The Ancient Secret Of The Flower Of Life
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In ancient times, when the world was young and still fresh-smelling and new, there were only three races: Humans; Elves; and Dragons. They lived in peace, sharing a common heritage, culture, and language.
Each race had its own territory but they all shared one sacred land that belonged to them all. This land was not much larger than this one island of ours is now, yet it housed more wonders and mysteries than most people have ever seen or heard of.
For example, there lay within its very borders a lake that could be crossed by stepping across stones of pure gold. Or how about the place where the gods walked down from heaven? And what about that other place where a god’s daughter fell in love with a mortal man who would die before her eyes?
These things were not known for certain, only spoken about at fireside tales, passed on from generation to generation. The Ancient Secrets were told only once each generation at the beginning of every new age.
Then came the end of the Age of Light, the time when men forgot their magic, became ignorant of their true history and lost sight of their true destiny. But even then the legends remained alive in their hearts. In the days of the Old Empire, before the Dark Days, there were still those who remembered and spoke the secrets out loud.
Then came a time called the Long Darkness, an era when humans grew weak and ignorant and the great dragons were slain. There was nothing left on earth that belonged to any single person but only to the gods.
It was then that the Ancient Secrets were buried deep down in the bowels of the world, waiting for the day when they would again return to this world as part of the Great Awakening.
But what happened between these two different epochs? What brought about the darkness? Did they really come after the dragons or did they precede them? Who are the gods? Are they simply the spirits of nature, as some say?
Or something greater and older than that? Is the Great Awakening actually happening right now in our modern age, or is it merely the passing fancy of poets and dreamers?
It should be clear by now that such questions do not lend themselves easily to answers. That’s why we need more facts, which will bring us to the second point I wish to discuss with you tonight. We must learn to separate what we hear from the truth from fiction, so we can better understand what we’re dealing with here.
First of all, let me tell you the story of the Ancient Secret Of The Flower Of Life, and how it came to be buried under thousands of years of lies and deception. You will see that we stand on the brink of a new era—one that will bring with it many challenges for all of us to face.
The first thing we need to consider is this: What was life like in ancient times when the dragons ruled over this land? How did they live?
What you must know is that the dragons were the children of the gods, the offspring of their unions with human women. They were not born from eggs and they were not hatched. Rather, they were created whole and complete, just as humans are born and grow up.
But they were much stronger than most people and their lives were far longer and grander than ours. A dragon could live to be three hundred years old, which might seem impossibly long to us today, but it was hardly unusual back then. In fact, the average span of life among the Ancients seemed to be around seventy to ninety years.
The ancient people worshipped their dragons, not with fear or terror (though a few did suffer from nightmares) but with respect and gratitude. They saw dragons as being superior to them in almost every way and revered them for it.
To give you a little perspective, let me tell you what it was like in the days of the Ancient Empire when dragons were still living among us. The cities were much bigger and grander than ours now, and each city contained tens of thousands of people and a thousand times that many animals and livestock.
There were also countless wild beasts roaming the lands and forests. The dragons had control over all of them, using their magic to hunt them down and make them do whatever they wished. Even when they did slay a beast, they gave thanks to them rather than cursing or hurting them.
This world was full of magic and wonder, with a lot of beauty and mystery, but also a lot of pain and suffering. Most of the land was uninhabitable except for the areas near the sea, and that’s where the Ancient Empire stretched out into the ocean.
At night, all of the stars were lit up by magic fires and lights in the heavens, while during daytime they shone brightly with the reflection of sunlight upon water. The skies were filled with bright, colorful birds that sang their songs day and night.
There were no trees or large rocks that blocked the light; instead, the air was clear and free of pollution so you could see everything from high mountain peaks to deep valleys below. The rivers glowed with colors because of the plants that grew along the banks, and even the oceans sparkled with glittering, jewel-like fish. All in all, this world was beautiful beyond imagination.
That’s what life was like in the Ancient Empire. And if you think about it, there’s a certain sense in which we’ve lost a lot of it since the time of the dragons, and we’re still losing bits and pieces of it each year. Ancient Wisdom has been hidden away in the dark corners of our world and we’re not even aware of its existence.
