Prologue- Dreams of Sand.

Prologue.

'Nothing is impossible, just improbable.'

That's the concept that defines reality in any place and at any time.

This one starts in a realm that is beyond time and space, between existence and nothingness, far removed from heaven and hell, yet at the same time it's as close to those realms as such a thing is possible.

This place is not on any map, nor is there any way to make one, yet it is not a hidden realm.

It cannot be found if you look for it, but you enter and leave it as often as once a day and traversing it is impossible with effort, but comes naturally with rest, and sometimes you remember it and sometimes you don't, but you were there, especially when you weren't.

This plane of existence has countless names, which have all been heard in an infinite number of languages, across innumerable galaxies and across boundless space and time.

This land is both beauty and ugliness combined, both salvation and damnation, but its description alone cannot be comprehended thoroughly by mere words, so let us stop here and let's name this place "the Realm".

Such a fantastical place, sounds like a perfect for this story, does it not?

But this is not that kind of story.

At least not yet.

What do I mean by that?

Well, let's find out!

Here in 'the Realm' it's only inhabitants, at this particular time and within this particular version of it, are the 'Amurg' ancient creatures whose place of origin has long been lost to the Sands of Time.

Amongst a gathering of various different 'Amurg', beings of all shapes, colors and sizes, that were grouped in a circle and playing a game of cards, something happened to these eternal and all knowing creatures, something that not even they could have predicted to come to pass.

A New Amurg approached the game!

"Do any of you know where Deux is?" the New Amurg asked the group.

"Oh, it's you! Ye just got here didn't ye?" one of the players said as it turned its gaze from the game and looked at the newcomer.

The first New Amurg in a long, long time to arrive here now stood before them.

Initially his coming had caused a small stir in a realm that was usually ruled by monotony since its inhabitants were all immortal, but that soon died out and any questions about the appearance of a new Amurg, or what were the consequences of his coming were quickly forgotten so they could focus on more important matters.

Namely gambling.

"Why do you want to find Deux? The guy's a little weird, why don't you join the game? Come here and relax." another one said and gestured for the newcomer to come and join the collective with what could be considered a friendly smile, at least what higher beings considered a friendly smile to be.

"Gamble, waste time, that's all you do all day! How can you do that and not go insane from boredom? This beyond my comprehension, and since I have access to unlimited knowledge and wisdom that says a lot!" The Amurg thought to himself angrily, all the while glaring at them.

"I could tell you all what a disgrace your actions are, how you waste your great potential, I could rant, rave about it, or perhaps I could give calm and compelling arguments, but...…Would you learn from them? Would you listen to them? Would you understand my words?.....Would you even acknowledge them? No…..Because you don't care, nobody does, so in the end it doesn't matter." he added to his train of thought, as he took a small breath of air in order to calm the growing anger inside him.

"I just want to ask him a question, so does anyone know where he is?"

"He's sometimes west of here in the sandfields of a thousand nights, today's the day after the thousandth one, so you should be able find him there right about now." One of them replied.

At that the New Amurg then turned to leave but was stopped by one last question.

"After you finish your task, do you want to join the game?" Another one said to him with a degree enthusiasm that was mirrored by the other players.

"Does it matter if I join?" the New Amurg replied without turning his gaze or body back towards them.

"Of course it does! The game changes in so many ways!" Another one answered and went on to describe in great detail the many ways in which the game would change.

The newcomer then turned his head slightly back at the game, just enough so he could gaze at the players, at these creatures of immeasurable power and infinite potential, who's most important activity and greatest desire was a card game.

Words failed him as he once more felt anger at this waste power of unlimited power! So the Amurg just turned his head back in the direction he was going, leaving behind the confused all-powerful beings that quickly got over his abrupt exit and continued with their game.

After all, what was one more temper tantrum by a godlike being to them?

In 'The Realm' it was a boring sight to behold.

The New Amurg walked, with as much vigor as he could muster, towards the area where the other Amurg said that Deux would be found. He was spurred on by a subconscient defense mechanism that told him to leave the group as soon as possible, lest he too be infected by this 'disease' of laziness and the sheer lunacy of having the universe at your fingertips and only using those fingers to draw an ace from a deck.

Not even from your sleeve.

After a while that felt like half a dozen minutes for him, and was in fact several millennias worth of time for mortals, he finally arrived at the sandfields and started looking around for his quarry.

"Through the warp, and from the shadows, and barren desert fields."

"Does a whisper come to be heard?"

"Of a tale of one hundred billion light years."

"And a million galaxies worth!"

The New Amurg heard someone singing and looked around for the source.

"Hear the tale of an invincible strength that is born from a decade's long brew."

