Guerrilla QUEEN
PROLOGUE: CONCERNING THE TWO
In the beginning, there was THE ONE.
It was far from time, as it did not exist; far from mortality, as HE is eternal.
Men had not yet been conceived. Even so, THE ONE’s realm was not void. He had Sons, many of whom were attributes of Himself.
There was – Creator.
He was the greatest of them all. He had a name: KAI.
He remained compassionate and true to his nature all His days. He was most pleasant, gracious and knowing. He was pure of any malice and secure with many lavishing forces. Never did THE ONE let him abandon His side, remaining with Him always.
Then, there was WRATH. He was the most punishing!
So much, that He remained without name. He was unforgiving to the judged; undeterred, devoted, and fierce. Even the warrior spirits shook at his manifestation. He was empty of compassion, void of mercy, and an utter destroyer of everything He touched. On account of the first war, THE ONE had to hold Him back, as his conviction knew no end.
There was Light – VEILA, who remained upon everyone THE ONE chose favourable in His sight. Passionate was He, forever existing in the mind of THE ONE, that led them. It was VEILA perhaps, that led to the conception of men- and through KAI they became.
Then there were many more: Justice, also called HAKI; Majesty, also called KUU; Destiny, also called EMA; Wisdom, also called NOU; Power, also called ERI and Mercy, also called T’URI.
There were more. Endless!
Behind them were Legions of spirit beings, liberated of thought but tied to the one purpose of service. They had seen the Wisdom of THE ONE and served in His presence, under His rule, with all the good and great things. Of all the unseen glories vested in the realm of THE ONE, none was a power as He.
The first war
One timely moment came, and the realms all converged before His throne, by the crystal sea.
THE ONE sought to bring forth a new creation. He spoke in calmness, and in reverence, every ear and spirit opened with understanding in their grasp:
“I have decided on this pleasant thought, to make a new thing. A people in the realm below us. They shall be from me, for me and of me, and I shall be with them, as I have with you. I shall put conscience and a free will in their hearts. They shall be one with me, and you shall serve them as I command until their days are done, then they shall be united with Me.” The realms were in agreement. He then left to manifest this.
All were pleased with this, except one. And so, when THE ONE set out to make this new world, a spawn of silence, a judging attribute, an influential spirit- One rebuked many times, arose. He stepped before them all and questioned what THE ONE was doing.
“Are we so low to Him? Are we less than these that HE has sought to make? We, He spoke from His own breath, never forsaking His throne, yet these He will make with His own hands! We will have no place in HIM any more than they! How can the elder serve the younger? How can we remain quiet over this matter?”
His heart coveted the place of the Throne of THE ONE.
He found a common interest in many legions of the Upper and Lower spirits alike. He led them to revolt, warring and trending upon every spirit that stood in his way.
Then, Kai stood before him.
“You are the most deceitful, and blinded of all! How can creation turn against its maker? What is this foolishness?”
“You have lied to us. The age of your reign is done. You have betrayed the order of the realms! The age of strive, begins now!”
“Is order really what you want? Is it not that thirsting eye of yours that covets power with insurmountable greed?”
The winged spirits rose against them that revolted together with the stubborn spirit- KEK.
There was a great war; the first Conquest!
Wrath was awakened. His hands were burning and like great scorching on Kek’s back. It was then that Wrath drew his sword, readying a final strike. The sole of his foot laid upon Kek’s throat, whose breastplate and armour bursted to reveal him!
At that moment, the legions of Kek were thirsting, not repentant of the evil they had done.
Then, THE ONE RETURNED.
“HOW DARE YOU STAND AGAINST ME?”
Wrath’s voice roared like thunder, more formidable like never before. There was a great scarlet rain over The Throne, and strife befell the realms. He waved over the rebels, “BE GONE FROM MY SIGHT!”
All of them fell in a great rally like lightning, crushing down to the new earth, moulded by THE ONE. They that had wings were broken, and those who had favour lost it.
In his fall, Kek was cast away becoming an eternal enemy, and his heart never changed thereafter.
Men, having been raised and conceived to witness this cruel punishment – their souls became the prize for KEK’s continued rebellion. He promised them great power and freedom in disobedience and continues to do so to this day. The malice of Kek loomed in the realms of darkness, never surfacing to the light.
