ONE

"Fear and darkness loomed over the whole United Kingdom. For about twelve years now, after the monstrous event that shook the whole of the United Kingdom occurred, the weather had been oddly very cold and gloomy. 

The day was almost as dark as night as though every source of light had been obliterated. Parents locked their children up in the house for fear of being consumed by the darkness lurking in every corner of the place.

People, young and old, male and female, lived in fear every millisecond of their lives. The formerly cheery, happy and bustling streets of England, previously filled with laughters and exultant cries of males and females was now a hollow shell of what it used to be.

A natural curfew appeared to have been set upon every nook and cranny of the country, causing every lingering being to rush to the safety of their homes once the sun set. Multiple door locks, hushes and whisperings are what was heard after, before complete silence befell every space. Seemingly, even street rats and crickets appeared to be affected by this drastic change as not even a chirp or a squeak was heard.

Rumours had been going around that this drastic change was caused as a result of a prophecy coming to fulfilment, others said the gods were angry and this was a sign of impending war. No one knew which was true and if anyone did, then no one was brave enough to talk. 

Since the event, darkness and pin drop silence had been hovering over the entire country seeming like a thick cloud had blocked the rays of sunlight, the rays of hope, causing the moonlight to shine bright at night as the only ray of hope left for the people. Every step was taken as though walking on thin ice and the slightest mistake, snap!, vanished, never to be seen again.

But in the dead of night, amidst this pin drop silence, a rhythmic sound of footsteps was always heard. People who heard these footsteps wonder who was stupid enough to wander around in the dead of night when the unknown devil plagued the place.

No one knew who those footsteps belonged to. Some said they belonged to the unknown devil who walked the night and slaughtered any awake or lingering being, others say it was just a stupid, clueless person bringing death upon himself. But, no one was brave enough to take a peek to be sure. No one was ready to risk their life to prove their so called ‘assumptions’".

One of the camp members/students learning from the teacher raised his hand, signifying to ask a question.

"Yes, Jake?". Professor Dominic, the Annals(History) teacher asked.

"Sir, please how did this all start? We want to know how this change, that seems to stretch for eternity, came to be". He said and other students nodded in agreement. They were all so eager to learn. This was the first time the students were eager to learn anything. 

Usually, they would either grumble, murmur or some would go to the extreme by sleeping in class. So it was quite intriguing to see the eagerness of the students towards learning.

"Well, since you are all so inquisitive about how it all began, it won't hurt to tell you a story now, would it?". He glanced at his wristwatch before continuing.

"Seeing as we still have a few minutes left before the class ends, I'll tell you all what you want to know. It begins thus;

It all started on a peaceful day. A day that started out normally, like every other day with people going about their businesses, children playing and learning, families bonding and couples going on dates and enjoying their honeymoon".

He cleared his throat at the last part, gaining giggles and chuckles from the students. A smug smile played on his face before he continued.

"Moving on... Various celebrations were going on, birthday parties, weddings, naming ceremonies, celebration of the births of new children, house warming ceremonies, you name it. All individuals were skilled in one thing or the other. The women were involved in trade, fashion designing, home making, and cuisine.

The men were also skilled in various fields, some were busy with one thing or the other, proficient in multifarious divisions of craftsmanship—weaponry, blacksmithing, mining, lumbering, basically all arduous activities and of course politics.

Humans, titans, fairies, gods, goddesses, demi-gods, werewolves, mermaids and other magical beings didn't live together. We all had separate worlds like we do now but the difference between then and now is that back then, we lived in tranquility and harmony. 

We visited human kingdoms to buy exhausted resources and they came to us for purchase of exhausted materials as well and we never clashed in any way. This drastic event, however, caused humans to start living in fear.

They barricaded all their kingdoms and stopped coming to our kingdoms. This event caused the cessation of human and supernatural beings interaction. It caused the humans to look warily at us whenever we passed by.

To prevent the outbreak of war, all of our kingdoms were further pushed apart. We stopped visiting the human world and they stopped visiting ours. We made sure every possible contact with them was restricted but that neither stopped the fear nor provided a solution to the problem that plagues us to this day.

Going back to that dreadful day, everyone was engrossed in one thing or the other when a sudden gust of wind blew over the whole place. At first, it started as a gust but soon became a full blown whirlwind occurring not only in the human kingdom but in all of our kingdoms.

It lasted for a few minutes, leaving behind a trail of destruction. Everyone tried to pick up whatever leftovers they could gather and also tend to the injured, but that was short-lived as a heart-wrenching scream was heard soon after.

It was so loud, it had everyone covering their ears in pain. Everyone panicked, trying to make out where the scream had come from but we were all left in bewilderment.

