The Flaming Heart

Prologue

One will come to end the war, a product of both sides, but those around her will suffer, due to her great pride.

-The Great Draconian Prophecy of 2350

PART 1

Prologue

Odelina sits on the comfortable couch; this is her favorite part of the day. She smiles at Zefira, who sits across the cozy room from her. Finally, after all the fighting, they are at peace.

She's in a reading room in the library, built since the war. She smiles as she thinks back to all those days she'd spent in the library with Zefira, learning the language of the older woman's people.

She looks around at the paintings on the wall, commemorating everything they've been through. They're hauntingly beautiful, telling a story that Odelina is finally ready to accept. After all, if that story hadn't happened, she would have never met Zefira.

A fire blazes in the middle of the room. The young children are gathered at her feet eagerly, looking up at her with awe in their eyes. She loves these children as if they're her own: they're inquisitive, something she admires.

"Odelina, Odelina, tell us a story!" The youngest girl, Amarida, begs.

"Alright. Hm...what kind of story does everyone want to hear?" She ponders what story she wants to tell.

"The goddesses fled to the Ezzarith after the war of 2300. The war began when the humans, who were currently living as slaves of the goddesses, started an uprising. Six goddesses remained. Edna: goddess of that which is lost, Heda: goddess of conquest, Zalris: goddess of sleep, Odite: god of death, Anan: god of life, and Maetz: god of healing.

"Edna, who had the power to find hidden portals, found one that led to Amaera. The goddesses soon discovered a clan of faeries and made six of them their concubines. When the six women gave birth, they found that their children were pixies, whose wings would be burned by water. The gods and goddesses slaughtered the concubines and the rest of the faerie clan.

After the pixies were born, the gods and goddesses ventured out into the lands of Amaera to find creatures already inhabiting the land they had invaded. Even worse, they found creatures resembling... humans ."

"What are humans, Miss Odelina?"

Odelina pauses. How can she explain this? "Humans are – creatures like me, just without wings.

"Thus began the feud between the aen laite and the goddesses. The goddesses bred hatred in their children, starting a cycle of acrimonious feuds. The goddesses and pixies were known to be violent, ruthless invaders who only wanted to steal land. They harassed the aen laite and invaded the mermaids' lands; they created borders around their land that would harm anyone who tried to enter. The only people who could take the borders down were them, to take in prisoners – so the goddesses and pixies became monsters. They were children of war and feud, who had invaded a land and spilled the blood of its peaceful inhabitants. The pixies became creatures with marks on their wings based on all of the people they had murdered."