(First Person POV - Vince)

  Hmm. Feels like I've been soaking up these light specks for a while now. I only just noticed there seem to be more and more popping up around me. The harder I focus and kind of zone out, the faster they seem to show up and merge with my glow, which is getting pretty bright now. It's... weirdly satisfying.

  Suddenly, right when I was deep in concentration, this huge, powerful voice echoed in my head. It wasn't here in the dark with me, felt... far away, but it sounded like it really meant business, echoing from somewhere else entirely.

  "EHEM! WHO DARES DISPLAY SUCH AFFECTIONS IN MY PRESENCE?"

  Whoa. What was that? Sounded ancient and incredibly strong. Then I heard it again, chuckling like giant rocks grinding together.

  "HAHAHAHAHA! QUITE BOLD, YOUNG MAN, TO MAKE DEMANDS OF ME! VERY WELL. COME CLOSER. STEP INTO THE TREES."

  A pause, then more booming laughter.

  "WHERE IS THAT BRAVERY NOW, SON? HAHAHAHA! DO NOT FEAR. I SHALL NOT HARM YOU. AS YOU CAN PLAINLY SEE, A SPELL KEEPS ME BOUND HERE. I AM... NO LONGER NEEDED IN THIS WORLD. I AM SIMPLY WAITING HERE TO FADE AWAY, PERHAPS FOR THE NEXT FEW MILLENNIA."

  More chuckling followed, sounded kind of amused now.

  "HAHAHAHAHA! FLATTERY WILL GET YOU NOWHERE, SON! I AM WHAT YOUR ANCESTORS CALLED AN ANCIENT GOD. THE DRAGON GOD, AZAHEL."

  An ancient god? A dragon god named Azahel? Felt like my non-existent heart was hammering. Okay, so definitely not my old world anymore. The voice spoke again, the tone changing a little.

  "HAHAHAHAHA! YOUR CURIOSITY OUTWEIGHS YOUR FEAR, YOUNG ONE! INTERESTING. VERY WELL. SINCE YOU ARE THE FIRST MORTALS TO STUMBLE UPON MY PRISON IN... OH, A VERY, VERY LONG TIME... I SHALL INDULGE YOUR QUESTIONS."

  It sounded like the voice – Azahel – was talking to someone else, people who'd found him. Mortals? And he was going to answer their questions? Okay, I was all ears. Curiosity totally spiked. I focused hard, straining my non-existent senses, listening hard as the voice started sounding like it was telling some epic story.

  "LONG, LONG AGO," the voice started, echoing in my head, "IN THE TIME BEFORE TIME, WHEN THERE WAS ONLY DARKNESS..."

  (Third Person Narrative - Underground Lakeshore)

  Leon and Aena sat on the soft, mossy ground near the edge of the underground lake, the imposing figure of the shackled Dragon God Azahel before them. The strange, gentle light of the cavern wrapped around them like a protective blanket. They leaned against each other, ready to listen, captivated by the ancient being they had stumbled upon after their terrifying fall and Azahel's startling announcement.

  Azahel's great head lowered slightly, his ancient eyes seeming to look far beyond the cave walls, into the distant past. His voice, though still deep and echoing, took on the rhythm of a storyteller, an old sage sharing truths long forgotten, just as he had promised.

  "LONG, LONG AGO," Azahel began, his words echoing both in the cavern and in the distant void where Vince listened intently, "IN THE TIME BEFORE TIME, WHEN THERE WAS ONLY DARKNESS... AN ENDLESS, EMPTY VOID. I WAS THE SOLE SPARK OF CONSCIOUSNESS WITHIN IT. I ROAMED THAT SEA OF NOTHINGNESS WITH NOWHERE TO REST, SOARING THROUGH VAST, PITCH-BLACK EMPTINESS. I WAS... PROFOUNDLY LONELY."

  He paused, a sound like shifting mountains marking his sigh. "A THOUGHT OCCURRED. IF I AM THE ONLY ONE, WHY NOT CREATE OTHERS TO SHARE THIS EXISTENCE? I LOOKED WITHIN MYSELF. I PERCEIVED THE DARKNESS BORN OF MY OWN SOLITUDE AND SORROW, AND I SAW THE LIGHT THAT SHONE FROM THE HOPE I CLUNG TO. FROM THESE, I FORGED TWO BEINGS, LIKE SISTERS, REFLECTIONS OF MY OWN DUAL NATURE. ONE OF LIGHT, ONE OF DARKNESS. THEY WERE MY FIRST COMPANIONS, MY MOST LOYAL."