There were now 4 realms: IKLERIEN, where THE ONE and all HIS glory habited; THE VAST, a great wasteland where spirits and the dead await the close of the age of tribulation, then, judgement; TÍÍRI, where men lived; JEHANAM, a hell where punishment awaits all who follow Kek, as the days of tribulation were near, and the Judge would get rid of evil and all its power, FOREVER!
TÍÍRI consisted of Greater Whales and Sumeria in the North, the Western front of Arabia and Ozenu, the Eastern front of Amerigo and Tasilia, and much later, the lonely empty lands in the middle of the waters, Arikana.
THE SANGARII
On account of the Ogres rising against the men East of Arikana, KAI sealed with key the underbellies of the earth to keep the Abominations away. With Kek defeated and chained in the mountains of Beruel, the key was broken. It was entrusted to the three of balance. The three Spirits of great wisdom who kept the balance of all magic in the three pillars of Arikana. The Northern, called Kanseria, the Southern called Karikonia and the middle called Equina.
These Spirits never moved beyond the expanses of their assigned pillars, as their powers would lose potency. Ebe was the known name of the Northern, and Goa of the Southern. They were the elder spirits. It was not until Kek drew his power to the navel of the lands that the last Spirit was revealed. It remained unnamed, as the people did not know of it, even till now.
Ebe
KEK, before his fall, was a judging spirit. He had been entrusted with the understanding of good and evil. He communed with many of the lower spirits in instituting the Will of THE ONE upon the Heavenlies. It was then that He colluded with a section of lower Spirits called the Akhe-kai. These were the keepers of the Voices of HIM, key in the tongues of Creation. He was compelled by their cry, particularly regarding the high place that THE ONE had given men. He was filled with envy and even desired their destruction. His nature was corrupted by this. He was rebuked severally, but with every one, He hardened the more.
Upon His fall, KEK’s strength was depleted. He remained among the dwellings of the clans of the First Lands, spreading a sickness of the heart and of the mind, turning them away from the Attributes of THE ONE. He became so compelling in the First lands, that THE ONE brought forth GER HAKHAN to counter Him. This was not enough. In due time, KEK’s followers spread to all the known lands, instituting cults and sects that began practising the ‘Cry of the Akhekai’, as told by KEK. Soon enough, they began twisting the tongues of it, and began the dark magic that became their creed to KEK. This became the renewal of his strength, and by each passing day, KEK became more and more revered. From far and wide, men would seek His new divinity, calling His name in their many languages. They referred to Him as the Prince of Enlightenment or the Keeper of the Sages.
The Heavens saw this wickedness, and sent down Warrior Spirits and Guardians, who continued to lead crusades to purge out the sickness. They were overwhelmed by it. They had underestimated the power of the Tongue of Creation! THE ONE had confounded much in Mercy, as if HE had released WRATH, almost none could have remained. He resolved to make a new land – a place hidden from the wicked first lands.
Ari-kaana (New Haven) was made. The three SANGARII were raised to protect it and keep balance, so that evil may not find its place there.
As it was, KEK knew of the newly created Lands. He sought to conquer them as well. Leaving His high seat in Greater Whales to the Queen Unyielding: Vrodahai, He descended to The Northern gates of ARIKANA, where He met with Ebe:
‘Vile one, of what Ordinance do you leave your seat of exultation to come to a place where you are not welcome?’
‘I need no Ordination. I have already been given the entirety of this Realm.’
‘You are mistaken. The battle is at its thickest. You once fell from a place of glory, and the gates of Iklerien were shut to you. Like lightning you fell, and all your wicked seed followed you.’
‘And did you witness it? Were you there? Or are these words told to you by the same Maker who made me?’
‘You will not succeed here! Your Evil is not potent in me, nor in this place. Turn back before a Legion falls upon you.’
‘I see you have believed in Him. You have believed that I am evil and that nothing I do with my hands is worthy. But, may I task you with a mystery?’
Ebe reached for the Golden horn on his waist.
‘Before you call the Heavens upon me, have you not already broken the vow? Were you not told that you cannot even in the least give the audience a defilement?’
‘I gave you a warning!’
‘A warning indeed, but don’t you wish to know for yourself? To be sure. To test what HE spoke, and see if it is true?’ Ebe had a curiosity about these things KEK spoke about.
