The Dawn of the New World

"I was born a human-" he revealed, "-in the 30th layer of the Abyss. I even had a family; a wife and a daughter who I loved more than anything else. I had friends and comrades who fought alongside me."

Lord Jyothi's voice fell as he swam through the memories of a long-forgotten past. And then something happened that made Hao Xuan doubt his eyes.

The copper plate Lord Jyothi was staring into began replaying pieces of his memory on its glossy surface. It showed a barren wasteland teeming with monsters and all manners of horrific beasts.

Everything from the weather to the plant life wanted to kill them but there, right in the middle of this hell hole existed a piece of heaven. A small patch of land concealed between two towering mountain ranges.

It had two of the most important things needed for survival, water and relative safety.

There was a small city located here, kept out of sight and reach of most of the dangerous wildlife.

"It was tough, every day a new challenge awaited us but we pushed through...we had to for the ones we loved."

The image changed to show hundreds of men, women, and children standing on the city walls looking outward. At the very front was a family of three consisting of a handsome bronze-skinned man with blazing red hair, a beautiful woman with ebony skin, and a small child with their combined features standing in between them.

Lord Jyothi grazed his knuckles over the laughing faces of his wife and daughter, "We didn't have much but we were happy...at least we had each other..."

But the merry scene quickly changed to show a graveyard extending far beyond the borders of the city.

"It was a plague. Something no one had heard of or could have expected, something we had no way of dealing with. It started with the old and the young first. They fell ill and couldn't wake up no matter what we tried. And then even the healthy warriors were affected by it. We had lost all hope...I had lost all hope..."

A hooded silhouette walked into the unguarded city and approached the man with the red hair as he stood over the sleeping child, presenting him with something.

"And then she came, offering an answer to our prayers. I gave her whatever and whoever she wanted as long as it could save them- save us, but it was a trick."

His expression turned ugly and his fists balled up in anger.

"SHE was the one who cursed us! Used us as tools for her experiment!"

The last scene showed some horribly disfigured creatures slowly devolving into mindless beasts. Only the man with the red hair managed to keep his wits about but even he was turned into an animal, forever cursed to walk the planes in this wretched form.

Lord Jyothi suddenly punched the copper plate sending it flying into the wall. His fist was not weaker than any of the weapons in sight.

"It took me over five hundred years to regain the memories I had lost and with them, my consciousness. Thankfully my skills remained unaffected so I used everything at my disposal to make sufficient connections and gather enough resources to break free from her grasp no matter the cost."

"I was successful but...look at me now," he glanced back at Hao Xuan, "This is what awaits those who trust her," he said gesturing towards his face, "An empty husk of a man with no one to love and no place to call home."

Hao Xuan didn't know what to say because there was not much he COULD say. She had taken everything from him and now Hao Xuan was walking down the same path.

Lord Jyothi shook his head and turned his attention back to the chains.

After a fleeting moment of silence Hao Xuan managed to throw out a couple of words, "I'm sorry. There is no justification for her actions."

He chuckled, "You have nothing to apologize for, my lord. It happened almost 700 years ago now, long before you were even born."

"!!!"

Hao Xuan suddenly straightened his back, repeating the words in daze, "Seven hundred years ago..."

"Yes. It was quite a tumultuous time back then. Not too long after that Maymon began his war and swiftly took hold over more than a hundred Abyss strongholds within just a few months. Now that I think about it, I am not sure if we could have even survived the war even if she hadn't intervened..." he let out a self-deprecating laugh.

Hao Xuan's mind was racing like a hungry dog chasing after its last meal. That time frame fell exactly around the time when he was supposed to be in the abyss.

'Maybe I can do something...change the future for someone other than just myself,' he thought inwardly.

"Lord Jyothi, could you- do you know what exactly she did? Which curse she cast on your city?"

He turned around with a raised eyebrow but after a brief moment of hesitation, he reached over the table and pulled off one of the decorations from the wall.