The Children of Gods and Magic: Athra, #3

By M. Eugene Smith

In a desperate bid to avert catastrophe, the sisters, keepers of sacred knowledge, are compelled to call upon their sons for aid in a perilous quest. As the young heroes embark on this dangerous journey, the fear of the old gods, rising from their slumber intensifies.

 

Will the powers bestowed upon them be sufficient to stop a new magical force threatening the gods thousand-year slumber, or will the ancient Fae, in their arrogance, determine the destiny of all the realms? In a race against time, the young champions must confront mythical creatures, navigate treacherous landscapes, and unlock their latent potential to ensure the survival of Athra.

 

"The Children of Gods and Magic" is a pulse-pounding adventure where alliances are tested, and the boundary between myth and reality blurs. As the threat intensifies, the fate of Athra teeters on the edge, and the question echoes through the realms – can the Children of Oracles stand against the looming darkness, or will the whims of the Fae decide the ultimate destiny of all the realms?

• Language: English
• Publisher: M. Eugene Smith
• Release date: Oct 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201850319

M. Eugene Smith

M. Eugene Smith, is a passionate writer with a penchant for fantasy and science fiction. From his early years, M. Eugene has been an avid reader, delving into the realms of imagination since he first learned to read. Currently residing in the vibrant landscapes of southern Texas, M. Eugene shares his abode with not only his spouse but also his canine companions. Embraced by the warmth of southern Texas, he indulges his love for gardening year-aound. As M. Eugene Smith continues to weave tales that transport readers to fantastical realms, his writing remains a reflection of the profound connection between the human spirit and the wonders of the natural world.

Book preview

Chapter 1 — Rebirth

Griesel hovered over the shallow hole in the ground and fretted over the fact that the contents could get him killed. He tired of remaining in his darkling form but knew that the light of his preferred state would draw unnecessary attention in this dark region. The female Vanir, lying motionless in the shallow grave before him; needed his protection if she were to be restored to life. The tissue and muscles around her skull had nearly regrown. Startling blue eyeballs stared upward into the violet sky but were not yet conscious of their surroundings. Skin had begun to grow on her abdomen covering the stratified muscles beneath. Her arms and legs would soon be hidden too, beneath the cream-colored complexion.

He checked his surroundings again and strengthened the shielding he had put in place around the area. He felt the power of the orbs at each corner throbbing in response to his magic and he drew on them a bit to help him hold his darkling form a little longer. He felt diminished in this state, nearly a full meter shorter than his ancestral form. Clammy gray-green skin covered his entire body. His hunched back rose sharply in a ridge of spines between his shoulder blades. Large yellow eyes dominated his face. His broad, lipless mouth held sharp teeth, good only for shredding and his protruding nose was always in his line of sight. Yet there was one consolation to this form; the beautiful blue and black butterfly-like wings that protruded from his back. Displays of iridescent swirls and streaks, graced them, a stark contrast to the rest of his body. In this form, his lanky arms and pointed claws, were a constant reminder him of his indisputable Fae nature.

The shine of the three moons entering their conjunction in the sky above; marked a thousand years since their last merge and the fall of Vanaheim. The Fae had inherited this broken realm from the Vanir after their complete annihilation by the old gods. Time and space were so badly fractured by the war that reality itself existed in patches, and only his kind had managed to thrive in such a place.

Even as he waited, the mountain behind him began to fade, replaced increasingly by a grass filled glen surrounded by a forest of whistling trees. This meant another Fae was nearby. Multiple realities and points in time could collide or share the same space in this realm which made protecting the life at his feet that much more difficult and perilous.

Griesel observed the small female whose skin had nearly regrown, covering her entire body. Her chest rose and she took her first breath as her eyelids fluttered with life. Her underdeveloped body glowed. She was just a child really, as all the others had been. A thousand years had passed since a living Vanir existed. He hardened his mind, determined to make the difficult choice. Her life was in his hands alone, unlike all the others who had appeared under the light of the converging moons. His determination to keep her alive burned inside him, overshadowing his fear of being discovered.

