A long time ago, in a still young world, seven great races coexisted: demons, angels, fairies, semi-human, dwarves, elves and humans. Each of them fulfilled a purpose, and together they gave balance to the world where, according to the ancient prophecies, a new God would be born: the God of the beginning and the end.
However, that balance was destroyed when beings appeared who called themselves "gods", with the intention of governing everything. His ambition unleashed such a bloody war that led to the total extinction of the demonic breed.
When I regained consciousness, I was in a dark place. Everything around me looked like space ... although, curiously, I didn't know what that word meant. "What is space?" I wondered. And yet something in my mind - something that was not completely mine - seemed to know everything.
Little by little, that conscience began to whisper my knowledge, images and words that I had never heard. It was as if my own brain housed a wisdom that did not belong to me, showing me things that I did not fully understand ... but that, in some way, I also understood.
Time passed with an unbearable slowness, as if the world had forgotten to move. The boredom became a part of me ... until a sharp pain crossed my head.
I closed my eyes for a moment. When opening them, I was elsewhere. Everything burned. You flame roared around me, and heat wrapped me like a living nightmare. I felt a deep, heartbreaking pain, and my sight was blurred, distorted.
Among the shadows, I distinguished the silhouette of a kneeling child. He was crying, clinging to the body of a woman. She hugged him tenderly, even while the world fell apart around her.
I assumed that it was his mother. Not only because of the age difference, but because of the way he protected him. But what caught my attention were the horns that stood out from his head.
I could not see clearly what was happening around me, but the woman's voice was clear, warm ... almost like a whisper that crossed the fire.
"Don't cry ... you have to be strong, Kurayami," he said tenderly.
Upon hearing that name, something inside me trembled. It was as if that word, Kurayami, had a deeper meaning, as if it belonged to me.
So, it all began to fade. The image became more blurred, the sound went out completely ... and when I least waited for it, I was already elsewhere.
When I returned to me, I found myself in what seemed to be a cave. The walls were wet stone and the air smelled like old ground. In front of me, standing and completely motionless, there was an imposing man.
He wore a white armor that shone with the little light of the place, a red cape waved slightly behind him, and his face was completely covered by a metal helmet.
I wielded a sword, and sustained it firmly while watching me cautiously. Without more, he asked me in a serious voice:
"Who are you ... and what is that thing you are in?"
I didn't know very well why I knew it, but the words came out alone. I replied with a quiet, almost mechanical smile:
"It's a hibernation capsule." It serves to sleep for many years without age ... or feel the passage of time.
The gentleman maintained his sword high a few more seconds, as if he still did not trust me ... or as if he were deciding if he should kill me at that moment.
Finally, he lowered the gun cautiously, but still observing me with distrust.
"You are the last," he said in a firm voice. The last one we found in those capsules. Outside there are other eleven ...
Heroes, call themselves.
I looked back with a carefree smile.
"There is no problem," I said. Could you show me the way?
The gentleman sighed, as if he did not expect so much calm on me. Then, with a silent gesture, he pointed to a passage in the shadows.
Without saying another word, we started walking together, leaving behind the place where I had woken up.
While we were moving through the tunnel, the gentleman explained to me that he was patrolling, as he used to do, when he noticed the entrance of the cave and decided to inspect it in search of enemies.
"Enemigos?" I asked. Who are they at war with? What country?
His voice sounded dry, almost resigned.
"With almost all existing races." We humans are fighting the rest of the world.
After that conversation, we didn't speak again. Silence, dense and uncomfortable, accompanied us throughout the journey.
Finally, we arrive at the exit of the cave. The outside light forced me to narrow my eyes, and there, standing, waiting for us, I saw eleven young people.