An Excerpt

Darkness. Blackness. Nothing. No air. No sound. No movement.

This is the void.

      In this lacuna, this place betwixt life and death, two points of light appear. They grow and take shape, becoming recognisable as two men. They are identical in almost every aspect, handsome, some would say beautiful. One kneeling, seemingly trapped behind an invisible barrier, his hands raised pleadingly, pressed against the unseen wall. Both men radiate in the nullity with a powerful, non-human glow.

      "You cannot leave me here, brother." The kneeling entity pounded on the indiscernible wall, his red glowing eyes conveying his desperation.

      "I have no other choice, Scarl. I cannot allow your evil to continue on this world ... and I cannot kill you." The other entity stood, his face impassive but his blue eyes betrayed him, showing his immense pain.

      "But the void. It is so dark, so cold. Please, Scarn. I will take the cult and leave this world. You will be rid of us. You do not have to do this."

      Scarn looked at his brother, trapped behind the invisible force, darkness slowly consuming the light and power around him. "I would end this, with this!" He raised his sword, which flared hotly, the light causing Scarl to flinch and cover his demon-like eyes. "But it is forbidden. I cannot kill you, it would destroy our world." He sheathed his own blade and picked up Scarl's weapon, which had appeared at his feet, identical in every respect to his own, save it glowed red with evil power in his grasp.

      "Know this brother: I love you and always will. We are one and I will be less without you." Scarn paused and a black iron anvil appeared in front of him. He held his hand up in the air and a weighty hammer appeared in it.

      "No, brother, please, I beg you."

      "I am sorry, Scarl, I cannot allow you to roam freely. The edicts and laws that bind me do not seem to affect you. I cannot trust you, brother. You would destroy me and thus our world." Scarn placed the sword across the anvil, raised the hammer and brought it crashing down on the red glowing blade.

      "No!" - crash! - "No!" and again the hammer fell. Scarn watched as with every blow his brother's image faded until the sword was broken into nine pieces and his brother had disappeared.

      "And so he is banished." A female voice echoed in the void. An ethereal golden glow appeared beside the forlorn Scarn. "Do not grieve my beloved."

      "But the world will be less without him, mother." Tears welled from Scarn's eyes.

      "Always you are too gentle, my son. He is beyond you and me. The evil has him totally and he must stay thusly. Beware the use of your own power, for with every use the bindings holding him will loosen."

      "I will hide the pieces, they will never again be remade. Without his sword he is powerless."

      "Yes, hide them, but this is far from over for ultimately he must die. You yourself cannot kill him, but another will come in time and you must be ready to aid him."

      "Another, mother?"

      "Yes, my son - but I have said enough. Scarl can still hear and see some things. He is still very powerful and still has people who worship him."

      "Not for long, mother. Even as we speak the invasion begins. I will rid the world of his evil."

      "Beware and be careful, Scarn. Remember what I have said about your own power."

      "I will be careful, mother, I promise."

      The two entities disappeared, leaving the void as dark and cold as before and yet no longer completely silent. Vibrations, oscillations, noises slowly reaching comprehensibility, hollow sounding in the vacuum, yet still discernible as words, soft and quivering at first, rising to a crescendo: "No, I will leave. Please it is so dark! Mother? Scarn? Mother!"