"And a thousand admirals who faced that force, but can never seem to break through!"

Hear the tales of the great kings, queens and a hundred princes;"

"Who have the universe at their beck and call."

"But the one thing that their hearts desires, they will never have it at all!"

"Of ancient stories! Everlasting ballads!"

"Who change every time."

" Every verse; every rhyme."

"When the story is told one more time!"

He looked to where a hole in the 'clouds' of The Realm formed a hole in the sky, one that allowed the 'moonlight' of this domain to shine trough.

From there the New Amurg saw a shape in the sky, that was flying down through the hole in the clouds towards him, it was a floating two horse carriage that was filled with merchandise and it was its driver was the one that was singing.

"So come with me now, to the place beyond mirrors and light!"

"Where hidden secrets are in plain view for the worthy to find;"

"To where? I do not know, so come and see the things hidden in plain sight!"

"To long forgotten realms, that appears when you open your mind!"

The carriage and drive descended, with the grace that would be the envy of any royal, down from the sky with the 'moon' at his back, its light shining in a way that made it seem like a parent was watching it's favored child.

The moonlight light tumbled down, combined with the movement of the carriage, it was like the driver was descending on horseback a staircase towards the grandest ball ever and he was this evening's guest of honor.

"See a place which is more uncanny than what you imagined could be;"

"From the deep dreamland, to the heaven's endless sky!"

"As what's real is stranger than any fiction I you could see."

"As the truth is more unbelievable than a lie!"

The carriage finally finished its journey and stopped just before him and its driver looked at the Amurg with glee in its eyes.

Slowly, yet steadily, the rip in the clouds grew to encompass the New Amurg, bringing to the young one into the light that was brought by the older Amurg.

Everything was clear now.

"Are you Deux?" he asked the figure that was made out of twirling, never still, mist and twilight that encompassed his white flesh, along with eyes that did not blink.

The wagon's master was sitting in the driver's seat, his shape and form was forever changing, the pale flesh and smoky mist that was there a second ago disappeared, replaced with other forms of mist and twilight that stayed for but the lifetime of a forgotten whisper, before fading away along with many other colors from both the dark side of the rainbow, and it's light side.

The only thing that remained constant about the master of the cart was his three pairs of eyes and his strange hands that had claws which seemed like they were not made to tear flesh, but did not seem out of place on his fingers despite them never remaining the same shape, form or sharpness, instead along with the rest of his body they constantly changed, never the same for more than the echo of a heartbeat's time.

"Oh it's you, you came sooner than when I expected!" Deux said to him with an eerily cheerful smile as he gazed at the New Amurg.

The youngest, and newest, of their kind had a humanoid appearance, he was dressed in what appeared to be a long flowing robe, with a square cap on his head with a piece of cloth streaming down one side, but the most distinctive thing about him was the fact that when you looked at his face, not matter how hard you tried, you could not see any distinguishable facial features, he could have been anybody.

Nobody would also be a valid answer as to the New Amurg's identity.

"What do you mean by that?" the New Amurg inquired.

"You don't remember?" Deux asked him.

"Remember what?"

"What you were before you became an Amurg of course!"

"Of course I don't! You've been here longer than me and you haven't even learned that by now!?" the New Amurg replied.

Upon hearing the second half of the sentence a great smile appeared on his faces.

"Sorry, just asking. So why are you here?"

"I'm here to ask if you're Deux."

"And if I am? What of it?"

"I heard that Deux was bored and went on a journey to visit the other realms, I want to do the same, but since there are so many, I want to hear your story so that I may know which domain is the most fun of them all. After spending who knows how much time in this dreary cesspool I need that! So will you tell me about your journey?" The New Amurg replied.

"So you want me to tell you my story, ey? Why I have lots of stories! For example: the story of this great blade!"

Deux said and brought from within his cart, that seemed to be bigger on the inside, a strangely curved sword.

That surprised the New Amurg, for in that moment something stirred inside him, of what it was he did not know, but there was a familiarity with that weapon, of what he was not certain, but it was a peaceful feeling.

"Why, this is the blade of the mighty one that faced a billion foes and fought a thousand battles and won all of them! Well one of his many weapons actually."

"That looks like a field plow and a cheap one made from different scraps cobbled together! Nobody would say that has any value!"

"Then why am I drawn to it? Did I say the words to correct Deux or to convince myself? Which is it? A lie hidden in the truth or a truth hidden in a lie?" The New Amurg thought to himself as flashes of the past did not come to him, but rather their unhearable echo whispered to him, in an almost melodic fashion.

"I know sir! You want only the best and I the greatest merchant of all have it! For example this is the secret weapon of the greatest spy that has ever lived!" Deux said and handed him the aforementioned object to examine.

