Chapter 1: Wish Upon A Star

The Starry Sky. Countless stars suspended in the Great Dark. Innumerable worlds, lifeless rocks, terrifying vortexes and gas clouds are scattered within it.

None of this could be seen by Philip Nyasanga though. A handsome young boy of about six or seven years of age with a stocky build, rugged tough hair in a short Afro, square jaw clenched tightly, and brown eyes that still drooped with a bit of sleepiness stepped out of an unassuming mud hut. He stood outside of his hut, looked up into the night sky at the bright dots scattered across it and sighed. The moon was full on this night, so it wasn't dark at all though it was late in the night. A distant owl broke the silence with a hoot. The tall grass outside his hut swayed unassumingly and ignored his presence.

"Tomorrow is the day. I can't even sleep. If only only I was strong enough, I wouldn't be this worried." Philip lamented.

It was at this point that a white streak slowly shot across the night sky, looking very conspicuous. Philip smiled dejectedly. A shooting star could let you wish to the Gods for a blessing, but what could possibly change now? As the shooting star passed toward the other side of the sky, Philip decided to try his luck.

"If there really are Gods out there, then I wish you may make me strong. Might is right in this life. Hear this prayer High Ones."

As he finished his prayer the shooting star disappeared into the horizon. Philip watched the night sky a bit more, then sighing again, turned back into his hut to return to sleep.

The extraterrestrial body continued ceaselessly on its journey. Though it appeared to be moving slowly from Philips' view, it was in fact frighteningly fast. The distance between each and every star is unfathomable, but the heavenly body passed them in an instant, leaving a trail of light behind it. It was so fast in fact, that Philip had not seen the shooting star itself but rather an after-image of it much later after it had passed. As the fiery streak blazed a trail across the Great Dark at breakneck speeds, no obstructions dared to bar its way. As it proceeded, the number of stars around it grew scarcer and they appeared less and less in its backdrop. The meteorite seemed to have arrived at the very edges of the Starry Sky itself.

It was here that a rocky platform appeared in the distance. Unlike the other lifeless rocks floating in the Great Dark this one was incredibly regular in shape, being perfectly smooth and circular like a disk. It covered a great area and had terrifying depth, overshadowing even the largest Living Worlds in the Starry Sky. The comet covered this remaining distance almost instantly, and once it arrived over the platform, started slowing down as it approached the centre rapidly. At the very centre of the platform was a statue of a man seated in the lotus position with his hands on his thighs and palms open. Placed on the palms of the statue was a thick book with numerous pages. The shooting star completely slowed down and a man in purple long sleeved robes walked out of the white light. If you looked closely, he looked exactly like the statue! The man walked slowly up to the statue, not affected by the Great Dark at all. He gave the statue a profound gaze and then closed his eyes. A golden glow emanated from the man and rapidly intensified until it became blinding. When the light dimmed again it condensed into a new page on the large book. The man was nowhere to be seen. Cracks then appeared on the statue, and large chunks of rock fell off only to dissipate immediately into dust. What remained was a man identical to the one who just vanished seated as the statue was, only his robes were cyan instead of purple. He slowly opened his eyes which had striking golden irises and looked down at the book.

"The final one. It is almost ready now." he said.