Tranquil Air - 1

I wished for peace ...

... and I got it.

What had I done?

--

Hello.

My name - you know, I can't remember anymore. It's been so long.

As I sit down to write this, I am reminded how much has changed.

And so I begin, naturally, at the beginning.

Once upon a time, I was the most powerful archmage my world had ever known. My power was without equal among mortals, perhaps even peerless among the gods. I didn't believe in deities. If they existed, they did nothing to influence our world, or such was my reasoning.

Perhaps it is my hubris that brought me so very low.

Regardless, my power was in high demand. I ended wars almost before they began, having no true loyalties outside myself. Any who could meet my price would earn my services for as long as they could pay. I used their enemies as fodder to hone my skills, demanding from myself nothing less than perfection.

The earth trembled, and the waters parted before me. Anything I could conceive of became reality.

Such power comes at a price, of course.

I wore myself thin. I had made no few enemies among men, though I rarely concerned myself with others. No, it was my pursuit of power that drove me. There was always another secret, always some new research, another technique. I began to sleep not at all, and I barely ate. What little I did consume was bland and tasteless. In my endless pursuit of perfection, ironically, I lost myself.

There is - or was - a saying. Be careful what you wish for.

On one fateful autumn day, I wished for peace. With all my heart - I wanted nothing more than a single moment of tranquility amidst all the chaos.

I remember I had been surrounded by sycophants, people who were supposed to serve me. They all had their own goals, their own desires, and none of them truly cared for me, except as a means to an end. Their chatter threatened to drive me mad.

"Silence!" I demanded.

The world went silent. Everyone stopped - all movement ceased. The world went gray - then black.

I found myself lying in the grass, staring up at a blue sky. I watched the clouds roll by, and I thought to myself how peaceful it was. Where had - everything - gone?

Standing up, I caught the first glimpse of my new reality.

I stood on the only land for as far as the eye could see. The patch of grass I stood on was perfectly square, and the edge dropped off into the void. Below was only darkness.

In a way, that was my first glimpse of the enemy.

I skittered back from the edge, curling in on myself.

What had I done?