Prologue

The scratching of pen on paper filled the silence. A pause and then a long guttural groan followed.

“No. What a rotten end!” Anjur growled. He pounded his hands on the table as he tried not to shout. It was such a good life too. Well… until the end… his heart ached. Why did he ever take up the newly crystaled lives. Now he would have to wait to see if there was anything good about that situation. He quickly scribbled down the end, anger in his writing, and dismissed the crystal. As it began to float away, he got up and left, his cloak fluttering around him. He paused. He itched one of his six horns and grumbled.

As his gaze was cast back at the crystal he moved a hand to summon it to him. He looked one last time and gritted his teeth. That mother gave her everything, even her life, for that child. Perhaps… just this once wouldn’t hurt. He would need to hurry though. He pulled on a blue fingerless glove and moved the hand, feeling the powers surge around it. With a look at his medallion he contemplated his choices.

The domain of time still stood around him and he gave a crooked grin. He would get in trouble for this if word got out, but he couldn’t just let this slide.

He left his time domain active and organized a link to the location where the mother was last at. He nearly chuckled when he saw what world she was on and which forest she had fled to. This would be easier than he thought.

He went back to his desk while the lines connected and placed the manuscript down. He looked back through the crystaled mind and stretched. He’d been sitting for too long. Now he was going into action. After a few more stretches he heard the sound of wind and saw the lines had connected. With a mischievous grin he headed to the connection point and slipped into the realm.

He closed his golden eyes, his white hair tousling for that brief connecting moment, and his horns atop his head rang as he heard the screeching.

As his eyes opened, he was greeted with the battlefield from the mother’s last moments. The smell of blood was still in the air. He frowned as the shadowy things circled around them, keeping a respectful and cautious distance away. He briefly felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth. At least, they seemed intelligent. He walked towards the lifeless body of the mother and heard the muffled whimpers of the boy underneath her.

His heart ached again. So young to have lost his parents, but that was this lad’s story. He pulled back the mother and noticed one of the shades come at him. Anjur summoned the energy of the moon and a light exploded from him. The terrifying screech of the creature as the light wracked it with pain was very satisfying. But where had they come from? This world had no creations like them here. He would need to pay more attention to what was going on.

There was a tiny shriek from the exposed child and Anjur looked back. He sighed and reached for the power of the night and put the child to sleep. It would be better if he didn’t see much and it would be safer on the crystal record if no one saw him.

He then turned his attention to the circling shades. They however, didn’t seem to have crystals, else he would have found out about them earlier.

“Let’s see just how rusty I’ve gotten,” he grinned drawing on the power of the moon and encircling them with light. He cast a separate glow on the boy to prevent the shades from coming too close as he began to take them out.

Their howls were the stuff of nightmares. Their movements were fleeting as if made of the shadows themselves, and those lifeless red eyes never blinked, never wavered from their target. Anjur dodged as one came in close. Its swipe moved the ground behind him, but when he returned a counter strike, it fell on nothing. The creature’s body moved around his hand. Once again he called on the power of the moon and the thing shrieked as it was enveloped in light, dissipating as if it really was just a shadow. The others hesitated and then fled, faster than they had appeared.

Frankly, it was a bit disheartening when they turned and ran. He was very curious about them, but it was also impossible to catch them. They seemed to be able to shift between physical and non-physical forms. That was already breaking many laws of this world. And made them the top of the hierarchical threat chain. Which also did not make sense.

With one look, he gathered his bearings and smirked. At least, he was in these woods. He had a reliable being here he could ask about all this to.

He then called on the power of the ground and opened a hole to place the deceased mother into and offered her a proper burial, before grabbing her son. The boy was young. If memory was right, he should be five or six years old. Anjur sighed as he cradled the boy in his arms and hummed a tune while walking deeper into the woods. He purposely kept to the places where other living beings were not, avoiding attention as he approached the center of the wood.

“Anjur? Is that you?” Anjur looked at the largest and oldest tree in the woods. He knew it was the origin of that voice. Magnificent and enormous, buds of gold leaves that would turn green as the summer came. A few ancient bugs and creatures floated around as orbs, giving this place a sense of timelessness.

“Hello Jay. It’s been a while. Look I can’t stay long, but can you watch over this boy?” He said as he set the child against the roots. His gaze flickered up at the trunk as he spoke.

“Anjur.” A voice reverberated in this nearly hallowed ground. So familiar, despite the change in form.

“And while I am here. The other creators here didn’t happen to make anything that can move between physical and mental realms? Shadowy creatures?” Anjur asked as he set the boy’s hair as he slept. Such a precious soul. He smiled till he heard Jay’s voice again.

“Well, no, but-“ Anjur sighed. Something else was at play here.

“Figured as much. Well. This is going to be a bit longer of a case than I was hoping for.” He stretched as he contemplated all the work coming his way. He realized the dirt and dust on his blue robes and wondered how he would explain this to the others.

“Anjur. Why are you here?” The tree he called ‘Jay’ asked. Anjur smiled as he looked back. Life was finally getting interesting again.

Anjur sighed as he glanced at the boy against the oldest tree in the wood. He looked at him with a fond smile. He couldn’t help it. Having seen the love the mother had for the boy -- it had rubbed off on him. He looked up at the tree and could sense the barely divine presence inside.

“Dash it all, they want me on new crystals,” he said folding his arms and looking down at the kid. “When I saw his mother’s rotten ending, I couldn’t stand still,” Anjur said with a saddened expression.

“You always were like that,” Jay hummed.

“Ya… ya. Normally I’d cuff you for that, but… can’t do that anymore,” he said as he looked at the old tree.

“You wouldn’t.” The voice said and Anjur sighed. Jay was right. Though he was still upset at the outcome of Jay’s story. It wasn’t fair that Selene and her sister, Sina, had fallen for that man. And now look at them. Selene was dead. Sina was a tree on this planet and so was Jay. The very planet they had fought to protect the inhabitants of. He still didn’t know where Sina had sequestered herself away to. Maybe one day he would figure it out and talk with her again. Like the good old days. But then again. He wasn’t even supposed to be here.

As a defector of the Daemon clan, he was supposed to fulfill the role of a passive observer. A recorder of History. Sina had made a place for them to do that. It was her extended hand of mercy that allowed him to have any hope. He wanted to curse Selene for driving them all to this. But again, that was ancient history.

At least now he had a valid reason to be here. He just knew the Daemon clan was behind the appearance of those shades. Who else would create such terrifying monsters to wreak havoc on the people. He’d have to warn the others and could get a pass on his behavior this time… but he doubted he could do it again after this.

“How are the others?” Jay asked and Anjur sighed.

“The same as always. Though most prefer to be a few generations back on the records.” He sighed in disgust. “Can’t handle a bad ending. Though, I’m just as guilty of that.” He chuckled and felt as if Jay was patting him on the shoulder.

“So, what is the story on the boy you brought here?” Jay asked. Anjur looked at the child again and patted his hand on the kid’s head.

“All his people have been killed by those creatures I was asking you about. His mom brought him here to your woods before dying to them, and I scared off the rest. I can’t stay, so…”

“It wouldn’t be the first person I have cared for here.” Jay said and Anjur sighed in relief.

“And… well. He’s a good kid. Shouldn’t be too much trouble. Just don’t mention me to him. I don’t need any more trouble with what I’ve done.” he said as he opened one of the portals back to his space. He waved goodbye, casting one more glance at the child.

“Of course.” Jay said before Anjur left, closing the portal behind him.