The Darkness of Demrefor

And he leapt into the sky,
His heart growing bright,
And catching alight with the fire of his passion,
For his people and daughters and planet.

The Darkness of Demrefor is a religious story coming from the Animon. It details how they believe their gods came to be, and how they saved the Sentient races of the world from certain doom after the death of the sky.

The events in the story are believed to coincide with the Rendi and Eala origin tales; the Great Darkness and the world’s second beginning are both believed to be the same darkness as in this story.

The Darkness is believed to have been caused by the death of the first sun; the sky turned on the planet and extinguished the life-giving light at the beginning of a vicious war that threatened to destroy all life. This war was eventually won by the planet’s people, and in a final attempt to win the sky pummelled the planet viciously. This caused enough pain to the surface of the world to awake the planet’s soul, who rose as The Goddess Scara. When Scara rose the sky surrendered completely and finally went silent; giving its domain to the newly-risen Goddess.

Scara spread hope through the dying people until Higrunchi, her lover and most devout follower, leapt into the sky and became the new sun. Together they turned the darkened sky into the High-World, a peaceful afterlife for spirits who lost their lives during the war.

The Darkness of Demrefor

It started when the sun disappeared.

It was a sudden extinguishing of the life-giving light above. The eerie green glow of the sky as it killed the sun and stars was all the world would know, for years to come.

Lightning would rain down upon the planet, killing all that it touched, and blue fire would retaliate— Bursting from the fingertips of the desperate planet’s inhabitants.

Nothing but death filled the world in the terrible war of sky and planet. Until the burst of silver surrender that caused the sky to crumble and fall, the green light fading away into a Darkness like the world had never known before.

The falling sky pummelled the planet like a cave collapsing in on itself, and the planet groaned in agony as it was shaken to it’s molten core.

From its deepest depths, awoken by the pain of the war, Scara clawed her way to the surface of the world.

She was a frail spirit. Weakened by all that had befallen her body. But when she saw the shambles of the world she refused to rest, and instead took to the wind and rose into the emptiness where the sky once was.

She became a bringer of hope for the people lost in the Darkness. Her beauty was calming and her love extended to all the people of her world.

Her followers became known as Animon. Loyal and brave, they spread her words of salvation to all who had not yet heard them.

Many of her followers adored her. A great many of those many fell in love with her.

And it was only a matter of time before she, herself, fell in love.

It was a mortal man she fell for. A felinic named Higrunchi. He had been one of the great many fighting the sky in the war. Killed thrice by green lightning and summoned back each time, his body was weak and frail, and his mind scattered.

But despite all he had been through he was a kind man, who cared for all around him. The Goddess and the mortal man would find themselves together more and more often as they rebuilt the darkened world together.

And it was not long before Scara bore three children, Cieta, Anari, and Peri, who would offer themeselves as guides and protectors for the lost people of Demrefor.

But despite their best efforts, the Darkness of the world was too great. The land grew infertile and lifeless, and while food grew scarcer and scarcer, suffering grew greater and greater.

Many of the lost people died. But there was nothing for them after death; the sky was gone and so there was no afterlife for them to move on to.

This broke Scara’s heart.

And in turn, set Higrunchi’s ablaze.

Higrunchi’s chest burnt hot in the cold Darkness. His love for his people and Goddess turned into rage at the injustice they’d been forced to suffer through.

He leapt into the sky, begging his Goddess to help his people. As he did his burning heart caught alight and ripped through his chest to escape into the empty sky as a new sun that lit up the world and brought back the light his people were so desperate for.

He barely noticed his heart catch ablaze as he approached his lover. Eyes filled with tears of pain, he kissed his Goddess— And his fiery spirit flowed through her own weakened body, filling her with such strength that her own spirit began to glow warm.

With this warmth she had found, she created a new sky, the High World, where the spirits from the war could finally find peace.

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