《The Long Song》


 Prologue: A Lullaby

    In the first breath of Creation, the heavens appeared. In the last moment of Creation, when the heavens were beginning to settle, a being was born. It had little understanding, for it was little more than a child. At first, it cried, for it felt scared. But in its cries, it found warmth, from the way sound, well, sounded. Then the babe began to change how the cries sounded, until it started to create a melody. As the babe grew, it continued to sing, and the sound echoed among the stars, and it caused them to dance. For an unknowable time, the babe grew, and it sang. The babe grew into a child, and with this came imagination. The child¡¯s song could sway the heavens, and so the child sang into creation a world, and it was dark, frozen planet. The child, seeing this, sung a song that brought forth one of the distant stars, and brought it to the planet. The child then spent a long time singing the star into the right place from the planet. Eventually, the child found where he wanted the star, so this planet would be warm sometimes, but cold other times, which the child loved. The heat caused the planet to thaw, and it became a planet that was crisscrossed with rivers, lakes, and oceans, but also mountains, deserts, and flatlands. The child was content with this, and made its home above the planet and continued its song. After more time, the child grew into a young adult, and it felt alone. So the Adult changed the tune, and created life. It created little furry things, and big scaled things. It created feather things, and bald things. But no matter what the Adult did, these creatures would die, because the creatures had nothing to eat. So the Adult created plants, which could take in light and water to survive. Then the Adult created his creatures again. And this time they thrived. The creatures moved everywhere. Some went deep into the ocean, some high into the mountains. Others went to the vast forests and jungles, and the rest went to the deserts and plains. The Adult continued to sing all this time, and watched over its creations. It watched them grow, and the creatures changed over time, just like its melody. The Adult was shocked when it saw some creatures eat the other creatures, but he saw and understood that it was necessary, or the creatures would get out of hand. But what truly shocked it was the creatures interacting. It saw love and hate, loyalty and betrayal. It saw this and wanted that for itself, because the Adult started to feel that just singing was getting dull, and it wanted to be experience what the creatures down there had. So the Adult sang parts of itself into creation. It created New Gods. The Adult finally had more of its kind, but sadly they could not sing like it could. The others could make beautiful sound, but they could not create with song. They could still create, just not as well or as varied as the Adult. There were 12 New Gods, each with their own dominion over creation. When these New Gods were born, they were already adults, and had knowledge about how they came to be, and their dominion. These New Gods decided to identify themselves from each other, and gave themselves names and genders. And these names were powerful, for they were the first names since Creation, and with this things began to change. First came Aeon, God of Time, and then came Lacuna, the Goddess of Space. Third was Cosma, Goddess of the Earth and Plants, followed by Ozon, God of the Air and Storms. Fifth came Aquam, God of Water and Seas, and the Goddess Igna of Fire and Metal. Seventh came Crittad, God of Mammals, and Saura, Goddess of the reptiles.  Ninth was The Goddess Avina, of the Birds. Tenth was Ancha, Goddess of the fish. Finally came the Twin Gods, Jus and Nil. Jus, the God of Darkness, and Nil was the Goddess of Light. These 12 New gods then named the Adult Chor, the God of Creation and Song, and the world was named Terrene. Then the gods began to rule their Dominions, with Chor as the Lead God. For a time they lived simply, but some of the New Gods became bored, much like how Chor once was. So the Gods created Mortals. First was the Dwarves, made by Igna. Short and sturdy, they were the master smiths under the mountain. Then came Elves, made by Cosma. Tall and Fair, they guarded the woodlands. Ozon and Avina made the Talonis, a winged race that lived in the Floating Isles. Crittad and Saura made the Beastmen, strong and proud nomads of the plains and swamps. Aquam and Ancha birthed the Gilland, the merfolk. Aeon and Lacuna decided to create the Draconian tribes of the mountains. Finally came Jus and Nil, who decided to create a little chaos. They made Humans, who were kind and cruel, greedy but generous. Chor saw his children¡¯s creations, and felt proud but worried. The world¡¯s first creatures and monsters, which he had made, had become much stronger than mortals were, and the mortals would soon be wiped out. So Chor made Magic, as a gift to the mortals. He made it have trees of magic, but made it so individuals could create new Magic. These original Magics were Time, Space, Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Life, and Death. He gave these Magics to the mortals, and made it so the races leaned towards one magic or another. He then limited the other gods'' way to influence the world, because he felt that these mortals deserved the right to live their lives the way they chose to. The gods all agreed except two. And they were Aeon and Lacuna. They felt that their father held too much power, and didn¡¯t want him to someday erase them if he felt like it. So they started to hatch a plan. The started to swing the other gods over to their side, until all the gods except for Chor, Jus, and Nil. They then one day started bringing up all the earthly experiences one could have down on the Terrene in front of Chor. Chor became incredibly curious, eager to try these new things out. But whenever he tried to go down to the world, the other gods would stop him, since he himself had ordered their influence to be very limited. He became frustrated until Aeon said he could just seal his powers and become a mortal for a short time. Then he could go down with minimum influence. Chor instantly agreed, and sealed away his powers, while creating a key to unseal his abilities. It was at this moment that Chor was betrayed for the first time. Aeon stole his key, since it was easy for him now. He touched it, and it seared his hand, causing him to drop it onto Terrene. Lacuna, while this was happening, tried to imprison Chor, but Jus and Nil grabbed their father and transported him down to Terrene, where he would be safe from the gods. And this is where our story begins. With Chor, the God of Creation and Song, stuck on Terrene, knowing that the key to his Godly Power is somewhere on Terrene. And when the last echoes of Chor¡¯s song fades, he knows that his children will soon realize that his song was a lullaby, for he was scared when he awoke for a reason.

