Prologue

Kasaqa stood at the peak of Mum's Temple and beheld the extermination of her mortal brothers and sisters. Thick black smoke swallowed the radiant sun. A wall of sand surrounded the southern temple, and dragons' rage rained down upon the northern. Gust whipped as Realm citizens and animals sought shelter. Split trees tossed about like rags. Wailing children clawed at their dead mothers and fathers while they nearly choked on the sand. In the chaos, she witnessed the goodness within humankind. Strangers shielded and pulled orphaned young to shelter. Her Sobis, fighting men and women, fought bravely though many met their end on the dunes of Ker in the battle that became known as the War of the Godkin.

The Goddess's nose dripped red. Her Source was weakened by the power she dispersed to protect the vast majority of Ker from the horde of Wraiths that pounded on the forcefield she erected around the Realm. Her brother, the God Alara, was to blame. Unlike his sister, he had no love for humans; to him, they were a pestilence upon the land he toiled. His father's mortal experiment had failed, and the time had come for the Realm to be cleansed. Alara's immortal bond was no longer linked to Mum, his Heavenly Father, so his powers were unparalleled.

Mun, the one God, weakened himself by linking parts of his Source to many of his mortal children, a gift Alara despised. With her Source depleting, Kasaqa needed her father, or she would be no match for her brother's madness, nor would she have power over the dragons, the magical beasts he bonded to.

General Ade, the Goddesses' only faithful mortal companion, approached.

"My Goddess," he said.

Kasaqa acknowledged and thanked him for the council she would receive without looking at him. She could not focus her gaze on him because she did not want to hinder his spirit.

"The heat of dragon fire has turned sections of the forcefield into a glass. A horde of Wraiths broke through. We cannot hold the front line. We must take as many people as possible to the Oasis of Umset; it is our only chance."

To his words, she stood still and closed her eyes. The general believed the time had come for her to ascend to Mum. Only he would know how Alara's power stabled and how to weaken him. Ade's logic was sound. Umset would protect them, but not in the way he believed. Kasaqa knew Alara would murder everyone if she ascended. There were too many people to travel to Umset, and the Sobis were the only warriors. Families, the elderly, children, and the infirm would never make it. She would not leave a citizen, no matter how damaged, behind. With a dragon, she believed she could turn the tide.

General Ade objected.

"I know the risk, but I will not ascend! My father has not intervened for a reason, and I must abide by his judgment."

"Or maybe something is wrong? What if he needs you?"

"He does not need me, and I am bound to keep my covenants and protect the Realm."

The General advanced closer to his Goddess.

"You cannot keep this up. Alara's curse holds you. Mortality is befalling you. We shall all perish if you cannot bind to one of those beasts, and your Source is lost." He said while wiping blood from her nose and mouth.

The closer Kasaqa came to mortality, the more Ade's presence comforted her. She appreciated the tall mahogany man whose sweat beaded on his bald head and dripped from his brows, but she would not take his advice this time. She would bond with a dragon but not leave Ker defenseless. Kasaqa would transgress a law to follow the one Mum deemed most important, and that was to protect his mortal children.

"Bring the Devine Adoratrices to me."

"What? No."

"Ade. Do as I ask. Please."

Against his will, the general dismissed himself and retrieved them.

Devine Adoratrices were the first of humankind. From them, humanity was born. Kasaqa called them the Holy Mothers due to their unique connection to Mum as his vessels. They once housed parts of his Source used to bring forth mortal life. Once enough life populated the Realm and humans began to procreate independently, Devine Adoratrices' purpose changed.

They taught humans to pray, which was most important because Mum's Source strengthened through mortal prayers. Humans learned to communicate through a universal network of symbols that began orally, but scripts soon followed. From written language, they learned to read. In time, humans would master complex information, such as science and technology, and creativity through the arts. For their devotion and dedication, Devine Adoratrices were gifted eternal youth though they would one day meet their mortality. Once Mun's Source diminished, they would die.

Nearly depleted, Kasaqa chose to lend the Holy Mothers parts of her Source. Together, the Holy Mothers would muster enough of the Goddess's power, buying her time to use her remaining Source to bond with a dragon.

