In case you feel like reading it, this is the original prologue that came in two parts. It was titled 'Power,' with part one titled 'The Mage' and part two titled 'The Prince.'  It was a bit long and flamboyant, and I wanted to make Arkis more than an evil old mage—though he was evil. No doubting that.

The original draft I started on had quotes from the world, the first one being this:

 ☩ 𝔛𝔢𝔫𝔬𝔭𝔥𝔬𝔟𝔦𝔞 𝔦𝔰 𝔞 𝔣𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔱𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔭𝔬𝔴𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔲𝔢 ☩

The meaning behind this one was that fostering prejudice against other races, cultures and nations is an easier way to create power than being political. Remind you of any world leaders at the moment?

Enjoy...