Prophecy Betrayed

Introduction

It is said that when the world eventually falls into darkness, there will be one who will come from the light to lead humanity out of it.

I yanked my sword out and the body fell to the ground with a sickening splat. Its eyes stared upwards, blank, empty. I gazed out at the other bodies lying around me. They were all the same. Grotesque, horrendous, monstrous, coated in black blood. The true sign of a demon.

This wasn't the first time a horde of monsters attacked me, and it wouldn't be the last. I had been hunted by them my whole life. I'd grown used to them swarming me with their twisted faces and their claws and their horribly misshapen bodies. I had grown used to the smell of viscous blood and ash.

I had grown used to ending their existence with a single swipe of my sword and a burst of flame from my hand.

After years of war and death humanity had finally achieved peace. Lands flourished and great kingdoms of men were built down by the powerful oceans, inside the vast green valleys, high into the mountains whose summits touched the skies.

I remembered being told stories of how beautiful the land had been a long time ago, before I was ever born. Glorious waterfalls that reflected rainbows in the sunlight, sweeping valleys with tall grasses that swayed in the wind, silver clouds in an endless sky, neverending seas of blue.

Life's delicate balance had finally been restored.

Only...it didn't last.

When I came into this world, it was chaos. Everything good and pure and bright had turned into shadows of themselves, blackened by blood and smoke and ash. The lands were ravaged. Forests fell and didn't grow back. Mountains crumbled and crushed cities under rubble. Waters became polluted with dead flesh and disease. And the fires...they left their marks on the world in thick stripes that ran for miles. Even after decades they didn't disappear, forever a painstaking reminder of everything that happened.

It was their fault.

"The monsters...they painted the lands red with human blood. They split the ground open like great jaws of death and swallowed the innocent in an explosion of fire and blood. The screams will never be forgotten."

I walked over the fallen bodies, heading uphill towards the town that lay in ruins ahead. I could envision the grandeur of its former self. Buildings set in white stone, a square bustling with life, high protective walls giving way to green pastures and rich farmland. Only one flag remained on the remnants of the wall now, white with a blond-maned stallion, swaying sadly in the wind. The edges were torn.

"The monsters must be punished."

"The monsters must be punished," I murmured.

"And the people saved."

"And the people saved."

It was said that when the world eventually fell into darkness, there would be one who would come from the light to lead humanity out of it. It was decided by Fate.

I am the Prophecy.