prologue to virtue

gods and demons battle for control of the universes

 prologue to virtue

Ages come and go, some lasting what seemed forever, those were the early ages, the long ages. Now as they pass, they appear to simply flutter by, sometimes unnoticed, only seeing the beginning and ending. Beginnings are endings and the endings are beginnings, they seem to flow together not being very distinct from one another, other than in name. I had not reminisced over the early ages in quite some time, perhaps far too long. The turning of one particular age I remember well.

 

            This day began early for me, much before dawn. I had not had this feeling in some time, perhaps fifty or sixty thousand years. Had I felt this feeling the day before? No. The feeling of a focal point pulling me towards it, this was a new feeling, a fresh feeling. The constant tugging was not there yesterday, however today it was as bold as a firm handshake. “Come this way.” is what the feeling said to me.

            I left my residence, my family and my pets well before the daylight began to illuminate the horizon, one must take extreme care at moments such as these. My humble sea side bungalow seemed to reach out to me as I left it behind on this journey. I looked back several times, each time the shadowy silhouette of the small tattered building appeared smaller and smaller in the early hours of morning. The smell of the salt air receded and the cry of the gull lowered. Once out of site, my mind quickly forgot the feelings of home and the tuggings grew stronger. Now I was walking steadily uphill toward the thick of the woods, although it was predawn, I could make out the shapes of the low hills covered with tall grass in the dim moonlight. ‘How many small creatures found sanctuary in the thick reeds?’ I mused myself with that thought as the tug continued.

            Onward and upward toward my destination I walked. The road had turned from dusty gravel into cobblestones, I was near to the village and I did not want to walk along the main roads today. I desired to take the less beaten path and hoped to reach it before the first light of day. There was no desire in me to be seen by anyone today, for I am the lord of this place and would surely been recognized. Today is a day for stealth and solidarity, the object that pulls me toward it, is a valued prize and would be surely misused if in the wrong hands. The land grew more leveled here and I came to an oversized sycamore tree standing boldly on the edge of the road. The tree seemed to be growing into the roadway itself, as if it were trying to be belligerent. I walked up to it and commanded it to give way to the road for safe passage of all who would seek out my home. It reluctantly moved its branches so that the way was opened for anyone to pass freely. I thanked it and walked on.

            I looked up and peered through the tree canopy toward the night sky and gave thanks for the marvel that reassuringly filled my sight. All the stars were still visible, the daylight had not yet overcome their brilliance. ‘Good’ I thought to myself ‘plenty of time’. Eventually I found the old gravel road that I was seeking. The road forked and I took the gravel road to the right. I reveled in the thoughts of finding my prize, as I did, the morning birds began to sing and crow. "That should provide more cover for me, the sound of my walking will be drowned out by the birds." The road continued and so did I. I walked past a small farm, this was the only house on this road and the road would turn into a cow path soon. The farm house was quaint but stood as a grand fixture amongst the fields of grain and livestock. There were no lights and no signs of anyone about, just a large dark monolith standing in the open. No smoke from the chimney meant that cookfires had not yet been stoked. ‘Good again’.

            The road eventually did get smaller, and after some time had passed the daylight was beginning to extinguish the stars. I could easily make out all the shapes that I saw, the trees here were large and full of branches that were completely filled with green leaves. My robes made a noise as I walked, they rubbed the overgrown grass, it wasn’t loud, but very distinct. The occasional scurry of a rabbit or squirrel did not bother me, but I did keep my eyes and ears open for the presence of the black bird or the owl. Those would be the representative of the one whom I would hide my prize from. I vowed not to ever speak his name nor think it.

            The tugging became more distinct and I could almost feel it pulsing in my hand. Oh how I looked forward to having it in my hand! It had been so long, this was the feeling of friendship, love, devotion, courage, and all things that could bring forth pure creation. Onward, toward my goal.

            The land once again started to have an incline to it, my bones were creaking from the walking, and it had been a while since I last had the need for this much walking. In this universe, I am all powerful and can be somewhere by simply willing it, but this prize that I sought out required walking, there was no way around it. Again, the pulsing tug grew stronger, I am getting closer.

            I recalled the last time I had this tugging, it was some time ago, nearer to the beginning of this age. ‘What was it, Twenty or thirty thousand years past?’ I thought. The excitement ran through my veins as I remembered the friends and followers I had made from the last universe I had had the honor of creating, pure excitement! But I have gotten the look of an aged man since then, my hair is silver and my beard long. The arch of my back curves more with each century. ‘It is funny how I can feel so youthful, but look so haggard.’ The daydream left me as I thought I heard an owl hoot of in the distance. Cunning little fellows they are! Hunt the helpless during the dark hours, and make near no sounds. I was far too close to my prize to have any worry over an owl. I can almost smell it, I am so close. The pulsings have turned into tinglings and the intensity has grown by bounds. Nearer and nearer I become. My focus was now on the feelings of success, I had no awareness of my surroundings nor did I have any care for them. My focus was bringing me nearer to that which I seek, the seed of a universe. I am the only being that can use it properly, none other can grow an entire universe filled with life and all that goes with it. Others have surely made the attempt, but either perished in the midst or have used it for the creation of evil beings. My worries were on that of an evil being, one that could use this seed to create an army of his bidding. I am far too close now for that, he will loose this drawing, the seed will be mine.

  I knew that I was close, I tripped over a root and caught myself on the tree that held the root that tripped me. As I put my hand on the tree, the force of my fall pushed my hand through the bark and into a hollow inside the tree. This mighty red oak tree was the spawning place of my prize and this hollow is where it was held. I felt the acorn sized sphere as I searched the hollow, it was metallic to the touch but when I removed it from the hollow, it looked like so many before it. It was translucent almost transparent, if you did not feel the pull toward it, you would not know it existed at all, you could see right through it. This invisible seed was a wonder, only a few beings held the knowledge of their existence and even fewer could use them toward any ends.

 

           

           

 

 

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In a far away place, a creature stirred. There was no single word befitting this being except creature. She walked forward into the light of the fire cast by the brimstone. The sulfuric gasses did not affect her in any way, perhaps she was created from the sulfur itself. Her Cohort moved toward her, he was an admirable looking man, tall with long flowing locks of reddish gold hair, he wore the finest leathers and silk, mostly dressed in black. He had an air of nobility about him, and even in this deep place of evil he maintained an ever present smirk. He observed the long slender figure of the creature that stood before him. She was unique, half of her skin was white as sun bleached bone and the other half black as onyx at midnight. There was no line separating the colors, but there was a distinct ending of each color in the middle of her face. Her right arm was black and the left one white. She wore flowing gowns of the same colors. The godlike man wondered if the rest of her was the same, it had been a long while since he had seen her in that manner, ages had past since they had been lovers. 

