The Gods' Scion: Child of Tempus

By Winnifred Tataw

Rodrick is a prince of the ruling country of Diar. He has a face kissed by the Gods themselves, with deep blue eyes and long ruby-red hair. Speaking of Gods, he also happens to be the Acolyte of Time. Gifts and curses with this power give him control over aspects of time. And being a dragon-human hybrid has its amazing perks too.

But since childhood, Rodrick has had a target on his back, and his insanely power-hungry father, Demon King Ryton, comes across as his closest but worst enemy. Throw in the workings of an alcoholic mother, a bipolar sister, a recovering addict brother, and an adopted little sister with magical powers, and you have the royal family of Diar.
Things couldn't get any worse, until he meets the beautiful Princess Arcelia—but Arcelia isn't the main problem. Her and Rodrick are on now on the run from Rodrick's father, Ryton. And with the looming risk of world destruction ahead of them, Rodrick is worried about more than college exams.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Winnifred Tataw
• Release date: Jan 18, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386699330

Book preview

The Gods

THERE WAS NOTHING, until the big bang and birth of Hapesire, the God of Space. Once space was born, Tempus, the God of Time followed. With the creation of time, came the creation of Vitae, the God of Life. Last with life came Mors, the God of Death. They are the founding Gods of all things, the Deorumars (Dee–or–mars). Most refer to them as The Gods.

Hapesire gave us our dimensions, universes, planets, cosmos, zodiacs, black holes, space portals, and stars. Tempus gave us the seasons or Condoras (Con–door–ahs), the Epochs (day, week, month, and year), the Allos (slumber, memories, fate, and prophecy) past, future, and present. Vitae gave us Sentinels (living spirits and guardian angels), the Seven Essentials of Life (air, water, shelter, food, culture, productivity, and socialization), emotion, the Seven Virtues (chastity, charity, temperance, diligence, forgiveness, kindness, and humility), new, hope, miracle and faith. Mors gave us Vigors (corrupted or ennui spirits), the Seven Deadly Sins (lust, envy, wrath, gluttony, pride, sloth, and greed), the underworlds, grief, and ghosts.

These may seem like a lot, but in each section, there is a child or demigod who rules over that factor. For Space, they are called Satellites. For Time, they are called Apostles. For Life, they are called Votaries. For Death, they are called Sycophants.

All four Gods reside in their own dimension. Taporis for Time, Spatium for Space, Himlen for Life, and Baratrus for Death. Mors’ realm is the only one that other living beings can physically enter. Though if they stay too long, they will lose their spirit and die. Though Hapesire’s dimension is in space, it is invisible and intangible. Vitae’s realm is only reachable by the children of the Gods and Acolytes. Tempus’ dimension is only attainable by the Acolytes (the Gods’ bridge between their dimension and Earth).

Many worship these Gods. A single race may devote them to one or two Gods in particular. Over time many religions or cult followings have developed, even though only a few people have seen the Gods, usually through dreams or visions. They themselves do not visit people. Instead, they enjoy watching from behind the scenes.

Even as Gods, they have personalities. Time is patient, calm, collected, playful, and wise. Space is lazy, stubborn, easy going, and imaginative. Life is curious, loving, giving, kind, understanding, and vibrant. Death is discreet, calm, watchful, and unpredictable.

The Gods see each other as equals, however, they are not equal in power. Now you know the story of the Gods and why they are considered as so. May they watch over you as you continue reading this story.

The Acolytes

EVEN WITH THEIR CHILDREN, the Gods saw a disconnect between themselves and the beings of Life: all living things on planets, particularly Earth (the first planet created with life). So, they created the Acolytes. They serve as the bridge between our world, the dimensions of the Gods, and the Gods themselves.

Each is incarnated in a different way depending on the God. All are born on Earth. This means there are only four ever in existence. Every Acolyte has been blessed with their own set of powers and abilities. They are usually the beings closest to the Gods.

