PROLOGUE
“The enormous ships waited silently in the sky above the young world, motionless and majestic, while the lands beneath their shadow stirred uneasily.
The sealing of the underground chamber was almost complete, and the thunder of powerful machines echoed like a final song celebrating the closing of the colossal gates.
Perfect in their design, the gates closed with a deep rumble that reverberated all the way to the heart of the planet. The dust settled, and the land slowly healed over the wound that had been opened.
The builders, beings of immeasurable power and wisdom, gazed upon their work. Satisfied, for the dangerous cargo was now secure... or so they hoped.
An object of incalculable power, hidden not only to keep it from falling into the wrong hands, but also to protect those who might seek it from the danger inherent in the source of its power.
The machines that had helped shape that sanctuary were silenced, and their creators took one final look at the structure that would now be the resting place of that artifact.
But they had left nothing to chance, for it would not be protected solely by those gates, built from primordial material, but also by a powerful guardian, one that would remain watchful in the depths, ready to protect that relic until the distant day when its masters returned, or until the very end of time, if necessary.
They then prepared to leave, and their ships rose and slowly disappeared toward the distant stars.
In the millennia that followed, time erased the memory of that civilization and, perhaps, its very existence. No one remained to remember its name or its works, and its creations were buried on countless worlds scattered throughout the vastness of the cosmos.
But on this remote planet, a crystal would wait, remaining untouched under the tireless watch of its guardian. For if the day ever came when someone found their way to it, whether by intent or by accident, the land itself would crack apart, and ancient horrors would be unleashed to protect what should never have been disturbed.”
