When Alan opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the face of the red Harandel set against a grey background.
He got up and took in his surroundings. He was in a forest filled with black, dried up trees. The red Harandel was a few feet away from him. Andrew was awake and standing with the purple Harandel. The second he noticed Alan wake up, he rushed over. “They wouldn’t tell me anything until you were awake.”
The purple Harandel approached. He said, “Finally you’re awake. I know you have a lot of questions, but be patient. We shall answer.”
Alan didn’t hesitate. He asked, “Are our friends alright?”
The red Harandel replied to this question, “They are safe. See for yourself.”
The air shimmered before them like a heat haze. Then it seemed to change colour and an image appeared. They saw Alex, Delton and Martha standing in an open field of grass. Then the image started moving. It was like watching a movie on a high tech television screen from the future. They were walking down the field aimlessly.
One of the Harandels noticed Alan’s troubled expression. “They will be fine.” it assured him. The other added, “They have a major part to play in the near future.” Though what it was would remain a mystery for quite some time.
The screen seemed to flicker and vanished. “Well, before anything else, I need to know why you needed us.” The Red Harandel replied, “I promise to answer this question, but before I do there are some things we must tell you. You are the first humans to ever learn of this.”
Andrew gulped. He hoped it wouldn’t be something like, We needed you for a sacrifice. The purple Harandel began, “You humans theorised that your universe began from the big bang, right? Well you were partly correct. Though why the big bang occurred has a deeper explanation. To understand this, we have to trace back to the true beginning of time.
The first thing that ever came into existence was the Master. Until that point, there was nothing. Not even darkness existed till that point. The concept of nothingness itself didn’t exist. There was no space and no time. None of the dimensions existed, not did matter or energy.”
Alan could understand this to some extent, but he hoped Delton had been there. The astrophysicist would have been able to understand this better.
The red Harandel took over, “The Master is a being of such incomprehensible power that he could simply create or destroy matter and energy. He could create physical things by merely thinking of them. Though this seems to shatter your laws of physics, it is possible.
Though, at that point the Master was young and he hadn’t quite learned to use the power he had. Anything he thought of simply popped into existence. You may even find this in some of your ancient myths. They believed so because it was true. Though these events were separated by literally countless years, the stories had been passed down through the ages.
The Master had created several realms. Realms consisted of many dimensions and each dimension had numerous bodies which you call multiverses. These multiverses contained universes.”
This was quite a lot to take in. Andrew decided to ask, “So the Master created you too?”
It was the purple Harandel’s turn now. He said, “No he did not. We were born the very instant the Master was. We are part of him. His hands in a sense.
Eventually as the Master grew mature enough to control his mind, creation slowed down and the realms became more stable. The Master eventually realized that he had created more than even he could focus at one time. Thus he gave us the responsibility of bringing order to his creation. We had all the knowledge in the world, we knew of everything that existed. If you’re wondering, knowing everything includes knowing your language. It is essential for us to be able to communicate with every race.
We too were having trouble. To find a solution we started looking for forces that existed in every universe of every multiverse of every dimension of every realm. Soon we had found four such forces.
In fact, they are so universal that even you humans have discovered all of them. They are what you call electro magnetism, gravity, dark energy and dark matter.
To control each force, we created four beings. Elemprovous, Genardiso, Crendorkus and Shanarkus.”
The last name in that list sent a shiver down Alan’s spine.
Once again the red Harandel took over. He said, “These are the strongest and most ancient beings to ever be in existence, excluding the Master and the two of us.
These creatures had complete control over the forces assigned to them and could also control the other three to a certain degree. Their only purpose was to maintain balance in every realm.
After their creation, the Master began creating other beings. The strongest and wisest of these being were made the subordinates of the four governing forces.
From this point onwards the first age began. Most of the creatures had a physical form in the Masters world. What you call life is the merely the time when the Master thinks of you. The moment the Master stops doing so, you die. The Master usually makes sure that one’s physical form in the world he created is properly disposed of in a natural way such as decomposition, but not a single creature on your planet has a physical form in his world.
Though all the creatures of the first age had physical forms in the Master’s world. There, however these physical forms are inanimate. Their life in our world is merely because the Masters wills it to be that way.
If a creature had a physical form in his world, the Master would remember it longer which granted these creatures long lives and unrivalled power. They even had some control over the four governing powers.
The second age began when the Master created the Hontazels. They were strong and every one of them had a physical form in the Master’s world.
The Hontazels that were created in this age were one of the strongest creatures in the world. Their large numbers and powers allowed them to reign over several realms. They destroyed any creature that oppose them. Though this seems cruel, we allowed it for the sake of balance to be maintained throughout the world. Not only physical forces, but also emotional forces had to be in balance because one force is related to another and a disturbance in one would cause a disturbance in the others.
Throughout this age Shanarkus, the lord if dark matter, had been observing. His belief was that he could govern the universe better with perfect balance.”
Alan and Andrew had been listened to all of this with unwavering attention. It was the purple Harandel’s turn once again. He said, “The third age was the most important period of the world’s history. The Master ordered the two of us to retreat from the world. We were forbade from ever directly intervening with anything in the world. The governing forces were given the power to create matter which they previously didn’t have.
Shanarkus took advantage of this. He created a new race called the Pentrons, as strong as the Hontazels, but more in number. They were completely under his command and had a sole purpose in life. To help their lord return balance to the universe.