An Acolyte of Death is chosen at birth. They will have the Emblem mark of Mors on their arm and be of the opposite sex of the last Acolyte. They are always Umbrian and pure white in color, with vibrant eyes and jet-black hair. The female is called Lady Death while the male is called Grim Reaper. They act as their namesake says; they deal with dead spirits. Their purpose on Earth is to guide spirits to Baratrus as well as cleanse Vigors. They do not and cannot kill. They only can take the spirits of those that are already dead.

Though they have a curse upon them, a living being cannot touch hands with them. If they do, that living being’s spirit is disembodied into a part of Baratrus. The spirit can possibly be recovered, but it can take months or years to find it. To place the spirit back into the body is even harder. No one, even the Acolytes of Death, knows why the curse is the way it is. No one dares to ask Mors for an explanation.

With the Acolyte of Life, it is the same as the Acolyte of Death with the rules of incarnations, though they are different in purpose for Earth. Acolytes of Life are here to bless newborns with life (think of it as a well-wishing for long and happy life). They guide Mir (the Votary of Miracles), Faith (the Votary of Faith), Hope (the Votary of expectation and desire for good happenings), and New (the Votary of birth, growth, and renewal) to their destinations of need. These four Votaries are the only beings born from the Gods that regularly dwell on Earth. The Acolyte of Life also prevents unruly deaths (i.e. suicides, murders, etc.), and this goes for all living things. Finally, the Acolytes are gifted with feathered wings and golden hair at birth. Along with the Death Acolytes, the Acolytes of Life are the most active on Earth.

With the last two Acolytes, their purpose and jobs on Earth get a little more confusing and complicated. The Space Acolyte works directly with Milky (the daughter of Hapesire and the embodiment of galaxies, cosmos, and space portals). All Space Acolytes do. They travel together between galaxies through space portals they open. They fix problems in the places they visit. The Space Acolyte works as a planner for Milky.

The creation of the Space Acolyte is chosen both by Milky and the current Space Acolyte. Once they are chosen, Milky comes to Earth and takes the child with her to raise them as her own. She is one of the few children and demigods to have such a caring, close, and guiding relationships with the Acolytes of the Gods. The child becomes an Acolyte between the ages of five to ten. The child is reborn with blue or purple hair with light colored eyes. The race of these Acolytes ranges across the board. They usually never stay on Earth once they become an Acolyte. The explanation for this is needed for another day.

Last are the Time Acolytes. They are the most offhand Acolytes. They are also the only Acolytes that have the least physical changes; the only thing that changes are the addition of the Tempus Emblem to their forearm. They are born after the previous Acolyte has died. Their main purpose is to prevent others from disruptions in the time-space continuum, which as the name suggests, they also do accompany the Space Acolyte. Their other tasks include regulating the Seasons on Earth, monthly checks on the amount of sleep dust being distributed, as well as communicating the events of Earth directly to Tempus. This is especially important during times of war, famine, drought, etc.

The People of Earth

ON EARTH, THERE ARE approximately 8 billion people. There is a vast variety of races that reside on Earth. From Humans to Mermaids, life on Earth is colorful and exotic. These four categories of the race on Earth: Water Marrows, Earth Marrows, Air Marrows, and Fire Marrows.

People that fall into the Water Marrow type are Mermaids, Jengus, and Sirens. All the Water Marrows have abilities to manipulate water. They can only do this with oceanic water and freshwater sources (lakes, river, streams, etc.). All W. Marrows have gills. Mermaids have human-like torsos and faces, with the lower halves of their bodies being made up of colorful fishtails. Many of the fishtails fall under the species of Bettas and Angle Fish.

Jengus are like Mermaids, but they are darker in skin tone, green hair, and orange tails. The largest differences between Jengus and Mermaids are that Jengus can morph their tailfins into fish-scaled legs. Lastly, are the Sirens. They are the only Water Marrows that do not have fish tails. They all have scales, some in patches, some head to toe. They can survive on land the longest compared to the other W. Marrows (Jengus –10 hours, Mermaids – 2 ½ hours, and Sirens 28 hours).

