Prologue: The Past, Present and Future [II]

A warm radiance beamed downward from the azure sea above me, clouds banding together as they sailed across its calm surface. A strong gale frolicked through the open plains, grass blades swept away in its make-shift hammock. And though the sky remained clear for now, its peace wasn't guaranteed. On the horizon, standing on command like a battalion of soldiers wept amorphous clouds that compactly kept their formation dug in behind their lines of the split caliginous sky.

My eyes gradually shifted to the myriad of colours bursting from my own castle garden that enchanted my eyes no matter how many times I had the opportunity to gaze upon it. The neat rows of Firebloom flowers ordered as they stretched to the sun, vivid tinges of red, orange and yellow painted its petals in colours of a great fire. Their existence seemed to be from a distance and up close, like a burning ember peacefully crackling and burning, but never destroying its natural beauty.

Yet, their sight simultaneously burned on a sore abscess, re-opening the wounds I had concealed since long ago.

Opposing them, creating a path with the fireblooms assistance, a charcoal flower proudly spread its shield decorated with cyan thorns. The Eclipse Lily is a particular favourite of mine. In the image and artistry of the night as well as the frozen peaks icicles of Astrix's Glacial Crown mountains. Their particular image was the emblem donned by the Valkyries during the great war two centuries ago. I recall the meaning of the flowers for the Valkyrie clan was death, suffering, pain, anguish, regret, strength and hope. Quite twisted to place hope alongside those other negative connotations, but in a sense their image does nicely fit such a theme.

I adjusted my position on my chair, crossing my right leg over the other and sipping from the tea cup as I raised it from the bleached saucer.

Then, emerging from my previous conflicted silence, thumping gnaws slowly crept behind me as I heard small chatter engaging between the two men I had summoned to meet me in my garden.

"I see the both of you have arrived." I commented, not turning away from the widespread scenery of the garden in front of me.

The two of them both walked to each of my sides in unison and courteously bowed. "Indeed we have, Lord Vaelthor." Ignatius replied first, standing to my right as his gruff voice ripped through the air and echoed in low vibrations. He was the brawnier of the two characters, his dirty blonde hair messy at the top whilst similarly to me he groomed a ponytail at his side, his plaited unlike mine however. It greatly accentuated his blocky jaw and his goatee he nurtured. His violet eyes — similar to the crystal embedded jewellery on his neck — searched my stern expression.

My strongest combatant of the Draco clan besides me and my trusted right hand since I came to power.

"As he says," the other chimed in, his tone nonchalant and his manners regal. His cyan hair blowing in the calm breeze was a direct contrast to his striking lemon hued iris's glowing intently. He was much leaner than Ignatius, his features sharp and his eyebrows femininely long. As an individual, he is a calm and collected soldier incredibly well versed in combat and possessing incredible power very close to Ignatius's. But even with all that, his genius comes in his intelligence and his strategic thinking. A tactician that can fool me easily.

My left hand man and the current next heir of the Draco clan, Kaelar Selkath.

"I'm glad you arrived, Ignatius, Kaelar. Actually, I have something I need to discuss with the two of you." I quickly let them know and took a final small sip from my cup before settling it down gently, a vague rattling sound escaped as the bottom of the porcelain hit the saucer. Their eyes fell on each other as a hint of interest consumed them.

"Here, my Lord." Kaelar offered, his arm gestured to me as an assistance to stand and walk. On the other side, Ignatius followed in example, a toothy smile on his face.

I smiled at them in return and rested my arms on theirs. "Thank you, my arms."

Lifting from my chair, we slowly descended the thin steps from the elevated pavilion and began walking into the garden, the lead of our steps directed by my intent. At a leisurely pace we began making our way through the path decorated by the Firebloom and Eclipse Lily's. The long strip of stone extended beneath us as we trudged along its coarse surface, the three of us comfortably walking side by side on the widespread trail that could probably fit the three of us twice over.

Not interested in keeping the silence, I began looking at my men. "Any progress with Genesis?"

The two of them blankly stared at each other before going silent for an extended period.

