The Land of Onner - Book 1 - Genesis

The City of Spirit sparkled and painted the night sky with it’s beauty. The City was littered with dazzling colors as the night torches were made of different color glasses. Each one a unique shade of red, yellow, or blues. The City sat inside of large concrete walls, built ages ago, to keep those unworthy out of the City. On the outskirts of the wall stood many shanty towns or refugee camps that housed the common folk. Legend says that one day the City just appeared out of thin air, almost as though it rose upon a man's whim. When it was done the ruler of the time boasted long and loud of “his” accomplishments. The City of Spirit had two brothers with the City of Hope that sat at the bottom of the mountains, and had no rulers. And then there was the City of Virtue that sat on the Western most part of the land. Virtue did not have a “ruler” per say, but instead had an Armada watching over it. Four of the biggest boats you had ever seen flew above the skies over Virtue, keeping watching for any unruly or troublesome folk. In the middle of the City of Spirit stood a castle, as high as the tallest mountain in the land. The castle was built by the family that had always ruled it. The newest rulers were three brothers, smarter and more cunning than the last. They were each a year apart from each other in age, but ruled as one judge, jury, and executioner. Romas the Ruthless, the eldest, was tall and strong, able to best almost any man in any form of combat. Sethos the Architect, the middle brother, was smart and noble as the day was long. And Deanum the Lunatic, the youngest, wistfully brash and full of energy and hate.
Tonight was different for the three Kings, as they were outside the castle. Instead of ruling on high, they were among the common people, hunting. A “spy” had been reported within the City earlier that day. The Three Kings had dealt with this particular “spy” before, but always outside the City or within one of the other 2 major Cities. This was different tonight, he was within their own walls, and as long as they ruled the land, this type of treason would not stand.
The Three Kings hopped roof to roof, like a pack of hungry wolves. The trio finally landed upon a shop roof that overlooked an open bazaar. They canvassed the area quickly, looking for any late shoppers that looked out of place.
“There,” Deanum called, pointing out a tall figure wrapped in a black cloak. The brothers mobilized, all in different directions to cover the area.
The “spy” counted the few items he had gathered while in the City. They were necessities for those he was caring for, plus the item he was risking it all to secure tonight. He surveyed the area before sliding down a back alley, knowing he had limited time within the City's walls. He scanned the very large crowd, but did not see anything menacing until a blur caught his hawk-like eyes. The blur was hopping from roof to roof on his left side. The figure searched his right and saw a similar blur doing the same. Before he could turn, he glanced once more at the crowd, which was parting for some unseen reason. Taking his cue, the figure burst down the alleyway.
The Three Brothers, now disguised, not to gain the ire of the townsfolk, or have them reveal their presence in the town square, reconvened at the alley entrance. They smiled at one another knowing that their prey was heading towards a certain doomed fate.
The figure soon discovered what the Kings had already known, that this alley led straight to the wall but as a dead-end. The “spy” turned slowly towards the Kings standing in his way now. Deanum cackled with laughter, knowing the figure was ripe for the picking. Romas shushed him and addressed the “spy”.
“Some nerve you must have to step foot within our walls, let alone keep breathing the air you don’t deserve.” Romas spat at the figure.
“What’s the matter Lance? Can’t feed the rest of your worthless tribe?” Sethos berated. The figure named Lance, smirked at their attempts to belittle him. While they chattered, he started to scan his surroundings, trying to find a way out of this. He could try to distract them, but he knew that more of their men must be on the way soon. He could try to power through them but knew Romas alone could spear him through the entire wall if he wanted to. Deanum was too much of a lunatic to truly strategize against, and Sethos could match him intellectually. They had gone through this little game many times before, with Lance always getting away, mostly unscathed.
“Why are you really here?” Romas questioned, knowing full well that the intruder would be extremely brave, stupid, or desperate to try risking his life to enter the City, let alone.
“If you must really know Dim, Dull, and Dumb-founded,” insulting the three Kings, “I was just browsing about the shops. Couldn't find much to my liking so I must be off.”
“Oh he found something alright,” Deanum hissed, eyeing a bit of parchment hanging out of Lance's cloak pocket. Lance placed his hand within the pocket.
“That old thing? Just my shopping list really. Just a few more things, then I will be able to free these people from your tyranny.” Lance boasted.
