Prologue

In a land not too far away from here, unless you measure by miles, there was a division.  The land had been quite literally split in two.  Half the land was ruled by a fair and benevolent pair and in it there was laughter, fun and love.  The fields were full of sweets, the air was saturated with music and the rivers ran with Cherryade.  

        The other half was ruled by a pair of such evil intent that their very presence caused the land to blacken and die, like the corpse of a burnt out tree. The land smelt of sulphur and rot and nothing wild or good could live where they had touched.

        Those who lived in the land of beauty gave thanks for all that they had and enjoyed the blessings bountifully bestowed upon them.  Yet they lived under the threat of darkness.  At any moment The Evil Ones might swoop in, like an owl will plunge for a rodent and pluck them from their happiness.

        Their rulers did their best to hold back the night, but there were disappearances and rumours.  Rumours that their power couldn’t hold The Evil Ones back forever.  Rumours that The Evil Ones had plans and plots and dark devices.  People noticed the slow creeping of the black charred land encroaching beyond its previously known borders.  Insidious, little by little, bit by bit and this gnawed at the edges of their minds and their happiness.

        For if the day came when the power of The Evil Ones could not be contained, then it would be the end for all that was good, all that was true and all that was beautiful.  They would become wilted roses, the petals blown away in the wind and trampled underfoot.

The threat hung over the land like a blanket of doom.  Mostly though, people stuck to the land of light and hoped and prayed that the day they dreaded would never come.