A Chronicle of Heroes. Book One: From the void

From the void: Chapter One

Once, there was silence…

There was no time, no space, and no substance. Not even the faintest whisper to indicate any sort of life. Nothing except a stagnant, gray void. There it lay, undisturbed for countless millennia until, from within this vast, endless nothingness, emerged a speck.

It was a strange, unfamiliar entity, this speck; a small, obscure blemish upon the seemingly empty space; a pitch-black shadow forming a bottomless cloud that personified darkness itself.

Even more intriguing than its dark, shadowy matter was that this speck was somehow conscious and aware. It possessed a curious sort of intelligence. It could perceive its surroundings, and it naturally started to embrace its dense, gloomy nature. There it remained, in a conscious yet dormant state within the stretching expanse of infinity.

But this period of dormancy could not last forever and eventually, the speck felt a powerful urge to fill the void around it. So, it willed its shadowy particles to forge ahead and instantly found its outer particle impossibly far away from where it had first emerged, leaving a streak of obsidian smoke in its wake; an ink staining this realm with impenetrable shadow.

            Marveling at its newfound ability, the speck continued to silently dissolve all the space it met. As it grew without facing any resistance, it could now grasp the sensation of its own materialistic form and deduced that it was made of something that overpowered this gray space. Its origin, which had developed into a pitch-black, defined structure around its dark, smoky form, now emitted black waves of superiority over the space it engulfed. As it extended and swirled everywhere, an unexpected inkling came from within the darkness’s consciousness, and it began to contemplate the extent of its existence. If I am truly free to expand however and wherever I wish, then at what point is there a limit?

And so it stretched and dilated, continuously transforming the surrounding space into a dense, black hue, the deepest and darkest of black in existence. After an immeasurable time, this dark entity was no longer a speck; it had grown infinitely in every direction. The extending, suffocating darkness now covered the entire plane of existence with its murky particles, overtaking whatever emptiness there had once been.

It appears my expanse is infinite, the dark consciousness contemplated. I have spread endlessly in all directions. This space could not resist my presence! The darkness had nothing else to compare itself to, and so it decided that it could shape this entire dimension to its own liking.

Filled with determination from this new thought, the consciousness emitted another dark wave. As the wave passed over the infinite realm of space, the darkness instructed the black particles to become denser, further shrouding everything in deeper shadows, forming primordial shapes. As it became more familiar with its abilities, the darkness learned to summon new surges of strength fueled by its desires, and it managed to combine, twist, and vaguely outline every particle to its own will. Their movements were unusual, shooting from the darkness’s core and disappearing farther into the realm. The darkness basked in its glory and took great pleasure in the idea that it had control not only over its own existence, but over its entire surroundings.

After experimenting for an unquantifiable age, this gargantuan, intangible presence had become fully aware of each dark particle of its existence and thought of nothing but its own self. Whatever it felt was centered around its unimaginably expansive form. These self-centered feelings persisted, and the darkness reveled in the idea that it was the one and only thing that existed.

This tranquil, seemingly eternal state was suddenly interrupted by a strange pull from the unknown. For the first time in its existence, the pitch-black consciousness felt curiosity toward something outside itself, and this curiosity was coupled with irritation as its outermost particles shifted their position without instruction. The darkness was now fully determined to learn what this force was and, as it continued to follow this pull, it was shocked–for the first time, it could stretch out beyond the obstruction it had always presumed was the bounds of its expansion. Dark swirls of annoyance and anger exploded from the dark dimension’s consciousness as it crossed into the unknown.

Along with feeling perplexed, the darkness felt an unquenchable desire to overwhelm this new, unexplainable force, just as it had done to the void an eternity ago. “This should be my domain also, it thought. 

This thought plagued the darkness, swirling around its core like a rushing vortex of ire and uncertainty. It perceived something glimmering faintly far in the distance. With a sense of thrill coursing through its form, the darkness waited, its shadows swirling and whispering to themselves in anticipation.

However, the distant, mysterious phenomenon never approached. After a short while, the darkness could not tolerate being transfixed in such a way. And so, with an enormous surge of determination, it summoned its whole being toward the unknown phenomenon. It condensed into a deep, bottomless vortex of pitch-black matter that roared and rushed around its center, ready to engulf and extinguish whatever this was and regain the dominance it had held forever.

As the swarm of dark matter came close to this blur, it was overcome by the strangest sensation. It was a kind of different resonance, which it perceived as:

“Cease your wrath.”

This feeling sent an endless, serene wave throughout the darkness’s entire form. It was not something the darkness could explain, but the external direction invoked a sense of wonder in it.

The darkness involuntarily approached the source of the disembodied instruction, moving faster and faster until it was abruptly halted from going any farther. It seemed as if there was another obstruction shielding the mysterious force and despite the darkness’s efforts, it could not pass through it. The darkness was struck with uncertainty and felt its particles vibrating faster with impatience, until the mysterious form slowly came into focus at last.

It was a figure with smoky wisps of a curious substance rippling around it. For quite some time, the darkness just focused upon this mystical, orb-like substance full of radiance. But for all its splendor, the figure was miniscule—it was smaller than when the darkness had first been a speck all those eons ago.

No matter how enchanting it was, however, the darkness sensed that something about this entity’s nature contradicted its own; the figure emitted an unnerving aura, as if it opposed the darkness’s own fundamental nature of emptiness and isolation. This troubled the darkness, and it felt a desire to engulf the small entity. The darkness willed its gargantuan form to lash forward again, but it was impeded by the unseen barrier.

And again, the same sensation stirred and echoed. “Be still… lie in peace.”

This instruction was barely a whisper, a euphonic, almost inaudible murmur, but somehow it was powerful enough to soothe the outer dark particles that had been relentlessly hammering against the separation. Its shadows were no longer churning so violently; rather, they stirred only slightly at the melodious sensation, dissipating the dense cloud of shadow. Ever since their birth, these shadowy particles' nature had been aggressive and violent, but they were no longer vibrating so forcefully–they had been calmed by this entity.

As its layers smoothed out, the darkness began to wonder if it could relay its thoughts to this mysterious entity. Just as it thought this, the tiny speck began to glow brightly, and the darkness sensed a layer of an obstruction beginning to fall away. Instinctively, the darkness knew it could now communicate its thoughts to this entity.

“What are you?” it hissed experimentally, and a sinister, chilling shadow swept across the entire void. The space around it grew colder, unsettled by this unnatural, menacing aura that seemed to linger, invading every particle that made up the realm.

“I am the one… the one who praises The One,” replied the bright speck in its own vibrations.

The darkness was amazed that it could, in fact, communicate with this being.

“I am the opposite of you,” the speck continued. “My aura contradicts yours at the most fundamental levels: while I am warmth, you are cold; as I serve to illuminate and brighten what surrounds us, you serve to plunge it into shadow. I am the light.”