"In the beginning, there was only war and death."
The once green and life-filled valley had turned to stone where nothing dared to breathe, let alone move. The sky was stained red with thick black clouds by the blood of the two armies that had collided earlier that day, yet now, none stood. Stone statues lay scattered across the battlefield, their bodies drained of life, and their faces still twisted in horror at what they had just witnessed.
A ruler of all things dark and wicked waded through the stone statues that were once his army, not sparing them a pitied glance. His true name had been long forgotten, and he was now known to all the mortals as the Dark Master.
His face was hidden by a helmet made of a material similar to obsidian, his body protected by a suit of armor made from the same glassy material, that was as strong as diamond and as dark as night with a silver half moon shining brightly upon his chest plate.
It was a skillfully crafted set of armor that might have even been beautiful if it had not been stained with the thick cherry blood of a now fallen army. The metallic stench of blood still clung to the air like dew did before the first rays of sun hit this charred and frozen wasteland that was once the world.
As the first flakes of snow kissed the hardened stone ground, the Dark Master looked around, a sneer hidden beneath his helmet, as a figure appeared behind him, falling from the heavens in a great flash of light. She wore a dress woven from sunlight, dancing around her sunkissed skin and her thick, brunette hair that fell in wild curls down her back.
She stood behind the Dark Master, her eyes filled with a fire that had not seen among the mortals in a thousand years. However, this woman was no mere mortal. She was one of the ten gods, rulers of the heavens and the world.
The woman drew her sword, a blade made of the same shining steel as the Dark Master's was. They were the Twin Blades, each forged for the single purpose of defeating its twin. The Dark Master turned to this woman of all things light and loving, no emotions to be seen beneath his helmet.
The woman, who called herself the Lady of Light, raised the sword to the Dark Master's throat, the love all but destroyed from her silver eyes, and pain bleeding through her bright red lips that were stained the color of blood. This war had been going on for the past century but after tonight there would only be one victor.
"So we meet on the battlefield, at long last," the Lady of Light said, her eyes narrowing, but she otherwise stayed in a perfect state of calm as she looked upon the Dark Master. "I come with orders from the Balance Goddess, queen of the heavens, and our mother." She spat the words as if they were made of poison.
Taking a deep breath, the Lady of Light stared at the Dark Master.
"You are to stop this madness or else I am to destroy you once and for all, my dear younger brother," she said, trying to remain calm as she spoke to the shell of what used to be her brother. Now, however, his mind had been so clouded by the darkness he couldn't recall the time before what he knew as now.
"I do not obey the orders of your goddess, who prefers to hide like a coward in the crumbling remains of the heavens, choosing to forget what it is like to live away from their comforts," he said, his voice deep and cold as he spoke, sounding metallic against his obsidian-like helmet.
The Dark Master looked around at the land drained of life.
"I do think I prefer it here," he said, or perhaps hissed was a more appropriate word for how the dark man spoke. "This world is my home and it is the only home that I need," he sneered, raising his chin in defiance at the so-called goddess of the light. "It is the place where my family and I can live as kings, without the gods meddling with our lives."
The woman of all things light and loving simply shook her head at the Dark Master, sighing in disappointment. Only, the longer the Dark Master stared at her, something stirred in him. Something from the past. It was then the Dark Master realized that he wanted to destroy her.
They had been family at one point, but that time had long past, and something had changed. Now, in the Dark Master's eyes, this woman who his sister became nothing more than an obstacle. Something he needed to get rid of before his true domination of this world could dawn.
"If that is your answer, draw your blade and let us begin," the Lady of Light said, her tone as sharp as the blade she held, pointed at the Dark Master's throat, but her gaze sharper.
The master of all things dark and wicked in this world simply smirked, drawing his sword, an identical blade to the one his sister wielded, except instead of a golden hilt, this one had a hilt of shining silver, with a full moon instead of a sun carved into the place where the blade met the hilt. As the two powerful entities' blades collided, a great burst of light erupted, swallowing them and everything around them in a pool of blinding light.
From the top of a hill, a creature sat watching the battle take place below him, the shadows of the sky hiding it from the two battling below it. It let a smile creep onto its face as it watched the two gods lock swords, each one trying to get the upper hand.
The creature watched for a long while, knowing deep in its heart that some things would never change, as its form melted into the shadows, its golden eyes glowing brightly, until they, too, melted away.