"Upon dying, does one return to what one was before existing?"
"Before existing, one was not. And after death, one ceases to be."
"The truth is evident: torn from nothing… and cast into nothing once again."
"Life curses the being. Upon returning, it does not find the nothing it left behind."
"Even so, it is the same: everything ends in the silence of nothing."
"Not for us. We have always existed… and we always will."
"Indeed. But for them, yes."
"I have life to give them."
"And I… suffering."
"He did not die. He will rise again… and he will kill mine."
"That, surely, is what we decided."
"You intervened for yours. In the same way, I will act for mine."
"Then say with me: from on high, sublime and calm…"
"The light consents to darkness."
"The ignorant, common and harmless, waits in the meadows."
"Unlearned, empty and insignificant, worshiping illusion."
"Credulous in meaning and in first love."
"He will fall into the sea and the monstrous mud."
"Motionless, he weeps upon seeing the entire infinite."
"And in it he shall be destroyed — in the past, in the future, and in the now."
///
Life had not completely abandoned Krarvathar. He had survived the elves' attack, which had burned his very being, yet he had entered a state close to death.
He was buried — rocks and sand covered part of his body. Even so, he found himself immersed in something new. Despite the human body, his essence was not entirely one.
In that state, his newly awakened mind blended with his natural instinctive mind, forming a confusing and painful amalgam — as if that death had revealed who he truly was.
When he opened his eyes, he could see only what the faint light, filtered through the destroyed rocks, allowed.
Above him rose the upper portions of obelisks, partially destroyed. Their bases, however, remained completely buried under the sand.
"Rise, Krarvathar."
The voice echoed.
He was there, beneath the rocks, protected by the ceiling of an ancient buried structure.
The command brought him back like someone abruptly waking from a coma. Upon realizing where he was, he pushed aside a large rock with one hand, causing a slight collapse.
His eyes immediately searched for the source of the voice — and then widened as he made out a shape in the darkness.
"Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your creator. I strengthen you, I help you, and I sustain you with the power of my existence."
The voice sounded directly in his mind. Even so, Krarvathar was certain: the presence before him was speaking.
"Now rise. For I know the plans I have for you. Listen."