Guardian (Part I): Last Winter

Prologue

In the Age of Darkness, there was only the Abyss, an endless void of darkness that could not support life or light, then there were the Giants. The biggest of their kind was the Giantess Zenartha. Seeing what the Abyss was doing to the rest of her people, Zenartha made a sacrifice of her own life in order to provide a safe home for the Giants. Her body became an entire world, a home for the Giants, and the various races that would eventually populate it. The most powerful of these races was the Ilentia, who became divided between the Ancient Ones and the New Ones. The New Ones developed ways to keep the Abyss from influencing them. The Ancient Ones, however, were less lucky. They fell to the influence of darkness, and began to attack the New Ones. This was the Ancient War. A bloody conflict that lasted centuries erupted on the young world, and the New Ones used their newfound powers of light against the Ancient Ones' darkness. Turmeon forged weapons for the remaining Ilentia and other races to utilize. Ordan and his daughters weaved storms of light. Diomeus and Vanessa created humanity, the epsilon, and duar to replace the numbers of lost Ilentia. Xyhra, the youngest of the Ancient Ones, betrayed her own, bringing the Great Dragons to the side of the New Ones, and the Ancient Ones were no more.

The Age of Ancients began soon after Xyhra's betrayal. The Ancient War ended, and the races on Zenartha flourished. Great kingdoms were built, but the Abyss still laid in wait for its opportunity to strike, and it did strike. Thousands of years after the Ancient War, a nameless New One was consumed by the Abyss, which made him nearly powerful enough to control it, and all of Hell itself. He became the Dark One. His army became the demons that came from Hell's darkest pits. Many races of Zenartha went extinct as a result of the first years of the War of Light and Dark, and only few Ilentia were left. The New Ones constructed a weapon in Zenartha's core, calling it Ember, which also served as their new homeworld. The intent of using Ember to destroy Zenartha to save it from the Abyss came to their minds, but Xyhra's counsel stopped them from activating the weapon, and she promised to end the War of Light and Dark. What she did next shocked the New Ones. Xyhra found a human boy, Aaron, a Paladin of Chardan, and trained him to harness the power inside of him. He became the first aura-sensitive human, the first mortal warrior of light, and the first Guardian of Zenartha. Xyhra trained many Guardians along with Aaron, but it was ultimately Aaron himself that vanquished the Dark One, and prevented the Abyss from spreading any further. The Age of Ancients ended along with the War of Light and Dark. Many brave heroes have come and gone in the fifty thousand years since the war, which eventually faded into myth and legend, but its memories still lingers in the minds of those old enough to remember it. I am one of those people.