《War of the Gods: Wings of Light》


 Prologue

    ¡°What''s got you all giggly this morning?¡± Yang asked his beloved daughter, Dawn, while taking a bite of cheese covered scrambled eggs.


    ¡°Just happy I got to see my friend last night again.¡±


    ¡°Your dreamwalking skills are improving at a rapid pace,¡± her mother, Helena said as she took a bite of an apple. ¡°I''m quite impressed!¡±


    ¡°Thanks mom!¡±


    The family is recovering from the loss of Dusk, the heir to hope and light. Yin, the god of darkness and their greatest enemy, used Dawn as ransom in order to force Dusk to join him. Dawn still has a light scar where the dagger was used to cut her neck.


    Yang sees the scar and sighs, thinking about his son. Helena holds his hand and smiles.


    ¡°We¡¯ll bring him home.¡±


    Yang smiles.


    The family continued their breakfast.


    ¡°Howwww¡¯s myyyy sister from another misterrrr?¡± Rio came up and ruffled Dawn¡¯s hair


    ¡°Hey Rio! I''m okay.¡±


    ¡°That''s good. That''s good. The gang and I were planning on going out-¡±


    Rio could feel Yang¡¯s protective glare.


    ¡°Chillax uncle Yang, she¡¯ll be fine. She''s with us!¡±


    ¡°Still...¡±


    ¡°Dad, I never go out and do anything.¡± She gave Yang the puppy dog eyes, knowing full well that it''s his weakness.


    Yang gave a huge sigh.


    ¡°You can go.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    ¡°After you finish your lessons and training for the day.¡±


    ¡°But dad! Rio, try to convince him pleeeeeease.¡±


    ¡°Uncle, come on. She hasn''t had fun with us for ages. She only ever spends time with her dream boyfriend.¡±


    ¡°He''s not my boyfriend!¡± Dawn protested, face flushing red.


    ¡°I sure hope not.¡± Yang said defensively.


    ¡°Yang, honey, just let her go. She could use the day off,¡± Helena intervened.


    Yang thought about and conceded.


    ¡°Fine. Be back before dark.¡±


    ?????????????????


    Yin spent the last five years conditioning and training Dusk to be his loyal tool of war. Dusk was forbidden to use his power over light and is forced to rely on darkness, which hurts him.


    Dusk regularly gets beaten and tortured by Yin. Nisshoku plays mind games with him while the others just boss him around and mock him.


    ¡°Look, it''s the fallen king. Hey, Dusky!¡± Phoenix called, while sitting on a couch, taking a swig of his vodka flask. ¡°Refill this.¡±


    ¡°Do it yourself, and stop calling me that.¡±


    Phoenix slammed him against the wall with blinding speed, face red from anger.


    ¡°I will call you whatever the fuck I want to call you. Now be a good little boy and do what I ordered! Got it?!¡±


    Dusk, in an act of defiance, kicked him hard in the gut, sending Phoenix flying backwards into another wall. Phoenix landed on his feet.


    ¡°So, you want to fight huh?¡± The air in the room became very hot, indicating Phoenix¡¯s growing rage. Flames engulfed Phoenix as he charged up some blisteringly hot fire in his hands. ¡°I''ll give you a fight!!¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    A large ball of fire was hurled towards Dusk at rapid speed. Dusk sliced through it with his hand, dissipating it.


    The fight between the two quickly became vicious.


    Yin heard all of the commotion and rushed to the common area, where he witnessed his nephew fighting his general.


    ¡°Enough!!!¡±


    The two stopped their battle, both bruised and bloodied. Phoenix¡¯s face went white with mild fear while Dusk¡¯s flooded with absolute terror.


    ¡°Phoenix, take care of your wounds and do something else to release your rage.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir.¡± Phoenix muttered he left the area to the castle infirmary.


    Yin looked at Dusk with furious eyes. Dusk immediately went to his hands and knees.


    ¡°Please! I beg you! It was self defense! He attacked me first!¡±


    ¡°I know. And you should''ve kept your head down like a good servant.¡±


    ¡°I''m your nephew! We¡¯re family! You shouldn''t be treating me this way!¡±


    Yin used darkness to coil around and constrict Dusk. Dusk struggled to free himself.


