Chapter 1
After the world was created, after we were given life, and after humans dispersed into different tribes there was a mighty war. We called it the First War because it was our first significant loss and first lesson. The war began because the harvest that year was less than plentiful and there was hardly enough food for each tribe. Blinded by their hunger a group of gatherers had invaded a neighboring tribe to steal their harvest. They only thought about the aching hunger that gnawed at them and their family as they murdered the tribe. After the bloody victory, the gatherers brought the food back to their tribe. They lied to the chief and said they found a natural harvest of corn and wheat near the river. The chief was overjoyed and said that they were blessed by the gods. The next day the tribe was invaded by a rival group. The chief was grief-stricken claiming that they had killed his sister who married the chief of the slaughtered tribe. The chief tried to reason with the warrior chief claiming he knew nothing of the slaughter of his sister. At that moment the grieving chief killed the wife of the chief. He turned and fled with his warriors back to his tribe where he could mourn properly for his fallen sister.
The chief was overcome with rage, he didn’t understand what overcame his rival but knew that he needed revenge. That night he called for his allies and explained the situation to them. His wife was adored by all of them and they each agreed to avenge her with him. While this all went down the gods watched in horror as their creations began to slaughter one another like swine.
The gods met to decide how to best deal with this issue. Shikra, the water goddess, suggested they give a piece of themselves to the people. She said that maybe the earth needed repairing. Maybe if the harvest was plentiful again then the fighting would stop. Zano, the god of death and the afterlife knew that the fighting wouldn’t stop even if they gave a piece of themselves to the earth and the tribes. He knew that the two chiefs blamed the other for the loss of their loved ones and the only way for this war to end was for the gatherers to speak up. The other gods disagreed with Zano and instead chose to go with Shikra’s plan. Zano agreed to give a piece of himself to the earth as well but tried to explain again that this solution wouldn’t work. Zano’s brothers and sisters had decided on a different plan, one that didn’t involve Zano. They thought he would ruin their original plan to spite them and prove that he was right. While Zano was sleeping his five siblings gathered together and the second oldest, Tera, had gathered a jewel from the earth. Tera is the goddess of the earth and animals that live there. As she set the jewel down in the middle of their circle they all took a step back and prepared to give a piece of themselves to the people below. They stepped up from oldest to youngest, first Tera gave a piece of herself and the gem turned a dark muddy color. Next Fiero, the god of fire stepped up to the stone. The jewel turned a bright red as he gave his soul to the stone. Shikra turned the gem a dark blue before stepping back. The twins Luna and Sol stepped up at the same time. They’re the youngest of the gods, Luna is the moon goddess while her brother Sol is the sun god. As they put their souls into the stone at the same time the jewel turned a bright yellow with streaks of black. The gem rose from the ground as the twins stepped back, it was flashing with an assortment of colors. The light awoke Zano and he watched from afar as his siblings sent the stone down to earth. In his anger, Zano shot the jewel with a piece of his soul. The gem darkened and then fell to earth. Zano didn’t know that he had just given unlimited power to the stone. He didn’t know that any human to possess the stone would be as powerful as the six gods. It wasn’t long before the gem was found by an ill-intended chief. He used its powers to gain wealth and power. He was greedy and wanted immortality, so when Zano came to deliver the CHief to the afterlife, the chief shot the god of death with the stone. It killed Zano, no god could withstand the power of all of their powers sent upon them. Tera loved her older brother and in her despair stole the stone from the chief and then sent the stone to a faraway mountain. She begged the mountain not to let any human who isn’t worthy of the stone get near it. She asked the mountain that if the time ever came the stone should be destroyed and given to five worthy people. She took Zano’s soul out of the stone and instead put it in a sword so that humans could still die and no one could use the stone against the gods again. Centuries passed and villages began to form around the mountain since the land there was lush. Tera whispered the tale of the gem and her brother to the village storytellers hoping that someday soon someone would come and free the stone.
