Kin in the Dark Prologue There was something deeply wrong with this world Hecate had decided. As she stalked the night treading from star to star like an obsidian comet. The people in this world were not living, they were merely existing. As her starlit streaked path spanned the heavens she felt nothing, there were no emotions of any strength rising from the people below. Love was merely contentment, rage only a slight upset and fear. Well fear was her delicacy and she was starving. Order had taken too strong a hold in these people. They wanted for nothing, they were all united in peace and freely acceptable of each other. There were no heroes, no villains and certainly no strife. 'How dull,' she whispered and sent a chill in the night to souls below. They simply shrugged it off and huddled closer together causing her to roll her eyes. Normally she would not have bothered herself with such task as fixing this little world, there were so many other more exciting worlds to choose from after all. However, her mood was whimsical and it took her to the ground. Her decent would be recorded for all history in the realm, the violet and azure streak of light that scarred the sky, leaving a milky wound for eternity. The tear in the veil was easily repairable but Hecate decided she liked the mark she had made. It would serve as a signal for change, people would look to the sky and say 'that brought the chaos, the was the start of it all.' The city she landed in was a strange one, the primitive people lived in trees above a swamp. The water shimmered with a ghostly green haze in the moonlight and numerous fungi added their corpse glow. It was a perfect breeding ground, but for what she had not decided. As she sat atop a colossal branch a door opened in its trunk and a woman stepped out. The slender woman gave a start as she spotted Hecate and her hands moved for her stomach which was swelling with child. Hecate was on the verge of ending the woman when it struck her. 'Perfect,' she purred. With a flick of her finger the pregnant woman was frozen in place, only her eyes widened in terror as Hecate flowed forward, the very air around her freezing creating a trail of ice crystals sparkling behind her. Grasping the woman's chin with one hand Hecate smiled. 'We are going to make a miracle my dear girl,' she then locked the woman in a kiss, it was hard and savage as Hecate forced her power down the woman's throat. Stepping back Hecate could sense her work was successful, the woman's womb pulsed with power, a small piece of herself. Too small to notice it was gone but large enough to alter history. 'Take care of her, she will change the world.' Tendrils of night then coursed over the woman and she collapsed, upon waking she would remember nothing but an even fiercer desire to protect her unborn child and to ensure they succeed no matter the cost. Her work complete Hecate left the tree people to their spooky little swamp and searched for another such place, you could never have too much fun after all.

Pawn I thought I was dreaming but as i stagger the screaming becomes too clear. My head is bleeding painting my vision red. My heart quickens coming into line with the chaos surrounding me. Shadows flit in my vision, demons with protruding claws like blades and metal scales. In my hand is steel, a safe haven for my fist. I bear it like a talisman against the shadow, each swing banishing them for a mere second. A sense of darkness creeps towards me, the light inside only just matured begins to falter. With each exposure dwindling its time. The noble cause of my King once an appealingly prospect is now drenched in blood and swallowed by this void of panic. The demons continue to drain me with each touch and bite, soon the red haze will disappear and i fear what may replace it. Eternal blackness may soon await, or will I become one of those shades so hungry for blood?

A Loyal Man Standing above her with my blade bared I found myself struggling to move. Her eyes watered as the cold steel pressured her throat into stillness. It wasn't her doe eye look that gave me pause, or even her belly swollen with child, it was something else. "What are you waiting for? Kill the woman and her bastard child and be done with it!" My comrades voice although almost to my ear felt so distant. My mind had gone shores unknown where grey seas churned with elusive thoughts. My ideas fell through my hands like dry sand and in my haste I clutched and half formed thoughts. "Damn it! Do it now! The King commands it!" The King. Of course, my King a great and ambitious man of talent. Yet he asks me to do this thing, not even my comrade in all his eagerness does not snatch up his sword and do the deed. Why is this I wondered. Could it be that I have something they do not? Some quality that others lack perhaps, or are they merely scared of what must be done? Without thought I slid the blade across the woman's neck, as it blossomed red I felt a great weight upon my shoulders. I must be the man to do these things, to go where no one else treads. I must act the Demon, twisted inside but whole to the world. Only if my hands are soaked in blood can my King's stay clean. Someone must plunge their hands into filth, and that someone must be... A Loyal Man

Demon Why would you deny heaven from me? The sweet golden rays blocked out and replaced with a corrupting blight. A darkenss that spreads and devours. My soul that once yearned for tranquility has been twisted into something unnatural. Why would you deny me peace? My mind just shy of that bright encompassing light, now a broken thing at your feet. A mass of barbed thoughts and vile impulses now protrudes. Why would you deny me love? A heart open to all and empathy overflowing is gone. The once haven of nurturing and compassionate feeling has been burned to ash. A crumpled thing has taken its place, as fickle and uncaring as hellfire. Why would you deny me freedom? Unbound and inquisative i used to be, my feet restless and imagination overworked. A foul rag has been rammed down my throat and burning chains strap me down to replace thought with pain. Why would you twist me into this abomination?

King A crown adorns my brow, a fixture of self and idol both. It shines with the hope of a new day and glimmers with the tears of the fallen. My reign was supreme and just, the streets were paved in red and the feilds bristling with steel. While wives sang dirges laced with joy. Where average men walked I built and preserved. Walls of stone that will last as long as my will, and castles as high as my ascension. Men and women flocked to me in their hundreds, skipping along iron trails and to the chorus of whips. They worshiped me as the God of this land. My effigy at every corner instilled pride to all who saw it, struck wordless and with heads bent in humility. Even now my presence exudes from my throne. A carved seat of excellence that brought lesser rulers to their knees in awe. This hall so immense even the sun retreats fearing its beauty. The earth so jelous of my people crawls around my palace so it can feel my embrace. The sky will weep for my absence. The darkness is nothing to me now. I see all from my elevated Godhood, my frame immortalised in white bone. My crown still in place, my sword still in hand I have ruled this land for eternity. I am King and I will last forever. #viewpoints