'The lord of murder of shall perish and his absence he shall create many mortal sons who will arise from all directions and raze the land to flames'
Attributed to ancient seer Alaundo the Wise, year unknown.
The void stretched out into infinity, nothing but pitch black darkness that stretched on for ever and ever. Davard floated through the darkness not quite conscious but aware of his surroundings and the malignant presence hiding somewhere with the blackness of the void. He seemed to float forever lost in the darkest of nights, he lost all sense of direction and sight and even time itself became an indistinct blur, the only thing to mark that he truly existed was the cold air that rippled past his incorporeal form as he drifted along in the complete dark. He floated for what could have been days or years or but a few minutes or even a few seconds, he did not know and did not care. Suddenly the illusion was cruelly shattered like a pain of glass hit by a hammer. A bright light had appeared in the distance, small and pale in comparison into the vast emptiness of the void but it was something to grasp onto, some confirmation that he was not dead, something to measure time and direction with. Davard's mind willed against the bonds that held it to send his consciousness towards the light but found he had no control over his movements in this strange place.
He fought and fought and against the tight bonds that held him to his course but to no avail and his heart slowly sank as he saw the light blink out and he was again lost in a timeless void. Reasoning if there was no landmark to head to there was no point in trying to control his drifting consciousness he let himself go and float serenely once more. Slowly he counted in his head, seconds then minutes, but quickly lost count and then forgot time all together again. Just as he was becoming used to the ever-present darkness once again the light burst into life in front of him, closer this time. Knowing it was going to wink out anyway he tried to not to concentrate on it but since it was the only thing to concentrate on he couldn't help it. Floating towards it for what felt the first time ever he felt heat as he came ever closer to the light and would have shuddered at the sensation had he been physically able to. As he looked forwards, the light almost filling his entire field of vision, it suddenly winked out of existence again but Davard was surprised to find he could still see something in the dark.
Against the pure black backdrop it was very strange to see something darker than that, a great armoured man, blacker than anything Davard had ever seen, so dark that had the void been filled with light the figure would still be as black as pitch. Suddenly a light flicked open on the head, a demonic eye filed with flames, resplendent against the purest black of the surrounding and it fixated Davard, the yes burned into his consciousness, saw into his soul and laid bare all his deepest fears and desires. Then out of nowhere a great booming laugh erupted out, tearing Davard's senses to shreds fraying his nerves. "You fear me don't you?" the voice boomed and Davard could not reply, helplessly staring into the great eyes unable to speak a word, his lips bound together lie glue.
"You do not know?" The voice seemed to pause. "You're Guardian has a lot to answer for."
Davard tried to scream out, to anyone, to anything to stop this terrible voice from destroying his soul.
The voice laughed once again, louder this time and a rift that was some kind of mouth appeared in the dark figure, bright light spilling out. "You scream but for who? You are alone my son. You are one of a kind and you cannot escape your destiny. You will become me!" The light from the mouth suddenly expanded tenfold and exploded outward smashing into Davard's fragile mind with essence tearing force, ripping him apart and hitting him with a wall of sheer pain.