‘If at all I am the darkness, then why is light yet to shun me to shadow? If the very first children of flesh that Our Father made by HIS own hands have forsaken HIM, how is it that they have been spared yet believing in my deception? Are we not Breathed by the same Maker?’
‘Your tongue is foul and is only capable of spewing lies! Where emptiness dwelt you found a barren ground. Where light was not, you filled with unnatural desires for things that only quicken destruction.’
‘Yet, even the Heavenly council – those placed higher than you agree that there is a problem with these…humans. I have dealt with them. I did not choose for them to do evil. I told them only what I had observed from my judgement. I did what needed to be done. I gave them a choice and they chose what they saw was right. There is a weakness in HIS heart. One I know that even you too have found a mystery.’
‘HE cannot be as you say, lest it contradicts who HE really is. There is no Weakness, but a strength, Sovereign over all things,’ KEK rose above Ebe. ‘Is this the reason why, even after HE brought me to the dust, knowing my heart for the Truth I bore, He still let me live? You call me evil – yet there is no nature of evil in HIM. I have not rejected HIM. HE rejected me!’
Kek calmed, ‘I was once Good, until I wasn’t of Use to HIM’
‘No, you betrayed HIM.’
‘Is it not fear, that I found something that would tear apart THEIR power? A Secret, one hidden from all creation. Why then do I deserve shame, yet these humans – who have killed, and even mock Sacred things deserve to be let and live? Do you not have anything to say?’
KEK turned away from Ebe, showing Him to the vast waters.
‘If One as distinguished as I was brought down and made nothing, what about you?’ In a breath, watching Ebe from the corner of His eye, ‘I judge you too harshly. You were not there to see it yourself. How they treated me. One who was a Truth sayer to the very throne of Iklerien, how about one who is tasked to guard earth?’
Ebe was quiet. KEK presented an irrefutable claim before him.
‘Are you asking that I betray my Oath? You speak to sway hearts, but you have even swayed spirits before and this is why you were cast down…’
‘That is what THEY told you! I ask you to simply judge for yourself. If what I say is false, reject it. But if it confronts some part in you, then perhaps I indeed know a secret worth hiding away from all creation. I have stood here before you, and I am offering you a throne. You do not deserve to be but a mere watcher! You are way more powerful! Let me through, and you will rule with me by my side. I, the Lord of the East, you, as Lord of the West. Fire and Water, in equal reign!’
‘I cannot!’ Ebe raised the Horn of Gold to his lips, shaken. ‘Return from whence you came!’
Just by the swipe of the Horn on his lips, waves rumbled in the waters wildly!
KEK turned back to Him. ‘Very well. I will prove this to you. Watch the very thing that you have seen today. I am not to enter this place, but the very beings that live within the confines of it are no different from those on the outside. They too bear corruption. In due time, you will see what I say for yourself, and maybe then, you will see what I say to be true. But, if you change your heart then, it will be too late. I will not offer you a Kingdom to rule, but you will be beneath me!’ And with this, KEK left Him.
Ebe had been wrong to give any audience to KEK. The hiss of His tongue brought a sickness to His mind. One that grew by every sunrise.
And Just as KEK had said, Demi and Malong’ fell. A cruel punishment was issued, and witnessing all this, Ebe’s Heart swayed even more. He retreated to himself in question. Once KAI had left, He secretly moved to seek out KEK in his seat. He hid among the winds in the Northern seas, and met the PRINCE.
KEK had grown much stronger as His legions attended to Him. On seeing Ebe, He knew that it was done. His Word had bore fruit.
‘I will not cause you any harm. Lead me to the edge of the land. A high place where I can see all that is moving. I will reward you with favour and will keep a treaty with you. I will also lend you a Lordship over the West, until I have overcome, fully.’
It was done.
KEK took Beruel, the furthest North-Eastern point of Arikana, and nested His evil for a 1000 years, watching as the Sons of Kai grew and grew. He waited for an opportune time to strike and so it came, when Ovu, then Shimei, came to Him of his own accord.
Still, Ebe’s sickness did not end. It became worse.
With the promise of Lordship, the West was his to command in his power. He abandoned the pillar of Karikonia to lay a statute over Malong’s sons.
