Long Ago

However the gods were not done with their plans. They sacrificed some of their own magic and gave a small portion of it to the humans. Though it pained them greatly, apparently it didn’t pain them as much as doing it themselves would.

Next they gave to their Human ‘children’ certain enlightenments, lessons and instructions on how to use their new powers. They also gave their children essentially a higher technology then the Demons had. It was the ability to consciously use the natural magic in the air to strengthen themselves.

Though the Demons could do that instinctively, and knew how to control magic that they already had, they didn’t know about cultivating that power artificially or in any way outside of it happening naturally.

So for quite a while they were behind Humans. For humans used their new knowledge quite innovated to create even more innovation, and with the spark from the gods they began a blaze of fire.

Mages came into existence, ones who controlled the natural magic by acting as a catalyst and guide to magic through the authority given by the gods, one of many gifts one of the weaker languages of gods.

Warriors also came to be, ones who cultivated their inner magic inside first, they would consume the outside magic and make it their own. The same way they would eat food and turn it into their own energy.

And finally Hero’s came to be, when a few of the slightly less lazy gods sacrificed a bit more of themselves to create a weapon that would use magic in ways similar to how gods used it.

It wasn’t long before the majority of humanity declared war on demons and those of their linage.

It wasn’t very logical, after all Demons were like Humans and like all peoples, beings with souls. Some were good some were not so good and a few were evil. There was no good reason to declare war.

But the gods had already polluted their minds with lies on how the Demons had stolen more ‘fruitful’ land from humans. How they stole potential wives from human men, (to the single ones: that is why they didn’t have a wife), and worst of all they said such disgusting lies as, demons stole and ate children, or demons liked to kill and torture Humans for entertainment.

And so unsurprisingly war quickly turned into genocide.

Humans on the side of Demons, went undercover to learn the new magic technologies, but by that time Humans were quite far ahead, and how is one expected to learn new things when you are in the midst of fighting a war?

Demons were also nowhere near as fertile as humans, in the past they made up for this through their long lives. However war has a tendency to cut life short. Their population quickly fell, while the Human population growth rate on both sides remained more stable.

Such harsh stimulation provoked evolution, particularly in the short lived humans…those humans that used magic increasingly had their lifespan extended and that extension was usually at least partially passed down to their decedents.

Not that anyone noticed for young death became more common than old age, still that fact in and of itself started to bridge some gaps at least for one side.

As a result of Human and Demon lifespans becoming more equal, a great impediment was removed to Human-Demon marriage. And many couples bound by the life and death of war emerged, and as a result many more Half-Demon and Humans of Demon linage also appeared.

Soon the Human-Demon side grew increasingly tired of war, weren’t they in the end fighting themselves? After all an increasing portion of their population had human blood. While the Human side grew more enthusiastic egged on by the gods as they were.

Finally the gods becoming bored of the fight they started, decided to finally get directly involved and end it. They gave 7 carefully chosen Heros great and near godly powers, and with them the Hero’s cast a spell to seal away the Demons in a similar way that the gods had sealed away their Sires the Elementals.

They succeeded for a majority of the Demons, many of the weaker demons outrightly killed and only a few of the more powerful Demons, particularly those far away from the epicenter escaped it.

Without the true firepower of their forces the Demon side knew that they would soon lose. So they made the smart decision, they grabbed their kids and a few mostly small precious belongings, and led by the few remaining pure Demons they ran away. Far away.

The sealed Elementals had by this time forced themselves awake and seeing the atrocities done to the ones they considered as their children were quite understandably incensed. They created a distraction, by fighting at the seal.

The concerned gods immediately sent their Hero’s to stop their fight against the ‘small fry’ Demons and go to strengthen the seal.

The Demon’s that were now sealed with their ancestors, were in trouble. They were not the same as their ancestors. While most of them could survive indefinitely without eating, to do so was something to be avoided if there was any other option for they became greatly weakened and pained by it.

In order to save them from their weaknesses their elders who were quite kind, especially when seen in comparison to the ‘gods’, used their power to quiet their hunger and as well put those into a sleep from which they could not even feel the passing of time.

The Elementals also sacrificed a large portion of their newly regained strength to create a new continent, one for which the few remaining Demons and those of Demon lineage could live in peace. A paradise to those intended for it this land would nurture them, make them stronger.

For those not intended for it on the other hand, the Elementals made it so, the Garden was if poison. Because of its nature the land was said to be filled with treasure and opportunity so despite the poison many of the enemies who knew of it, could not help but be filled with endless thwarted greed. An extraordinary place came to be called ‘The Elemental Garden’.

As to how one became a chosen of the garden, is a story for another time.

This is just one of many stories or legend told to the children of the various family and clans that dwell in the Garden during their education. Of course the version they were told was a much more watered down and simplified version.

Even so, what I think is a good point to make is that compared of many outside of the Elemental Garden what these children are receiving can be considered so