The Promises We Keep-Part 01

Foreword

I am Ken, the father of that race of Men whom you know as my Sons, stalkers and slayers of all things foul and unnatural. By my hand, I write these words. I write these words, telling the story of my life, because I know too well that one’s freedom depends greatly upon the power to control the story of one’s life. As I write this, I am now a venerable man and soon to exhaust the last of my lawful allotment of time, yet my mind remains clear and sharp. So, before the mercy of a peaceful death comes, I write so that I ensure the fidelity of my story after I am gone.

I do not know who you are, reader. I cannot assume that you know who I am, nor can I assume that you are either a friend of my people or a foe. I can only assume that not only can you read what I write, but that you comprehend it and are able to enrich your life through appreciation of the meaning that my story imparts unto you. Therefore, all that I ask is that you read my story honestly and carry it with you honorably thereafter.

Even now, at the end of my days, the demands of my existence require long days away from a quiet place where I may channel my thoughts through a pen and record them like this. This is why I do not write lengthy tales, but instead write short and succinct stories of significant episodes. It reflects the reality of my existence after the Azure Flames flooded the land and reduced the Old World to ashes and dust. Therefore, I hope to live long enough to collect these tales together into a single tome so that my descendants—and other future generations—may benefit forever from the substance of my story.

With that said, I begin not with the most notable of the tales told about me, but something I have not revealed to anyone- not even the women I took as my wives, nor the children I sired by them. This is a tale of the life I led in the dying days of the Old World, before the Flames, when I had yet to become the iconic figure—the living legend—that I am now. Yet, as the wise amongst you shall see, my younger self held the defining trait of my people: we are defined by the promises we keep.