But all of this was shattered at some point in history, and the world changed forever. What happened? Where did we go wrong?
In my view, it began when the gods went missing from the scene.
Yes, that’s correct. For hundreds of years, all of the gods of the Ancient Empire walked this earth with us, including the dragons. Then suddenly, they vanished and disappeared and left us behind to fight the demons alone.
It would have been one thing if they’d abandoned us and gone to another world, but they didn’t do that. Instead, I believe they fell victim to the evil forces surrounding this planet.
I think the Ancient Empire was destroyed when an Archdemon invaded our realm, bringing with him his horde of demons—the things that now haunt the darkness and kill those who venture too close. This Archdemon had been sent by the Archdemon of the Demon Lord, who wanted to destroy mankind.
At first, the Archdemon thought he was succeeding. But then the gods decided to come back and fight against their own demons.
Now, I want to ask you again, where are these gods we worship? Have they deserted us like the Archdemon? Or are they still alive somewhere in the depths of the universe, waiting for our time to return? You know the answer, don’t you, my dear friend? That’s right: We’ll never find them.
It’s only a matter of time before this new age of demons comes crashing down upon us, destroying us all.
***
“The demons are here! They’re coming!”
Roland turned toward the voice and saw a group of frightened men on horses running toward his house. His wife stood beside him holding their daughter close and crying hysterically. Roland’s son was nowhere to be seen. He’d probably run inside the house and locked himself up in his room.
The men rode up to his property gate and stopped their horses in front of him. “What is it?” he shouted at them.
One of the riders jumped off of his horse and ran up to him. “We’ve got trouble.” The man’s eyes were wide with fear. “You should flee now!”
Roland shook his head. “I’m a wizard. It’s my duty to stop demons.” He looked at his wife and child and then made a decision. He reached into his robe and pulled out a small wooden box and tossed it onto his desk. “Take these,” he ordered.
His son came running up, followed by several other young children in tow. Roland’s daughter was clinging tightly to her mother’s neck as she cried uncontrollably. When the children saw what he handed to the rider, they screamed and tried to take it from him.
He held his hand over it. “Don’t touch it! It’s dangerous.”
They backed off. As soon as the rider took it, Roland felt a strange power begin to swirl around inside his skull. His vision started to blur, and he staggered backward. Before he knew it, he was lying face up on the floor, clutching his forehead and groaning in pain.
The rider opened the wooden box and stared down at the contents: Three glowing balls of light surrounded by black smoke. The rider closed his eyes and focused until three streaks of fire appeared in the air. After the first one hit its target, he threw two more.
As each streak touched the ground, a demon was born. The flames burst forth from the demons’ heads, consuming everything around them.
The demons attacked the townspeople who lived near them and quickly spread across the land. The Archdemon’s minions were relentless—they couldn’t be killed, and their only goal was to feed themselves and multiply.
This time, the Archdemon sent thousands of demons instead of hundreds. The Archdemon wasn’t worried about his forces being wiped out because he had a much greater advantage than last time.
He’d learned how to control the demons, and now he could manipulate them into whatever form he desired. All of them were under the Archdemon’s command, and no matter what they looked like or whether they wore a human form or a demon one, they were all his puppets.
The Archdemon was preparing to unleash a great wave of hellfire upon this world, and nothing could stop him. He was so powerful that even the gods feared him, and the entire universe trembled at his arrival. If it wasn’t for the Archdemon’s lack of foresight, the end of the world might already have begun.
But it was happening anyway. Even if we managed to slay all of the demons in existence, there would still be millions more out in the universe that would continue to spawn and multiply. We would need another Archdemon, just like the Archdemon of the Demon Lord… or perhaps another god.
And it seems that we will soon find exactly what we need to defeat the Archdemon once and for all. But not before he destroys us all.
***
There’s something I should tell you about myself. Something I think will help explain why I feel such a connection with these demons. You see, I used to be human—a boy named Roland.