"Twenty two gardenias from Halina's flower emporium, one dinner reservation with at the Rotzwenen, one new camera.' this looks like some secretaries to do book! What possible use could a spymaster have for this as a tool for espionage warfare? Reschedule them to death!?"

"But there is power here, great power. Or rather it was made into a great power, someone out there had the skill and vision to look beyond this worthless ink and paper and turn into power, true power!" The New Amurg once more thought to himself as flashes of faces past came to him.

Of faces that were that were still to blurry to make out, but clear enough that he could feel them as their true names and faces almost danced in front of him.

Almost to the rhythm of the whispers in his ear.

"I know sir! And as such I feel obliged to hand you our greatest item yet! Why, within this jar is the means with which half a universe was united and the other half conquered!"

"That, my friend is a jar filled with sand!" the Amurg paused to let that statement sink in.

"Are you actually trying to sell me sand, here in a desert?!" the statement was so 'unique' that the one who said it had trouble believing that he actually said such words.

"Yes, he is and it's not a lie! These worthless grains somehow set whole stars ablaze and eclipsed entire worlds." The touch of .....of something that could not be put into words caressed his person.

Or rather a teasing of it brushed his soul as something that was forgotten seemed to be just close enough to be felt, but not enough to be clearly discovered.

But, isn't that how all good stories start?

"I see your right again sir, enough with the cheap stuff! Let's get to the high caliber merchandise! As such I have-"

"Forget this! If you're not going to tell me of your journey them I'm goin-"

"-the journal in which I wrote down my travels." Deux said and the Amurg paused mid turn and returned his gaze to Deux. The whispers, dances and caresses seem to grow in clarity and intensity, yet they still felt alien.

"Why didn't you say that in the first place?!"

"Well, I got to make a living don't I?"

"You're an immortal creature who doesn't need to eat and can make anything from nothing by merely thinking about it! What possible need would you have for an income?!"

"About the same reason another immortal creature would seek out a traveler's stories, when he could just use his powers to see the 'spoilers' himself." Deux said with a wide grin as the other Amurg remained silent for a moment.

The sights, sounds and sensations now had become too loud for him to ignore. Deux smiled at the New Amurg's silence, he grinned in a way like he too could hear it.

"How do I know it's not another piece of junk, like what you showed me before?"

"Why don't I read it to you and if you like it you can buy it, after all a good story is worth reading, and then living it, over and over again. Wouldn't you agree?"

"All right, let's get started." the Amurg said trying to sound bored and annoyed, but you could detect eagerness in his voice and to that Deux grinned even more, since it was obvious he had hooked a customer.

"It's a fine tail, filled with twist and turns. Why by the time this is finished the reader of this will be quite shocked by it. Though I must warn you it is a long story, it will take a while for me to tell all of it and-"

"We're immortals you idiot!" the Amurg shouted towards Deux in a fit of frustration.

"Alright, aright! Yeeesh, you think with everlasting life you wouldn't be in such a rush!" Deux said to him as he exited the carriage and sat down, he then brought out his journal and reading glasses, took from behind his back a picnic basket and set it down between himself and the Amurg.

He then held the book at an angle that did not allow the Amurg to see the writing on the pages; Deux cleared his voice for a few moments before opening the book.

"What do you need all of this stuff for?" The Amurg asked him.

"Atmosphere of course, if I'm going to tell a story I must look the part, helps with the immersion you see. Now where to begin? " he thought for a while before deciding on one particular story that he enjoyed and started reading it with a smile.

"In one of the many realms of existence, long ago in a galaxy that was once far away but now is close, that although similar to others, it still differed from them greatly!"

At the words that came from Deux's lips the echoes of the whispers became clearer, the dances appeared stronger before him and the caresses of pain started to be felt on his person.

"See kid, told you immersion was important." Deux said with that enigmatic smile as he continued before the New Amurg could say anything.

"For in this particular galaxy sentient beings had conquered the stars, but instead of using technology as their main tool another one was chosen. Here what powered their space fleets, orbiting stations and gave them strength was magic! This is the story of the end of an era and the beginning of a new one, of those who lived it, those who died during it and those who brought about this new age, of those who did great things, some good, some evil, but great things nonetheless!" Deux read towards the New Amurg.

Who felt the whispers, caresses and the pain become more intense, become more clearer, more painful, they became…..familiar.

The New Amurg no longer felt bored, he felt pain, he heard noise, and he saw strange new things before him.

And he realized what he was experiencing.

It was music.

Lovely, lovely music!

The symphony of an age began as Deux's story started!

For the first time since arriving in this realm if he could have, he would have smiled.

"Finally something new is happening!"

He felt alive.