1 Prologue

As he sat upon his throne, he began to ponder how he had managed to arrive at the fallen

emperors castle. He began to wander about the blood soaked halls while the shadows danced like demons that had just been released from the deepest pits of the underworld around him. He asked a question seemingly to himself "how did we manage to cause such suffering and despair? I know we did not want this, no one did." He arrived at a ballroom that was once revered for there amazing and unique performances, where the princess once made her stunning debut at her coming of age ceremony, now filled to the brim with the corpses of those that once attended. He walked through to the balcony that once overlooked the beautiful and prosperous city of Altrea. As he stood there gazing

over the burning horizon, listening to the tortured screams of the people below. he asked "Alvira, why did you have to..." he paused for a brief moment as if he was listening to the sound of the screams off in the distance like it was a performance of an orchestra reaching its cresendo and taking in the rancid scent of his blood soaked garb fused with the scent of burning flesh that wafted over in the cold night air. He started to crack a bit a of a smile and began to chuckle a bit as if he had just remembered a joke he had heard long ago. As the moment progressed, his chuckle became an eerie, hysterical laugh as he realized he had been carrying around the emperors severed head around the castle like he was showing the emperor what had become of his once beautiful and vibrant palace as well as the city below.