THE FORGOTTEN LANDS (EDITED CH#2)
THE FORGOTTEN LANDS
The world is divided into six main continents, each further split into large and small nations, ruled by kingdoms and empires, governed by laws written in blood. At the center of it all lies a wasteland, something untouched by time and history, forgotten--its name shifts depending on the speaker.
A land that should not exist. Land without life, without death, a place where even death itself wishes to never visit. A place known by many names, each whispered in fear--
The Land of the Dead.
The Forgotten Land.
Deadland.
The Cursed Land.
The Dark Land.
A place long erased from the memory of time. Historians claim it was once paradise--a heaven where all raced existed together, four seasons existing in harmony, fertile lands capable of sustaining life from every corner of the world. A place that once thrived. Where the impossible was made possible.
Now, nothing survives, no remains.
No one knows when or why it decayed. Some say it was a curse. Others say it was divine punishment. The only certainty is that no living being can cross into its borders and return. It is a land where even wind refuses to whisper. A land where those who seek truth disappear as if they never existed, never to return, and are forgotten by those who ever knew them.
A warning carved into History.
"A place where life cannot exist, where even the wind reused to sing, once called heaven, now a nightmare etched in ruin, forgotten in the long passage of time."
Legends passed through generations warn against approaching its boundaries. Tales told, Soldiers warned not to cross, children forbidden, scholars abandoned their research as the price for seeking was too cruel.
Stories tell of those who dared enter- burning where they stood, their souls stripped from their bodies and bound by blackened chains that drip (blackened from the melted souls of those who dared enter the place, eerie and mysterious, haunting and mystic) before being consumed by an unseen force. They did not beg or scream in agony. Instead, they laughed--voices laced with euphoria, blissful until their existence was erased.
It is said that the sight is breathtaking. Beautiful. Haunting. Terrifying.
A final dance between life and death, witnessed only by the few who stood at the edge and lived to tell the tale.
At the border, there is a stone monument carved with the names of those who stepped beyond.
A list of the forgotten.
THE ONE WHO WALKED OUT
The warning remains the same. The stories never changed.
That was until someone stepped out of the forgotten land.
The Forsaken Heir
From the moment I was born, I was told I would rule over everything--unseen and seen, known and unknown.
That was my fate, or if you may call it my destiny, decided before I could even understand what it meant, the burden it carried.
The savior of our people, some said, a blessing, a Symbol of hope.
But I knew the truth. I was a burden that they could not carry. A porter, a dump for them if anything goes wrong, they could say with clear consciousness that they were innocent, and I was the one to blame.
My bloodline carried a name long buried by history. A name that still held power, enough to make others cower in fear or kneel in reverence. The blood of the long forgotten king, one who ruled the world, now forgotten by everyone, only the awe of this mysterious king remains, with little to no traces of him left in history, except for those who lived and died in his reign. A blood so strong and empowering that it makes others bow, submit in reverence, fear, or watch in awe.
yet all it showed me was scorn.
It meant nothing to me.
I never believed in destiny, nor have I sought purpose. The world may call me a ruler, a tyrant- I do not care.
I exist. That is enough.
My sister, unaware of the weight I bear, lives in ignorant bliss. Pure, untouched by the filth of the world. She sees my existence as something enviable- wealth, power, control. She does not understand that all of it was never mine to claim. She knew nothing of the suffering beneath my skin that clung to my very existence as maggots clung to flesh. I was born to be a sacrifice, nothing more. She was the sun while I was not even enough to be considered the shade.
She is the only reason I linger in this world. The only warmth I do not reject, the only warmth I knew in my life, one of the few who didn't fear me, and saw me as me. Pure, untouched, untainted, free from the chains called responsibilities. One, I will protect because I want to, not because I have to.
Beyond these lands, beyond the rules of men, there is something greater. The world calls it a curse- a place abandoned by time.
But to me, it is the only place where silence is absolute.
They say the Forgotten Land is where monsters dwell, where the condemned are cast away. It is where the reaper waits, ever patient for its next prey.
To others, it is the most dangerous place in the world.
To me, it is home.
The Dark Forest
A cursed land that devours all who enter. But to me, it is the only place that brings me solace.
When you have spent your life surrounded by bloodshed, betrayal, where the strong prey on the weak, the law of the strong, the most feared place becomes nothing as long as it can provide one a place of silence, peace.
It is yet another form of battlefield. Yet peaceful from a battlefield, as one doesn't have to constantly look back to avoid being stabbed in the back.
I have been hunted since birth.
Hunted others since childhood.
For me, it is the way of survival. A way to live.
The Forgotten Lands calls to me. May it be the blood in my veins that is calling me to return.
Like a devil's whispers, in the dark, a promise waiting to be fulfilled.
And I know--
No matter what the world says, I will step beyond that boundary.
My story begins where others end.
The Price Of A Crown
Before I lived for myself, I was forced to live for others.
Since childhood, I have questioned my existence. Why was I born? For what purpose? What meaning does life hold?
At first, I believed it was my duty to bear the weight of my people. I thought that if I became strong, if I did everything right, I would be accepted. That I would be recognized.
What I received instead were cold stares, resentment, and fear.
My parents despised me. My peers envied me. The people I ruled looked upon me with loathing.
Even my grandfather only one who acknowledged my strength-never saw me as anything beyond a tool. But I knew he hated me. Not just me- my entire bloodline.
He raised me, trained me, and molded me into what I was meant to be.
"Why?" I asked him once. "Why do you despise me?"
His answer was simple.
"I do not hate you. I hate myself for leaving that day. I left behind my world in those ruins to fulfil my duty."
He laughed- a hollow sound, filled with something even I could not name. His expression twisted with something akin to regret, anger, fear, and abandonment reproach. He continued When I see you, I remember, and that memory burns my rationality into embers, leaving only rage behind towards everything that is not ----. He stopped before he could tell me who he was talking about. his expression back to his expressionless face. You will know when the time comes, he says, and leaves.
I never asked again. Perhaps one day, I will understand.
My sister, unlike me, was cherished. Beloved by the entire kingdom. They showered her with love, affection, and endless warmth.
Except for our grandfather.
She did not stand in their way. That was the only reason she was spared.
But even with the indifference surrounding us, she remained attached to me. She loved me.
Perhaps, in her way. She loved me.
I never had the heart to tell her I did not need love.
Nor did I ever want it.
The World That Shouldn't Exist
The world is not what it seems.
Some live under the laws of men- humans, mages, nobles drunk on their power. Then, some exist beyond understanding.
Creature born of myths and forgotten bloodlines.
Shapeshifters, bound by the moon.
Dragons, whose wings once shadowed the skies.
Elves, with eyes that have seen the rise and fall of empires.
Vampires, eternal in their hunger.
Witched, not bound by man, but by nature itself.
And demons.
Each race, each being, craved with something beyond comprehension. Some hidden, some reigning over lands untouched by human hands.
But there is one place even they fear.
A land where nothing lives, where even monsters dared not tread.
A Place I walked out of.
And where, one day, I will return.