Prologue

1000 years ago, Valgate

"How does it feel to watch your Empire fall to pieces around you?"

The room was empty, save two demons, both with auras singing with power. One deathly pale, with strange tattoos curling around a youthful face, lips curled into a malicious smirk, the other more tanned, face unmarked. The pale one appeared pleased with his words but the other demon only laughed, the sound reverberating around the large room.

"That is all you have to say to me? Do you really expect your plan to succeed? Do you really mean to depose me?"

The pale man shrugged the only sign that the words affected him the slight tensing of his shoulders. "Oh, I'm sorry, does my message need to be clearer? I've attacked your palace, decimated your armies, converted your followers and destroyed your beloved Queen and yet you still haven't realised that I mean to take your place as ruler?"

The mans eyes flashed and he grinned darkly as he replied. "I've realised alright, boy, I'm just finding it hard to believe that a weakling like you could ever have gained enough power to challenge the Guild."

"This 'weakling' just invaded your palace and killed your most powerful guards." was the scoffed reply.

"I can get new ones." the King replied dismissively, standing up from his throne. "After I deal with you of course."

The rebel spread his arms wide arrogantly. "Do your worst. I guarantee it will be nothing compared to what I can do."

The King smirked and thrust his hand forwards, palm out, a steady stream of fire lancing towards his adversary with a roar. The demon, in response, raised his hands in front of him confidently, sleeves falling backwards to reveal equally pale arms, catching the fire and keeping it from impacting his body. The demon skidded back a few metres, but when the King stopped the stream of amber magic, he was unharmed. Pent up magic was released, but it was the Guild Master's and flowed past him like a cool breeze. The rebels black eyes hinted at triumph as the would be conqueror readied his own magic to strike at his King. A spell leapt to his lips unbidden, from a depth of knowledge unknown to him.

"Protjerati ovaj kralj na mjesto mraka i užasa, ga shrvati od ovoga svijeta!"

Again, in a replica of the kings movement, he thrust his hand forwards as if to strike at the air, a blinding light exploded outwards but the King dodged it moving to the side and instead it hit the wall, and the wards fizzled angrily. The demon laughed as he turned back and saw the young demon thrown to the floor by the force of his own spell. "Looks like you still have a lot to learn, child, pity you will never get the chance."

But the demon was already picking himself up from his fall, eyes blazing. Focused on something behind the King. "I wouldn't be so sure, looks like that spell doesn't agree with your wards."

It was true, all around the room webs of spidery blue and green light were forming, blinking in and out of focus, casting an eerie glow over the dimly lit hall. Wards that had held throughout wave after wave of demons, year after year of rebellions, for thousands of years, were now struggling to hold themselves together. Sparks of golden light showered down from the walls before the magic gave a final, feeble, whine, and fizzled out of existence. Cheers could be heard from outside, jeers and cries, and then…thundering footsteps as thousands of demons hell bent on following a new King flooded into Valgate.

"What have you done?" the King muttered, glaring at the pale demon.

"Me?" the demon began silkily. "I just short circuited your wards, allowing thousands of demons loyal to me into your little hideaway. Even you, your highness, can't fight of that many."

"Ah, that is where you are wrong, my young enemy, there are no longer wards on this place preventing transportation…of course your demons seem to have forgotten that but, it means I can leave whenever I wish." the King replied equally as silkily, calm and collected as if he was simply killing a mortal on a sunny afternoon.

But this demon was no mortal.

"Then why don't you leave? Run like the coward I bet you really are." the invader replied smugly. "Leave me to control your world, my lord, I'm sure I will do a good job. Much better that you at any rate."

Instead of becoming angered, the Guild Master simply smiled condescendingly. "No. I will not leave. Because, wards or not, guards or not, loyal subjects or not, I am still your King and you are merely an annoyance to me. Some pathetic demon high on power; I will squash you like the lowly bug you are. And when I'm done with you, every single irritating bug who comes after you thinking, foolishly, that they can steal my throne with be dealt with in the same way. Every faction who supported you, endorsed you, will feel the, considerable, wrath of the Guild. And I will not forget. And I will never forgive. Every single disobedient, simple minded traitorous leech that dared to defy me will pay with far worse than their lives."

All he got was a smirk, but even the assailant looked at little intimidated but the ferocity in which the King spoke, but still managed to appear calm. "So I take it you are not pleased?"

"Mock me all you want, you who come in here like a whining child, but you will not leave this room alive." the King growled, once again launching a fire ball at the demon.

