PROLOGUE
A RIGHTEOUS RETURN
It began in the dead of night while the world was asleep. As soon as all the streetlamps faded and the lanterns dimmed throughout the Southern Kingdom, hundreds of men across the country—333 to be exact—suddenly emerged from their homes at precisely the same moment.
The peculiar activity hadn’t been planned or rehearsed. The men never discussed it with one another or even knew the identities of their fellow participants. They were from different villages, different families, and different backgrounds, but the men were secretly united by one malevolent cause. And tonight, after a long hiatus, that cause had finally called them into action.
Each man stepped into the night wearing a pristine silver robe that practically glowed in the moonlight. Matching silver masks with two slits were draped over their heads to shield everything but their eyes, and the face of a ferocious white wolf was proudly displayed across each of their chests. The ominous uniforms made the men seem more ghostlike than human, and in many ways, they were ghosts.
After all, it had been centuries since the Righteous Brotherhood’s last appearance.
The men left their homes and journeyed into the darkness, all heading for the same location. They traveled entirely on foot and walked so softly their footsteps didn’t make a single sound. When their towns and villages were far behind them, and they were certain they hadn’t been followed, the men lit torches to illuminate the road ahead. But they weren’t on the paved roads for very long. Their destination was far beyond any beaten path, and it wasn’t on any surviving maps.
The Brotherhood hiked over grassy hills, stomped through muddy fields, and splashed across shallow streams as they trekked through uncharted territory. They had never been to their destination or seen it with their own eyes, but the directions were so ingrained in them that every tree and boulder they passed felt as familiar as a memory.
Some men traveled greater distances than others, some moved faster or more slowly, but at two hours past midnight, the first of the 333 travelers started to arrive. And the site was exactly as they had expected.
At the southernmost point of the Southern Kingdom, at the base of a rocky mountain bordering the South Sea, were the ancient ruins of a long-forgotten fortress. From afar, the fortress looked like the carcass of an enormous creature that had washed ashore. It had jagged stone walls that were horribly cracked and chipped. Five crumbling towers stretched into the sky like the fingers of a skeletal hand, and sharp rocks hung over the drawbridge like teeth in a giant mouth.
The fortress hadn’t been occupied by a single soul in over six hundred years—even the seagulls avoided it as they hovered in the night breeze—but regardless of its eerie appearance, the fortress was sacred to the Righteous Brotherhood. It was the birthplace of their clan, a temple of their beliefs, and it had served as their headquarters during the days when they imposed their Righteous Philosophy upon the kingdom.
There had come a time when the Brotherhood was so effective at enforcing the Righteous Philosophy that such a base of operations was no longer needed. So the Brotherhood boarded up their beloved fortress, hung up their uniforms, and retreated from sight. Over time, their existence became merely a rumor, the rumor became a myth, and the myth was nearly forgotten. For centuries, generation after generation of the Brotherhood sat quietly on the sidelines and relished the profound ways their ancestors had shaped the Southern Kingdom—and, by extension, the rest of the world.
But the world was changing. And the Brotherhood’s time of silence was over.
Earlier that day, a series of silver flags with the images of white wolves were placed throughout the towns and villages in the Southern Kingdom. The flags were subtle and hardly noticed by most citizens, but to these 333 men, the flags conveyed an unmistakable message: It was time for the Righteous Brotherhood to return. And so, later that night, once their wives and children were asleep, the men quietly retrieved their uniforms from their hiding places, wrapped the silver robes around their bodies, draped the silver masks over their faces, and promptly left their homes for the fortress in the south.
The first arrivals took position on the drawbridge and guarded the entrance. As the other clansmen trickled in, they lined up one by one and recited an ancient passphrase before entering:
“Nothing can flee the three thirty-three.”
Once they were permitted inside, the Brotherhood gathered in a vast courtyard at the heart of the fortress. The men stood in complete silence as they waited for the rest of the clan to arrive. They watched one another with extreme curiosity—none of them had ever seen a fellow clansman before. The men wondered if they recognized any of the eyes peering through the masks surrounding them, but they didn’t dare ask. The first rule of the Righteous Brotherhood was to never disclose your identity, especially not to one another. As they saw it, the key to a successful secret society was keeping everyone a secret.
At five hours past midnight, all 333 members were finally present. A silver flag bearing the image of a white wolf was hoisted above the tallest tower to mark the Brotherhood’s official return. Once the flag was raised, the High Commander of the clan revealed himself by placing a crown of sharp metal spikes on his head. The men bowed to their superior as he climbed to the top of a stone platform, where all 332 pairs of eyes could see him.
“Welcome, brothers,” the High Commander said with open arms. “’Tis a glorious sight to see all of you gathered here tonight. Such a meeting has not been held in over six hundred years, and our forefathers would be triumphant to know the Brotherhood has survived the test of time. For generations, the principles and responsibilities of this Brotherhood have been passed down from father to eldest son in three hundred and thirty-three of the Southern Kingdom’s finest families. And on our fathers’ deathbeds, we each swore an oath to devote our entire existence—this lifetime, and whatever lies beyond it—to protecting and upholding our Righteous Philosophy.”
The High Commander gestured a hand to the Brotherhood, and they passionately recited the Righteous Philosophy in perfect unison:
“Mankind was meant to rule, and men to rule mankind.”
“Indeed,” the High Commander said. “Our philosophy is not just an opinion, it is the natural order. Mankind is the strongest and wisest species to ever grace this planet. We were meant to dominate, and our dominance is the key to survival itself. Without men like us, civilization would collapse and the world would return to the chaos of primitive times.
“For thousands of years, this Brotherhood has battled the dark and unnatural forces that threaten the natural order, and our ancestors have worked tirelessly to ensure mankind’s rightful supremacy. They destabilized the communities of trolls, goblins, elves, dwarfs, and ogres so that the talking creatures could never organize an attack against us. They deprived women of education and opportunity to prevent the weaker sex from rising to power. And most important of all, our ancestors were the first to wage war against the blasphemy of magic and send its wicked practitioners into oblivion.”
The clansmen raised their torches high above their heads and cheered for their ancestors’ heroic deeds.
“Six centuries ago, this Brotherhood accomplished its greatest feat yet,” the High Commander continued. “Our ancestors carried out a meticulous plan to put King Champion I on the throne of the Southern Kingdom. And then they surrounded the young king with an advisory council of High Justices, who were under the Brotherhood’s control. Soon the Righteous Philosophy became the foundation of the mightiest kingdom on earth. The talking creatures were ostracized and stripped of rights, women were legally banned from reading books, and magic became a criminal offense punishable by death. For six hundred magnificent years, mankind ruled without opposition. With the Righteous Philosophy safely secured, our Brotherhood slowly faded into the shadows and enjoyed a prolonged period of rest.