The Orange Star

The universe is not cold, sterile, or boring. It was too long ago—so long that counting the years is not worth it. No one knows who the first spirit was. Later, they would be known as the Primordials: divine beings, creators of stars. Beings with the capacity to create various stars, clusters, moons, asteroids, and planets.

The name of that primordial was forgotten by people, but not the name of the constellation it created. One of the stars in that constellation was named Splendor. It was the third star to be created, a jovial blue star. Being among the first to be created, it lived for a very long time—a time when human life was not important, only insignificant. It could never have a planetary system; it was only granted an asteroid that orbited too far away.

It had the opportunity to be able to grant power to humans. By that time, it was already an orange star. Its life was fading; it had a few thousand years left, if not hundreds, before it could turn into a supernova. From the beginning, it hated that blue star that sought it out. Rigel had a planetary system, two planets that had human life, and furthermore, it was still a young star.

But it accepted. It was that or be forgotten forever. By accepting, it also had to reluctantly accept the system that granted hierarchies to stars and their blessed. Of all the bad things that could have happened, it was grateful to be on the second tier, above any red star.

Additionally, it was granted an elemental power that its blessed ones managed to enjoy for a few years before the inevitable happened. The power of volcanic fire was always part of its blessed ones. They became artisans, a group of people who would always be governed, even by those without magic.

It was that or have the power of a red star: destructive, linked to death, a magic that is always tied to physical strength.

The clan’s current leader, for nearly 30 years, had managed to create wars, destruction, and with his now-corrupt magic, create a scar for all the inhabitants of Algebar, one of the two planets with human life in Rigel's solar system.

His name was Adrián, and, at his age, he understands that it was better for the clan. No one could really escape death. He had decided to call upon every being blessed by Splendor and do what humans usually do to be remembered. Some of Splendor’s blessed attempted to contact other dying stars. Some were red and, more out of fear, ignored the proposal.

Others, more peaceful— both red and orangestars —refused from the beginning. Their reasoning was logical: they had alliances, friendships, and families with Magic-less people. Besides, why would they do it? They would be endangering everyone: Rigel gave them the opportunity to be representatives on a planet that didn't belong to them.

Rigel granted permission to bestow magic. If Splendor's plan became a reality, they would affect clans and stars that were still in their main sequence, and the consequences would be worse for everyone. Adrián and his clan were totally alone. He would take the risk of being something and leaving a mark rather than being forgotten… the decision was obvious.

He studied, reviewed, and managed to understand how not to call attention to himself until it was too late. He managed to discover certain weak points that the continent of Rodinia had. Places where he wouldn't attract attention. Places where magic was unstable. Cities where magic was egalitarian, where hierarchies existed only in the minds of those who exercise power and those who are subjected to it. Espliego was one of those places.

For years, they had been creating chaos. Small signs that made no one suspicious. In the last year, the last summer and autumn, it was time to create the chaos the clan had been waiting for. The first signs were clear when he decided to attack decisively and publicly: the blessed of Splendor began to be corrupted. The Splendor spirit was reclaiming the magic of its blessed ones.

Adrián found the magical fissure of Espliego. It was in the western part of the city, toward the area known as Dry Crater. A place where the city's illegal clans hid. A poor neighborhood near the highway toward the neighboring town of Espliego.

He watched the Magic-less people escaped, complaining about what was happening without understanding well what was going on. He liked seeing how many people decided to stay in their homes, ignoring the danger.

Adrián was special. He knew that his mother's pregnancy was caused by the same divinity to which he owed his magic, his life. Thanks to that power so unique, more powerful and stronger than anyone else's, he managed to become the leader of his clan.

He stretched out his right hand, and from it, an orange light was created. A hot spherical light, as hot as volcanic lava. He threw it onto the highway; he created a fire at the place where that sphere of fire fell. He delighted in the chaos, pain, and fear caused.

Some people appeared behind him. Their mission was to corrupt people's minds, take away their hope, their motivation to live. Small sparks of fire began to go back and forth among the victims, stripping them of that hope and will.

Adrián noticed a change in the environment. Although the temperature, chaos, and destruction remained the same, he and his followers noticed something. A kind of frequency that invited them to move, a gravitational force that made him turn toward his back.

"Who are you?" asked one of them when he saw the person who had altered the environment.

"Thomas Mansell" the person answered, looking directly at Adrián to keep him still.

The followers of the Splendor leader waited for a signal to attack. Thomas only moved his left hand slightly. Suddenly, the temperature of the environment changed to an intense cold.

What the blessed of Splendor felt next was an apparent lack of oxygen. They felt anguish from not being able to breathe well, from not being able to attack. Adrián fell to his knees, feeling his abilities being suppressed. At the same time, he began to feel a relief that he didn't like. They were taking away his identity—the power given to him just at birth. And someone superior to him was doing it.

Thomas not only belonged to a stable star superior in the hierarchy to the one Splendor was forced to belong to. He was surely neutralizing him. Without taking his eyes off Adrián, Thomas walked, trying to understand what was happening. He understood that the error, the magical fissure, was close and that Adrián wanted to make it grow. Thomas knew well that if that happened, the consequences would be inevitable. Espliego would become uninhabitable.

The natural catastrophes would not only affect the city but also everything nearby. Corrupt, raw and unmanageable magic would spread toward the border and neighboring provinces. This would cause problems between the governments of those without magic and the rival clans that were enemies of Rigel.

"Why are you doing this?" Thomas asked Adrián, who remained still, not by his own will. Adrián smiled.

"Death is necessary, natural" Adrián replied. He was going to win that battle. No—he was going to win the war. "We are just making it arrive faster."

Espliego was the first place to damage. From there, they would go to other cities, to other provinces of the continent. Like a supernova, they were unstoppable. Thomas raised his left arm, and a great yellow and black light rose into the sky. A call to all the clans to gather in that place.

Thomas felt a blow that burned his back. Adrián broke free from Thomas's magical grip, and Splendor's magic strengthened once more. How many of Splendor's blessed were hidden in Espliego? Not a few—of that, he was certain.

"I hate them…" Thomas thought while trying to find where the attack was coming from. At the same time, he had to avoid new attacks from Adrián and his followers. Thomas shouted with all his might, seeing that he was at a disadvantage.