Cursed Without A Crown

00 | The Overseer of Dirt

PROLOGUE

TWO CENTURIES AGO

Building a world out of nothing wasn't the hardest part. The most difficult part was keeping it together.

Gregon, one of the most powerful sorcerers that ever lived, was so potent that he challenged the Supreme to bestow upon him the hardest and most taxing task of all. He was also so arrogant that he believed himself capable of anything, and perhaps even one day, challenge the god himself.

So the Supreme, being all-knowing, decided to indulge the obstinate sorcerer and offered him a vast land to oversee. With an added condition that no matter how much the need tortured him, he dare not kill a single soul on that land.

To say Gregon was immensely disappointed would be an understatement. Oversee a pile of dirt and not harm a single head for who knew how long? It was obviously a chore for those of less importance. Those who didn't have enough control over themselves and their powers.

But nevertheless, the sorcerer accepted without a word. He had asked for something with great difficulty, and even though he believed it was hardly going to be a challenge, he took it upon himself to prove he was worthy.

Gregon stood unseen on his land as he surveyed it. There were all sorts of creatures and magic bearers: Witches, wizards, goblins, dragons and dragonlords, demons, sorceresses, trolls and griffins. He allowed all who touched his land to continue inhabiting it, just as long as they bore his mark.

As he was quick to discover, there was a huge downside in having the inhabitants live on the land without boundaries. So to avoid unnecessary chaos, he decided to segregate them into four distinct kingdoms.

These four kingdoms were each composed of creatures and magic bearers that had the same or similar magical abilities and desires. Goblins with the evil sorceresses and demons were placed in the far south.

The rest, being less threatening than those in the south, were situated at the north: Griffins with the witches and warlocks, dragons with their dragonlords, and the trolls with the fey.

The fey.

He had almost forgotten that that wretched race was on the land. His land.

At that moment, he understood the challenge that the Supreme had given him.

Needless to say, the fey pissed him off. Really pissed him off. Just looking at them acting so normal and all over his land—bonding freely with their surroundings—made Gregon angrier. He already hated the fey, and seeing them so lively and pretentious made it worse. They made it seem like they were such a harmless, giving, and helpful race. But he had been at the mercy of the fey a century ago, and they had not been anything short of gruesome.

He had seen their true, ugly colours.

So, being the unforgiving and unforgetting sorcerer that he was, and since he couldn't kill even one, he took it upon himself to reject them his mark and stripped them of their magic and memory. Feeling no remorse, he harnessed all that power into a powerful crown. An enchanted crown that he had conjured from nothing, burying it deep in the far west corner of the land.

And to avoid them receiving any other inkling of hope, Gregon also sucked the memories of the other magic bearers—memories that involved the fey kind—and shoved them along with the magical object he'd buried.

He knew he was being unjust; they shouldn't pay for the horrible crimes that others committed. But there were some things that one couldn't just let go of.

Besides, someone had to pay.

Gregon could banish them, he knew. But he'd rather have them live with that shame and helplessness as payment for what their kind put him through.

Word would probably spread that the fey were being punished by the heartless sorcerer and were bound to remain on his land. But he couldn't care less. This was his land and he did as he pleased.

However, Gregon knew at the back of his mind that a day would come when they would discover that they were more than just powerless walking sticks. But until that day showed its face, Gregon was going to seek his own justice in their disgrace and confusion. In their lack of magical identity.

He couldn't kill them, but at least he could enjoy their suffering.

*~~~*

I'll see y'all on the other side ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°