Nowadays, though, I can summon demons from the other side of the veil. I guess you could say that I’ve become immortal; the same way that a vampire becomes undead when he drinks blood, I too am now part of the dark side of life.
That night, we fought together and won against an Archdemon of the Demon Lord. We destroyed him and freed the souls trapped inside of the Archdemon’s body. The Archdemon died and disappeared into oblivion, leaving behind only the Archdemon’s army to protect us.
I know, that sounds ridiculous, but it happened exactly as I explained it. I saw all of it with my own eyes. I don’t lie very well, and I’m quite serious when I say that I was a boy living somewhere in Europe a few decades ago.
Now that Archdemon is gone, his legions of demons are slowly dying off, but they leave us with a problem: How do we stop an Archdemon from re-forming? What if the Archdemon finds a way to bring himself back to life?
We must destroy all traces of his evil, and that means wiping out every trace of his presence on this planet. This is our final chance to win against this enemy. No more games allowed. And it has come at a cost.
If only we’d realized sooner, we might have been able to stop the Archdemon from spreading his influence so far and wide.
A few years after that battle, many people began to notice that demons were disappearing everywhere. People who didn’t live in the city where the Archdemon’s army was defeated claimed that they saw demons walking through cities and towns and forests as if they belonged there.
There were stories told in villages throughout the countryside about people having strange dreams, and nightmares that came true while they slept. Some said they saw visions of death or destruction while others spoke of seeing a creature with flaming red hair and burning eyes in the woods near their house.
One day, we heard that a family friend’s child was possessed by a demon who tried to burn her alive. Another child fell victim to a demon that was disguised as a man who offered them food or drink, then sucked out their blood without permission.
A woman in another village was suddenly struck with an intense fever and lost all control of her mind. She killed the children in her care and ate their flesh raw.
When the Archdemon’s army attacked a small farmhouse, everyone inside was either dead or missing. An old couple was found lying dead outside with a note pinned to their clothes that read “Thanks for your hospitality.” It was signed by the Archdemon.
The Archdemon is still out there and he’s still looking for new victims. His army of demons may have been broken, but they haven’t vanished entirely. They’re simply moving away from humans and into remote regions where they’ll be harder to track. As long as they continue to hide from us, there’s no reason to assume they aren’t plotting something else.
I want to believe we can beat this enemy, but we need to act quickly. I can see how hard it is to trust me, but I really do mean to fight the Archdemon and save humanity from his influence.
My name is Roland, and I hope to be a part of your family.
***
Roland was sitting on a stone bench overlooking the city below. He took in the view as he sipped some wine, thinking about a conversation he had recently had with his father.
“Why do you hate the Archdemon?” he asked his dad one evening during dinner.
His father looked over at him and frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean? Why would I ever hate anybody?”
“You never talk about him,” Roland added. “Not even to me, not since that night.”
“He was bad news, that’s all. You weren’t born yet, and neither was your mother when he showed up.”
“Do you know where he is now?”
“Of course I do. He hasn’t left my sight since that night, not until a few months ago, anyway. He disappeared just like his army did, and for whatever reason, he’s decided to stay here rather than return to the Demon Lord’s side.”
Roland couldn’t help but look around the room nervously.
“What’s wrong with you tonight, young man? Have I given you something to worry about?”
“No, you haven’t done anything wrong,” Roland assured his father. “It’s nothing you’ve done. It’s just this place.”
His dad nodded and poured himself another glass of wine. “This is the home of the Archdemon of the Demon Lord. If anyone could understand why you’d be nervous in our own house, it would be me.”
Roland smiled as he remembered something he’d once overheard his dad saying to someone else. “I guess it does make sense. I wouldn’t feel safe sleeping anywhere else, either.”
“Yes, it would be foolish to think any place is truly safe these days,” his father agreed. “But I’m proud that you don’t let fear hold you back.”
That made Roland smile again. “I’ve always believed there’s no point in hiding what you’re afraid of because it doesn’t matter if you’re scared anymore; you still have to face it. Besides, if you’re brave enough to stand up to what scares you, it makes you stronger. It’s better to get over your fears rather than letting them take control of your life.”
The End