Chapter 1
The sun peaked through all the arches that held this place up and gave it an edge. Heat pricked at my skin and seeped through its barrier, warming my blood almost to the core. I wanted to regulate my temperature—feel the coldness spread like rapid-fire through my body, but my mind was focused on something else. I gripped the quarterstaff tightly in my hand. I paced him in equal strides, going around in an imaginary circle. I watched his body language. His stance was perfect. Muscles ripped, ripened, and ready; grip strong and steady, but as I roamed up to see his black orbs, they didn’t meet mine. Instead, they watched my legs. From where I stood, I peered behind those doors to his mind. He was my blood. If anything, I was certain I could read his mind.
A smirk rose to my lips as I knew exactly what to do. I began spinning my quarterstaff between my fingers, picking up the pace until I could hear the air being whipped senseless. I watched as his eyes traveled from my shin to the whopping staff shifting rapidly between my fingers and beating the air.
As soon as I saw him set foot forward, I followed suit. My heel stepped heavily into the mats that covered the wide floor space. Once he reached to swipe at my legs, I shifted, avoiding the would-be sudden blow. I brought my hand back and swung it forward; it cut through the air and whipped him in his back. In haste, he fell straight onto the mat to his knees.
“You should’ve seen that coming, Dikeledi,” Malachi said. I looked up to see his head facing down into the book that lay open in his hands. Not even his eyes glanced up once to see our brother on his knees on the floor in defeat.
“Yeah, yeah.” Dikeledi rose to his feet. The golden sun cast a golden sheen on his espresso skin, slightly catching his hair, but his hair remained its dark shade of brown, appearing almost black. Malachi’s hair, on the other hand, blended somewhat with the sun. His otherwise dark hair took on a brighter brown hue beneath the sun’s gaze, and his skin reflected that of caramel. My skin, on the other hand, changed almost not underneath the sun’s glorious beam. I almost blended in with it, having light coffee-toned skin.
“Good fight.” Dikeledi reached his palm out. I joined mine with his, and we shook hands.
“Kesi.” A deeper voice took control in the room. We all turned to see Kuforo standing underneath one of the many arches. He stood excessively tall, slightly taller than Dikeledi. His jet-black hair reached past his shoulders; his muscles stood out, ripped and strong; he stood with certainty, but his brows were flat, as always—slightly piercing into his eye, even.
“Yes, Kuforo?” I looked back at him, feeling every ounce of adrenaline that had been pumping through my body now seeping out against my will.
“Our parents wish to speak with us. Join me. Now.”
“Speak to us about what?” I already knew the answer to that question, but the reluctance that roamed free inside me begged me to ask.
“Our due marriage.”
A short silence followed as I fought every irritated nerve inside me.
“Let’s go.” His voice was slightly demanding. I paid no attention to it and dropped my quarterstaff, then moved my feet of my own accord.
As we walked along all the wide corridors, I simply followed him, not knowing where this meeting would take place. All I knew was that I hoped it would be short. It has been years, and still, the very thought of marrying Kuforo picked at me from the inside out. The thought of marriage at all irritated all the reluctance that I still had left inside me—watering its seeds. I always felt when it finally sprung up in growth and burned my insides as if a fire had been lit inside me.
Kuforo, especially, was one God I wished not to marry. All the time I’ve been around him, he always carried the same air of boredom. It always seemed he knew not how to enjoy even the littlest of things in Cielis. The only thing he ever seemed to care about was his duty as the God of Death. I understood that, but it was the only—and I mean the only—thing he seemed to care about. I wasn’t even sure if he had any friends, and that was his fault. We didn’t mix. We could not mix.
We arrived at the Councillor’s Hall. However, only two councillors stood by our parents.
“I already said I do not wish to marry,” I spoke up first. I wasn’t in for beating around the bush.
“Kesi,” my mother said softly as if she was begging me to be gentle and kind. I knew she knew me better than to do that, though, so I paid her no mind.
“We have delayed this marriage long enough, Kesi,” his father said.
“How about we delay it forever?” I watched as his brows sank to meet his eyes. I felt a small doom beat in my heart, but I ignored it to the best of my ability.
“You will not join our family with such insolence!”
His wife placed her delicate hands around his withering muscles, whispering gentle words of calm to him I cared not to decipher.
