PROLOGUE

Elysiene.

The Great Continent. Great Eastern Province.

Sansi Anjoon. Badun Valley.

Exoanos 2362.

Two men stood at the edge of a cliff, high in the foothills. They kept their gaze trained on the valley below. The taller was garbed in a long, white robe, embroidered in gold. His features were classical, like something carved into a statue of a god. It was his piercingly intelligent eyes that made you question whether he was real. They were a pure gold that saw everything when he gazed out. He had to- for he was the Supreme Diety, Omni.

Beside him, in a similar dark green robe, Lord Badun compared the valley below to his memories. Back before the first dynasty of the Great Eastern Province was founded, he had ruled over this area as the patron god. Now, the humans were plentiful. They had created rulers for themselves and subdivided the land as they saw fit. Many abandoned the gods who had provided for them in the past, but some still looked to the gods for their livelihoods.

Badun sensed Omni was troubled but waited patiently for him to explain himself. He knew the Supreme Diety wouldn’t have come down to the realm of Elysiene without reason. He didn’t interact directly with human creation unless necessary.

        “The Foretelling has indicated changes are coming. Though, perhaps not immediately. The recent discovery of the existence of the Islands of Sumrani will occupy them for some time,” Omni relayed.

Badun glanced at him.  “They will eat that discovery up like a banquet. But then, their greed will lead them to try to use the Islands to their advantage. You did not place your powers among the Islanders, did you?”

Omni shook his head. “They were given incredible intelligence that has allowed them to live advanced of the Continentals. But you are correct. I suspect the Continentals will soon aim to blend Sumrani innovation into their lives. It is likely that will include Sorsir integration into the Islands.”

Badun nodded. Just over a thousand years ago, Omni had blessed a handful of humans with supernatural powers. As their number grew, they became known as a separate race called “Sorsir.” Badun had trained the first human, bestowed with the ability to interact with the spirit world, which became the House of Shamana. Now the Sorsir were divided into seven different Houses, based on the type of ability.

        “Did the Foretelling indicate changes towards the Sumrani this time? That’s the first, isn’t it?” Badun asked curiously. If that was the case, then there would be changes in the Otherworld. The last time such change had been hinted, the humans rebelled against the gods and attacked the Sorsir in what came to be known as the Sorsir GenoWar. It was brutal, terrifying and had nearly drug the gods themselves into the war. Many Sorsir were senselessly slaughtered out of fear and hate. Hundreds of years later, the remaining Sorsir still did not openly use their power among the normal humans.

Omni nodded slowly. He continued to stare below at Sansi Anjoon. “I, too, wonder how it will affect us in the Otherworld. But before change makes it way to the Islands, I will ask for a person who can watch over Sumrani as a safeguard.  This time, the vision has told me darkness is beginning to take control of the Continent. Small spiritual forays, here and there, but they are manipulating the humans to do their will. It will begin here.”

        “Ironic, that it began here originally,” Badun murmured. “I hope this does not indicate our downfall. Perhaps it is only the circle of life.”

        “I hope not. But our power dwindles with their level of faith, just as before. I do not care to repeat this again,” Omni muttered, and turned to head back to the portal waiting to direct them back to the Otherworld.

Realm of the Otherworld.

Golden Lands. Palace of the Supreme Diety.

Exoanos 2372

The throne room of Omni was a sprawling elegance of pale, gold veined marble, flooded with sunlight glinting through walls of glass. At one end was the monstrous, gilded, carved wooden door. It opened onto a wide, plush, scarlet runner carpet that flowed from one end of the room to the other. It terminated at the deity’s oracle firebowl, so named “The Foretelling.” It was made of brass and massive- wide and shallow, housing the never-ending, glowing embers that allowed his visions in flame.  Behind the firebowl was the raised platform his throne set on. The throne was pale wood, polished to shine, and carved with flames all across the high back and thick arms and legs. He sat in it now, with a forbidding expression on his face as he faced his Lord of the Underworld.

Lord Duon was responsible for the lands of eternal damnation. Duon faced Omni blankly, but his eyes reflected irritation. This was a very big problem and he hated being responsible for it.

        “A Kirrin,” Omni’s cold voice was a warning of his temper to come. Kirrin were evil spirits who fed on the depravity of human beings to carry out their soulless deeds in the human realms. When they found inherently evil humans, they created huge problems for the Shamana House. Was this the beginning of the darkness in Anjoon the Foretelling had shown? I’ll have to call both sides of Shamana for this.

Among the Sorsir, each type of power was divided into a House. The first to found was the House of Shamana, or those who could interact solely with the spirit world. Lady Sabaria kept oversight of the Shamans, who were the humans who handled wandering spirits, and communication with the Otherworld. Her husband, Lord Donsu, was the Commander of the Night Guardians, special warriors from the House of Shamana whose responsibility was to corral evil spirits in Elysiene and see them to Duon’s Underworld for punishment.

Omni snapped his fingers and a shapeless spirit appeared next to him. “Summon Sabaria and Donsu for a mission.” It disappeared immediately as Omni returned his attention to Duon.

Within a couple of minutes, two figures materialized behind Duon in the middle of the room. The husband was tall, well-muscled and possessing a hard set of facial features and shaggy, dark hair. His wife, a petite tomboy with plain and unassuming features, stood beside him with her long, blonde hair pulled up in a tight bun. Both wore matching, all black Night Guardian uniforms.

        “Forgive the short notice,” Omni jerked his chin toward Duon, “but I was just informed that a condemned Kirrin is loose.”

Sabaria jerked her wide eyes to her husband. This is not good, she told him mentally. His forehead wrinkled as he responded silently, Let me take care of it. He stepped forward to speak directly with his superior.

        “Has it crossed over?” Donsu asked Duon, pondering the difficulty of the mission. A condemned Kirrin would be harder to catch than it had been originally if it was hiding among the humans again. Duon nodded at him with a forbidding expression.

She was only called to work with Donsu when something like this happened. “Where? I need to alert my shamans,” Sabaria’s voice was tense as she stepped into her role as Lady of Shamana.

Kirrin were among the more powerful and problematic evil spirits because they could easily feed to become stronger. They would need to work together to bring this spirit under control as quickly as possible. Kirrin were extremely damaging to humans. She looked at Donsu. “We will start scouting, and you can prepare for retrieval.”

        “Sansi Anjoon. Gatekeeper lost the trail as he crossed realms into Badun Valley,” Duon replied. His Gatekeeper couldn’t enter into the human realm of Elysiene.

She nodded. “I have a handful there I trust well. I will let them know immediately.”

        “I will gather all my warriors immediately,” Donsu promised. “With your permission, we will depart to plan this mission together.”

Omni flicked his hand at them as he continued to glare at Duon. The couple bowed to Omni and vanished. Omni gestured to Duon to approach the firebowl.

        “Now, let’s see if my vision can aid us. I want this solved as soon as possible.” Omni turned his attention to his firebowl. He ordered the embers to glow blue and flames rose. “Foretelling- show me this situation.”