Any PRs that could help me improve this story are welcome to help.
The rewritten prolog of "Sanity's Eclipse " that I abandoned due to my previous conflicting schedule and now I reworked it because of my renewed interest.
To Those who read this already sorry I changed a lot of settings to fit into the path I want to proceed.
This is the opening curtains to a Dark Epic Fantasy.
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Phantoms Descend
-Prologue Of Ruin-
"Ruin Shall Fall When Worlds Collide" A verse in the famed "Ode to the Obsidian King"
At the edge of the Forest of Gluttony, where the ancients said that a god had once been devoured.
Facing the wounded young girl and several other children at the edge of the cliff, the conquistadors aimed their rifles as they drew closer.
To have mercy was to take away a life in a single strike. Their rifles glistened high up in the air when struck by light and all the conquistadors gave off a wicked smile as if they were enjoying this moment and seemed like deliberately was giving the children a small leisure time to pray for their lords.
A man wearing a slightly different outfit from the rest of the group spoke.
“Why do you protect all this filth? Let them die girl and I’ll let you live!” the conquistador asked.
“You already know my answer.” the girl bravely replied.
The man stared at the girl’s eyes and saw an unyielding determination and he knew that she would never be convinced and just sighed.
“Tsk… tsk… tsk… We honestly did not know that you hid on the monastery but we won't apologize for our necessary actions.” the man clicked his tongue and gave off a disappointed looked.
“I guess I could never convince you to join our cause. For the glory of god's chosen children then let’s turn this into our advantage.” A sudden wicked smile crept from the man’s face and as he nonchalantly should a devious expression as if he had gained a sudden godsend insight
"...."
“After all, your efforts of protecting all this filth would unfortunately now turn for naught, as we are going to turn you into a great beacon of hope that would relight the extinguished fire of our people."
"My esteemed holy one! You must become a strong symbol of our vengeance that our people desperately needs. Be proud of yourself as you could become a proper 'Mark' that our people could rally behind, as the news of your death would be 'wisely' spread throughout all of the Mundo. Finally, the Taos shall rise once more and reclaim their rightful place, the place that was wrongfully taken away from us, and smite all the vermin creatures who would not submit. Soon they will fear us enough to force every race to chose a side and the world would be engulfed by a massive sea of flames once more.
The inevitable demise of all these little vermin monsters would finally come to pass, as it has been foretold on The Great Promise. We are tired so tired of living under the constant fear, while we cower and hide within the shadows, hoping that their gaze would not fall upon us.
Who would want to live as live stocks for the more carnivorous kind?"
The Captain clenched his left fist tightly to the near point that it could have had bled.
"I could kill you right now but for the sake of our common past, I’ll give you the chance to reconsider or if not, then your passage shall be a slow and painful one. Then as you slowly wither I'll make sure you agonizingly watch helplessly, as we ‘play’ with your ‘children’, even if I have a constant deep rooted ‘respect’ for you.
After all, I must say thank you for your upcoming great and noble sacrifice that would make you into a martyr for our once ‘great’ Tao".
"Your 'meaningful' symbol shall become the great 'cause' of all these vermin's extinction."
"Remember this your holiness that within our hearts has nothing but respect for you and I thank you genuinely as you would become a ‘true’ hero of the Tao race. May you be immortalized within our hearts forever.” the man grinned maliciously then lowered his head as a sign of ‘respect’.
Hearing those words the girl easily understood what he meant and the girl spat on the man’s face as .
“You’re the filthy monsters who deserves a horrible, gruesome, and painful death for what you have done, and not this helpless innocent children.”
The man took a red cloth out of his left pocket and wiped the spit off.
“Innocent? Just by not being born a Tao is already considered a grave sin itself that must never be forgiven. How far can your bravery go when surely you must know that all your actions are going to be a wasted effort for them, as your actions contradict what’s written on The Great Promise.”
“...” The girl fell into silence as she was unable to refute what he had just said.
"Silence? I guess cat got your tongue. Have you forgotten all the pain our people have continually suffered because of their pointless disputes."