“Perhaps…” His wife heightened her voice. “Perhaps we should continue to delay the marriage until everyone is comfortable, right?”
“Kesi–”
“Daddy,” I whined in the same voice he tried to coo me with.
A defeated sigh left his lips as he turned to face Kuforo.
“I apologize, Kuforo. Do you mind if the marriage is delayed once more? I will make sure my daughter comes to her senses.”
I cocked my eyebrow, wanting to open my lips and speak my senses, but I remained silent for my husband-to-be to answer.
“Fine, my God.” He sounded, indeed, fine with it. However, I heard the slight difference in his voice that indicated to me otherwise. While I knew he did not wish to marry me either, I also knew just how seriously he took his duties. If I got in the way of that forever, I’m not sure how he would finally react. But I wasn’t a big hindrance. Marriage wasn’t a duty to me, but clearly so to him.
“Thank you, Kuforo. You two are free to go now while we discuss some things.”
We both bowed our heads before taking our leave.
I quickened my pace and strode along the corridors with my shoulders square and my stance sure.
“I do not care why you wish not to marry me, but I want to know why you keep delaying it.” His voice appeared behind me, then his figure slipped right beside me.
“You said it yourself. I do not want to marry you.”
“You are doing neither of us a favor delaying this.”
“I know. But I will stand by it.” I could sense him shaking his head.
“You have many other women pining for you. There are many more who are even more suited for you. There is Ayira, the Goddess of the Underworld. Does she not go hand-in-hand with your duties?”
“Our parents paired us together. The council paired us together. I am not arguing with you. I am giving you five more years. Correct yourself by then.” He walked ahead of me, his pace faster than mine.
“Five more mortal years?!” I shouted after him. I didn’t expect an answer, but one would still be nice.
“Or five more Cielis years?!”
He did not answer. I sighed to myself and found myself back in the very room I’d been in with my brothers. Malachi still sat with his face deep in his book, legs crossed and everything. Dikeledi lay still in the hammock; his eyes closed and an arm laid behind his head perched on it.
“So? How did it go?” Malachi asked without looking up.
“Can you look into the future?” I slid on my knees and landed before him; my hands laid on his knees as I looked up at him, though the book obscured his face. I could only see his light brown hair still mixing with the sunlight peeking over the book’s edges.
“Why would I do that?”
“I need to know: do I get married to Kuforo or not?” Silence followed.
“Please tell me not.”
“I did not look into the future for you.” He flipped a page.
“Please?” I whined. I could feel the desperation burning like a fire gone wild in me. “You’re my brother. And you’re the God of Destiny and Fate! I need to know, Malachi!”
“I decide and know the destiny and fate of mortals, Kesi. You should know that.” His eyes continued to shift from my right to left as he read the words before him that I could not see.
“If Ife, the Goddess of Love, can oversee the bondings of Gods and Goddesses, why can’t you decide and see our future?”
“Because only the Novaneia has such power, Kesi,” Dikeledi stepped in.
“Actually, not even the Novaneia can decide the future. They can certainly see only some of it. But they are simply the four epitomes and orders of all the universes: chaos, order, creation, and destruction.”
Dikeledi huffed. “Didn’t know that part.”
I groaned and grumbled, sliding back down until my heels pressed into my ass; I leaned my head against my brother’s legs.
“Marriage isn’t such a bad thing, Kesi.”
“Say that for yourself, Diki. Both of you fell in love before you got married.”
“Says who?” I looked up to see Malachi’s bright brown eyes now connected with mine. He’d finally shifted his book to the side.
“Malachi, you had a crush on Ife before you two got married,” I said, matter-of-factly.
“Doesn’t mean she liked me.” He put the book back as the barrier between him and me.
“Eh,” I shrugged my head for a second. “But you two still fell in love, though.”
“You know what?” Dikeledi spoke.
“What?” Malachi inquired.
“I never really approved of Kuforo marrying my sister.”
“Aw, thank you, but unfortunately, I don’t think your opinion matters.”
“Why not?” Malachi, somewhat, interrupted me, ignoring the words I’d just spoken, and directed his question toward Dikeledi.
“He’s just too…serious for my sister. Too…I don’t know. I feel like there’s better out there for her,” he spoke as if I wasn’t in the room. I appreciated his sincerity—the softness in his voice that emphasized care. It warmed my heart. It had me sincerely hoping that he was right.
