Dusk Into Eternity
By Aiko Seif
Prologue
The night sky had taken place of the morning sun. For centuries, it was the moon that illuminated the vast lands which humans clung to in their shaking boots; afraid of what was lurking in the shadows of the night. Monsters were everywhere. A human could be evil, but there were beings that existed that were far worse than the greatest criminals. Monsters that ruled at dusk and drunk human blood. Vampires.
***
In the beginning, humans had a protector, but more importantly, a mother. Her name was Solana, and she was the glorious sun. A beacon of hope that shined guidance and purity onto them. But just like a tragic tale, she met her end when she encountered betrayal from the one person she had loved the most.
Raka, father of the shadows and the deity who shined because of the sun. To some, he was a god; to others, a demon clothed in divinity. Yet despite the coldness he brought with the moon and the terror that filled the night air, Solana saw something in him that others couldn't.
And perhaps it was because of her blinding love that she failed to see the greed festering in his blackened and cruel heart.
Raka wanted to rule over both day and night, and although he was illuminated in Solana's warmth, he still felt like a fraud following in her footsteps. While the humans basked in his warmth, they recoiled from him warm embrace.
So, he vowed an oath to gain more power, and those that followed him would gain strength as well.
On the night of the blood moon, a day which Raka and his love would rendezvous, he did the unthinkable. He stole her heart and consumed it. He gained powers far greater than he could ever have imagined. He transformed, no longer just being the light that reflected his lovers own, but a force that made the darkness grow even stronger.
He walked amongst the humans and offered them a choice. Become like him and worship him as their god, or they would perish.
Most humans stayed loyal to their mother, while others cowered and gave in. Those that bowed to Raka received a blessing and transformed in the same way he did. They evolved, no longer fearing the night, but became the predators that lurked in it. The first noble vampires.
But Solana would not die so easily. Her heart burned with life and when extinguished, it would always rise again. She possessed the power of the phoenix heart, something Raka had overlooked in his pursuit of power. For five-hundred years, Raka had what he wanted. His darkness ruled over the bright morning skies.
But in those five-hundred years, Solana was reborn again in the body of another. Though no longer a god, she was stronger than any human.
Her name was Elaine, the first of Solana's reincarnations. It was due to Elaine's sacrifice that Raka's tyranny had ended. She sealed him away in the moon that he loathed.
With Raka gone, the surviving humans finally found their glimpse of hope that they thought had been lost.
But just like his lover Solana, Raka refused to die. Before his death, a prophecy was foretold. "I shall rise again when my chosen is born on the day your sun perished. Fear the blood moon, for once it rises, my chosen shall become my flesh and blood," Raka declared, before he was bound to the moon.
Fifteen-hundred years later, his words spoke true as the brightest blood moon shone in the night sky. A symbol of victory for the vampires who loved their progenitor, and a symbol of fear to the humans whose peace became threatened once more. Now, humanity depends on their next Elaine to protect them from the approaching darkness that plagued their land.
And it was up to one man who swore an oath to the sun and pledged to find her, and return their next savior back into the light of day. But just as every person needed a hero, there would always be a villain to oppose them.