Dark Wish (The Starlight Gods Series Book 1) Page 6

  Anger continued to manifest within me, my various attempts to calm myself seemed futile.

  My demon wanted revenge. He wanted to find this so-called Owner and obliterate him, slowly. How dare he take what was ours for his own selfish reasons and doing it not once, but twice. I felt a chilly draft blow past me, the temperature in my room getting colder by the second. I knew the windows were closed shut, so the culprit of the sudden temperature drop was me.

  Deep breaths Ryder, deep breaths. I couldn’t lose control now.

  “Mine.”

  I returned my concentration back to the girl, her soft declaration made me smile. She called herself Makoto, oblivious of her past. That man had done something to her memories and she knew absolutely nothing of her background or about us. She said I looked familiar to her. Her confession pained my heart.

  When our eyes first met that faithful day, when my family was visiting Realm Eight to celebrate my ninth birthday, I thought time had stilled. She was my first love and the one I was destined to protect and serve. Yet, I failed her, unable to fulfil my duty as her knight when she needed me the most.

  I watched her rotate slightly, her hold around my arm tightened. I promised the others I’d stay and watch her while they reported back to Professor Oxwell, giving him an update on how our mission unfolded. To be honest, I was happy I got to stay behind. All I wanted to do was stay with her. All those cycles, we could have been together, training and enjoying the life the Starlight gods granted us.

  My demon ached for Rose. Would she even remember us? Sixteen cycles had passed since the day before her sixth birthday. I swore to be her protector, encouraging her to be patient and wait till I grew big and strong.

  I swore to become a diligent demon shifter and knight to serve her through all our cycles. She had laughed at my declarations, but she acknowledged my determination. I promised to give her, her birthday gift the next morning, hugging her as I wished her good night, unaware it would be my last.

  That next morning, I woke up extra early, her gift in my hands as I walked towards her room, ready to surprise her. The image of the maids collapsed on the floor crying frantically, as the guards rushed back and forth, was forever engraved into my mind. The frustration, the anger, the fear, all those emotions were still fresh, as if it all happened yesterday.

  “Mine, mine…mine.”

  I shook my head, hoping to rid myself of those dreadful memories. I had to live in the present. I smiled as I pressed my lips against her forehead.

  “She still talks in her sleep?” My demon acknowledged, his cold, rigid voice echoed in my mind.

  “Ya.” I replied, closing my eyes. I guess that part of her never changed.

  “We won’t lose her again, Ryder. We won’t be foolish a third time.” He stressed, his words weighed on my troubled heart. He was right. I couldn’t mess up a third time. Losing Mako once was unbearable. Then when I lost Anya…it broke me. I don’t think I can survive a third time.

  “No more mistakes.” I vowed solemnly.

  ***

  ~MAKO~

  “So…spill.” I encouraged, crossing my arms over my chest as I glared at the four men before me.

  I’d awakened after a full ten hours of uninterrupted sleep. No nightmares, no sleep walking, just blissful, dreamless sleep. I had to give myself a pat on the back for such a miracle.

  Now, I was stationed in the boy’s household. I couldn’t tell how big the house was, but I sat in the spacious living room, gazing through the transparent glass doors that revealed a spacious backyard.

  Beyond it, was a vast forest. It was the first time I had ever seen a glimpse of the outside world. If it wasn’t for the multiple books I’d read in the past, I probably wouldn’t even know it was a forest. The vibrant colours, the variety of greens and browns, to the wondrous blue sky above beginning to change colour, the sun making its descent. I prayed I’d get to watch the sun set for the first time.

  I stared at the landscape beyond the glass for fifteen minutes before Elias snapped me out of my daze, uninterested in my appreciation of their backyard. Hmph, maybe if he hadn’t seen the world for sixteen cycles, he’d appreciate Mother Nature’s immense beauty. It was time to get to the point, as frightened as I was to know the truth.