"I haven't." Ignatius replied firmly. Well, it's not like I expected him to have.

"What about you, Kaelar?" I insisted. Kaelar's intelligence as well as his unquenchable thirst for understanding of his strength and abilities always made him a genius in many ways. In terms of pure mana manipulation, Kaelar was a genius unparalleled to anyone, including me, the strongest of the Aesir.

He brooded in his own mind before his eyes collapsed on mine and with an empty glance, he replied vaguely. "I'm not sure…"

It seems he doesn't want me prying in his development stage just yet. "I see."

As we continued to follow the path for an extended period of time, silence eventually killed off all conversation. My mind keeps flashing back to the images that haunted my vision. The destruction, the death and the annihilation of everything that's mine.

Both of my men, each supporting my hands, stiffly tensed the further we delved into the garden. The goading ambience leaking from my bleeding heart and conflicted mind seemed to convey its tale through the palpable atmosphere conjured, Ignatius and Kaelar's skin rising in shivers. However, none of them spoke up, their eyes ironed out before the path in front of them.

As our steps grew heavier and the path before us dissipated, the minacious umbral above us started to burst into a sprint. A marching deluge followed in its path of darkness and chaos as it drowned the scenery behind us, now fastly knocking on our backs.

With the tension between us growing more and becoming unbearable for Kaelar, his curious mind prodded at my intentions. "Why are you bringing us out here, Lord Vaelthor?"

I'm sure he knew exactly what I was intending on doing, but he couldn't understand my motives at this point.

"There is something that I must check. Something that I need to confirm and verify with my very own eyes for the future of us Aesir. For now, I assume you know where we're going. I will explain everything to you once we reach it." I explained, my words brief but clear.

"The Worldheart…" Ignatius mused aloud, understanding my intentions now as the scenery around us changed.

From the vibrant colours of my garden, the further you delve those colours begin to dim. Shadows lingered around the long lifeless green pigment of the grass as the trail we walked down vanished and blended into the stretching field overlooking the craggy coastline of the land. Chalky white rock walls revealed themselves as we followed to the most extended point of land we could arrive at and gazed at the inner walls, making contact with the void of unknown space.

Stones of unusual structure and sculpture started to come across our path, the glimpses of light through the now shielded sun bounced off the limestone creating certain spots of clearer and brighter light. They seemed now almost aged and brittle, as if the special environment of this coastline eroded away at its core.

Finally, we reached the point of no return. We had travelled to the very edge of the most prolonged cliff of the coastline in this direction. Before us, an ancient construct of disrepaired obsidian assembled. And though aged poorly by time, its adamantine foundation remained fortified.

Three overarching spikes erected into the sky and curled downwards at the tip pointing into the centre of the raised crumbled platform it hounded over. Like the tails of a scorpion, the spikes seemed steel-plated, its pieces of armour overlapping each other as they reared at the end into a stinger made from ruby-red crystals.

As for the platform, carvings seemed to be embedded throughout the fractured stone. Each carving bled from the outside into a single point of a complex rune in the very centre, one unlike I had ever seen.

The three of us looked at the site in silence and took deep breaths in. I then removed my arms from the comfort of their support and carefully edged towards the platform. I raised my right foot onto the platform and then lifted the rest of myself upwards, before stepping below the spike rearing at the front and facing inwards at the centre.

Ignatius rushed over to the platform, quick to follow in my steps as he didn't take any precautions himself and positioned himself to my right below the other stinger.

Eventually Kaelar, after a deep thought and assessment, joined the two of us, his approach even more cautioned than mine, mana fluctuating through his body as he began to climb onto the platform trying to stay wary of any early signs of disruption.

Our faces hardened, a clear objective in our minds. "Let's start." I commanded. Focus consumed our thoughts as we steadied ourselves below the steel-plated scorpion tails.

Then, a gentle hum began to whistle through the ruins as the downpour finally caught up to us, our silk white robes dampening and sticking to our milky skin as we remained stationary like carved statues. I calmly took a deep breath in and held it, before prolonging the eventual exhale.