  He greeted her by speaking in the most ancient of tongues, only original beings would understand. She greeted him with the same words, only spoken with disregard for formality. He bowed to her and she spat on the ground between them, and the blackened floor where her spittle landed caught fire, and the flames danced up from the floor to about twelve inches high. “I see you have not changed”, he stated.

She hissed, “I change for no one, especially you or your father!”

He laughed out loud and the rocks of the cavern shook with each ululation. She showed no smirk at his sense of humor, but instead gestured toward a grand stone table filled with meats and sweets and wines and ales, he followed.

  As they walked to the table, he noticed many piles of embers strewn about the floor of her throne room, if this throne room belonged to any other than her, then the embers would be sitting inside a brazier, but in this place the embers actually belonged in piles on the floor. This place in which the two malevolently malicious beings met, was a place of direness, it was a place of complete vileness, the pit of death, it is the place from where all damnation had sprung forth, this was the origin of calamity and disaster. They sat high atop a precipice that overlooked the many levels of this place; the pit seemed to go downward forever. Across this voluminous cavern from where they sat and a few levels below, was a cauldron of lava, it spilled white hot magma onto poor despairing souls below. Some were vaporized in an instant, suffering the eternal death…. Elimination. Others were scoured by the heat and still others suffered amputation and instant cauterization. There was not one being below the cauldron that did not suffer in some way and they all screamed until there was no voice left. The screams made an almost melodious song, this was definitely the pit of death.

    Although it was rude, he did not imbibe any of her drink or dine on any of her food. He knew her far too well to trust her hospitality. She did not seem to mind as she drank a black liquid from a finely ornate white cup. After staring at him for a few seconds, she asked if he knew why he was there.

  He slowly replied, “I am not completely certain.”

  She looked him up and down and said, “You really are a fool. Do you not know what your father has just done?”

  His eyes grew wide and he swallowed before shaking his head “no”.

It was her turn to laugh out loud, her laughter however was not earthshaking. It was a shrill high pitched clanging of bells that would deafen ordinary men. He grew angry at her laughter, his forehead furrowed and his skin darkened. He slammed his fist down on the table and food went flying in all directions. In an instant she unsheathed her sword and had it pointed at his throat. The long slender blade was a mirror image of her evil, it was half black and half white, smelled of brimstone, and a gray fog emanated from it.

  He coolly gave her a smirk and asked, “Do you really think that you can beat a son of the All Father?” He followed the jibe with a chuckle.

  She stared at him with a stone cold gaze, “You really are a fool.” She sheathed her sword and seated herself in a regal manner, the first sign of femininity he had ever seen in her. She began, “Your father has found another seed.”

 He gasped, “Huh! There are no more seeds!” He sat back and folded his arms across his chest in a display of defiance.

  She smirked again, “I have felt it, and you know that I preside over all the damned and unworthy. It is my duty to know where all of the worlds are and come to know each and every one of the despairing souls that exist.”

He took a deep breath, “So, the old man found another one. I didn’t think it was possible, but if you say you felt it…. Then I guess it must be so.” He looked off into the glow of the brimstone that splashed up out of the crater below them. He watched the lesser demons punish the damned until they swore fealty to the creature that sat before him, she was perpetually building an army of the damned. She did not have prejudice toward one race or another, she collected whomever she could get her hands on, humans, dwarves, giants, monsters, it did not matter. 'What a fool she is”, he thought to himself, “there will be no end war. The ages have worn on and there is no sign of any end times if you ask me. We should all just drink ourselves into oblivion, there is nothing for these people, just damnation'.

  She interrupted his thoughts, “You know that he has the chance to make a perfect universe. He has come close before. Are you listening to me?” He nodded but did not look at her.

 She continued, “We cannot let him obtain perfection! He will destroy us both! I need turmoil and discontent, hatred and lies! Without them I perish, WE perish!”

He shuddered at the thought of being eliminated from existence, it is one thing to be overlooked and ignored by your family, but to be eliminated…. “So what is my part in this plot of yours?”

 She chuckled a tinkling of bells, “You are a fool, yet you have wisdom”.

 He flashed her a look of anger, “Get to it Hel! I must keep from elimination!” At that moment a small flying demon flew close to her and she snatched it out of the air, it was small, just bigger than her fist, she bit it’s head off with one bite. The demon bled red blood and it ran down Hel's chin in large quantities, but it was only apparent on the white half of her chin. They both smiled at the sight of her gluttony.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  Now that I have the marvel of all universes, it is imperative that I get to the cave of brilliance. Now that the seed is in my possession, it will be easy to get to my destination. I ‘will’ myself there.

Now I am in the cave of brilliance. This is the most beautiful place that I know. As you look out over the vast floor you can see plots of land resembling kitchen gardens all in rows. Instead of vegetation sprouting forth from the ground, only a luminescence of godly proportions come forth from these plots of earth. Their shinning brilliance and prismatic effects light up the walls and ceiling of the cave, all the colors of the spectrum and beyond are contained within these walls. Hence the name.

            I walked among the gardens of light and wondered at their magnificence. The memories of all these universes filled me with pride knowing that it was my hand that planted the seeds and nurtured the growings and pruned the dyings. At the same time I felt a pang of sadness for the poor souls who became despaired and fell into the hands of the underworlds, the universes out of my grasp. I quickly pushed aside the negative thoughts. This is a day for rejoicing! I came to the back of the cave and I willed the wall to move back far enough for another plot. In an instant it gave in to my will, I thanked it.

I turned my attention to the new ground before me, I looked at it, examined it, and gave gratitude for its existence and opened it up. Before me was a large blackness, a deep well of infiniteness. I stepped forward into the middle of the new void that will soon be a universe filled to brimming with life and energy. I looked around, there was nothing but blackness all around me, not nothingness, just the lack of light. This place was filled with all the necessary elements to support the great energy field that will eventually support life in all its forms. I giggled as I thought of what might come forth from this void of darkness. Humans? Elves? Dwarves? Giants? Sea creatures, flying animals? What of flora and fauna? Machines? Inventions? OH the excitement!!!!

