 | The Era of Creation |  |
Appearance of the Creator, origin of the Universe, and all else.
He came from nowhere. He appeared from nothingness. The spirit of all material and non-material energy, the concentration of natures, the originator and inspirer of the Universe, The Creator.
At first a wind blew, which in bare space know no path and followed no direction, but this wind was born. Then music burst forth. This was a song without notes, without words, and without a name. This was a song of life, that life which was engendered in emptiness. It flowed, lingered, and intertwined with the wind, yet did not merge with it and left its trace in the space not of this world. Suddenly a spark flashed. A first, second, third. A circle took shape from the small twinkling points which grew larger and larger. And there now appeared an enormous fireball which breathed and pulsated, ready at any moment to explode into millions of blazing particles. An instant ... and an awesome vortex of wind, music, and fire swirled in a frenetic dance, a ritual dance that created at the same time both the organic WHOLE and the disconnected ORIGINS. The fireball did not explode but as though disintegrated into a multitude of bright stars, each of which bore away a particle of the wind and a particle of the music. About each star, as though sown by the Creator in the field of the Universe, sprouted seeds – the planets. Taking root in the field of space, they were charged with energy, supplied by the spirit, and filled with the food of the Creator. Created of the one material, each of the worlds was unique. These were separate lives, born of the one.
Then a drop appeared. The life-giving moisture which fed and satisfied the Universe, appeared as the teardrop of the worlds and a well-spring. The drop summoned others, forming a vortex, which, circling in the palm of the Creator's hand, fell in sheer cascades of water in the embrace of the Universe. The waterfall flowed into the oceans, seas, rivers, and lakes. Blue networks enveloped the worlds, on which nature was born.
After creating all that is material, the Creator breathed a spirit into the Universe, bestowing natural and magical powers. Magic appeared, not subject to descriptions and explanations, stole into the depths of the Universe, and hid in the expectation of being extracted someday. It permeated the trees and the stones, sank to the depths of the wells, and burst forth with the flowers. But it was as though sleeping. For a while ... until the time should come.
When the Creator cast his gaze upon what he had accomplished, he was pleased with his work and his progeny. And he spoke, turning to the Universe and to all living in it: “I shall breathe and you will repeat my breath, I shall sing and you will sing my song ... I shall create two assistants – two
Guards, who will maintain the balance and you will help them in this. From henceforth, they are my faithful servants and will be the true governors of the Universe, while I shall go into Contemplation.”
Guards of the Universe. The Gods.
The Universe and any of its worlds are subject to the laws of equilibrium, where creation can not exist with destruction, dark powers oppose those of light, day replaces night, and white magic conducts warfare with black magic.
The Creator originated two Chief Gods of the Universe: the Guard of Creation Or'Verron and the Guard of Destruction Tallaar. Endowed with identical power, the Guards did not wage battle but supported the universal balance, being the surety for the existence of all Creation. They brought the mechanism of the Universe into motion and stretched out its spaces. The Guard of Creation gave light to the stars to illuminate the worlds and forced the wind as though by a fan to adorn nature, and in turn the Guard of Destruction sent thunder and lightning so that the rainfall would feed with moisture all that is living, and sent earthquakes, which formed the mountains and highlands on the surface of the worlds. Long labored the faithful assistants of the Creator, perfecting the Universe. To aid themselves and to develop the worlds, they created Gods, each of whom had his own power and had authority over the elements, willing life or death.
Laytir – God of Fire and sovereign of the fire element, possesses a rebellious and harsh manner. An uncontrollable Laytir can destroy the entire world in a matter of seconds. A voracious flame serving its master would swallow all living things in its path. Master of all below, the God of the earth, Gradon, was a lover of all that is beautiful and mystical. He concealed treasures in the bowels of the earth and created fantastic precious stones and minerals. The expanses of the seas, meandering rivers, mirror-surface lakes, and rushing rivulets lie within the domain of Aqualon, the God of the water element. It was he who decided whether to slake the land with moisture, create rushing waterfalls, or send gigantic waves, which, crashing against the land, brought death and destruction. The expanses of the air were the possessions of the God Eharit. Here from peaceful harmless breezes he engendered hurricanes and tornadoes, and changed fluffy clouds into black thunderclouds. Eharit ruled the springs of the air, and the Elementals of the Air assisted in this. Each of the element Gods created for themselves these essences, and they were faithful servants of their protectors, unquestioningly and zealously fulfilling all their commands.
The Gods participated in the creation of the worlds and settled them with various creations. In the Universe appeared great creatures such as the winged fire-breathing Dragons. The Demons, in command of the evil principles; the Minotaurs, half beast and half human; the Phoenix fire-birds and the Golems, Centaurs and Unicorns, Gargoyles and Vasilisks, Griffins and Pegasus ...
The Universe lived, breathed, developed ...
Great War of the Gods.
Time passed, fast or slow, it moved, changing the scenes of existence and enjoying its authority over all that is mortal. Two higher intelligences, two equal powers, two Supreme Gods directed the fate of the Universe. And it seemed that it would be thus forever ... But the worm of jealousy and thirst for power gnawed upon the minds and souls of not only the simplest beings. Even the Supreme creations were not protected from its vicious concepts. One time, covetousness, the feeling of preeminence, and the desire for dominion struck at the interior world of Tallaar, and then evil went forth ...
In creating the Guards, the Creator set as a goal the maintenance of equilibrium and universal balance. He endowed them with full powers, himself going into Contemplation. He anticipated that his faithful servants would serve him and his creations in faith and righteousness. For a long time this was so, but the time came when one side of the scales outweighed the other, and the balance was destroyed ...
