Tales of Zestiria - Chapter Prologue

Prologue
'The Legend of the Shepherd'-----
It was a legend from long, long ago, reaching back to the age of myths.
A legend of those who appeared whenever the world was enshrouded in darkness,
wielding the power of the Seraphim themselves to bring back the light.
A legend sung by the people whenever the world fell into turmoil, praying for salvation,
no matter how many ages had passed.
And always, in those times, the Shepherd appeared and banished away the darkness. Or
so the story goes.
However, they always disappeared with the coming of peace.
Nobody knew where they went.
In time, they faded from the people's memory, once more disappearing into legend.
The years passed.
Now, once again, darkness threatened to cover the world.
The darkness wreaked havoc with the order of the land. The sun scorched the earth. The
mountains spewed fire. The seas raged.
Nature turning its fangs on all that lived and breathed.
The disasters had even made barren the human heart, the pestilence of despair and
weariness giving birth to the 'Malevolence', and the Malevolence further dyed the world
in darkness.
Ten years after people began to call it 'The Age of Calamity', the legend and the name of
the Shepherd was passing through people's lips once more.
Wishing for salvation, the people prayed.

But as of now,
There was no one whom their prayers could fall on....
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The wind whistled as it rushed through the sea of green grass.
His light chestnut brown hair waving in its passage, the young man---Sorey---turned.
"What's wrong, Sorey?"
Walking by his side, his childhood friend Mikleo also stopped in his tracks, turning to
look at Sorey's face.
"It's just....I just had a feeling that someone was calling me...."
Sorey looked around him in confusion like he had no idea what was going on, either,
before finally stopping to look at something far into the distance.
Realizing what lay at the end of Sorey's gaze, Mikleo, too, turned to look..
It was far, far away and hidden behind clouds so they couldn't see it, but it was certainly
there. The place where they grew up. Their home.
The place where everyone who raised them up so lovingly still lived. A precious place.
"Are you homesick already?"
Mikleo asked, teasing. Sorey's answer was a laughing "No way!"
"We've got things to do. Let's go before it's all too late."
As Sorey began to walk forward, so did Mikleo, falling into step beside him.
Before the two of them sprawled a world that they had never known.
Years later, the tale of a boy's journey would be told in the same breath as the myriad
legends. The boy who would be called the paragon of all Shepherds.
And now, that journey was about to begin.
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