∆LK∆¥∆: THE LEGEND OF EMPYRO

PROLOGUE

L ONG BEFORE EARTH and man were brought into existence by the prime creator, there was a perfect superrace of hyperintelligent beings. They were called the Alkayans. They were materialized into humanoid forms that consisted of tall, slender bodies with no mouths or gender and six-digit fingers with two opposable thumbs on each hand. They communicated telepathically and absorbed their energy through the electrons of atoms that surrounded them. They did not need to eat. Their technology was far superior to anything you can imagine. Everything was controlled through brain waves and telekinesis. They had no need for sleep because their minds never got tired. They never aged, and they lived forever. They were innovators and masters of every art form. They were a peaceful race with a collective conscience that all were equal, with no need for government or monetary system. The positive energy that flowed from them was pure love.

The Alkayans were nomads created as intergalactic cartographers to map the heavens and galaxies as they spiraled outward and new stars were born. They traversed the universe in a glorious armada of vessels of their own design. Their purpose was to teach the lower races yet to come their vast knowledge and instill in them an unadulterated love for their creator. They were the wayshowers of the truth and the light.

Once their cartography was completed, they constructed their planet. They called their quintessential home Alkaya. They gathered every race and animal of the universe you could imagine to live in perfect harmony. The Alkayans were pleased with the perfect society they had created. It functioned effortlessly for many millennia.

One day, a transdimensional portal opened up, and a comet came through and struck the surface of Alkaya. The Alkayans named the star Lucifer, which means “light bearer,” but it was inaccurately named, for the only thing Lucifer brought was shadow and darkness. He brought a new element of shadow that the Alkayans had never seen before; it negated their light.

Lucifer decided to make his race of beings to disrupt the world that the Alkayans had assembled. He called them the “repticons.” They were the evil incarnation of pure jealousy and hatred that Lucifer had developed in his heart. Lucifer became the great dragon; his creation resembled his moniker. The repticons have big, round, serpentine eyes, jagged teeth, dark red scaly skin, and black claws. The negative energy that flowed from them was pure hate.

The repticons plagued the planet Alkaya with disorder and chaos. With weapons of mass destruction, they infiltrated and corrupted the Alkayan society. Being a peaceful and pacifist planet, the innocuous Alkayans did not know war or how to combat the threat of the repticons. They could only watch helplessly as all of Alkaya was quickly overthrown. No one could halt them in their evil conquest.

The last great city of Alkaya, the metropolis known as Pertopous, was under siege by the repticon forces. The city’s last defense was a massive force field that was slowly losing power as the repticons drained life from the planet. In this time of crisis, when certain death seemed inevitable, there was a glimmer of hope. Having no battle experience or weapons to arm themselves, a team of the most enlightened Alkayans began designing biomechanical armor to enhance their physical strength and capabilities. Harvesting the energy of the four elements, fire, water, air, and earth, they infused that power with impervious alloys. From the alloys, they fashioned four suits empowered by each corresponding element. They called these bioweapons “empyro.” The hosts are empowered by the fire inside their hearts.

The Alkayans selected four beings of sound body and mind to operate the empyros. It didn’t matter what size or shape you were because the armor formed a symbiotic relationship with the host, adjusting to conform to their body. The force of the empyros drove back the hordes of repticons and wiped them off the face of Alkaya. The empyros were unable to fully vanquish the great dragon, Lucifer, so they sealed him deep within a volcano below the crust of the planet. Some repticons, including the repticon assault leader named Harkane, evaded the empyros’ grasp, burrowing deep beneath the surface. The empyros tracked down the remaining renegade repticons and sealed them away in their secret underground layer. Harkaneswore vengeance on all of Alkaya and vowed he would return in full force to finish the holocaust he led.

