Chapter One: The Funeral Pyre

“Nana, could you tell us again? The story of why the Temple fell?”

Restless flames illuminated her weary face, its warming light spilling over the callus crevices carved by the passage of time, her gaze even as she absently prodded the hearth. The fire crackled in response, setting free a drove of sizzling sparks like fireflies let loose into the night.

“Very well,” she relented, her voice seasoned with age, as she set her cane to lean stiffly against the crest of her shoulder, offering support as she loosened her posture, her arm intertwining against the brace of the wood like a spring vine. Lively eyes stared back in earnest, drops of tea escaping as the grasp on her cup faltered, the young girl shuffling to attain a more comfortable position closer to her grandmother. A young boy nestled snugly against her, no older than the age of four, hazel hair grazing his eyes as his legs dangled restlessly off the edge of his sturdy lumber seat. All around them, shoddy encampments dotted the surrounding field, their scattered lanterns like solitary candles drifting aimlessly at sea, a comforting contrast to the adjacent devastation. A garden of stone crumbled yonder, dust and debris trickling off shattered monuments like melting icicles in the waning moonlight, rogue sparrows fluttering towards their make-shift homes for the night. It was a desolate graveyard of memories buried in ancient layers of silver dust, the past petrified in frozen moonlight, shadows trailing like whispering ghosts absently retracing their steps. Rugged blocks of stone seemed to sublime in the half light, sending grey snow to dance along the lilting waves of the wind.

The grandmother somberly registered her surroundings, painful memories reflected in her empty eyes. With a sighing breath, she ruefully began her tale. “Long ago, back when the Temple still stood proudly, the solitary gateway between the Kingdoms of Heaven and Earth…the sanctity of this sanctuary was fiercely protected by the Guardian clan…”

“Is that us?” the young girl piped enthusiastically, eyes shimmering and bright.

“That’s us,” Nana confirmed warmly, a motherly smile warming her frigid lips. She resumed her tale, oblivious to the wandering interests of the boy, who had by then drifted aimlessly into the night. “Five goddesses…” her voice trailed in the distance, gradually losing its gravity as he drifted farther and father away from the security of the campfire.

Curiosity captured by an adventurous firefly, the young boy slowly stumbled towards the ruins, completely engaged in his heated pursuit.

“Five human guardians…”

Lingering clouds of dust were scattered with each tumultuous step, shattered monoliths rapidly sprouting in the distance and growing steadily larger, shooting into the sky as fast as he could scurry.

“…fell in love…”

A rush of wind suddenly apprehended him, seemingly intent upon altering the trajectory of his chase. His face stung with its icy grip, the lush of the untamed field obediently bowing down in surrender. Upon its pass, he duly shook himself of the chill, as he was left sprawled in the damp dew-dappled bed of the field, gazing in awe when he finally acknowledged the towering shadows cast by the fallen stone kingdom looming overhead.

“Five divine daughters…”

The flames in all their golden splendor extended their wispy arms languidly towards the barren skies, a dark and desolate sea save the milky current of scattered stars. Tiny flicks of ember rose weightlessly upwards in their intent to mingle amongst the stars, grandmother and child separated by a diffuse firelight veil, showering the heavens in their amber glow.

“Travesties of Heaven, exiled to Earth…” her voice lingered in the empty cold.

She tensed at the resonant silence. The whistling wind nipped at her ears, strands of grayed hair tracing her face. Her eyes registered the missing child, a chill seizing the length of her spine, turning her body rigid and tense. “Nera, find Rain,” she commanded, tersely. A brazen young woman seated adjacent to the daughter nodded dutifully, rising to take her leave. “Rain,” she called into the night, eyes desperately searching the scenery. Pensive, Nana continued her tale. “The Lord was outraged…”

“Rain?” A voice trailed listlessly, then was carried off with the wandering wind.

“Rain…” An echo of resonance. A rustle of leaves as the spirited wind brushed the earth’s verdant cheek with its lingering farewell kiss. He listened intently, the air suddenly feeling rather ominously heavy and cold. Was that muffled breathing?