She sat up abruptly, a mixture of disorientation and fear growing on her fragile face. She exhaled roughly through feline teardrop nostrils. Her scalp had grown a fine, silver-blue stubble, similar to the faint hue, of the ancient Elves. Little nubs protruded from her head which would someday grow into thick horns. Her lightning blue eyes focused on him, and her mouth opened to speak, but Griesel cautioned her, bringing his finger to his lipless maw in what he hoped was the universal sign for silence. Her mouth closed in response.

Seeing that he meant her no harm, she accepted his outstretched hand and climbed up on to the damp grass next to a mound of freshly piled dirt. As she adjusted to her surroundings, he could see the confusion beginning to build and by the sight of her wide eyes and quick breaths he knew she was preparing to run. Gently pulling his sack from behind a rock he rummaged through it, retrieving the fruit he’d taken from the wild orchards and handed her an exceptionally ripened Tablorn. She looked at it curiously until her tiny hand reached up and took it from him biting the golden skin and tasting the wicked deliciousness, discovering why it was prized for its threefold attributes. Upon piercing its skin, a sweetness filled her mouth, almost tickling her tongue. Then, it transformed into a hearty rush, similar to that of a perfectly aged wine. Finally, finishing with a taste like that of the purest of chocolates.

Her eyes narrowed in awe, and she held the remainder of the fruit close so she could examine it, as if she might discover its secrets. After realizing she could learn nothing more by observing its appearance, she devoured the remainder of it, discarding the small pit on the ground. She looked up at him, obviously hoping for more.

Seeing her response, he produced a gourd filled with light mead and placed it in the girl’s outstretched hands. She sniffed at its contents, appearing to still question his intentions. Once she’d decided it was satisfactory, she drank the entire thing and let out a small burp as she handed the empty gourd back to him.

He glanced behind them. The mountain was completely gone and whoever had entered the area, was getting closer. The stars were slowly being replaced by flying creatures with long thin tails, gliding overhead in circles. Then the outline of a giant gnome-like figure appeared, swatting at the winged fliers with an enormous hand, as if they were nothing more than an annoyance. Griesel motioned for the girl to follow, holding his finger to his mouth again. She nodded her head and started after him as they made their way towards a densely wooded area with only a single obscured path leading into it.

He led her by the hand, but she grew reluctant, frightened by the darkness of the old forest. The sounds of croaking Dylads grew around them as they drew closer, each of them attempting to tell their tales of love and loss over the calls of the others. The girl’s eyes grew narrow with trepidation and her pace slowed. Finally, he stopped and whispered words of encouragement to her. Her reply wouldn’t come at first, but finally words he didn’t understand tumbled from her in an unintelligible stream of consciousness. The air nearby seemed to be affected, for it brightened and altered the reality around them. Concerned that she might inadvertently alert others to their presence, he let the growing sense of urgency show in his widening eyes as he again attempted to lead her deeper into the woods.

She relented at last, convinced by his deep concern, and again they moved forward. Her delicate new body was naked, but she didn’t seem to mind the damp mist of the forest. She started to hum a song he’d never heard. The trees nearby, reacted to it, bending their limbs to her while the reality around them swirled with colors and scents he’d never encountered.

Then she broke out into full song and the woods around them disappeared. The swirling colors bloomed into billowing clouds and the ground beneath them started to shake. The sky tore open and revealed a bright sun. Realizing too late what was happening, she let her song crescendo in a high-pitched finale. Light gathered around her, and enormous power radiated outwards. She was so caught up in her song that she didn’t notice its impact until it was too late.

The land all around them splintered and great chasms ran out in all directions, swallowing what remained of the old forest. It was as if an enormous hammer had slammed into the ground causing destruction unlike anything Griesel had ever seen. The swirling currents of light spun out into the realm disrupting realities as they went, leaving behind a trail pointing the way to them like a beacon. Her lone figure stood amongst the destruction, stricken immobile with terror.