            I looked at what I knew was the exact center of this void and cast the seed into it.

In an instant there was a light that would be blinding to lesser beings, it shone brightly and tendrils of light stretched out toward all corners of this place, almost in gratitude to the sower for allowing it to become what it is destined to become. The darkness was gone from this place forever.

The next instant it seemed to implode on itself and then it rumbled and started to expand. Beautiful colors were contained within it, as it began to explode I was most certain that life would come and it would be beautiful, this place has my blessings! As the explosion was expanding, I created a doorway back into the cave of brilliance and out of the path of the expanding fireball.

            Once I was safely back in the cave, I looked over the newly planted universe. I gazed into the middle where I planted the seed, there was only a pinpoint of light at this time, and it would be some several hundred years before any life would spring forth from the worlds that would certainly fill this void. A sense of satisfaction that I had not felt in years came over me, I suddenly realized that this was yet another chance of obtaining perfection. Although this place that I reside in is perfection itself, I have yet to oversee a universe without sin and pestilence. There are those who would surely intervene and persist at grounding my attempts to create an Ideal universe where peace and harmony reign, not fear and anxiety. For this reason, I linger here for as long as it takes for life to bloom, and thwart anyone's desire to plant the roots of calamity.

 

 

 

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            Hel wiped her chin as she threw the remains of the imp onto the blackened floor. She leveled her gaze at the man sitting across from her and malevolently began to speak in a breathy voice, “You know that I command all of the damned. You also know that I have senses beyond even your own.” He grimaced at her words. She continued, “And yet neither of us can touch your father's newer worlds without facing elimination. So, I give you this; I have at my disposal, one of the oldest and original damned souls. He will transcend time and space and touch upon the lives of your fathers worlds. I have given him the ability to occupy the husk of any conscious being for as long as he sees fit. He will affect as many worlds as he can until ALL of your fathers worlds are under my influence.” She said that last word with a forceful hiss.

The man seated across from her shook his head and tossed his hair over his collar, “I see where this is going, I am aware that father has a place where he plants these seeds, but I am unaware of the location, and unless you are there, you cannot enter these new worlds.”

  She raised her white hand and smiled at his ignorance. There was almost a hint of glee in her voice as she interrupted him, “I have found the location. I’ve told you that I have senses even beyond yours.”

  His eyes almost bulged out of his head, “What? No one has the ability to find that!” He stood up quickly and the chair he was seated in fell over backwards with a loud crash, and he turned and began to walk away.

  She shouted at him, “Wait! I have found it! All I need you to do is find a way to keep your father preoccupied while I plant this ancient soul into his newer crop.” She walked toward him. He ran his fingers through his long hair and let out a loud breath. She gave him a demure look of needing him.

  He briefly reminisced about the danger and violence that had been caused by the original evil souls, they were truly pure evil, far more evil than he himself.

  He asked through a smirk, “what’s in it for me?”

 She reminded him of the last battle to come at the end of all ages, “You and I will rule all of the known universes, your father will be overthrown and you will keep his titles, scepter and throne. And I will be your queen.” She, for the first time spoke softly as she held his hand with her white one, “Remember the promise I gave you all those thousand years ago? I remember well and I intend to remain yours till the end. We will rule over all beings together.”

  He melted at the touch of her hand just as he always did. “I will do what I can. If he just planted a new crop, then he will be there for a century.”

 Hel brought herself back from the submissive stature, “I have taken that into account, it has been almost that long already. The time is ripe now. You must go to your father and give me a chance to plant this evil.”

He again looked out over the pit of death, he almost felt a pang of sadness. He thought to himself, ‘If these beings knew that they could have avoided eternal damnation simply by having faith and avoiding despair…….’ As the thought trailed off, he began to chuckle at the frailty of these lesser creatures, he had another thought, ‘If they are all truly this timid, then it should be easy for an original being to drive them to despair.’  He turned to meet her gaze, they locked eyes for longer then a mere mortal could bear. Her eyes were onyx and ivory, his were both black with red where there should be white, two shards of brimstone set into the face of an otherwise handsome man.

  He started to talk, “My father will not even think my name, how will..”

  “You will cause turmoil where you can.” She interrupted him with a more commanding voice. “You cannot go to the cave of brilliance, but however, you can go to the mature worlds of his older prized universes.”

    His eyes widened with sudden delight, “I see that you have thought this out.” He stated through an ever growing smirk.

  She returned his smirk, “Yes.” She turned and regained her place at the stone table and gestured for him to do the same, he obliged. As they walked toward the table, Hel waved her hand over the top of the fallen chair and it stood itself up. The man with brimstone eyes thought nothing of the act of up-righting it, but he thought deeply about the reason why she had up-righted his chair… kindness? No. She did not have a kind bone in her body. He chalked it up to female persuasiveness.

    She began to tell him of her plotting, “You will go to these worlds with an army of my demons.” He was now smiling fully and exposing nearly perfect teeth. She continued, “You will scourge these worlds like never before, some of the worlds will believe that it is the true last battle, for some of them it will be. You will ride on a steed of Ardor and command the most ferocious army these worlds have never seen!” Her voice lifted to a commanding yell as she went on with the details.

  His mind was stuck on one thing in particular, “a steed of Ardor?” He had remembered them from his youth, but had almost forgotten their existence. Beautiful creatures, a lions head and mane with the body of a Clydesdale, these beasts breathed fire and their roar was so powerful it would blow down trees and buildings in their path and no other living thing could outrun them. It had been some time since he had been in the presence of one.

  He had not been at war in some time, he would normally defer the task to a lesser being, but this was a chance to poke his father in the eye, a chance he had been waiting centuries for. He could already feel his armor on his back and his sword in his hand, he suddenly felt anxious to be at his new task.

  He stopped her tirade of explanation with the wave of his hand, “When do I get to meet this steed of Ardor?”

  They locked eyes as they joined in devious laughter that echoed on into the deep darkness of the pit of death.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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            They call me the “All Father” and “God” and “Odin” and many other names, I am probably most fond of the name “Odin”, It means; the father of all gods. Funny how things come about, my sons and daughters are gods of their own worlds and in some, they are gods of certain things. Some are the gods of beauty or agriculture or love or fertility, some are gods of war or pestilence or mischief. That last one is the one who worries me most, he had great potential to oversee the worlds that I had given him the rights to, but he would rather cause mayhem and discontent among his brothers and sisters. I have not seen him in many millennia. He has been shunned from the halls of heaven, he has been forsaken to roam the worlds of man and beast. I and my other children have had the need to intercede with the worlds that he rights to, because he has allowed those worlds to become godless and fall into despair, and it is my belief that he has formed an allegiance with the underworld. This is the only place that my gaze does not reach, I choose to not look upon the universe of death and despondency. These places are filled with unspeakable horror and anguish. I dare not even speak the name of the vile creature that presides over those worlds and the pit of death. She would have me eliminated if she had the power.

