Prologue

The stars were ablaze as chaos and order struck each other repeatedly. In this one moment, the cosmos held it's breath as the fate of a world along with its inhabitants and those who needed their worship to remain alive was decided on this one battlefield.

The sounds of war and violence deafened all those who belonged to the plane of mortals. Thousands of men, elves, dwarves and shades died as they fought back the darkness, the force they called the black horde, to the crack of Anher'even, the underworld which spawned the darkness which threatened to destroy Darkshine. It took Seven Kings to form a mighty Empire and an united army to march against the Dark Horde. Millions of lives and thousands of cities burning were the cost of building the Empire, thousands more were spend keeping that order in place as the Emperor and his Seven Kings fought those who did not join them and the Darkness. There was no neutral party in this war.

Above the fighting armies, unseen to all but a select few, were two large giants who fought their own war. One was a handsome man who wore a blue tabard and wielded a great long spear. The other was a man covered in black as his armour sported several skulls on his shoulders. Each skull was one of their peers. A god slain and their essence stripped to fuel the hunger of the one they called the Godslayer.

The two armies below fought for seven days, neither side retreating or advancing. Thousands lay dead in piles as even the carrion bird counted among the dead. The brief reprieves came when the gods above rested for a short moment before they continued their deadly dance. Both gods backed away as they gathered their strength. "Your days are numbered, Balur!" the blue god said." I have the power of all the remaining gods, you are only fighting off the inevitable!"
"That may be so Weor, but ALL of your children deserve to life on this world. Not just the pretty ones!"
"You have killed our brothers and sisters over those mongrels?!" Weor twirled his spear around as the elven archers below knocked their arrows to their bows." Those were a mistake, a first draft of my greater dream!"

"They have dreams as well, brother!" Balur retorted. He held out his hand which summoned a dark whetstone and began sharpening his black sword. Below the orcish drummers began their deadly song for one final march. " They were YOUR children and you cast them aside. Calling them nightmares and monsters. If it were not for them your dream could not have been made!"
"And what made you their champion, brother? What made you the Godslayer?! " Weor cried out." You corrupted them!"

Balur glared. "You STILL do not understand, do you?" He threw his sharpening stone away as the Generals below called for one last charge." I am the voice of the children you cast out, I am the voice of those who had enough of YOUR rule. I GAVE THEM A HOME! You sanctimonious prattle about order and justice. About beauty and light…all lies. All ways to control everyone to do YOUR bidding. Men, Elves, Dwarves, Shades, Halflings, Orcs, Ogres, Eir, the other gods, me. We are all pawns in your little game of order. I am the only one who had enough of your orders."

"You are mad." Weor glared as he took an defensive stance. The armies below him moved in formation and waited for the oncoming charge." My rules and order are the only things keeping us from Oblivion! You are killing us, ALL of us if you are not stopped! And you are NOT one of us!"
"Then the time of gods should be over then!" Balur said as he held out his sword. The dark banners were raised as the Dark Horde moved forward." I will remake this world and plunge it into darkness! Where no beauty or ugliness exists. Where order and chaos are left alone. A new world where all living things will huddle together in fear to survive. A new world. A free world!"
"The world will be free." Weor agreed." But it will be with the sun shining high and bright!"
"Then let us end this, once and for all." Balur retorted.

The time of talk was over. Both knew this would be the end for either or both of them. Balur roared as the eclipse above them flashed red. He charged forward, black sword in hand, as he went to slay his brother. The Godlslayer held his sword high and send it down toward his brother's neck.
Weor held his ground and jabbed his spear forward at the last possible moment. Both their weapons struck flesh, both their weapons mortally wounded each side.

Balur held his bleeding side as his dark drops of blood fell down from the heavens. The drops turned to fire and rained down on both armies. The Dark Horde and Army of the Empire alike fled from the chaos as the former ran for the underworld while the rest fled to the hills above the bloodshed. Weor's gasps for air caused the lines below to falter as the soldiers below, no matter what race they hailed from, fled to whatever brought them to what he hoped was safety. Balur stumbled back to his crevice, glaring at his older brother." This…is not over, Dreamer." He disappeared into the crevice and vanished along with the Horde that fled to the underworld.

Weor laid back as the stars began to die one by one. "Eir…." He reached for the moon above." My love…my wife…" He wished for her to be here with him. To stray his hair and say he would be alright. Already he could see a faint figure of a beautiful woman ride down on a spectral horse from the moon with several others of their kin. But Weor knew he would not last long enough for them to arrive. He failed them, he failed his brothers and sisters. His children, Darkshine, all of creation. In the end he could only do one thing. He closed his eyes and focused al of his remaining energy on one person in the timelines. One person who would be there when the darkness would return to swallow Darkshine whole. With his lasts thoughts he hoped that energy would be enough and that the person would be ready for the task ahead of her.

The smell of smoke and burning flesh brought tears to her eyes as the blonde girl kept staring at the carnage before her. In one flash, one heartbeat, her entire life changed. Her house was burning all around her as she kept staring at the lifeless body of the woman before her. The closet from upstairs crashed down when the flaming boulder crashed through the roof of the home and fell upon the woman with its full weight. She did not die instantly no. She suffered her last dying words nothing more but cries of pain and incoherent cries of pain and pleas to the goddess Eir to extend her life for a bit longer or to save her child from Balur's Hordes. Neither pleas were heard.