“Perhaps you are right,” Malachi agreed, flipping another page.
I whined, resting my head back on Malachi’s legs. I buried myself in the colorful imagination of a future with a husband who matched my energy, even if it was in the least. We’d cuddle together; eat together; have great, pleasure-filled nights together; it’d be the best romance story to ever blossom. But that image quickly soured. Its vibrancy dulled into vintage territory until it slipped right out of my consciousness. I wished it could slip right out of the confines of my mind and meet reality instead. But that would remain a dream too, it seemed. I just couldn’t even make up an image in my mind of Kuforo and I doing the things I’d imagined loving couples to do. None of those things, even remotely, seemed to be in his own knowledge of life and living.
I pouted. I stopped thinking about it. I let my mind wander without bothering to figure out what it rattled on about.
Suddenly, my head tightened and my brain throbbed. It felt as if the world around me was moving.
“Aggh…” I whined. I heard groans growling low from around me. Once it felt like my mind itself had turned to liquid and flowed free in my skull, I knew exactly what was happening.
“The Council of Advisors wishes to speak with us. Report to the Councilors’ Hall immediately,” a female voice rang in my head. As soon as her voice disappeared, everything stopped swimming as if nothing had ever happened in the first place. It barely left an after-effect.
“Did you guys get the same message?” I looked around to see Malachi and Dikeledi slightly dazed.
“Go to the Councilors’ Hall? Yup.” Malachi held onto his head and rolled his eyes as if that would help him gain back his composure.
Dikeledi sighed heavily. “Let’s go.”
Malachi and I stood up, following Dikeledi out. I couldn’t help but wonder what this meeting could possibly be about. It wasn’t every day we got called collectively so. I searched every nook and cranny of my mind, but not one bulb screwed inside was lit. As we continued to walk down the long corridors, I couldn’t help the slight feeling of impending doom burrowing itself within me. I cocked my head, trying to figure out if I was just being paranoid—something I’d never been before—or if, perhaps, something was wrong, and I was right.
“What do you guys think they called us for?” I voiced the impending question aloud.
“I don’t know, but we’re about to find out,” said Dikeledi.
In a few more strides, we now stepped up into the Councillor’s Hall. The councillors were already settled in their respective positions, while only a few other Gods and Goddesses entered the Hall. Seeing all the councilors turn up, my mind spun a web of wonder. What could be so serious? I peered around the room to see only Kuforo and Ayira enter solo. So far, it was only me, Malachi, Dikeledi, Kuforo, and Ayira that now stood in the Hall. Their brows pressed into their vision as much as mine did, though not as much facial expression wrinkled Kuforo’s face.
I kept my eyes on the magnificent archway that nearly touched the Orders, waiting and watching to see if any other God or Goddess would show up. Only a few seconds into my stakeout, Asha arrived; her white hair a stark contrast to the dullness of this brown-themed room. The room expanded wide, and its ceiling reached for as far as the sky would let it. Through the glass that filled the gaps left by the spread far and wide beams that arched over the open ceiling, white, shredded clouds looked. Asha’s hair, her almond-colored skin, and the light freckles that dotted her face matched perfectly with them—with the life that was sprinkled in them. How fitting for the Goddess of Life.
She took her stance next to Ayira, whose bronze skin altered widely differently from Asha’s. Raven hair that flowed like silk cascaded in waves down her back, building a waterfall around her waist, and touching her hips just slightly. Her plump lips shone beneath the bright light above. With full eyes to compliment them, it was no wonder why so many Gods and Guardians alike had their chests rapping for her. I felt my brows furrow even more as that thought hit me. So many men, whether they admitted or not, admired her beauty. What was there about her that Kuforo didn’t like? Or perhaps he only follows along with what his parents tell him to do with his life. If so, I desperately hoped they could change their kaleidoscope into the more fitting Ayira.
I turned my head back to see Ayana enter next. Her syrup skin fit with the mellow feeling that this place evoked in anyone. Tight, nearly nappy, curls sat in a bun on the top of her head; a few strands and curls let loose. Her belly poked out like a sore thumb as if she’d been carrying a large watermelon inside it.