“Tyranny?” Sethos said, disgusted at the word. “These people would all be in shambles, ruled by Dilihoffs or even worse Price and his Armada, if it wasn't for us.”
“Shut it.” Romas demanded. “Hand it over Olot. And if you play nice we may let you see the light again.” Lance wincing at the mention of his race.
“Don’t go thinking I don’t know your horrible plan to let the Demon rise again.” The brothers stood a little stiffer but said nothing. “I won’t let that happen, The Demon Slayer will return before you have a chance to bring that vile creature back from the depths.” Romas sneered at the intruder. His anger boiled over and he rushed towards Lance, with Deanum and Sethos following. Lance pulled his hand out of the pocket, with a ball of light, not the parchment of paper. He quickly threw down the ball and it burst with light blinding the three brothers. When they regained their vision, Lance was gone. Deanum put his fist into the wall out of frustration. Romas, now composed, looked around for the now missing intruder. He shared a look with Sethos, and they smirked at one another, knowing the plan they had been meticulously piecing together had begun.



1 - The Forest outside the City was very dark at night. The heavy brush and leaves did not let a drip of light through to the forest floor. Reports of a bright light and a spy within the City walls had the King's guard on high alert. Two guards were sent to sweep the edge of the Forest of Illusion. Heim and Krall were lucky to be chosen to search for anything weird. Neither of the men were quite too keen on entering any part of the Forest, as it was notorious for getting people lost. Krall glanced over at Heim and noticed his horn looked particularly sharp tonight. The horn rose from his green head, above his one large unnerving eye. Heim was the taller of the two by a good foot and a half, but most of that was his legs which accounted for two thirds of his stature. Krall ran his three fingers through his dense bright white beard, which connected to his fluorescent red-skinned face. Krall sniffled and wiped his two noses as they continued the scan through the forest. They patrolled for almost an hour when they decided to call it quits and make their way back to the castle. As they finally figured which way was the one back they noticed a dazzling blue light off in an open meadow they had not noticed before. They sprinted quickly to the meadow to find the light gone but instead, lying on the ground was a man, a human man. The man didn’t seem to have anything unique about him, which caused the guards some concern. In the Land of Onner, every family blood line had something very unique about their bodies, and with every new generation a new unique trait showed itself. However, this stranger that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, looked like a typical non-unique human. He was writhing on the ground unresponsive, but mumbling. The two guards weren't sure what to do with this man, so they decided to drag him back to the City, just in case this was the spy the King’s were looking for.
After a few lost routes in the forest, the two guards and the mumbling man emerged at the City walls. They dragged him up to their Commander, an older gentleman with purple skin that wrinkled in the neck, and long brown hair that came to the back of his knees. His name was simply Chambers, but all of the patrol knew he was to be addressed as Commander Chambers. Chambers was given this title by the Three Kings as they believed him to be the best man to keep the patrols in order and disciplined. However, Chambers knew he was really only second in command, as the man named Graves held the greatest ramk of duty under the Kings' rule. Graves was the head ambassador, and right hand man to the Royal family, dating back to the rule of King Apollo, the father of the brothers who sat as Kings now. Heim and Krall took the bumbling and mumbling man to Chambers and explained the strange blue light, and the strange meadow they just so happened upon when they found the man. Chambers ordered them to bring the man up to the special cells, on the third floor of the castle instead of the dungeon below, which shocked the two guards. Instead of arguing or asking why, the guards took their orders and dragged the man into the castle and up to the third floor.
They arrived at the special cells that held only a few prisoners. Most of them were there so the common folk who were thrown into the dungeon did not see them. When Heim and Krall entered the cells, they were met by the cell keeper, Mandrat, a bird-like fellow with glasses that were in front of glasses, that helped the old bird see between seeing. Some of the prisoners in these cells were also very allusive and good at escaping the cells one way or another. One such trick used many times, was shifting into other beings or patrol guards themselves, feigning that they had been put in a cell mistakenly somehow. The bird's extra glasses let him see the true nature of the being it was looking at. Mandrat looked over the man and only saw the human flesh that he was. The bird scratched it’s jaw with human-like hands that were covered in feathers, and wondered aloud which cell would be suited for this typical ordinary man. Heim and Krall explained to the old bird that they were just instructed to bring him up here instead of the dungeon. Shrugging his shoulders, he led the two guards down the row of nearly empty cells until they came to the end where one large cell sat, with custom items and furniture. Heim and Krall looked at one another and to the cell once more. Mandrat explained that it was a special cell made for the current occupant, who was not to be released anytime soon.
