Salvation : Book 3

Prologue : Cruel World

In the hallow beginning of the universe existed two beings. A goddess of life and light and a god of death and darkness. These two beings where the balance to everything. The harmony that stood with chaos. The chaos that gave birth to life. And the life that allowed for death to exist. They where together the beginning and the end. The forever in the nothing. The vastness in the empty.

The universe was ever stretching but lonesome. Earth, created of Her glow and His collisions. Her joy and His pain. Her love and His hate. Her mercy and His ruthlessness. They created the world like a storm. She was the rain, pouring down onto the world, bringing life to it. He was the thunder and lightening, loud and flashy, the world trembled under His might.

Plants sprouted from the earth, they reached for the sky. Volcanoes erupted, lava flowed like water. The earth rumbled as the land slit open. Mountains, rivers, gorges, deserts, were created. Forests, animals and most importantly humans were birthed.

She created them, the humans. Perfect beings, they breathed, they grew, they adapted and they loved. She gave herself to them, Her children. They worshiped Her, the bringer of life. They built temples in Her honor. They danced in Her light. Basked in Her warmth. And sang to Her, melodies carried by the wind.

She was their goddess. But He grew jealous. Why did She deserve all the love? All the attention? The world was their creation, together. Yet she received the glory. She was the day and they rejoiced in Her and He was the night, they hid from Him and awaited His end.

He wanted love and attention. He created his own beings. They were His, claws and fangs, skin as dark as coal, hearts colder than ice. They were soulless beings who only knew destruction but they worshipped their creator.

Destroy they did. Everything they touched turned to ash. He hadn't intended it but these creatures were far better than He'd hoped, because they did what He hadn't realized he wanted. The death of Her creations. They reeked havoc upon the human world. Killing soul after soul.

How marvelous, soon the humans would all be gone. And it would be Him and Her once more. The way it always should have been. She'd be His alone to worship. Her attention would be His once more.

He was wrong though. Pained by the loss of Her children She created beings to protect them. Witches. Three beings whose soul purpose was to protect life. Brothers who held power gifted by the goddess. The Anukan.

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He bent down, reaching for the red petaled flower. It's beauty almost matched that of his beloved. He brought the flower to his nose, taking a whiff of it. The scent was sweet, perfect for his loved one. He placed it in his straw satchel before he rose back to his feet.

"Malek!" He heard his brother's voice boom through the woods. He groaned before turning back towards the way he'd came. The sun shone brightly today, not a cloud to be seen. The tall fir like trees provided cover for him as he trenched through the woods. The ground was littered in dried leaves and twigs and they crunched under his bare feet.

He came to the massive stone temple that stood at the edge of the woods. It was home to the royal family. The king, his wife and their children, the prince and princesses.

Standing near the entrance to the temple was his brother. His brother was much taller than he was, he stood at almost seven feet. He had long dark hair, it fell over his shoulders in curls. His eyes where blue, a shade darker than his own. His skin was tanned unlike his own which was very pale. He looked nothing like his brother.

"Brother," he said as he neared him. A smile adorned Malek's face but it fell as soon as he saw his brother's stern expression.

"Where have you been?" Ashon asked his youngest brother. Malek had a tendency to wonder but today was not the day for that. Today he had a duty to uphold. He had to be focused.