Then an enormous shudder went through the whole realm, as if a sleeping giant had just turned over, beneath the ground. Griesel wondered if the entire cosmic Tree of Yggdrasil had shaken or had the girl somehow interrupted the slumber of the old gods? If so, had she reversed what the last of her people had accomplished with their final spell-song? Fear welled up inside him at the very thought.

Griesel panicked. They were far from any of the commonly used portals through which they might escape. Noticing that the girl had suddenly gone silent, he watched her mood change from the elation and wild freedom of her song; to horror and confusion, as she witnessed the destruction in the world around her. Griesel’s fearful reaction pushed her deeper into a state of paranoia. As he reached for her hand to help, she quickly withdrew from his grasp, and his black claws scratched her arm.

She reacted instantly, recoiling, and pulling her arm protectively to her chest. Her eyes grew large with accusation. Griesel attempted to calm her, apologizing profusely, and holding his palms out to show he meant no harm. Then, his attention was briefly drawn away, towards a loud sound, like thunder. In that moment she spread out her senses, locating what must have been a familiar magic. Taking advantage of his distraction, she stepped backwards quietly towards the magic, and again felt for the opening with her mind. Focusing the power within her on the old, shuttered portal, she burst through the enchanted barrier placed at its entrance as if it were nothing more than thin strips of paper.

Having been distracted, he was taken by surprise to see her slip through the shimmering opening and disappear. Shock and panic spread through him like lightening. It was too late, but he knew he still had one option. Despite the depletion it would cause to his magic, he called up the power only his kind had mastered in this realm. He spun it around in his mind and reeled time around him backwards, recalling it the furthest he could manage. He hoped the meager five seconds he could recall would be enough. He watched the girl emerge from the portal, in reverse. When time had been recalled to its furthest point, he rushed towards her, but just missed her wrist before she again disappeared through the invisible opening.

Too late, he cursed at the thickening air around him. Despite his exhaustion, he managed to open the old, forgotten portal for himself and threw his body like a limp doll into its waiting embrace. He knew he would be safer crossing through the portal, no matter the destination, despite being too weak to direct its path with the necessary magic. This was preferable to being found defenseless by his fellow Fae. Falling for what seemed like an eternity, he finally emerged onto a foreign, cold and barren ground, his ancestral form fully returned and shining brightly for all to see.

Chapter 2 — History Lessons

Raspiria sought to clear her head from the barrage of petitions and heavy decisions that needed to be made for the kingdom. Her many responsibilities as Queen of the Elves left her little time for the simple pleasures of life and yet today, she’d managed to steal some time from her busy schedule to stroll out under the statue of Akril. The giant figure, with her ever watchful eyes, hovered over the temple with her arms stretched wide above the steps leading down into the gleaming capital city of Vorn. The only other similar statue stood in Constellation City, a gift from the Elves. Like so many other great cities, it had taken decades to rebuild Vorn after the Dark Lord’s spider army reduced it to rubble. However, she couldn’t take all the credit for restoring the city. Her daughter Riley had done so much of the heavy lifting in the early years before Raspiria was brought back to life by the Gaia. Now that Riley was married and living in C’den, the responsibility of leading the kingdom had once again fallen to Raspiria.

As she walked through the shadow cast by the statue of Akril on the temple veranda, she stopped to listen in on the class of young Elves. They were full of eagerness to learn. Their teacher was one of her own acolytes and knew elven history well. Her dark hair hung straight down her back, only interrupted by pointed ears and deeply slanted eyes of green which accented her long face. Despite the difficulty of teaching history to ones so young, she managed to inject enthusiasm into her words and the children raised their hands excitedly to answer her question.

Lakke, you raised your hand first. You may answer.

The boy’s voice was high pitched with youth, but his mind was sharp for his age.

Yvbrn’s tribe left Alfheim during the great war and escaped to Earth... I mean Midgard.

Both are correct. You are allowed to call it by either name. But yes, it was Yvbrn’s tribe that traveled from Alfheim during the time known as the first diaspora. Many fled their realms during the old gods’ war. Midgard was considered insignificant and believed devoid of magic by the old gods. They never attacked it directly or enslaved the population unlike many of the other eight realms.