"Do you remember that dreadful night you great holiness because I can."
"As you may have had known my heart still aches as I could never forget that night."
The captain took a long and deep pause to reminisced his unforgettable past.
"Nowadays everyone calls that bloody night 'Wrath of the Falling Skies'."
"Hehehe....."
The man showed a wicked smile that scared the children further besides her.
"Oh! I remember that night all too well, for I was there when that tragic night occurred."
Hearing this the young girl unconsciously gasp in shock.
"The lives that were lost, and the madness, and horror that came. A dreadful night that struck everything down and the same night where I barely escaped with my life."
The girl stared directly at the man's face, and for a moment, that man's true visage slipped and showed a moment of weakness. As the person himself showed only for a moment, a deep melancholic smile filled with bitter sadness, hate and a deep-seated pain of regret.
"How did you escaped? Never mind... And you blame anything that's not our people as a result?" the young wounded girl replied.
"You're pathetic and stupid! Your little crusade will not only cause the death of the 'Beasts tribes', 'others,' and the Enkantos but also countless of our people's lives. As I know full well that you’ll make the entirety of this affair seem like the 'others' have come here and massacred this temple".
After hearing her words the man slapped the girl so hard and her left cheek bleed.
"As long as all the 'others' disappear from the face of Mundo. I'll be happy to burn in hell for all eternity, even if our Heavenly Lords forsake me for all time. Look at the little ‘feline’ girl who clings passionately on your left, the little ‘dog’ at your back cowering in fear, and the ‘reptilian’ child that you held so dearly within your right arm."
“Why would your grace spare an effort for them. They're not even Tao." he angrily shouted.
The man paused again for a moment to took a deep breath to calm and composed himself down and said.
“Knowing full well that you’ll eventually surrender to your fate anyway unless you come and defect to our side."
"I applaud your 'great' strength of this foolish bravery! Still you have the guts to spit on the captain of the phantom conquistadors, whom even the ‘others’ feared. Haha! Well! Nothing less than expected from you.” he laughed maniacally.
"Nonetheless, a great war shall be soon upon us. A new dawn shall rise that would light this dark and twisted world as it had
been said on the passages of "The Great Promise", that a great war shall be waged in the name of the 7 holy sins and 'the return' shall finally be fulfilled" He gleefully expressed himself as he saw several pints of crimson blood slipped out from her wounded body.
The girl surveyed and looked further around her surroundings, and what she saw was the nearby burning village known for its neutrality, the once great ‘Temple of Sins’ known as the place where sinners pray to be absolved of their sins. A symbolic place worshiped by many that had stood proudly at the top of the mountain for nearly a millennium. The mighty template now reduced to ash and rubble.
Such sacrilege would never be forgiven no matter what race they belonged too, but for now, she must focus on the matter at hand as she and the 9 surviving orphan children besides her are trapped in an inescapable predicament. The poor group is surrounded by not only the calm ocean beneath the cliff but by the extremist captain and 7 other conquistadors that had both the determination and vengeance to commit atrocities.
The children are all in a deep state of terror and despair, as they had witness first hand the horrors of what had transpired earlier.
The children had been crying for over an hour non-stop as the young girl kept her stance through as they grew closer to the edge. The girl managed to shut her eyes just for a moment as her strength had slowly begun to be sapped away as time went on.
And though her expressions showed a brave front it could be easily read as a facade for the children.
Deep within the girl harbors misery and hopelessness and as she had resolute herself that she had been powerless to prevent their upcoming fate.
She knew there are ways to escape but the price would cost both her morality and her soul.
A price she never considered accepting, as it would mean that she would abandon all of the children to their deaths and much more would soon follow as she herself must accept her forsaken "responsibilities".
She knew that by doing so basically makes her a murderer of innocence, a kind of fate she wanted to be averted no matter how much she personally suffered.
The young girl dared not to show any signs of despair in front of the children.
The young wounded girl sorrowfully embraced the nearby children as they awaited the sad conclusion of their fate.