  I got myself comfortable, crossing my legs meditation style, as I straightened my posture on the black suede sofa.

  I was currently sitting in the middle, Marcus was on my right while Daniel was on my left. Across from me was a replica of the couch I occupied, where Ryder sat alone as Elias loomed behind him, leaning against the black wooden bookshelf. They all wore serious expressions, giving me the impression that no one wanted to start the evening with this conversation.

  Ryder took a quick glance at the others. Their faces changed with different expressions; Marcus looked upset, Daniel appeared concerned and Elias…he looked unamused as usual. I wondered if he ever smiled. I came to two conclusions; they were either super close or had some telepathic ability to understand each other through eye contact. I was leaning more towards the second option.

  “Do you know anything about the realms?” Ryder questioned.

  “Realms? What the hell is a realm?” I asked.

  “Please, Starlight help us. You don’t know what a realm is. You were living on Realm One this whole time?” Elias groaned, his frustration evident in his monotonous voice.

  “Oh, I’m sorry Mr. King. It’s not my fault I’ve never seen the outside world before. Oh, how unfortunate of me to admit my shortcomings.” I snapped back. Seriously, what’s this shifter's problem.

  “Elias.” Ryder warned, his voice so deep it sent shivers down my spine.

  “Looks like his demon doesn’t have much patience… I like.” Rose revealed.

  I sighed. You saw him annihilate that bear shifter, heard his voice twice and now you like him? Maybe you should get his number or learn his name?”

  “We know him.” Rose replied, the realization raising Rose’s voice higher in my mind.

  I wanted to question her sudden revelation, but she disappeared within my mind. She loved leaving me hanging. Demons…so aggravating.

  Elias scrunched his face, but didn’t argue, placing his hands in his pockets as he glanced to his left, moving his attention to the backyard.

  “The facility you were held in, Mako, is located on Realm One. Think of it as its own designated planet. There are ten realms in total. The one we’re currently on is Realm Five, Minato.” Ryder explained.

  “So, you’re telling me I was on a different planet!” I shrieked.

  Holy Starlight! It was one thing to find out you have been locked up in a building on an isolated planet, but now I found out there were nine others.

  He nodded, his stern expression softening. He probably pitied me.

  “We won’t get into details regarding the other realms, but we're going to focus on three main ones, Realm One, Five and Eight.” Marcus proposed, turning to face me. I nodded, my heart racing with anticipation. Ryder continued.

  “Realm Eight is known as Heila, kingdom of prosperity and good fortune. They had an abundance of power in various areas, but their people essentially focused on summoning magic. They are the most populated realm out of the galaxy, holding about two hundred and fifty thousand shifters from all over the realms. The King and Queen are the ones who requested Minato’s assistance in locating their child, the youngest heir.” As Ryder finished, Daniel picked up the story.

  “Realm One use to be known as Latelia. It was once a beautiful, peaceful realm. Their purpose was centered on the enhancement of technology. They strived to create machinery that would benefit all the realms and was fully supported by the King and Queen of Heila, due to their vast knowledge and quick productions of defensive weaponry. The King of Heila and King of Latelia became best friends, supporting one another in all things. Such events eventually lead to the creation of an alliance. The people of Heila would teach the people of Latelia their knowledge and skill
in summoning magic while the people of Latelia shared their plans of creating state of the art machinery to help with medical facilities, weaponry and overall welfare. It was a time of harmony and things went on smoothly.” Daniel explained.

  “This has a bad ending, doesn’t it?” I speculated, frowning. I hate tragic endings. Elias nodded.

  “The King of Latelia, Blair Aspen, wanted more power. He hated how the other realms grew in population, while his seemed to have stalled. Shifters from the other realms were more intrigued by Realm Eight’s beauty and knowledge of magic, compared to technology. King Aspen became greedy, wanting his realm to be the most powerful amongst the others. He had an idea.” Ryder carried on.