    ¡°You insolent brat. I don''t care if we share the same blood. You''re nothing but a slave in my eyes.¡± His darkness coiled around Dusk tighter. ¡°Looks like I gave you too much free will. That must be remedied immediately.¡±


    Yin forced the dark coils to bring Dusk over to him. He placed his thumb on his forehead. ¡°Any final words before you become my mindless puppet?¡±


    Dusk looked at him, eyes full of disgust and hatred, and managed to successfully break free from the coils, stunning Yin. Dusk used the opportunity to try and escape, sprinting through multiple corridors of the castle, pushing past servants and slaves in his desperate attempt to flee.


    Once Yin got over his initial shock, rage replaced it. Darkness swirled around him as his rage grew, causing the ground to shake and a furious wind to blow. His anger reached a critical point where his body turned pitch black and darkness cloaked his very being. His other servants and slaves felt his rage and were utterly terrified. Yin saw his nephew¡¯s every movement and teleported outside his castle grounds to stop him.


    Dusk felt his uncle¡¯s rage and ran even faster towards the castle doors. He felt hope that he would finally escape the hell he¡¯s been put through. He could finally go home, to his friends, to his people, to his parents and little sister. He burst through the door to the front garden and ran for the gate knowing that if he could escape castle grounds, he could finally be free from the torture and abuse Yin put him through.


    What he wasn''t anticipating was his uncle waiting for him just a few hundred yards away, cloaked in his divine darkness, radiating a hideously furious aura.


    ¡°You thought you could escape me?¡± Yin started, raising his hand up. ¡°Think again.¡±


    Yin blasted Dusk with a powerful beam of black energy. Dusk was barely able to avoid it.


    ¡°I''m going home, whether you let me or not!!¡±


    ¡°Hmph. Foolish.¡±


    Utilizing every skill his father taught him, and knowing full well that he will almost definitely lose, he fought his uncle. He fought with all his strength, even using his light powers, that he was forbidden to use. Yin barely had to move as he ordered his darkness to counter his nephew without even moving or speaking.


    Flashes of light and darkness filled the area as the uncle and nephew fought. Dusk was fighting a losing battle and was running out of energy.


    ¡°Is this the best you can do?¡± Yin mocked. ¡°If so, then Yang raised a weakling.¡±


    Dusk gathered his remaining energy and blasted a ray of brilliant light. Yin countered with an equally powerful ray of darkness. Both energy''s clashed against each other, neither overpowering the other. Dusk strained to keep the beam strong while Yin didn''t have to struggle at all. Eventually Yin grew bored of playing fair and allowed his power to overwhelm Dusk, knocking him unconscious.Yin used his time powers to fix the makeshift battlefield then he grabbed Dusk, teleported to his dungeons, and threw him in his cell, chaining him with his powers in the process. He closed and locked the cell doors, and ordered more guards to be placed.


    ¡°Alert me when he''s awake.¡±


    ¡°Yes your majesty,¡± a guard said with a bow.


    A few hours later, while doing some maintenance of hell from his throne, a guard came up to him and kneeled. Yin looked at him.


    ¡°Speak,¡± he commanded.


    ¡°The prisoner is awake, your majesty.¡±


    Yin stood up from his throne and went to the dungeon where his imprisoned nephew sat, struggling to get out of his chains.


    ¡°I was far too lenient on you, slave.¡±


    Dusk looked at Yin with eyes full of pity.


    ¡°Quit acting tough you coward.¡±


    Yin was taken aback by his response.


    ¡°Mind your tongue boy. Don''t you dare forget who you¡¯re talking to!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, a damn coward. Hiding his emotions and hurting others to feel better about himself.¡±


    A nerve was struck within him.


    ¡°I pity you uncle.¡±


    ¡°I don''t want or need your pity.¡±


    ¡°Do you really want all power for yourself, or do you just want to spread your own pain onto others under the ruse of wanting to be the ultimate ruler of the multiverse?¡±


    ¡°BE QUIET!!!¡± Yin lashed him with a whip of dark energy. ¡°As I''ve stated before, I''ve been far too lenient with you.¡±


    ¡°I''m not scared of you.¡±


    ¡°Then I''ll make you fear me.¡±


    Before Dusk could react, Yin put his hand over his face, and began blasting him with dark energy, forcing Dusk to see horrific visions of his family and friends being slaughtered, through the eyes of people who were witnessing the end of their planet, and horrible nightmares of being devoured alive by demons.


    Dusk grabbed Yin¡¯s wrist, struggling to get Yin¡¯s hand off his face while begging him to stop. It was only a few minutes, but those minutes felt like hours for Dusk. When it was over, all that was left was a traumatized Dusk.


