Prologue
Before eternity began, there was the Fall, and among the fallen there was
the demon. The demon knew desolation, pain and rage. Among its own kind
viciousness was virtue, and weakness was eradicated. In abject solitude
among the teaming hordes of the nether regions it dwelt, fighting to
subsist, subsisting to grow in power and influence, gaining power not for
pleasure but to ensure survival. At last, in time, it ascended to the world
of man though the will of the Maker. The Maker gave the man unto the demon
to consume and through that consumption the demon was brought forth into the
waking world. The man gave the demon form and face, mind and memory, and so
in a fashion the two were made one.
But the Maker was flawed and new to the world. Unlike others of its kind it
sought not to dominate its childe but to be nurtured and protected by it. So
the demon drew on the memories of the man and from its first moonlit,
blood-filled night it was set apart from its own kind. The Maker's Maker had
shackled her power through his deliberate shattering of her mind and spirit.
Her gift brought forth her pertinacious childe to stand between her and her
Master's whim.
But Fate removed the Maker's Master and the demon called on the man's
compassion and bound itself to it Sire not only by lust and blood, as was
the way of their kind, but by loyalty and honor. Together the Maker and her
childe roamed and hunted, ever at her caprice. To provide succor to his
fragmented sire, drawing on his lost humanity, the demon used the man's
patience and intellect, but hid this weakness from his own kind. To hide his
humanity he made sport of legends, and unable to rise in stature through his
Maker's deeds, sought the chosen ones and became the Slayer of Slayers.
His Maker, seeing her flaw reflected in her imperfect childe, cast the demon
adrift. And the demon dwelt apart; separated from the darklings by the very
traits the Maker crafted, shunning the light-kinder it hunted, even as it
was hunted.
Time passed and the world changed, man made new magic of caged lighting and
studied dark arts of the mind and body. Humanity, no longer cowering in fear
or oblivion, bred new children ripe for war. The demon fell, as prey became
predator, and was torn apart and reborn with synthetic magic. The magic
harnessed the demon but not the man, and so this one, unique among its
brethren, secured freedom. The demon's nature was obstructed and turned more
and more to the man's reason and guile to survive. The memories of the man
suggested sanctuary lay not among its own kind, who by nature would turn on
the weak, but with the light-kinder, whose very fostering of such weakness
made them prey to the darklings. Upon receiving sanctuary among the warriors
of light the demon made study of their weakness and plotted its rise back
into power.
But the man studied also and noted their strengths. The demon was
unsuccessful. Its bid for freedom was foiled and its dark hopes were sown on
infertile ground. Alone again, the hunger for security and kindred raged as
strong as the bloodlust, and the demon was schooled by the man. He saw the
very weakness he had attempted to exploit turned again and again into
strengths. The demon waited and the man studied and forced treaty on the
defenders of mankind. Weakened, he craved strength, and worthy foe became
worthy ally. The very one he had hated was now desired, and the demon chose
his mate. The mate was fierce and strong, loyal and beautiful without the
fractures of his sire. She gathered around her unworthy minions and the
demon was jealous. He called on the memories of the man and pursued his
mate, but his suit was rejected. The demon raged, and the man studied. The
minions lacked its mate's fierceness and strength yet were valued and
accepted. The man reasoned that the demon must embrace loyalty and show
compassion for these were the weaknesses the mate valued in her minions. The
demon had honed both in caring for it damaged maker, and again pursued its
mate. Again the mate spurned him, but called on his strength and wisdom to
guard the light. The man despaired but the demon accepted cruelty and
returned loyalty to the mate. And in the end the demon's mate gave unto him
that which she most valued; not her love, but those whom she loved , and
entrusted to him the care of her most precious one.
Part 1
Back to Reconstruction Main Page