With the threat of the repticons absolved, peace returned to Alkaya once again. The high elders hid away the empyros within elemental temples at the four corners of the world, in case their power was ever needed again. Because of the bloodshed, violence, and death, sin and immorality had entered the world. Their utopia became flawed. It was as if the repticons were still influencing the population somehow. Feeling they had failed their society, the original Alkayans departed the home they created and returned to the stars. They promised the citizens they would return when they found a cure for their planet. They left them a code to live by called the Vade Mecum and instructed them to have faith that they would return to cleanse Alkaya of the evil.

Thousands of years passed, and the people slowly forgot about the great war and the four bioweapons. The people slipped into depravity. The land was divided; races only stuck with each other and battled for dominance. They had corrupt governments, and wars broke out between tribes and nations fighting out of greed for territory. They trusted their judgment when they weren’t capable of directing themselves. This selfish, corrupt system went about their lives unaware of the sinister beings that lurked below. The seal had weakened. Harkane was coming!

CHAPTER I

Jaypar and Bantam

IT IS COMMON knowledge that there is more than one universe. A multiverse exists, where worlds live seamlessly side by side. One of these worlds we know of is called Alkaya. All of the mythical creatures of fairy tales, fantasies, and legends exist in the Alkayan universe. This is a world of technology and magic mixed. Since this is a parallel world of Earth, the geography and the names of places are the same. You have an alternate being in the world of Alkaya. When we dream, we can connect with our Alkayan selves and see the world through their eyes. That’s why we may have strange abilities in our dreams, like being able to fly or breathe underwater.

The main race of Alkaya is the elves. There are many sub-races of elves, including avariel or winged elves, lunar elves, wood elves, mountain elves, ice elves, aquatic elves, high elves, drow elves, and sun elves. The elves of Alkaya used to be immortal until the original Alkayans departed from the planet after the great war. The Alkayans took with them the technology that granted immortality to all humanoid beings. Elves still enjoy a long life span; some are capable of living almost a millennium. They reach physical maturity at about age twenty-five and emotional maturity around one hundred. Most elves are taller than normal humans with slender, fit physiques. They have no body hair or facial hair. Male elves prefer to keep their hair long; having long hair is a sign of wisdom and beauty. Only super masculine warrior elves have short hair.

The other main races of Alkaya are the dwarves, gnomes, fairies, goblins, trolls, ogres, mutants, androids, the greys, and manimals. Manimals are the largest population of Alkaya. Most of the animals evolved into humans, much like they say humans evolved from apes. Then there are the hybrids like mermaids, centaurs, satyrs, and hybrid animals like griffons and hippogryphs. There are also islands ruled by dinosaurs.

In present-day Alkaya, the world is in turmoil. The failing monetary system has caused an escalation of greed and scarcity. The corrupt governments do little to offer the people relief. The repticons have their hidden agents in all aspects of society. Politicians are puppets, and the repticons are the puppet masters. The people of Alkaya are clueless about the repticons’ evil agenda. They created currency to force the people into economic slavery. You have to be a wage slave to survive. The free enterprise system only creates useless competition. People end up chipping off each other to survive instead of uniting and working together.

There is a unified quantum field that connects all life forces. This field responds deeply to the power of emotions. Something within us has an effect on the world around us. People give it many different names, like God, the matrix, the source, the creator, and such. The majority of the population is unaware of its existence. We all have the inner desire for worship and to connect to our oneness. The repticons capitalize on this knowledge, concealing it from the public. Even though their numbers are relatively small, they use their collective conscience and influence all of Alkaya with their negative vibration of fear and hate. They are vampires that feed upon the population’s psychic energy. Their weapons they use to enslave the masses are the government, religion, the monetary system, natural disasters, segregation, the threat of terrorists, and war.

The legion of light and love is the true religion of Alkaya. The brothers and sisters of LOLAL follow the correct interpretation of the Vade Mecum, which is equivalent to the Earth’s Bible. There are many sects and false religions in Alkaya, just like we have on Earth. There has been much violence and bloodshed because of people forcing their beliefs on other beings. The repticons use religion as a device to brainwash people into subservience, with the promise of heaven being the reward for when you die and the agony of hell being the punishment when you refuse to obey the law and the government. They capitalize on the citizens’ desire to connect to the oneness and the intrinsic love they feel for each other. They teach that everyone is a separate entity, and you should look out for number one, creating a selfish me-first society.

