An Axe in the Flames

Prologue: The Gift

"My sweet Pela. I never had the chance to tell you anything. I was so afraid He would find you, but the moment His soul was reborn, I had to rip you from the realm of Vale. I had to bring you to my realm, the Spirit realm. My body is no more, but it lives within you because you are a part of me."

Pela dropped her head to the side in confusion, "Part of...you?"

Her mother nodded and, with a gentle touch, lifted Pela's chin. "Yes. Part of me, all of the best parts. I sacrificed my physical essence in the realm of Vale to trap the Great Equalizer. I had to because that's what a mother does, but I bestowed my greatest gifts into you...my daughter."

"But...why?" Pela whispered.

"Another war is coming, His thirst to destroy overpowers any of His thoughts. He cannot allow life to flourish and bloom by His very nature. You, my sweet Pela, are his equal. The strongest parts of me concentrated to trap him forever away. You see, as the Great Life Giver, I cannot destroy. If I did, I would lose all that I am. So, I did what any mother would do and protected my creations and sacrificed myself to trap Him away, but His hunger was too strong, and Shathari has returned." Her mother said as she brushed a hand down Pela's cheek.

Realization suddenly dawned on Pela, and her eyes widened, "You're...Cor? My mother is...Cor?"

Cor smiled again, the smile that only a mother could give to her children. Full of warmth and reassurance and, above all else, love. "Yes. I am she. When I sacrificed my physical self, I created the Spirit Realm, where souls pass through to be reborn. Some linger, refusing to acknowledge their passing, but it was the one place I could continue to exist."

Pela slightly shook her head as she proudly watched her mother's mannerisms, "I...am a...God? Are you...dead?"

Cor pulled Pela into her translucent body and pressed her head to her chest, "My child, you are not fully a God. Though, you are mostly one. I am not dead, for only another God can kill a God."

"Then what...killed the...old Gods?" Pela managed to say, the words forming more easily.

"It was a pact. No one died; we just shifted between realms so that Shathari couldn't feed from us that which gave us strength. Now, they return. Unable to form into their old bodies and becoming reborn in those that are chosen." Cor gently kissed Pela's head and hugged her tighter.

"Will you be...reborn in...me?" Pela shyly asked.

"You will remain you, for I have given you all that I could. You possess the tools necessary to bring an equal to this coming war. You have friends, though sadly, one has since passed...."

Her words were cut short by a thunderous rumble that seemed to shake the nothingness around them and vibrate. Cor pulled Pela tighter and kissed her forehead.

"My child, our time must be cut short. He knows you, and He is seeking us both. You must wake up now, and you must fight. Vale needs you more than it knows. Wake up and seek your friends, Draxx and Anese. You must also find the Druid. I have sent her messages through communion, find her to the northwest. Go now, child, and do not fear."

"But...how will I...know how...to fight Him?" Pela asked as she looked up into Cor's eyes.

Already, the blackness around them was beginning to fade into trees and grass, with snow falling all around and a gray sky. It wasn't fully formed, though, as she could see through everything. Cor still hovered in front of her but was quickly losing visibility.

"You will know what to do when the time comes, my child. You have all the gifts you need. Now wake up; it is time to break free and fight."

Her last words faded into the blowing of wind all around Pela as the trees and snow began to darken into blackness again. What was going on now? She opened her eyes to pitch black and tried to move her head but couldn't. The sensation of metal against the sides of her face gave her a start. She tried to move her hands and feet, but she quickly felt that they were also encased in metal. She pushed down her panic with a calming breath and began to feel and listen to what she could. The sound of wind and the cold bite at her exposed skin on her arms and legs. The coldness of the metal on her feet and hands. She felt like she was being carried and could hear the groan of metal and wood beneath her.

There was a hissing sound as well, then clicking like metal on metal. She couldn't place what was happening or where she was other than she was outside and being carried by something made of metal and wood. If she tried to use her fire magic and heat the metal, would it burn her? She had used her voice before in the dungeons to shatter her bonds before, but in a metal encasing, how would that work? Her mother had said she would know what to do, that she had all of the gifts she needed, but didn't explain anything.

Her mind raced with ideas and thoughts and every word her mother had said to her, searching for any kind of clue. In that Spirit Realm, she could talk. In this realm, her words had power. She licked her lips and swallowed.

"Shatter." She said softly.

The metal encasement around her head popped and bent outwards slightly. She smiled to herself and cleared her throat.

"Shatter." She said again, raspy and hoarse.

The metal groaned, and minor splits in the casing allowed a trickle of light to shine through. Whoever had her and wherever she was, there was about to be a lot of chaos because she was born of a God...the God.

"Shatter!" She screamed, finally mustering up the energy.

With an explosion outwards, the metal around her head burst into fragmented molten pieces, revealing the Emerald Castle in the not-so-far-off distance. She heard a commotion below her and saw she was secured to a pole above what looked like a wooden snake with metal scales on its body. There were dozens more, and soldiers in the colors of the Thanish army marched between them. One soldier pointed at her and yelled to a commanding officer.

Now was the time to fight. For her freedom, for her mother's sacrifice, and for the realm of Vale.