Prologue: Moonlight Flight

Anjur’s eyes flew wide, and he dashed towards his room, hardly sparing the fools in the hall who cried out at his shoves. Once inside, he reached out and activated the time domain and quickly worked on the lock on his transports. Once removed, he knew it would only be a moment before they were on him. With a deft hand, he removed the lock and then channeled his energies into, avoiding drawing more attention. The connections snapped, and he reached forwards, barely seeing his time domain crumble before a flash of light filled his vision.

As he came into the clearing, he sighed in relief. Those fools wouldn’t follow him here. He quickly took in his surroundings and noticed the growing black spreading across the forest. He gritted his teeth and clutched at his token before charging forward. The shattered moon was out, and he drew on it’s light to fuel his attacks. Shades closed in on him, but he surrounded himself with a barrier of light and shot off attacks at the stronger looking ones.

His feet slipped on the black ground, and he shook it off, clawing himself up to a standing position, looking around. Where was he? The shades swooped in on him. Anjur drew on the moon’s power, a searing light exploding from his hands, illuminating the grove. The shades shrieked, their cries resounding in the growing quiet. However, the attack only afforded him a brief respite. More lunged at him, their claws outstretched, raking the air. Anjur dodged a bit late, and hissed as a claw mark found its target. He quickly drew on the moon and cast a barrier around himself while he dressed the wound. He could feel the strain as they swarmed around, barely giving him a second to think.

“Deimos, you monster. These things are relentless,” he ground out through his teeth.

Suddenly, he heard the sound he had been searching for. With a start and a great heave, he threw the hoard off him and hurried with a limp towards Jay. A creature clawed his cloak, but he tore it free and continued on, keeping the shades off him with more attacks. He found Jay’s tree down in the ravine, likely having fled there. He slid down the side, chest burning as he hastily put a hand to the black trunk.

“We’re not done yet, old friend,” he muttered, fumbling with the token. Within a moment, he was holding it in his palm, placing it against a part of the trunk that wasn’t quite black. A glow from within grew and resonated with the token. Anjur felt his horns itch as his time domain and command of the moon’s energies was drained from him.

He briefly looked back and saw the shades gathering on the top of the ravine, eager red eyes spotting him. “Great,” he grumbled. He looked back to see the glow transfer to the token, and he removed it, clutching it close to his chest. The tree finished shading, creaking as its branches fell.

Anjur heard their howls, their numbers were swelling. He couldn’t stay much longer. He gripped the token, it’s warmth a lifeline, the song faintly humming. He quickly began to build the connection from here and the village Bard had been building, determined to get this to him. As he finished and stepped into it, he saw the shades swarm down at him, and he smirked. A bit late.

As he stepped on the other side, he quickly called on the moon to hide him from prying eyes, forgoing the ability to attack for the moment. What met his eyes made him pause. A young tot with white hairs and a streak of blue in the same spot as his own. He wanted to reach out and confirm that he wasn’t imagining it, but noticed the two people who were guarding the child.

“Stars and memories,” he whispered. He wanted to explore more, but the token in his hands contained Jay’s essence. Was Sina nearby too? It couldn’t be coincidence that he had seen a mirror copy of him on this world. His search for the goddess of the stars and memories was reigniting. He might be able to find her after all.

He took in more of the surroundings and recognized this place as Bard’s house. If that was true, then where was Bard? Anjur looked around and then used some of his powers of the moon to rise into the sky and look around. With that same power, he enhanced his eyes and looked. Outside the walls, a hoard was approaching, but there was no sign of Bard within. Anjur clutched the token and brought his fist to his chin.

“Well, this is turning into a wild chase,” he mumbled. He thought long and hard, and then realized that the child before was Bard’s son. “Zak was it?” he hummed. If Bard’s kid was here, it would only be a matter of time before he returned. For now, Anjur would try to figure out what was going on. If he returned to the hall, then he wouldn’t be able to return, and it looked like things were getting dangerous here. It would be a strain, but he needed to find out what he could and offer what hand he could. Aytac rules or not, this world was not going to survive at this rate. His resolve steeled, he placed a mark on Zak that would alert him when Bard’s presence drew near. For now, he needed to reach the temples and see if he could alert the sun god and his children.