    ¡°Now then, will you obey my every command?¡±


    Dusk nodded frantically.


    ¡°Glad we¡¯re on the same page, but to be doubly sure,¡± Yin touched his forehead and an insignia formed on him. ¡°Now I can force you to do what you''re told if you even get a little bit rebellious. And it will only hurt a lot.¡±


    Dusk was freed from his chains and collapes onthe floor, trembling. Yin kicked his face and left the cell, making sure to lock it as he left with a slight laugh.


    Dusk was left on the floor of his cell, trembling and weeping, desperately wanting to go home.

 Chapter 1

    My birth was foretold in a blessing many ages ago when great god and goddess, Yang and Helena, came to visit Luminous. I was born with the ability to control and manipulate the holy power of light. With that light came the ability to dream walk.


    I remember meeting her for the first time in my dreams. We quickly became friends. My father was rather pleased that I always went to bed on time rather than staying up late like other kids at that age. What he didn''t know is that my best friend only appeared in my dreams.


    We met when we were five. She was learning how to control her dream powers and fell into my dream with her mother in tow.


    ¡°Be careful sweetie. You can''t run off like that.¡±


    Little me was mesmerized, seeing the dream and star goddess and her daughter.


    ¡°I''m terribly sorry little one.¡±


    I was too awestruck to speak.


    ¡°Mommy, I wanna play with him. He seems nice. Can we play pleeeeease?¡±


    The goddess sighed and let her daughter play with me, a simple mortal child. The girl ran up to me.


    ¡°My name is Dawn! What''s your name?¡±


    ¡°T-Tsubasa...¡±


    ¡°That''s a cool name!¡±


    I was a terribly shy child, always clinging to my father as my mother passed away from illness when I was three. He always told me that I must learn to handle my shyness to be an effective ruler.


    Dawn and I played in the dream space almost every night under her mother¡¯s careful watch. We played many games such as pretend adventures and tag, I pretended to rescue her from a monster and we pretended to fight monsters together. Her mother definitely helped with her ability to manipulate the dream space. Because of Dawn I was able to gradually open up and be less shy.


    ¡°Do you wanna do an exploring game?¡± I once asked her.


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    ¡°What should we explore?¡±


    She thought about it for a moment.


    ¡°A jungle? We can find ruins and see if there''s any treasure!¡±


    ¡°Or discover new people!¡±


    ¡°Or both!¡± We said in unison, causing us to giggle.


    Helena laughed a bit.


    ¡°You two are simply adorable!¡± She used her powers to create a jungle for us and made us look like real explorers. We headed off into the dream jungle.


    It was like this every night, constantly playing and spending time with each other. When we were awake, I was on Luminous training to be king, and she was in heaven training to be the next dream and star goddess. I went to her temple once a week to pray and worshiped her.


    My father was a kind and loving man. I still remember his broad face, hazel eyes, and kind smile. I''ve taken over the throne after my mother passed. Luminous doesn''t do father to son when it comes to royalty, we do ruling parent to first born, so we¡¯ve had plenty of ruling queens in the past. My father was just the regent until I was old enough to rule by myself. He married into my family, so he was king only in title. He was able to give input and have some say in important decisions, but other than that it was mostly King-consort. When twins or triplets are born, it''s the chosen heir that inherits the throne and it has led to some serious drama like attempted murder and fights. We keep that under wraps as we don''t want the people to worry or choose sides. Discord among the people is the last thing we want.


    However when we were eating dinner one evening, he stated that he wasn''t feeling good, he stood up only to collapse on the floor, convulsing violently before bleeding from his mouth. Some servants and I immediately ran to his side. His body was limp.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    ¡°Poison,¡± a servant said.


    ¡°He can''t be dead!¡± I cried, desperate. ¡°Dad can''t be dead!¡± I tried shaking him, begging him to wake up, hoping that he would miraculously open his eyes and say that he''s okay. A servant had to lead me away while I cried out to my dad. We never did find out who poisoned him. We assumed it was the rival family. They coveted the throne for generations. What''s worse is that they worship the god of darkness. To think we let them be nobles in our court.


    I cried on and off all day. Funeral proceedings happened a week later. Around the same time, Dusk was taken by Yin. Dawn and I comforted each other during these hard times together.


    I had no regent lined up, so at the age of fifteen, I was on my own. I had advisors to help me make wise choices. It''s hard when you''re forced to grow up in the waking world. In the dream space while asleep, I had virtually zero worries. As long as Dawn was with me, all my problems melted away. I was steadily falling in love with her.


