Prologue
Not many years from today—soon after the days that you, dear reader are living. We humans will discover another planet that is very similar to earth, but very far away. We will look at the planet as a home for the gods of space-travel and call it “Olympus”, the home in the heavens. It sits in the sky and taunta us like the moon before it. It won’t be many generations before we will develop the technology to reach this planet. But initial technology of traveling outside of our solar system will be a long process and will be estimated to take approximately 2500 years of space travel before it will arrive at its destination of Olympus.
This first colony ship is built on the moon and named the Sky-Giant. Most of the crew and colony will be required to undergo cryogenic freezing. The ship will depart in a time when humans will have just begun to utilize genetic engineering. Having recently eliminated all genetically inherited diseases to extend human life expectancy above two centuries. But that will just be the beginning of what is to come.
After the departure of the Sky Giant. Genetic engineering will advance considerably. The world government will see considerable benefit in engineering a smaller race, both for living in space stations and also for inhabiting the overly populated earth and its oceans. The engineered race will be called “enhanced life forms”, or E.L.F.s, (which will be intentionally named after the mythological race). They will be specifically designed as more peaceful and more intelligent but also will require less space, consume less resources, and produce less waste, perfect for a space station. The Elf race is to be engineered to stand only at half the height of an average human, but will have a life expectancy of many hundreds of years.
The difficulty will be to persuade families to give birth and raise these Elf children. This persuasion will come through government subsidies. In this way many of the poorer class of people will become very motivated to give birth to and raise Elves for children to have their debts removed, and their taxes massively cut.
It will be the wealthier families that will not be as motivated to raise Elves. And therefore, size will become associated with status. The larger a person is, the more one will be able to assume that their parents must be rich. Inevitably, the ultra-rich begin engineering their children to stand even taller as a demonstration of the status and giant wealth of their family. Soon another race develops, one that is ambitious and large. They become known to the Elf race as “Giants”, and the two races become very different and separated from one another as time progresses. Elves engendering the peaceful and passive side of human psychology, and the Giants representing the assertive and aggressive aspect of humanity.
As will be repeated several times, space travel technology will advance faster than the speed of the previous ship. An Elf crewed ship called the “Taurus” will be constructed at this point in earth’s future, that will travel so much faster than the Sky-Giant, that it will be estimated to arrive at Olympus 500 years before the Sky-Giant lands on the alien planet-- despite the fact that it will depart earth over a hundred years afterwards.
The elves who stayed behind on earth will remain peaceful, growing gardens, playing music, and dancing without greed or contention. Whereas the giants among them will seem ruled by selfishness and ambition. Eventually the two races will become incompatible with each other and this will lead to a rift in the world government. A ship called the Titan, populated with Giants and slaves will also leave towards Olympus around this same time.
Following the departure of this second and third ship, new and transformative technologies will be discovered by both elf and giant. But there will be one advancement more significant than them all. A group of scientists will develop the technology of endless life achieved through nanomedical technology. Those who will become hosts of endless life will be branded the acronym: Nanotech Assistance Recipients, or N.A.R., and called “Narians”.
The ambitious giants will immediately demand this technology of ageless life, but the Narians will refuse to give away their secrets to a race of people they regard as violent and oppressive. A war will break out, and to flee conflict, the Narians will also depart to Olympus on a number of ships, one being called the “Munari”. Like the one before it, this ship will also be faster than its predecessor and will be estimated to arrive four hundred years prior to the Taurus though it left two hundred years after.
With the government fractured and a war occupying the attention of those who would enforce restrictions, scientists among both Elf and Giant populations will engineer every kind of creature and technology imaginable. New kinds of humans are also engineered, including Sirens that live in the ocean, Seraphs that fly in the skies and Satyrs that live in the forests. The giants will engineer powerful monsters, while the Elves will engineer beautiful mythical creatures.
Many species will be used for the purposes of war. In time, the creations will develop beyond the control of their creators and turn on their masters like the gods turned on the Titans in ancient myth. Humankind will face obliteration if both Giant and Elf did not unite to fight against the monsters they had created to defeat one another.
Together the Giants and Elves overcome their differences and will ultimately escape destruction by combining their technologies and ushering in a new era of peace. With the collective minds of Giant and Elves, a new race will be developed which they will call Nymphs. Nymphs will become a fusion of all of the most advanced technology and will function as a combination of both artificial intelligence and biological engineering. The Nymphs themselves will develop a ship called the “Arc” and it will have the ability to travel so quickly that it is estimated to arrive 600 years before the Munari though it will have departed earth 300 years afterwards.
The Nymphs will arrive on Olympus first, though they will have been the last to leave. They immediately will go about terraforming the planet and filling it with diverse life and complex ecosystems, including everything that earth had, and much more. Several hundred years into the process or terraforming the Munari will arrive and discover an underground cavern that is hundreds of miles across.
The Munari and Nymphs will dig into this cavern and discover a buried city that is millions of years old. The technology in the city is far advanced to even that of the Nymphs, to a point that they cannot even understand the scientific laws that it operates under. They will discover, in the center of the underworld city a bridge-portal called an Ajimodus, and in time, they will learn how to open it.
