Curse of the Shadow Walker

Prologue

Prologue

In the time before now, the time even before fairy tales and myths, when the Gods and Goddesses walked the Earth and chaos reigned, the realms of light and shadow were as one. There was no separation between the beings that lived in the rays of the sun and danced in the moonbeams, and those that crept in the furthest reaches of the darkest caverns. They fought for control of the realm, a war that lasted for centuries and cost many lives.

The Gods and Goddesses became invested in their battle when the creatures they were creating were used as pawns in the struggle for dominance between light and dark. Some sided with the creatures of the shadow realm for they were quiet, stealthy, intelligent, yet savage. Most, however, preferred the realm of light. The realm we inhabit today.

They joined forces and worked together to bind the shadow realm, trapping the creatures that called it home so that they could no longer prey on the light. There was a great discussion of how to ensure the binding would stay in place. Some created new children who were responsible for guarding the space where the realm of light rubbed up against the realm of shadow. Vampires and werewolves were the guardians of the night, while Elementals and those of the fae were left in charge of the day.

Over time, the lessons of the Gods and Goddesses were forgotten. The beings tasked with guarding our realm found other callings and many either forgot the existence of the shadow realm or denied it had ever existed in the first place. Some still told stories as warnings to their children about the things that went bump in the night or lived under the bed, but none believed that the stories told around the campfires at night could ever be true. They were simply silly stories to frighten and entertain. Nothing more.

There are some from our realm of light, however, that can still move between the worlds. Although many become lost, trapped in the shadows, unable to find their way back to the light and are food for the creatures that still inhabit the dark, biding their time, waiting for the moment they can be free once more, others can travel through the realms freely. They carry within them a darkness of their own, a predatory instinct that rivals that of any shadow creature.

The knowledge of where their darkness originated has long been lost. It is whispered around campfires on cold winter nights, though, that their ability to tame the shadows was bestowed on them by a deity. Whether that deity intended them to be protectors of the light, or a portal to allow the shadow creatures to access our world has long been debated.

A prophecy, written in an ancient, all but forgotten language, talks about a Shadow Walker who has the ability to not only move between the realms at will, but can also pull creatures of light into the dark, and creatures of shadow into the light. She, it is said, will usher in a new era. The dark will consume the light, and our world will be forever changed.

"When the moon shrouds the sun and day becomes as night, the living shadows will ascend their throne. Beware of their wrath. The time of the wolf will come to an end."