As if the prisoners had heard them talking about her, a woman sprinted towards the door and kicked it off the steel hinges, which landed on Mandrat and knocked over the other two guards. The young woman dashed down the hallway and to the door which she swung open. On the other side was a spinster old man with dark black hair that was slicked back, which actually looked like it pulled on his forehead skin. The woman, momentarily shocked, regained her composure and tried to subdue the man, who quickly placed a soft hand on the woman's shoulder, which almost instantly sapped the strength out of her until she fell to the floor. Heim had regained his footing and had arrived at the doorway to drag the woman back to her cell with the older man following.
Once she was laid in her custom bed once more, the two guards replaced the door to the hinges, as instructed, as Mandrat finally came to his senses again. With a poof and a flash the older man had rebranded the cell door to it’s hinges, putting the door back to its shape before being knocked down. Mandrat instructed the two guards to kneel as they were in the presence of General Graves, the right hand to the Royal family. Graves cracked his neck, in appreciation. But before anyone knew what was happening, Graves had Mandrat by the neck and was lifting him into the air. As he did, Graves opened his mouth towards the bird-like creature. Instead of biting him, Graves held him high, and a yellowish Aura began to emanate from the bird. The Aura began to move itself into Graves through his mouth. As more of the yellow lifeforce entered Graves, less of Mandrat remained, until his body was an empty husk. Satisfied, Graves tossed the lifeless form that used to be Mandrat to the floor. Heim and Krall looked at the shell of a body and back to Graves who now looked like a thirty something year old man. Stunned, the two guards kneeled in place, as Graves noticed the mumbling man still on the floor near the woman's cell door. The now younger Graves sniffed at the air, and uttered one word, “human.” He then instructed the guards to toss the man into an empty cell, and not touch him again until he had returned. The guards nodded in compliance, as they dragged him in the cell next to the woman's. They followed Graves, who then instructed them to go find a suitable replacement for Mandrat. The guards gulped in unison and dashed out the door. Graves, content with his decisions, walked towards a patch of shadow behind the large entry door to the cells. Before anyone would know it, the shadows had consumed Graves and he had vanished within them.

--

It was a dark feeling, mixed with that of a feeling of warmth. Together they brought forth a feeling of distance and unfamiliarity. A pool of darkness was submerging him, but he was barely able to wade in this pool of black. He felt so unattached to his surroundings, almost as if he was sinking into dark air. The sinking was slow but still constant. The grip on his mind was not waning but instead increasing.
Then it all stopped.
His eyes shot open. All he could see was cold dark concrete and mortar walls in front of him. He was almost face down on the hard cold floor, as the guards had dragged him in like this and just dropped him in this position. The man struggled to move himself over, but after expending most of his muscles, he clunked onto the floor, onto his back. Everything was so dark, only one light source seemed to be around and it was not very near at all. Using what energy he had left, he sat up and surveyed his surroundings. It was a cell, that much he could surmise, but where the cell was, was a whole different story. The man sighed in frustration, and grunted as he barely made it to his feet. He gripped his head, as it was pounding with pain. He glanced through his cell bars, and saw the faintest of light coming from his right side. He pressed his face upon the bars to see where the light was coming from. It came from the fancier and neater cell next to his, which faced the hallway. It was a nice cream swirl of a light with blues and greens dancing inside the glass bulb. He looked the other way and saw nothing but empty cells, and no guard at the post on the other end of the hallway. He sighed, wondering how he had got there, and what had happened to him. He glanced back and the fancy cell and nearly jumped out of his skin as a beautiful face was now glaring back at him.
“Who are you?” The young woman asked him bluntly. He tried to get his heart to calm down for a moment as it finally hit him. What was his name? He knew he had one, but right now could not for the life of him remember what it was.
“I have no clue.” The man finally responded. He then tried to rack his brain for any kind of memory he could grasp , yet nothing came to him. All he could remember was the dark warm feeling he had had earlier, and that was it, like he had left his memories in the last place he had been. The young woman in the cell next to his kept staring at him, almost trying to help him pull out any kind of information she could.