Ade brought the Divine Adoratrices before their Goddess. He stared into her eyes, and before them, he decided to take what he desired in case his life ended that day. He pulled Kasaqa into him and kissed her. The general did not know what to expect, but he did not expect her to kiss him back. To his surprise, she pulled back from him, peered into his eyes, stepped in, and pressed her lips against his.

"May Mum cover you, Ade." She whispered after she gently pulled away.

Kasaqa and Ade pressed their foreheads, their way of saying goodbye.

The Goddess beckoned for the Holy Mothers to encircle her.

"I have called upon you now because the Realm needs your help." Ade heard the Goddess say while he walked away.

Ade turned back and witnessed a light as bright as the rays from the sun encompassing them.

****

Kasaqa's sepia, reddish-brown skin lost its radiance. When she reached the Oasis of Umset, the massive dune terrain with thousands of dragon trees, her drooped body was sown in cuts and bruises. The place where the magic of dragons dwelled was the only land in the Realm untouched by humans. The Goddess tracked for miles inside the lush forest before she came to the mouth of Mount Jebar, known as the Shimmer because of its blood-red color laced with onyx stones and golden gems. From inside, smoke and ash flowed, covering much of the sand surrounding it. Kasaqa closed her eyes, focused on what was left of her Source, then wandered into the darkness.

She listened to the mountain's heartbeat, and she knew its rhythm. Not just any dragon dwelled, but the greatest of them all, Akheon. All dragons had descended from the beast revered as the holy one. His golden scales shimmered in the darkest regions. Mum once declared that Akheon's heart was forged from the core of the most excellent star. Nearly human, could she muster what was left of her power to bind with such power? Regardless, she followed the beat until she came to a massive fissure and a waterfall on the other side, which flowed into a tranquil pool. The Goddess jumped and swam a distance before seeing a light that was a flicker at first but then radiated. Kasaqa took labored breaths when she reached the wall where the pool ended. She placed both hands on the surface edge. The heat from the stone flowed up her arms. She lost balance when she lifted herself from the calm stream, and her face smashed into the stone edge. The sound of cracked bone rang in her inner ear as she slid back into the water.

She sunk for a moment before a booming sound jolted her. The Goddess kicked and kicked until she surfaced, coughing and spitting. Soon she would be entirely human. Without her godhood, Kasaqa could not bind Akheon, so she tried to lift herself and failed again. She raised her heavy head; she could see the golden stairs and a fiery glow.

"Heavenly Father, please." She begged.

But Mum did not intervene.

The Goddess closed her eyes and focused her energy. She could not use the last of her Source, but she could use her mind to see herself ascending those stairs. Again, she tried, and this time she hoisted herself from the depths, took a deep breath, rose, and stepped on. Kasaqa reached the stairs. She climbed and climbed until she seized the summit. Akheon slept atop a huge golden bolder he camouflaged.

Agony singed her feet, and her frame jerked. She peered down to see blisters forming on her exposed skin. Kasaqa covered her mouth with both hands, but the dragon awakened with a mighty thunder in her face. She closed her eyes, focused, stood with her back straight, and did not flinch. Impressed, he shut his mouth and sniffed. The scent that flowed from her into his nostrils aroused him. Finally, his mission could come to pass. She slowly lifted both arms out as if she was going to hug him. He pressed his forehead against hers like they were old friends. The Goddess could have been alarmed, but she remained calm. Without the fullness of her power, she could not read his mind, but Kasaqa pressed her hands against his chest. The heat scorched, but she whispered God's words which awakened the last of her Source. Akheon roared and released a light equivalent to one hundred suns, the Ever Light. Stunned, Kasaqa spoke the words again, realizing what Mum had done. The Goddess absorbed the Ever Light, the force of her power.

Akheon turned toward the golden boulder upon which he had rested. Suddenly he soaked it in flames so hot the golden boulder melted. Hovered above the ground was a surprise, the Eupnea Sword which housed the Source Stones that contained energy that could not be created nor destroyed but transformed.

