Chapter 1 By Orion Fang “Far away the cracked bells ring, hidden beneath the sifting sand, In places forgotten to most, in visions of long-lost, foreign land, Where beneath the ruins within abyss, the living, slumbering madness feasts, Barrier shall crack and darkness roar, shadows call forth the dreaded beast.” -Excerpt from the Records of the Fall of Qe’lanth. Circa. 710 BC. Is this reality, or this the dream? I can’t tell anymore. Call me insane, or call me schizophrenic, or call me dissociated from reality; stick a label, any label, any title you want onto me. It won’t matter because you can’t answer the question I’m asking you. It seems like a simple question to answer at first; after all, the difference between being awake and being asleep is marked by a thick black line drawn in permanent pen which clearly divides the realms of the sleeping and the awake. The only problem is that once you cross the line once too many times, both damn sides look so alike from where you’re standing that it’s easy to lose track of where you are, where you’re heading, where you will be. And that’s when the lines blur. Things start out simple at first. They’re pure, well-intended, meant only for the betterment of society and of others. It’s a straightforward, innocent ideal that tells you you have the power and what it takes to change the world. Then come the compromises. The mistakes. It starts with just a tiny crook in the otherwise pristine line; a small error. An accidental misuse of your power. It’s harmless, unnoticeable; hell, the only one who could spot such a mistake would’ve been the Seers, but their eyes were staring so far into the horizon they could’ve missed a tank driving right in front of them. Only you know. And when only you know, it’s not hard to keep the secret.
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