“My name is Shyanne, thanks for asking,” the woman scoffed. She sighed and finally let her glare dissipate. She started to pace within her cell, as the man fought as hard as he could to remember any tidbit of his own life. That was until a soft voice entered his head. It was almost as if an angel was swimming in his subconscious, and was trying to wake him up in the morning with it’s soft words over and over again. All the voice said was a name, and he instantly knew it was his name, like a light turning on in a dark basement of thoughts.
“Charlie,” he said aloud, causing Shyanne to turn back towards him. Intrigued, she stood at her place near the bars again, studying the man.
“I take it, that's your name?” She asked.
“Yeah, it took a moment to figure it out.”
“Those guards must have bashed your head in nearly, for you to not be able to recite your own name.”
“Guards?” He asked quizzically.
“Yeah guards, patrol, goon squad, whatever you like to call them. They brought you in just a bit ago. Don’t you remember anything? Or are you the party type that causes a lot of trouble in the other Cities?” Charlie pondered her probe, and still had no clue what she was talking about. Guards? Other Cities?
“I’m sorry Miss Shyanne…”
“Just Shyanne.” She corrected me.
“…just Shyanne, but where exactly am I right now?”
“Yup, they gave you a nasty noggin bop. You, right now, are standing in the luxurious prison cells of the King's Tower inside of The City of Spirit.” She boasted with a faux bravado. Charlie was now more lost than before she started her sentence. One thing he knew for certain was that he had no idea what or where exactly the City of Spirits was, or of any kingdoms of the such. Instead of answering, he turned to the tiny uninviting cot attached to his cell wall. He sat down trying to think some more as the woman stared on, simply intrigued by this stranger. Charlie closed his eyes and just tried to relax his brain before it started to overheat. Soon things started to return to his mind, basic things like 3rd grade math and History class. Charlie started to feel better and he finally stood back up and engaged Shyanne again.
“You said we were in a castle somewhere?”
“Yeah, in The City of Spirit.” She replied.
“Where on Earth is the City of Spirit?” Shyanne looked at him very puzzled.
“What is an Earth?” Charlie blinked at her for a moment. This time silent due to shock.
“Wait,” he stammered out. “This isn’t Earth?”
“Charlie, I have never heard of this Earth. This is the Land of Onner.” Charlie’s eyes started to bug out. He started to panic. Charlie was on another planet, locked into a cell in a castle he had no idea existed. Shyanne tried to tell him to relax, but Charlie wasn't listening, getting more and more panicked.
All the commotion of Charlie going nearly crazy had gained the attention of a passing patrol, who now rushed into the cell area. The pig-like guard with bright pink scales, trudged down the hall towards Charlie and Shyanne. As he did Shyanne just pointed at Charlie's cell, who was turning around in erratic circles in his cell. The pig-gator guard unlocked the cell to try and settle Charlie down, as he didn’t want any of the King’s or their Royal subjects to worry. As the guard opened the door, Charlie finally stopped turning, but was shocked and scared to see this creature before him. He closed his eyes, and held out both of his hands to soften or block the blow the guard was about to deal out, but it never came. Charlie opened one eye and the guard was nowhere to be seen. All that was there now was an open cell door and Shyanne looking at him wide-eyed.
“How did you do that?” Shyanne gasped.
“Do what? Where did he go?” Charlie retorted, exiting the cell and looking down the empty hall.
“You have no idea what you just did, did you?”
“Do what?!” Charlie blurted out exasperated.
“Charlie, you just opened a slip. No one has been able to do that in almost 2 centuries.”
“A slip? Like a slip-n-slide?”
“Even if I knew what that meant, no it’s not that. A slip is a portal that the old families used to be able to use until the De…he destroyed the ability to create them. Slips are highly trained magic, when the power is harnessed the user can pretty much travel anywhere anytime they want to. How the bloody hell did you manage to do that?”
“I just put my hands up in defense and the damn thing disappeared.” Shyanne pondered what this meant, but could understand how this crazy man had done something so rare, and so unique.
The sound of more patrol officers outside the cell area pulled her from her deep thoughts and reminded her that this new man of magic was free from his cell.
“Quick! Go get the keys at the patrol desk and get me out of here.” Shyanne commanded.
“What? How do I know you aren’t some kind of mass serial killer?”