  “He knew shifters couldn’t always outpower machinery, regardless of their spirit. He needed a weapon that could guarantee victory. He began to devise the theory that if a shifter had more than one spirit, would they acquire more endurance? If you had a shifter with a wolf and a tiger, what happens when your wolf is too exhausted?” Ryder asked.

  “The host allows the wolf to switch out and the tiger takes his place? The tiger would essentially have full stamina and the wolf would rest in the meantime. I mean if the host is strong enough to handle the switches…they could go back and forth repeatedly without the host depleting all their energy.” I replied, realizing what he was getting at. Continuous switching, endless stamina, perfect weapon for war. Ryder nodded, continuing.

  “Back then, having more than one spirit was considered a rare trait. It’s not like now where there are shifters with two and three spirits.”

  I took a moment to absorb the information, my mind still pondering on the continuous shifting point. It reminded me of the training sessions the Owner forced us to participate in. He’d push us to our limits, especially the special shifters like me with more than one residing spirit. Marcus sighed, his hand going through his hair before joining in.

  “Continuous shifting, only, if the host can withstand it. We all know how tiring it is to allow our spirit to take over, let alone shift fully. So, imagine a person with multiple spirits.” Marcus pointed out.

  “But hold on. The Starlight gods are the only ones who can bless a shifter with a spirit right? I know some receive them at birth and others can be blessed along their life span. How did he expect to find shifters with multiple spirits?” I questioned. No one would possibly volunteer to be a test subject.

  “Exactly, no one would volunteer themselves as tribute to such a malicious cause. So, he started with his own son.” Daniel answered, taking his glasses off, a grim expression on his face.

  “You can’t be serious! He used his own son?! Wait, shouldn’t such experiments be illegal or against common law?” I blurted out. It didn’t take a genius to understand the Starlight law, it was simple really. Ryder nodded.

  “How much do you know about the Starlight law?” He questioned.

  “Um, the five basic rules. That’s really it.” I replied.

  “There’s history behind the creation of those laws.” He answered, glancing at Daniel who nodded his head.

  “The Starlight gods had created the realms a long time ago, uninhabited. The ten gods combined their powers and created their first living creatures; the human species. They watched as humans grew, but they weren’t satisfied. They wanted a variety of species, to coexist with one another and occupy the remaining realms. They gathered together and combined their various powers, the result lead to the birth of the shifter race. The process was simple enough, the gods would bless a human with a spirit; their purpose to protect their designated realm and their people.” He explained. Ryder carried on.

  “In the beginning, humans received their spirits during their life span. But as time went on and the realms began to expand, many were blessed at birth. The gods watched as their children advanced and procreated. They emphasized harmony and guided us through Star readers; or psychics and fortune tellers as they were known in other realms.” He continued, Daniel taking over.

  “Regardless, in order to promote peace, rules were created and enforced, to ensure all species would coincide among one another, without meaningless wars and outbreaks. The humans had their set of rules; the gods allowing them the freedom to choose whether to follow them or not. The shifters were no different.” He concluded.

  “We had five rules to follow, but one of them was absolute.” Marcus announced. I nodded, the words leaving my mouth as I recited the absolute law.

  “Thy shall not take upon the role of the gods. We bless you with thy protection, your purpose to defend not destroy. One shall be blessed with the number of spirits we bestow and commend. No creation shall be granted ultimate power over the species. Defy this law and you shall know nothing but catastrophe and everlasting despair.”

  “Correct. He was driven by greed and wanted to become a god. So, he used the realms vast technology and started experimenting on his son and subjects. Shifters volunteered at first, unaware of his underlying motives. He informed them that they were finding a way to cure various diseases, many that killed humans on Realm Six. The shifters volunteered to help their fellow species, but as time went on, shifters began to realize the volunteers never returned. When the number of volunteers declined to none, King Aspen ordered his guards to kidnap people.” Marcus revealed, Daniel nodding before continuing.

