate they felt towards the Alysians, and they made Uziel the worker of the village. As Uziel grew the humans started to dislike him for he had the pure white hair and light blue eyes of the Alysians, but the tan skin of the humans. He grew to be a strong, smart man and the humans realized that though he was made from the race they hated, they couldn’t hate him because he was also one of them. The human villagers were torn between the people who thought he was a disgrace and a burden, and the people who thought that Uziel could be one of them and be the new leader of the village after their village elder died. After many days of discussing what they should do they decided to have Uziel prove himself and show to the village that he could lead them. Uziel gladly accepted the challenge, knowing that he wouldn’t let them down. The humans decided that his task would be to go to all realms of Gahenna and bring back an item from each realm. From the realm of the sprites he must return with their waters of longevity, from Alyskus he must return with a moonstone, and from Lazarus he was to return with the burning lava of the volcanoes and the bitter ice of the cliffs. Uziel set out to the realms ready to return with open arms to the humans.

Uziel arrived in the land of sprites and traveled to the deepest ends of the forest to find the fountain of longevity. On his journey he encountered sprites along the way, the sprites saw Uziel’s looks and knew what he was. Curious about what this half-breed wanted in their land, they approached Uziel. “What do you want in our land?? You are not an Alysian, and not a human, but both. What is your business here??” they spoke. “I am here for a personal quest. I desire to be accepted by the humans and I require some water from your fountain of longevity. I mean you no harm. After I get some I will leave your land and carry on with my journey.” Uziel replied. The sprites respected Uziel for his honesty and led him to the fountain. Along the way Uziel told the sprites about his future journey and knowing that he would soon be facing danger the sprites gave him a staff of magic to guide him along the way and help him through the long journey he was going to face. Uziel left the realm of the sprites with the water of longevity and the staff of magic and went off on his journey.

Uziel went to the Alyskus realm to get the moonstone from the Alysians. On his journey he came across the village where he was born. The village people saw Uziel and recognized his white hair and tan skin and cowered in terror fearing he had returned for revenge. Knowing why they feared him so Uziel decided to let go of the hatred he felt and carry on with his personal quest. After many weeks and many cold stares from Alysians he finally reached the tower of New Titania and told the guards of his business and they let him in and watched him closely as he entered, suspecting he had a darker plan. Uziel entered the hall and approached Lunessa on her throne. Lunessa looked at his features and immediately knew who he was, she looked into his heart and knew his intentions were pure. “Hello Uziel,” she said, “Welcome to my kingdom, I hope your journey has been pleasant so far. I know what you require and if you follow me I shall take you to the jar of moonstones.” Uziel followed shocked that she knew so much. As they walked down the hall he saw pictures of honorable Alysians on the wall, then he came across a picture that stood out to him above the rest. Lunessa stopped and quietly began to speak, “Your father was an amazing man. One of my favorite Alysians, don’t feel hate towards us because of what those foolish villagers did. We loved your father and it was a sad day to hear of his death. And as for your mother she was wonderful as well. I see the path you have chosen and I’m glad you’ve found your home. I know you will make it home and you will be a good leader to your people.” And with that they continued walking and they reached the room that had the jar of moonstones. Lunessa opened the jar and handed a stone to Uziel. “The path to Lazarus is filled with danger and it’d be best to be prepared,” said Lunessa as she opened a cabinet full of Alysian weapons. “This gauntlet will help you along your journey.” Uziel put on the gauntlet and felt the power that it had. Lunessa wished him luck on his journey and Uziel carried on to the dark realm of Lazarus.

Uziel’s path from Alyskus to Lazarus became darker and darker as he went on and soon the skies turned from the brightest blue and cloudy white to skies of black and red. Uziel knew now that he had reached his destination. Finally he reached the volcanoes and before he could take the lava Uruuk’s demon lord Elytian. “Why do you trespass on my land??” he said. “I only wish to take some of your lava and then I will be gone.” Uziel replied. “You deserve nothing from me and you don’t belong here. Leave now or I will have your soul.” “I refuse to leave until I have what I need.” After their few words they began to battle, Elytian used his fire spells but they all seemed to have no effect on Uziel and his staff. Spells were fired back and forth and soon Elytian grew tired from battle, seeing him weakened Uziel saw his chance to attack and struck him down with his staff. Before he could land the finishing blow Elytian disappeared in his flames, “I’ll let you live now half-breed, but you will see me again.” Uziel gathered the lava he needed and went on to his final task.

The scorching heat of the volcanoes soon turned to the blistering cold of the ice cliffs. Uziel reached the cliffs and began to chip away at the ice crystals on the mountain. Suddenly Crystel’s ice maidens appeared and immediately started to attack Uziel. Acting quickly Uziel used the powers of the gauntlet that Lunessa had gave him, blow after blow the ice maidens fell to his hand and soon the ice maidens disappeared in the snow. Uziel now had all the items he needed and began to head home. After many months Uziel finally reached the land he knew, and when he arrived the villagers saw what a mature man Uziel had become. The boy that had left was naïve and not ready for the world that was before him, but he returned as a man wise and ready to lead his people. His journey was long and tiresome but along the way he found where he belonged.