A burning sensation began to swirl within my body even as lashes of frigid rain whipped me across my back. My sharp look remained unfazed as my vision began to fade in and out colour, vibrant flashes corrupting my clear sight.

An extending rune began to ignite in amethyst light across my right arm and passed further to my shoulder hidden by the robes' short sleeves. Its elongated and complex pattern bloomed across my limb as the sensation overpowering my senses consumed me entirely in its process. A growing sense of strength coursed through my veins and my bones, enhancing my physical body entirely whilst clearing up the obscure fogginess that dirtied my sight.

Tinges of lavender flooded my vision as a myriad of amethyst motes navigate all around me as all my senses become hypersensitive to its presence encompassing me. This distinct feeling that gave me a high and truly filled my body with superiority and power associated with being a deity.

Stepping back from the awe-inspiring sensation breathing through my limbs, I directed my gaze to Ignatius and Kaelar. Their respective runes glowed equally violet, a heavy and palpable aura emanating from each of us as we all entered the fabled form of Genesis.

Exchanging confirming glances, the three of us simultaneously began instigating each of our runes full potential as the warm feeling now burned my skin. The temperature rose dramatically, practically singing my skin as the motes in my vision burst apart before accelerating back into the centre at incredible speeds. The sensory delight enthralling my body gave great ecstasy as I floated in the power. A gathering star moulded in front of my very eyes as the art of Spatium, Arcane Rift, activated.

The other two energised their own arts through the activation of their respective two aspects of Arcane, Materium and Energium.

The distinct carvings designed in the platform slowly filled with a torrent of amethyst as the ruby-red crystals above us equally glared in blinding light. Each ring of detailed carvings grew complete beneath our feet as a radiance of heat blistered and heated the obsidian floor. The glimpses of the surroundings around me all blurred into an ill-defined haze of white. A ponderous force of pressure exuded over us as we suffocated in its domineering strength, the air being pushed out of my lungs and my bones cracking even with the physical support of Genesis aiding me.

Ethereal light then descended over Kaelar's figure and erased his existence from the platform. The same string of light then consumed Ignatius's body as I remained in the white space before my mind and vision blanked and I too, was consumed.

" –ake up! Wake up! Wake up!" A snapping shout cleared my clogged ears as a persistent and violent shaking moved my sore body. My eyes slowly pried open as the veil of gravity's effects from the intersection between Astrix and the Worldheart still lingered on my body. My vision gradually cleared to reveal dirtied blonde hair swaying before me, Ignatius's thick-boned features pronounced as he held me in his arms.

Lord Vaelthor, are you alright?" His voice raised in concern as his shadow extended over me.

"I'm fine. Just the usual effects of entering this damned place." I replied, grabbing onto his arm as he pulled me upwards.

Casually, I began to dust myself off and focused on the drifting rock the three of us stood on. No life bloomed on the behemoth spike, its form elongated and jagged as it tore through the surrounding space of star-filled skies dyed in amethyst, gold and black.

In the close distance, on the very edge of the lengthened rock we floated on, Kaelar's cyan hair blew in the faltering wind as his face hardened by whatever he looked out at in the Worldheart. His lemon iris only served as a reflective mirror as the space encircling influenced their image. Insurmountable walls of milky-brown and black rocks filled out the abstract canvas in the background in streaks as they wrapped around a single point in the Worldheart.

The centre of the Worldheart was a blazing gyre, seemingly covered in coveted rings of space dust moving in eddies that released incredible heat. A dazzling conglomeration of scintillating amethyst churned as our vision perceived the heat haze fluctuating before us.

I gradually began pacing over to his side as I allowed myself to close my eyes and float in mind only around this sanctuary.

A boundless plane rich with Arcane. None of the four main elements existed in this realm. A world entirely built in complete opposition to what all races of Astrix ever thought was possible. The binding of the main four elements was something we believed to glue our world together, but then why is the construct of this world without the four main elements? We couldn't explain this years back and now, still can't.

How did they create such a thing?

