Lore:The End

The End is a one-shot, canon short story in the Clouded Horizons series' Eighth Realm. It takes place an indeterminate time after the events portrayed in Dimensional Legend, at the end of the world. It is written by the fangirl, Miri Drake.

Story

In the cold and darkness, they waited, waited for the light to appear. There were only two of them left, two specks of life in the black ruin that had been the universe. One of them, secure in her success, the other sorrowful in his failure. Because that was the nature of the two they were - if one succeeded, the other would fail. Brother and sister, forever at odds, one's joy the other's sorrow, one for the continuance of the world, one for it's destruction. They stood - or not - in the middle of nothing, black coldness that was neither black nor cold - a complete nothing.

"I wonder," said the female, Hyne. "I wonder what comes next."

The male, Will, spoke next. "Time goes on." He shook his head. "It always does."

She nodded. "As does the End." She looked up, but it did nothing... the view didn't change. "Do you think we will ever see another dawn?"

Will looked over at her, although he could see nothing. "I thought this was your goal."

"It is. That doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy the striving."

She sighed. "I never thought that the End would be like this."

"Even so, Time goes on... the Future survives. That is a fact... which means that Time itself says there will be another beginning."

And so they waited.

Their wait went on, and on, and on, but with no day or night to define it, Time slipped by immeasurably. Centuries could have passed in a single moment, and it could be said they waited for an eternity. Their vigil went on, mostly silent, waiting in hope that some day there would be a Beginning, as there had been an End. A new dawn, a new Creator, a new Life. Yet, still, they would go on... even if the Author decided to work a new Universe in the non-ashes of the old one, they would survive. Time... and the End. One would win for a while, and then, inevitably, the other, in a brief moment, would win, and the process would start over again.

And, still, they waited.

After that first time, they did not break the silence with talk. Finally, they thought they heard a sound... but it wasn't a sound. They thought they saw a light, but it wasn't. They felt a warmth, but it wasn't. This coming slowly grew, and grew, and finally, they saw it...

The Beginning.