      I sat upon the throne in this cave of brilliance, from here I could gaze into any of the worlds that were contained within my gardens. I simply meditate upon one and choose to become part of it. I visualize that it is me and I am it. Soon we become one, I can see all that is happening at all places and at all times. I feel love, happiness, courage, valor, all things that are worth existing for. I give my blessings to these worlds. Then I look further, and I find a world that should contain evil and pestilence, these worlds provide balance to the universe. I look further and I see a world that is in complete balance, it contains both good and evil. These worlds are the places of great inventions and bravery. These worlds I watch with great interest and many of them believe that it is my wish that they fight one another, and in some cases they are correct. There is always the possibility that I will have need of mighty warriors and wizards when the last battle comes. Ragnorok, that is what most call it, some call it apocalypse or rapture and some call it the promise, but I know that it simply means the end of an age and the beginning of a new one. The only variation from one age to the next is to whom the seeds will call out to. There have been ages long ago, long before any of my offspring were called into existence, in those ages I found myself in exile scrapping for food and living among dire times, those ages will not replay under my rule.

As I become one with this universe, and I find things are out of balance within one of the worlds, I can enter that world and make it right. Sometimes I allow them the knowledge of who I am and in grand elegance correct things, other times I disguise myself to watch the mortals and see if they can work out the problems with the least amount of assistance from me.

  I find a world out of balance. I become part of it, it is part of me. I feel for the presence of evil. It should not be here, for this world is kind and gentle. There it is, near the equator. I gaze closer, I find a city that is on the edge of civil unrest. The climate here is unbearably hot and humid. I decide to enter the world and project my image into it.

  I find myself standing in the middle of a busy square, the vibrations here are not good. It is a wonder that anyone could actually live here. The world is echoing the bad vibes of its inhabitants, it has a haze about its sky, the soils are barren and pollution is out of control. I look around to observe the masses of people busy scurrying around. I stop time for myself to closely examine each mortal of the city square. The bipedal beings all looked very similar to one another, very dark skin and green hair, around seven feet tall, and very physically fit. What could possibly be causing the negative vibes? I began to read the thoughts of the humanoids, the first one was fixed on paying rent to the landlord. The next was fixed on a lost love, there was war and illness and poverty within the depths of the collective mind of this world. As I read the thoughts and emotions of all the thousands of people who were around me, I realized that it was the lack of positive feelings that troubled these beings, not a single one of them had positive thoughts. I knew exactly what to do. I sought out one of them, one who held a regal stature. I found him, he was slightly taller than most and already had a disposition toward the positive. I breathed the breath of all my being into him, I owned him. He was mine. As I allowed time to flow freely, he began to cry as he looked around at the lack of positive influence, all those around him shouted insults and injuries at him, they did not understand why he would cry in public, but they soon would learn. I was invisible to the masses at this time and would stay this way unless this man could not make a change. I followed him for several weeks of their time, merely a second to me. He began talking to people about how he felt and that he had an epiphany. He said to his friends, “I believe that we are all connected in some way and that we are destroying ourselves simply by hating one another.” His friends understood what he was saying, I felt a shift in my being, and his friends received his words and took it upon themselves to spread the word. This place would turn the negative energy into positive. I could feel balance being restored. Sometimes it was this easy, other times it took finding the cause of negativity and rooting it out. In the past, evil has manifested itself into masses of people committing genocide, sometimes it would come out as a monstrous being. Dragons were the worst, they bore the most damage upon my worlds and it took sometimes centuries to undo the damage and despair. There was only one being in all of these universes that was far more despicable than the dragon, my son whose name is not to be uttered.

 

 

 

 

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            The son of the “All Father”, sat high in the intricately ornate saddle, which was secured to the back of his fierce beast; Raze of Ardor. Raze was one of the last of his kind, a steed of Ardor, a lion/horse brought into this existence by the fires of Ardor. Ardor was a planet of flames and volcanic activity, only few could survive the treacherous atmosphere and even fewer dared enter it. His one time lover and now ally, Hel, had provided it for him. She did not know how much it meant to him and he did not believe that she was capable of understanding those feelings of gratitude, she was death itself.

  He gazed across the smoldering field that lay before him and his army of flaming beasts and twisted figures of demons that were bound to him just as they were bound to Hel herself. He had commanded these armies across many dimensions, to many worlds that he would not have dared enter on his own, these were worlds under his fathers’ dominion. These worlds had the protection of the Father. It was not fear that would have kept him away, but rather a respect for the boundaries that his father had put in place.

 He could still hear his voice as judgment was passed upon him, “You are found guilty for your crimes against your family and all of creation. I have no choice but to discharge you from your station. You are no longer my son, from this moment henceforth, your name will not be spoken or even a single thought dwelt upon it. You are banished from ruling over your allotted worlds, they will be placed under my protection until such time that I see fit to either destroy them or pass their governance on to one of your siblings. You will have only two godly powers, they are as such; eternal life and limited astral travel. You will live as a mortal, striving for your food and feel the temptations and failings of those whom you would trounce. Go now and dwell as a mortal.”

  These words cut deeper than any other he had or could ever hear, to live among the mortals, as a mortal. ‘He may as well have killed me, eliminated me from this existence’, he thought to himself. These past several years of warring with the very worlds that he once ruled over were almost comforting to him. He felt a sense of retribution, vengeance. He cared not who he slaughtered, men, women, children, or beast. He cared not what race of men he mowed down, human, elf, dwarf, sylph, giant, they all had to die.

  He undertook this expedition of cruelty to grab his fathers’ attention and presence away from the other universes under his protection. A ploy conjured by Hel herself. He found that after the first world was scoured clean of any and all life forms, that he felt a deep sense of accomplishment.

 “Perhaps I can avenge myself by taking that which is now under his control”, was a lingering contemplation in his subconscious mind.

