Once upon a time,
When all was silent and sparse, when all was engulfed in a bed of darkness, a lone pillar of eternal flame rose to a size—a size that could never be comprehended by any infinity or uncountable terms in all of existence.
A size too utterly incomprehensible.
From the fire bled an ichor—with an amalgamation of silver, blue and red, all contributing to form a serene hue that would attract the minds of even the most well known sages.
And from the ichor came...
Hunters.
-Pg 94, Book Of Eternal Truth
It was midnight, when the flames surged as if a staircase towards heaven, and the screams echoed of the little lambs scattering outside of their little homes. The houses of the people had simultaneously been lit on fire, and no one could find the reason, yet the priest who had emerged out of the burning temple containing the idols of the sun god and his various apostles looked at the destruction with a grave look upon his face.
"Father Sefir, what sin have we committed that the divinity above, punished us so?"
The soft voice of a man, broke the priest's concentration, and caused him to turn his head towards the voice's owner. The one speaking was none other than Jonathan, a man who earned his keep by working hard on the garden belonging to nobles of Kingdom Maria—a couple of miles away from this little village—which fell under the jurisdiction of the same kingdom.
He had a few burns upon his arms and his clothes were torn apart a bit, but nothing too extreme, frankly there was no casualty except for some minor wounds. As if, this was just a warning.
Father Sefir kept his words to himself, brushing away some of the white locks that fell upon his wrinkled forehead, and then he turned back to the temple. The flames didn't die out, instead it seemed to increase bit by bit, until the entire area was covered by dark clouds that made the people around cough in a chorus.
Jonathan continued to gaze at the silent priest, with a countenance filled with bitter mixture of fear and confusion, as well as a grim realisation that the priest knew something that he didn't want to share with them.
"Father?!"
He again called out in a slightly loud tone and this time, a response did indeed come out from the priest's lips.
"Child... This isn't a punishment from the divine nor is this the work of a divine being.
An evil eye has graced our village. No. This entire realm. And this was merely the warning to an upcoming storm.
Such an incident.... It bares resemblance to a tale granted to my kin by our great forefathers, we need to share this incident to the king, otherwise I fear that the next strike shall not be a warning and the storm itself will emerge from within the gates of hell itself."
The mothers, held their many children close to their body, in fear of any harm falling upon them. While the fathers tensed, their brows furrowing and their fingers twitched in position, as some even gulped with fright going through their body's veins.
At such a reaction, Sefir sighed underneath his breath and pinched his throbbing forehead.
"This was why I didn't want to reveal anything..... But no! Curiosity was always the bane of human beings, and I can't even lie, due to my vows. Whatever, no decision is wrong, for everything is ultimately written to lead to a perfect conclusion. No matter how hard it is to withstand those writings."
Sefir reassured himself in his mind, breathing in deep and releasing it slow, to ease the pain between his brows. He was really getting old for stuff like this, but unfortunately, there was no one adequate enough to replace him as the chief priest. Thus, he would have to work hard more, for a few years or so.
"Father, should we leave right away?"
This time, the voice belonged to a girl, a girl barely in her teens with a face full of innocence and life. With long stray locks falling with brilliance, she looked amazing, and it was for certain that she would grow up to become a very pretty woman.
Her name was Dianne Osleid, the blood daughter of the priest, and her voice eased the mind of the priest a bit more.
"The time is not right, it would be better to wait and leave as soon as the sun god sheds his brilliance upon us."
The priest told his young daughter, whose blue gaze was sparked with a tint of admiration for her father's knowledge, and fear about the being who could possess such immense strength to generate such a warning.
Dianne nodded and stepped back, as several others began to swarm around her father, to get the answers to their fears and worries. While she quickly ran off, to check on someone that was kept unknown from the villagers, a lover perhaps?
Or some kind of animal being kept as a pet?
No one knew the true answer, other than Dianne herself.
---
In the depths of a forest—with trees tall as titans and wild animals as ferocious as a demon scorned, stretched across the green terrain, was a man meditating with a black cylindrical idol of his lord placed on a disc shaped pedestal in front. Also known as the Shiva Lingam.
His long legs were crossed over one another, and his broad arms—that looked to be fit for moving boulders layed flat across his knees, he could be best described as a beast of war by his body but he could also be described as a handsome divinity by his face.
White locks cascaded past his bronze shoulders down to his hips, moving freely in tandem with the cool breeze, and his face was marked by a natural grace that looked as if a lion was slumbering. The tigers and the bears, all the ferocious animals of the forest, huddled close to him as if he was a source of comfort for them.
"Siddhant! Where are you?"
A momentary yell broke the meditating man from his concentration, and made him open his dark brown eyes, that seemed to be filled with wisdom far beyond the ages.
The gaze shifted and fell upon the girl, standing a bit far, and the animals around growled at her. Still not used to her presence, but they wouldn't dare to hurt her, for they could smell the scent of Siddhant on her. She was under his protection, all of them knew.
"What brings you here, Dianne?"
Siddhant's voice was soft yet it reverberated across the forest, prompting her to come closer to him, and he rose to his feet.
While Dianne was dressed in a flowing green stitched gown, he was dressed instead in a dark passed-down tunic and some loose grey trousers, that he had actually recieved from her.
Though the tunic could barely fit him, due to his muscular and tall stature, and he had no boots on him yet the jagged rocks on the grass seemingly had no effect on his soles.
"Can't you see the dark clouds? The entire village is burning over!"
At the screams, Siddhant only offered a nod and asked once again in his monotonous tone, with a tilt of his head expressing his curiosity.
"Hmm. Are the villagers severely injured?"
Dianne blinked, momentarily broken from her chaotic emotions at the epitome of calmness standing there, and then she gave her response to him.
"No.... No they are not. Only some mild burns, but not death inducing, only the fires on the homes and other constructs are not extinguishing. Father told, that it was some kind of a warning from an evil entity or something before a great storm, and they will forward this to the king soon.
But, I can feel something extremely wrong and that father is still hiding something, so I came to you. I trust that you must have some knowledge about this attack, please if you do, share it."
Diann, at the end, practically begged him and Siddhant stood silent for a few minutes. Turning towards the persisting dark clouds, and observed it, before he sighed.
"The call of destiny. Dianne. That is the answer. I can't tell you the exact identity, but I am sure, that a powerful entity is coming..."
Siddhant closed his eyes and smiled a bit, which couldn't be observed by the frightened lady near to him.
"So, my exile is finally ending."