Who am I? I am Markav Shrang an Alchemist Lord. I know that you do not recognize what that means. My civilization is gone, destroyed by the Shrake warlords that now rule your world. For hundreds of years, we kept the peace, made and broke nations, defied armies and even controlled the very elements. Although I am gone I still reach out to you as a whisper on the wind. We have preserved our histories and the secret of transmuting matter to come again to our descendants when the time is right. I am Markav Shrang, an Alchemist Lord.
You may be wondering about the statement you have just read from one Markav Shrang, an Alchemist Lord. I will attempt to give a brief explanation of where I found this statement and how it led to the writing of this book.
I grew up as most young boys, energetic, full of imagination and always willing to explore the unknown. Unlike most boys I grew up on a farm in Northern New Mexico with mountains, plateaus, gullies, canyons and arroyos that waited to be explored; thus fueling the young boy inside of me. It was upon one of these adventures forays, into my wilderness world, that I stumbled across something that changed my life forever and eventually led to the writing of this book.
I was exploring a region in which I had never been before. A particular barren valley caught my attention, pulling at my young boy’s heart. It it was as if a voice whispered - come, explore, and see what you might find. Being the young boy that I was I could not resist the urge and so I went. I walked into a flat completely barren valley bounded on both sides by small hills that slowly angled in until the valley became a narrow ravine that wound its way into the mountain before me. Following this ravine I made my way deep into the mountains that the ravine cleaved in two. I became lost in the beautiful colors and rocky terrain that were so familiar to that part of the country. I was so enthralled with my surroundings that I almost missed it.
Passing by a small dark cleft in the side of the ravine wall, I thought I heard a faint whisper. It stopped me in my tracks and I turned to peer into the darkness of the cleft before me. I could only see a little way into the cleft, and so reaching into my backpack, where I kept a flashlight and rope, I pulled out the light. Flipping the light on, I began to wiggle my way down the narrow crevice, shining the light before me. The crevice soon began to widen allowing me to stand as I continued on my journey. I had not gone far when I came upon a cave, circular in nature and not more than twenty feet wide. The contents of this cave were what caught my eye and changed my life.
Carved into the rock walls of the cave were shelves containing scrolls, maps, pictures and objects that fascinated my young mind. I did not stop to think about historical value or frail documents - as a youth, filled with excitement, I opened parchments and looked at all that was before me.
I will not at this time attempt to tell you all that was there or all that I saw. It is sufficient for me to say there where thousands of documents and objects in this cave. Finally I had the sense to look at my watch and realize that several hours had passed and I had better be getting back. I retraced my steps out of the crevice and back through the ravine.
Excitement was the first thought that filled my twelve year old mind. I could not wait to get back home and tell my family of my wondrous find. Then a new thought began to force its way into my mind; what would happen to my cave and its wonderful documents if I told others about it? I began to realize that I would not be allowed to return once others knew of this marvelous discovery, others would come and take them away and seal it off to the public. Somewhere between the time that this thought first entered my mind and I reached home I made a decision. I would tell no one of what I had found that day. I realize now that that was a mistake, the selfish desires of a young boy, still it was the decision that I made.
The scrolls had been written in a language I could not understand yet the alphabet was similar to English. I determined to make this my lives quest, to learn of languages and translate the records I had seen in the cave. For years I returned and visited the cave as often as I could without being detected. I studied the maps and pictures for hours, until their contents were burned into my memory. I studied the writings and memorized many of the words in order to recognize the language if I ever ran across it.
It did not take long for me to discover what the language was. I was about sixteen and reading a science text book when I ran across some of the words I had seen upon my parchments - the language was Latin. I later found it was a modified form of Latin but close enough for me to read and understand.
During my teenage years my family moved from our farm in New Mexico to Arizona limiting my ability to visit the cave. However my father and several of my brothers returned every summer to run the family farm thus giving me the opportunity to keep in touch with my cave of wonder.
When I began to be somewhat proficient in Latin I started translating some of the documents in the cave; that was when the true marvel of what I had discovered began. I began to learn of places called: Maltar, Iora, Kalkar, Thalan, Targain Frette, Aeternam, and Morian. I learned of the lives and struggles of people such as: Navar, Deka, Rolinque, Tubrath, Zen, Dela, CoJack, Alma, Markav, Bryan, Mara, Sapiens and many more.
I read of nations and people like the: Neos, Morians, Dionites, Shrakes, Alchemist Lords, and The People of the Claw. The most fascinating thing of all was the discovery of the Flux and the role it had played in shaping the very world around them. I know these names, people, and places have no meaning to you now but they are what this book is about.
When I had finally translated everything that was contained in the cave I was ready to bring my discovery to the world. I remember that night well when I had turned off the light to my cave of wonder, knowing that on the morrow I would make known my findings to the world. It was never to be.
The next day I returned with some of my friends and colleagues to show them the find. We tramped down that familiar barren valley floor to the ravine that lay before us. We wound our way through the ravine to the place where the cleft led down to my cave of wonder. But the cleft was not there. I had been their hundreds of times yet it was simply gone. I dug at the cliff where it should have been and looked up and down the wall, it was all to no avail. My friends had a good laugh at the joke I had played upon them but when I insistented that the cave had been there they became angry then worried.
I will save you a long narrative of all the work I went through to rediscover my cave and simply say I never found it again. I have often wished since then that I had shared my find with someone else when I had been younger. Several times I had brought my brother James to the valley and ravine only to decide at the last minute not to tell him.
When I could not find the cave I began to tell some people about the findings but when it became apparent that without evidence people thought me crazy, I quite. By trying to convince those around me that my story was true people began thinking I was crazy or insane. During this time I often wondered if it had all just been a dream or fantasy, maybe I was going crazy. Yet I had seen those documents and they were burned into my mind forever.
Finally I decided to get the story out in a way that would not make me seem a crazed lunatic. I have written it as a fantasy story that you are about to read. I have created maps by my own hand from the memory of the ones I had seen in the cave. Most likely you will read this book and believe it to be just another fictional story. I leave it to you, the reader, to decide if my tale is true. You can access my book at: