Mook's Journal: War of Light and Monsters

Everybody knows this story. You've all heard it a thousand times. The Hero of Light, born in a Time of Darkness, where an evil curse plagues the land. The Hero, with their legendary sword, alongside their brave companions, slay the hordes of Undead and Monsters, eventually killing the Overlord, or evil King or Queen, or ending the Emperor. The humans rejoice, for at long last the monsters are gone and they can rule themselves, possibly making the Hero their new ruler.

I regret to inform you, however, that if you're reading this, the battle is already over. I doubt that I survived, regardless of who won the battle. We all knew this battle was coming, the Human and Monsters, but none so surely as the King of Monsters himself. Aketu knew beyond a doubt that the Hero of Light would be reaching adulthood by the time of this first entry. Unlike other monstrous rulers in stories passed on by Humans, Aketu did not try to kill the Hero when the Hero was still young. No, Aketu knew better than to fight against the prophecies. If the prophets foretold the Hero of Light would fight Aketu after their seventeenth year, no action of Aketu's could change that. In fact, attempting to could have caused the battle to occur far earlier, or when Aketu least expected it.

So, the King of Monsters had chosen to have a record made. He chose me to tell the tale of the days leading up to and through the final battle. I assure you, I was just as surprised as you when the King summoned me to his castle, Dark Avarice. Who was I, after all, to walk into Dark Avarice, let alone speak to the King?

I was just a foot soldier, one of the Horde. I didn't think I stood out more than any other Darkling, the race of Elves who allied with monsters millennia ago. Sure, I wasn't as low ranking as the Skeletons or Zombies, but I certainly wasn't as powerful as a Lich or Werebeast. In fact, I was just below average for a Darkling member of the Horde, just a bit slower and less nimble than my brethren, a little shorter with less prominent ears or claws. Mother had always claimed its because my father was a Cacaodaemon, though I only inherited a portion of his Magicks. A handful of spells he'd taught Mother, who passed them on to me when I joined the Horde.

But, I am getting off track. King Aketu had summoned me, chosen me specifically by name, to Dark Avarice. The King looked much like his father, but different in the way his father differed from his Grandfather, both past Kings. Aketu was a tall man, standing just shy of ten feet, if one did not count the three horns growing from his skull. Aketu was a powerful Monster, both in Magick and strength. His two arms ended in large hands strong enough to crush stone, and his powerful legs could carry him at a charge for days without rest. His body was covered in a short, fine black fur, and he wore purple robes with a chin-high collar. His four eyes burned like coals, and the king's mane was like the night itself.

The Royal Family belonged to a nearly extinct species of Monster, one of the original Monster families. Few spoke the name of his kind aloud, instead calling them Royals out of both reverence and awe. The Royals possessed the ability where each successive generation was born towards the ends their father's life, evolved in a way to compensate whatever weaknesses their predecessor had. Their kind could evolve with the ages, so long as they reproduced before being slain. Aketu was the last of the Royals, and not still had many more years to go before he would produce an heir. We all knew there was a chance Aketu would truly be the last of the Royals.

Aketu met me in his throne room, where I knelt before his stone throne. His guards, two on either side of him, were known by name throughout the kingdom of Varn. On the left, the fallen Archangel Samael, and the four-faced Cherub Xeles. On the right, the Elder Demons Belial and Mephistopheles. To say I was intimidated would be a great understatement.

But Aketu ordered me to rise, and when I chanced a look at his face, I found he was smiling, as if amused. When Aketu rose, he was more than three feet taller than myself, not counting the raised floor on which the throne sat. Aketu began to descend towards me, and I recall making a startled sound. I could physically feel the Magicka flowing off his body. The depths of it were beyond my imagination, as hard to quantify as the stars in the sky.

Aketu requested that I walk with him, and so I followed the King as he made his way to a door set into the right wall. His guards did not speak, but each turned to go their own way, off to other parts of the castle. Aketu spoke to me, his voice surprisingly soft and gentle, but there was a weariness in his tone as well.

Aketu was quick to tell me to drop formalities, to refer to him only by name rather than his title. He claimed that though Dark Avarice was a castle, it was his home and he did not wish to sit upon formality in his own house.

Aketu led me through many hallways, explaining that there was a war coming, some time within the next year. He told me that, out of all his subjects, he had chosen me to fulfill a particularly challenging task. The King requested that I keep a record, a journal, for as long as possible. He wanted the upcoming battle to be remembered for how it was, not for how the victors or story tellers would spin it. He wanted someone who would be there, fighting, to tell this story.

Aketu explained that those of lower position were more likely to die early on in the battle, defending Monsterkind from the Humans. The higher ranking officers, though some were good people, were often too caught up in their pride or seeking glory, or political advancement. They couldn't be trusted to paint an honest picture of the events. He had reviewed every member of the middle-ranks, discussing it at length with his Royal Guard, and they had chosen me. They reasoned that I was an honest Monster, who neither tried too hard nor slacked. I came from humble origins, and had lived among the common Monsters before joining the Horde, and was one of the few Monsters in the Horde to have sought advanced education beyond the mandatory schooling all Monsterkind was required to receive under Aketu's rule.

Aketu requested, not ordered, that I take on this task. To say I was honored, if not stricken with self-consciousness that my King had specifically chosen me, would be a disservice. After I accepted, having taken a moment to find my tongue after such a request, Aketu led me back to the gates of Dark Avarice, bidding me farewell personally, and giving me sincere hope and good luck in the coming battle.