It is night. The Archcrystal is suffusing its emerald hue across Vantium. Long spectral shadows edged with green spread long and wide across the outskirts, attacked on all sides by the blue light and the golden haze of crystal-lit streetmps.

  I gaze up at the bck.

  The night sky was beautiful once, a glowing carpet of stars. Each cloudless night, human eyes saw thousands of these cosmic candles, but my eyes...my eyes saw even the faintest candle. A canvas of purest bck was speckled with radiant diamonds. Light and darkness locked in an eternal, glorious war.

  A few times over the st four centuries I wondered: Is the war over?

  Now only the green orb that is the Archcrystal adorns the celestial dome.

  Ganbold's piercing screech echoes in the far distance, almost drowned by the chatter of the theater crowd, few crickets, and the pleasant chirping of round-shaped goldyeyes. The giant hawk's impetuous nature made him no friends, but the beast is brave. He sometimes accompanies Wraith-hunting expeditions, acting as a scout. Like me, Ganbold is endowed with keen vision. Difficult to say, but his remarkable eyesight could potentially rival even mine.

  The theater I'm in is a good deal east of the Core. Compared to paces and temples, this theater is a modest and simple structure. Made to be semi-circur, with step-like seats gradually descending towards the clearing at the bottom. There are three seating sections, with the smaller, lower one, often reserved for the youngest or those with weaker sight. A rule written with water, apparently.

  Some months ago Max, one of my more...headstrong creations, slew a Wraith. Alone. The rge Amber extracted was expertly cut into smaller chunks and, to my delight, the few kindred born out of them grew to become sentient. They are growing, still.

  Max is clever but imprudent. The shape, size, cunning, and might of each Wraith are unique. Max could have easily---

  No point in brooding on such thoughts. His heart is the wind and I must accept that.

  At the moment, there is an intermission. Given my eyes and hearing, I sit furthest from the stage, in the remote upper tier of the theater. And, I prefer to be unnoticed.

  To my left, on the walkway strewn with slightly rough and cool to the touch, colorful granite statues, the younglings were pying pell-mell, the theater their pyground. They are giggling and running around during the pause, able to find the most simple joy in all things.

  This highest passageway of the theater offers a nice night view of the city. A few members of the audience decided to climb the stairways to reach it and gaze upon Acrona's statue glowing in the distance. The mesmerizing dark blue ghostly lines possess the warm brightness of dying embers; scars of the night itself.

  ''Maker,'' one of the younglings whispers while pointing at me. I pce a finger across my lips in a shushing gesture.

  One of the toddlers giggles while pulling my hair behind me. My night-blue hair, the color of that long-forgotten twilight sky, is nearly impossible to cut or for even a single strand to be uprooted without great difficulty, but the little sprout is certainly giving its best efforts.

  After some time of pretending not to notice, I suddenly turn and mockingly bar my teeth at it.

  In an instant, I regret my folly as the small thing starts to cry. Of course, there could never be actual tears on its tiny cheeks but the sad sentiment is definitely there. My intention was quite the opposite.

  ''Forgive me, Maker.'' Its caretaker quickly removes the child before I get a chance to try and console it.

  I spend too much time with sheets of paper.

  Next to perform is Flo. I hear he is a slightly overzealous performer but well-liked. His light green skin is purposefully contrasted with the vivid, red swirling patterns of his silken costume.

  Much of the audience has already settled into their seats.

  The kindred in the theater wear a rich attire, including doublets made of silk with a satin weave, tight-fitting woolen breeches, often richly embroidered, and long backless gowns of velvet or silk, dyed vividly in violet, pink and red, bejeweled or adorned by crystals and gems, occasionally outlined with fur. About half the gowns are woven in a heavy raised pattern of a brocade weave, sometimes using silver or gold thread. Hats are mostly avoided, although, there are one or two feathered ones.

  Most of the cloaks were a cascade of dark turquoise, indigo, blue and red, crafted from silk, velvet, fur, cotton, and wool. There are even a few of my crystalborn wearing a soft yet tough Wraithskin cloak. About a third of the cloaks were finished in the smooth and soft twill weave, giving some of these garments a pleasing light luster.

  I instinctively unfocus my eyes.

  ''Humans were vile creatures,'' Flo begins, ''they needed to eat the flesh of other things to live.'' The younglings make disgusted faces, mimicking the orator. ''They also drank water, can you imagine drinking water like some beast of nature.'' Again the youngest ones in the audience seem repulsed. Despite the smile on my face, it makes me a little sad they stay like this for only a year or two. ''They had everything. The dominion of the whole world was theirs, but the heart of mankind,'' he rapidly taps his chest, ''was made to never know peace.