  "TOGETHER, WE SEARCHED THE VOID, BUT FOUND NO PLACE TO SETTLE. THEN, ANOTHER THOUGHT STRUCK ME: WHY NOT FASHION A PLACE OURSELVES? A REALM TO REST, TO LIVE. AND SO, I BEGAN TO CREATE. I FORMED FIVE MORE GREAT BEINGS, THE ELEMENTALS, TO SHAPE A WORLD. THERE WAS EARTH, TO FORM THE LAND; WATER, TO FILL THE SEAS; AIR, TO ENVELOP IT ALL; FIRE, TO PROVIDE WARMTH AND ENERGY; AND NATURE, TO FOSTER GROWTH."

  "THROUGH THEM, WE SHAPED THIS VERY WORLD, WHICH YOU MORTALS EVENTUALLY NAMED ETERNEA. TO BIND IT ALL TOGETHER, I OFFERED A PART OF MYSELF – MY REVERSE SCALE, A FRAGMENT OF MY VERY ESSENCE – AND MOLDED IT INTO A SPHERE AT THE WORLD'S HEART. ITS POWER BECAME THE CORE, ANCHORING ALL OF CREATION."

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Azahel shifted slightly, the magical chains clinking softly. "ONCE ETERNEA WAS FORMED, WE DECIDED TO POPULATE IT WITH LIFE. I TOOK THE SOIL, SHAPED IT INTO FORMS RESEMBLING MY OWN, AND BREATHED MY POWER INTO THEM. THE EARTH ABSORBED IT, TRANSFORMING INTO THE FIRST MORTALS – HUMANS. AS MY FONDNESS FOR CREATION FLOURISHED, I SHAPED OTHERS, THE VARIOUS RACES YOU KNOW TODAY. IN MY JOY, MY POWER OVERFLOWED, FORMING THE BEASTS AND INSECTS THAT INHABIT THE WORLD."

  "FOR A TIME, IT WAS HARMONIOUS. CIVILIZATIONS ROSE. THE RACES PROVED INTELLIGENT, FORGING THEIR OWN SOCIETIES AND LAWS. I WAS THEIR CENTRAL DEITY, THE CREATOR. THE SEVEN GUIDING FORCES – LIGHT, DARKNESS, FIRE, WATER, AIR, EARTH, AND NATURE – ACTED AS GUIDES, LESSER DEITIES EMBODYING DIFFERENT VIRTUES. FIRE REPRESENTED COURAGE, AIR SYMBOLIZED FREEDOM, WATER EMBODIED ADAPTABILITY, EARTH STOOD FOR STABILITY, NATURE PERSONIFIED GROWTH. LIGHT AND DARKNESS REPRESENTED HOPE AND MYSTERY, THE BALANCE WITHIN MYSELF."

  Azahel's voice grew heavy, tinged with ancient sorrow. "BUT AS EONS PASSED, THE FIVE SHAPING ELEMENTALS – EARTH, WATER, AIR, FIRE, AND NATURE – GREW ARROGANT. MORTALS BEGAN TO WORSHIP THEM DIRECTLY, AND THAT ADULATION CORRUPTED THEM. THEIR TEACHINGS BECAME SELF-SERVING, TWISTED UNTIL THEY WERE PERCEIVED AS THE SOLE TRUE GODS OF THIS WORLD. THEY BEGAN TO RESENT ME, AND MY FIRST TWO COMPANIONS, LIGHT AND DARKNESS."

  "EVENTUALLY, THEY CONSPIRED AGAINST US. THEY CALLED FOR A GATHERING RIGHT HERE, AT THE VERY CORE OF THE WORLD, THIS PLACE FORGED FROM MY OWN SCALE. BUT BEFORE OUR ARRIVAL, THEY HAD COMMITTED THE UNTHINKABLE – THEY HAD CHIPPED AWAY A FRAGMENT OF THE CORE ITSELF, ABSORBING A MEASURE OF ITS RAW, PRIMORDIAL POWER. POWER SUFFICIENT TO RIVAL EVEN LIGHT AND DARKNESS."

