THE FEUD #1

PROLOGUE

I AM NOT MY MOTHER NOR IS SHE HER MOTHER BEFORE, I AM BUT MYSELF TO LOVE OR TO HATE

“What do you think, Justus? Are they not lovely?” She says in a voice like silk, its texture running over your skin like water.

Justus gives his daughter a bored stare, “They look like us and talk like us, only not as divinely. They are the definition of flawed. What exactly is unique about them?” the divine being asks.

Maya knows her father is a hard being to please and yet she was so hopeful that he would look upon her creation and think them worthy of his admiration. Still, his opinion does not make hers any less. She smiles lovingly at the humans, inferior and yet divinely so.

“They are us but pure and simple. They eat when they are hungry, and they warm themselves when they are cold. They will not war, but love. They will feel as if they are sisters and brothers in a paradise that I have created for them.”

Laughter rings in her ears. Turning to look at her father, he smiles critically.

“Give them a weapon and teach them to use it – they will war. Be it love or hate they will fight and kill as does the rest of us that you despise. They will have but a moment of our time to live, so when they die, it will be like a destroyed flower that only blossoms but a minute.”

Maya shakes her head angrily, “I won’t allow it. I will be here, to watch and to guide.” She says with conviction.

Justus seems surprised by his daughter's desire to live amongst her creation, but he says nothing. Maya turns back to gaze upon the humans she worked so hard to manifest into existence as her father binks into another time and place. She’s left to her world, one she names Continere, where she remains till the day of her tragic death, sparking a war that raged between the divine. Maya’s humans went on existing without her. Sheltered from the creatures roaming beyond the Protective Barrier that surrounds the Continere – a drop in the ocean when in comparison to the Magna Terra that exists around it. Humans are not very old in a land that has existed for a time beyond comprehension, but in the Continere, a place shared with formidable opponents – it’s a very different story. There is no doubt that this land is not one of a kind. The Goddess who created the humans isn’t the only divine being with the power of creation, but to venture past the Protective Barrier is a death wish that humankind knows only too much about. A gift from their creator, only species with the blood of a human can cross the Protective Barrier or, of course, a divine being. Without their Goddess to protect them, the humans were faced with an opponent beyond their ability to combat. They went by the name Slave Makers. The humans suffered under their tyranny for centuries until the birth of the werewolves. The first of their species appeared during a barbaric time of disease, starvation, and brutality forced upon the humans of the Continere. Peace came with the birth of this new species that fought for humans against an even older foe, the Slave Makers. The God Adolfo chose the human children to gift with the same shape shifting ability that he had. Life on the Continere was unbearable, unkind and unforgiving. Still word spread about the young men and women that changed into mighty wolves – which legend said once roamed these very lands. The Werewolves were said to be beautiful beings with the ability to transform their bodies into a weapon forged from magic, a massive wolf that could end lives with its sharp teeth and lethal claws, but these were not beasts in Human skin. These were human young with the power and magic to alter their bodies. As children of slaves reached adulthood, so more turned into the great beasts, to be the protectors, and lead the humans into prosperity the likes of which they could not fathom. No simple weapon could kill them as the Slave Makers found along with their demise. But the Werewolves' heroism bore the fruits of greed. Perhaps some of the blame fell to that of the human. Overwhelm with gratitude – the humans praised their protectors and were mesmerized by their magical ways. Over the course of centuries, divisions began to form between the species. The Humans physically and genetically were inferior and found themselves in servitude to the werewolves, who had become a distant relative of the human species, aging differently as they lost the human DNA. The humans became more and more displeased as the werewolves began elevating themselves, benefiting while the humans became poor and mistreated once again. For the first time in centuries since the fall of the Slave Makers the humans were starving, diseases were killing the young and old, and they were no better than the slaves that once were. Human history speaks of how the generations of the Mace Family and their participation in all the events that played out during and after the Civil War that erupted. Spearheading the movement against the werewolves, the Mace family were known for their ferocity and cunning natures although they were only human. The Mace family had been leaders of a civil war that inspired people to stop seeking the Gods mercy and to stand up as warriors; and they had been victors of two wars that followed and raged across the Continere – dividing the land for centuries more.

*

ZELUS

Finally, I will have everything I’ve ever wanted. As my warriors of grey and black beasts prepare for the long harsh march through the untamed countryside of Valglares, I feel a smile play on my lips at the thought of the mayhem to follow. I gaze out across the open expansion, barron save for some scattered trees with satisfaction born from mischief. May their civilization burn and flow with human blood.

Mace blood particularly.

I feel the excitement rushing in my veins, pumping in my ear. I will do what my parents and their parents failed disastrously to accomplish. My heart flutters in appreciation for the battles to come. My hands have been clean for too long.

I’m thirsty… Valour hums in agreement, his animalist voice purring in my mind.

“Make sure the army stays close to the border. We wouldn’t want the Valglarians and their Goddess getting in our way.” My cousin warns, a continuous concern for him.

The Valglarians, or better known as the Slave Makers might not like us with the conflicts of old an unpleasant reminder. But they certainly don’t value the weak insignificant humans enough to aid them against my people's attack either. Without turning to look at Pallas, my eyes fixate on my own race, eager to lead them into the glory of history.

“They won’t leave the safety of their fortified mountains. Their Goddess is lazy and arrogant, she isn’t watching her surroundings, only the king is, and he’s been distracted lately.” I say.

“Do you trust the human traitor?” Pallas asks.

That is certainly the question, but the decision has been made and the fates have already determined the outcome. Now it’s a waiting game.

“Yes. I do.”

Turning my head, I pin Pallas with my eerie gaze - one that has frozen whole bodies in place. Like mine, his eyes glow in the fullness of the moon’s light. Touched by the Goddess of the moon and stars herself, my family bred brilliance with our platinum blonde hair and silver eyes. We were worshiped like gods until the Maces. No more will they stain our names.

“Shouldn’t you be on your way?” I ask.

“Don’t underestimate the Valglarian people. They have killed monsters from the Magna Terror that put us to shame. We won’t likely win on their home ground.” He says and with his warning delivered, he is gone.

Do you think she will be there? Valour’s question makes me uneasy.

My face doesn’t show a sign of emotion as I say aloud, “We are cursed if she is.”

But the reality is staring me in the face. I have looked and looked and still she evades me in my lands, though I feel her heart beating, her soul calling for me to find her. But from where? Who is she? Don’t let it be so. I pray to the Goddess Accalia. Because I will have no mercy for her, for a human. She will die along with the rest of them.