Stone Wing: The Steinur Trilogy

Prologue

There was once a war beyond that of men and their inner monsters. One that caused a divide that would define the world before it was ever truly born. Before the beginning, the birth of light, of creature, of man, there was only God and his holy children the Angels. When God revealed his plan for man, for the world known as Earth many believed in his word, that his word was good and the truth. However his most beloved son, and most devout follower could not abide by his orders. His name was Lucifer. Lucifer soon decided that he could do better than his father and gathered his closest followers and led a rebellion in the kingdom of heaven. It was a bloody battle, one that extinguished the lights of many of God's servants, and even more of Lucifer's. However in the end Lucifer's rebellion against his father failed, and he and his followers faced the wrath and judgement of the father of all. They were cast down from heaven, deep into the void, and then even farther into a land of fire and brimstone. As they fell their wings were blackened by fire, feathers torn from their angelic flesh, their once beautiful figures distorted and twisted by the violence of their banishment. Their land of Exile became their new home, one Lucifer named hell. Soon in their vanity they presumed to rename themselves, those fallen ones. They became Demons, and their leader, in his terrible glory, dubbed himself the ultimate evil. One that would haunt mankind and mar them with imperfection for eternity, The Devil himself, Satan. 

Of course there were those who supported their father, and they were rewarded for their faith and servitude. These Angels would become prominent forces in the development of man, driving forces for good, and fearsome warriors to combat Lucifer and all his dark might in the grim future to come. Yet it was not black and white, as many would have you believe, this terrible divide of good and evil. As with all things there were those who stood in the grey. There were many Angels of the lord, who during this conflict, did not choose a side. Neither good nor evil were their vocation. While these Angels did not betray their father and attempt to overthrow him they did not rise to his aid, protect him, and the sanctity of their home. For some time these Angels remained imprisoned, rounded up and kept in comfort as they awaited the judgement of their father and brothers and sisters. Eventually it was decided. They would not be banished to the realm Lucifer had dubbed Hell and claimed as his own, however they could not be allowed to remain for betraying their faith. So one by one they were brought before God and knelt before him. There he turned their wings into a hard rocky stone, carving runes of the lord across their grey and gritty flesh. Their skin was turned soon after, making it hard and cold, unable to feel the sunlight grace their skin ever again. Then their angelic beauty was destroyed, their visages turned into something so great and terrible that it could scare away even servants of the Devil himself. Once this task was complete they were sent from Heaven, placed upon Earth to delve among man with the simple orders to redeem their faith in their father, and prove this by defending his creation of man from all forms of evil that Lucifer would send after them for all time. If they were to do this, and fall in battle defending God's most beloved creation, they could be redeemed, and God would send his warriors to reinforce them until they could finally banish Lucifer from the plane of mankind forever.

This is where our story begins. In the shadow of the wings of one of these Angelic protectors, his true name lost to time. He went by the name Jackson, and like so many others. He was a Gargoyle.