  He gestured weakly with a claw towards the shimmering bonds on his legs. "MY SISTERS, LIGHT AND DARKNESS, WERE CAUGHT UNAWARES. THE FIVE, EMPOWERED BY THE CORE'S STOLEN ENERGY, OVERWHELMED THEM. THEY DID NOT DESTROY THEM... INSTEAD, THEY USED THEIR VERY ESSENCE, THEIR INTRINSIC CONNECTION TO ME, AS THE CATALYST FOR MY ETERNAL PRISON. MY BELOVED SISTERS WERE FORCIBLY TRANSFORMED INTO THESE SHACKLES YOU SEE, AND THE INVISIBLE BINDING FIELD THAT HOLDS ME FAST. THEIR POWER, MEANT TO EXIST IN HARMONY WITH MINE, WAS PERVERTED BY THE FIVE TO CONTAIN ME. THEY USED MY OWN CREATIONS, MY DEAREST COMPANIONS, AGAINST ME."

  "AND SO, THIS HAS BEEN MY PRISON EVER SINCE. AND IT WILL LIKELY BE MY TOMB. MY RAGE, MY GRIEF, MY HATRED AT THEIR BETRAYAL... THESE EMOTIONS LEAKED OUT, POISONING THE DEEP PLACES. FROM THIS MALICE, MONSTERS BEGAN TO SPAWN, EVENTUALLY FINDING THEIR WAY TO THE SURFACE OF ETERNEA. THAT IS WHY YOUR WORLD IS NOW PLAGUED BY SUCH CREATURES."

  Azahel looked towards the chasm high above them, from where Leon and Aena had fallen. "THE HOLE YOU FELL THROUGH... IT IS PART OF THAT VERY FRAGMENT THEY CHISELED FROM MY SCALE, FROM ETERNEA'S CORE. JUST PRIOR TO YOUR ARRIVAL, I HEARD SOMETHING ELSE FALL THROUGH – ONE OF THE MONSTROSITIES BORN FROM MY OWN PAIN, NO DOUBT. I WAS QUITE SURPRISED, THEN, WHEN I HEARD YOUR VOICES INSTEAD."

  Leon took a deep breath, processing the incredible, horrifying story. "Thank you for sharing your truth, Great Azahel," he said, his voice filled with respect and wonder. "I... I always suspected the teachings of 'The Sacred Five' were flawed. The way they rule now... they persecute the Alvas and the Daemon folk, races known to still honor the Elemental Sisters of Light and Darkness, and you as the True Creator. I tried to learn more, reading forbidden texts... My curiosity made me an outcast, even within my own family."

  Aena squeezed Leon's hand. "And that," she added softly, looking at Leon, "is why you, the second prince of Avalor, were pushed aside by the royal court and the high priests."

  Leon looked back at her, his eyes softening. "Then I met you, Aena. You never cared about the rumors or the politics. You saw me. And now..." He gently placed his hand over hers on her belly. "...now we have this little one on the way." He smiled, a genuine moment of peace despite their surroundings. The baby, conceived only three weeks ago, was a tiny symbol of hope in their uncertain future.

  (Third Person Narrative - The Nascent Being)

  Floating within the warm, dark space of the womb, the consciousness once known as Vince could not make out the specific words exchanged between his future parents in that intimate moment. However, he distinctly felt the feeling behind them – a wave of warmth, comfort, and deep affection directed towards each other, and towards the new life he represented.

  He had, however, heard every single word uttered by the ancient dragon god, Azahel, from the initial booming interruption to the final, sad explanation of his imprisonment. The story echoed within his developing mind, painting a stark and vivid picture of a world called Eternea. It was a world born from divine loneliness and hope, shaped by powerful elemental forces, scarred by betrayal and the corruption of power. He learned of the creator, Azahel; his first companions, the Sisters of Light and Darkness; the five elementals who turned against them; the breaking of the world's Core, made from Azahel's own being; the transformation of the Sisters into living shackles; and the origin of the world's monsters from the creator's own grief and anger. The very hole his parents fell through was a direct result of that ancient betrayal.

  The being processed this influx of information, trying to wrap his mind around the sheer scale of the history and the powers involved. It was staggering. How could he even hear Azahel's voice? Maybe being the creator meant Azahel's voice just naturally carried through the planet's Core? And maybe being so close to that Core, here inside Aena, made him sensitive to it? Whatever the reason, the knowledge hit hard. A sense of awe mixed with a heavy dose of reality settled in. This wasn't just some story; this was the world he was about to be born into. A world with real gods, ancient betrayals, and serious power struggles. With a new sense of purpose, the nascent being focused again on absorbing the light, gathering energy, preparing himself for whatever came next in this unbelievably complex new reality.