Prologue

Decay clawed at the edges of the universe, leaving its borders red rimmed and ragged, ground raw by the corroding waves of encroaching entropy.  

A lone witness to the cosmic death throes, Larondis held a silent vigil within his citadel perched upon the lip of reality.  His reality. Ashamed for his role, unwitting though it was, in the onset of this destruction and aware there was no absolution to be had, he did his best to emotionally distance himself from it.

After all, this was but a prelude to the annihilation he would soon unleash.  

He shaded his eyes with the elegant hem of his sleeve as searing bursts of energy, light-years across, gouged lavender clouds of degenerating matter, an avian’s talons ripping through the fatty flesh of its prey.

The destruction was frightening in its scale and finality, yet still presented itself with a grim beauty Larondis couldn’t help but admire.  A flood of unbidden ideas came to him on how best to capture the sight in a series of living flame-reliefs. Despite what he’d become, it eased his mind to know he still possessed the soul of an artist and that the passion to create continued to burn within him.  Once, he’d known nothing else.  

Early in life, his considerable talents had ushered him into the grandest halls of his civilization.  Later they’d led to power unsought and now unwanted. His life had been an unpredictable and winding road leading here to his final destination, transforming him from gentle artisan into the crushing fist of doom.  He sighed at the thought, knowing that despite his misgivings he must accept the change in order for justice to be served.  

A geyser of liquid fire scored the cosmic heavens overhead.  The paroxysm, a result of antimatter sheets rolling across a binary star system, was just another sign of his reality unspooling.