PROLOGUE:

Audio:

The skin of the world was young once. L’Ehu, The Maker, the Great Gardener, fashioned Eldin with majestic mountains, meadows, rivers, forests, and seas. Like delicate jewels He adorned the earth with vibrant plants that swayed to the winds of his breath. All of Eldin flourished under his kind gaze, but he did not cover the world only for himself.

From the light of the Stars of Noveth he formed his children, The Authors. In those most ancient of days, the feet of The Authors were the first to feel the warmth of the ground that he formed.

The Maker dwelt with the first Authors, whom he called his Firstborns, for seasons beyond number. During this time he taught them his ways, he shared with them his heart, and charged them with the task of creating life.

Together they created every creature that dwells on the fertile grounds of Eldin, every bird that soars through its sky, and every swimming thing that inhabits the waters. 

As that age closed, The Great Gardener began his departure. He told The Authors to have children of their own by birth, and to use the fading light of Noveth to create other tribes and tongues to live amongst. 

The Maker gave to the authors nine great seeds. In these seeds The Maker poured his love, his gentleness, and his might. He instructed The Authors to plant the trees according to their own will and watch over them until his return. It was his will that The Authors would populate and enjoy his creation, but also protect it. L’Ehu instructed them to guard the seeds and not to plant them until they had finished the earth.

To the Author Hael, in whom The Maker saw great purity and courage, He gave a sacred gift. To him was given a longbow made from the branch of the most vibrant tree in the Eternal Garden, a single arrow from the same tree, and a cord made from the sinews of a great bear. The Maker told Hael that the bow should be kept unstrung unless a time of great need should arise. 

After gifting the bow to Hael and instructing The Authors, The Maker returned to the Eternal Garden from where he came.

The Authors cherished the seeds and began populating the world by creating life. Through magic songs and phrases taught to them by The Maker, they created multitudes of tribes and peoples to guide and live amongst.

The Authors created three great races to fill the earth. The first race, the Banes, were strong among even the greatest creatures of the earth. They were given thick hair from head to foot, and hearts for peace. 

The second race, the Drauns, were small in stature but great in wisdom. They were given skilled hands for crafting, a passion for feasts, and pure hearts. 

The final race created by The Authors were Men. The Authors made them much like themselves, but adorned them in different colors of hair from their own. To men they gave their heart of exploration and the most curious of minds.

After creating the three races and bearing many children of their own, The Authors began planting the nine seeds. One by one they began planting, never planting another seed until the previous had grown into a tree and began to bear fruit. Around these trees, which were planted across the lands, magic blossomed and filled the world.

But with each seed that was planted, the author called Haedon began to grow in a spirit of greed. He had shown little excellence among the firsts of The Authors and was passed over due to his deficiency in magic. In spite of his great desire to guard one of the seeds, it was never a duty he was granted.

When all but one of the nine seeds had been planted, in the black of night when all were asleep and the moon was a mere sliver, Haedon slaughtered a multitude of Authors while they were asleep in Rainhaven. He stole the last seed and fled to the north. 

What made Haedon do such a thing was a mystery to the Authors. There was one Author who is said to have witnessed something before the massacre at Rainhaven, concerning Haedon and his heinous acts. But the written testimony of the witness was lost.

In the land of Embereth, Haedon went into hiding. He covered himself with dirt and leaves to hide from the sun, fearing that The Maker would come back to reclaim the stolen seed. Haedon dug a shallow hole and planted the seed of his own accord, trying to bend it to his will with his limited magic. But after a season of failure to see growth, Haedon felt betrayed.

Burning with hatred and jealousy, Haedon split the seed open with an axe he made from stone and wood. As the seed tore, a wretched cry erupted across the northern forest, causing the trees to shudder and the animals to flee. Flowers wilted before him, and the water withdrew from the earth until it was brittle and fractured. The seed bled, and Haedon drank from it.

Feeling a new magic pulsing in his heart, he squeezed and twisted the broken seed until he had consumed every drop of life and innocence from it.

The earth moaned and shook. Violent tremors rattled across all of creation, but under Haedon’s feet the earth broke open. A great chasm was created, and Haedon looked down to behold a dark abyss. He called down the abyss, singing a dark hymn of enmity and contempt. A voice broke the silence and sang back to Haedon in a tongue he did not recognize. After a dark harmonizing chorus between Haedon and the singer, a pale being rose from beneath the ground.

“I am called Omon,” he said. “You have released me from my prison that is the earth.”

Haedon asked Omon three questions.

“How have you come to this place? Who has imprisoned you? How is it that you speak the Ath tongue of my kin?”

Omon smiled.

“You have opened my cage, but I am now captive to you, for this is the curse I have been burdened with. If I answer your questions, will you vow to release me? My quarrel is not with this world, and I desire to return to my task. If you vow to release the curse, I will command my creatures to follow you as a gift.”

Haedon’s thirst for Omon’s secrets overcame him, and as he glanced back into the abyss, he saw a multitude of beings.

“So be it,” Haedon replied. “Answer me truthfully, and I will release you.”

Omon inhaled a deep rattling breath.

“I came to this place from the void, as a prisoner. My captor is the nameless one, I will not utter his name in your tongue. And I speak your tongue because it is the tongue of the Eternal Garden.”

“Very well. I release you, Omon.” Haedon said. “But because I have done so, I beg you to answer me one last question. You cannot speak the name of your captor, but perhaps I can. Is the one you speak of the Great Gardener? L’Ehu?”

Again, Omon drew a smile, “no.”

When he finished speaking, Omon vanished.

Countless kinds of foul beasts were released from under the earth by Haedon, and they called him their King.

On that exact night, after several seasons of tracking and searching, the Authors, led by the Author Hael, arrived at the now desolate forest of Embereth. Seeing what Haedon had become, and fearing the beasts that accompanied him, they pleaded with him to return the seed. When the Authors learned that the seed had been destroyed, their cries were heard in all the earth.

As he wept, the Author Hael strung the bow given to him by The Maker. The Authors fought their brother Haedon using magic and calling aid from their own creatures. The battle ensued at dusk and ended before daybreak with fire, for Haedon set the forest ablaze using dark magic and the Authors were forced to retreat. But before they fled, the Author Hael called out to Haedon one last time.

“Why have you betrayed us? Will you not return to us and seek forgiveness?”

Haedon answered Hael’s plea with a laugh. 

Seeing that Haedon would not repent, Hael drew his bow and loosed the arrow given by The Maker. He struck Haedon in his left foot, for his heart could not bear to pierce his brother’s chest. Haedon cried in anger and stumbled. The dirt and dry leaves covering his body were ignited by a nearby flame, and Haedon’s body burned. Hael witnessed Haedon flee with the arrow still lodged in his foot, before he himself turned and fled from the consuming fires.

Haedon’s horde of dark creatures traveled by way of crudely made ships, and dispersed among the lands bringing destruction. Neither Haedon nor the arrow were seen again. The Authors believed him to have been consumed by flame, though whispers of his survival began to surface not long after the burning of Embereth.

The nations and tribes created by The Authors were fractured. The opening of the abyss had contaminated the innocence of the world, and arguments and wars began to break out among the people. Haedon’s beasts continued to bring destruction. 

The great trees were casualties in the chaos over many years, and one by one they fell to blade and flame, until only one tree remained.