At the end of this age Shanarkus, with his creations to support him, destroyed Elemprovous. He didn’t just destroy his physical form in this world, but erased his essence by breaking his body in the Master’s world.
The next age can be called the age of creation. Shanarkus had killed the ruler of electro magnetism, throwing that force into chaos. He claimed it as his own. Now he was not only the ruler of dark matter, but also electro magnetism. Now he had more control over the world.
Shanarkus used his new powers to create a substance called Allmatter. This substance could be moulded into anything he wished. He used this substance to create a mighty army and a powerful body for himself.
Now his ranks consisted of Pentrons and his creations made of Allmatter called Bonresels.
Genardiso, the lord of gravity and Crendorkus, the lord of dark energy noticed that the world was becoming unbalanced. They came to the conclusion that some evil had to be destroyed. As they couldn’t suppress Shanarkus, they created an elite army to destroy the Hontazels.
Shanarkus was blinded by power, he had learnt to harness the energy released by destruction. He protected the Hontazels and destroyed the army sent against them. The creatures who Shanarkus had saved, joined him, adding to his strength.
The fifth age began when Shanarkus created six powerful beings, upon whom, he bestowed the power of controlling Allmatter. Their job was to build weapons for Shanarkus’s mighty army. They also built large planets to is as strongholds for him.
The other two governing forces decided to act. They too created an army of beings called Kinroteps. They weren’t as strong as Shanarkus’s creations, nor were they that numerous, but it was all they had.
The end of this age was rather tragic. Shanarkus killed Genardiso and destroyed his essence, claiming the power of gravity too.
Now he had the strength of three governing forces. The only one to oppose him was Crendorkus who was much weaker and had an inferior army.
Crendorkus conferred with the Master. He told him to attack Shanarkus. The clash of the two forces would cancel each other’s effects out even though darkness was stronger at the time.
The next two ages were times of perfect balance. They were spent by Crendorkus and Shanarkus fighting.
The seventh age came to an end with the battle of the twelfth realm. At the end of the battle, Crendorkus had been badly injured and on the verge of dying. His army had been reduced to a few thousand warriors.
If Crendorkus died now, the world would plunge into an eternal darkness. The Master would have no option except to destroy it.
The world had one chance at salvation. It was the Master himself. He intervened at the last moment and banished Shanarkus into a mere spirit form. Crendorkus also had to be sent away in order to prevent the balance from tipping.
Most of the creatures had been destroyed in the great battle of the seventh age along with their forms in the Master’s world.
New creatures had to be created and the responsibility had been given back to us. This was the eight age. These creatures only existed in this world and not in the Master’s.
A few still survived though. Throughout the entire world with all its realms, now only seven thousand-three hundred and eighty creatures are left who still have forms in the Master’s world.
Some were descendants of the beings in lord Shanarkus’s army and remain loyal to him up to this day. You have already met one of them. His name is Antrosel.
The next was the ninth age. The age in which humans were born. It ended the moment you jumped into the entrance. Yes, that was such an important point in history that it began a new age. Only time will tell why it is so significant.
By the end of the previous age, Shanarkus had found a way to return and is gathering his strength to create an entirely new form in the Master’s world. If he succeeds, he’ll be stronger than ever before. He is destroying entire planets to tip the balance in the favour of darkness. He will soon come to Earth. We need the two of you to help us stop the coming disaster.
We created this island as a test field to make the chosen ones face several obstacles. If they made it through, they would prove their worth.
Now that you know the truth about the past, we are ready for your questions. I believe that you now have a better understanding of the reason behind why you had to face those troubles.”
Alan and Andrew’s minds took a while to accept that the Harandels were telling the truth. This crash course on the world’s history had changed the way both of them looked at everything.
They still had a few doubts. If the Harandel was giving them the opportunity to clarify them, why reject?
Alan asked, “Well, everything else figures out, but what was that green light in the cavern that saved us?”
For once the Harandels looked confused. The red Harandel asked, “What green light? Alan…I need to look into your memories.”
Before Alan could object, the Harandel placed a claw on his forehead. In moments he could feel a presence his head. He didn’t know how to explain it, but felt the Harandel. The presence was so powerful that he went into temporary shock and threw up. In his mind, scenes flashed of the events in the cavern.
The Harandel removed his claw. He looked at Alan with a glimmer in his eyes. Then said, “Alan, that green light you saw was in fact Crendorkus. He has returned.” Andrew then added, “That’s what the voice meant by ‘if he can escape, so can I.’ You said Shanarkus had returned, so I guess his return managed to even the balance out.”
The purple Harandel nodded, “Good, you learn fast.”
No it was time for Andrew’s question. He asked, “Where are we anyway and how long have we been here?” The purple Harandel leaned closer and said, “This is a realm we created for ourselves, none can enter or leave without us allowing them to do so. Here you need no food or water to sustain you. To answer your second question, you just got here and have been here for an eternity. We created this realm in such a way that time is irrelevant here. The very concept is non-existent.”
Alan needed to check on more thing, “Antrosel said, we would meet sooner than I thought. What did he mean?” The red Harandel said, “All in good time.”
Andrew had one more thing to ask, “You said you needed us to help you save our world, but you still haven’t explained how we can possibly have the power to help you.”
The red Harandel seemed to grin. He said, “I thought you’d never ask.”