Prologue - Primordial Twilight

When the world was still in its infancy, before man began to roam the lands, there was the Muah forest. Swaying gently in the breeze, the young and sturdy oaks of the forest towered high into the air. The spirits that inhabited the trees were as old as time, and much to the surprise of the creator of the world, they decided to spend their time on the planet as plants. The still of the woods was haunting, a thin mist veiling the deepest mysteries of its depths. The flow of time meant little to the spirits of the trees, as all still seemed to be trapped in the ebb and flow of time, the sky in eternal twilight.

After who knows how long of a time span had passed, the wood nymphs began to appear, children of the Muah forest. They were small timid creatures, some say born from the fallen branches of the oaks. Their job was to care for the forest and to maintain the balance as more and more creatures began to appear on the planet. Preserving the equilibrium was very simple at first, since the woodland animals interacted in a way to preserve the overall balance. However, man was born.

Unlike the other creatures on the planet, man did not seek equilibrium with his surroundings. The trees of the forest were loving at first, looking over the fledgling creatures like proud parents watching their baby's first steps. However as the human thirst for expansion and improvement took root, the trees were alarmed to see expanses of torn down forest and game hunting. What was the creator thinking, bringing these brazen, brash creatures to the gentle lands the trees had come to love?

Besides their thirst for conquest, 'progress' as the humans so optimistically called it, human beings also carried with them rebellion. No, not a rebellion in the sense of a country rebelling against another for some injustice, but more of a rebellion against the code of ethics and laws the trees had always taken for granted. The mortal heart carried with it negative emotions of hate, pride, envy, and greed. Human emotion was so strong it seemed to waft through the air like a bad wind, casting a foul spiritual taint that sadly only the trees of Muah were aware of. This was how 'he' came to be born.

A fledgling sapling born near the heart of the great Muah woods sprouted from the ground and took in its first ray of sunlight. Muah trees are born pure spiritually, but only moments after coming into the world; this sapling had already tasted the taint of the evil in men's hearts. It developed a hunger for the foul miasma, feeding off of the negative energy generated by wars and suffering. Nourishing itself on human despair, the young sapling grew tall like the other trees. However it was twisted and deranged, its trunk gnarled and its branches tangled and withered. The wood nymphs dared not go near this tree, as they could feel the malice emanating from it. This tree was the true form of Exdeath.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 1 - The beginning of the end

The sun rose slowly across the horizon, brilliantly lighting up the sky with its brilliant glow. Rays streaked through Prince Galuf's window, lightly prodding him awake from his slumber. Galuf was a young man of nineteen years of age. It had only been recently that his facial features had begun to set in and he really looked like an adult. Groggily sitting upright, the prince rubbed his eyes and let out a big yawn. Galuf's room was truly fit for royalty. His bed was expansive and fitted with regal purple sheets made of pure silk. The room was mostly filled with knickknacks and trinkets he picked up on stately visits to far away places. Rising from bed and getting dressed, the prince took a moment to enjoy the cityscape view from his window. The kingdom of Bal was one of the largest kingdoms in the world and perhaps the most revered. As far as Galuf was concerned, the allure of his home wasn't how many ships the government had or how many bales of wheat were produced yearly. No, these things were a trifle. What truly made Bal great was that for the last ten years the city was a beacon of peace and understanding, a place other peoples and nations could look to for guidance. Finally dressed and ready to meet the day, Galuf walked downstairs for his daily sword training.

The prince's personal trainer was a rather strict and gruff ex military officer of about sixty five years of age. Galuf never really believed that number, even though his teacher had a full head of silver hair and wrinkled facial features. The reason he never believed the man could be so old was that he still could fight as well as any new recruit, and had the strength and vigor of anyone half his age. Galuf yawned and walked into the courtyard where his trainer was waiting for him.

"It's good to see you're on time for once."

"I'm here I'm here, I still say it's too early for this Reinalt…" said the prince yawning.

"You will call me master Reinalt and may you never forget that," said the trainer, drawing his sword.

Galuf simply chuckled a bit. "No disrespect for the master huh?" thought the young man.

"Let us begin," said Reinalt leveling his sword. Galuf drew his and training soon began. The prince was a renowned swordsman as well as archer, and was quite athletic. Galuf swung his sword expertly, calmly parrying his master's attacks and dishing out many of his own. However, Reinalt still was one above Galuf, as the prince goofed and aimed too high, allowing Reinalt to expertly duck under his blow. Coming up, the master placed his sword near his disciples face. Galuf smiled nervously.

"If this were real you wouldn't be smiling, you'd be shish-kabob…" said Reinalt walking back into position.

"Never underestimate the elderly I always say…" thought Galuf readying himself for the next session of his sparring.