The destructive capabilities of Tallaar increasingly clouded his mind, and increasingly brought harm rather then benefit. He believed that he was higher, more powerful, more gifted, than his counterpart, and he perceived in himself the power to unilaterally rule the Universe. He wished to establish his own order, his own laws, his own moral system, and subjugate the will of the worlds to himself! Not wishing to share authority with the Guard of Creation, he resolved to occupy the place of the Creator – the one Lord of the entire Universe. Evil crept out from the shell and launched its hideous tentacles into the very bowels of the universal organism, afflicting all living in its path.
The might of Tallaar increased day by day. The apogee was the day that he created nine Giants – gigantic creatures endowed with such enormous power that they could crush the Gods! Tallaar placed into the hands of the Giants the terrible weapon of destruction – the nine swords of chaos. Driven by hatred, they swept away everything in their path, destroyed the order set by the Creator, more and more bringing the worlds into a state of chaos.
The quiet battle of the Guards grew into open warfare. A war whose outcome was impossible to predict. A war of good and evil, of light with darkness. Tallaar drew the powers more and more to his side, turned the Gods to his faith, and made them vassals of Chaos. He himself became Chaos!
Here and there in the universe, skirmishes broke out between the adversaries, and bloody battles raged, as a result of which entire worlds perished.
In the battle of the Giants with Gods, the adherents of Or'Verron turned the world of Gulammey into a burnt-out wasteland, leaving not even hope of the rebirth of new life in this world soaked with blood. The terrible swords of the Giants hacked everything that lay in their path. Heads flew, the incessant blows of steel on steel rang out, and the incorruptible souls of the Gods left the Universe, issuing their last cry – a cry of pain and desperation.
In the world of Zelir, the servants of chaos struggled in a fierce battle with the God of the seas, Seyan, and the God of the eternal ices, Aystrin. It seemed that this combat would never come to an end. The advantage lay first on one side, then on the other. When the vile jackals, Tallaar's assistants, had surrounded the Gods, Seyan gathered his last strength and summoned the spirits of the seas, and Aystrin, the spirit of the ices. An enormous blue-black frothy wave rushed into the world and instantly turned into ice, burying under it the servants of Chaos and the once green flourishing Zelir and the Icy Hades.
Worlds perished one after another, the stars of the Universe faded out, the Gods conducted endless wars, and the beings were foredoomed.
The Guard of Creation, Or'Verron, gazed with somber view and saw the sites of conflagrations, and wastelands, and cold, and darkness. He understood that just a little more and Chaos would rule the Universe, becoming its only full-powered master. And so Or'Verron called Tallaar to a battle, the outcome of which would decide the fate of all worlds. The two Guards and the two Supreme Gods waged battle, one on one, face to face. The enemies cast on each other glances full of hatred and contempt. Like two bulls, eyes filled with blood, who beat their hooves on the ground, readying for the attack, and whose nostrils breathe out clouds of hot steam, the Guards stood one opposite the other and waited. They waited to see who would strike the first blow. “There is nothing for you to hope for”, wheezed Tallaar, and cast at the Guard of Creation a fiery coil containing hundreds of burning thunderbolts! Then Or'Verron summoned the spirits of the trees, whose strong roots entered the ground around Tallaar and for several moments covered him with a thick network of branches. But the Guard of Destruction burst forth from the wooden fetters and hailed down on his opponent a stone volley of terrible force, which destroyed everything living within many kilometers of the “battlefield”. Or'Verron withstood this and did not flinch. But the vile Tallaar sent against him roaring fiery streams which rushed along in a solid wall, turning into ashes everything in its path. Or'Verron did not lose courage but gathered all the might of the waters of the Universe and dumped a wave against the fire, which angrily sizzled and died under the streams of water ... Long did the Guards fight,seeking to prove to each other their might and preeminence, but the forces were equal. Somewhat weakened, but still filled with resolution and not wishing to be humbled, the enemies destroyed almost everything that the Creator had fashioned. This war, it seemed, would last eternally ...
And then Or'Verron – Great God and mighty Warrior, understood that only if he perished could he free the Universe from Tallaar. And he decided to present himself as a sacrifice in order to save the worlds from destruction, casting himself into Non-being. There he could not direct and rule, create and reign, but at the same time, in accordance with the laws of equilibrium, so also would Taalaar be cast into Non-being.
The Guard of Creation made his decision... The only righteous Decision at that moment, in which the very Universe became the victor ...
A complete quiet unexpectedly collapsed upon the worlds, everything as though hung in the air, not the slightest rustling was heard, and nothing disturbed the silence of the Universe. And now there blew a weak breeze which as if apprehensively felt out the path ... Suddenly it began to grow stronger ... stronger ... stronger. And now a hurricane – awesome and unmerciful, it blew through the expanses of the Universe. The wind howled and screeched, screamed and squalled ... And it was as though words were heard from afar ...
“Live ... o suffering universe ... exist ... You are and you will be ... Come alive again, ye powers of heaven, subjugate the will and mind of the highest beings ... Seal them behind locks and do not allow them any longer to rule ... When one departs, so too will the other leave ... equilibrium will be re-established...”
After these words, the wind with frenetic speed circled, forming a cone of gigantic dimensions... a funnel like the jaws of a monster opened wide and swallowed deep within the Supreme Gods ... At that moment quiet appeared and the wind went still, as though it had not been. All was finished ...
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