The Shattered Moon (A Divine Legacy Book 1)

by Alexander J Wilkinson

  “There was peace, for a time,” said Shale, his voice washing over the world from all directions “For thousands of years, we watched. We wept when the first wars began, over land, gold, religion. Peace would come and go, flow like an endless river.”

  As they watched, the newly born Celease that was laid out before them began to dissolve in front of their eyes. The people and animals disappeared, the sky blackened and before they knew it, it was gone.

  “Centuries passed as we watched every race grow and flourish, become their own people, develop their own cultures, their own ideals and beliefs,” Shale said “And we also watched as our brother grew angry and resentful. What I am about to tell you,” Shale’s disembodied voice grew sorrowful as he spoke “Is the beginning of the end. The downfall of a God.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Gods and Monsters

  A wondrous star scape stretched out into infinity, white and purple stars blinked and glistened in the endless void of darkness. Constellations glimmered, and distant suns blazed brightly. Star clusters twinkled orange and red in the boundless infinite.

  A colossal figure stood silently, staring out into the cosmos, deep in thought. His hulking form was bigger than a mountain, but compared to the seemingly never-ending ether, he felt small. Red engravings emblazoned across his immense arms and chest like lines of burning flames. Long black hair fell loosely down his back, gently waving, even without a breeze. He watched the countless stars twinkle in the dark and let his anxious mind run wild.

  “What troubles you my child?” asked the Goddess, her voice beautiful, like music as she floated over to her third child. She was even taller than he was. Her dress flowed like waves in a golden sea as she moved. He sighed internally, he wasn’t in the mood to speak to her, or any of his siblings, he just wanted to be left alone. His mother placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, and he felt his whole body tense.

  “Won’t you speak with me?” she almost sounded offended.

  “Mother, my thoughts betray me,” said the hulking giant finally, his voice deep and gravelly.

  “Tell me, child,” said the Goddess soothingly.

  The son turned to her, his pale grey face one of anger, a stern look in his emerald coloured eyes, his jaw clenched, his teeth gritted.

  “This world we have created, this paradise. We’re not ever going to live there are we?”

  “We’ve spoken about this before, we didn’t build the world for ourselves child, but built it for them,” she cast her hand towards the blue and green planet below them a few million miles away.

  Every time, thought the son, every time I mention this, she says the same thing.

  He felt the anger welling up inside. He had done for a long time now, but this time it felt untamed, violent even. He couldn’t listen to her blind, self-righteous speeches any longer.

  “We have watched these humans become the dominant species of our beloved star,” he began.

  “Yes, it’s wonderful isn’t it?” the Goddess beamed, she didn’t notice the venomous look her son shot her.

  She’s not listening, a screaming voice echoed in his head, she’s still not listening. His mind was deafening.

  “No mother it’s not,” he turned away from her and gazed down at the planet below once more.

  At that moment two bright flashes appeared behind the Goddess, her two other children had arrived. Shale was tall and strong, but not as bulky as his brother. His stone-like skin glistened as if every grain of sand that made up his towering form reflected the light of the shimmering stars. He was bald with a symbol engraved on the top of his head. The markings came down the side of his neck and snaked around his body.

  Beside him was their sister Rayne, blue as the ocean below them. An equally tall but much slender figure. Her whole body and even her long hair were made of ever-flowing water, except for her legs and forearms that were covered in glimmering dark blue scales, like the fish that swam in the seas they had once created.

  Their brother glanced over at them as they approached. They were just as narrow-minded and sanctimonious as their mother. Over time, he had grown to hate the lot of them, their passive mentality frustrated him no end. He ignored his siblings and continued his fruitless attempt to convince his mother to see reason.

  “For centuries we have stood by and watched them. Not just the humans, but all life down there. Our land is no longer a paradise, they take our gift for granted, they appreciate nothing.”

  Shale and Rayne stopped, they both sighed loudly as if they knew what he was arguing about, he didn’t care, he didn’t respond to their childish reaction to his pleas.

  “They worship us,” said his mother “They have built shrines, temples, religions devoted to us. Is this not enough?” She asked.

  “No,” said her son, his hands balled up into fists as he turned back to face his mother. “Perhaps their prayers feed your vanity mother, but I don’t need such acts from them.”

  “How dare you speak to our mother that way,” bellowed Shale.

  “Silence brother,” spat the third child.

  The Goddess held a hand up that silenced them both.

  “I did not ask them to glorify us, it is their faith, they have the right of belief,” continued the Goddess.

  “Well, it is my belief that our experiment has failed. We created a beautiful world from a barren star. You gave it life, and they have all squandered it. We should have guided them, ruled them from the beginning.”

  “We said we would not intervene, that we would let them all choose their own path,” said, Rayne, as she approached the quarrel.

  “We were wrong,” he said looking over at his sister “Don’t you see it, sister? They have infested too much of our nirvana, it decays with each passing day. I say no more. It’s too late for them now,” his voice grew dark and menacing without him realising.

  “What do you mean?” The Goddess saw the look on his face, her almost always calm, peaceful expression shifted to one of concern.

