Something was wrong, seriously wrong. Even Tenebrae’s admittedly deteriorating instincts told him that. They screamed that something was about to happen. Something that would most certainly not be beneficial towards his continued existence. This was not how it was supposed to be! He was what happened to others, not the other way around!

  A sigh left his mouth. Or rather he used to be, but alas he had grown old. Six thousand years, he had been in this world. And he didn’t regret a single second of his life, even as the years took their dues. He had lived his life to the fullest.

  Oh, he had most definitely lost his way once or twice, but he’d always returned to the right path. The Sith code had guided him back. Its immeasurable wisdom something he could always fall back on.

  There is no peace, there is only passion. He had never rested on his laurels, always pursuing perfection. It had taken him multiple millennia to learn that passion alone didn’t grant happiness. Peace and passion together were what created happiness. No, peace, or rather the lack of fear, led to true happiness, but inner peace alone led to weakness, and the galaxy was an unforgiving place. It will rip away everything you love, everything you care about, if you let it. No, strength was needed for lasting peace. And passion led to strength.

  Through passion, I gain strength. Passion created discipline in training, and discipline created strength.

  Through strength, I gain power. This strength then led to higher influence, confidence, and even discipline, creating true power.

  Through power, I gain victory. This power made One capable of defeating one’s opponents, granting victory in conflict, whether mental, physical or even moral.

  Through victory, I break my chains. This power made One capable of breaking the cycle of hate and killing, by protecting their own person and loved ones — unless One lost himself in it, as he had, of course.

  The force shall free me! The force showed everyone the path. Both to discipline and eventually out of the chains — So long as one listened to it.

  This was the true meaning of the Sith Code. A meaning he had spent millennia searching for. He had spent two millennia walking the wrong path until that upstart Nox had taught him. A little kid not even past his first century had managed to teach him — the Sith emperor — how wrong his path was. Oh, the upstart also had his own misunderstandings, but at least he was aware he was not perfect.

  How pathetic. Another sigh left his mouth. His arrogance had truly been staggering, how much he wished to go back, to fix his mistakes, to prevent the billions of deaths he had caused.

  But this was not the time for philosophical debates. He had an impending evil to deal with, and he would do his damndest to make sure it wouldn’t taint the new home he had built. So he would prepare the world as best as he could. But for that he would need allies. Sadly, he had spent the last few millennia savouring his newfound peace in seclusion. This was why he was here.

  In the Himalayan Mountains, home to possibly the only wizard older than him. Mahavatar Babaji. An immortal wizard who had been in these mountains for as long as the written word had existed. Possibly even longer. Even cave paintings from the Stone Age depicted an old, powerful man in these very mountains helping those in need. An old man whose appearance had a striking similarity to that of the Immortal. Suffice to say, the man was ancient, and quite possibly the only one who could help him deal with the coming darkness.

  “Age begets wisdom” — he chuckled self-deprecatingly — “unless one’s own pride begins to blind the mind’s eye.”

  “Quite right, my young frien—” Lighting flashed through the air, as an unknown voice rang out behind the former dark lord.

  “Now that’s what I call destructive potential!” The unknown voice’s face now became visible. It belonged to an old man sitting cross-legged in the entrance to the cave Tenebrae had just entered. The lightning the former emperor had thrown at him resting in his hand, as if it was just a toy.

  “You really need to stop sneaking up on people, old man. One of these days you will get killed by some paranoid bastard, when you appear before — or rather behind — them like that.”

  “Well, I think that day should be in quite the distant future. After all, I survived your reactions. And you are far from weak.”

  “Surety does not save one from wrongness.”

  “You know that better than me, Tenebrae. So tell me, why are you here?”

  Tenebrae took a deep breath. This would decide everything. “Darkness is rising.”

  “And?” — The immortal raised one eyebrow — “It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last.”

  “This is different. I don’t think there will be light after this is done.”

  “It’s not the first time I’ve heard that either, you know? Let me tell you something, young man. Darkness reigns every few millennia. It’s nothing new, and it’s nothing I care about, because at the end of the day…” He paused for a few seconds, hesitation spreading on his face.

  “What?”

  “Forget I said anything. It seems even I can be wrong from time to time. How did you put it again. Surety does not save one from wrongness.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “This is not the darkness I am used to. No… It would be better to say that it isn’t darkness at all. As for what it is” – A helpless shrug – “I have no idea.”

  “What do you mean, it isn’t darkness? It sure feels like it.”

  “Darkness, my young friend, is defined as the absence of light. What you are feeling there isn’t just the absence of light. It’s the absence of everything. Mana, Aether, Air, Time, Space, and yes light. So it’s not just darkness. It’s like…” — The immortal needed a few seconds to find the correct words — “Like imagine Death. Death is the end of life, correct?”

  “Yes?”

  “If darkness were death in this example, then what we feel in the future is the end of all things. Not just life, do you understand?”

  “So a superior concept to darkness? Is that what you are saying?”

  “Precisely. Now, if you want to know what this concept is then I have no answer for you. It could be something along the lines of Entropy, the Void, the End of all things, or another concept we don’t even have a name for.”

  “So you are pretty much clueless.”

  “Yes.”

  “Great… Just Great. So what would you recommend I do now?”

  “Well, while I might be clueless there is someone who has a much better chance of knowing what to do here than me. Someone who is already gathering allies.”

