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Before there was anything, there was darkness. Nothing but darkness. At least it seemed that way.

Out of this darkness came Umbrum, the first god. A man with pure white skin, teal eyes, a large frame, a pair of horns, and dressed in sheets of darkness. His eyes were not hindered by the lack of light, nor did he notice the freezing cold.

The first thing he did was make the sheets of darkness into proper clothes, calling upon the surrounding darkness to do so. He ended up creating what we'd call a long tunic and heavy boots. After catching a glimpse of his reflection, he added a hood to cover his face.

Even though he saw nothing, he felt there was something out there. Soon, his fears became living, hiding just out of his sight. It only strengthened his leaning towards paranoia.

Seeing that creating things was something he was gifted in, he decided to make other inanimate objects. He constructed a basic forge, and started to create what would later be recognized as weapons. To test his abilities to manipulate darkness, he constructed a basic building. It did not keep its form at first, but did with time.

How long he spent alone, there is no way of knowing. Time, as we know it, didn't exist, as there was no way to measure it.

But eventually, he felt lonely. Unbearably so.

Sitting inside his hollow shelter, he wished for some companions. Then he got an idea.

He created a mould, forming a creature with golden eyes that looked like a silhouette of a horned man. After cooling the construct off, it came to life. It was taller than him, but seemed very wary and disoriented.

"Who are you?"

"Your creator."

The creature's gold eyes narrowed. "Is that your name? Really?"

"The answer came to him immediately. "No, my real name is Umbrum. I am your creator. What is your name?"

The creature went quiet, looking at the ground.

"Oh, you don't have a name... How does Manx work for you?"

Manx slowly made eye-contact with Umbrum again.

"Manx... That's a nice name."

Umbrum nodded. "Alright, Manx, help me out to make some more of your kind."

Manx assisted Umbrum in creating some more shadow spirits. All of them varied wildly in size, eye color, and horn shape. They stuck close to Umbrum, not wanting to stray off from their creator.

Manx spoke with Umbrum.

"Hi, are there any others about?"

Umbrum shook his head. "No."

Manx scanned the area.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, Manx."

The shadows kept close to Umbrum, too scared to venture far.

Umbrum was annoyed by their insistence to be clingy. "Go on, will you? You can't just stand there forever."

Manx spoke again. "Sorry if this makes you angry, but I'd rather stay here, where I know it's safe."

The other shadows nodded.

Umbrum sighed. They were newly alive, and they were probably right to be wary.

"Fine, you can come into my structure."

Even inside the structure, many of the shadows still clung to Umbrum. Especially Manx.

"Can all of you please let go of me?" It was more of a demand than a request. "You'll never get anywhere if you don't try to explore your surroundings a bit."

All of the shadows obeyed it. Most of the shadows tentatively explored the structure, some braver ones even explored the surrounding area.

But Manx stayed by Umbrum's side.

"Why are you here? Go, be free."

Manx shook his head. "I don't think it's safe out there. Can I just stay with you?"

Umbrum wanted to tell him to leave him alone, but something told him not to. To let Manx stay with him.

"Fine, but we're going outside."

A scream rang out.

Out of the distance, a monster appeared. It was like a cross between a crocodile and a workhorse. It was about the size of a greyhound, twice as fast, and thrice as rabid. It had gotten tired of hunting after invisible flying snakes, and thought that Umbrum and his companions would make a good snack.

It lunged at Umbrum, who wrestled it to the ground. It took several bites out of Umbrum, spraying black blood everywhere.

The newly created shadow spirits stood, frozen in fear.

"What are you doing? Do you just like to see me in pain?!"

The horse-croc took a bite from Umbrum's shoulder. Umbrum didn't even flinch, giving the monster a swift hit in the ribs. It shrieked in pain.

Manx, not wanting to see Umbrum in pain, intervened, and strangled the croco-horse. He kicked its corpse away and went back to Umbrum, who was standing further away.

The monster had given Umbrum a couple of wounds, all of which looked bad.

Manx, wanting to help, touched one of the wounds, his hand getting covered in black blood.

Umbrum smacked his hand away. "What are you doing?"

"You seem hurt."

"I'm fine. Are there any more of them?"

Manx looked around. "Doesn't seem like it. What's that black stuff?"

Umbrum stood up. "None of your business. I wouldn't worry about it."

"What were those things?"

"No idea. I didn't make them. At least, I don't remember making them."

Around this time, a skeleton appeared over the corpse of the fallen monster. Death.

Death touched the corpse and began to lead away its soul. But one of the shadow creatures tugged back on the soul, suspicious of the stranger. The soul, a shapeless white blob, hadn't the slightest clue of what was even happening.

Death was taken aback. "What are you doing? Don't you see that I'm trying to carry away the soul to eternal rest?"

The shadow, Bane, narrowed his eyes.

"How can I trust your word?"

Death scoffed. "You're not going to make this into a tug of war, are you?"

Bane called on his "brothers" to tackle Death to the ground. The soul waddled away.

Umbrum, after dressing his wounds in darkness, came over with Manx.

He grabbed Death by the collarbone, and brought them close.

"State your business."

They were intimidated by Umbrum, even though he was far shorter than them. "I was just trying to harvest the soul of the monster."

Umbrum wasn't convinced. "Is that all? You're not here to take away my shadows, are you?"

"You just made them and you already have a protective instinct?"

One of the shadows had caught the monster's soul, but found it invincible. It would reform every time you stabbed or whacked it.

"Already? Is protective instinct time sensitive or something?"

Death really wanted to get back to doing their job.

"Listen, I won't come back to bother you. So, please, can you let me go and do my job?"

Umbrum pushed them away, almost knocking them over.

"Before you go, I have a question. Are there a lot of monsters like that thing?"

Death nodded.

"Do you want any help-"

"I'd rather never see you again. And stay away from my shadows!"

Death and Umbrum would cross paths several more times later. Usually as a result of the monsters getting killed by either him or his forces.

It was an endless war. Every time a monster was slain, more took its place. But over many years, Umbrum and his forces had permanent territory, and somewhat temporary holdings in hostile territory.

It wasn't perfect, but Umbrum was satisfied. It's not as if he believed there was much else for him.