After the Ogres had devastated the lands East of Arikana, the other two SANGARII remained. However, Ebe’s failures were found out, and He was taken to judgement before the council of Iklerien.
‘What have you done? Why did you abandon your place?
Because you let your heart be eaten away, now your sickness remains without a cure!
Before our judgement is read, what is your defence?’
Ebe was shaken. He remembered the words of Kek, and He too having seen the judgement laid on him at Beruel, he bowed to beg the council.
‘I plead with you my LORDs, for I was deceived! I admit to my failure. All of it. I have already regretted much, and seeing the cost of my actions. I ask that you have Mercy as you have had with the Other. I pray that if you can issue me another judgement, for in my death there would lack a balance of the powers in the North.’
The council saw that it was true. They agreed that by Ebe’s death, then the Northern Gate would be open to KEK’s legions and devastate the lands afresh!
‘Very well. WRATH shall be poured out to be your atoner for 100 years. His hand shall be upon you, just as His eye is on the Fallen one. This shall not be appealed!’
WRATH quickly befell Ebe, and tormented him.
The SWORD of WRATH
After the 100 years were done, WRATH raised Ebe seeing his deplorable condition.
He took him to Beruel, at the very peak of the Mountain, where WRATH too watched Kek with His eye. Ebe raised his countenance and brought him to see what remained of the once Powerful Kek.
There He was, chained on both arms, His face unseen from the fire that burned him when his eyes were gouged out. His chest chiselled by a cavity that could only be made by the hacking of a great weapon! Ebe did not wish to be near Him. He looked up, and saw WRATH bring down a Sword, flaming with Rage! HE placed it in Ebe’s hands and then commanded, ‘SLAY HIM.’
Ebe felt the weight of the Sword. It was as light as a feather, swift to swing. It bore the markings of truth and its hilt made from a substance as pure as water. A metal, perhaps unseen in the lands. Its radiance was astonishing, and the prominence of its hold too was unworldly! A weapon cast by the hands of the smiths from beyond!
‘SLAY HIM!’
This time the voice shook the Mountain itself. He dug into the gravel with the Sword, grinding his palm on the hilt of it, so he stood. He then dragged himself, knowing that WRATH was watching from above. However, the closer he got to Kek, the anger inside him burned the more, and so did the weight of the Sword increase. The foulness of death around Kek got stronger. As he tried to lift the Sword, it had become as heavy as lead! He held it with both hands, and still, it would not budge.
Seeing this, WRATH flew him off the mountain, and with a loud cry, Ebe wept. His only chance to end the very source of his torment was taken away from him.
‘YOUR HEART IS HEAVY WITH A VENGEANCE.
UNREPENTANT!
EVEN AFTER GREAT SUFFERING, YOUR SICKNESS REMAINS.
UNTIL ANOTHER IS FOUND, ONE WORTHY TO WIELD THE SWORD AND FINISH IT,
DARKNESS SHALL SURELY MARK YOU.
THROUGH THE WINTER RAINS AND THE SUMMER MOONS,
YOUR FOOD SHALL BE MET BY THE FANGS OF WOLVES,
AND LONELINESS HAS BECOME YOUR COMPANION.
YOUR FATE, AND THAT OF THE ODD ONE IS SEALED.’
The voice vanished and Ebe woke, finding himself in the midst of great dunes of sands, free of the Sword of Wrath.
There in the desert, he had known of the Great healers who were the nomads.
Perhaps they could heal him.
He called out. He summoned the winds, but they never appeared to him when he called.
That is when he felt a chasm where his power once sat. But it was not all taken away.
Perhaps a certain mandate had been withheld from him, and this made him fear.
Not knowing where else to go, he returned to the West where he had once reigned:
Now as The Darling of the Wolves.
ABOUT THE NOMADS
Between the time of the deaths of Demi and Malong’, the Westerlies blew in the waters, and a tempest hit a slave ship from Amerigo. It was headed for Whales also bearing various oils, gunpowder, as well as pearls gotten from the vast mines of Tasilia. A captain of the high seas had seen success in that country through the hand of Karios the Conqueror. He saw death nearing, and realised that slave or free man, they were all under the mercies of the seas. He commanded that all the slaves shackled in lower decks be released at once. It was this wisdom that perhaps granted his ship mercy, as instead of a capsize, it broke into hundreds of pieces floating away onto the shores of an unknown land.
