Author's Notes: Another creative writing assignment from my highschool years. Read, Review. If this story gets enough attention I may write the sequel Path to Destruction. (this is actually the prologue) Well Enjoy!

Divine Legends, Prelude to Destruction

In the early years of Earth, back when she was still young and infantile, a holy war was waged between the gods to determine dominance over our realm. The crusade proved straining as the carnage raped people of their lives. Entire populations of villages could, at anytime, have their soul devoured in one painstaking instance. Bloodcurdling screams were heard every minute of everyday. Civilization began to dwindle.

Man wasn’t the only victim of the war. Miles of land became arid and unfertile. Oceans began to recede and eventually dried up. Wild animals fell dead. The very planet began to die.

One of the more benevolent gods took pity on man and his plight and sent his strongest of emissaries to aid and shield the earth from the chaos. This emissary of light, Ezra, was by far the most benevolent and chaste of any angel of any choir belonging to any god. Her purity was only second to her colossal constitution and sheer might. Even the highest-ranking seraph knight of the one of the strongest armies, Lucifer, was dwarfed in comparison. But even with all her strength, the tasked of revitalizing a dead planet proved cumbersome. Fully-knowing the risks involved, she continued on with her task. She lent well over 85 of her complete power to rejuvenate the Earth to a flourishing, lively state. Everything was back to the way it was meant to be. But with her strength waning, she couldn’t complete the most important task assigned to her. She wasn't able to raise the barrier between the spirit realm and the Earth sphere. Without the barrier, the planet would eventually prematurely die again!

Ezra, in need of aid, couldn’t face her master with such a failure, even if she wanted to, her absence would invite the chaos of the war into earth. She had no peers to summon, and without her lord, she was left to the mercy of her final ally-- the people of earth.

After a week of solemn negotiation, the leaders of every village contained in the Earth sphere joined forces to aid Ezra. But not just any one could aid her, for if they were physically too weak they would perish in vain, and if they lacked the proper conviction, unfathomable consequences would follow. To select the proper aid, Ezra set up trials of tribulation used to test the humans of their endurance and conviction and above all their worthiness. Some of the devoted few lacked the physiological strength to endure the rigorous trials, while some of the more savagely unrefined leaders lacked the faith and conviction needed to complete the trials.

After the necessary eliminations, the true believers of the cause, strong enough to aid Ezra, were revealed. Out of millions of people, ten thousand leaders volunteered to aid Ezra in her noble endeavor. Out of ten thousand of the world’s most brilliant, prolific minds with the most immensely incredible constitution and strength, virtually gods among men, only 107 men and women were chosen.

With the trials concluding and the chosen revealed, Ezra needed a conduit bring forth the chosen to a communion ground in which spirit and flesh may coincide, for as they were, the chosen were just physical, and she a celestial being. With that, she searched the Earth for a suitable transit device. With an idea, she embraced a sparkling sapphire river in the Valley of Zion, bending it as if it were a twig into an intense arc. Seizing a great oak tree in the Niobe Desert, she bound the arc forming her celestial bow, Azéal (aw-zee-eL).

With a viable transit to earth available, it was a matter of the deliverance of the conduit. Spreading her titanic pinions, Ezra unfolded a pair of pristine, alabastine wings. They poured of radiance as if embodying every brilliant star in the night sky. The moon gleamed sapphire, cloaking the night in a sea of cerulean. With one quick beat of her wings, she was off.

Azéal in hand, Ezra gracefully soared over the Earth. In mid flight, she raised her elegant hand and removed a single feather from her divine wing. With it, caressed Azéal. Reacting immediately, both began to burn a vermilion glow. Instantly the feather transformed into an ornately embellished arrow. Overflowing with divinity, the conduit unto which the chosen may meet with Ezra and aid her in her endeavor of light was bore. Lining up the ivory quill with the tense chord of Azéal, Ezra slowly plucked both back in unison. Like the door of an abandoned house, the chord creaked as the tension increased. With the teal arrowhead rested snuggly upon her extended fore finger, she meticulously aligned the sights with her intended mark. Her concentrated eye ever so slightly squinted, fixated on a distant target, one that stood virtually non existent to the eyes of any human. With that, she released. The arrow whisked off like a bolt of lightning and was followed by a mauve streak of blinding light. The Earth rumbled at the deafening sound of thunder as the arrow met its destination. Then as instantly as it began the thunder was prematurely silenced and all stood still to hear the angelic harmony of innumerable aural delight resonating from the tense vibrating chord of Azéal. This process was repeated 107 times all around the Earth sphere, 108 conduits were now in place for the final ritual.

After all the chosen reached their conduit, Ezra stood at the zenith of the Earth sphere ready to begin the final ritual, the Blue Moon Ritual. Placing both of her delicate hands together, as if in prayer, she began to conjure up as much of her strength as she could. The Earth rumbled below her in response. Raising her arm, the Earth fell silent, in a state of stand still. Like the conductor of a divine orchestra, Ezra waved her arm around in specific circular motions while wiggling her finger, writing special runes into the air. The other free arm was resting in a fixed position in front of her face. Palm out, her fingers stood erect, close to her chanting lips. Her chant could have been mistaken as a requiem, as her elegiac voice sung over the very wind that cradled the Earth. With one final motion, it fell silent again. Suddenly everything stopped as if time ceased to be for that single moment. Instantly, the sky flared up with a vermilion translucence. As violent as it appeared to be, it filled the souls of those whom witnessed its birth with amiable warmth, warmth that made every insignificant fret and worry melt away, a soothing, healing sphere light that encompassed the entire Earth. With the beauty of the auras, the barrier magnificently stood for a moment. The next moment it faded away.

The exotic birds of the lush green rain forest squawked in delight. The benevolent winds caressed the lush greenery of the open fields to the west. The cobalt ocean raged as the waves pummeled into the shore side cliffs. Ezra peered down at all the life and smiled a radiant smile. The warmth from the radiance cleansed the souls of all men and kept the Earth safe. She quietly closed her eyes.

"I should get back . . ." she told herself. With that, she fell. Plummeting at a great rate, her exhausted body continued to shoot down towards the Earth. A great deafening thunder was heard all over the world originating from a deep, desolate canyon.
Before going into her eternal rest, Ezra left every participant of the trials a message.
"My gratitude to thou assistance in the perilous task my lord hath set thee. The Earth lies unscathed from the engagement of divine adversaries for now. On the other hand, this ordeal has exhausted thee. Entering celestial slumber left to thee." This message saddened the people of Earth, but the postscript left them dead in the grip of fear. It was an ominous warning.

"In my absence, it pains thee to confess that thou world remains on the path to peril! The barrier that shields thou world is of mortal birth and is condemned to fall. During times of dire necessity, thou must wake thee, for if the barrier shall ever fall in full, all shall be lost." The humans prepared in fear of that day.

If Ezra were to know the end result of her endeavor, it would have been enough to break her heart into a million pieces.