The girl clutched her mother's hand and knelt beside her, waiting for her to wake up from her sleep.
The door was being kicked in and the vile tongue of monsters send chills down the girl's spine. But she stayed. She had to stay.
The door came off its hinges as the creatures came forth. They were ugly creatures, green skinned abominations. Mere shadows of the people that once were stolen from the world and dragged to the underworld by the dark lord Balur. After the day of the eclipse, the poor unfortunate souls returned as Orcs. Those souls with their dark wicked blades grinned and cackled as they saw the little girl.
"Good, one left." The largest of the Orcs said." Take her. Nearly of age to. Will brood more later. Yes."
"Yes boss." A smaller one replied and moved to the girl. It's hands reached toward the girl as it cackled with glee. The cackle turned to a scream of pine as the knife flashed from the girl's other hand and stabbed the orc in the hand. The creature cried out in pain and ran around the house, jumping up and down, as the others laughed at their brother's misfortune.

"That one has spirit!" One of the Orcs said as they watched the girl slowly raise with a bloodied knife in her hand. They were not going to take her, not alive at least. Her eyes were glowing with hate as her hand clenched to the cooking knife. She barely paid attention to her home crumbling down because of the flames.
"Take her, house is coming down!" The leader said and shoved another Orc forward. She lashed out and drew more blood. She kept stabbing and punching and biting but the Orc group dragged her from the burning home. She was crying out in anger before they gagged her with a piece of dark cloth.
"Noise on that one..." one of the Orcs growled." I will enjoy breaking her spine."
"No, need her. For work." The leader said.
The girl kept struggling, biting on the cloth. The last thing she remembered was the Orc giving the order to knock her out before the blow to the head came.

She dreamed. She knew she was in danger and she had to wake up, but she dreamed. At first she thought she saw her village burning, but it was more than that. She was stood in the middle of the town square, next to the statue of Emperor Berhardt the elder. She saw people dying around her, people she knew for years. The baker who always made extra cream buns for her, the blacksmith who winked at her and even laughed when she insulted him, the local priestess who urged her the virtue of patience in all manners. And her mother who braided her hair with a big smile on her face.
She wanted to cry, but she couldn't. She wanted to scream but her throat was not large enough. She wanted to kill the Orcs for what they did, but she was to weak.
"You are ready." A voice said to her. The girl turned around and saw a man with a blue tabard in a warrior's armour look at her." You are ready for my gift."
She looked for a weapon and hastily picked up a rock and threw it at him. The man slapped it aside easily." Rebellious I see… I have no time for this. If you need to be the weapon that stops Bhaal you need to start anew. A Fresh start." He walked over to her. She tried to run but he came ever closer no matter how hard she ran or dodged.
"Hold still girl!" he called to her." There is little time ad we have to much work to do."
she kept running as she ignored his calls. She jumped over turned over carts, over cow corpses, passed through people running and fighting and dying. She stood in front of an dead end. She cursed and turned around and faced the blue warrior. He took her by her throat instantly and started to disappear.
"We will both begin anew, a new life. A new name. Have faith young one…have faith…"

The girl awoke with a gasp of air. Her eyes darted all over as she tried to place where she was. The green creatures around her were dead, the buildings around them were burned out as a cold wind began to pick up. The moon was out and cast a horrible view on the dead village around her. The blonde girl immediately jumped up and ran away from the dead. She kept running, past the village's meager wooden gates and past the outlying burned out hovels after. She did not know how long she ran. Or when she was spotted by the riders behind her. They called her and asked her to stop but she ignored them and kept running. She did stop when they gained on her and pulled a circle around them.

The armoured horse riders were mostly women save for three men who wore dark armour and one man who dismounted and walked over to her. He looked older then the rest. His beard and hair were gray, his face spoke of experience and his kind smile actually assured her he was trustworthy.
"It's alright my girl, you are save now." He said with a smile. " You gave our horses quite a bit of trouble. They aren't used to running through forests you know."
The girl was panting as she tried to collect herself.
"Whats your name?" he asked her.
"She's just a peasant, Lord Oberon." One of the women riders said . she held the banner of a black lion on a yellow field. Her features were hidden behind her helmet but what the girl saw was a stern face with piercing green eyes." She's probably from a village nearby. Not worth bothering."
"You know which one Lady Karland?" the man called Oberon asked her.
"Vestig, the farming one is nearby." Lady Karland replied.
"My lord, her clothes are covered in soot and blood." One of the other female knights noted.
"I see…my girl, has something happened to your village?"

The girl looked at the group around them, her eyes still filled with caution. "Orcs." The blonde girl spoke. The knights all muttered amongst themselves until Lady Karland called them to calm down.
"That would explain the smoke we saw earlier today…" Oberon sighed sadly." Did anyone else make it out, girl?" she shook her head." I'm sorry for your loss…" He offered her hand." Come, lets get you to Karland hold. You can rest easy there."
The girl looked at his hand cautiously, but eventually took it and sat behind him on his horse. As Lady Karland called the party to advance the girl pulled in closer to Oberon." Faith."
"What?"
"My name. My name is Faith."

TBC