Darkest of Thrones (The Blight #1)

Prologue

At first, there was nothing. But at the same time, there was something. Something so huge and so incredibly powerful that there are no words that could possibly describe it.

That Entity was everything. And from everything, it created two beings, neither alive nor dead—the Celestling and the Inferling. They were neither male nor female, but something other, something neutral and unique. Each was given power of the same intensity and potency. The Celestling was given the task of creating everything that lives, from the lightest of leaves to the fastest of cheetahs; from the smallest of ants to the tallest of trees. On the other hand, the Inferling was tasked to create all that is inert, but just as beautiful and powerful as the Celestling's creatures. They gave birth to huge mountains and restless seas, tiny grains of sand and powerful winds.

The two beings worked together and created a beautiful world. They were allies, friends, siblings even.

Everything was as it should.

Until the living creatures the Celestling had created started worshiping their Maker. They raised temples for them; wrote prayers and poems celebrating them. But never once did they think about the Inferling, simply because they weren't born from them.

However, the Inferling didn't especially enjoy being left behind, being forgotten by the things they had themself created. But inanimate objects do not think, nor can they acknowledge their Maker. And so, the Inferling was left to be forgotten by everyone, and jealousy began consuming them.

While the Celestling was enjoying praises and offerings from their creations, the Inferling decided to create new beings of their own. Beings that were something close to alive and capable of thought. However, that wasn't part of the Inferling's purpose, and the Entity hadn't given them the power to do such things. But the Inferling was resourceful, and from the deepest and darkest of powers they drew magic and used it to design creatures that would serve and worship them.

The credens.

Said creatures were born from darkness and evil. They weren't natural and strongly disturbed the laws of nature and balance. They were dangerous predators that killed everything in their path, and soon a war broke out between them and the Celestling's favored beings—the Fae.

The Chaotic War lasted for hundreds of years. The world was torn apart by its destruction, and both the Inferling and the Celestling were powerless as their creatures destroyed one another. Neither of them had wished for such chaos to unleash. And just as the world threatened to be ruined by the raging war, the Celestling's creatures started getting the upper hand. Nature was taking back what was rightfully its; life won. The Celestling was victorious—the Fae had saved the world from annihilation.

What happened then couldn't have been calledpeace. It was the calm before another storm broke out. The Inferling had lostthis war, but they sought vengeance. And for hundreds of years, they bided theirtime, alone, silent, planning an escape. Planning revenge.