I reignited my dormant rune on my right arm that drained of its amethyst colour when we entered the Worldheart, a will-o'-the-wisp whispering as my eyes naturally collected the myriad of purple particles floating around me. Kaelar's curious gaze slipped onto my face as thunder volleyed through the space encompassing us. Ignatius finally approached us from behind as his rune stretched from his neck past his left eye and bled into a burgundy enhancing his body with an internal coat of mana.

"Let's get closer," I suggested to the two of them.

My feet exploded from the rock as I dashed across to the next closest surface and began sprinting closer to the whirling vortex of Arcane in the centre. The other two followed hastily in my steps as they sprang behind me, their reinforcement opting for mana rather than the energy expensive form of Genesis which I selected. But in this space, it was a most worthwhile sacrifice if it meant being able to experience and perhaps comprehend some of this world's mysteries.

Arcane was something that was only accessible to some of the most powerful Aesir through a certain connection between Arcane and the person. And Arcane's powers were naturally branded onto our bodies with a direct way to use, but not to understand. Each leader of the Aesir would always try to gain insight into this world for years upon end, but no real progress had been made.

Arriving at the epicentre of the blistering heat being produced, I paused. The two behind me closely tailing me also paused and stepped next to me.

I breathed a sigh of exasperation and with a hard, stern gaze, I focused on the two of them.

"It's time I start explaining things, don't you think?" I began, their attention immediately captivated. I crossed my arms behind me and thought before I spoke once again.

"The Worldheart is the most mysterious place in this world. It is believed that our great ancestors had managed to gain insight into the great power of Arcane and conjure this plane as a safehouse in case something were to ever happen to Astrix. Worldheart is an entirely safe place only possibly opened by three practitioners accessing Arcane's three of four powers consisting of Spatium, Materium and Energium. However, being a safe and secure place for the races of Astrix isn't its only purpose."

The two of them continued to listen to my explanation as the both of them observed each corner of Worldheart.

"Worldheart has been designed to be almost like a map. A beacon that warns us of the past, the present and the future. Through certain isolated stars in the Worldheart, we have been able to identify the balance and the stakes of the world. And this leads me to why I've brought us here. A new star has been born. A powerful one."

Kaelar's eyes widened as he began piecing the information I began feeding him.

"Wait! Did you say the Worldheart is a safehouse for our races inhabiting Astrix? Are you trying to tell us that..." Kaelar's thoughts were as sharp as always. He understood what this meant.

"It means exactly that, Kaelar. Just today, I received what I believe to be a vision. A vision of destruction upon our land. The annihilation of all life in Astrix by our foes of the past who have somehow released themselves from their seal. As I see things currently, the death of not only the Draco's, our clan, but also the death of the Valkyrie's and the Chimera's is imminent." I paused in my explanation and slowly turned around to face them directly, Ignatius's face turned sickly white and Kaelar's beamed sweat.

"The time of peace...is coming to an end, gentleman."

Silence rang amongst us as our bodies tensed.

A veritable truth drilled into our minds as all we could currently do was ball up our hands into fists and look down on the floor with contempt and fear.

"You can't be serious, right? We are literal deities. We are the strongest in this world! If we want to prevent this catastrophe, why don't we just meet it head on?" Ignatius's strong willed pride of being an Aesir didn't allow for him to cower behind this prospect. His frustration projecting at us.

"You are right. We are deities. Gods of this world. However you must understand the Slukare clan is not as simple as you believe them to be. They too were Aesir, and they possessed the greatest potential to produce powerful warriors. Though they've been sealed for years, you can't have expected them to sit around and do nothing. For now, there is still time before they have completely broken the seal and try to bring our great clan to ruin again. I, myself, will make sure that I dispose of them through one way, or another."

"So what do we do?" Kaelar asked, his hand splitting through his hair.

"Prepare the races below us to fight. To save them from the Slukare and for them to also deal with them for us. An equal exchange." I proposed, but immediately Kaelar jumped up with a retaliating question.

"How do you expect them to do that? Even if we were to personally train each individual for decades they would barely be able to scratch our level. So how do you expect them to win?"

"Simple. We recruit them a warriors unlike any other. Our personal white knight." A grimace split my face as I gazed at the shimmering centre.