The common days had passed, even many, the ever-flowing music of life. Sometimes to wonder is this day enough? The question, is another day worth the effort of swimming in shadows? What purpose to continue? When a life goes on for hundreds and hundreds of years, maturing into thousands, when does the day begin to dull? When does the music fall on deaf ears? The desire to swim. What drives it from our minds? As these thoughts painted my soul, a memory of long lost love whispered from the depths. Raising my banner to swim, I pulled myself from the dark days of antiquity. Clearing my throat, coughing the dust of olden times from my mouth that had sought to choke me pulling me into its temptations, his voice drew me from the abyss of eternity that haunted my existence.

 

“Hosnah, you know the end of the cycle is upon us. Whom have you chosen to take the honor?”

 

Hosnah had been in deep thought all day, refusing to interact with her family or friends, let alone those of her court. She had requested a reprieve from her normal duties, closing the doors to court from the public. Only the reagents were present, patiently waiting for her to announce her decision. After the morning, then early afternoon had passed, they began to become impatient with her. As the queen of her people, with no mate, it fell to her to oversee all the normal duties a king would handle. Every issue of her people that were brought to the court, she must hear and make the correct judgments to their proper conclusion. The thousand year cycle was ending. Today was the day of decision to name the parent of the future Millennial Hero. She had never failed her people and was known for her wisdom and profound understanding of all her subjects. It didn’t matter what role they played in the kingdom’s social structure or their chosen form of interaction in their position of contribution.

 

The one thing her kingdom was proud of, the fact of altruistic structures overseeing their whole form of private and public life. Everyone contributed to the whole. Things that no other desired to perform which were of necessity were performed by magical means of automation. Everyone participated according to their own desire. You would think there would be much contention amongst the populace, it was anything but that. There were individuals to handle overseeing the application of everything that needed accomplished and there were volunteers to take on nearly any role that was listed.

 

Many centuries in the past, there was much discontent with the system that was in place. Similar to Earth’s which is still in full force there, a type of exchange system was in place but it was highly unbalanced and only a few seemed to benefit while the rest labored in obscurity and problematic issues of lacking. When the old king Jander had taken Hosnah as his new bride over six hundred years ago, she impressed him to the highest degree with her intelligence. King Jander actually considered Hosnah to be a genius on the highest order with intuitive insight beyond the ability of magic to provide.

 

Hosnah had declared the need to change the system of their kingdom. King Jander listened intently as she provided insightful and detailed plans to transform their system. He was so intrigued by her words that he could not resist her plan. All his advisors foretold doom of their people as he filled them in on their plan to make the necessary changes which would culminate in an altruistic outcome. An open rebellion spread across their lands as his advisors instigated whole cities to turn against their king. In the King’s wisdom, he did not even prosecute them in his courts as the rebellion ended abruptly after seeing the inner cities flourish. The outer cities residence began to see the immediate results, the happiness of the people which brought a sudden end to the conflicts. King Jander fired his advisors, preferring Hannah's advice and cunning strategies in dealing with every detail of their subjects. Soon their whole kingdom was prospering beyond their wildest imagination as there was an abundance in all things and more. It was amazing how this type of system brought about such happiness for all.

 

Hosnah’s happiness did not prosper as King Jander died from an accident during one of his monthly tours of the outer cities. Having taken interest in a wild Tallinn Bender as it attempted to feed on a young child that was playing in the forest against their parent’s permission. King Jander had rushed to the child’s aide to be struck down by the dragon-sized cat. Tallinn Benders were one of the only wild beasts in the kingdom whose claws could penetrate the magical talisman that King Jander wore for protection. That was more than four hundred years ago. Still, Hosnah had not taken another mate, grieving her loss to this day.

 

Now she was being confronted by the court reagents to present her choice of the Millennial Hero’s mother. You see, many thousands of years ago, there was a great war over Earth and its inhabitants. The Darbless and Hosnah’s people, the Valyric, clashed over the vile deeds of the Darbless as they slaughtered humans or enslaved them. The Valyric recognized the potential of good in humans, along with the wonderfully diverse animals on the planet. The Darbless were ruthless and callous in their dealings with humans, even devouring humans after sacrificing them in rituals. It was like watching humans slaughter seals on a beach. Blatant and bloody devastation. The Valyric stood on behalf of the humans, many Valyric and Darbless perished in a very short time as both sides are very powerful casters of magic. The war was short but very powerful forces were unleashed on both sides bringing such destruction that many thousands perished on both sides in short order.

