Red Emperor – Prologue
Here’s the teaser prologue of Halloween and the Red Emperor. Hope you enjoy.
It started with chaos. Monsters and vile creatures roamed free as they wished, and normal people had no protection, not in the dark of night, not in the brightest hours of day. Then heroes rose to fight for the people, but still, no one had any idea of when or where the battles between heroes and monsters would take place. They heroes tried their best to protect the regular people, and in those days ancient wonders, heroes killed monsters and vile creatures by the dozens and hundreds. The monsters and vile creatures killed countless heroes and normal people by the thousands.
The powers that be, both of light and darkness gathered and forged certain rules to govern the battles of light and darkness across the world. In some places, the rules served as guidelines…in others, the rules were iron clad. Throughout the ages, some few have tried to bend the rules, sometimes even ignoring them altogether. Their names echo throughout folklore, legend, and myth: Gilgamesh, Pandora,Coyote, Bellerophon, Morgan le Fey, Br’er Rabbit, Jonah, Orpheus, Sun Wukong, and many others. However, as tricky and clever as they all were, none of them managed to unravel the foundations of rules set forth by the powers that be.
Then, centuries upon centuries after these tricksters learned their lessons or ceased their games, a young man spoke seemingly innocent words as he rose to become his own trickster legend:
“If Saint Peter wanted things done in the traditional way, they wouldn’t have asked an American.”
With those words, and by the choices and actions that followed, The Old Ways began to unravel. Fortunately, that man never outright broke any of The Old Ways; still, he skirted just on the edge, manipulating his gifts from the heavens to give himself the best possible advantage over his enemies. Unfortunately, other creatures, having waited years, long decades, and longer centuries fray, sensed this unraveling of The Old Ways. They too could skirt the edges of the laws and traditions of The Old Ways.
The Devil himself felt these, and the darkest of dark lords fumed and brooded, unable to take advantage as he remained trapped hammering away in a blacksmithy somewhere in the rolling hills of Ireland. However, that vile and ancient adversary was not the only dark power in the world. As the Devil himself remained trapped, another creature stirs in a land many miles and long leagues away from the battles between the line of John the Blacksmith and the embodiment of evil. This creature, as ancient and vile as the Dark One himself, had been bound by laws and traditions, yet, as The Old Ways unraveled for one tradition, they unraveled for all. And, so it was that this creature that has preyed upon mankind since the darkest times, this creature that was also free to roam one night of the year, yet a different night than the Devil and his kin, sends its minions into the world. These creatures, hungry and filled with rage, have slowly tested how far they can push the boundaries of The Old Ways. As they have roamed further and further, these creatures have heard rumors of a hero who stands between the dark creatures and humanity.
Now, while their master lurks high in the mountains, creatures from that far land slink through the shadows and darkness on the few nights they are free to roam and get into what mischief they would, watching and waiting for this hero to appear…and crush him.