“Well you got me there,” she replied with deep sarcasm. “Look, you can look at it as either you can try to use your ancient magic on all 500 patrol guards they have roaming the castle and City at all times or you can let me out and I can get you somewhere safe. This is about trusting Charlie, and right now you can trust me or trust what you got left in your head.” Charlie pondered for a moment, before a clatter outside the door forced his hand.
“Fine!” With that Charlie sprinted quietly down the hall of empty cells, and quickly found a ring of keys. After he returned to Shyanne's cell he tried every key, and wouldn’t you guess it, it was the last one he tried. Shyanne grabbed his hand as they dashed back down the hall. She peeked out into the hall waiting for the perfect moment for them to make a run of it, until a voice came from behind them.
“Tsk tsk Shyanne,” the cold, low voice came. “You know you are not to be outside your cage, little bird.” The two escapees turned to see Graves standing in all black in the middle of the hall. Still looking like a mid-30's man after the events of last night, he sneered at them, but after cracking his neck once more. “And by the looks of it, you have sentenced your little friend to death for treason.”
“Treason?” Charlie croaked.
“Why yes, you imbecile. Didn't you know who you were running off with?”
“Stop it Graves, he’s not from around here.” She confessed.
“No matter to me. Treason is treason, even if it was caused by your lack of sympathy for others. He will just be another victim of circumstance.”
“Still not following the treason thing dude.” Charlie responded.
“You must truly be desperate to escape Shyanne, using a drunkard like this one and he doesn’t even know who you are.”
“Hey! I’m not drunk, I just hit my head on something really hard and can’t remember much.”
“Then let me enlighten you, fool.” Graves began, rolling up his black sleeves, revealing a mass of tattoos, mostly of snakes wrapped around his arm. But something was off about these tattoos to Charlie, as if they were still moving on the skin. Charlie gulped, not sure what he was really dealing with right now. “You, Idiot,” he addressed Charlie as though that was his name, “will be tortured for knowledge, then hanged for treason, then fed to the Haven Lati for dinner. All because you tried to kidnap Princess Shyanne!” He finally spat out, in his growing anger for having to explain himself.
“Princess?” Charlie asked softly, looking towards Shyanne. She looked back at him, as if she didn’t really want him to know about that bit of information.
“I denounced my Royal lineage long ago, but you and my dung headed uncles won't let me just live in peace will you?”
“To put it plainly…no.” Graves hissed with laughter. “We both know that you will serve your purpose soon enough.”
“Fine,” Shyanne conceded, which caused Charlie to raise an eyebrow, but she continued. “We are going to have to show our cards.” She said this time at Charlie instead of Graves. “Charlie, do the thing again.” She commanded.
“The thing? I don’t even know how I did it the first time and you just want me to do it willy nilly?”
“Well let me explain it to you…again. Either you do it and we get out of here safely, or General Graves here is going to torture you and hang you.”
“Don’t forget the feeding too.” Graves interrupted.
“Oh yeah and he's going to feed you to a huge monster thing as well.” Shyanne explained in a condescending tone.
“Well when you put it like that,” Charlie mocked back. With a sarcastic smile on his face, he put his hands up, trying to recreate the slip he had accidentally created before. Graves raised an eyebrow, and sighed. “I can't do it with everyone watching,” Charlie nervously joked.
“Alright enough of this Shyanne.”. Graves said, starting towards the two.
“Today Charlie, he’s coming and he's not as easy to take down as that guard.” Charlie tried all he could to open it, but nothing came. Graves slowly strode towards the duo, almost bored with the task, as Shyanne got ready to fight. Charlie let his mind relax a bit and closed his eyes, and that angelic voice came to him once more. It spoke his name only but now it was with a bright light that Charlie saw in his mind.
“What in The Demon's name is that?!” Graves yelled in total shock. Charlie opened his eyes and saw a light blue ring in front of his hands. Charlie was amazed that this thing was created by him.
“Hold on Charlie, I know a place,” Shyanne said, pushing Charlie forward. Before he knew it, Charlie and Shyanne were jumping through the blue “slip”, with Graves snarling behind them.
The quietness of the cells was replaced by merriment and singing, as Charlie landed hard onto something wooden. Soon after, Shyanne had landed on top of Charlie’s back. Charlie looked around at the now hushed crowd, who were all staring at the duo who had fallen out of nowhere onto one of the tables. It looked as though they had interrupted a very important card game. Shyanne leaned over to Charlie's ear.
“Told you I knew a place.”