The Descent of the Goddesses

By Noah Christopher Lockhart

Kassandra, Rain, Pyra, and Frost are four goddesses whose lives began at the creation of the universe. Their divine bodies, which can never be destroyed, are born from the elements of Fire, Ice, Storm, and Earth.
Their lives consist of prayer and meditation. The eldest, Kassandra, believes their devotion will one day lead the creator to reveal their ultimate purpose.
After years of this peaceful meditative existence, a doorway appears from the world above. Impetuous Rain opens the door against Kassandra’s wishes and reveals our world to these divine beings. Kassandra fears what she does not understand and forbids exploration of this strange place. However, her concerns are not heeded as goddesses come in contact with a new dimension with consequences no one could expect.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665562003

Noah Christopher Lockhart

Noah Christopher Lockhart grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. He was an honor student, graduating from John F. Kennedy High School in 2017. He began writing and drawing in middle school receiving a Young Authors award. His love for Anime characters inspired his art work. He served in the Army National Guard, where he achieved the Army Commendation Medal and rank of Sergeant at twenty-one years old. Noah was a Lineman Apprentice for Cleveland Public Power Company.

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© 2022 Noah Christopher Lockhart. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/15/2022

ISBN: 978-1-6655-6199-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-6201-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-6200-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022910975

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in

this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views

expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

The Defection

Dawn’s End/Braxton

Regent Queen Ayla. Yærgo Ja’rul/Narrated

Emperor Tenzin The Conqueror/Tenzin

Worries/Pyra

Tenzin’s Blood/Tenzin

Pyra’s Black Ops/Pyra

Pyra’s Black Ops: Retake Kudava/Saiba

A Warriors Path/Braxton

Asphyxia/Pyra

The Hunt/Braxton

The Hunt Continues/Braxton

Pyrin: City Of The Blazing Storm/Pyra

Betrayal/Tenzin

Red Lightning: The First Successful Infusion/Ayla

Bloody Crescendo/Pyra

Bloody Crescendo Act Ii/Sarin

Aftermath/Rain

Aftermath Ii/Pyra

The Golden Age/Ayla

Silent Rain/Rain

Minerva’s Reach/Silas

Detective Rain/Rain

Desire’s Temptress/Silas

Justice For The Wicked/Silas

Judgement/Silas

The Beginning Of The End/Ayla

Seeds Of Deception Between Roots Of Truth/ Minerva

Cracks In Kinship/Pyra

In loving memory of my son Noah. Words cannot express how much you are loved and missed.  You were the most humble, loving, kind and creative soul I knew. You were inspired by many things and this book and artwork you created were just one of them.  I wanted to see your vision come to pass, so as I continue this journey for you and through you in spirit I hope you are as proud of me as I was of you.

All my love until I see you in heaven,

 Mom

The world above is considered the true home of the four goddesses. It is a dimension that has existed since the beginning of time, along with the goddesses that reside there.

The goddesses, whose lives began at the creation of the universe, have divine bodies born from the elements fire, ice, storm, and earth. Their bodies and souls, being elemental in nature, can never truly be destroyed.

Before the descent, the four goddesses’ lives consisted of meditation and prayer. For Kassandra, Goddess of Earth and the oldest of the four, believed that, one day, their creator would give them guidance on their purpose. So, for eons, they meditated and ruminated before a pillar that they believed housed the spirit of their creator. Suddenly, a doorway appeared in the world above. Rain, Goddess of Storm, against Kassandra’s wishes, opened it. It revealed our world to them.

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THE DEFECTION

Kassandra, fearing what she did not understand, forbade entrance into the world below. Rain and Pyra reluctantly complied with her wishes, and they returned to their meditation. 200 years later, Kassandra claimed to have received an answer from the pillar. However, she refused to share this revelation with her sisters. For Pyra, Goddesses of Flame, this was the breaking point. She had grown tired of meditating and thinking about what their creator had in store for them; she had come to the conclusion that this was a waste of time. For the first time Rain agreed with her, and, together, they decided that their purpose was in the world below. Kassandra was apprehensive but let them go, however, not without a warning.