  “I mean, we don’t need them anymore. We should wipe them out, all of them. Start again,” the son glared at his mother. Her expression flickered again, and for the first time in aeons, she felt fear, and he could see it. She stared at him silently for a moment, he had never seen her speechless before. It was amusing.

  “You, you can’t mean that,” muttered Shale as he to stared, stunned by what he had heard.

  “Of course, I do Shale. Every spec of life gone, and we’ll start fresh, all of us, together.”

  “Do you really think we will have any part of this?” asked an equally shocked Rayne.

  “It’s genocide,” said the Goddess bluntly.

  “Listen to me, it’s cleansing our world of a disease that we infected it with, it’s righting a wrong that we made,” his voice pleading now. How could they not see it?

  “No, this is wrong child. They are living breathing beings.”

  “Do you really hate them all that much?” asked Rayne.

  “Hate them?” he said.

  They don’t understand a thing, do they?

  “I nothing them, they are parasites. Do they care if they step on an insect? No, so why should we. Let our precious land be rid of them, finally.”

  “Why? What have they done to offend you so?” Rayne glared at her brother.

  “How many wars have we witnessed? How many mountains have we seen them crumble, or forests burn? Yes, they build their monuments to us. But they build them on blood-stained lands they ended countless lives to claim. They don’t value their world or their lives. So why should we grant them either? We have the power to take it all away from them.”

  “They are our children,” The Goddess’s voice was one of disgust.

  “We are your children,” he pointed at his brother and sister “Not them. They were your dream, not ours. Once they’re gone, we’ll begin again. Bring the beauty and majesty back to this tainted land. No more will these ungrateful savages be able to ruin this gift we gave them.”


  He could see it in their horrified eyes, they were not with him. He breathed deep and let loose a long, exasperated sigh.

  I tried, he thought, I tried to make them see. If this is how it has to be, then so be it.

  “I will wipe the world clean of these insects, with or without you.”

  “I won’t let you,” the Goddess’s sorrowful eyes stared back at him.

  “Let me?” he had to hold back his laughter “You don’t control me. I promise you, mother, one day far from now, you will look back at this, and you shall see, it was for the best.”

  He took only a single step and the Goddess quickly placed a firm hand on his chest. An expression of pure malice looked up at her. Shale and Rayne appeared by their mother’s side, looking at him with repulsion.

  “Get your hand off me, mother,” he said, his voice low and vicious.

  “You are not my son. No child of mine could do what you speak of. I won’t allow this.”

  “Allow?” His emerald green eyes darkened until they turned black. This wasn’t anger anymore, it was pure rage he felt deep within his chest. Burning inside him, it pulsed through his entire body. It made him strong, it made him whole. He clenched his jaw and reached out his hand. Black smoke like shadows exploded from his open palm.

  “What makes you think you can stop me?”

  “What are you doing? What is this darkness?” Screamed Shale as he watched the shadow slowly coil around his brother’s arm.

  “This is our word’s salvation,” he sneered as he conjured a long black sword from thin air. “Try and stop me,” he yelled as he swung the great blade at the Goddess’s head.

  She was so stunned by the sudden violent display of power that she barely had a chance to move. The sword hit something solid. The third child looked in anger as he saw Shale had conjured his own staff of golden rocks and stopped the killing blow.

  Before he had a chance to swing his terrible blade again, Rayne blasted him with a bolt of blue energy. It was like being smashed in the chest by an ice-cold sledgehammer, the blast sent him hurtling across the stars.

  “Enough of this!” yelled the Goddess.

  The third child clutched his chest, the pain was little, they would have to do a lot more than that to stop him. He flew across the cosmos, his blade outstretched in front of him, roaring as he shot across the skies towards his family. Rayne and Shale both blasted off to meet him, leaving the Goddess frozen, watching her children battle across the starscape.

  He sent Shale sprawling into the ether with a blast of darkness that emanated from his palm. He had never felt so powerful, he liked it. He clashed blades with Rayne’s thin, curved sword of ice.

  “Stop this now,” the Goddess flew up to the battling siblings “Please,” she begged.

  Rayne slashed across her brother’s face, leaving a thin but deep cut. In violent retaliation, he smashed her as hard as he could with the side of his sword. She rocketed away screaming clutching her right cheek, the blade of ice drifted off into the void.

  It felt good, this display of his power, he felt free, unleashed, limitless. He laughed as he swung his sword at his mother, she dodged out of the way again and again, until finally, she hit him in the chest. In a flash of white light, he was sent careening backwards towards their world’s moon. With a thundering crash, the third child smashed into the surface of the giant silvery orb. The sound ripped through the heavens and echoed so loud it could be heard on the world below. He was about half the size of the moon, a truly colossal beast. The surface cracked and split sending fissures shooting out in all directions.

  “You must stop this child, please,” said the Goddess as she floated over to him. Shale and Rayne drifted over and stopped by their mother’s side. Both looked weekend and in pain, and he liked that.

  “If you want me to stop mother,” said the third child “You’re going to have to kill me.”

  “Don’t make me do that,” said the Goddess “I beg you.”