  He surely took something from his father, to date, he had completely and utterly scoured seven worlds under his watch. He awoke some nights, in a fervor of laughter, sweat pouring off of him and soaking his clothing. Several times, he was sure that he had gone mad, “But if I know that I am mad, then I must surely be not”. He reminded himself.

  “Where are you, father?” he asked in no particular direction.

  The twisted and deformed shape of his general asked him in a guttural voice, “What do ask me master?”

The general was by far the best strategist and tactician he had ever encountered, this beast had led them to victories when there should not have been victories. Together, they had beaten a world of unicorn riding mages with a mere fifty thousand demons.

  ‘This beast will sit at high court when Hel and I rule the known universes.’ He thought to himself. ‘Perhaps the sight of him is what really helped us win so many battles, twenty feet tall, bright red skin, if you could call it skin, flames licking about his head where locks of hair should be. He or it was quite an amazing sight, even I, the son of the All Father, would have trouble defeating him.’

  He shook his head at the general, “I talk to myself” is all he said back to him.

He looked past the general at what was his army, they had started with fifty thousand, now they are easily five hundred thousand strong. These demons were particularly adept at persuading the captured to join the army. Given the alternatives, most were weak enough to give in to the will of the fire demons of the pit of death. Eternal damnation, or live and serve the armies of Hel.

 “These worldly creatures are pathetic”, he spat on the ground as he looked around, surveying the remains of the most recent battle. For every ten prisoners of these worldly creatures, they gained six as a new recruit, the other four out of ten were struck down and banished to an eternity of pain and suffering in the pit of death. He still wondered where his father was.

“He should have shown his face by now”, the son shouted into the air. He wheeled his steed around and shouted back to the general, “No survivors!”

The beastly general bowed to his master and reached out to the nearest prisoner, he grabbed the humans head with one hand and mightily squashed it. Blood shot out of his fiery hand and oozed down his fingertips, he laughed a sound like boulders hitting bells, then he grabbed another and another. The flames danced upon his head as if they were stoked with every kill.

    The son of Odin found a place in the woods that was not too far from the recent melee. He mentally drew a doorway before him, big enough for him and his steed to easily fit through. Then he mentally opened it up, beyond it was the pit of death itself, he felt the heat emanate from within and he heard the familiar ever-present screaming in the distance.  As he rode his mount through the doorway and into the presence of Hel, he became fully surrounded by the pit of death. The heat from the molten magma was coming from all around him, he wondered if the magma was the only source of light for the pit.

“What are you doing here?” She commanded.

“I grow tired of waiting for my father. He should have appeared long ago. In three years time, I have ravished seven of his prized worlds, worlds he had taken from me.” He replied. 

She gracefully walked to where he sat upon his steed. She fed the beast something, then she ran her black hand along its mane and under its chin. She looked into the steeds’ eyes, “What has he named you?”

The steed replied in a crazed high pitched voice, “Raze, Raze of Ardor. That is my name.”

“A fine name indeed” she replied.

She swept her gaze up to the one who was riding Raze of Ardor.

“A fine name indeed.” She said as she looked into his dark eyes. “Don’t you realize that your father has been watching you since you began this tirade?” She stared at him with an accusing look, she continued, “Your father is counting on this.”

He gave her a quizzical and slightly angry look, “counting on what?” he asked.

She laughed her jumbling of bells and threw her head back slightly, but never took her gaze off of him, “He is counting on you growing tired of war! He is counting on you becoming a quitter!” She continued her laughter.

He felt embarrassed, he should have known that was the answer, in fact he knew deep down inside that that was the answer. He clenched his teeth, “Our army grows with each world I conquer, I have increased our numbers tenfold and I now have dominion over a league of wizards! Soon I will be able to wreak havoc on the very halls of heaven itself!” He leveled his gaze into her eyes, “I come here for counsel and you can only call me a quitter!” He paused dramatically, “Woman. Do not goad me. I can command my league of wizards to free all of your prisoners, set them back to whence they came and you will be set back one hundred thousand years. I am the son of The All Father. I will have my way with you and anyone who protests me. Quitter…” He let the last word trail off his snarling lips.

Hel drew herself up in a regal manner, she puffed her chest with air and set her jaw firmly, and stated, “I apologize to you, son of the All Father.” She then had a look on her face as though she would vomit. He spit on the ground between them.

“Don’t apologize!” He gnarled, “Are you not Hel? Death herself? I come here for counsel and I will have it!”

  He dismounted the steed of Ardor and stood before her, “How long before my father moves to stop me?” He asked in a slightly softer tone through tightly clenched teeth.

  She looked at him with a peculiarly amused look and said, “It will be done very soon, I have found your next world to trample. It is full of peaceful human and dwarven men and women, they are very devout toward your father. You will slowly terrorize them until they break, kill off one nation at a time. You kill their spirit and they will pray as a collective to the All Father. This will bring his presence to you forthright.” She began smiling, “You should enjoy the look on your fathers face when you see him, and this should bring despair even to him.”

  He shook the walls of the pit of death with his laughter, “Lead me to this world woman. I will have my way with them.”

  He remounted Raze and redrew the doorway to his army. Hel accompanied him, riding on the back of Raze, she held onto Raze with her black hand and placed her white one on the son of Odin’s shoulder. They opened the doorway right in the middle of the encampment, the razor thin doorway caused one of the demons to be vaporized as it appeared, and the demon became a cloud of red smoke for a moment, and then slowly disappeared. As Raze walked through the doorway, he trampled over another demon as if it were mere stones to be climbed over, the two leaders of this army did not even notice the corpse. As they stepped into the open, all the demons and soldiers and wizards bowed deeply, head below the knees. If they did not bow, they would surely be eliminated.

He yelled a command, “Break camp! We leave now!” Instantly the army began scurrying about gathering their belongings and weaponry all the while those with voices shouted, “Break camp! Break camp!” With that he looked over his shoulder and nodded to Hel, She turned and opened another doorway herself in the same spot as the one he had created, this doorway was much larger than the last, it was more of a grand gateway than a doorway and this one led to a green pasture along a riverbank. He thought to himself, ‘this place reminds me of my father's heaven’.

Then they began the long march into another world. As soon as Hel guided them into the next world, she dismounted from Raze and made another doorway for herself back into the pit, once through, she turned and bowed gracefully toward the man who was riding Raze, she waited for the entire army of demons and evildoers to march through their doorway before she closed her new one, as the last one came scrambling through she gave the peaceful world an inauspiciously evil laugh and disappeared with the closing of both doorways.