Raspiria remembered her history well. Buri, the oldest god and father of Borr became jealous of the power growing within the nine realms. It was Borr’s own children, Odin, Vili and Ve of Asgard, who were attacked first. The old gods believed Asgard had become too powerful, and it was only a matter of time until they would dare to challenge them. Buri and Borr conquered the high kingdom and then moved onto each of the other realms, disregarding Midgard and the realm of Muspelheim, which had willingly allied itself with them.

Who can tell us how the war was won?

Several hands shot up but not as many as before, and none were as quick as Lakke’s.

Lakke, let us give another the opportunity to answer, she said, trying her best to spare his feelings.

Yarin, you were second. Can you tell us about the end of the war?

Yarin, responded enthusiastically. After all the other realms were conquered, the old gods made war on Vanaheim and killed all the Vanir except for thirteen sorcerers. The Vanir made a spell-song and poured all their magic into it. The song put the old gods to sleep, but because of the amount of magic used in the spell, all the remaining Vanir died too.

Very good Yarin, that is correct. Vanaheim was the last realm to be conquered but the Vanir were likely the most powerful of all. Many believe Buri and Borr would have destroyed them first had they not been so jealous of Asgard. In the end however, the ultimate sacrifice of the Vanir ensured our survival, thanks to their final, selfless deed.

Yarin looked around at the others as if an obvious injustice had taken place and then blurted out.

That is sad. How come no one helped the Vanir?

Glancing briefly back at Raspiria, the teacher returned her attention to the child with a patience Raspiria admired.

No one was able to stop the old gods, Yarin. It is sad, but this was something all the realms were powerless to prevent. Pausing only for a moment, she continued. Let us move on now. Who can tell me how Athra was created and why?

Raspiria continued to listen as the children explained detailed events in overly simplified terms. Her own grandfather: Vorn, the city’s namesake, and twelve others, had taken the Athenium Stone and used it to create a similar replica of Earth, naming this new world Athra. Technically Athra was a tenth realm, but until the Great Wall linking the two realms was destroyed, many thought of it as part of Midgard.

Towards the beginning of the last millennia, Earth’s inhabitants grew hostile towards those with magic and so Athra was created as a place of refuge. A second diaspora took place during that time and those with magic journeyed to Athra. Up until the Dark Lord’s time, Athra had always been a safe place for those with magic. After his defeat, Jade transformed into a Gaia and was instrumental in restoring much of Athra. To this day, Jade and her fellow Gaia all over Athra protect the realm from ever again falling into the hands of dark magic.

Raspiria’s thoughts were interrupted by an abrupt shaking. It was disorienting, and it took her a few moments to realize it wasn’t the ground shaking from a quake, but rather something altogether different. It was as if Athra was being jostled like a giant globe in a child’s hands. Still, buildings shook, and cracks formed in the temple floor where the mortar was weakest.

When it stopped, she rushed to the children and assisted the teacher in confirming they were alright. Afterwards she hurried back to her husband, Thrall, who stood anxiously awaiting her arrival at the doors to an archaic stone building, often referred to as the queen’s palace. There would soon be many worried subjects gathered at these doors with a single question on all their lips, but one for which she had no answer.

Chapter 3 — Earth’s Lost Ones

The Vanir girl knew only instinct. She hadn’t completely trusted the Darkling and now she was frightened of him. Her fear was further compounded by the power of her song and the fluctuating nature of the reality she had left behind. The sudden shaking of that world, and the scratch on her arm had combined to send her into an uncontrolled panic and a desperate need to escape it. An irrational fear was associated with the trembling ground, but she did not know why. It was as if a memory was there, a warning she couldn’t quite nudge out of hiding.

She was even more afraid by the fact that she couldn’t remember anything. All she’d known in the first few minutes of her life was fear, with the exception of the pleasantness of fruit and mead the darkling had given her. There was still an intense hunger and thirst as her body was roughly ejected from the portal’s exit. She stumbled onto hard dry dirt and rocks.

