Prologue

Once, there was a time of light and dark, an equal balance. There was light in the world, in all of the worlds, but there was also darkness. This is not to be confused with evil, for darkness helps the world rest; not all light is good, either, for it can be used to hurt, or kill.

In the distant past, too far to know precisely, there was a clan born in the darkness, not quite human. They were beautiful, yet unnerving. Their kind had cloaks woven from the deepest night, and they can use these to go to other worlds and observe and wait, for what they don't know; A world older than time and light is what they called home, and is filled with caves that reach deeper than the planet was for this place that they were named the Clan of Darkness.

The elders of the clan forbade all contact with the humans, who had proven themselves time and time again to be untrustworthy. This had arisen because the humans have lived a gray life, swinging from light to dark, and from dark to light. It was not because of their being tainted by darkness, but rather that the qualities of light and dark mix like oil and vinegar, and separate the morals of the individual.

One day, a father and a son from the clan ventured to a world in which the said humans dwelled. The son, whose name is Blumeire, and was eight years old at the time, was startled by the vibrant colors; he had never seen color before, for he had never left the dark caves in which he was born. Frightened, he cried out, "Papa, my eyes are burning!"

Chuckling, the father replied, "No son, you are just seeing the beauties of a human world." His voice, however, went serious. "I took you here to show you the beauty of a human world, but only to warn you against it and its inhabitants. This is only a grey world, where darkness and light dwells as one. If it were pure light, your big black eyes would melt from their sockets. As for the humans, they are worse. They would befriend you, then thrust you into the pure oblivion and play in your ashes."

Trembling, Blumeire asked his father, who was the leader of the clan, "why did you take me here, Papa? I don't want to die. Why take me here, into this den of beasts?" The father abruptly interjected before the destressed child could go further. "No, son, these are not beasts, for they have thought, reason, and morals. A true beast does not know right and wrong. You were one, before we taught you. But these humans, they were not taught as you were, so they are to be pitied, and feared." The little boy, his obsidian-black eyes shining in the sun, was silent for a while. Then, he finally asked, "How come we don't teach them?" The father, intrigued by the question, said, "I don't know, Blumeire. How about we ask your grandpapa?" They vanished in a brief absence of darkness. The child vanished ten years later, never to be seen in those caves again.

When the boy vanished, a stranger arrived unnoticed in the caves, muttering under their breath. They were searching for something rumored to be kept in the centermost cave, something of great power. The person, if it was even a person, carefully stepped over the sleeping salamanders and reached the cave with desire in their heart. There was a chest, cursed by its burden to poison any who try to pick the lock. However, this cannot stop the figure, for it had discovered a key and carefully put it in the lock, and opened the chest, which sucked the light out of the already dark alcove. Inside, there was a book, bound with the skin of a moon's shadow and inked with the tear of an Amazee Dayzee, the rarest and most innocent creature in the many worlds. The creature chuckled, or perhaps it was a clearing of the throat, then stole the book, dashing into the night with the Dark Prognosticus, the most dangerous prophesy ever conceived.