After a few seconds, while people were still recovering from the shock of the sudden whirlwind and scream, thick rain clouds formed out of nowhere, covering the sky. Everyone rushed to recover what could be saved from the whirlwind earlier. 

Shops were rushed to be closed, schools were closed, all children playing games in the outdoors were led into their homes, the women rushed to purchase all they needed and older children helped. The males also assisted, helped in rushing the children in and closing shops. Albeit, sooner than expected, the rain came pouring down, hard, causing everyone to seek shelter in one place or the other.

It was daytime but for a reason unknown to everyone, the sun was no longer in the sky. Thunder and lightening raged through the sky, threatening to slit the Earth in two. 

Everyone waited for this destructive downpour to subside but it kept getting stronger by the second, with thunder rumbling, each sound striking fear into the hearts of everyone.

For days, the tumultuous deluge refused to stop. Seconds turned to minutes, minutes turned to hours, hours into days, days into weeks and weeks into months. After what seemed like an eternity, everything suddenly came to a halt. Not a single drop or rumble could be heard, casting a deafening silence over space.

People started coming out of their homes and places they had taken shelter in. The air was filled with relief at that moment and everyone went to bed, hoping to get on with their lives on the morrow, oblivious to the fact that this was just the beginning of something far much worse than the downpour.

Confusion filled the air the next day when the sun was nowhere in sight at sunrise. For the whole day, there was no sunlight, just a cold, chilling wind blowing through the city. Fear and chaos erupted amongst everyone as the first fall of snowflakes danced through the wind unto the ground.

Snow? In the middle of summer? It seemed as though the Earth was knocked out of balance. Free from the tumultuous downpour, only to end up with something much worse- darkness, no sunlight, no ray of hope. 

At this realisation, the whole city fell into chaos and it was then discovered that this change occurred not only in the city but all over the United Kingdom and as you can all see, the snow plagues us to this day and there has been no change in the weather since then".

Ringggggg!!!

The break bell chimed through the whole school, signifying the end of class and beginning of lunch. Dean/Camp leader Lee appeared at the door of the classroom, greeting everyone with a smile before his attention focused solely on Professor Dominic.

"Well, looks like the rest is a story for another day. Goodbye students". He said while clearing his desk and leaving the classroom, earning a couple of groans, protests and a few 'Come on, Prof.".

"Seems like the students don't want you to leave. Since when did they become eager to learn?". Dean Lee chuckled as they made their way through the hallways.

"Since I started teaching them how the end of the world began". Professor Dominic chuckled in reply before continuing

"They're all eager to know about every detail of this change. Who knows maybe some of them might actually find the cause and solution to it". 

Dean Lee hummed in reply as he, together with the professor, made their way amongst students walking, chatting and mingling in the hallways. Some made their way to the cafeteria, others went out for some fresh air while others stayed back to catch up with their other friends.

"Well, we do train them to be prepared for every situation they find themselves in. If they set their minds to it, there is a possibility of them finding a solution".

Professor Dominic nodded his head in agreement.

"I'm pretty sure they'll be able to take on such a task".

They both nodded in agreement to their discussion. Professor Dominic suddenly remembered something.

"You wanted to discuss something with me?". He asked the dean.

"Yes I do. It's about-". The dean was not able to complete his sentence as the whole place started quaking and rumbling noises were heard. Shouts were heard from the students as they held onto the pillars and walls of the buildings while others dropped to the ground.

The quaking continued, which caused the light bulbs to flicker and things fell to the ground. After a while, everything came to a stop. Everyone was immobile and silence stretched throughout the whole place before the dean and Professor Dominic looked at each other. The other teachers that had been having lunch in the camp cafeteria before this occurrence also looked at each other. This action happened concurrently.

They all snapped out of their daze with eyes as wide as saucers and muttered "the seal". They each jumped to their feet, making the students snap out of it as well and race to the armory wing.

With hurried footsteps, the whole camp rushed to the gate at the entrance to prepare for whatever threat was to come. 

To their utter shock and bewilderment, the golden seal shielding the whole camp was nowhere to be found and the light green dome over the camp flickered slightly before going invisible again.

With steady and confident steps, the hooded figure came forward into the camp territory, which made everyone be on guard instinctively. With a halt, the intruder came into view, maintaining a good amount of distance from the others.

No one knew that the intruder was the devil that plagued the supernatural and human world. They were not cognizant of the fact that the devil was alive, kicking and was in their territory. This puny minute being that stumbled into their camp was the devil. 

And this devil was none other than Alaria Seraphina Doom and she had brought with her a raging wind, pain, scars, a legion of darkness and an ocean of dark secrets...