The young girl the tried to pray and deeply wished for a miracle or a sort of divine intervention. In the beginning, if she ever had a power of any sort, she would have used it on the extremist men before her and save the children. Though she had trained to become a priestess, sadly she was still just a trainee and her training had only been briefed.
And earning 'EXPERIENCE' was incredibly invaluable in this world.
As she herself was just a fledgling, she was forbidden to practice till she reached a certain "level" of mastery. She knew that if she attempted to practice something higher than her limited capabilities would only invite an unwanted "Rebound" or "Backlash" that she would suffer from. That's why she had resolved herself to secretly watch the others from the monastery as they practiced.
There was once a time where she had witnessed the other clergies secret practiced deep within the catacombs of their Temple. An art that was considered "highly forbidden" for a reason.
As it was a widely known forbidden prayer thought to be long abandoned and a highly considered dangerous prayer for many, many preexisting reasons unknown to her. She was once warned that even a hint of an attempt of such actions be known to the public would without a doubt incur a massive purge that not only will it affect her but everyone that's known to be associated with her, as it was a form of prayer that many considered heresy and outright sacrilege.
Even the other races feared it so.
A publicly known fact was that there was once a country who tried to perform it in secret but was purged by the "others" after it was discovered and now that very same country no longer existed.
Though there had been several accounted rituals performed publicly for certain occasions, it was set only on a specific time and date where only a chosen grand priestesses are allowed to perform. Those are considered as a sanctioned rituals that had been approved and sanctioned by the highest of authorities to call forth a so-called ‘lord’ from the great beyond.
Such was the fairy tales of old and many knew that such sanctioned ritual was only a way that could be described as an act of symbolism or often a form of offering to the gods and nothing more.
Though no one actually knew why such rituals are highly forbidden.
A fellow acolyte once told her in secret, that if such ritual turned into an actual success, the priestess who manages to perform such legendary feat must give her everything to the one she had summoned as a price in order to avoid incurring its wrath.
When she heard those word she dismissed it as nothing more than a joke and outright speculation.
Then again the same acolyte once jokingly said "If you think about it properly! Summoning ritual is a form of 'illegal" abduction so it's natural to give the abductee a form of 'compensation'." then the acolyte would laugh hysterically.
But what can she do? Surely abandoning the children and siding with this extremist is out of the question. Then that would mean that she's left with a single alternative.
She must try as a fledgling priestess to do a "Forbidden" offering prayer to a deity.
Can she really do it? Such thought pondered her for a moment.
To do the impossible and outright insane ritual whilst keeping it a secret in front of everyone. Such was the only option she conceived as a last resort, even if she must give her everything she knew she must not fail.
The ritual itself was easy but the cost of connection was so severe that many priestesses would never be able to accomplish. Still she hopes, still she dreads of the outcome that would nonetheless occur within a few moment.
If she somehow fails to succeed without a doubt they would all die and if she somewhat managed to successfully perform the ritual, at least, the children would live.
Such thought gave her hope and determination.
As pain ached throughout her body signaling she was nearly on her limit, as blood kept slipping from her little by little. The girl carefully moved as she took some of her blood to use as a marker for the upcoming ritual.
Her breath grew heavier, her heart filled with doubts and also hope. Her nervousness crept further as she used here own blood to slowly draw a crimson star on each her wrists, as she used the children to mask her intent, as she knew well enough that what she was about to do was outright insane and impossible.
The girl knew of the price required was immense and what she was about to attempt would definitely drain her to a near vegetative state or possibly kill her.
She knew that the guy in front of her was also aware of such ritual, and if by an off chance she was somewhat caught, she knew would without a doubt waste any more time and outright massacre them.
So vigilance was a must and any mistake is without a doubt fatal. The girl knew that what she was about to do was both forbidden and punishable by death, and very rarely does this method possibly succeed, as most who attempted it failed, and afterward died a painful death.
Doubt, hesitance, and fear must be discarded and be purged and only focused with determination and hope that she will definitely succeed.
Such thoughts pondered her over and over again till she had finally finished all the necessary preparations.