 

   Across the river and high up on a hill, a young man named Derone, tended to his fathers sheep, he was in charge of forty-five sheep. That was quite an accomplishment for such a young man, his brother was only given twelve to look after at this age, but his brother didn’t have a “way” with animals like he did, and his father recognized the gift. He sat lazily looking into the blue and white mid afternoon sky. He rested his back on small smooth boulder. He played mind games with the clouds, ‘there is an elephant, there’s a face, and that one looks like an angel.’ He relished in the beauty of the noondays sky. ‘The only thing that is missing from this day to make it a perfect one, is my new girlfriend Zydette. If she were here it would be perfect.’ He dreamed long and deeply about his newest love. He had a way with women of all ages in very much the same way that he had with animals, but his new love had him enamored to the point that he could think of no one else that he would rather be with. Zydette was the picture of perfect beauty, she always had a faint smell of flowers about her and every time Derone smelled a flower his thoughts immediately went to her. She kissed him often and he looked forward to the next kiss with much impatience, her lips were full and always ready to pucker up for him. Her smile was in the front of his mind at all times, he found such radiance in her smile! Derone had thoughts of asking her to be his wife, but neither one of them was of the age yet, it would be two years before they could be joined in matrimony. He counted each and every day that passed, each one equaled one day closer to being the man that would take her away from her family to start one of their own. He wondered if she counted the days too.

He looked into the clouds again, and he was certain that this one looked exactly like Zydette, shapely, large where it counted and small where it should be small.

 In the next instant, he was snatched out of his splendor and into a harsh reality. He heard an awful buzzing noise coming from across the river, on the plains down below. He thought he was dreaming, he saw something that could only be a nightmare. He saw a horse with two riders on it, or was it a lion, and a woman dismounted off of it, and the green grass that was growing nicely where they stood had turned black, and he watched it turn black in a radius of at least forty or fifty feet where ever the woman walked. The man that was riding the beast with the woman was a very large man with long red hair and black armor, that man was wielding a long sword and he wasn’t riding a horse or a lion, but rather he rode upon a beast that was the combination of both. Flames came from the lion/horse’s mouth every time that man pulled the reigns, and flames seemed to lick the surface of the lion/horse. ‘Or was that its hair being blown in the wind?’ Then, where he first saw the woman turn the grass black, he watched as thousands of monsters poured out of nothingness, it looked like an anthill that was flooded and the ants were pouring out to save themselves. This was no ant hill. This was a legion of monsters that would most certainly be coming to kill others. He saw many things that even his deepest darkest nightmares could not have conjured. He saw large beasts with flaming hair. He saw lumbering beasts with fangs covering their entire body. He saw giants that wielded clubs longer than a house was tall. He saw men with dirty blue cloaks riding upon unicorns. The monsters poured out of nothing, for longer than seemed possible.

  “Oh my god!” he yelled into the cool air. He did not believe his eyes, and he stood up with haste. He wanted to turn to run away, but felt frozen in his shoes. He was scared stiff! He could not move a muscle, he could only watch the army of gore and ghastly sights as they grew in number. His flock of sheep had already begun to run home at full speed, but he remained. It took what seemed an hour for them to appear out of thin air. Although they completely filled this vast valley, he felt almost relieved when they stopped coming forth. Just then, he regained his muscle control and turned to run home to tell his pa what he had just seen, he felt afraid, not for himself but for his mother and his brother and sisters, especially the new baby. He thought hard about his new girlfriend Zydette, there might never be a future for them, no more kisses and no more smiles, he had to go and warn them!

As he turned to run home to tell of the impending doom, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. He thought, ‘I shouldn’t be hungry at a time like this!’ With the next step he took, he realized that he wasn’t hungry at all, there was an arrow protruding from his middle, “shot?” he yelled in confusion. As he fell to his knees onto the soft ground, he saw out of the corner of his eye, a flaming beast on a horse that was far too small for it. The beast was holding a long bow and had it knocked with another arrow. The lad tried to stand up, but the last thing he saw before he died was an arrow flying toward his face from the flaming beasts’ long bow.

 

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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    There I sat, upon my throne. From here I could see all things and all beings. I was dismayed to see that my son with the unspeakable name had raged war on the very worlds that I took from him. “What are you attempting to do?” I asked the air. He did not affect any of his brothers or sisters with his actions, so he could only be goading me to some ends. I thought ‘I should go there and teach him a lesson!’ But then I would be no better than him. I show mercy on him even now. He takes no prisoners and bends the will of the strongest warriors and wizards to do his bidding.  ‘Why do you insult me?’ I knew the answer to that question. I abandoned him along time ago, ‘oh, my son, what has taken you from me?’ I felt near to despair at the thoughts of losing a son.

I began to follow his rantings of war, he has completely ravaged seven of the most beautiful worlds. He took Monnov with its gargantuan beings, he took Ocsture and its wizards, and he took Altimari and killed all the elves. He has truly proven himself worthy of abandonment, He should go to Kutnoss and attempt to slay an entire world of dragons, that would be worthy of a god. No, the prey he seeks is as helpless as babies to a wolf.

  “What is this?” I looked deep into one of the older universes. He has used the allegiance of Hel to transport him to one of my favorite worlds, “Valtgehres” I whispered. I watched as he poured his army into the grand valley near the peaceful plains of Hawksland village. I watched as one of his scouts pierced a young boy, no older than sixteen, with two arrows. I felt the pain that this boy felt, I was deeply connected to this world, the people there worshipped a peaceful and benevolent god, and I had to intercede. “This reign of terror that the unspeakable one has begun, will end on Valtgehres!” I willed my mind to a port town near to Hawksland village. I disguised my spirit as a dwarf, there were many dwarves here. I went into the governors’ mansion and revealed myself to the governor. I told him what was happening and that he was to take all able bodied men to Hawksland village, but do not reveal the fact that I was going to be in the melee. I was going to put a stop to my sons’ insanity once and for all. I went to the other surrounding towns and cities and gave them the same instructions.

  It was not long before an army of farmers and fishermen had descended upon Hawksland village. I could feel the presence of my son, he was near. The evening of the next day, I met with the leaders of all the towns and cities. I gave them the battle plan, I could have told them to do anything, and they would have obeyed. I did not intend for one man in this army to fight, only stand his ground. I made this clear to the leaders.

