Wings Of Immortality

By Okumu Sylvester

Dradowool, a home to the most powerful beings in the universe faces extinction as a chilling dark power rises. A powers that extends through out the vast universe and threatens the existence of every living creature.
A new generation of warriors must rise and defend their world against the dark power but will they manage to overcome the darkness before it consumes them from with in?
Immortal beings blessed by the all-flame test their bond in this fantasy adventure as they travel from their home world and witness the evolution of the earth from the time of the great giants.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Okumu Sylvester
• Release date: Mar 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005347420

Okumu Sylvester

Okumu Sylvester Douglas, known to the world as Sylver, is a versatile artist whose creative journey spans the realms of music, literature, and soon, acting. Born on August 19th, 1994, in Kampala, Uganda, his life and artistry are deeply intertwined with his personal experiences. Sylver's musical prowess is undeniable. As a singer, songwriter, and producer, he has made a significant mark in the music industry. By 2023, he has impressively released four albums, each showcasing his evolution as an artist. What sets him apart is his unwavering commitment to his craft. He took on the role of both writer and producer for two of his albums, "Everfade" and "Conscious," a testament to his dedication and creative talent. Under the spotlight, he is known as Sylver, a captivating performer whose melodic voice and heartfelt lyrics resonate with audiences worldwide. His music reflects a profound connection to his roots and a deep exploration of emotions. Beyond the world of music, Sylver has ventured into the realm of literature, adopting the pen name Okumu Sylvester. In 2021, he made a remarkable literary debut with "Wings of Immortality," a novel that garnered attention and earned a nomination in the TCK Readers' Choice Awards that same year. His literary journey continued with "Leona and the Ten Pillars," a captivating dystopian sci-fi book series, showcasing his storytelling prowess. In 2023, Sylver expanded his literary horizons by releasing "Sleeper," a gripping spy thriller that promises to engage readers with its suspenseful narrative. Sylver's artistic roots are firmly planted in his hometown, Kampala, Uganda. His debut album, "Eleven," released in 2016, stands as a heartfelt tribute to his father, who tragically passed away when Sylver was just eleven years old. This album, released eleven years after his father's death, showcases his ability to channel personal experiences into powerful music. Not limiting himself to music and literature, Sylver ventured into filmmaking. In 2018, he directed the music video for "Lie to Me," a song from his second album, "King." This foray into visual storytelling further demonstrated his creative range. As of 2023, Sylver is poised to embark on yet another artistic endeavor—acting. He's set to make his acting debut in a TV show that he wrote, taking on the lead role. This new chapter in his career promises to showcase his talents in a different dimension of the entertainment world. Ok...

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WINGS OF IMMORTALITY

Copyright 2021 Okumu Sylvester

Published by Okumu Sylvester at Smashwords

BACKGROUND

Long before the first humans ever walked the earth, a war waged on in the stars. An inter-dimensional war that lasted eons. This war was evenly matched with no one side having an upper hand. The undying dragon clan possessed the ability to create flames that could burn to a point that they could match the intensity of the sun. On the other side was the phoenix clan, immortal beings created by the spark of life - the very flame that created the vast universe. Neither clan - over millennia, was able to deal a decisive blow against the other to win the war. They traded advantages from one battle to another but the overall stalemate was hard to escape seeing as the dragons were undying and the phoenixes were reborn at the end of their cycle.

Each clan had ranks among them, ranks that represented their power, the higher ranks in these clans were said to carry the will of the flames. There were only two ranks that could challenge each other in devastating fashion and these were the royal born and those of the principal line who were descendants of the original guardians of their clan; they were to protect the royal born and to protect those without rank. The royal born carried the will of the flame; they were born to lead and had within them the most powerful latent power in the clan. Both dragons and phoenixes were bound to the fire element with neither one being superior to the other.

Stories were told of the old days; days when a chosen few dragons and phoenixes possessed the ability to control other elements in addition to fire. But with no body in the new generation possessing the ability to control any other element, these stories were just that.

Although neither one of the clans could kill the other in battle, rituals were held where the eldest clansmen and women would offer up their life energy and return to the flame of creation in a ritual they called the ascension. The eldest among each clan would walk up to the ancient ritual chamber and release their life energy into the flame. It was said that this flame was the original flame that gave life to all that was. If the individual failed to release their life energy into the flame, it was said that their time to ascend had not come. The ascension ritual was the only time that both the phoenix clan and the dragon clan would congregate together without conflict.

When a war has gone on for as long without a victor, other options are explored. In this case, peace became a concept worth exploring. Tired of the never ending wars and tension, a conference between the dragons and phoenixes was agreed to put an end to the war and naturally, there were conditions set for the truce. One royal born from each clan would marry into the other clan and two born of the principle line from either clan would do the same. And so the families were selected as per the truce and the marriages held simultaneously. However, within one of the royal families selected was a secret - a secret that had sown the seed of destruction long before the truce was publically suggested.

As per the agreement, the females joined the families they married into in their territory. The masses had mixed feelings about the unions as both clans had harboured hostility towards each other for so long. The unions however managed to put an end to the war.