  ''Against each other, they fought. Their own kin, they slew. Like a snake eating itself.'' Flo hisses towards the audience. ''In the end, after many eons of tribal warfare and squabbling between petty kingdoms, there came an age of bance.'' He then throws his arms and tries to mimic a scale.

  ''This bance began long ago with the establishment of two empires. In all of Western Equiya the Dontium Empire ruled with a bloodsteel fist. While in the faraway East a powerful trading empire of Aurum, rich with trade from ruling Alldora's waves, held sway. For hundreds of springs, the two empires were in a neverending cycle of war and peace over the control of luscious Arcadia.

  ''At one period in human history, both East and West had almost the same amount of nd in Arcadia. However, both sides thought that the other had holdings richer with crystals, so the hostilities remained.

  ''Ordinary human soldiers became obsolete by this time and were mostly relegated to being bodyguards of the gifted humans who each, in turn, commanded their armies of beasts.

  ''Overseeing the battlefield from their winged mounts, the Imperial Breakers would dictate butchery, to their many legions of Warbeasts.

  ''Hills of shiny dust beyond count were made as the two sides used their hordes of crystalborn to try and dominate each other.

  ''Some years Dontium would hold almost all of Arcadia, harvesting its rich soil for crystals and making more and more of crystalborn; bent on following every bloodthirsty whim of their masters. While at other times East would have half or more under its thumb.

  ''But this bance was not to st.'' His voice turns overly somber.

  ''About seven centuries ago, the now forgotten Dontium emperor of bloodline Balius, at the behest of his Genesis-blessed advisers and some schemers dabbling with forbidden symbols,'' he wags his finger at the crowd, ''was convinced to order the unspeakable. To break one of the Endless.'' He gasps, pointing towards the jet-bck sky of the night, at the orb of light casting its viridescent hue, high above Vantium.

  ''Wait.'' No sound has left my sealed lips, and yet my words echo in Flo's mind as I stare at him. The performer is startled a little for a moment but then gives a slight nod.

  I look at the caretakers next. ''Take the younglings away. I don't wish them to hear this.''

  With a few minor voices of discontent, the little ones are taken away through the vomitorium.

  ''Go on, Flo.'' I tell him. Again, only he heard those words, making some in the audience slightly confused at the pause in the performance.

  As the actor continues, his tone gets more serious, with some of the theatrics gone.

  ''Humans executed the forbidden Genesis process and went on to break one of the Endless.

  ''To break the Archcrystal was something considered inconceivable. An anathema for most well-versed in Genesis. But the humans, ever cunning, found a way. Every three hundred and fourteen springs there is a special window of opportunity where the might of all creators can become amplified, called Alignment.

  ''The twelve humans blessed with the Gift used this and stood together in the vastly oversized spark circle, ready to sacrifice their kinfolk. Twelve children were shackled far behind Imperial Breakers, inside the several times rger blood circle.''

  His voice turns sorrowful. ''And of course, in front of the Vile-Twelve, rger than a two-story house, the Archcrystal stood in the center of the third and final, creation circle. Or as our schorly kindred like to say, 'induction circle.''' Flo points at a group of kindred, sitting close to the stage area. One of them casually waves at Flo in greeting.

  ''One might think a circle is a simple affair but these were not. Deep within a rock desert, humans removed the top yer of the reddish-brown pebbles and soil, revealing the pale dirt underneath. The long lines created this way formed the Genesis circles, and also, the stylized-looking, and geometric shapes of the many arcane symbols of power.

  ''The two bigger Genesis circles were so rge they could encompass an entire human metropolis. The middle one, several times smaller, and yet, a human could spend almost an hour walking the diameter. From side to distant side. The now long-lost Genesis symbols, hugging the circles, were wider than a stump of a sky-tree.

  ''The Endless was beautifully blue like the skies were said to be so long ago, shining with its ethereal living light.

  ''Ignoring the screeches of their shackled kin the Twelve crouched, and after their palms touched the dirt it began.'' He pauses for I assume dramatic effect.

  SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

  Scores of kindred in the theater are jolted as dozens of whips crack, somewhere behind Flo.

  ''A cornucopia of sparks tore the air just above the three rge circles with the buzzing and crackling sounds, like an infinity of insects gathered in one pce. Quickly the pleading screams behind subsided and after a few hours of bright crackling spectacle, our Maker was born.

  ''The bance was shattered forever. Maker's might, crushed the scale.

  ''You see, Maker's crystalborn were almost always far superior than those created by Imperial Breakers. And, as you all know, Maker can give life to many crystals at the same time. A mere human would get exhausted by giving life to just one. Not only that, but Maker can create intelligent life, a power possessed by none other, a power that humans dreaded the most.

