Seanan fumbled through the dusty shelves, searching for a specific tome. The old recorder sneezed as a larger than normal clump of dust fell to the floor. Mumbling to himself, he wiped the film of grime off his spectacles, and continued on his search.
His arms were starting to ache when he finally paused over a particularly thick and old book. He broke out in a grin, "There you are my beauty!" Pulling it off the shelf he blew on the cover, sending dust everywhere and causing himself another fit of sneezing. 'Froedi a Elli: VI', read the label on the tome, which in the old language meant, 'History of the Old Age: VI', the 'VI' standing for 'Volume One'.
Seanan cleared a space on his cluttered desk, lit a candle and cracked open the book. Peering over his spectacles he began to read...
***
Darkness. That's all there was. Or was it really? It was nothing. It was void. Nothingness consumed everything, even the darkness that seemed to seep back in as soon as it was sucked out. Stillness. Quiet; not a sound. You could not imagine a silence so complete. Nothing, not a whisper, not a trickle, not a sound was heard.
Then, a rumble, deep as ocean, thrumming like hummingbirds wings, but deep, ever so deep. It started low, so that it could be barely heard, then it grew, so slowly that it did not even seem to be getting louder until, suddenly, it was.
Another sound joined the first, blending seamlessly into the rumble, but this sound was a little higher, and it harmonized with the rumble. Varying its pitch from almost as low as the rumble to a high pitched purr.
Yet another sound joined the two already singing, it was soft at first, like a summer breeze, then it grew into a sound like the twittering of birds. It too blended harmoniously with the previous two sounds.
This went on for what could have been a millennium, but also could have been a few minutes. Then, a dim lightness permeated the ever present and heavy darkness. It pushed against the dark, fighting it back, fighting to live. The light grew and grew, until it was as blinding as the darkness had been.
Suddenly, a loud clap rent the air, the light exploded into thousands of tiny pieces, with one larger one remaining at the center of the explosion and another dimmer one aligning opposite of it. The specks aligned themselves in time with the ever present hum of the song, creating constellations in the void.
The rumbling grew until it was louder than the other two voices, and out of nothing, an object began to form. It grew outwards, expanding swiftly in all directions. It grew and grew until it was an enormous ball of rock and dirt.
Then, another clap rent the air, and clouds burst into existence. Rain fell upon the earth, and oceans and rivers formed in the cracks. Another voice joined the three already singing, buzzing a different tune. Green things grew, grass, trees, ocean plants and reefs. Mountains touched the sky, and shrubs, flowers and all types of plants sprouted forth.
More voices joined in, creating an angelic sound that reached the entire expanse of the universe. Fish and all types of creatures that lived in the waters crept out from hiding places in the deep. Again, voices joined the throng, beasts of the field walked out of the tall grasses and forests of the earth, all animals that you could think of, in every shape and size. Another group of voices joined into the choir of song. Birds leapt from the trees and took to the air, filling the air with their songs as well.
The deep rumbling voice shook the earth, and all the animals and birds gathered in a large field, waiting. The rumble passed over the animals, as if it were searching for a certain one, finally, it passed over the badger, and stopped. It reached out and touched the badger; the badger shook himself and stood up, opened his mouth and sang in a voice almost as deep as the rumble itself. Next the rumble touched hare; it too stood and sang its voice higher than the badger’s. The rumble reached out once again and touched the mountain lion, who opened his mouth and roared, then softened his voice to a purr. And so it went, the rumble reached out and touched an animal and the animal stood and sang, each his own tune.
When the rumble reached the end of the animals another voice crept in with the others still singing, but this voice did not blend, it cracked the song, it broke the song, carrying out a tune much darker than the song that had been sung this whole time. The dark voice slunk around, bringing with it a darkness and emptiness that was nothing like the emptiness of the time before the song began. It was evil; it jabbed at the earth, making it groan in agony, twisting to get away from the dark voice, the oceans boiled and roared in turmoil, the skies were rent with thunder and lightning. It brought pain and suffering to those around it, but it desperately wanted a place in the world, but there was none for it. It searched, trying to find a hole in the song where it could burst in and take over the song. The voice wanted power, and it would stop at nothing to get it.
Suddenly, the rumble grew and clashed with the dark voice. Mountains fell, exploding into the darkness that hovered over the earth. The whole earth shook as the two voices battled, first swinging in the way of the dark voice, and then back to the rumble. Back and forth it went, they tossed the oceans at each other, threw land apart, until at last the dark voice broke. It broke, but it did not break completely, the rumble tossed it down into the deepest crack in the earth that he could find and then closed it over the dark voice.
But a lingering darkness hung over the earth, clouding the bright stars. And the earth shook from the dark trying to get out of his prison.
Subject: Froedi a Elli: VI (History of Einnjoro, Part One) 