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spun around,
ready to throw again.
    “That’s it for today,” the instructor
called to his students. All the cadets shifted their spears onto their
shoulders and began to make their way to the northwest corner of the range.
There a small door cut a hole through the hedge that ran all the way around the
practice field. The cadets left in a single file line and made their way to the
northeast corner of the hedge where the armory was located. Josiah waited
patiently as the line crawled along at a snail’s pace. When he finally reached
the armory, he entered the building, put his spear on the rack, and went back
outside to wait for Cirro.
    Half a minute later, Cirro came out of the
armory, and he and Josiah began to cross the city that was their campus. The
fifteen minute walk back to the barracks took them past massive buildings with
extraordinary architecture. Huge flights of stairs
and pillars guarded the doors of the buildings, and large statues graced
the lawns. At the north end of the campus, a wall stretched across a pass in a
mountain range. The only break in the wall was a massive gate that opened onto
a vast plain. The gate was currently shut against attacks from the soldiers of
Molkekk.
    Josiah shuddered
even as he thought of the name . Molkekk
was the ancient enemy of the men of Magessa. He had opposed Magessa because
they worshiped Elohim, the creator and ruler of the world and all that was in
it. Legends portrayed Molkekk as any of the original six races that inhabited
Magessa and the surrounding lands. But on one thing they all agreed — Molkekk
had allied himself with Oglemophin, a fallen angel that had once had the duty
of leading the worship of Elohim. Oglemophin
had become jealous of Elohim and sought to take away his throne. A bitter fight
had followed . One-third of the angels followed
Oglemophin, but they were defeated by those that remained faithful. In the end,
they were thrown out of heaven.
    Oglemophin took up residence in Hades, the
fiery underworld, and from there assaulted the earth, trying to turn the races
away from Elohim. After a damning covenant, Molkekk received his magical
abilities from Oglemophin’s extensive power. Even with his new might, Molkekk
knew that he would have difficulty destroying Magessa and waited patiently,
gathering more strength. Finally considering himself strong enough, he had
waged war against Magessa only to be thwarted by a magician named Jothnial.
    Jothnial was a young elf with a long life ahead of him, but he chose to give it up to defeat
Molkekk. Just two years ago he had led an army of magicians to Molkekk’s
headquarters to confront the sorcerer face to face. The final confrontation
took place in the door of Molkekk’s base, a tower in the city of Volexa Temp.
The battle was bitter, and according to the stories ,
had lasted for three days. At long last, Jothnial gained the upper hand
and dealt Molkekk a fatal blow. As he turned away from his foe, Molkekk rose
and delivered a strike to his back. Jothnial fell and died there along with the
evil wizard.
    Molkekk's body died from the wounds
sustained in the fight, and in order to survive, he was forced to convert
himself into a spirit and bind his powers to the tower that was his
headquarters. Though his power was greatly stunted, Molkekk was still able to
fulfill his wishes by taking control of the inhabitants of the surrounding
lands. He also created a new race called the goblins, which had no will of
their own, but were instead an extension of his consciousness. Since his defeat
and confinement to his tower, he had lain dormant; nevertheless, the northern
gate of Saddun was always guarded against his inevitable attack.
    In contrast to the large, magnificent city
gate, the barracks looked out of place . The building was only one story tall and about five hundred yards long. This one building was actually composed of a score of
smaller ones all connected together and could house one thousand cadets, though
it