Prologue
“Be careful with that, foolish
child!”
Cato winced and then glanced
momentarily at his father before he continued. “The stone appears to be
encoded…if I could just…” he twisted the top, but a little too quickly. The
intricate engravings that snaked around and up the stoned container began to glow
a brilliant blue and Cato’s father knew exactly what that meant. Cato also
knew…it meant he had failed. He could feel his father’s rage seeping through
the air, coating him and his siblings around him with a blanket of fury.
The blue mist seemed to whip and curl
out of the celestial stone that was once its home. He tried to grab at it, but
knew there was no use. If the element was extracted incorrectly, it would
escape and be given a new and unknown structure to inhabit. That structure was
always extremely difficult to locate. In fact, it had taken over one hundred
years to find the one he just screwed up.
“Cato, just go!” his brother called
to him. “Begin your search again and do not return until you have possession of
the element.”
Cato hated that his father favored
his oldest brother over him. It was as if he couldn’t do anything right. He
gave a quick bow of his head and took off, trying to get away from his father
as quickly as possible. “I will not fail you father.” It was the last thing he
said before disappearing into the darkness.
“You just did,” his father growled in
anger as he began to pace, fuming more and more with each step he took. After
coming to an abrupt halt with his wife at his side, he turned to his remaining six
children. Sage began to sit at her throne, gathering her burgundy gown and
sweeping it to the side with all the grace of a queen, before settling in the
onyx chair. She was, hands down, the only thing that could calm the king in any
way. Their father acknowledged her with a glance and then turned his attention
back to his children. “Your brother has failed me,” he began, his tone harsh
and unforgiving.
“This is a very delicate and tedious
process my love,” their mother interjected. She never stopped giving her
opinion, no matter how intimidating their father was, he didn’t seem to faze
her the same way he did everyone else. “Cato is a good son, he does what you
ask of him and I will not have your unrealistic expectations be a reason for
severe punishment.” By severe punishment, she meant the whip of fire. It was
just what the name implied.
“Woman!” He turned to her slowly and
their eyes met. She held his stare and did not relent in her gaze. She was the
only one that could do that as well. His returning glare was always menacing
and cold. It would make anyone else want to hide inside themselves and
disappear. “These children of ours need to understand all that I-”
“Hush now!” She stood to her feet and
their father’s lips pressed into a thin line as he glared at his wife. “This is
ridiculous. The longer you keep them here, the longer it will take them to find
the rest of the elements again. If
the pretty little containers are not here, how can you destroy them, hmm?”
“You speak too boldly.” He barked.
“Too boldly? Ha!” The Queen waved her
hand in the air as if she were shooing a fly away. She made her way back to her
husband’s side to address their children together. Her raven black hair looked
like blackened flames surrounding her delicate looking face. She walked with
such grace it was as if she were floating, her gown rippling like liquid
against the stone floor beneath her.
The remaining six children took a
knee in the presence of their mother and father standing together before them. Their
mother had full lips, the color of a deep red rose and her cat-like eyes had a
smoldering black look to them that intimidated the strongest of men. She looked
at her husband fiercely and everyone knew she would have the final say today.
“I say what I want, when I want my love.” She spoke calmly and tilted her head
to the side watching her husband struggle to harness his tongue. “I will not be
controlled by you or any other…it is why I am your queen, is it not?” She
lifted her chin and waited for a response.
“But we are stuck here…bound to this
land until they,” he thrust his hand out gesturing towards their children,
“decide to do what is asked of them.” They could all hear his struggle in
maintaining control of himself.
“And they will.”
Their father rolled his eyes, an
inherent trait. “How many opportunities do they need to fail me? I tell them,
find the element, bring me the element and I will destroy it.” His voice began
to gradually elevate. “I am thorough when I explain the process and they all
know that if the celestial containers which preserve the elements are
not…opened correctly, the element itself escapes to some other place and I must
begin at square one again! I should have done it myself. I told you, let me do it
and you insisted they learn something
by doing it themselves, well look where that has gotten us!”
“Not so they would learn. You know that
they must be the ones to destroy the element they find my love. You cannot do
it for any of them, no matter how much you may want to.”
“But I will succeed!”
“Impossible!” Both of their onyx
colored eyes flashed with flames of anger.
“Their lack of completion is
unacceptable; maybe they need a better reason to renew their determination to
complete their task at hand!”
Their mother didn’t even flinch, but
she turned her attention to them and again spoke calmly. “Did you hear that my
children?” They each began to nod slowly. “Your father and I are very
disappointed. You have all been searching for a very long time and what do we
have to show for it my loves? All of the elements, yet again, out there waiting
to be destroyed during the Annular eclipse…now I understand when you are here, you are not there,” she pointed towards
outside. “I also know if you are not out there, you are not able to search, the
way we so desperately need you to…do you understand?”
“Yes mother,” they called out in
unison.
“Now then, it has taken a very long time for this entire
search-and-destroy mission and I am growing tired of your father not having
what he wants. I can only protect you from his wrath for so long…not only is
this powerful being your father, but he is also king, you all have a duty to
please both.”
They each began to rise slowly to their feet in anticipation
of the lecture coming to a close. “Go now my children-locate the elements so that
we may destroy them and expand our kingdom to its rightful size…bigger, than
anyone else’s. Do not disappoint me.”
A wicked grin curled their mother’s lips upward and they bowed obediently to
her before leaving to search their territories tirelessly until they could
bring her what she wanted.
“It will be done,” they heard her
saying to their father in the distance. The oldest glanced back at them over
his shoulder, in time to see his father reward her with a lustful kiss. He
averted his eyes forward and ran with the others until they were out of sight.
