Islands of the Sky

Prologue- A World of Fire and Ice

This story begins a great many years ago, on the planet Earth. This Earth however had key difference to they one that first comes to mind when we say it's name, that difference is that it had kept its magic. Who are we you ask? All shall be revealed in later days to come but I can tell you this much, our names. I am Kiero Flamespeaker , Guardian of Sork, Protector of Magic, and the Brother of Light. I am also Lunar Moonborn, King of the Night, Beast of the Moon, and the Wolf of Storms. This is who we are and this is the world we come from.

Imagine a world that replicated the garden of Eden, a paradise of sorts, grass as green as the gems that are found within the ground, trees larger then the great oaks that held the stories of the ages, water so pure and clean it was drinkable no mater what stream it was from. These are only a few things we can tell you about the first world. Now the biggest difference between the first world and the Garden of Eden was that, the first world had death already inside of it. Instead of eating only fruit and vegetables, you could eat meat not having it be a sin. You see the deity that created this world, his name was Shazo, believed in everything having a perfect balance or a natural order to them. Lots of bunnies running around and wolves to hunt them and bears to hunt those wolves. Shazo believed in a natural balance, if one thing had power there must be something else to counteract that power. The balance of power, or food chain as it's known today, would spiral up and up till you hit the top of the peak which left two different kind of beasts that were feared and respected through out the world. The Jayrons and the Sons of Shazo. Kiero was one of these sons, his brother's name is Oriek both brothers were extremely powerful and besides Shazo were the first creatures to walk the first world. As Shazo created his sons he began to make a mistake, being the first living things he created, he didn't have the concept of flesh mastered, in the way we know it today, and made theirs harder and stronger then any other flesh that would be created. This helped keep the power he gave them, inside of their bodies. This power was a blessing and a curse, he had crafted their bodies mostly from magic. Not the cheap slight of hand such as pulling a bunny out of a hat, but true magic that possessed capability to recode the fabric of reality itself. Shazo had created the brothers of three fourths magic, one fourth flesh, if you were to cut open their skin. You would see their bones but no muscle or veins but simply magic in it's purest form.

Shazo after creating the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and the creatures of the land, took it upon himself to make a species that would bring order to the rest of his creation at the cost of being physically far weaker then some of his previous creation. He wanted this species to be set apart from the rest, it was in this moment he created something else, a side effect of this new creation, that would drive this species to do incredible things one day. Shazo had accidentally created the emotion of love. He cast his spell and felt the creation begin to stir inside of his body, which was made purely of magic. He called his sons over to him to reveal this new treasure with them and ask them a favor that one day would cause the paradise they lived in to be engulfed in the flames of jealousy and hatred.

He shared the news of these coming beings with his sons and together they decided to call this new species humans, appropriately meaning "the cared for". Shazo turned to his sons and asked them that no matter what happened that they would protect this creation from the other beasts that roamed the Earth. Kiero quickly agreed because of the  fondness of the species growing inside his body. His brother Oriek did not agree so rapidly because even tho he had admired how some creatures so weak could rule. He did not desire to be a guardian, but he wanted to live freely with out restriction. Once both brothers had agreed to be the guardians of these humans, as they would be called, Shazo graced each of them with a gift. A sword made of the embers from which the world had been formed, this sword was given to Kiero. Graciously taking the blade it spoke in the voice of a roar in his hands and the glow of the blade grew from that of a flickering coal to of a forest lit ablaze in the fire of a great beast. To Oriek he gave a sword made from the cold crystals of the oceans that carved through the the earth making their own path. As he took it the blade howled in his hands as a storm of the fiercest winter. He told the brother's that each sword was very powerful and crafted for them specifically. Each sword had been crafted by the two core powers that shaped the earth they lived upon. He instructed the brothers that this was to be their symbols of guardianship when they protected the humans. The humans would know they were in good hand upon seeing the swords. He left them one finial piece of wisdom before receding to bare these humans into the world through his body. He told them that apart they were powerful and could change the world. Together they could shape a whole new reality. The brothers eagerly looked to each other and held their new swords together in a way that one blade was facing down to the ground they stood upon and the other to the air that they could feel around them. The swords shifted the sword of the ice and oceans forming the bottom looking like an clean cut ice sickle but with a blizzard swirling around inside of it, the sword of the fire and flames formed the top appearing to be a piece of metal after being removed from the forged glowing bright white and heat and fire sparking from it as each end had a sharp point to it. As their powers did not limit them from holding the opposing end. The air around them roared and howled with power, all of which coming from the staff. They decided to name this new weapon, they chose the name Staff of Cores. With this new weapon and their new swords, the brothers vowed to each other to work together and keep the human race safe from the beasts that would try to kill them. Not all vows are kept no matter what we wish or pray.