  Just before dawn of the next day, I heard the horns of hell and the cry of hellhounds, the bleating of demons and screaming of the damned. The stench filled the air of Hawksland and everyone trembled at the thought of the oncoming death. At that moment, I allowed my spirit to flow into the minds of each and every man that stood here with me. I told them that I was with them and there was no way that they would be harmed. “But do not raise your weapon, no matter what happens, or you will be slain.”

The army that was raised by my son was formidable, I must admit that. He would give his brother Thor good competition, the god of thunder could possibly learn from this encounter. The army marched toward us and the figures started to become distinguishable, the front line was fire demons riding on the back of demented hogsteeds, those were from Altimari, they could carry quite the burden.

Next, as the sun rose above the horizon behind the army of death, I could see thousands of demons on foot or hoof, these creatures were twisted and mangled, and it was amazing that they could walk at all. At the end of the line was the wizards, wizards always brought up the rear, they could cast their magic from there and still kill everyone here. In the very center of the front line was a tall being, it was not a demon like the others, he might be one, but he certainly had the look of a man. It was my son, the unspeakable one. He had two banner gillies, one on each side, I could not see the imprints from here, but I did not need to see them to know what was on them. They would each display a masked red owl grasping a sword in each talon and the swords would be crossed. To me, it seemed like the army was coming very slowly, I felt the thoughts of the men around me, and their common thought was that the army was coming far too quickly.

As the army of death marched closer, the sun rose very quickly, it cast a large shadow on the ground of the army between us and it seemed to mask the appearance of the army. It made them temporarily invisible to the human eye, very dramatic. In a moment, my son stood in his saddle and thrust his sword out in front and yelled in a very old language, “Charge to your deaths! Charge to our victory! Charge!” With that, the fiery masses began a noisy run toward us, I stifled a laugh as I thought about what was about to unfold. My son looked regal, no, Royal upon his steed of Ardor. He looked magnificent, a born leader. The demons and soldiers attempted to keep pace with him and his steed, they shouted guttural noises and clacked their swords on their shields. It was a sight that would make the timid man faint. I began to bang my sword on my shield and all the men followed suit. It was not loud, just rhythmic. Clang, clang, clang, pause, clang, clang, clang. The demons were about to crash down upon us and my son was directly in front of me. They yelled their loudest when they ran into us. The men who did not raise their sword became a mist to the demons, and the demons grew enraged at the fact that they were running through all these men. Some stumbled and were trampled by other demons but none of the men were harmed. The demons began to swing their swords and clubs frantically, but to no avail. The more they missed their targets, the more enraged they became, some even turned to slaying one another in a thirst for blood and death. My son had run right through me and was somewhere behind me. I turned to look for him, after a second I found him. He was riding toward me, he recognized me.

In that moment, I discarded my disguise, I grew to my normal height of forty feet. I towered over all beings on this battleground. I allowed myself to be seen in my most regal manner, white hair flowing down my shoulders seeming to merge with the alabaster robes which draped from my shoulders to the ground. I held the scepter of truth in my left hand and the hammer of justice in my right, a radiant light emanated from me and all near to me had to shade their eyes. Yes, I was a sight to behold. The demons closest to me disappeared, banished to the pit of death forever. I looked my son in the eye, “What do you mean to accomplish by destroying these worlds? The time of Ragnorok is not at hand.”

 He smirked that ever-present smile, “Father, what brings you here?”

 My head became a thundercloud, my voice boomed as I pointed the scepter at him, “You have been sentenced, you have been banished. You are through here!” At that, I willed the remaining demons and evil soldiers into the pit of death. My followers were willed back to their homes, and the wizards and others who were bullied into serving the side of evil were returned to their native worlds. Then we stood alone in the village of Hawksland. Just myself, him and his steed. I grabbed my son by the chest plate and lifted him off of the back of his steed, even through centuries of aging, he was still but a child to me. I brought him up to eye level, “You will leave this place and war no more on the peaceful lands.” He smirked even more as I dropped him to the ground. The collision of his body with the ground sent an earth tremor through the lands.

  He stood and bowed to me, “As you wish……. All Father.”

He opened a doorway and vanished into it with his steed of Ardor, smirking all the while.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Meanwhile, a very tall black and white feminine figure was viewing a hunched over old man with long white hair. She was viewing him through a crystal ball, and this crystal ball was as large around as she was tall, and she appeared amused as she watched Odin through this magical means of scrying.  Hel witnessed him engage his mind into a trance as he was seated on his throne within the cave of brilliance, and she believed that he was projecting himself to where his son had laid destruction on his favored world.

  “The time is now” she said quietly to herself.

  Then she turned and walked away from the large sphere of crystal, she climbed down the stairway from where the crystal ball was mounted, and the stairway spiraled downward around a large stalagmite, the terminus of the stairway was the surface of the lake of magma inside the pit of death. Hel was unaffected by the heat in this place, and when she reached the bottom of the stairway, she walked across the surface of the magma as though it were a solid floor. The magma spit and spewed wherever she stepped and she left behind footprints of blackened lava.

  Hel entered her throne room, this was a stark contrast to that place where Odin made his throne room, his was peace and hers was war. As she walked through towards her throne, her course meandered to where the many piles of hot embers littered the floor of the throne room, and she stopped directly in front of one particular pile. She waved her hand over it and spoke aloud several words that sounded unintelligible, the words were a spell spoken in the original language. In the next instant, the pile of embers began to quiver and then the quivering turned into trembling and waves of embers popping up into the air, and then a portion of the embers formed the shape of a hand. The hand held something in it, it was a clear crystal ball, the crystal ball was transparent and hollow, and it had an amethyst tint to it. She reached out to the hand and the hand extended upward forming an arm of embers behind it, and then she took the amethyst orb from the hand of embers, and as she did, the embers fell back into a disorderly pile.

  Hel smiled to herself as she studied the orb, devious thoughts forced a rare look of happiness on her black and white face. Then she looked up to the space that was directly in front of her and mentally drew a doorway, the doorway appeared in the next instant and it opened up into a cave. She felt a rush of cool air pass through it into her pit of death, and then she stepped through into the cave of brilliance. Hel had the purple hued orb made of crystal with her, she placed it onto the floor of the cave and waved her hand over it, as she did, she recited an incantation in the original tongue, and in a flash, a very large cloud of mist colored a shade of amethyst appeared around the orb. She retrieved the crystal orb and held it in her hand, this gave her control over the original soul and she commanded it to stay quiet and obey her orders. She whispered several quick orders to it, and it condensed into the form of a human man.