Caught unawares, for once, as the demon took in the full strength of his former Lords aura, the demon was hit in the face, and screamed as his eye melted into nothing and rivers of blood ran down his ravaged face as the fire burned worse than any acid. Half his tattoos was obscured and the demon shrieked in fury, anger lashing out in the form of a fire ball of his own. His aim was true, but the King simply sidestepped the missile, walking towards the demon as he fell to his knees, breathing deeply to try to soothe the pain.

"I imagine that hurts quite a bit. So it should. Those of my line are gifted with…powerful skills. That fire ball being one of them. Unless you get to a healer, the wound will spread and you will be blinded, it will, eventually, like a curse, cover your entire body, sinking deep to the bone, burning everything else away. You will be alive for most of it, as your skin melts away and your blood with it. It's supposed to be agonising. And it will be your punishment." the King explained, savouring every word, eyes hard and cruel.

"Are you really going to leave me alive until then? My followers are coming…"

"Yes, they are, but you killed my wife, and I am not going to give you a quick death. You would take everything from me…right now the risk does not matter. Besides, I thought you would continue this fight, your not incapacitated already, are you?" the Guild Master mocked. "Get up."

The demon fought against the pain and stood. He noticed a…flickering, off to the side, and, with his good eye, spotted something that puzzled him.

There was a hole in the wall.

But it didn't lead to anywhere. It was just there. Black all the way in. No exit. No escape.

The perfect place to trap a King, wouldn't you say? Demon.

The voice slipped into his mind, echoing and silent, there but not, laced with power. The invader smiled and nodded pushing his fear aside. The King was powerful, incredibly so, more so than he was, but that would not protect him. After all, his majesty didn't have Chaos itself on his side. There was no way for him to lose. The King would fall and then the throne would belong to a new ruler, and the Guild would be no more…

Yes, abandon your fear! Do it now and secure your place as ruler of the Underworld.

A fireball flew at the King but he laughed "Is that all the mighty rebel conqueror has to throw at me? Pathetic!" and then he sidestepped gracefully…

Right into the path of another fireball.

It didn't kill him, there was not one alive who had that power, but it did knock him off his feet. The blast was the most powerful thing his enemy could manage, and it was enough to send the King flying backwards. Right into a wall behind him…

Except the, until then, faithful, wall was no longer there, and the King was pushed through a hole of everlasting blackness.

Silence.

The pale one half expected the King to jump back through, furious, just to spite him, but when no such event occurred, the demon was left with a feeling of numb disbelief and dark elation. So caught up in his victory was he, that he did not notice the black box shoot out from the place the King had fallen through and skid across the room into a hidden corner, gold words flashing in the dim light, a quiet hum buzzing from within…

The demon had only just composed himself when his followers darted into the room. Of course, they could not all fit in, and many were standing outside, but his most loyal were now surrounding him. No one dared comment at the now scarred half of his face but he heard one whisper a command for a healer. The Seer stepped forward, chocolate skin flecked with demon blood. So, there had been some more resistance, interesting…

"My Lord, you were successful." it was no question, but a statement, and he nodded before turning to the throne the former King had occupied not so long ago and sitting down.

It filled him with smugness to be claiming the seat that had once been his enemies and he remembered the countless times he had imagined this moment and decided imagining did not compare. His face throbbed in agony but he ignored it; he must appear strong.

"The King is no longer of this world. As of this moment, the control of the Underworld belongs to me. The Werewolves shall be hunted for their closeness to the former ruler, the factions united, the Vampires respected…but the Queen who stood against me will be tried for her treachery."

The room was filled with cheers and respectful bows.

He held up a hand and they silenced immediately, filling the pale one with a electrifying sense of control and power. "From this hour, I will replace the King" he spat the name out like a particularly foul curse. "and I shall hence be known as the…"

A whisper in his mind.

"Source-Of-All-Evil!"

And so it was, King Edmund faded into obscurity, the Lord of Valgate, Emperor of all the Underworld, Commander of the Hellhounds, the Master of the Guild, was only whispered about.

For fear the Source would be listening for signs of rebellion.

But then the Source died…

Yeah, so that was the Prologue. I'll post the next chapter next week (I've already written it...go me lol) and then the other ones should follow. I hope I haven't made you wait too long for this and, if I have, I'm sorry. New readers should know that this is a sequal and some parts may be hard to understand if you haven't read the first story. You may also realise that my line breaks have changed, and that in Forgotten they have been taken out completly. To prevent this happening for Thief, I have decided to use the ffnet line break thing. I don't want to finish this and then lose all my partitions. I still have to go back and sort out the mess caused in my other stories. Thank you for reading. Please review.