Kinetica is the secret assassins’ guild that eradicates the repticon threat. Repticons are shape-shifting demons that have infiltrated every form of government and political influence in the Alkayan society. The original empyro hosts created Kinetica to silently clean up any repticons that surfaced after the empyros had been retired to their elemental temples. Kinetica has been battling the repticons for many millennia. It has been an invisible war. The public is unaware of the agency’s existence, just like they’re unaware of the repticons. Since the repticons have their claws in the government and the media, they cover up any assassinations by Kinetica. Repticons have a hive mind, so they know immediately when one of their kind has fallen.

Kinetica is devoted to the research and development of kinesis abilities. The main forms of kinesis are telekinesis (objects), geokinesis (earth), hydrokinesis (water), pyrokinesis (fire), aerokinesis (air), photokinesis(light), umbrakinesis (shadow), and astrakinesis (spiritual energy).

Bantam Bumaril was recruited by Kinetica because he was the best marksman with an array of ranged weapons in his whole region. He was also recruited because he was following in his father, Bosco’s, footsteps. Bosco trained Bantam to be a deadly shot. He is known as Bantam The Phantom because he can kill a mark from so far so fast, and his target is dead before they realize it. Bantam is half an avariel elf and half a wood elf. He was named Bantam, which means small fighter, because he is smaller than normal male elves at about 5′9" with a sinewy physique. He has long, dirty blond hair and blue eyes. Bantam is a beast master and one with nature and all of its creatures; he can speak multiple languages of different animals. It was an ability he was born with, and he used it wisely to further his advancement in Kinetica.

Bantam has a pet pander shifter named Behoba. Every good hunter has a good pet. Behoba can turn from a beast form to a water form to a flight form. They’re called panders because when properly trained, they can become any animal the master desires. The pander’s original shape is like a ferret crossed with a chameleon, with a long neck, longer legs, and ears. They have a prehensile tail and a long tongue. They’re so flexible that you can practically tie their body in a knot.

Jaypar Prakkari is Bantam’s elder half-brother. They share the same mother. He is half avariel elf and half lunar elf with dark hair and green eyes, light skin, and freckles. He’s an average male elf at 6′3" and weighs 170 pounds. He is also an agent of Kinetica and is Bantam’s partner. Jaypar was trained by Kinetica to shadow jump, which is a form of umbrakinesis. He can appear behind an enemy and jump out of their own shadow to deal a devastating ambush attack. He does burst damage, then slips away into the shadows. Jaypar is a master of stealth. He was gifted with a device of ancient Alkayan origin by Kinetica that can bend the light around himself to make him appear invisible. This ability is a form of photokinesis. Jaypar is deadly with a blade and hand-to-hand melee combat. He prefers to use daggers and short swords. He wears lightweight leather armor so he can deliver fast aerial attacks.

The soul birds are a division of Kinetica that are the eyes in the sky. They are responsible for surveillance, reconnaissance, and extraction. Jaypar and Bantam’s avariel elf mother, named Keva, was a part of the soul birds. They have an elder brother named Balahibo, who is a soul bird as well. Unlike Jaypar and Bantam, Balahibo was born with wings. Balahibo tormented Jaypar and Bantam for being wingless ones as they were growing up.

Jaypar’s father, Jayden Prakkari, the lunar elf, was in Kinetica as a rogue assassin and helped train Jaypar as a boy. Bantam’s father, Bosco, the wood elf, was a sniper and a hunter; he trained Bantam as well. Jayden and Bosco were partners and Kinetica’s top rogue and hunter team. Bosco and Keva were married and very much in love. Jayden was always a loyal friend. Boscotold Keva that if anything were to ever happen to him, he wanted Jayden to take his place. When Balahibo was very young, his father, Bosco, was captured by repticons and presumed to be dead. Jayden and Keva, after they got over their grief of Bosco’s death, finally got together and had Jaypar.