  ''He was the weapon that tipped...broke the scale, and helped the Western Empire to conquer the East, making it dominate all of Equiya.

  ''The close kin of the aging Vile-Twelve, and much ter the cousins of those kin, were all specially trained to force their will upon Maker's mind so his ensvement may continue for centuries.

  ''Dontium ruthlessly forced the dozens of newly acquired regions of the East to only teach the imperial tongue and ws.

  ''This new world-empire is said to have had unimaginable riches, with mountains made of beaming crystals and enough aurichalcum to cd entire paces with it.

  ''At its zenith the expanded empire was magnificent. Cities, trade, culture, works of art and sculpture, and writing; it was, in a way, a prosperity with limitless potential.

  ''But it was still not enough.

  ''The st few emperors sought immortality with great desperation. This desire culminated with the st true emperor of humans, Omniel Balius. To those that don't know, the emperor is akin to a supreme general, his every whim was to be obeyed without question.''

  ''So like Kali the Behemoth Syer!'' someone from the audience shouted, prompting a few chuckles here and there.

  ''Be quiet.'' I looked in the general area of the shouter. The words were heard by more than a few, although I meant to target only the heckler.

  ''...Maker...'', ''...Maker is here...'' slight commotion ripples through the theater. The growing excitement is quickly squashed by the loud drumming sound and Flo's pleading.

  ''How can I be expected to perform in these conditions?'' Flo mutters quietly to himself—right hand perched on his chin, fingers twiddling, moving like the legs of a spider.

  After gathering his wits, Flo continues. The mask is back on. ''Before Upheaval this human...grand empire, tried to break two Archcrystals at the same time, with the idea of channeling their power into the Emperor Omniel Balius, thereby transforming him into a god.

  ''An act which resulted in Upheaval.

  ''You see, after Dontium made Aurum into its giant province and forced it to pay tribute, Dontium's emperors became rulers of the whole world. Power became more and more concentrated until emperors began to be worshiped as deities. As if they were living gods.

  ''Eventually, rulers themselves started believing the lie, believing they are divine.

  ''A continental Genesis was attempted.

  ''At least half of those belonging to the Vile-Twelve's posterity—half of those responsible for dominating our maker's mind—were pced in the center of Aurum, together with hundreds of other humans, young and old alike. In Arcadia, scores of the best Breakers the Empire had to offer were waiting patiently for the Alignment to begin. And of course, Omniel Balius was in the midst of what was once the rgest mountain range in the world. Not that far from where I am standing now.'' Flo points at his feet with both hands.

  ''One of the Endless was pced to the north of Omniel, and one to the south.

  ''Maker himself was put on a ship, and taken far away from the shores of Equiya.

  ''Imperial Breakers crouched, their soles and palms touching the ground.

  ''The moment struck, Alignment came, and Genesis began.

  ''But something was wrong.''

  Boom-rumble-rumble!

  A thunder sheet was struck with a mallet—behind Flo, beneath the stage, inside the hypogeum.

  ''The Emperor's body exploded. Turning into a fine red mist. Those Breakers, those finest of fine, had their inside switch pces with the outside, their bodies turning into mush. And those hundreds in the center of Aurum? They simply fell asleep. Never to wake up.

  ''Hubris led to Upheaval.

  ''Some of the mightiest human creators, instead of forging a new life, dared to dabble with forces beyond them. Dared to attempt the breaking of two Archcrystals.

  ''They've killed...Killed! The bzing summers.'' He spreads his hands while looking up with mentation. ''Ended the steel-cold snowy winters...'' Flo's voice drops to almost a whisper as he utters those st few words, all the while rubbing his upper arms.

  ''The world became shrouded with gray clouds that knew no end. Alldora slowly changed into a turmoil of raging waves. Some say the greatest camities born of mankind's sin were the fate that had befallen the once beautiful nd of Arcadia, and the curse which took the whole East.

  ''As the thick ashen skies blocked much of the sun, humanity slowly became pgued with famine and internal conflict.

  ''Instead of uniting they fragmented.

  ''Nevertheless, even weakened by famine and all that comes from the colpse of the natural world, they still had stronger forces than the Maker.

  ''One spring after Upheaval began, the East was engulfed in a cataclysm as human cities fell from the onsught of heaven's wrath. Miraculously there were many survivors in the ruble and a decent chunk of humankind managed to flee westward. A rge number of starving mouths additionally added to human woes.

  ''East became inhabitable no more, and so, the world's stage became West.

