Hello my fellow readers and writers! So, if you read my "A Forced Hand," you know that I am working on a new project alongside "Boundaries" called the King's Court. Well, here is the first installment! I do not own Elsword or any of its content. Any character similarities are either coincidental or owned by KoG and KoG Games.
What is the world? What allows it to exist as it does?
Here, it is contrast.
Good and evil. Drought and flood. Sanity and madness. Life and death.
Light and darkness.
That is how Elrios was born. No, not just the continent that bears the name.
Elrios is defined by both its material realm and its sister realm, the demon world. There are no exceptions here. To exist, there must be contrast. Even the gods of this world are not exempt from this rule.
Elia, the God of Light.
Henir, the God of Darkness.
Two sides of a single coin, where Elia governs the material realm, while Henir oversees the unseen forces of the immaterial dimension. One cannot exist without the other. Should the light shine too bright, the invisible threads within the darkness that bind it would unravel, and nothing would remain. Should the darkness consume the light, the physical forms of all that exist would wither away as the unseen forces devour them.
That was how Elrios was born. Elia created the material realm, and in order to maintain the balance, the demon realm arose along with it, unseen but there. While Ishmael, a lesser goddess under Elia gifted the El to the material realm she loved, Henir set to work on the ties between the two worlds amidst the catastrophe of creation.
This was the event known as Ragnarok, the creation of two worlds that must be balanced and connected; because without one, the other would fade away. And should that come to pass, the world of Elrios would fall into oblivion, a victim of the inscrutable laws that govern it.
"My King…" He knew the caretaker was there, bowing at his feet, without needing to hear his tiny voice. "How do you fare today?"
He removed his finger from the giant slab of blackened stone, and the white runes across its surface faded away with a hiss. "Hm…" A thoughtful hum resonated through the shelves of rock and steel. "I am reminiscing, Alak." He turned an eye of ebon flame onto his attendant, who barely stood up to his ankle.
He saw him bow deeper. "Reminiscing, My King? Is something troubling you?" The titan gave this lesser demon a lot of credit. He was able to read the visitors to The Archive about as well as these stone tablets that he watched over. But he was the only one this creature couldn't read, at least perfectly.
"Ah…" The King breathed, the granite all around rumbling to his sigh. "Not yet, Alak. Not yet…" He released the tablet in his hand and the ancient chains that rooted it to the shelf clanged to life, slowly pulling its cargo back into its rightful place.
I see. Forgive me if I spoke out of place, My King…" The King could tell this was merely out of courtesy, not fear. Like many of the other demons within these walls, the caretaker of The Archives, Alak, admired and adored their King.
"None is needed, Alak. Tend to your duties," he commanded. He wanted to be alone with his thoughts for the time being. Alak bowed his head silently as he slithered away, his serpentine body sliding across the stone floor, sending chilling echoes through the vast chambers. When the sound finally disappeared, The King took a moment to observe The Archive. He didn't have to, he built it after all, but these fleeting distractions were comforting at times.
Towering shelves of obsidian rose even above their creator's head by at least another of him, each filled with massive slabs of ebon stone. Each of these was linked to their shelves by chains with links as thick as his fingers and glowing with sickly green symbols. That was a spell he cast on them, to ensure that none but he, and those with his favor, could touch them. And they were convenient, as they locked the rocky volumes in their place while drawing them back in should they be removed.
The vast room was sparsely lit with massive torches of blue flame, but that was not how one read here. As he read earlier, contrast was important. The glowing white runes that made up their language were simple enough to read on their black vessels.
He had been distracted long enough. The King stretched his leathery wings as black as the night itself before striding down the shelf. He knew what he was looking for, so there was no need to pause and check each tablet. He eventually came to a stop at a collection of unassuming stone tomes. And by unassuming, that meant they looked exactly the same as every other volume in this place.
But The King plucked one from its shelf, its chain leash rattling as its cargo shifted, and rested it on his forearm. He then extended his index finger and placed it on the cold stone.
As if on command, what was once a blank rock face glowed with pale white runes. But they were distinctly different from the last ones he was reading a moment ago. He would know.
He authored them after all…
The demon realm. That is what the mortal realm calls it. It matters not what name it bears. A name will not change what it is.
A King however… That is a name.
It carries power. It is power, but only when its bearer is a true King.
A true King takes because it is their right. They bear the weight to rule, and the right to take for their kingdom.
A false King is a thief. They have no power, thus they seek to steal it. A power stolen is not yours. Only when you take by your right is it yours.
I knew I was a King. I am still a King, because I take for my kingdom. I do not steal. It is my right to take.
It is my power. It is why I exist.
However, as a King, I must show restraint. A King is nothing without a kingdom. If a King takes in excess, their kingdom buckles and collapses under its own weight.
Then, The King is no longer a King.
They are nobody, a fitting name for one with nothing.
I had no form. No hands to take with. No eyes to see what was to be taken. No mouth to command or consume with.
But I had my right.
I was birthed in the light.
And I took it with my first breath.
So, what did you think? I like to do these kinds of things to open new stories. This chapter was mostly to give you a glimpse at who The King is. But only a glimpse. As a disclaimer, The King is based on Oryx from Destiny: The Taken King, but only vague similarities. This will be a shorter series than my other works, but it won't be two or three chapters. I hope you will all come back for more with the next update. In the meantime, please Read and Review. Until next time!