 Chapter 1: A Key Change

    CHAPTER 1


    Well, this day could have been better.


    I stood in a clearing, surrounded by a forest as far as he could see. He looked down at his body, to understand this new mortal form of his.


    I don¡¯t feel short, so I¡¯m not a dwarf. I¡¯m not slim either, so not an elf. No animal features, so not Talonis or Beastman. Guess I¡¯m human. Not sure how I feel about this.


    I¡¯m above average height, with a sturdy build. I appeared to be in my late 20¡¯s or early 30¡¯s. I had black hair, and eyes that seemed to change color the longer you looked, according to my children. I have a 5 o¡¯clock shadow, and felt haggard, but with what happened to me just a few minutes ago, it was no surprise. I¡¯m tanned, with some muscle tone. All I had on a simple tunic, with leather pants, and simple sandals.


    But why would my children betray me? What are they plotting? Could they have allied with That? But I never told my children about That, so how did That make contact with them?


    ¡°¡°FATHER!¡±¡±


    The sudden shout makes me wince, and he turns around to look at his son and daughter. Jus and Nil, the only twins born among the gods, but also looked the most different. Jus, the God of Darkness, looked to be in his teens, with a tall, slender, pale frame. His hair covered his face, but all that could be seen was one red eye. He was dress plainly, with a white linen shirt and black vest, black trousers and boots. A shabby sica hangs at his left side, its naked black blade exposed, chips and cracks barred for all to see. A faded black parmula was strapped to his back.


    I then looked to my youngest daughter. Nil, the Goddess of light, appears to be a teenage girl at first glance. She has shoulder length black hair, tied in the back to keep it out of her face. She has golden eyes, with a smattering of freckles across her nose. She is deeply tanned, but is tall and slender, like her brother. She is dressed in well fitted silver chain mail, with golden leather armor over it. She has a blue cloth tunic on underneath all that that reaches to her knees. She had golden greaves on her legs, and past those were sturdy brown boots. She held a golden hasta in one hand, glossy and well maintained. Strapped to her other hand, a silvery clypeus gleamed in the light of the day. A sheathed gladius is at her side.


    ¡°¡°FATHER! CAN YOU HEAR US?¡±¡±


    ¡°Yes, I hear you kids, you can stop yelling. I was thinking.¡± I gave my children an apologetic smile. I know that these two are just concerned about me, since what happened is unprecedented.


    ¡°Dad, I swear you¡¯ll be the death of me.¡± My son gives me a relieved smirk. I can see the concern in his flippant expression.