Why did the other races not need the brothers protection? Shazo developed a system that whenever he created a new species, the first one of that new species was marked as the Alpha and given the ability to harness magic. Depending on the species would determine on how well the Alpha could use magic. The other members of that species could learn to use magic but it was increasingly more difficult for them then the Alpha of that species. Humans were the first race to not have their own Alpha, Kiero and Oreik would serve as their alphas as the brothers had no other members that were apart of their race. The brothers were closer then any other beings in the universe because they were the only ones of their race, the brothers could not be more opposite. Kiero kind and loving while being harsh in logic made calculation then added the emotions into his calculations. His brother, Oriek, tended to make his decision quickly and through how he felt in the spur of the moment which caused things to get done much faster and more efficiently, he did not always take into account how others felt. The one thing the brothers differed the most on was their views of power. Kiero respected it and was not afraid to use it but was content with what Shazo had given. Oriek sought more power then what had been blessed upon him. Why he did this, no one could say for sure maybe it began when the humans had been born. Kiero's nature caused them to favor him and Oriek tried to prove him self to them through acts of power. Some humans did favor him but he wasn't sastified with only a few humans, he craved all of them. It may have also been his near death experience from which his brother saved him.

There came a day when Oriek could no longer take it as he feared the humans had completely sided with his bother and we're all secretly conspiring against him, he was convinced that they all hated him. No matter how much praise he received from those that were loyal to him, he never believed them. He began to become paranoid about spies watching him as if he had anything to hide! The pressure built and built until he blew and when they were supposed to be protecting the humans he began to harm them. It was not very noticeable at first, he struck in the night some people woke up sore or had bruises they couldn't explain but it hadn't reached the point of being enough to hinder them simply annoy. Like all bad habits those little assaults quickly became not enough to keep him appeased, he needed to make them pay then when the sheep were hurt the real enemy would show his face. The Shepard of the this weak flock. Yes Oriek blamed Kiero for his status as an "outcast". The brother's engaged in a fight that scorched and froze the earth as they used the swords that were meant to be used in harmony to cause chaos. The brothers war against one another stayed only between them, however in order to fight one another they had to sacrifice their duties of protection sworn to each other and their father. Rapidly the population of the humans fell as the brothers ignored them staying locked in combat. Monsters came day and night taking who they wanted from the humans. Remains of those said humans began to scatter to first worlds grounds still the brothers did not notice and kept going. When the population had fallen from 10,000 to a mere 800, Shazo pulled the brothers apart. He left their issues unsolved as that was not his fight to engage in but he would not see his "cared for" be so easily hunted. Taking each brother to an opposite end of the world on the Eastern Hemisphere and the other on the Western Hemisphere. To keep the powers even between the brothers, and to successfully pull of what he so wished, Shazo split him self in two, forming what is know today as they Cores. Shadic being the lighter side of magic, just as powerful as the dark but in ways less cruel, sided with Kiero. Nazo being the darker side of magic powerful to the point of cruelty, sided with Oriek. Apon receiving a part of Shazo himself they were given a new companion to watch their backs as the brothers would no longer watch each other's. Kiero's was a beast know as Griffin, the Alpha of his species to be precise. Oriek was given a creature known as Raptor, an alpha of his own species as well.

Each brother gathered 400 humans to him self and with the help of the Cores raised five islands from the earth into the sky. Each one had a core island upon which the brothers lived. The other four islands in the brothers territory were to rotate around the core island and provide certain things to the whole system. Kiero was given Animal, Fire, Metal, and Lightning as his islands. Oriek was given Plant, Ice, Wind, and Stone as his islands. Kiero named his new territory in the sky, Sork. Oriek chose the name Kros for his territory. These are the islands that still float in the sky, this change is now referenced as the second world. Like a great many things that are old, the first world became legend. Sightings of the brothers protecting the territories could still be reported but rarely did any one ever look into them. The brothers had not seen each other from the day they were raised into the sky until 3,000 years later. That is were our story begins again.