    ¡°Lord Tsubasa,¡± one of my servants said, while I was in my blacksmith''s workshop. It was a fun hobby for me, making weapons and armor. I was taking a break outside to cool off in the autumn air. I was 17 at the time.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°The priest has come to visit you.¡±


    ¡°I''ll be there soon. I have a project that''s almost finished. Please inform him.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir.¡±


    I went back inside to finish what would eventually be my signature weapons, a pair of swords, made of a titanium-mystral alloy. The handle is made of golden mystral and decorated with turquoise crystals on the ends of the handles. I was teaching myself how to battle with two swords and utilize them with my light powers.


    When I finished my blades, I went back to the castle, taking them with me. I didn''t look very kingly, with soot and sweat on my skin. I saw the priest at the entrance.


    ¡°Blacksmithing again?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°I see. The daughter of the stars has a gift for you.¡±


    ¡°A gift?¡±


    He opened a small box and inside was a beautiful necklace, made of platinum and with a small sun charm made of gold on it. I took the necklace and admired it.


    ¡°It''s beautiful...¡± I said, mesmerized. ¡°I love it!¡± I had a huge smile on my face.


    ¡°I''m glad you do. She will be happy to know.¡± The priest smiled. ¡°You know, she has taken quite a liking to you.¡±


    I blushed. I kept my spending time with her in my dreams a secret from everyone.


    ¡°I offer my thanks to her. Oh. Here. Give these to her. I know she''s learning how to fight with knives.¡± I hand him a package of throwing knives that I forged. ¡°Please make sure she gets them.¡±


    The priest stared at me for a moment before accepting.


    ¡°I''m sure she¡¯ll love them.¡± I could tell by his voice that he wasn''t very convinced. ¡°Have a good afternoon, your majesty.¡±


    ¡°I''ll come by the temple at my usual time tomorrow.¡±


    He left the castle. I left to put the necklace in my room then took a desperately needed bath. The servants kept it nice and warm and I went in. I scrubbed myself with soap and just relaxed in the bath for a while. Next thing I knew I fell asleep.


    Dawn was already waiting for me in the dreamspace, I''m just glad I was clothed in the dreamspace. My heart fluttered at the sight of her, long black hair fading into blonde, clear blue eyes, light skin. She looked pretty sad. Seeing her sad made my heart ache.


    ¡°Hello Dawn.¡±


    She jumped a bit and turned towards me.


    ¡°You startled me!¡±


    ¡°Sorry. You seem down. Are you okay?¡±


    ¡°Just...¡± I knew what she was thinking.


    ¡°You miss your brother.¡±


    Tears were welling up in her eyes as she nodded. I hugged her. She hugged me in return, sobbing. I comforted her. I hated seeing her so sad. She truly loved her brother and the god of darkness had to rip him away.


    I wiped her tears with my finger and we were looking into each other''s eyes. I swear I could get lost in her beautiful blue eyes. Slowly we leaned in to each other and kissed for the first time. We stopped after a couple of seconds. Then we started making out. We stopped after a minute.


    ¡°I''m sorry. That wasn''t appropriate of me,¡± I said, ashamed.


    ¡°No. It''s fine. I''ve been wanting to tell you that I liked you... a lot.¡±


    I was elated by the news.


    ¡°I feel the same way!¡±


    We kissed again and hugged each other.


    For the rest of my stay in the dream space, which was only about ten minutes since I was in the bath, we spent time walking on paths and frolicking in flower fields.


    As soon as I could sense that I was waking up, I kissed her goodbye and I was awake. I finished bathing and left the bathroom to get clothed again. As soon as all that was done. I went to my study and addressed the concerns of my people.


    For the next three years, Dawn and I were dating. I could never see her while I was awake, but I always went to her temple. The priest was made aware of my secret relationship with Dawn and was sworn to secrecy. Officials were hounding me to find myself a wife, but was firmly set on only marrying the woman I love, even if she can''t come to the mortal worlds just yet. I would''ve waited forever if I needed to. My officials wanted me to at least name an heir once I got it through their heads that I''m not marrying anyone on Luminous.


    Behind the scenes a coup was forming, and I was none the wiser. While I was with my court, discussing the preparations for the yearly arts festival that would be happening within the next month, I felt a searing pain in my chest.


    Next thing I knew I was at the gates of heaven.