Destinys' Game

Prologue

Karotu

Darkness. Too much darkness in too cramped a place waiting for too damn long. You wouldn’t believe how boring it gets. Being totally alone, cursed forever to spend the rest of your life in a tiny jar less than half the length of your forearm until someone on the outside chooses to let you out. I mean, there’s nothing to do! This is especially painful and disgusting for me, a great and all-powerful demon of cataclysms, for once made powerless to the wills and whims of the foolish mortals who called themselves ‘The Chosen Ones‘.

            Well, they will see. When I am released once more upon this pathetic world, I will reclaim not just my freedom, but everything that I have lost. This time, I will not let myself be captured. And though I do not know how many centuries have passed, the very day of my imprisonment I vowed that I would return and wreak my vengeance upon each and every one of my captors and their families. Even if nothing is left but their ashes, I will find their descendants. I will not rest until my revenge has been satisfied.

            Hold on, there’s something new. I can feel a presence near the jar. Yes, yes! I’m being lifted, now carried! Perfect. Soon my freedom will be at hand! Too long have I waited for this, and farewell to the poor fools that chose to release me. After all, there is only one reason I can think of for why someone – anyone – would be daring enough to end my long imprisonment: they must want to control me, use my powers to overcome whatever tiny, insignificant enemies they must have. Why else would someone let loose once more the destroyer of civilizations? The creator of all cataclysms in this world?

Kiara

I was brought up prepared for this day for years, but I still can’t believe what I’m doing, and what will happen because of it.

            The Jar of Karotu is clutched under my coat, away from view. It’s almost too dark to see, but I could make my way back in the middle of a blizzard if I had to, and still stay completely unseen. I keep to the shadows as I run, avoiding where some people still linger.

            The Jar of Karotu houses one of the most powerful demons in history, its story legend. The story goes that Karotu had risen from another world, determined to destroy ours and lay claim to it. It had set nearly half the planet on fire before the Chosen Ones had arrived. The Chosen Ones were people of legend, worshipped in the same shrine I stole the ashes of Karotu from, and had trapped the demon inside, disintegrated into ashes. It’s been trapped inside for so long, the demon’s power only increasing, growing angrier as it waits for its next coming. That’s what I’ve always been told, anyway. Personally, I think it’s just bored, being stuck in a little jar like it is with nothing to do but to fantasize what to do after its next coming – tonight.

            I’m not entirely up-to-date on why we’re doing this, but I’m told it’s my destiny, that it has to happen so the natural order can continue. I don’t understand, and I’m not sure I want to, but I’m not afraid. I’ve been taught not to be afraid, so I’m not. If this is what’s meant to be, then so be it. The Jar of Karotu shall be opened, the demon controlled with the sacred charm, and my destiny completed. Simple as though it was fact, which, to me, it is.

            What else can there be? The others wouldn’t lie to me about something as important as my destiny. There’s absolutely no way they ever would. They’re like my family. They took me in when I was abandoned and trained me. They gave me meaning for life and a reason to live. They’ve taught me to live in the here and now, and not look to the past or future, or to become too attached to any one person. Life is too short to worry on petty things like that. It’s the only way to live in life: to not be afraid, and to not get attached. That’s what they’ve taught me.