    Suddenly, I feel my head wrenched to the side, to see my daughter¡¯s face way too close to mine.


    ¡°Father, are you okay? Is your mind intact? Is there a problem with your body? We kept calling your name, and you wouldn¡¯t respond.¡± My daughter has thrown her weapons aside, and is holding my head with her hands, turning and jerking it every which way to get a closer look. I bring my hands up and take hers into mine.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, little one. Now if you could stop that, before you twist my head off, that¡¯d be great.¡± I smile at her, while tightening my hands on hers so she understands. ¡°I am mortal now. If there is any damage, I¡¯ll just have to live with it. But since you asked so¡­¡­insistently, I feel fine.¡± I let go of her hands and take a few steps back. I then turn and make eye contact with both of them.


    Stars above, I¡¯m mortal. I can¡¯t heal, or fly. I can¡¯t stop time, or freeze space. Oh sweet merciful heavens, I can¡¯t even sing my song. If I can¡¯t sing, then That could awaken and then- Nope, nip that thought trail in the bud. I will regain my power, and I will sing again.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.  ¡°Now then, do either of you want to explain to me why my other children rebelled against me? I would truly love to know this information, since I¡¯M GETTING MORE PISSED OFF AS I THINK ABOUT IT. WHEN I GET BACK UP THERE, I¡¯M GONNA-¡± I interrupt myself, knowing that getting mad is not going to help.


    But once I get up there, no power in the ¡®verse will stop me from beating them from one side of the palace to the other.


    ¡°*ahem* I mean, please explain. Before I lose touch with reality again.¡±


    My son and daughter exchange a worried glance, and that makes me more worried. My daughter and son keep looking at each other, speaking without words, clearly arguing. Back when I was a god, I monitored them to see if it was some sort of power, but nope. They just seem to know each other that well. My daughter snorts, clearly winning whatever argument they just had. My son looks at me, and begins to speak.


    ¡°Dad, remember how you laid down the restrictions on us? You know, the really annoying ones that limit our influence on Terrene?  Well, it caused us to be scared shitless. I mean, all of us are all powerful beings in our right, but you just showed to us how powerful you are, and how much weaker we are compared to you. I mean, we knew you created the world, but we thought that if we all worked together, we could match you. Instead, you created something that, in an instant, limited our powers. Something that all of us working together couldn¡¯t damage, much less undo. Sis, you want to take over from here?¡± My son was having trouble looking me in the eyes. Did he think I would be mad? If my children had just come up and talked to me, I would have changed the restrictions.


    ¡°Father, the others felt too scared to talk to you, and they thought that if they made you feel as powerless as they do, you would either get rid of or change the restrictions. So they decided to trick you into wanting to visit the world. Knowing that you would weaken yourself temporarily instead of lifting the restrictions, because you have an image to uphold. The rest you already know.¡± My daughter is also not meeting my eyes, and fidgeting in place.


    So I scared my children that bad, huh? Good to know. When I get back, I¡¯m going to show them true fear, and then apologize, because I never thought about how the restrictions would feel for them. If I found them annoying, it must have been torture for them.


    I look at my children, then look at the sky.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t think of how you kiddos would react. But when I get back up there, we are going to have a ¡®talk¡¯. Be ready for some punishment, because this is not just a small inconvenience.¡± I gave my toothiest grin to the sky, and I think I saw it shiver. I then look at Jus and Nil.


    ¡°You have to leave me soon, because if you stay much longer, and the restrictions will kick. The only reason it hasn¡¯t yet is because there are none of the major species present.¡± My kids started to object, and I cut them off. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. I just need to find the key. But I need you to head back, and tell the others that if I can¡¯t recover the key, they are going to need to get ready for things to start change in the heavens. I can¡¯t tell you what will be coming, but know that I may have been the first god, but I was not the first being. Go, and prepare for war.¡±


    My children looked at me with wide eyes, and nodded. As they began to open their mouths to say something, I felt the wind pick up, as my restrictions started to activate. I looked at them and just mouthed the word ¡°Go.¡± And then all I saw was an explosion of light get sucked into an implosion of light, and I was alone on my world, weaker than I have ever been before.

