Guardian - Rise of the Gods, Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Auskan
World
5th
Realm
He stands firm, defiant against the howling wind as it creates a wind tunnel between the pillars of rock at the base of the majestic mountain peaks that dominate a bleak and barren landscape. The Auskan World, or the fifth realm, is where only the hardest of creatures survive, a place where the misfits of the Kuboran Galaxy grow and evolve into mighty slithering beasts like the Ridish, who live underground, a large lizard-type creature that can reach great lengths. The Mirtogue, with their large non-descript bodies, and the Unne, lesser creatures, pale and scrawny, small in stature, with wide elongated eyes that inhabit every rock and crevice, scrape a living from the dusty soils and left-over carcasses. The sweeping wind plays music as it moves over the grey landscape of stones, and for its inhabitants, it provides a harmonised tune.
Gornus continues to hold his stance between
the two rock pillars. He has studied each of the ten realms, and even to the
keen eye, there are anomalies that might escape notice. But not to him. There
are certain things on different planes of existence that do not fit in with the
natural way of the land, like the pillars carved out of rock before him,
inscribed with symbols he can make no sense of. What is the purpose of such a
construction in a place where only primeval creatures exist?
Buttoning his brown jacket and adjusting his
green scarf around his neck, his eyes centre onto the entrance of the cavern
and its hidden dark interior. It is a cold, damp place, inhospitable, but ideal
for his newly-created prison. Opening his hand, his eyes stare onto the velvet
blue amulet, its power pulsating in his hand. Another step in weakening the
power of the High Duce. He will have the precious tanzanite stone fused with
the emerald, stone of wisdom, now that he has control of the white staff of power.
Glancing briefly behind him, his accompanying warriors stand back, wary of the
creatures that exist around them. Only the trusted warriors in Gornus’s circle
are aware of his plan to bring the Korninti race to a new level of existence. He
believes there is more that they can achieve than just being gatekeepers of the
Cosmic Pathway that connects all ten realms to his home on Uis-Valla. It has
been told to him, and he believes in it.
His greatest feat, and for his plan to
succeed, was the removal of the two most powerful elders of the Korninti, but
he could not have done it alone for his strength is no match against their
power. Hidden within the depth of the caverns in front of him, buried deep
within the majestic mountain ranges of the Auskan World, is High Duce of
Strife, Soulep, the second elder and most powerful of the Korninti, now imprisoned
within her fortress of rock. But rock alone would never hold her for his plan had
meant journeying several times outside of Uis-Valla to the Kingdom of Vellig,
home to the powerful race of military sorcerers known as the Armonte. A binding
spell, unknowingly given to him by the Armonte generals, fused with irodonez, a
unique stone to the Kingdom of Vellig, was what he needed. The spell, along
with removing the amulet from the High Duce, is enough to hold her captive. It
has been a risky move to enter and interact with the Armonte of the Kingdom of
Vellig, the first realm, without them knowing his true identity. The Armonte could
never be given the location or access to the portal on the Kingdom of Vellig. Only
the Korninti possess the knowledge of all ten realms in the Kuboran Galaxy, and
that can never change. Of all the races in the third circle of creation, the
Armonte are the most powerful, an equal match to the Korninti, but their lust
for power and greed makes them ripe for corruption, values that the Korninti do
not share as guardians of the Galaxy and watchers of all realms.
It has taken him time and many visits to the
Armonte race to learn their ways, keeping his identity hidden, becoming one of
them in physical form to lure the magic out of them. He played on their nature
of greed and corruption, telling them of a portal that leads to another world,
ripe for domination. He held out long enough without the need to tell them of
its location in order to get what he wanted. He even feigned intimate interest
with Jules, the commanding general, to acquire knowledge, and he got far more
than he had expected. She gave him access to the Armonte’s three ancient texts
of magic that he has now hidden within the Starlight School of Craft on
Uis-Valla. The Armonte will never see of him again, and, in time, he believes
that Jules and the other generals will dismiss him as a wandering stranger that
happened to cross their path.
Returning his thoughts to the howling wind
of Auskan, Gornus is satisfied that Soulep is unable, for now, to escape her
new-found prison. He returns to join his awaiting warriors, who remain standing
guard, to begin the perilous journey across the landscape before them to where
the portal rests, bringing them into the Cosmic Pathway.
Publication date: 24 November 2023. Available to Pre-order.
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