You may leave but know this, should you do anything that would threaten that world, I will kill you.

Oh? Is that the message that boulder gave you? Rain asked sarcastically. Be the guardian of a world you have yet to even lay eyes on? Fine, so be it. You know, I abhor the fact that I spent thousands of years up here waiting for an answer to my existence simply because I allowed myself to be blinded by your faith. in that the Spirit of creation would speak to us and that we just had to listen. Well, it’s clearly not that simple, and maybe it isn’t true. Why would he only speak to you? I’ve had enough, let’s go Pyra. Frost are you coming as well?

No, I will remain here with Kassandra. Farewell sisters, Frost replied.

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Through the doorway was land for as far as the eye could see. Pyra and Rain, eager to see what they had been missing, stepped through without hesitation. In mutual silence, they took in their surroundings. For the first time, they felt the wind on their skin. It was accompanied by the soft rustling of the grassy plains and hills that stretched on, seemingly forever. They both cracked a smile as they basked in the sun’s glorious rays. They took their first steps in this new world with curiosity and exploration in their hearts.

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One month had passed since their arrival. Rain had already began studying the area and wildlife, while Pyra explored beyond the area they already knew. It was then that Pyra sensed a fire being kindled. She materialized herself at the location of this fire. She opened her eyes to frightened children.

A demon! Father, help us, one child cried.

Pyra was confused. She had never laid eyes on anyone but her sisters. The language they spoke sounded slurred and strange to her ears at first. Gradually, the meaning behind the sounds became clear in Pyra’s mind. The children returned with their father and others, all with spears in hand.

Demon, return from where you came! There is nothing for you here, yelled one of the men.

You’re the leader of these people? Pyra asked. Why are you shaking? I don’t want to harm you.

The townspeople did not lower their spears. Instead, they remained silent and tried to remain calm, but still could not hide their overwhelming fear. I’ll say it once more! Return from where you came, demon!

Pyra, annoyed by their ignorance responded, I’m not a demon. Have your senile ears heard anything I’ve been saying?

Then one of the younger townspeople, without his elder’s permission, thrusted his spear at Pyra. And, upon contact with her clothing, the spear melted instantaneously.

Wow, nice job hero. I’ve had enough of messing around. Maybe Rain will have an idea of how to approach them. So, Pyra returned.

Upon learning of Pyra’s discovery, Rain burst with feelings of excitement and curiosity. Can you believe it? They thought that I was a demon, Pyra said with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

Whaaat? Nooooo, you totally look nothing of the sort my dear sister, Rain said sarcastically.

Anyhow, this is what we’ve been waiting for. Maybe our purpose was here all along. Maybe it’s to learn about these people, said Pyra.

Yes, perhaps it is exactly what we wanted, said Rain cautiously.

So, how do you think we should approach these people? Pyra asked.

I think the best way to get them to trust us is to help them. But, from what you’ve seen, they are self-sufficient. They really don’t need us, which will make it difficult for us to learn about them. Explained Rain. So, we need to make a situation in which they will need us. We need to make them feel like their very lives are at stake for this to work. So, here’s the plan. At dawn we’ll put on a show that they’ll never forget. And, once it’s over, our names will be forever etched into their hearts, as gods.

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DAWN’S END/BRAXTON

Today began just like normal. I woke up in the barracks like every other morning to take my shift, guarding the wall. To be honest with myself, I didn’t take this job to defend my town or anything noble like that. I just figured it was easy, safe money since our town is somewhat in the middle of nowhere. While I patrol my section of the wall, I take my occasional 30 second glance at the tree line. It is not like anything dangerous ever comes from there anyway. Then I heard my name being called from the tower

Hey Braxton! Did you hear what happened yesterday?

No, what happened Lewis? I asked.

Apparently a fire demon appeared in the dining hall, and Paul is getting a Medal of Bravery for being the one to scare it off! Replied Lewis.

A fire demon, eh? Maybe this job isn’t as safe as I once thought.

"Yeah, maybe we’ll get to see some action