Once she had been warned by a Bishop who taught her various things that such method are dangerous and the consequences that would follow should one succeeds, was something far worse than anyone can imagine.
An act that could possibly shake the foundations of the known cosmos.
It was nonetheless forbidden and such practitioners tend to outright avoid practicing it.
Then she began and prayed silently, as she whispered the words of her prayers.
"I invoke the ancient covenant as part of the great promised that I shall offer my soul as key to open a path long forgotten and my life as the energy that would connect our gate to the other one from the great beyond. Such is my wish and those before me to call forth a greater power. Please hear my silent prayer as I call to those who could hear my prayer. My creed shall be your path towards me "
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While saying those words she felt her blood boiled, her temperature raised and her skinned crawled.
An unpleasant feeling.
"To the creature that lurks from the great sea of everlasting darkness, where the stars live and the great sun and last moon would chase each other endlessly, as I forge a new path that shall connect me to my own ruin.
Heed my call oh great one. Leave thy beyond and come forth as I offer myself to be yours forever"
“The contract has been offered my liege. Now descend to this world and show them your glory and might.”
After she thought that the ritual had been managed to successfully be completed the earth shook and growled, the calm ocean moved and violent waves came, the soft breeze of the wind turned instantly to a harsh gale, the trees who stood still now began to bend and wave, and a loud thunder could be heard from beyond the horizon.
The weather instantly changed and a sudden storm was approaching and she knew why.
A smile crept on her face as everyone around her was baffled by the sudden violent change of mother nature. Nervousness grew, and confusion could be seen.
She held the children tighter as they cried louder even more so that ever.
Happiness had begun to engulf her as she knew something was coming and it was coming for her.
Then out of nowhere everything stopped and returned to being calm and after a moment had passed only silence remained as if the past event only came to pass by.
“....”
Did the connection fail? Or was it that she was refused? Was my life not enough to entice someone to come. That couldn't possibly be, right? Nooo!!! What a cruel joke on herself as she had prepared to surrender her life for a hope small fictional hope that would never come. She thought then once again prayed.
She trembled and felt her body weakened deeply as she knew that her strength was somewhat used during the process.
She unconsciously left out a disappointed sigh.
"Dumb" and "Naive" that what she concluded.
Why would she believe and hope from a mere fairy tail, as she wallowed further in despair? The girl hoped for something that even children would dismiss as tall tales. Now the inevitable end had come and there's nothing more she could do but wished dearly if there was a way to escape the sad fate that was about to come. If there was a true way for the girl that would enable her and the children to escape, even if it meant she had to sell her body and soul.
Power is what she needed and power was something she did not possess.
She raged within for her powerlessness, she screamed inside her mind for wanting power, calling those who can hear her whispers heed her to call anyone close to help her.
And even that she couldn't do as she knew that it was already too late. She dared not to yell for she's trying to buy time as much as possible.
But she had no such power to prevent either they shall fall to their death or be butchered to their death, a conclusion she had no ability to refuse. As fear crept within her she stared directly at the captain's remorseless eyes that were filled with delight.
He captain then smiled and said.
"I will watch you slowly wither and die, but remember this that I could save you and only you if you let go of this worthless baggage and join our noble cause or I’ll let you watch in horror as we 'play' with these cretins until you would beg us to stop and say “Yes” to our cause. We could 'probably' spare them but you know that many more others like them must die in their place. ”
He tilted his head then knelt in front of her and the children.
“Then let us begin” A vicious and wicked smile nonchalantly appeared as if the person himself was enjoying this inhuman act.
“Know this great one! That while you slowly bleed, everything that had happened could’ve been averted and the fault lies not only with ‘others’ but also from ‘them’ and especially from ‘you’ for your refusal back then.”
Banngggg…..
A loud noise came and she felt something a something pierced her and a sudden rushed of pain surge from somewhere on her chest. The girl felt dizzy, and what remained of her strength had slowly begun to fade away, she then fell and hit the floor, silently repeating her requests over and over again, hoping help would come soon.
"Please someone or anyone save us."