 

Our leaders recognized the need to end the war, even with its short life. So an agreement was arranged and both good and evil withdrew back to our world, Perishia, to prepare. We agreed upon a simple method of determining which of our kind would have free reign of Earth for a thousand year cycle. To make it fair in every way, a woman from each of our races would take a human mate and bear a human child. Upon the first year of age, the child would be delivered to a human family to be raised on Earth. On the twenty-first birthday of each one, their full powers would be triggered by the arrival of the first full moon. Then the battle between them would ensue with the victor deciding the rulers of Earth for the next millennium. The treaty with the Darbless demanded that the Valyric produce a Millennial Hero to represent their case on Earth else forfeiture would be the outcome, just handing Earth to them.

 

This was the hardest issue she had ever dealt with. If she chose wrong, humans on Earth would become extinct. She knew the ways of the Darbless. Horrid and evil beyond imagination. There would be no mercy for humans. She was sure that Earth would be destroyed this time. Every single human would be slaughtered. The only way any on Earth had survived the past was a species of hybrid humans that hid underground to ensure their survival against the Darbless’ vile desire for human flesh combined with their abhorrence of humans. Their existence was on record now, removing this as a possibility in the near future. There were hidden cults of misguided humans who worshiped the Darbless, supporting their victory and rule of Earth. These ruthless, murdering groups have hidden among the populace on Earth, fooled into believing they can co-exist and rule with the Darbless. Not only will the next Millennial Hero have to deal with the chosen Darbless but this troublesome cult also. It appeared to be hopeless.

 

The only other option was war with the Darbless. That was not an option. Even with the Valyric’s superior magic, the Darbless had their protections and their black arts. War was out of the question. She had tried to prepare the humans for this cycle’s ending, foreseeing a bad outcome to this cycle. The leaders of Earth refused to hear her words as they only sought means to their own wars and profits, turning away as she would negotiate with their leaders, offering altruistic interaction from her own world to help them change. She knew that in the human DNA were hidden locks that would trigger if they would turn towards altruism. She could plainly see that once triggered the potential of humans would provide them the protection from the Darbless if it was ever needed. Humans were unique in this way having special formulas of expression in their structures which connected them through dimensional paths to near infinite power and potential of interaction on their plane of existence. Yet with their self-destructive methods on their planet, they blocked their own steps of advancing evolutionary progress.

 

Hosnah had spent the last hundred years secretly studying the formulas of human DNA. She had taken this knowledge, experimenting with her very own DNA. The changes in her own powers were beyond her people’s normal capacities to such extremes that it brought fear to Hosnah. What she found from this, she had kept hidden, even from her most trusted family. Her unique experiences from it were just too powerful. She did not want the Darbless to ever become privy to this knowledge. It would not end well for her people or Earth. If the Darbless ever evolved from this knowledge, they would forego their treaty of peace with her people, to outright take Earth. There was no doubt. Humans on Earth needed more time to evolve and turn to altruism as her people had. This would trigger the unique locks of human DNA to evolve them. But humans had not made it to that point yet. Almost, but not quite. Even though her own people could develop also, thereby remaining the superior force in their lands, they would not be able to protect humans on Earth and their own cities from the destruction the Darbless would be capable of. She had to refrain from using magic, except where necessary, mostly because she feared she would be found out. She knew that some of her people still had dealings with the Darbless privately, bringing this knowledge to them would be assured. As she struggled with these issues an idea came to her.

 

She sat up, smiled, turned to the court reagents and proclaimed, “I will be the honored one.”

 

You could hear the wind move. It was that quiet. The blank stares that looked back at her made her smile spread even wider. Their looks of surprise made her laugh out loud at them. She watched as several mouths suddenly clamped shut that had just so recently been hanging so low. She didn’t even wait for them to give a rebuttal, knowing this decision was fully hers to make.

 

She turned suddenly, making her way out the door behind her seat, reaching behind her to brush her hand across the air giving the instructions, “Make the announcement, my decision is final.”

 

Her whole kingdom was abuzz. Every form of communication was alive, catching fire as the voices raced to be the first to speak of it. Never in all the history of the cycles had a royal been chosen to parent the Millennial Hero, never.

 

Hosnah knew that the only chance Earth had of surviving, was her decision. Her child would be the Millennial Hero. Her secret would save the Earth. No one could suspect. She must be very careful in her choice of a mate. This would be very critical to her child’s abilities. There was no room for mistakes. She would have to spend the next few months exploring Earth for her child’s father. She would have many long days and nights evaluating formulas of DNA of so many humans, just to find the one. There had to be at least one human male that had advanced enough to have triggered the first layer of DNA locks that would allow her child to seal their destiny to trigger the next set of locks. There had to be...every human on Earth was depending on her to survive. She must succeed.

 

End Prologue

 

 

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