Prologue
1000 Years Ago
A full moon graced the starless sky. The night breeze was unusually chilly for a summer night. The echoes of a nearby waterfall alternated with the heavy breathing of the Kinderich king who had been kneeling in front of the Dragon God statue for the last three days.
Following the great war between angels and demons only a few years earlier, the humans thought that aiding other mystical creatures would earn them peace for at least the next few centuries. However, those same mystical creatures started to see themselves above humans.
It hadn’t even been five years since the war ended when a report of the most urgent nature reached the human king: The Kraken King proclaimed that humans had no right to rule land. That it was beyond any reason that such a weak race be granted the right to rule the lands.
The Kinderich king had long known that no matter how many armies he gathered, it would be futile. If the mystical people really tried to oppress humans, there would be nothing to do, but he wanted to give it a last try. He owed his people that.
He tried to contact the Holy Land, but after the huge losses they sustained in the war, they couldn’t offer help. The Holy land could only pray for humans to make it through these difficult times.
The king couldn’t even smash the missive when it came. He himself knew how bad the situation was.
He had spent the last few days racking his brain for any plan, anything that might save his people. Then he remembered something. An audacious thought, but he had nothing to lose.
During wartime, he met his comrade and best friend, a descended angel. However, he met his end during one of the battles. While dying in Kinderich’s hands, he gave him a treasure: the angel’s fused demonic core.
He whispered that the Dragon God’s wife was having a hard birth. He planned to use this core later to ask the Dragon God for a favor. But now he left it to the human king as a parting gift.
That was how the Kinderich king ended up kneeling in front of the Dragon God statue for the last three days.
He finally gathered his courage at the end of the third night. A pigeon reached him with a message that the kraken king was marching towards the human territory.
He looked up at the statue.
“Dragon Lord, I have a treasure that might be of importance to you.”
Silence.
“I want to do a trade.”
Silence.
“It will benefit both sides.”
Silence.
“I have the angel demonic core. The core that can heal a mortally wounded body, even that of deities and gods.”
Silence again.
For a moment he thought that it was not as important as his friend claimed.
Then the night started to change. The calm white moon turned yellow, and a slit crack appeared in its middle. It looked like a dragon eye. Then a voice echoed from beyond the heavens.
“Brave, courageous yet stupid.”
The king started trembling. He thought that at least he tried for his people.
“What do you want in return?”
The king was shocked; he wasn’t being rejected.
“The protection of my people, humans from other mystical creatures.”
“Fine. Two of my sons will descend from heaven to protect your kingdom.”
*********************************
1000 years later.
The Dragon God stood on a moon in the heavenly realm play court. He held a ball, an infusion of light and dark essences. His other hand held a heavenly paddle. The power of lightning infused into it. Electric waves chimed around it. He then threw the ball upward and hit it with the heavenly paddle. It traveled to the other side of the play court.
The War god, standing on another moon opposite the Dragon God, held his paddle, waiting to hit back.
The game went on for an hour, with lightning punctuating each goal as the gods played.
They finished playing, then sat on two high chairs to rest.
“So this is the angel-fused demon core you traded your sons for a thousand years ago.” The War god inspected the ball they had been playing with just moments before.
“It is. My wife is now fully healthy; she no longer needs it.”
They laughed.
Then the War god playfully threw the ball into the abyss and waited for it to return, but he had used too much power, and before it bounced back, a veil between two worlds tore for a few seconds. The veil sealed itself once more.
The War and Dragon gods looked at each other. They heard the tear of the veil alright. They flew to where it happened, hoping nothing serious had happened.
It was too late, though. A human woman from another realm was falling from the sky in the Kinderich kingdom.
“I think we have caused trouble,” the War god grimaced.
“What? You were the one who threw it into the abyss?”
“It is your ball, though.”
“…”
The Dragon God flicked his hands so the woman fell slowly. There was no need to add injuries to the accident report.
They looked at each other, knowing that they would have a lot of paperwork to do for the next few days.