On the last few moments of her consciousness, as she lay on the floor helplessly and the children cried with all their might like there’s no tomorrow, the girl finally noticed an oddity on the distant sky above those who calls themselves conquistadors.
A large floating cracked in the air up above the sky giving off an ominous aura. The crack ripped opened and from what could be seen within could only be described as darker than the night. A world of pure darkness but had a shape that was as thin as a paper, yet it had an unfathomable depth, a scene that evoked mystique and indescribable apprehension.
The girl knew it was a the fabled door and that someone or something had answered her prayers.
She wanted to smile but was unable to do so, then the girl whispered silently with a tragic tone. "You waited for the moment of my death to come. Surely a ‘lord’ such as yourself had come to answer my prayer and deliver not only the children but also my death." and at the same moment, something fell from within the darkness.
Like a violent meteor falling from the sky filled with ominous raging fire but instead of fire it was enveloped with ominous smoke and dreadful blackened clouds hastily and directly descending towards them.
Then after a moment had passed it disappeared and vanished into thin air.
"What?" The girl was startled by the sudden turned of events.
Her hope suddenly appeared only to equally disappear.
"Where are you and where can you possibly be?" Her thoughts lay as such.
Then as if it answered her question something or someone had emerged from the shadow of a nearby distant tree.
And there it was within the shadows stood a mysterious visage some distance before her and that the figure itself was wrapped in a cloak that was darker than the moonless night.Making the person seemed like a shadow who would devour the light and would bathe in the eternal darkness.
She knew it was the same being that descended from the sky for her instinct told her so.
It it a Demon? Angel? God? Reaper? No! Rather it is a phantom born to challenge and devour the light and would try to reign over darkness.
That was what the girl had concluded. and yet despite facing each other the girl had still could grasp yet this phantom’s true visage, and that the girl felt that the door in front of her was also a "gate" to the underworld and death himself came for her.
The mysterious being stood before them and yet the others had yet not even taken notice. Is she imagining this? That thought came to her but dismissed it afterward because even in death's door hope had finally returned from within her.
Her dying heart began to beat once more and a beautiful instinctive smile appeared and that the bad men have yet to have taken noticed.
She knew that her fate and those of the men here had been decided and that the children would live. Her life was the payment that she wouldn’t hesitate to give. That created a beautiful expression from within her face and at last, the conquistadors finally saw her blissful grace that could be seen despite the terror that lay before her, and so it confused them.
Why would she smile knowing she and the children would perish soon? Is she crazy or expecting something?.
Such was the dreadful thoughts the conquistadors perceived.
It was not an expression of despair rather of hope but why would she hope when there is none left?
An act which confused them further.
The girl knew that a savior had finally come and at least the surviving the children would be saved. Her body and soul must be given freely as the payment of their upcoming salvation and the savior had come himself to collect her as a bounty. A price she was willing to give.
But....
Suddenly.....
She heard a whisper within the mass of the crying voices around her. The voice was clear as day and yet she knew it was a whisper and it came from so far away. She knew someone was directly talking to her and it was the phantom that’s so far away.
"Must be nice lazing around while everyone else are either kneeling or standing. What a lazy ass princess"
The girl was startled, shocked, and dumbfounded. Further losing her consciousness though her heart showed a grateful radiance that lessened her fears.
“Is this something to joke about?!!!”
She instinctively yelled in anger within her but apologized a second later hoping that her savior would forgive her.
"Please save the children"
"..."
She had not heard any sort of response but she knew that thing would oblige her. A feeling that gave her a semblance of solace. Though she knew her Inevitable demise would soon come.
She wanted, at least, to know who the savior was or what he was, for everyone who had existed within this world carried their own personal Mark that they adhere, whether one was a god, demon, king, human, spirits, monsters or beasts. All possess their own mark even those who had longed passed.
All are bound to have one, at least, one.
“At least, let me see my lord's MARK that all your mortals adhere, then after I can die with a smile."
Thought she had been weakening very considerably a spark of will reignited within here and what's barely left of her consciousness, she focused and searched for any symbol this Lord carried.