  “The other realms were unaware of the experiments until the realms population was beyond replaceable, becoming a crisis across the realms. The Starlight gods promote equilibrium, and Realm One had to contribute to such balance. The most startling problem that revealed itself, was shifters began to go missing across the realms, specifically children.” Daniel stated.

  By what Daniel had just confirmed, the loss of multiple shifters around these realms would have caused an imbalance. It would only be a matter of time till the gods noticed the population decline, especially if children were disappearing.

  “The realms’ Kings and Queens gathered in Realm Eight, realizing King Aspen’s wrong doings and decided to work together to stop his experimentations. They took their best knights and mages, travelling to Realm One with the intentions of overthrowing him, but by the time they reached it, King Aspen had succeeded with his son; Malik. He had used machinery to procreate two spirits, inserting them into Malik.” Daniel explained.

  Elias pushed himself off the bookshelf, walking around to sit next to Ryder, his eyes looking straight into mine as he continued explained.

  “They went straight into the war, their goal to bring down Malik, who was now considered an abomination to the Starlight gods. The battle raged on and was fought viciously, but Malik was powerful, switching between his born demon spirit and the two manual implanted spirits; a werewolf and dragon. When his physical body became weak, King Aspen administered some type of serum that would boost him up again.” I was familiar with the serum; the same black fluid having been used on me several times before.

  Marcus lifted his hand over his head, looking at the ceiling, continuing.

  “The battle raged for days, many shifters were killed in the process. Malik became consumed with dark power, destroying whatever stood in his path. Darkness began to spread across the land, polluted the air and turned Realm One into a wasteland. The realms’ Royals, banned together, praying to the gods for divine assistance, to put an end to the chaos that was unfolding.” Marcus revealed. Daniel nodded next to me, facing me again as he carried on the conversation.

  “The Starlight goddess, Nightmare, Goddess of Destruction and daughter of Death, descended upon the realm. She summoned an inferno that raged across the land, destroying Malik and everyone in the process, except for the King.” Daniel concluded.

  “Wait, she killed everyone BUT the King! Why did she spare him?” I questioned, fury building within me.

  This King was so enraged with power he sacrificed his son, his people and the whole realm? His plan to make his realm the best clearly became the opposite.

  “The Starlight law declares th
at the person who defies the gods would know only catastrophe and everlasting despair. King Aspen’s punishment was to live on Realm One for fifty cycles, unable to leave until his sentence was completed. They wanted him to realize the power that he once craved, gave him nothing but desolation and loss of his family, subjects and realm.” Marcus answered.

  “Okay…so after the fifty cycles he repented, right? Or did he waste away in his realm?” I asked, the suspense killing me.

  He was consumed with greed and cursed with the constant reminder of his wrong doings. A king who’d once sworn to protect his people, only to lead them to their demise.

  “Neither.” Elias responded, leaning back against the cushions.

  “During those cycles of isolation, King Aspen’s anger only grew. He had lost his one and only son, his subjects and kingdom, thanks to the other realms summoning of the gods. So, he wanted them to feel the same pain. He still had a few followers across the realms so he reached out to them, asking for their aid. He secretly created facilities across the realms, beginning his experiments once more.” He confirmed.

  I felt a shiver go down my spine. The dots were starting to line up in my mind.

  “Wait…why didn’t the Starlight gods interfere then? He clearly didn’t learn from his mistakes! Why didn’t they just…you know, kill him?” I demanded.

  “The Starlight gods interfere when multiple realms are at risk of being wiped out. Other than that, they can’t baby us. They believe in forgiveness and second chances.” Elias reinforced, shrugging. He leaned back into his seat, allowing a moment for his words to sink in before continuing.

  “Anyways, Aspen continued his experiments, kidnapping shifters who we’d classify as less important. Say, a prostitute or a homeless shifter goes missing, no one would really notice. He also coaxed shifters into joining him. Claiming to give them a powerful position or wealth.” Elias explained.