“Honey.” I heard Dikeledi’s voice grow soft beside me. The words dripped just like honey from his mouth as his eyes laid upon the woman he’d been more than happy to marry. Slight concern littered in his voice, however. I knew he didn’t like seeing his pregnant wife having to walk long distances.
Ayana smiled and came over in our direction. She held both her hands out, and as she joined them with Dikeledi’s, her head turned to Malachi.
“Malachi.” She smiled and slightly nodded her head—her symbol of respect.
“Kesi.” She turned to me. I couldn’t help the way my lips instantly spread wide like the river Castanxia.
“I haven’t seen you in three Cielis days, Ayana.”
She smiled slightly wider.
“It’s good to see you, too.”
Dikeledi wrapped his hand around his wife’s waist, spinning her slightly and pulling her back until her back collided softly with his chest.
I sensed another presence.
I turned to see a beautiful woman with cocoa skin and dark, yet apparent freckles dotting her face enter the Hall. Thick and coarse hair pooled out into an afro that framed her face fittingly. Her elbows hung in the air as her hands were clasped before her; she carried herself with grace. Before I would hear a peep out of my brother, Ife immediately found him in an instant. She kept up the soft smile on her face as she walked over to Malachi and joined his side—not before giving me a soft pat on the side of my shoulder, and a bow of her head to Dikeledi and Ayana.
“Now that all of you are here!” A voice echoed more than clearly in the large, spacious hall.
My confusion surfaced back. I knew I was not the only one, as every other God and Goddess around me wrinkled their face in confusion. Even Kuforo broke out of his ever-stoic expression; the skin between his brows crumpled like a towel.
All of us? This was most definitely not all of us.
I tried to fight through the confusion, although I still couldn’t figure out why only this many of us were called. I turned and roasted my mind trying to find reasons; they never came.
“It has recently come to our attention that the Genesis Wraiths have broken free.”
My eyes widened.
Had I heard right?
Looking around at the other Gods, I quickly found that maybe I’d not.
“What do you mean ’broken free’?” Kuforo asked the question we all begged the answer for.
“I mean exactly what I said. Even worse…”
I felt my brows involuntarily raise. Even worse?
“They’d somehow managed to possess the dormant bodies of the Great Hallows.”
What?!
I looked up at the Advisor speaking. I didn’t want to believe his words. I couldn’t imagine how our world would change if this were to be true. I continued to watch the man standing above us all on those High steps; pleas pulled on my heart that he was pulling the first and worst prank by a Councilor in the millennia of years Cielis has come into existence. But he would be torn limb from limb if he ever tried that.
“Please tell me this is some kind of sick joke!” Kuforo’s voice echoed loudly in the vast hall.
I looked over at him, surprised of his sudden outburst. I didn’t know he had it within him to let anger rule.
“It is not, my God.”
Before another word could be spoken or even breath taken, a sudden light suffused the entire hall. I looked back up front to see a large rip tearing through the space that sat a few feet behind the Advisor on the High Steps. As the rip opened wider, all I could see was a mix of pink, white, yellow, and light blue; they swished around together. Suddenly, a translucent form stepped through the rip. Its body looked to be that of a woman’s. Only her outline stood out, her breasts small, round, and perked; and her buttocks soft and somewhat thick. Yet, as her body turned, it appeared to be the silhouette figure of a quite muscular and lean man. All the colors that their silhouette was was the same mix of colors of bright that shone through the ripped void.
Behind them, the tear sealed.
“We are sending you Gods to the mortal world; to Cruera,” the Novaneia spoke. Its voice was convoluted with more than one female and male mixed into one, screwed voice.
“The Genesis Wraiths have bypassed our estimations of their abilities. Now they threaten to use our very own—the Great Hallows—against us. We cannot and will not have that.” They did not falter nor stumble in their words; they sounded so sure.
“Only you select few were called upon because you are considered the most powerful of Gods. We need not explain ourselves.”
“Your mission is to go to Cruera and find the Genesis Wraiths. Figure out a way to dispel them from the bodies of the Great Hallows. Get rid of them, if you can. Do not get distracted. If you are unable to get rid of them, leave them in the mortal world.” The high beings turned to leave, each and every angle they turned at making their appearance seem to shift between woman and man, but were stopped by an outcry.
“But we can’t leave the Wraiths in the mortal world!” Ife cried out her concerns, stepping forward just a little.