“…Destroyed…” Her words hung suspended in air like dusty cobwebs in the still of the night. He was startled by a sudden rustling in the patch behind him, which caused too large a disturbance to consider blaming small game. A knot tightening in his stomach, he hesitantly extended a shaky arm to reveal his stalker…

The earth held its breath. Nera raced to the outer-reaches of the field, heart pounding as she caught sight of his vile stalker preparing to lunge at the boy. “Rain!” she cried, shattering the silence as she desperately lurched for the child. She doubled over in pain as an arrow swiftly pierced her side, driving her to the ground. The child jumped at her cry, clumsily dodging the frenzied stabs launched by his attacker. After launching several swift kicks to the face, he barely managed to scramble away in escape.

Fire roared, its voracious hunger overwhelming the scene. Night was consumed by infernal glory, as the fire ravaged the surrounding encampments, returning all life tumbling down to the earth in a shower of ashes. All life was forced to its knees. Flames lashed out at the stars.

“Yurei! Find that bastard!” roared a brash warrior, gallantly saluting the storm with his sword as he brazenly urged his men forward. Assailants rushed into the ensuing chaos, greeted by stifled cries of terror. Blinding thunder clashed from crashing blades as victims fiercely defended their lives against the vicious juggernaut so determined to tear it from them, receding only to reveal the carnage left in its wrath. The boy’s eyes widened in terror as all security came crashing down in a dreadful avalanche of ashes, body frozen stiff and motionless through shock, and was slowly beginning to lose himself to the furious roaring in his ears. A dark shadow emerged from the fury of the flames, familiar despite the ominous aura that he radiated like a dark sun, treading ashes as he advanced across the blackened earth, the chaos complementing him like Satan to Hell. A crimson orb dangled from his neck, sanguine and incandescent, spilling light like a volatile star. “Yurei,” the warrior growled vehemently, eyes blazing as he charged toward him, boiling with the wrath of god. They collided, a cry of crimson light giving the impression that everything was filmed in blood. Shaken, the boy turned to run to him, when cold steel met his chest. A man, quavering as unstable as the flames that surrounded him, barred him with his blade. “Don’t go, child,” he uttered, more a protective plea than a threat, the weight of his conscience bringing him down to his knees, soiled by blackened earth. His head hung low, face drowned in guilty shadows.

“Mana!” A man hollered, berating his crestfallen comrade, chest heaving with the roaring of the raging inferno they heralded. Mana’s eyes flickered in his uncertainty, reflecting the war raging inside of him. Eyes gilded by guilt, he obediently forced himself to his feet, tightly gripping his sword for any semblance of morale support, yet finding none. Arms trembling from the weight of his conscience, he strenuously hoisted the blade into the air, the cold reflection of chaos against the frozen steel glaring down at its victim. The boy staggered back in fear, the man’s arms were shaking, sword hovering over him like a wavering pendulum about to drop. Something was wrong about him, his heart rejecting the sword in his hands— like a fatal scythe forced into the hands of a guardian angel. He froze in his deathly stance, a faltering statue amidst the storm of fury.

Bearing witness to such a painful struggle, his comrade grew restless in the heat of the night. “Mana!” he called, voice strained in the stifling tension. “Your conscience isn’t the enemy right now! You—”

Muscles slowly unwound as the words registered, realization dawning. Your conscience isn’t the enemy.

Heart set, he cast away his sword, sweeping the child into the safety of his arms. He winced at the raining embers, arms intent upon sheltering the child. “You’re right. It’s not,” he replied solemnly, whisking the child away on the wind of a white stallion.

“Damnit,” the warrior cursed under his breath as a trail of sparks and ashes were violently unearthed in the haste of his comrade’s escape, shielding his face from the sting. “Mana!”

They tore through the lush of the fields, the crimson stain that bled into the tapestry of the night steadily dying in the distance. Reaching the shelter of a haven of bowing branches, Mana let out a sighing breath, comforted by the calm of the sleeping forest. A desperate gallop slowed to a steady trot. Devastation was but a spark in the horizon.

Rain began to pour, thudding down to the earth as his heartbeat slowly calmed. Soaked locks obscured soft amber eyes. His arms unfurled, raindrops trickling down his face as he gazed warmly at the trembling child.

“Hush,” he cooed gently, eyes comforting and warm.

“You’re safe now.”

A/N: lol if you’re feeling uninformed, I assure you—things WILL be revealed as things unravel as we roll along! Keep reading, ne? -