  “Who would know more than you about what to do? You are the oldest wizard – no scratch that, the oldest being in existence, you have the most experience and power in the world, are the most skilled master of divination–”

  “But that’s exactly it, my boy. I have never faced anything I didn’t understand. My skill in divination made it, so I knew everything long before it happened. What am I supposed to do in a situation like this? I have no idea.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. Now leave. You will find the assistance you seek in this location.” The immortal gave him a map. A regular map, without any markers.

  “What locatio— Ahh!” That turned out to have been a portkey.

  A chuckle left the immortal’s mouth. What a day it had been. First that weird curse and now this. Wait curse?! What curse? Whatever, it wasn’t important, so he would deal with it late–

  His right hand shot towards his heart, his mouth almost screaming an incantation.

  “???????? ?????? ?????? ????????

  ???????? ???????? ???? ??????!”

  His raised hand shook. The darkness that had taken place within his magic fighting against its host. His left hand fumbled for a knife, before finding, and instantly stabbing it into his leg.

  “????? ?????? ????????”

  The blood began dripping onto the floor, forming a giant puddle. His blood! Somehow he was losing litres of it, instead of the small stream he was supposed to! Almost like—

  “Farkreath!” The wards he had placed on his cave reactivated — Why had he turned them off in the first place? — No! Now was not the time for that. Wait… that presence, “Wyno? si?!” (Get out!) His magic power broke out of his body, causing the ground to shake.

  “You have good senses.” A voice answered his admittedly impolite request in polish. “But that will not save you here. You know too much, old man.”

  “I will not make it easy for you.”

  “Oh. And I will savour it all the more for it.” A crazed smile spread on the assailant’s face.

  “Well then. Let us finish this.” The immortal stood up, with visible, and audible, effort.

  The two parties faced off. On one side, an old man, whose every movement seemed marred with effort. On the other, a young man in ostentatious clothing, whose arrogance seemed to pierce the sky. Despite this disparity in appearance, the young man seemed to be more nervous about this impending conflict, than his opponent. Even if he hid it well.

  “You should let your friends come out as well. Rats are annoying.” While saying that, he lifted the disillusionment Charms, of five more wizards. “Can’t even fight an old man like me one-on-one.” He shook his head. “No honour in this generation. Back in my day–”

  “Shut it, old man!” The first assailant raised his wand. “This is no longer your time! Now starts the era of Khaos.”

  “Well, that answers that question. Now, will you stop flapping your lips, and start letting your magic do the talking, or do you want this old man to be the one to initiate hostilities?”

  “Avada Kedavra!” A beam of green light shot towards the immortal, and got intercepted by a rock.

  “That’s one way to answer my question.” The levity on the old man’s face stood in stark contrast to the situation. Four people — everyone but the original assailant — had their wands trained on him, their faces marred by anger.

  “Stop making fun of us!” Spells flew towards the old man, who didn’t even bother dodging, or blocking for that matter. He just let them fly past him. None of them connecting despite his missing reaction.

  A sigh left his mouth. “And here I was hoping for a challenge.”

  “Just Fall asleep.” His magic spread, and the four new appearances fell unconscious simultaneously. He turned to his opponent. “Why did you even bring those weaklings?”

  “I was kind of hoping they would tire you out a little.”

  “You can also see that wasn’t a success, right?”

  “Of course.”

  “Now let’s get started, shall we?”

  “Yeah… It’s about time.”

  As the atmosphere became more and more charged, a black staff appeared in the immortal’s hands. Its length was roughly equal to its wielders' height, and its colour was like the void. A stark contrast to the pure light of his magic. The Yin and the Yang. Light and Darkness, together forming magic in its entirety. For one cannot exist without the other.

  That is the truth in magic. To deny the darkness, also means to deny the light, a mistake that had spanned thousands of generations of followers of one path, or the other. In reality, true understanding and power is only born from the combination of the two paths. The immortal sighed in sadness, at the generational ignorance that had taken over the magical world, before shaking himself out of it. This was not the time for philosophy! This was the time to fight, to protect those, that couldn’t protect themselves.

  Determination spread through his whole body. He would not let these people stop him from fulfilling his purpose!

  “You done, old man?”

  “Yes. Let us start, shall we?”

  “As you wish. Avada Kedavra!”

  A beam of green light dashed towards him, before flickering out of existence against his staff. “Come on. Did you really think that would work?”

  “No. But I had to try it, you kno–”

  The young man jumped backwards. A scythe-like black energy passing barely in front of his stomach. The young man gathered himself for— “Ugh.” Next thing he knew he hit the wall, and felt blood in his mouth. A kick had hit his stomach. Damn the old man hits like a truck. He quickly blinked out the tears forming in his eyes, as he— Shit! He rolled to the side, barely avoiding the hammer of light that had just — did he see that right?! — pulverized almost a square metre of stone?!

  Gathering magic in his right hand, he began his counterattack, while dodging another one of those scythelike slashes of energy. A spear of rainbow light shot towards his opponent. Shattering his shield like glass. His skill did not matter, for nothing was superior to the power of Khaos–

  “Arghh!” Blood gushed out of his torso, as his opponent’s scythe-slash ripped through skin, flesh, and bone alike. How long—

  “It was always an illusion, kid. Nothing personal, but you are a bit too young to defeat me.” He saw his ‘opponent’ fade out of existence, as a voice rang out behind him.

  “J-Just like t-the L-Lady predicted.” — He coughed out another mouthful of blood — “A-Arrogant.”

  He relished in the shock on his opponents face, as he felt his Lady’s power course through his body. “Now, it’s time for you to die.”