Prologue

A sour shadow seeps into the world.

           Roots of the past bare the answers to the future. From the marshes to the north, a sour shadow seeped into the world. It brought with it an unwavering appetite for control, and everything in its wake was laid in ruins. The air, the land, and the water had been poisoned by a name. A name if just whispered, breathed terror into the heart and the soul.

    For two-hundred-seventy-five years, the unstoppable shadow ruled from the highest throne. The walls of great cities crumbled at the mercy of a single stroke, and kings fell to their knees in its gloom. A new age had come for Aronar where light and hope only existed in memory. An age of emptiness.

     War dragged on as the shadow snuffed out all who opposed it. The Great Life Maiden, Mael, cried out. But her pain was much deeper. The blood of innocent lives had been shed upon her lands. She shook and she trembled, and wept her very essence into the forging of an array of stones invoked with powerful magical properties. They were strewn across Aronar for her people to find. Hope trickled back into the world

        A young hunter was the first to discover one of the stones. The others were soon found by people from every corner of Aronar. They were summoned to form an alliance, and entitled the stones as Tears. With their combined force, they weakened the great shadow, and the young man was faced with a choice of morality and will. In order to ultimately rid the shadow he would have to sacrifice his Tear, and in turn, his own life. But instead, the very darkness that was sought to abolish took control, and he shattered the Tear of his closest ally, rendering them lifeless and banishing away the shadow.

         The young hunter was exiled from Aronar and the alliance. He fled north to the very marshes the great shadow had spawned from, and disappeared. His name melted into the seams of time. The actions he took were never forgiven, nor were they forgotten by the world.

~Ademos Shale, 54th Coldfall, The First Age of Fullness.

Author's Note

The Prologue to my epic fantasy project, The Tears of Radiance. Tell me what you think about it and don't forget to rate it.

Pronunciations:
Aronar: ar-o-nar
Mael: may-el