Prologue
Darkness, that’s what they call it. It begins down South, slowly but surely it will work its way towards our world; the land we have lived in for generations. Once it starts, it won’t stop. It will spread over the landscape like a plague. People say it looks like a storm, like clouds are moving in with blessed rain for our crops. That you don’t know it’s here until it’s knocking down the castle walls, setting fire to the houses, slaughtering the people.
The force behind it is a demon sent from the darkest corner of the underworld, his name forbidden. The elders won’t tell us, and the townsfolk will never say it. Just as his name is an enigma, so is he. Nobody knows what he looks like. Nobody knows why he comes. We don’t even know if any of his victims have ever lived. The king sends out search parties, but all they find is ruins. No bodies are ever found, not even an insect.
It has been seven years since the last darkness and there is rumour of another soon to come. People are already making preparations. Whenever people know that darkness is imminent, they flock to one of the Quads, the defensive holds for our world Evantus. We have just over a month until we set off, leaving our town, Corranda, for the closest Quad, Danova.
People are panicking. It was less than a week ago when local merchants started packing up their produce, and the farmers started preparing their moving wagons. I don’t see what all of the fuss is about. Sure, hundreds die and towns fall to ruins every time darkness rises, but we always make it in the end. We have done for two hundred and fifty years, so why would we fail now?
I’ve seen the darkness. I have been a part of the war. None of my friends know, but I was in Danova during the last darkness. Even less know that I’ve seen the nameless Demon itself. I was there when he fell. When my brother finished him off.
-R. Anjos (17 years old)-