As he gazed upon the emptiness of the desert, he saw a new opportunity.
‘Untouched! Our hands shall know a new wealth.’ He turned to the men, free and slave. ‘We shall build a new Kingdom here. If any one of you wants to leave, and see if they can find another vessel adrift, then you may. If anyone wills to stay, then also acknowledge me as captain both at sea and at land!’
A few men, mostly slaves, went roaming in the desert, and very little success came to their search. They ended up fishing and setting camp, hoping to find rescue from any passing merchant ships. Those that remained with the Captain salvaged whatever material was at the beach, and remained close to the salty waters.
One night as the captain slept under the open skylight, he was visited by a Ghostly light!
It came in the form of a vision. A vision of VEILA!
He was marvelled at the things that VEILA showed him and the mysteries of the stars and moon and all the bodies that his people had worshipped for many years. He saw that the stars were not children of the moon, but markers showing the way to travellers lost in their path. He saw that the moon was as the midnight sun, holding the waters in their ebb and flow and showering the earth with life. He saw that the darkness was not dark for VEILA, but if the covering was taken away then even to him, it would never carry any difference from light. VEILA then took him further up to a place where the stars shone no more, and he looked into the nothingness. It was then that he heard them. Voices, sickening to the bones.
He asked VEILA about them. His eyes welled up tears, and a deep sorrow filled His heart. The Captain failed to see why this question had brought so much pain.
‘There is an Answer to all these aches. There has always been. Your people have searched in all the wrong places in ignorance. Sorting the wrong medicines and blindly brought suffering to many in your grievous actions.’ VEILA, abiding in Mercy reached for the light of the moon, plucking a speck. The Captain then stretched forth His hand, and there in His palm was placed the luminescent blue flame.
‘Heal my people. You must, until the flame is no more!’ VEILA then disappeared among the stars.
On waking up the next day, the captain came from his tent, disturbed by the vision. Before him, all the men in his company had gathered wondering about ‘the light’. It was then that his hands opened to them, and a blue flame sat in his palms. The men all bowed to it.
“In a vision, the gods of this land visited me. They showed me the cure to all the sickness in the world. Here in my hands is the undying flame for their healing. We must pursue its unending advantages. I must ask that all you amongst us that were once welders, or hewers of various crafts to return to them. We shall all become one, equal and in fellowship. We shall be servants to this flame and the light shall be our guide, for here lies our purpose.”
Gath was the name of the captain. His men remained faithful to the light for a thousand years. They became the nomads who travelled the deserts all year round, studying the constellations, and buying camels and clothing from other men. These sons of light became the Priests of Kai, the Ish-Hakhan. They learned how to find water in the sands. When their pearls ran out, they learned to make precious stones from rocks, bringing forth the hardest material that became used for various uses, including making weapons for war: Cuirass.
When their bodies would ail, they mastered the flame and used it to heal broken bones without surgery.
In their travels, there were tribes that grew curious of their very peculiar ways. Some men followed behind them, becoming outliers, dwelling in the edges of the caravans watching, listening and learning from the little they gathered. VEILA would then reveal His wisdom to them. These became the scribes who wrote the scrolls of Kai, those called the NARUMOR, and would take them to every land as letters and messages addressed to the various peoples.
When the Ger Hakhan were revealed in Arikana, the scribes ceased to bring the letters. It was then thought that they had become watchers, but the powers oftenly seen wielded by the watchers was far very similar, though in a greater measure than that of the Nomads.
GER HAKHAN
The Watchers of the One, were a peculiar set of beings. They came in different forms and skin, scattered in all the known lands, not just in Arikana. It was their mysterious and timely appearance in the lands when times of disaster neared that made them feared and isolated. These beings could live for many years hidden among the people.
In the first NARUMOR, they were described as executors of the ultimate plan of THE ONE. They were described as inhumans, messengers brought to flesh from Iklerien to usher in the age of judgement. It remained unclear how these beings became so knowledgeable and steadfast in their Faith, living long beyond the usual, shifting shape, performing unusual forms of magic and traversing lands in ordinance of their Convictions and prophecy.
Due to the long years they had to endure, some became unwise in their calling and found death in the hands of evil men. Others found the vanity and evil in the World to be too grievous and stayed away, never to be seen or heard of ever again.