The air was dark. This placeāher homelandāwas supposed to be serene, beautiful. The towering spires of magicwood and stone should have shimmered under the twin moons. The air should have been crisp and pure. The elven guards should have stood tall, clad in silver armor, their emblems gleaming with pride. But they did not.
They were grotesque. Their once-elegant forms were now twisted abominations, monstrous shapes that would make even demons recoil in horror. Their faces were warped, their bodies wreathed in corruptionādefiled, cursed beyond recognition. And the world around her was wrong. The rivers did not flow with crystal-clear water but pulsed with blood. The castle walls were not built of stone but stitched from human skin. The ground itself was alive, shifting beneath her feet, hundreds of unblinking eyes embedded in its flesh.
Sylvia staggered, conjuring a pale light in her trembling hands. But in this unnatural darkness, it was weakādying before her very eyes. Her breath hitched. Her mother and father were not here. Only apparitions. Ghosts that lingered to haunt her.
ThenāLaughter. A low, fractured sound, crawling up her spine like a parasite.
"Hehehejjā¦ hejjrā¦ jejejejrā¦ hahahaā¦ haā¦"
Sylvia's knees nearly buckled. Her heart pounded. She was tired. She was afraid.
She ran. Past the vast castle doors. She pushed through, desperate for escape, sprinting toward what should have been the royal gardensā
But when she opened her eyesā
There were no gardens.
Only horror.
A battlefield stretched before her. Thousands of elves, locked in a desperate, bloody war against hordes of demons. The trees burned, their sacred leaves reduced to cinders. The land was drenched in blood, a crimson sea swallowing the dying. The elves fought with everything they had. When their weapons shattered, they ripped their own bones free to use as swords. When their shields failed, they offered their own flesh in desperation.
It was not enough.
And at the center of the carnage, towering over allā
A demon.
A tall, armored demon, its horns piercing the sky, its presence alone enough to command the battlefield. Cloaked in absolute darkness, it stood upon a symbol carved into the ground. An emblem of four wings and an abyssal eye.
It radiated a divine auraāyet also something entirely unholy.
It was both good and evil. Pure and tainted. Right and wrong.
A Godāyet a Demon.
The symbol of the Unknown God.
Sylvia watched, frozen in horror, as her peopleāher kināfell by the thousands. Yet not a single one retreated.
Her lips parted in a whisperā
"Is this Iorvasā¦?"
It had to be. The Verdant Continent. The armor the elves wore was slightly different, but she recognized the trees. This was her homeland.
In the distance, she could see the sea. And at the shores of Iorvasā
Her people were dying to keep this demon out.
The armored demon raised his hand.
[Mind Dominate]
The air twisted, thick with unseen force. The elves froze, their bodies stiffening as if gripped by an unbreakable will. He lowered his hand, his voice carrying the weight of absolute command.
"Kill your brethren."
Without hesitation, the dominated elves turned their blades on their own kin. Sylvia watched in horrorāthis was no simple battle. It was a massacre, an ancient nightmare playing out before her. The demon stood mere inches away, yet he did not acknowledge her presence. Instead, he whisperedāso faint, she barely caught it.
"I must find itā¦ the Pillarā¦ It has to be here. I must bring an end to this senseless conflict."
He raised his hand again.
"Wind Dominate."
The wind obeyed, twisting into razor-sharp gales. Blades of air sliced through the battlefield, severing limbs, tearing through flesh. Thousands fell in an instant.
Sylvia trembled. Her breath shuddered as she witnessed the horror unfold. Among the mounds of the dead, a single elfābarely clinging to lifeālifted a bloodied hand toward the demon standing over the glowing symbol.
His body was ruined, his lower half missing, yet his voiceāthough weakācarried the weight of a dying prayer.
"The Goddess has forsaken usā¦ To Ashcroft's power, my kin have died by the millionsā¦ Our homeā¦ is in ruinsā¦ I do not seek peaceā¦ but I prayā¦ to whatever god will listenā¦"
Blood bubbled in his throat, choking his words. He never finished his prayer.
Yet at that momentā
The symbol of the Unknown God responded.
Its four wings ignited, pulsing with divine and profane energy. The battlefield itself shuddered. The rage, sorrow, and unyielding love of the fallen elves condensedāa storm of their grief and resentment swirling together.
The flames of war roared to life.
From this chaos, a will was born. A flame that was neither natural nor ordinary. A black fire, dark as shadows, yet alive. It carried the anguish of the fallen, the passion of the living, and the hatred for their enemy.
And by the authority of the Unknown Godā
A spirit was born.
Rashi Ignath.
Its name was etched into existenceāRashi, meaning Loss, and Ignath, meaning Flame.
The moment it opened its dark, ember-like eyes, it locked onto the demon standing amidst the carnage. Ashcroft.
The demon merely chuckled.
"The Unknown God has graced the elvesā¦ However, it seems a fierce battle awaits me."
He stretched his arms, his voice laced with amusement.
"I was just getting bored."
Sylvia watched in awe and terror as their battle reshaped the world.
All around them, the trees burned to ash. The land blackened, and the flames of Ignathāfueled by the suffering of countless soulsānever faded. They burned eternally, marking the place that would one day be called the Ashen Forest.
She did not know how the battle ended.
All she saw was Ignath, standing amidst the ruins, gazing at her from the distance. His thin smile sent a chill down her spine.
"Do not resistā¦ Give me your vesselā¦ Ashcroft will return soonā¦"
She staggered back, fear gripping her heart. Before she could hit the ground, something wrapped around her waist.
It was cool to the touch, like a human's armā
A shadow.
When she turned, she saw it staring at her.
The shape was familiar. Too familiar.
She recognized it, this was Damon's shadow.
She pushed away, her body frozen between two forces.
The shadow was eerily gentle, its form shifting like mist. It raised a hand, as if silently asking for trust.
Ignath's voice cut through the air.
"Do not trust the shadow of the one who has betrayed youā¦ Come with me. Give me your vessel, and I will protect your homelandā¦ Do not let the passion of your ancestors be for nothing."