Blood and Stars

Prologue

im saying right now that this story needs a serious editing round. apologies ahead of time if you notice typos, errors, plot-holes, and just a general something-or-other missing. i'm editing it currently, and it will say the name of the chapter at the top if it is edited. thanks for reading!

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Prologue

For you to understand what you're about to read, you must know some things first.

I grew up in the dirt of the most beautiful city there is. The grand capital city of Jythera, with it's golden palace and grand streets. Don't let it fool you if you ever go there. It's gilded: pretty exterior and corrupted interior.

It is homed in Astana, a bustling nation. With Jythera as it's capital and water and mountains and valleys and plains surrounding it, it's quite the land. Glorious, some say.

It's run different than the other three kingdoms. With a King and Queen of the royal family, they are regulated by the Table of Elders. Made up of many egoistical and narcissistic men and women, they make sure the royals don't get too much of a sense of superiority.

The Starling family has been ruling since the first King and Queen. Since Astana was created.

Before I get into this stupid family history thing, you need to know the history of Astana. I know it's boring as hell, but try to keep up, will you?

First, in order to be cliche, there was nothing. Except there was these three deities.

One decides it's a good idea to bring life. So ta da! Suddenly there are little people running around with pitchforks and no brains.

After a few tries, they had humans. Powerless and weak, the humans soon destroyed themselves.

So the three gods tried again.

This time, they infused magic into the humans. The humans survived for a very short time - until they tried to harness the magic they'd been given.

They imploded.

Now the gods gave their last shot into making a self-sustaining species.

They took the humans back, and tore apart their souls.

Sounds gruesome, I know.

Now only possessing half of a soul and infused with magic, this new species prospered. Each new human had a special ability. No magical ability was ever the exact same.

There was an unseen side-affect that the gods didn't see until it was too late.

Since everyone's soul had been split in half, someone else possessed their other half. These two humans shared a Soulbond. They were attracted to each other, and sooner or later, there was offspring.

The Soulmates were everywhere. The side-affect was the very thing that saved the human race.

Life was good. The Starlings ruled Astana in peace.

Then, the corruption began. One family, the Bloodstones, rose above the rest and began a rebel group, of course.

Blah blah, war, blah, death, and then it was over. The Bloodstones were thrown away and punished, but the corruption behind the scenes of Jythera was still there. Even the term Bloodstone became a taboo.

Now, there I am.

I'm not exactly a law-abiding citizen. Growing up in the dirt with no food or water will do that to you.

Especially when the royal family was the one that threw you into the mud in the first place.

Now you're all caught up.

Welcome to Jythera, Astana.