After his morning training session, Galuf made his way towards the banquet hall where he would feast on whatever the chef had prepared for the day. Much to the young royal's dismay, however, Reinalt always insisted on a strict diet. Galuf sat in his chair and pulled up the silver lid, revealing a bowl full of Kelgarian gruel. For those of you who have never had the pure privilege of trying this werewolf delicacy, it is a mix of wheat gruel and chunks of practically raw meat and fish with seasoning. While most Kelgarians enjoy the meal as a staple at breakfast time, human tastes are far different.

"Reinalt insisted on it didn't he?" said Galuf making a face.

Making a face, the prince sighed and looked at the chef who simply shrugged.

"You'll grow strong if you eat it son," said the King who had just entered the banquet hall and seated himself at the opposite end of the long dining table.

Galuf's father was a kind man at heart, and it showed in his soft yet strong gaze. The king was decked out in full regal attire, red satin robe and all.

"Don't tell me you agree with the old codger! This is even fit for people to eat!" complained Galuf sheepishly picking at his meal.

"Whatever he deems fit for your consumption is perfectly fine with me. Besides it'll build character," said the king chuckling.

The queen, flanked by three ladies in waiting, soon appeared and seated herself next to the king. Galuf looked more like his mother than his father. They both shared the same dusty colored hair and piercing hazel eyes.

"It'd be nice if the boy could just eat what he wants some days. He is the prince after all dear," said the queen as she was being served breakfast.

"You'll need the energy son, as we have a very busy schedule ahead of us. We'll be departing for Surgate at high noon. We have that treaty to sign you know…" said the king, but Galuf soon lost interest in the long list of pleasantries and duties. It was at times like these that the prince wondered if he really was cut out for the life of royalty. Sure the mode of living was fantastic, but what a bore!

"Dad hasn't even gone on one adventure since I was ten. I'd go for anything exciting, even if it were something cliché like fighting a fire breathing dragon," thought Galuf.

Finishing his meal in protest, Galuf and his father went outside of the castle and boarded the carriage which was waiting for them. The ride to the docks was rather quiet and pleasant. However the monotonous rolling wheat fields didn't really aid Galuf in his quest for something of interest.

"Maybe Zeza and I can ditch the ceremonies and go exploring or something, I'm sure dad would never notice. He'd probably be too busy making speeches or something," thought Galuf resting his head on his hand, a look of pure disinterest on his face as he watched the rolling scenery.

Prince Zeza and Prince Galuf had been friends since as far back as they could remember. They both usually were too bored with their father's affairs of state and took off on short adventures around Surgate castle. After an hour or so the carriage finally made it to the port where Galuf and his father would sail off to Surgate. Climbing out of the carriage, the king and prince were saluted by loyal soldiers and climbed the ramp onto the boat. Galuf liked sailing the most out of any mode of travel because it reminded him of all the books about famous explorers he read as a child. The wind was perfect for sailing, and the smell of salt water refreshed the young prince's senses. At full mast, the ship left the dock and made it's way towards Surgate.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Elsewhere in the great forest of Muah, a group of wood nymphs were huddled around in a circle. Looking on at the tainted tree, they were overcome with fear and terror as they could feel the tree changing forms. A sickening gray haze, almost like thin smoke, began to billow from the roots of the tree. The forest seemed to freeze, the air not picking up and not a sound being made. The form of the tree changed. The branches coalesced into arms, the roots unearthing themselves from the ground turned to legs, and the trunk became the body. Within minutes, the forest was filled with a blinding flash, causing all of the nymphs to cover their eyes. Everything was silent for only a moment, until a low, cackling laugh could be heard. Where the tree had formerly been, now stood a humanoid figure wearing a flowing dark purple cape and mask.

"I am war. I am hatred. I am pain. I…." muttered the strange figure, holding his newly formed hands in front of him.

"I am Exdeath," he said in a cold and chilling tone of voice.

The wood nymphs were frozen in fear as they looked on helplessly. Each of them knew the gravity of what was happening. Exdeath looked up at the sky, his senses sharp and finely tuned. Looking around, he began to eye the wood nymphs and chuckled to himself darkly. The nymphs immediately began to run away, fearing for there very lives. Sadly, no matter how fast they could run nothing would save them. Dark tendrils of pure miasma erupted from the inner folds of Exdeath's cloak and slithered along the floor of the forest. The first unfortunate wood nymph hardly had time to yell out as a tendril grabbed his right leg, and with nearly unnatural speed, he was sucked back towards Exdeath. Before being engulfed within the folds of Exdeath robes, the wood nymph saw a truly terrible sight. No, nothing like hell fire or demons or anything of that sort. The nymph literally saw nothing, an empty, quiet, painful void of nothingness. Clawing at the ground, the poor nymph was sucked into a void, a realm of non-existence. Soon the rest of the nymphs were sucked in as well, clawing and yelling out for someone to save them from being trapped in eternal darkness. However Exdeath was a being without mercy, without remorse, and swallowed each of them up for possibly all eternity.

"I…I will erase existence…" breathed Exdeath through mask. The forest was silent, out of fear more than anything else.