Prologue
“I have loved life too fondly to be fearful of my actions.”
They, the children of the sun, are cattle.
We used to decend on their planet ever few hundred years to ravage and feed.
Demons they called us, yet it mattered not to us. Only our hunger concerned us.
As our own population began to decrease due to internal conflict and strife,
our people began to rely more and more on a steady food source.
A logical step was to be seen not as demon, but as divine protector.
Their culture has been designed and implemented by us,
carefully manipulated over the years to follow the directive.
Their lands are rich in minerals, and they labour throughout the eons to present it for us.
Planet wide farming and living edicts have increased the global population and quality of live.
Their sons and daughters are conditioned to be of excellent health and condition.
Every few hundred years we ask them for their brave sons and daughter, and they gladly do it.
They, the children of the sun, are cattle. | | 
We, the children of the sun, are blessed.
Long ago, in an age of great strife and darkness, demons came from the shadows.
They stole the very souls of men and threw our world into darkness.
Eons of bloodshed and fear would have gone on without end if it wasn’t for the heralds.
The gods had gifted us with their offspring, the heralds, to help us fight the darkness.
They came from the very sun itself, descending down on the realm of shadow.
They halted the advance of darkness and eventually pushed it back.
Even at this day, the heralds are fighting a battle between light and darkness.
Our lands are returned to life, our oceans once again filled with water and hope has settled in our hearts.
Whilst we have flourished, the heralds have dwindled in numbers over the eons.
We, the sons and daughters of the sun, have sworn an eternal oath to the heralds;
To aid them wherever we can, to the best of our abilities and to to stand by their side at the final battle.
We, the children of the sun, are blessed. |
Kneel
Kneel!
Kneel!!
One could hardly describe the feeling you had inside the core of your heart and mind when you witnessed a Herald with your own eyes. It wasn’t that they towered over you, nor the way their armour glittered in the sun like a beacon.It was far more instinctual, as if their very presence continued a faint whisper of the gods ushered so many years ago.
They were few of them around now, yet each of them brought with them great change.
Some recruited brave soldiers by the dozen, other by the thousands, all to fight in the last battle for light.
It was the greatest honour a person could achieve in life, and the purest one at that.
One might be born in rags or in silk, yet to fight next to the herald, all were equal in their light.
Recruitment usually happened in large amounts but very infrequent, only every hundred years or so.
People could train all their lives for the possibility of serving the Heralds, only to see their grandchildren being blessed with that honour.
The Herald that had entered the capital was by himself, escorted by a small group of Talons and Claws, with five or so truth speakers at the back and front. It was a small detachment to protect a single Herald, not that anyone would even dream, dare or be able to harm a Herald.
The Talons and Claws were elite soldiers; men and women born and raised on this soil and who had been blessed by the gods themselves and chosen to fight in the last battle. They were well armoured and equipped.
Talons were the soldiers who had been chosen to serve the Heralds and no king, queen or other on this realm could move or command them.
Claws were talons who had left this world and fought in the last war. They had seen the demons up close and had lived through it. The Claws that came back were hardly the same. They keep to themselves and do not acknowledge former ties, be it family or friends.
The Truth speakers are individuals either so talented or zealous, that they were handpicked by a herald himself. Some are warriors, others are diplomats or engineers. They come from many nations and cities, yet serve the only true goal in life; the aid their Herald.
As the Herald made its way to the heart of the capital, people followed him with their eyes, respectfully. Some prayed for the Herald’s continuing health whilst others made the sign of hope and contentment, knowing that they had been blessed by the gods.
If one looked closely they could see that the Herald bore the bright gold ornaments on its neck, waist and wrists, signalling that he was a leader amongst the Heralds.
One thing was for sure, wherever his path was this day, destiny would be shaped by its steps.
