The Artifacts

What? This isn't a piece of a novel, it's just some short story! What's going on here?

Before there was the War for Reality, there was no need for great generals.  Certainly generals arose; the fighting between Brutes, Undead, outside invaders, and the Human-Fae Alliance gave many commanders the experience they needed to lead their troops competently and with honor.  But the prize of the War changed all this so great was the power it provided.  But the Alliance was outnumbered by the Brutes and the Undead, who reproduced easily and rapidly, and matured into fighting ability with haste.

Seeking to combine the Fae's ability to tap Magic instinctively and the Human's ability to learn and grow far beyond their first interactions with the world, the Alliance worked tirelessly to forge a general who would be a master sorcerer, a child of both light and shadow, gifted with a great strategic mind and immense power.  This general would be dubbed the Artifact of Fate, a warrior who could lead the Alliance in their times of trial and in the face of overwhelming odds.  But their first attempt failed.

With time running out and no chance to complete the project as originally intended, the Alliance determined to split the powers of the Artifact into three vessels.  The first would be the Child of Light, a magical force with a mind for strategy.  The second would be the Great Sorceress, full of knowledge and able to tap into the hearts and minds of her followers.  The third would be She that Wields the Shadows, a master of subterfuge and the darker aspects of Magic.  This Trinity would be the new Artifacts of Fate, each holding a smaller amount of the power that was intended to be bound into the original Artifact.

This time, the attempt was successful.  Three leaders arose instead of one, bound intimately to one another.  The struck out, driving back the overwhelming forces of first the Brutes and then the Undead.  They pushed until they won, and then, task completed, they debated what changes they should make to Creation as a result of their victory.

Ultimately, though, the wisdom of the Great Sorceress won out.  They restored the world to the state it had been in before the War.  They did not punish the Brutes or Undead, as some advocated.  They did not elevate the Humans or Fae, as others demanded.  They simply left the world as it was.  To do otherwise, they reasoned, would be to take value from the world that had created them.

Time and again, the War would come.  Time and again, the Artifacts would rise, reborn into the world to defend their people against those who would destroy them.  They remained bound to one another, friends, siblings, spouses through the eons.