The harsh sun glared down on her from overhead. The midday heat was stifling but the lack of moisture somehow made it more tolerable. Feeling vulnerable, she let her eyes adjust and then moved as quickly as her weak legs would carry her to a nearby rocky outcropping with a thin area of shade.

The dust began to blow in random directions and a swirling vortex danced by her hiding spot while she watched it in wonder, as it was completely new to her. When it passed, she saw small curious faces peering over rocks at her in the distance. She realized it must have been the light and sound of her arrival that had drawn their attention. After a few seconds, all but two of them disappeared. The ones remaining, stared intently until finally all of them came out from behind the boulders and started down towards her, making their way cautiously along the treacherous uneven slope. She counted six; of varying sizes but all were dirty and unkempt. Their tattered clothes were patched together with strings and knots which made her suddenly aware that she had no clothes of her own.

The appearance of the children was almost a relief, but somehow, she knew that she couldn’t trust others without a reason. They circled around her as she drew back further against the bare rock, uncertain what they wanted from her. The tallest, a young male, said something to her in a language she didn’t comprehend. He extended a hand towards her and pointed back the way they had come, motioning for her to join them.

When he finally held his fingers to his mouth insinuating food, she relented, but it wasn’t just the hunger overriding her fear. She sensed a sincerity in him. Venturing out of the shade, she tested the hot ground with feline caution. The other children seemed curious at her perfect skin, and the smallest of them touched her hand, wanting to hold it. At first, she withdrew, but after realizing how young the child was, she reached back down and took hold of her hand. The young girl beamed a trusting smile. As she stared into her large brown eyes, she knew there was nothing to fear from these children.

They led her up and over several sets of rocky hills until she saw strange geometric shapes shooting straight up into the sky. As they got closer, she realized they were remnants of some alien architecture that gleamed when the sun hit them at certain angles. Here and there, they passed flat areas that went in straight directions for as far as the eye could see. The children seemed especially cautious near them and looked in both directions before crossing. There were no signs of anything having passed through the dust, but the girl sensed that there was much she did not know about this place.

As they picked their way up a steep incline, she could see they were heading towards a collapsed structure built into the rocks above them. Its broken roof slanted parallel with the ground and its dull beige paint was covered in red dust. When they arrived at a crack in the foundation, the boy at the front squeezed through it, disappearing into the darkness. One by one, they took turns slipping through the small opening until the girl found herself inside a dark area where she could see nothing at first.

The little child found her hand again and pulled her forward. She let herself be led while her eyes started to adjust. Rounding a wall, they emerged into a large room with a hole where the ceiling and wall met, letting through light at an angle. Towards the back of the interior was a single, elevated section with a shiny polished pole, that reached all the way to the ceiling. Oversized chairs, much too big for them, sat at random angles as if they’d been pushed out of the way, up against the platform. She couldn’t see all the way to the edges of the room but by the collection of objects situated in different groups, it was clear that this was their home.

Then her eyes were drawn to a green patch on the far side. As she looked closer, she realized that the meager sunlight shone down on a garden of modest fruit trees and low-lying plants. The boy smiled at her surprise, and he motioned for her to investigate with him. Soon she found herself amongst what appeared to be wild plants, left to grow without any tending. Surprisingly, nearly everything she found was edible as demonstrated by the boy. Each of the trees bore some kind of strange fruit or nut. He encouraged her to try each of them and so she feasted until her hunger was satiated.

In the middle of the garden was a small pond, fed by a trickling stream through a wall, made up of perfectly rectangular stones. It was as if the stones had been made. She placed her hand on its rough sandy surface, noting their perfect angles and mortared joints. The small opening through which the water poured was no bigger than her fist and she wondered at its source. While her hand rested on the wall, she felt a great power behind it.

Letting her hand drop, she bent down and drank greedily from the small pool. The water was cool and refreshing, but again she sensed something in its origin. There was more to this than what her eyes could see, or her fingertips could discern. For now, she would have to be content with reaping its gift of water and food.

She was given what thread bare clothes they could part with and a dry place to sleep with the youngest who seemed to have become attached to her. As the days turned into weeks, she started to grasp words and was even given