  As they cautiously walked forward across the cave of brilliance, she noticed Odin seated upon the all seeing throne, and he was in a trance. She momentarily contemplated slaying him where he sat, but quickly dismissed the thought, he would surely have defenses and traps set to protect himself. She was content with the fact that she was in his presence while he was completely unaware of it. She drank in the vision of the throne.

  ‘Someday I will sit upon that throne and spread despair and pestilence to all, every soul will be mine’ she fancied these thoughts and allowed her sight to rest upon the throne for more time than she perhaps should have.

  She opened up another doorway near to the rear of the cave, and it made a buzzing noise while it came into existence, this one led to a mature world, one of newer worlds that was close to perfection. She commanded the soul to pass through the doorway and begin a reign of terror upon the world that would never be forgotten. The smoky cloud gave her a mock smile as it gazed into the doorway. Through it, the old soul viewed a man, this man appeared to be a warrior of some sort, and he wore chain mail and was surrounded by weapons and armor and stacks of books and scrolls. He was seated at a large wooden table studying an ancient book, the warrior and table were both located within a large spacious room constructed of stone and mortar.

  “Perfect” the old soul hissed.

  As it walked toward the man, it grew smaller and took on the exact shape of the man. The amethyst cloud walked through the doorway and somehow became one with the man, he stepped into the man, and he became the man.

  The “new” man turned to look back through the doorway to where Hel was standing, he looked at her through eyes of amber as he smiled with pointy yellowed teeth, and then she closed the doorway and opened another one in its place. She stepped through and into the comfort of the heat of the pit of death. She looked back through the doorway to see Odin still in a trance, she hastily closed it before he awoke.

 

  Years passed and the evil soul had his way with the worlds upon which he trounced, and he freely entered and conquered each and every world thus far. He found great pleasure in being released from his imprisonment in the crystal orb, but to actually bring destruction wherever he chose, well that was true freedom to him.

  His latest conquest was a world of cyclical times of wars and peace, the people would grow weary of war and sign peace treaties, and then an upraising of power would spread war across the nations. He absolutely loved the times of war and he created the grandest one that he could contrive in this world.

  The other worlds were not as strong as this one, he found it challenging to overtake some of the nations, but he believed that in the end he would be triumphant. He now had control over the entire western hemisphere, but he knew that this half of this world was the easiest half to defeat, the other half held a great leader who would be a massive foe and he looked forward to it. The other half also held powerful mages, elves, clerics, enchanted creatures of unknown origins and he feared the land dragons the most. Although they could not fly, they did hold the power of fire breath. One or two land dragons would not affect him in any way, but if they could join a dozen streams of their breath weapon together, then they would break down his defenses and kill him. During a battle upon the world of Kutnoss, he had almost been seared alive by twelve red dragons, he remembered well where and how he almost met his first demise, and he intended to defeat this world, not fall to its dragons.

  This world had not yet seen his true form, he had not needed to reveal it, so thus far, they knew him as a man, Domaak the conqueror, and would only reveal himself if it were necessary.

  He looked at himself in the silver mirror, the mirror was made of the finest glass and backed with pure silver. The frame was hand carved many years ago by someone of great skill, it was very intricate and had faces of Humans, Elves, animals and trees carved into it. He admired the frame almost as much as he admired himself. He studied himself, he was dressed in battle armor. The plate mail was constructed of a brown metal, it was inscribed with runes for added protection, and the runes were darker brown almost black. His full helm was crafted into the shape of a dragon’s head and made of the same metal as his breast plate, and was topped with a red feather that simulated a flame, and as he exhaled, small tendrils of amethyst colored flames flowed out of the mouth vents. Upon his breast plate was a magical flame, it was an amulet of protection that this husk of a man owned when he took over his body. The former owner of the body had no clue what it was to be used for, but the new owner knew all too well what it was for, the land dragons would need to combine twenty or more streams of fire to kill him with this amulet on. The magical fire danced and glowed on and around the amulet, just as a true flame would do, but it was cold to the touch.

  The old soul used his gauntleted human hand to remove his broad sword from its sheath, he did so slowly, and it rang like a chime. He held it in front of him and admired the brilliance of the highly polished surface, the sharp double edge never dulled or dented in battle. The hilt was rather plain and it was tightly wrapped with brown leather. Other than its enormous size, the blade had only one marking on it that distinguished it from an ordinary sword, the word “DEATH” was inscribed in small letters on one side near the hilt. This was the "Sword of Death", forged in the pit of death itself and handed to him by Hel herself, he had much fun with this sword.

  He had recently returned to his current home from battling his newest conquest to find word from his minions that the east did not wait for him to advance, they had joined forces and were advancing on him in his own country of Vulania.

  “They are strong and have good wit”, he thought to himself.

  He was told of mages, clerics, Elven magi, human warriors mounted on fierce war horses, giants, archers with eagle eyes and of course the land dragons. His minions showed fear at the oncoming allied army from the east, but he assured them of a swift triumph.

  He opened his visor and gazed into his own yellow eyes, they were set into a strong featured face of a man who no longer existed. He smiled as he thought on all the wars he had won in this disguise. He looked forward to many more victories. He then dwelled on thoughts of the impending attack from the eastern armies. ‘Perhaps it will be my undoing. But I have yet to meet my match and I do not believe that a man, no matter how powerful he is, could defeat me in my true form.’

  “This may be the battle in which I must reveal my true self to this world”, he said aloud to himself. As he cackled an evil laugh, amethyst mists poured from his mouth, and he turned to look out of the nearest window. The view was immense and if this creature wasn't so evil, he would enjoy the view, but instead, he just used the mountains and valleys of green to help his mind devise his plans to defeat the oncoming army.

 

 

Author's Note

let me know what you think, this is the prologue to a 240,000 word book i have written. I would like some feedback before I submit to a publisher

Reviews

[Sorenel Rain]

At the current moment I was only able to quickly scan your work....Every word I read was quite captvating...it held my atention, it sucked me into the world you have created. This is very well writen, and as soon as I get the time I'll read the entire thing. I look forward to and egerly wait for the time when I get to fully appreciate your work. ^_^
~Wolfe

Brilliant. Very descriptive and flowing- it kept my focus the whole time. One thing I will say is that it seems to be written in two different tenses mingled together, but I might be wrong.