6

To the delight and the cheer of Kasille, the great schism of The Seven was over, all agreed to a singular purpose at last.  The great cloud of darkness that hung over those of the age was lifted– in the hopes of a united destiny once more.

The seven lords, now agreed in full,  would secure the souls, the very essence of Kasille’s power and purpose against the great foe, Ket. Thus united, the twelve guardians, with their united mission, would secure the six lords, and the six would secure the highest among them, The Great Mother. Through the darkening, in the light of their own making, would they make the greatest of journeys. In seven arks, they would walk The Path of Light through the darkening, together. She, The Great Mother, would be their guide, and in her divine compassion would they be as one.  As the light was to a flame, was Kasille now to the seven great lords.

And the great sanctuaries, in seven great citadels, were readied by the seven lords. With twilight upon the world, together the United Flame of Mankind opened the path before them.  This was the moment an entire age had sacrificed for, had built for, had dreamed of, and hoped for. For the sake of all, a path to a destination that kept safe the souls of the age. And to this was their great genius made evident.

For another journey was beginning, where and when theirs would end–the elsewhere, the elsewhen.

And the great mother, heralded by the voices of her people, was before the path, her radiance absolute, she ushered the six, before their arks, in their citadels towards their destiny.

In the glow of their great sanctuary, there was no there, there was no before, and there was no after. There was only the now and the elsewhen—the here and the elsewhere. The mighty guardians had done their great work. A journey begun, was a journey at it’s end.

The path of light awaited them, all.

7

In ritual ordained, the seven, stepped onto the path. And when the light of their journey faded, the fated three had gone, but the four were not with them.  Left behind, the arks now closed to them, the four had been deceived by the three a second time, and by Ket. 

Kasille’s work was for naught.  The darkening had come, and the Four, in shadow, had but one choice to make.

And so the hero, who was duty bound, set his weapon on the ground.  He would rise anew in each of the people. Great courage would be theirs.

The dying god would now bleed, and search for knowledge needed. And in all the multitude did he now reside. For sacrifice and patience was theirs as well.

The trickster’s tool would be the spark, in each of those who hid in the darkness. A hooded visage dwelt within, and mankind’s zeal and diligence was theirs.

The great mother knew her enemies, fearing a noble heart, had too but one choice to make. For all, her blood would play a part. Compassion took hold in the will of the people. Compassion that would keep warm the memories of the past, even when they themselves could not keep warm, nor remember.

And on the last crimson day of the Kasillian age, as the great clawing nightmares of Erebus emerged from their crags and fissures, and the great lords of Ket walked among the ash-strewn lands once more, the great harvest began again. Unimpeded, without mercy—the people bereft of their lords in those end days, were prey to the predators.

The age of Kasille was gone, and the Lords of Kasille, gone with it.

Or so it was believed.

 8

And when the Darkening ended and a sunlit day broke the night at last, the fated three arrived at the elsewhen. Their dark and deceitful path complete, they stood and looked upon a paradise, the other side of their journey.  It was then a time of slumber for the lords of darkness. But to the three Fated Gods of Kasille, to their great pride, and avarice and greed, they would reap long before Ket stirred, and they would rejoin with the lighted races once more. 

But they soon found that they could not. For lo! They were no longer a flame unto the light of the people. They were now of the darkness instead. And this new seed was not of them either, a truth that Ket had known all along! But what is a god, without it’s worshippers? Not a god at all. And thus the three were left bereft of power. The betrayers had been thus betrayed as well. And of the great guardians who had survived the Darkness, some joined the three, for that was their duty to do so. And these great wyrms, now ancient and wise, became corrupted with shadow like their masters. Now vicious, and cruel and cunning, they grew great armies.

Again the three found themselves isolated from the essence of , but they could give it away unto them still. In the same way as the four, but for a far more sinister intent, did each diminish themselves back onto the multitude. For that which is taken away, can also be given back.  And so those of the new age, were now filled with the pride, the greed and the avarice of the three, and so too did a shadow dwell in them now–a shadow that waged it’s own battle in each of the lighted folk-a shadow that could turn compassion into envy, courage into cowardice, diligence into sloth, and patience into wrath. 

And on that mighty day, did the guardians know that the seven would never become whole again. Mankind’s betrayal had been committed thrice. Failed in their purpose, unable to trust the schemes of the lighted races, the guardians now watched from afar, or intervened in mankind’s affairs as they deemed fit. They grew old, now ancient and long past the time and purpose for which they were created. 

And the multitudes spread out into the land, building great monuments, and serving those leaders that made manifest that which all were made of, but these were not as they were before. Some led by courage, and some by pride. Others led by discipline, and some led by rage. The most noble of those were made nobler by their followers. The darkest of those were now made darker by their followers. Deformed, defiled, cruel.  In them, was a greater shadow.

And even in the most heroic of those—a wickedness now dwelt in the soul of man—none were spared that might remain pure, for every light casts a shadow.  A wickedness now was of the seven– that would never be whole again.

9

And the lands prospered.  But the stirrings of the three Fates would not be abated for they were of the world now not of the light of mankind. And their machinations continued. Great armies rose to follow them, and people far and wide bowed to them. And those of the guardians who were corrupted served their now foul Fated lords as well, and they busied themselves in the affairs of mankind, preparing in secret to face Ket once more, for the great wyrms too, had grown wise and powerful, albeit cunning and cruel.

Time turned truth into myth, and myth into rumor. The three faded into the grey shadows of dream, preparing for their decietful foe to rise again. Ket had become once more just a nightmare for children. The great achievements of Kasille lay buried in mud and sometimes lies. Great civilizations rose.  But the three fates, the traitors of mankind, in secret plotted and schemed, their guardians corrupted alongside them. This time, they would outlast the darkening, and they cared not about the goodly folk they were not a part of, nor who worshipped them. But they used them, enslaved them and wrought havoc in their affairs in order to position themselves for the Darkening. Ket slumbered. And mankind toiled on, believing himself to be the master over the land, unaware of the darkness that had come before him, of the darkness that waited for him, nor of the darkness that now dwelt inside of him.