THE SECRET

Long before the truce between the clans, one royal family from the phoenix clan had come up with a plan. This plan was intended to deal a decisive blow to the undying dragon clan. This was long before peace was explored as a possibility when all anyone thought of was winning the war and breaking the stalemate. The royal family worked together with a principle phoenix to aid in this plot. The family wanted to find a way to actually kill a dragon. This family had used ancient forbidden black arts to make it possible for a phoenix to wield the abilities of a royal and a principle phoenix, a scheme that would break the balance that was the foundation of the will of flame. There was a heavy price that was paid as a female royal phoenix carried the child of the principle phoenix with the aid of ancient spells. The spells used belonged to a generation that had long passed and held more secrets that in time would shake the foundations of the entire universe. Despite little knowledge of the spells that aided the pregnancy, a baby girl was born. It was a birth that came at a heavy cost as the child’s mother could not survive its birth. The infant was born weak but that weakness was snuffed out almost instantly as the child’s father had his life force forcibly taken out of him by a power that had been born along with the child. This was no ascension. The child seemed to claim the life energy of its mother and father. The only survivor on that fateful night was the royal husband of the phoenix mother that had just died as well as his most trusted aides. After what he had witnessed, the remaining royal carried the child in his arms and took it home. Even though he expected to pay a price for what they were attempting to do, he had lost his wife and a friend in the same night and for their kind, the death of anyone was not just strange, it was unheard of.

This lone survivor now held in his hands a way to kill an immortal but he was conflicted. The baby girl was all he had left of his wife and his friend and if he approached the council with the truth of everything that had happened, the consequences would see the child subjected to horrors he could not even imagine so he decided to wait and to raise the child until she was mature enough to take care of herself. He would then come clean and face the council for he was repentant for his role in what had happened. With the help of his closest aide, he covered up the events that had happened on that fateful night and took the child, raising it as his own.

The child was raised as a royal phoenix and with the abilities of a royal. There was never any doubt in their society of what she was. She was raised fully aware of what she could do. Her father kept no secrets from her. When she was of age, her father decided it was time to tell the council of what had happened all those years ago. However, on the day he had decided to meet with the council, an unexpected interference happened.

Before he had the chance to speak, he was told about the truce that had been decided between the clans and that his daughter was the royal phoenix chosen to be married to the royal dragon; the prince and heir to the dragon throne.

NEW ERA

After talking to his daughter, they decided to at the very least let her future husband know about her history. Time passed slowly and the young prince grew to love his bride and accept everything about her. The girl had also grown to love the young dragon prince and the couple was happy together. The royal couple and the two principle couples were later married.

Years into their marriages, the other two couples had each given birth to twins, each child with a different elemental ability in addition to fire - the first time in eons that it had been witnessed. It had become clear that the stories of old had foundation in reality. It proved to everyone that when there’s peace and harmony between the clans, they only become stronger. It had begun to feel like a new age however, while the principle couples had twins that were fully developed with command over two elements, the royal couple had one son with no abilities whatsoever! The couple themselves thought it could have been an effect of the special condition of the mother but they loved their child regardless. They were content and happy.

The clans got together every year to hold a banquet celebrating the end of the war. These banquets were characterized by retelling – by the older generation – of the events of the war; how there seemed to never be any hope for peace. There would be gory tales by survivors of the most lethal clashes. At the end of every banquet was then a recital of the two clans’ commitment to maintaining the peace.

A few years had passed and on the night of another banquet a toast was held by the father of the royal dragon cheering on the couples and the children born but before he could finish his toast, he was interrupted by his drunk brother. He called the royal the phoenix bride a whore who had birthed a reject that did not carry the will of the flames and that the baby should be taken and thrown into the ascension chamber.

The royal prince tried to calm his uncle down but when he failed, he decided to just take his wife and child away from the event. He had underestimated how serious his uncle was. With a temper befitting a dragon, he attacked his nephew furiously before turning his attention to his nephew’s wife and child. The young mother was struggling to make sense of how everything was going so wrong with no one trying to hold back her crazed in law. Nobody tried - except the other couples who were also being harassed. While she was distracted by her thoughts, the crazed dragon grabbed her child. It might have been the alcohol but by touching the child, the crazed dragon royal had inadvertently sealed his fate.

THE AWAKENING

The young phoenix bride reacted almost on instinct alone. The only problem was that she was no ordinary royal phoenix, and the consequences of touching her child were instantly fatal. The sight of her family being abused changed something in her. In the next moment after her child had been grabbed, in the time it would have taken to blink, the banquet hall was dripping with blood. The royal bride had taken her child in her left hand and a heart beating its last in her right hand. It was the heart of her husband’s uncle! She then released a dark aura that sent out a shockwave rendering all dragons and phoenixes that were not of royal or principal origin unconscious.

In the moment that followed the shock of what had happened, the young phoenix turned her attention to her husband. He was still recovering from the attack from his uncle. She had a tear in her eye. She knew that the life she had built with her family had undoubtedly come to an end. Her husband walked towards her aware of how their lives were never going to be the same again. It took the rest of the royals and principals a longer time to recover from the shock of what they had witnessed.

The dragon king although still in shock understood his role as king and as the host of the banquet. He restored order by personally placing his son and his family under arrest trusting that his daughter in law was not going to take further action. He understood the reaction of his daughter in law as a parent himself. That very night, news of the death of one of the royal dragons spread through the lands. With ordinary folk in a panic and afraid of how a phoenix easily killed a seasoned warrior dragon and a royal at that, the other principal and royal dragons demanded retribution. It was unthinkable that a royal dragon could be killed. There were so many questions about what had happened. The dark energy from the phoenix bride, the killing. The phoenixes saw what had occurred as a tip in the balance that had existed for eons. Everybody did and as for the dragons, some of them took it upon themselves to raid the Dragon king’s castle and even if they knew it would be impossible to kill the phoenix, they were out for blood and wanted to kill her child instead.

They had long suspected that since the child had no elemental ability, he could be killed and that alone made the dragons eager to get revenge. Everything kept escalating.

It would not be long before a battle would begin. The dragons now had reason to believe that the phoenixes had always intended to use this strange ability that could kill the dragons against them. For them it was a battle to balance out the death of one of their own. Caught ill prepared for combat, the dragon king was on the defensive in his castle trying to keep his family safe. A battle soon commenced and