Not long after Jaypar’s birth, intelligence was received that Bosco was still alive and was being held deep within a repticon base beneath Mt. Shasta. Going against direct orders from Kinetica, Jayden went on a suicide mission to rescue Bosco. Jayden was overwhelmed with guilt and felt responsible for Bosco’s capture. Jayden used his superior stealth abilities and was able to rescue Bosco. They barely escaped with their lives. Their relationship was slightly flawed after that because Keva had to make a tough decision between the two of them. Jayden was an elf of honor, and he stepped down and let Bosco reunite with Keva. About three years after Bosco was rescued, Keva gave birth to Bantam.

Jaypar and Bantam were trained by Kinetica from birth and quickly became the best rogue and hunter team the agency had ever seen. They surpassed their fathers’ skill. Their mother, Keva, as an avariel elf, has hollow bones for flight. Being born half avariel without wings, Jaypar and Bantam’s bones are semihollow, granting them the extra agility to be faster and jump higher. Their mother was always looked down upon by her people for mating with a wingless one. Jaypar and Bantam never fit in with any elf tribe for being half breeds. The only place they were truly accepted was Kinetica. That was their home.

When Jaypar was only eleven, his father was captured by repticons. It was supposed to be a routine mission, an easy assassination of a political figure, but something went horribly wrong. There was a mole in Kinetica. Kinetica agents all have special eye surgery that lets them see past the illusion of the repticons, so they always see their true form. The repticons devised a new form of toxic venom in their bite that would turn the victim into a brainwashed slave of the dark alliance. They were virtually undetectable by normal means. The only difference was that they gave off a dark red, sometimes black aura, and a few people were gifted with the ability to see auras. Kinetica discovered this after it was too late. Jayden was ambushed, and Bosco could do nothing to stop it. The repticons took him away, and Kinetica has no knowledge of his whereabouts. They believe Jayden was probably turned and interrogated for information. Bosco was able to recover Jayden’s swords and gave them to Jaypar, and told him that one day he would use the blades to avenge his father’s death.

As Jaypar grew older and wiser, he began to resent his stepfather, Bosco. Jaypar felt like Bosco played favorites and gave Balahibo and Bantam all the attention and affection because they were his own flesh and blood. Jaypar believed that Bosco was jealous of Jayden and Keva’s love, so he purposefully let his father get captured by the repticons. Jaypar also believed that his father was still alive, and the repticons were holding him prisoner. Bosco tried to assure Jaypar that his father was most likely dead because Jayden was a good agent. He would never reveal Kinetica’s secrets to the repticons, so he must have definitely taken his own life with a cyanide capsule. Jaypar didn’t believe him and kept the faith that his father was alive. His ultimate mission one day was to stealth into the repticon dungeon and rescue his father. Kinetica would never approve this mission because they knew it was suicide, and they ruled Jayden dead a long time ago. Jaypar was angry with Bosco because his father had risked his life to save Bosco’s before, and Bosco didn’t return the favor.

Kinetica conceived of this project called Virelay in order for Jaypar and Bantam to gain access to every A-lister event. They made them electro pop stars. They paired them up with an international superstar named Dazzle, who is a high elf keyboardist. She plays keytar, Jaypar plays drums, and Bantam plays guitar. Virelay became an overnight sensation and rocketed Jaypar and Bantam into superstardom. This made them virtually untouchable by the repticons because if they killed them, there would be a public outcry and an investigation into their murders by the real government. If they lived in anonymity, no one would know if they died, and no one would miss them. They were able to travel the world and thin out the ranks of repticons wherever they went. Their music delivered a positive message to all the people, young and old, of Alkaya and uplifted their spirits and made them dance. Dancing is good for the soul and has healing properties.