****

General Ade and his Sobi warriors slashed countless Wraiths, mindless possessed shells of what was human and animal kind. The more they cut down with Jebar blades, the more Wraiths rushed through the shattered section of the barrier. Ade hoped the Divines would seal the breach, but their task was to secure the citizens inside the temples.

As swords clanged, the dragons turned their attention east beyond the blood-blanketed sand. They took to the sky, flying towards the mountain. Ade's heart sank into his stomach, but his love for Kasaqa could not overshadow his duty. He was bonded to his men and women until they died or won the battle.

The general and seven of his Sobis were Ghosies, gifted. Their abilities were bestowed upon them by Mum, his final substantial interaction with mortals. The eight were the concluding births of the Divine Adoratrices, though they were ignorant of it. Mum, present during their births, touched each of them. The mark from his holy fingertips enchanted them. Their supremacy during battle was unmatched. They did not want to condemn their non enchanted Sobi brothers and sisters to death, so they fought harder.

The females had the power to vanish and reappear, slitting the necks of multiple Wraiths at once with Jebar blades, the only weapons that could kill them. The males could control the Wraith's movements for a short window of time. They led hundreds to trenches lined with Jebar blades attached to metal rods. Ade's Jebar sword, named Shadow brother, and gloves that covered his hands and feet, named bladed knuckles, were his weapons of choice. Ade's strength was his gift, so with his hands, he crushed the skulls of Wraiths, and with his feet, he impaled their throats, but Alara reanimated the monsters repeatedly.

Blood dripped from Ade's hands as twenty Wraiths surrounded him. Three charged, and he caught all three; his blades ripped flesh and crushed bone. As they lowered to the ground, the others pounced on Ade. The second in command, Savion, witnessed the horror. He broke his connection to Wraiths and ran towards Ade, slashing as many as possible. Ade rose, bloodied but alive, but he did not notice a female Wraith behind him. Savion screamed for Ade, but his voice was drowned out. Savion dashed like a lyona, but Ade took a long spear in his side and went down.

****

From the crater of Jebar, the golden beast soared above the Oasis. Alara's dragons met him and the Goddess but did not engage, so Akheon flew past them, and they followed. In the distance, Alara appeared atop Colbalto, his she-dragon. The Goddess raced after him. He disappeared below the clouds, so Kasaqa descended. She beheld the horror on the ground, countless lives lost. Her scream was thunder when Akheon's claws gripped the sand. Akheon and Colbalto roared back and forth, and Kasaqa jumped to the ground.

Her power deceived Alara, who saw her as she was before she journeyed to Umset.

"You silly girl." He stated while he jumped from Colbalto and stepped towards her.

"I can call you a girl. After all, you are nearly flesh and bone like these parasites you crave to defend."

Kasaqa smirked and jumped back onto her dragon. Alara talked, and with each word, he stepped closer and closer to Akheon. Though the dragon snarled and growled, Alara reached out and caressed his golden leg with his right hand. With his left hand, he zapped the beast piercing his scales which caused Kasaqa to fall from Akheon's back. Colbalto sniffed, growled, and nudged Kasaqa with her snout, but she did not move. A vision of Alara before his cosmic matter and divine Source was shaped into his current form rattled her mind for a moment. The time before time when she and her brother lived in the eternities with their father. But that time was long lost like a speck of light swallowed by endless darkness.

The Goddess lay static. Alara centered his Source but felt nothing from her, so he stepped in front of her head and gawked. He casually crouched down, whispered into her ear, then rose.

"A gift for you, my blue queen. Feast upon her flesh."

The long neck of Colbalto lowered. The dragon growled slightly and then sniffed her again.

"Devour her!"

Dragons never devoured fresh flesh. They roasted it first, so the beast lifted her head towards the sky, let out a dreadful squeal, then inhaled. Just as the glow of her flame raced from her chest to her mouth, Akheon let out a roar that distracted Colbalto. Akheon rose and took steps backward as Colbalto released her flame upon Kasaqa. She blinded Alara with the Ever Light, absorbed the blaze into her Source, then batted it back into Colbalto's mouth. Alara waved his hands, countering the light.