It was something odd for the majority of the mark one carried are usually circular in shape but this one had the shape of a triangle. She thought she was mistaken and so she focused further and the girl unexpectedly saw the creature’s visage more clearly. The being had a silhouette of a regular mortal Tao though shrouded in dark odd dress and there she found what she was searching for. The mark was very unfamiliar located on the left side of his chest and it resembled something that looked like three different colored stars and a yellow sun in the middle of the three
She looked at the creature's face and what she saw was that the creature had a black hair and black eyes, a very rare and unusual feature that differs from the Taos of this world as only the sacred or royal blood possessed that feat.
As she observed the one further she noticed that he held something intriguing yet she could not figure what it was.
The girl kept inspecting as fast as she could before her timely demise.
A single second had passed.
Her curiosity leads her vision to his hand and what she saw was something that instantly mortified her to her core. A legendary, fabled artifact or some people might even call it a "device" said to be carried by a certain type of race. She was then reminded of an old and ancient lore rarely told to her people and all of the Enkantos of this world.
Then she realized the "lord" in front of her wasn't someone who would rescue her, and that the one who came isn't what she could call a "savior".
Her soul then sundered, then her heart was shattered, her sanity was definitely losing its way.
What a cruel twist of fate it seemed to be. She then declared from within that the world must be warned for something terrible had come.
She tried so hard to scream, yet she couldn't. As her whole being was both petrified and terrified to her to death, she tried moving but her body was still struck paralyzed. She knew what kind of fate would fall unto the world if it isn’t warned.
She knew what had "summoned" here on this world was something even far worst than all the sum of the world's fear. A dreadful fate none could match even hope to match. A fate so terrible that even the some of the gods would tremble and flee as it was once told.
As they are those that even the higher order feared. Even above those of the dreadful and powerful demon lords, immortal dragons and ascended elementals. She believed and once she had been told by someone she deeply cared of their forbidden tales. That they had once existed and if she spoke of their existence none would ever believe, for they had been forcefully forgotten into legends.
The girl knew the fate of the world was sealed for she had once heard the whispers of their wrath and might that they possessed could cause unnatural disasters.
Now one of "them" stood before her and that by just standing there terrified her to her core.
The girl cursed her life, cursed her fate, and she especially cursed the moments she prayed.
She wanted and tried to cry, yet no tears fell.
She then remembered the first half of one of the most famous of the "Translated" passages of a vague prophecy from the Book Of The Vanquished Covenant.
"After when the seven signs of the holy seven sins re-emerge.
One by one the seals shall be undone.
As The Great Promise had foretold of their return.
For their Ascension was merely delayed.
Till the time when The Path that leads to Ruin finally opens and the Sanguine would spill their own blood.
And when the Lost Children of Eve would rise and challenge The Great Flame.
A herald shall let out a call summoning the one who could end us all.
But,
No-one wanted to believe.
Believed 'they' even existed.
And when the enigmatic eclipse's dreadful return.
The caged truth shall be released and devour us all.
Thus,
A Great Darkness shall descend upon this world.
Nightmares shall rise against the Dawn.
As a Seeker would Keep and a Keeper would Seek
Then, at last, the last era shall fall."
The world is at its end and she was the one who inadvertently called forth the Armageddon, her hope and sanity fled and only foreboding thoughts remained.
"What was it? What does everyone use to call them?"
"Oh yeah!"
She spoke their name yet no words came.
"_______!"
"Then"
Finally, her consciousness fell and her vision was engulfed and shrouded in mist and black haze, she spoke her final words that would be felt throughout the world.
Without a doubt in her fading mind, that Death has descended and there's nothing they can do to stop it.
"Damn! We Are All DEAD!!!" Then her mind painfully faded away.
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Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the beginning of my Dark fantasy.
Took quite a while for my revision to finished :)
Wanted to write at a better quality
Orz.
sorry!!!
Very busy now that I've gotten myself a new job but somehow I'll manage to write at least a chapter a week after my laptop gets fixed.
Broken.
Well see you guys soon
As I'm re-Editing and fixing my previously released chapters.
Cause my English SUCKS SO BAD.