 Chapter 2: Key Signature

    I still stood in the middle of the clearing, and looked around. I was surrounded by trees, and the undergrowth was too thick for me to see very far.  I looked up in the sky, and guessed it to be early morning. That gave me most of day to figure out how to survive down here.


    The restrictions. A simple set of rules to cut down on the interference of my children with the life of Terrene. It prevents the kids from dicking around with the others¡¯ creations, because it limits influence. Giving out a weapon of divine power, staying too long, or causing trouble, and the restriction flairs up. Who knew my kids would take that so badly?


    Now on to the matters at hand. What are the things needed to survive if you are mortal? Food, I think? Is that what my body is craving? Lucky me, I¡¯m standing on grass, and I know animals eat it, why can¡¯t I?


    I squated down, and grabbed some of the grass beneath me, ripped it up, and started to chew it. And then I spat it out.


    Okay, I can¡¯t eat grass. Good to know. Wish I could though, it would have made my life easier. I guess I¡¯ll have to keep trying things until I find something I can eat.


    I stood up and walked around the clearing, to see if there was anything that could be useful. As I walked around, I kept my ears peeled into the distance, to hear if anything was coming this way. And I heard nothing.


    Okay, I may not have many experiences on Terrene, but I know I should hear something. This is all too silent. I should hear birds, small animals, even insects, but this is all too silent for me. Even if the wildlife was scared off by my ¡®arrival¡¯, I should hear something. What¡¯s going-


    I suddenly found myself discovering the taste of dirt, and not particularly enjoying it. I lifted myself up, and turned to look at what I tripped over. What I found was a simple steel spatha, lacking any decoration, in a simple black scabbard. Next to it, hidden in the long grass, was a wooden parmula, also lacking decorations. Next to the parmula, I saw some sturdier looking clothes, a bandolier of knives, a canteen of water, and a sack full of dried meat with hard¡­..bread I think? I wish I saw that sooner. The taste of grass is still in my . I looked up at the sky, and smiled, knowing my children decided to help me out before they left.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it  I changed into my new gear, strapped on my sword and shield, and looked down at myself. Simple brown leather boots, the same pants, and a faded green linen shirt. Over that, I now had a worn looking leather breastplate and hood, with a cuise for my legs. I have to admit, my children had good taste, and the fact that it was worn made it clearly less desirable. It almost makes me want to cry, knowing the youngest of my children had common sense. Apparently, that has been in short supply among my kids. After I finished adm- I mean, checking over my equipment, I turned to the last thing my children left me. A lyre and strap, roughly the size of my shield. I picked it up, and strummed it.


    And I laughed, the first laugh I had since I became mortal. And it was for a stupid reason too, but I couldn¡¯t stop. I felt like all of the stress that had been building up since I got here just wash away. As the chuckling subsided, and strummed the lyre again, and laughed. And I thought my gift might have rubbed off on them, but nope. Couldn¡¯t tune an instrument between them if they tried. I sat down and chuckled again, and started tuning it. A few minutes later, I stood up again, a softer smile on my lips as I strummed it again, this time in tune. I loved music, any form of it. Over time, I saw the races on Terrene discover music as well, and I learned their versions too. I liked the lyre, had a good sound.


    It¡¯s too bad my powers are sealed though. I could show these mortals a thing or two about music. Well anyway, I think it¡¯s time to start moving. I have no clue where the nearest village is though. Guess I¡¯ll just pick a direction and go that way. Have to find the key sometime, right? And east is giving me a feeling. The key and I are linked, after all.


    The Key and I, since we were one, are linked. I get a really vague guess of what direction it is in time to time, but that¡¯s about it. And right now, that¡¯s east. So as I start walking that way, I started to strum my lyre, and began to sing a traveling song I learned from the nomads.


    ¡°When I wake up, well, I know I''m gonna be


    I''m gonna be the man who wakes up next to you


    When I go out, yeah, I know I''m gonna be


    I''m gonna be the man who goes along with you.¡±


    And I left the clearing, and continued to sing, as I took my first steps into the new-old world.