Earth Marrows by far has the most races within their class. They include Humans, Umbrians, Cyborgs, and Illusionists. Humans are the largest group of Earth Marrows and race on Earth. They have no special abilities. The only thing is that they have the most flexible DNA out of all races. This means that if they partner with another species, 99% of the time the child has the same or many of the same traits of the parent who is not Human. Humans usually are references to the normal or base exterior appearances. Umbrians come in second as the largest E. Marrow group and race on Earth.

They are identified by their skin being enriched with melanin, vibrant eye colors (blues, greens, and golds), their thick and natural hair patterns, and their shadow abilities. Umbrians have control over Sanikins (pronounced: Sss-ann-ee-k-inn) or shadow puppets. They can create and manipulate shadows of anything through making Sanikins, but they must come from a source near them. They can also phase through solid objects.

Cyborgs are really a mixed group. Any race can be classified as a Cyborg. It only means that at least 45.5% of your body is made up of robotic, metal or cybernetic parts. So, if you are an Umbrian with 50% of your body being robotic; you are an Umbrian Cyborg. Humans Cyborgs, however, are simply called Cyborgs.

Finally, there are the Illusionists. They are human-like but possess magical powers and abilities. Their powers can only work on living beings of Vitae, consisting of spells, curses, charms, enchantments, etc. Though with non–living things, they can move them in a variety of ways, but cannot change their physical and inner workings. Illusionists’ magic and spells can only last for short periods of time, but it very powerful. The more power multiple Illusionists put into a spell, the longer it will last. Their magic is generated by two things: the number of spirits and Vigors in the area they are in and their surroundings. Most of their charms and enchantments come from vegetation and things that are grown naturally from the Earth, which explains why their magic is so weak on metals and technology.

Fire Marrows consists of Serpents and Drakonians. Serpents are like Mermaids and Sirens, but instead of fish body parts, they have snake ones. They can have human-like torsos and faces with the lower halves of their bodies being snakes. Or they could be covered head to toe in snake scales or patches. They mostly live in very, very hot areas, usually underground. They have heightened their senses of sight and smell, as well as poison vats in their fangs and nails. Their poison is twice as dangerous as Drakonians’. However, it takes more time to go into effect.

Drakonians are considered one of, if not the only, most powerful race. This is due to their various abilities. They can protract wings from their back; they have retractable layers of scales in their skin, they can produce flames from their bodies, they have amazing vision during the day and night, they can hear extremely well (mostly this is a trait of males), they have retractable fangs and claws and may have to nullify or burning poison in their fangs or claws (this is most prominent in females). Most Drakonians do not retract their scale exteriors because they are used for protection and are hard to maintain. Even without the scaled skin, their cover skin has a rough feel to it. They usually have warm colored hair (reds, yellows, and oranges) and deep colored eyes.

Last of all is the Air Marrows. They consist of Harpies, Fairies, and Pixies. Fairies and Pixies are basically miniature Humans that have wings, though Fairies are larger in size. The tallest Fairy can reach up to 4.5 feet, while the tallest Pixie can be 1.2 feet. Both can sense spirits, Illusionists, and Vigors. They are beings that possess environmental magic. This means that depending on which area they inhabit, the magic they use adapts to it. Their magic consists of changing the chemical makeup of one thing to another (i.e. they could change fire into tree branches if they are living in a forest).

They usually live in wooded areas or vast plains. Fairy wings resemble that of butterflies, while Pixies resemble dragonflies. Harpies are the most distinguished race on Earth. They can have a mix of Human and bird body parts. Their bird parts resemble those of birds of prey. More than half of the population has wing appendages and beaks. The wing can be arm appendages or back appendages. All Harpies have large eyes, feathers, and ear-piercing cries.

The Countries of the World

Map of Earth

Chapter 1

His Illusory Realm

MY EYES SHOOT OPEN. I am lying alone on the ground. I stand up and see a narrow path in front of me. I start to walk.

My forearm is glowing, the Emblem of Tempus is the culprit. As I continue down the mysterious path, a light appears at the end of the path.

Finally, I get to the end of the trail.

There are two ancient doors standing in front of me. I push them open, eager to know what is on the other side. The door opens, and the light reappears. I reach out to it. I barely graze my fingers on it, when I am transported to another atmosphere. I look down at my arm