Her Dawning Empire: The Prophecy

Chapter 7

^
Negus's office.

                       °°°°°°°♧°°°°°°

"Maya, dear, shut the door. The sound of the birds is quite distracting"

"Yes, father." Maya moved to shut the door before stomping back to her place by Negus's side as he sat behind his desk.

On his left, Emut stood, his hand on the hilt of his sword as though he was preparing to fight. But, seeing him from yesterday, I had begun to realise that was a natural stance to him. He gave me a small smile before turning his attention to Negus.

Demir was sat by the window, his arms folded and a bored look on his face. His weapon was propped up against the wall beside him and I couldn't help but recall the blood battle that had just occurred.

When the fight at the village was over, we had returned to the house. At this point, I was distraught at what I had seen and the traumatic events since yesterday were beginning to catch up to me. Both Ayla and Emut had requested Negus to tell me everything and then we ended up here.

Currently, it was only me, Negus, Maya, Emut and Demir in the room. Negus said it was best that it remain between only a few of us. With Maya being his daughter, she but almost demanded she be allowed to come. Emut was brought along as he was the leader and Demir, his right-hand man. Now, with everyone in attendance, I sat waiting in anticipation. At long last, my questions would be answered.

Negus sat back in his seat, his eyes closed.

"Emut, the scroll, if you please" His voice was gentle, but it held authority. Emut nodded before making his way to the bookshelf and grabbing the scroll from the top shelf. Passing it to Negus, he stepped back to his former position.

Negus placed the parchment beside him before clearing his throat.

"Long ago, before the age of your kind, the world was inhabited by Gods. Now, each god played a role in creating balance and order in the world and, for a long while, the world was calm. But as the years went on, the Gods became bored, the thought of an eternity of sole existence eating away at them and, then, the idea of creation came to them. It was then that mankind came to fruition. At first, all was well. Your greatest ancestors worshipped the Gods and the Gods now had a purpose. But, as time went on, a change came about. Mankind was adapting and advancing. They were relying more on man-made objects and dismissing the reason for their existence. The Gods had already sensed the future- mankind would undoubtedly be destroyed by their very creations and all would be lost. So, they constructed a plan. Or, rather two plans. Two constructions of the same world were created. Two dimensions, is what your kind would call it. Your Earth was one and our Aaru was another. Earth was created in a means to allow humans to advance; an opportunity to better themselves before it proves too late. Aaru, however, was a world constructed based on the perfect civilisation. Here, no thought that corrupted your kind would corrupt ours. All, from both worlds, were blissfully unaware. That was until 2 centuries ago." I processed Negus' words, feeling unsure at whether I should believe him or not. It was all too much to take in. And, the scariest part was that it was plausible. This was most definitely not earth; the people had powers and didn't even know what Earth was. So, where exactly was I, if not Aaru? The thought of it scared me.

Negus cleared his throat yet again before reaching for the scroll and unrolling it.

"Here, in Aaru, we hold belief in the Gods. We witness their actions and construct temples for them. Some, even, have become lovers of the Gods. Such a deed has led to the birth of a... hybrid of sort. They're known as the descendants of the Gods. Most live in sync with the rest of us, but this all changed when Anouke was created." Negus's voice strained at the end and I looked around to see the serious looks on everyone's face at the mere mention of the name.