The Novaneia turned back to meet her gaze.
“Thank you for stopping us, Ife.” They turned to face all of us, addressing everybody. “We almost forgot to mention: there is a mortal. There is an energy radiating from him that shouldn’t be. Do whatever you must to get rid of it; even if you must kill him.”
A mortal? Radiating energy? I thought such things were myths our ancestors spread to make us treat mortals with indifference. I thought they only spread such tales so we could correct mortals whenever they threatened our power.
“Kesi.”
I raised my eyes to meet the colorfully bright void that was the Novaneia. I had to stop myself from squinting. I never thought I’d be individually called upon by them. I clasped my hands before me and looked up at them with what I hoped was a subservient face and ignored all the other eyes that came my way.
“Seeing as you are the Goddess of Hunting, you are the primary hunter for this mysterious mortal.”
“Hunt? Why must we hunt this mortal? You are so powerful, can you not see exactly who and where this mortal is?” Dikeledi spoke up.
I placed a hand on the side of his shoulder, hoping he understood to keep his cool. But it appeared my efforts did not work.
“And my wife is heavily pregnant. Why is she a part of this?”
I looked to see his brows pressed into his eyes as he stared on at the Novaneia. Only seeing such from the side, I couldn’t imagine the sheer anger that must’ve crumpled his face.
“You will watch your tone speaking to the Novaneia like that, Dikeledi,” the Advisor spoke while the Novaneia simply stared on at my brother; as if they couldn’t speak for themselves.
I understood his anger. If it were up to any of us, we would let Ayana rest, but the Novaneia has never been known for reason.
“Your wife is a Goddess. Her strength is of the concern—not her pregnancy.”
Dikeledi’s muscles tensed and flexed beneath my touch. I squeezed him, hoping he could calm down, even just a little bit. I felt his biceps ease just a tad bit, but nothing more in the slightest.
Suddenly, I felt his muscles almost completely relaxed. I looked down to see Ayana’s hand brushing his lower abdomen in secrecy, while her back still faced him and she looked forward at the Novaneia.
“Of this mysterious man, all we know is that he is male. Every other bit of information is obscure for a reason we know not of, nor can we figure it out.”
“And Goddess Ife,” they turned to meet Ife’s gaze once again.
“The mortals are the least of our concern.”
With that, the Novaneia turned around; in a split second, a large void tore through the air once more, and through it, they stepped.
A stark silence ensued in their disappearance as we all tried to grasp within the confines of our minds what had just happened. I tried to wrap my mind around it, but my mind couldn’t even shiver.
The silence did not last for long.
“You all will depart by Cielis nightfall. Do what you need to before then,” an Advisor said. No more words were spoken before the mass of them turned and began leaving the hall.
The final person went through, leaving only us, Gods, in the hall.
“Sons of b–”
“Honey.” Ayana switched around to Dikeledi in an instant and placed a hand on his chest, cutting off his words in the midst. I watched as angry eyes lowered until they met with his wife’s. In almost no time, they softened as he wrapped his arms around her thin waist that was highly deceptive from behind. Her big bump pressed into his belly.
I took my focus off them and tried to, once more, grasp the responsibility put especially on me. I breathed in. The grasp of all of this finally seemed to be closing in on me.
I sat on my bed. The gears of my mind still turned as I couldn’t get the sudden mission off my head. I’d tried, but I couldn’t understand how the Genesis Wraiths could have escaped. I thought they were confined to the Void forever; you know, the dark place specially made to trap them?
More questions fought to enter my mind, but I forced them back and threw myself back; my head connected with the soft cocoon of a pillow that lay behind me.
Cielis night would not fall for another while. Still, I struggled to think of what I would bring. I’ve never been to the mortal world before. The mere thought of it had electricity buzzing through my veins, but it also felt like spiders climbed to build their webs in me at the same time. I’d heard many things about the mortal world before. I should’ve been familiar with it, considering I was the Goddess of many things in their world, as are many other gods, but my job required no observations of their world—no observations of them specifically, anyway—unless they interrupted my woodlands.
All I could do was sit here and wonder about it. But no matter how much and hard I tried, I couldn’t figure out any right response to any of my questions. All I could do for now was face unknown waters until I would have to tread in them.
