AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Every child knows that legend. Meysus created the earth and sky, and Zolane filled the world with elves and men.”
“Zolane did not create us elves.”
“Then why don’t you share your version of the creation myth?” I say. “If the Goddess Zolane did not create elves then who did, and for what purpose did she create us?”
“What do you know of the War of the Gods?”
I hesitate and press my lips together, reluctant to admit my ignorance.
“Nothing, as I thought,” Natharius continues, his silky tone laced with smugness. “You humans are so useless that you cannot even record your own origins.”
“And how do you know Lumaria’s version of the creation of Imyria and all its creatures is the truth?”
“Because it is. Even the Abyss records it as so.”
I suppose I can’t argue if the Abyss has recorded the creation of the world. I imagine it would be as accurate as that which is recorded in the Heavens—that is, unless the Void King has twisted it.
“Fine,” I say, folding my arms across my chest. “Tell me then.”
“Long ago,” Natharius says, leaning back in his chair and curling his slender fingers around the arms as if he were instead sprawling across a throne, “no barriers lay between the Heavens, the Abyss, and the mortal plane. Gods and demons were free to pass from their realms and into Imyria whenever they pleased.”
“Yes, I know that,” I interrupt. “Meysus created barriers between all planes of existence to save mortals from the Void King’s evil.”
“No, he did so to protect his own, the Caelum,” Natharius says. “In the war between the Caelum and Malum, the Void King recruited some of the original inhabitants of Imyria for his army.”
“Who?”
“Goblins. They seduced some of the primitive tribes with the promise of power and warped them into beings of terrible strength. You know them as orcs today.”
“Orcs were created by the Malum?” At least that explains why orcs have always been more closely aligned with dark magic than any other race.
“Indeed, though their power has vastly diluted through the millennia. Now, the Caelum had no army of their own, so Meysus shaped his soldiers from the earth and Zolane breathed life into these statues. That is how humans were created.”
I suppose this version isn’t so different from the one I know.
“You humans were created for war,” Natharius continues. “That fact alone explains many of your race’s shortcomings.”
“Our shortcomings?”
“Throughout the ages, humans have always sought conflict and power. I suppose you cannot be blamed. It is in your nature.”
I lower my gaze and stare at the scraps of food remaining on my plate, though I left little. If we humans were born for war, then does that explain monsters like Heston and Arluin? Are there monsters inside us all?
Not wishing to dwell on such thoughts, especially not in my current company, I lift my head and look at the Void Prince. “And what of the elves? How were they created? You’ve explained how both humans and orcs came to be, but not elves.”
“We were not created. We descend from the Caelum.”
I tilt my head and regard his expression. He persistently includes himself in the mention of elves. Though he has been a demon for over a thousand years, he clings to his identity as an elf. I can’t help but wonder what exactly Taria knows of the Void Prince’s past. I could order him to tell me the truth, but that’s a line I have no wish to cross, even if he is a hateful demon.
“If elves descend from the gods,” I reply, “why are they mortal?”
“Our ancestors were locked out of the Heavens for so long that their powers diminished.”
“Why? What happened for them to be locked out of the Heavens?”
Natharius pauses, his shoulders tensing. Whatever the truth is, he’s reluctant to admit it.
Before I can probe any answers out of him, a knock sounds at the door.
