Chapter 13.

*"Mommy! Mommy!" I called, my bare feet slamming into the wooden floorboards as I bolted down the hallway into her room. "Read me a bedtime story!" I demanded, placing the book in her lap.

She took one look at the cover, well worn from use and sighed. "That legend again?" I nodded. It was my favorite, although I'm sure my mother must have been sick of it, having had to repeat the words at least thrice a week.

But she never complained. She just scooped my small self up into her lap and opened to the twenty-fifth page, its picture and text bookmarked by a pressed leaf, and began:

"Once, there was only Dust in the Universe. No one knows how long it sat there, cloaking everything, or when it left. But when it finally drifted away, it revealed four young, sleeping men, and they were Gods. Without the Dust putting them to sleep, the brothers awoke, noticing how each one was entirely different. Uldyŋ could produce rocks and nature, Bel, flame and light, Zephryus, air, and last, Freyr of water. Together, they cleared away the Dust, until the only thing left was the Nothing. They sat in the Nothing for ages, unsure of what to do, when Zephryus remarked that he should like to see his brothers, and in turn Bel created the Sun.

"Inspired by this, each of the Gods decided to create something to fill the empty Void surrounding them. Uldyŋ made Esternia, Freyr gave it its flowing rivers, and Zephryus the four winds.

Finished, they stood back to admire their work, when a flash of light appeared and before them stood a beautiful woman. Her name was Akasha, and she was everything they were not. She was Life and Death, Good and Evil, and most importantly, Yin and Yang.

"She looked at what they had made and first gave it the three moons, one for each of her shifting faces. There was the Maiden moon, the Mother moon, and the Crone moon. Next, she gave it Life, creating animals to feed on Uldyŋ's plants, and her favorite, the Humans, who received her gift of wisdom and creation. The Gods watched the Humans create their homes and families, their plows and societies, when it occurred to Zephryus that the Humans could not utilize the elements like they could. Believing that it would create more balance in Esternia, he asked Akasha if she would change this. But she shook her head.

'It is too late to change the Humans. They have lived as they were for several years. It would only bring chaos to their way of life. But,' she paused, considering another option. 'I will create a second species with your help.'

"Together, Akasha bore him a child of Air. They were Humans with wings, and lived high on the mountains and clouds that Zephryus put there for them and them alone."

"{Angels...}" I whispered. I was transformed at this point, my tail curled around my mother's leg almost like a hug. I loved how she treated me the same, no matter what I looked like. Even my father, for as much as he loved me, still acted a little odd whenever he saw me like this. My mother hummed in agreeance with me, and took a breath before continuing.

"Soon, the others wished to work with Akasha as well. She bore Uldyŋ people who could transform into animal spirits, which became the Demons, and together, Freyr and her created the Merpeople.

"With all of these new species, Bel began to grow jealous, and demanded that Akasha bear him Dragons, but she refused, claiming that they would be too violent and would destroy the world the rest of them had worked so hard on.

"But Bel would not take no for an answer, and he forced himself upon her, making her give birth to the Dragons. And, as she foretold, they began to claim territory that the species had once shared, and killed Freyr's Merpeople, as Bel had never particularly gotten along with that brother.

"In both vengeance of the Merpeople, and of her dignity, Akasha taught her people to believe that Dragon-Killing was a sport, done for bravery and glory.

"But at the same time, some of Uldyŋ's Demons had fallen in love with the Dragon's beauty, and a few of them had cross-bred, which, in through their blood, had bequeathed the Demons the common traits of red eyes and hair, as well as fire magik. When the Humans had finally killed off the last of Dragons, the Demons retaliated.

"Zephryus, having had the first child with Akasha, felt the need to stop the fight, sending his Angels unto the crossfire. However, rather than coax the sides into peace with their wise words, they formed their own side and turned the feud into a war.

"Chaos reigned for years as Akasha refused to let go of what Bel had done, and in turn causing the Humans to fight harder for her, when Bel suddenly disappeared one day. Some say one of his brothers killed him, or that he became one with the sun. Some have even believed that he was lost into the Dust. But when he was gone, Akasha's anger faded, and when she looked down at Esternia, she saw the mess it had become. She was the Goddess of Balance, and yet had let the war rage this long. Letting go of her pride, she made a treaty with Uldyŋ and Zephryus, and together, they created the Relic, which was broken into three pieces, and gave one piece to each of the remaining children. With such power shared equally between them, conflict ceased and, while disagreements continued to occur, peace remained.

"But, the legends say that if all three Relics were brought back together, that that individual would temporarily gain Akasha's gift of Creation, and receive one wish. And although many have tried to steal it, no one has ever succeeded..."

"All right then! Good night Gavin," my mom sighed happily, slapping the book closed and kissing my forehead. She got up off the bed, pulling the sheets over my shoulders and closing the drafty window above my head. She was about to shut the door when I called out to her.

"{Mommy? Is it true that if I got all the Relics, I could get a wish?}"

"Well..." she smiled at me, "That's what the legends say, but don't you think that the whole world would be thrown into war again if you tried to steal them all?"*