"No! How did you?" He screamed.

Alara closed his eyes, and Colbalto set him ablaze. The flames soaked into his pores, causing a blue radiance. He lifted his arms and opened his mouth. A blue glow stirred inside when Akheon swung his razor-sharp tail striking Alara. For the first time in his existence, the divine kin felt pain. Kasaqa rose above him and hovered. Her eyes glowed, and gold sparks ignited from her fingers. The Goddess looked down upon the destruction and glared into her brother's glowing eyes.

Alara's glow dimmed, and his eyes blackened. He tried to rise toward his sister, but he could not. He looked at his hands; the Amools in his veins, the matter that contained his Source, had vanished.

"What have you done to me?"

"I have poisoned you, brother."

The Goddess lowered to the ground and swiftly locked her brother's head into her hands. With her power, she lifted the Eupnea Sword, which pierced the back of his head, drawing his Source into the four stones encased in the blade's handle. His magic sucked into the purple stone, his power into the yellow stone. The white stone absorbed his essence, and the blue stone his core. As he withered, the Wraiths collapsed into the sands. Kasaqa embraced him as he screamed his last word, "Colbalto!".

Akheon and the other dragons roared at Colbalto, but she escaped to the sky. Akheon attempted to go after her, but the Realm quaked when the sword struck the sand. Kasaqa picked up the sword and then collapsed.

The Divine Adoratrices released the forcefield around the temples, and all but one dashed to her side.

****

"Kasaqa! Can you hear me?" Ade cried.

It had been many suns since Alara's demise, but the Goddess remained in eternal sleep, and her body had become a sparkling crystal. Ade rested his chin upon his chest and heard a faint sound. Aroused, he rushed to the glass bed that encased her. The general felt a burning sensation in his wound, and he looked down to see specks of light entering his side. In his thoughts, he could hear Kasaqa's voice.

"Thank you for your sacrifice, but it is not your time to meet the eternities."

He looked again at his side to see the wound sealed. All that remained was a scar in the shape of the lights that entered it.

"My Goddess, it is you. What happened to you?"

"The power of the Ever Light bonded with the power of the Source Stones, revealing my true form. The moment before I lifted the sword, I heard my father's voice, and I had almost forgotten what it sounded like. You were right; he needed me to do what he could not. Mum devised a plan Alara could not see. He forged another Ever Light and left it in the one place he knew I would go."

"Akheon?"

"Yes. His first creation. It was Akheon who helped Mum forge this Realm long before the creation of my brother and me."

A tear dripped from Ade's eye to the glass bed.

"You are beautiful. How long will you remain this way?"

Silence filled Ade's thoughts. Many more suns would rise and fall before he would hear her voice in his thoughts again. When she spoke, she commanded him to gather the Holy Mothers.

Ade looked on as the same flickers of light that entered his wound and healed him entered their eyes. Kasaqa called them Dafari, guardians of the Source Stones. The difference between their marks and the mark upon Ade was the location. Three raindrop symbols appeared between their eyes. Only those with the Amools in their blood could touch the stones. She instructed them to separate the stones from the sword, hiding each in a different location. None of them would know the location of all four stones, only the location of the one they hid. Akheon would burn symbols onto the blade of the Eupnea Sword, a map that she would entrust to Ade. The map would be a guide to her eternal chamber.

At that moment, Ade realized that Kasaqa was trapped and could only be released if Alara were to rise again.

The Dafaris removed the stones, partnered up, and took them to the four corners of the Realm. Two went north, two went south, two went east, and two went west.

The Goddess also granted Ade and his Ghosies the ability to retain their gifts to pass on through their bloodline. She instructed him to work with the dragons she would leave behind to rebuild the Realm.

Tears welled in his eyes as he promised to keep his covenants, but it did not lessen the blow to his heart.

"I love you, Ade, more than you will ever know."

"How can I do all that you ask without you?"

"You will. You must. Alara can never be released, but if evil ever finds its way back, I need someone strong enough to lead these people. That someone is you."

The general stretched his arms over her glass bed and wept.