The Revelation Gate

THE REVELATION GATE

BRIAN L. THOMPSON

Copyright © 2011 by Brian L. Thompson

Great Nation Publishing

3828 Salem Road #56

Covington, GA 30016

www.greatnationpublishing.com

email: info@greatnationpublishing.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recorded, photocopied, or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright owner, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 978-0-615-44374-4

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011921475

This work is dedicated to the memories of Martia Logan, Kayla Ward, and Alex Pace, who remind me to love in the present and cherish the importance of the moment.

PROLOGUE

Near the dawn of recorded time lived Mosi, the first king of the Uché people. Adored by his people, he ruled peaceably until committing an offense against EL, the god of the Uché. For this, EL divided Mosi’s kingdom into northern and southwestern portions and handed it to two invading enemies – thus, beginning the Uché captivity. 

The former belonged to a brave military leader of the Sanguë: a race of mixed Uché and Otī blood hailing from the unexplored regions. He ordered footmen to kill only as a last resort. Mosi, his wives, children and eleven brothers were spared. Known as “the eleven,” these men were clerics: guardians of Uché history and liaisons between the people and EL. Kind but firm, the ruler of the north permitted his foreign captives relative freedom.

The latter territory fell to a political dilettante whose reign was marked by cruelty and bloodshed. He was of the Otī, a mountainous race originating from beyond the Great Mountain. Forceful and violent, the southwestern king sentenced dissidents to death. The Uché and Otī beneath him followed in fear, knowing the slightest wrongdoing or just a capricious whim may result in their death. Naturally, he and the northern ruler saw eye-to-eye on nothing, further defining the stark territorial division and raising the threat of conflict between the two.

After charming the royal courtiers to see his point-of-view, one night, under the auspices of consolidating the two kingdoms peaceably, the southwestern king assassinated his adversary and heirs as they slept. When dawn broke the next day, both the Sanguë and Uché populaces awoke to the bodies of the respected king and his bloodline paraded through the main streets.

Thereafter, the kingdoms united and their new ruler eliminated any natural successor to the throne – including his father, brothers, and own sons – to assume dictatorial control. He also destroyed Mosi and his family; all but the eleven. These men were masters of Njia – an invisible power that gifted its masters with unnatural abilities. Shortly after the coronation, these men used their powers to infiltrate the palace in broad daylight. After dismissing the royal guard, the eleven confronted the king, who threw himself down from a window rather than face condemnation.

The overthrow struck fear into the hearts of the Otī and Sanguë. If eleven men possessed enough power to rid themselves of the king, what could stop a fully empowered people?  With no direct successor to the throne, a high-ranking official in the Otī royal court became king. He immediately issued a directive to raze EL’s temple and leave no cleric alive. The ensuing battle lasted nine days, ending with the building’s sack and burning. All that remained were the eleven. Severely weak from fighting, Mosi’s brothers endured atrocities before their execution.