  ''Diocles Balius, a cousin of the exploded emperor, was the prime cimant to the World Throne. The six humans who controlled Maker pledged their allegiance to Diocles, who, after poisoning a few of his brothers and sisters, took power and constantly tried to establish absolute control over the West, fighting other noble-born of his ilk.

  ''Humans foolishly believed that six of their kind were enough to continue to ensnare Maker's will.

  ''For years Maker pretended to serve the humans.

  ''He used their strife; this ck of unity, to eradicate more and more of the dying humankind. Maker expanded the discord between various groups of humans, destroying them piece by piece.

  ''Human reliance on Maker's power only grew.

  ''And he helped them. Through a series of bloody battles, he helped them to consolidate the many provinces of the West back under the imperial boot. But you see, Maker had the quality which humans so desperately cked: Patience.

  ''During those first years of Upheaval, our creator pyed the role of a dutiful tool. Humans never realized Maker could speak with his creations quieter than whispers, without the need of opening his mouth. He slowly organized those who had a mind of their own while knowing that others who were animal-like would follow him to the Void and back.

  ''Maker knew that to abolish an enemy such as humankind—an enemy powerful still, with Genesis-gifted humans having crystalborn legions of their own—cunning and guile were needed. Secretly, he commanded his sentient creations to begin highly targeted assassinations that would prolong human infighting. More and more, the human faction with Maker became increasingly dependent upon his power to fuel their war.

  ''Prime spear of Diocles' he was, while feigning to serve the perishing Empire dutifully—to try and meld it back together. His mask of katadron never faltered as he pretended to be humanity's sve, as he waited.''

  The dramatic symphony of violins and flutes washes over the theater.

  ''Maker's pale blue skin was awash in red. Rivers of red. Using the legendary archbde of Pentacore—the king of all greatswords—Maker bathed in noble human blood. Our creator sliced Diocles Balius in half, down the middle.

  ''One night during the feast where all the nobles gathered, Maker arranged for the chamber to be locked down, and then he sughtered the st trace of the central government. The feasting chamber had hundreds of the most influential humans from all the nds, gathered to celebrate their victories against other human factions. Fine cloth, fine food, fine music; the chamber was drowned in them.

  ''Maker took command.

  ''What followed was the War of Extermination.

  ''In the years of blood and dust, our creator's host only grew. He seized the imperial treasury, broke almost all the thousands of crystals inside within days—hiding the birthed younglings.

  ''Most of the other archbdes,'' Flo takes a step back and turns to his left, ''were also secured.

  ''Maker knew humans would target him, for crafty they were. In each devastating battle, he had to be craftier yet. Thus, covered in a long gray hooded cloak, and riding a Winged, Maker commanded his legions of nd and air from a great distance. Scores of his strongest crystalborn guarding him. Maker knew that if he falls, all is lost.

  ''Amidst the chaos of the st big battle of extermination, humans used men, women, and even their young, even their elderly as soldiers. They all stood together alongside crystalborn beasts of all sizes, bristling with sharp teeth and thick cws. But it was all for naught. While annihiting them all, Maker lost more than half of his army. The humans simply refused to surrender, their divine spark was fire, and the price of victory was steep indeed.

  ''Most humans perished due to the consequences of Upheaval. Nevertheless, even after starvation, breakdown of society, infighting—provinces wanted to separate from the empire—diseases, and so on, there were still humans left. The surviving millions had to be put to the sword, spear, and cw, otherwise, we could not be. Otherwise...humans would do the same to us.

  ''The battles of extermination, although gruesome, were necessary.

  ''As, the nemesis pguing the world remained.'' Flo throws his arms upward, at the pure bck, far above. ''An eternal reminder of human folly.

  ''In the very end, only tens of thousands of humans were left alive. And so, after one final command, the Children of Equiya were no more.''

  ''Aye!'', ''Huzzah!'', ''Blessed be!'' cpping, shouts, the fpping of wings, and roars of approval are heard throughout the theater. Basking in the din of ovations, Flo bows low at the audience.

  A decent performance, although a little artistic liberty was unavoidable.

  This nemesis of the world is like a human having a cold, it doesn't need some hero of legend to save it. Given enough eons, Equiya will go on, and life would find bance again.

  Regardless, my creations will all perish one day. Unable to procreate, only shiny dust would remain.

  I look to my lower left at the diazoma, the walkway over which the younglings were taken away.

  I want for them to see the full might of the sun, to experience the true splendor of the world, and only to leave it in old age, with their descendants being the st thing they see.

  I close my eyes, releasing the breath I held without noticing. The moment I breathe in I perceive an aroma: faint and sweet. The scent of star jasmine is wafting from some distant garden. Brought to me by the southern wind.