  “Beg?” he said as he pushed off the moon’s surface and floated towards them slowly “You call that begging?” he flew towards them at incredible speed, roaring with laughter. The Goddess raised one hand, and with her two children, they fired beams of pure light out of their palms. Blue, gold and white, they struck him in the chest, propelling him back against the crumbling moon. He roared and screamed as the beams of light pushed him further and further, he tried to fight back put the force was too powerful. As he screamed and struggled, darkness started pouring out of him, enveloping him, shadows radiated off of his skin like his flesh was nothing but black smoke.

  “I won’t stop” he screamed, “I’ll never stop.”

  “What do we do?” Rayne shouted as she struggled to keep focus.

  “We have to put a stop to this. We have to end it now,” Shale was yelling at his mother. She seemed to hear the words but said nothing, a pained expression on her face.

  The Goddess stared at the thing that was once her son, a tear rolling down her cheek. Finally, she drifted forward and raised her other hand and blasted him into the moon, shattering it completely. Huge continent-sized pieces of earth broke apart as the third child roared in agony. The blast wave sent Rayne and Shale flying back, but the Goddess stood her ground. The more energy she threw at him, the harder he fought. He wouldn’t let her win. The pain was ringing in his ears.

  “You can’t do it,” he screamed over the sound like toppling mountains “You know what has to be done, but you’re too weak.”

  The Goddess flew forward, her hands still raised, their white light still pouring out of them.

  “I take from you, your power,” Shouted the Goddess as her eyes began to glow white, crystal-like tears streaming down her face.

  “No!” he screamed as his blade disappeared from his iron-like grasp and the darkness around him disappeared. He began to shrink in size. He could feel it, he was no longer the size of a mountain.

  “I take from you what you are,” she raised her hands above her head, and chunks of rock smashed into him and closed in around him, burying him alive. “And I banish you, to the land you hate so much. Powerless, Godless and alone,” she fused the rocks together and sent it hurtling towards the planet below, to the middle of the northern ocean, where he could do harm to no one but himself.

  Inside his stone sarcophagus, he roared and screamed with violent fury. He tried to move, tried to breathe as he shot towards the innocent star below. He felt the rocks around him grow hotter as if his tomb became a ball of white hot fire. The sound was deafening, a roaring ear-shredding noise that seemed to last forever and became even louder still. He yelled with bitter hatred, but he couldn’t even hear his own voice over the sounds of a blazing inferno.

  You will regret this, he thought to himself. One day, I will make you regret what you’ve done. One day you’ll wish you’d had the stomach to kill me.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  “She couldn’t do it,” said Shale’s echoing voice “She couldn’t kill her own son.”

  Before they knew it, Shaya and the others were stood back in the old forgotten temple. It took the young girl a moment to get her bearings, her head was spinning, and her legs suddenly felt unsteady. Quietly they watched the mountain wall repair itself. Lumps of rock lifted off the ground and slid neatly back into place like a jigsaw puzzle. By the time it was finished, there was not a crack in sight, and Shale’s face reappeared. He looked tired and melancholy, his great dark eye sad and distant.

  “What was that?” said Shaya, looking around to make sure she was still on the same plane of existence she had left.

  “They were the memories of my family. That was over five hundred years ago. Not long after that, mother disappeared from our home in the heavens and my sister, and I came to this land in search of her. But without the Goddess, our power has dwindled.”

  “But how has he returned? The Goddess took his power.”

  “Maybe mother couldn’t take all of his power, and it’s taken all thi
s time to re-emerge. I’m afraid I don’t know for certain.”

  “Was that the man you saw outside the castle?” Rowan asked Shaya.

  “He looked more like a monster than a man, but yes, it was him,” she said.

  “And you’re sure that all this has to do with me?” Rowan said in utter disbelief, looking up at Shale’s sorrowful visage.

  “Mother kept her secrets. Why and how are unclear, but yes my prince, I believe so.”

  “Me?” Rowan repeated pointing his finger at himself.

  Shale nodded, the wall rippled like water as his stone face moved up and down.

  Rowan was left speechless, his finger still floating in the air, pointing at his own face, his eyes twitching as his mind tried to figure things out.

  “But what about me?” asked Shaya.

  “You child?” Shale seemed confused as his stone gaze shifted to her.

  “The prince and I, we shared a dream, we both saw each other in a darkness that swallowed the kingdom. But I’m not of Royal blood.”

  “Fascinating,” said Shale as he stared at her.

  “What does it mean?”

  He continued to look at her, an intrigued expression on his face “I am unsure my child like I said, the Goddess liked her secrets. But I can tell you, you are special.”

  Shaya felt deflated, no answers, just more questions.

  “My uncle says I’m special all the time. It doesn’t mean anything, it’s just something nice that people say to children to make them feel better about themselves.”

  “Or perhaps your uncle sees something in you that you don’t, or he knows something about you he hasn’t shared,” said Shale.

  Shaya froze, as her mind worked at breakneck speed. Could it be, could Uncle Benjin know something about me, about why I’m so “special,” he doesn’t believe in any of this, does he? The old man had said in the castle’s throne room that had thought she was special since the day he’d laid eyes on her, what had he meant?