When the Ajimodus opens, a wave of beings will flood through it that have been suspended between galaxies for millions of years. They will immediately begin to devour the Nymphs and Narians and this will start the First War and it will nearly result in genocide of the Nymphs who are unaccustomed to warfare.
During this war, the Munari will develop and use many various new and insufficiently tested nano-technology. Ultimately, the one that makes the difference is a prototype called the “Evonar”. Specific genetic features are required to allow for the Evonarian strain to function properly. The Evonarian strain will become the weapon that allows mankind to defeat the other-worldly Ajimodal beings that crossed through the ancient bridge-portal.
With an enormous death toll, the war will be won, but with a short celebration period. On the night of their victory, the bodies of the fallen will become reanimated due to the evolving and life-sustaining capacity of the nano-tech strains.
The brains and bodies of the fallen adapt as dead brain tissue is replaced with hardware designed for survival. The animated bodies of the fallen will endlessly hunger for flesh to regenerate their state of undeath. Their mouths, tongues, and fingers will alter to facilitate ripping and licking marrow from bones. The corrupted undead race becomes known as the Ghouls, and this will begin the Second Great War.
The surviving Munari will retreat from their city with its technological wonders and travel to an isolated location in the North-west. Paranoia over possible mutations with variant strains of nano-tech will result in all but pure Narians to be killed or banished to prevent the mutated Ghoul corruption from spreading. Those banished, will populate the south, giving themselves the name Narshoth, but even they will hunt down and kill the remaining Evonarians among them.
Both Munari and Narshoth will wage war against the ghouls and demons with their diminished numbers, fighting an ever-losing battle. Things will not turn around until the Elves and then Giants arrive in large numbers and drive the Ghouls and Demons back into hiding. There will again be a short period of relative peace.
But once again, it will not last, as another threat will hit Olympus. Drawn to life, a species galactic locust, called Sefoids will infect the planet. This will Usher in The Third Great War. To win the war, the Giants will develop a race of super-soldiers named “Rathian’s”, as well as a host of other dinosaur-like beasts called Saurus which will become the key to containing the Sef in an isolated region in the South.
At the end of the war, the Elves and Giants will begin a Fourth Great War amongst themselves for domination of the planet. In an attempt to win the war, the Elves and Giants will sabotage each other’s ships, and with it, they will destroy most of their technology. The inability to reproduce their inventions will thrust both Giants and Elves into a stone age, being even unknowledgeable of how to work with metal in its raw form. By the time the war comes to an end, most of the technology will have been destroyed and along with it the ability to reproduce it. Ultimately, the Giants will retreat into the North-East.
Worse yet, the races of Olympus will have weakened themselves so much from the Fourth Great War amongst themselves, that the Ghouls, Beasts and remaining demon-like Ajimodal beings will chase them down and devour them like wolves after sheep. Circumstances will become increasingly dire for humans until the first and final ship will arrive-- The Sky Giant, which will be full of humans coming out of cryogenic sleep.
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The arrival of the humans, (or Sky Giants as they will be called by the elves), will bring technologies and numbers sufficient to turn the tide and unite the races and kingdoms which will usher in a period of relative peace that will last until the Asuran war that extends across galaxies finds its way to Olympus just as it had millions of years ago when the race of Aj fled their world to hide on earth.
CHAPTER ONE: HEBER
Heber jolted out of his dream. The abruptness of whatever woke him tore any memory of the sleep-vision from his mind. He looked around his room and was completely disoriented.
Only the pre-glow of dawn enabled him to see his unfamiliar surroundings. This was clearly not his bedroom. The room was small and plain. Besides a rug, a small table, and a chest at the head of the bed, the room was empty. He smelled bacon. He was about to yell for his mom, when he saw a candle on the bedside table that jogged his memory. Ah yes, he arrived last night in the dark and had to use a candle to find the bed. It was pitch black that evening and the innkeeper handed him the tiny light after he paid for the room.
He was in a tiny village called Lighthouse Port where he had arrived on foot. This village was not his final destination. He only came here because his step-dad told him that there was a boat here that could take him the rest of the way North to the biggest and most incredible place ever, Sky City.
He had been on the road since right after his eighteenth birthday when his mom said he could go. He couldn’t wait to get away from his step-dad who had replaced his deceased father. His mother had remarried a very talkative red-haired farmer. Although Heber loved his mother and his stepdad had treated them both well enough, home had become like an itchy red wool sweater that had grown too tight.
Although the freedom and excitement of the road had dissolved a little when it started raining and he his first cold meal, it was still preferable to being treated like a child. His mother had a very hard time not controlling his life in the same way she had when he was twelve, and as a result, Heber spent most of his time out by the water or in the woods by himself, trying to evade what sometimes felt like constant nagging.
His big plan was that as soon as his mother would let him, he would go to Sky City and see the place where his parents had fallen in love. It was supposedly the biggest city on the continent, and it was filled with fire-less lights, horseless carriages and many other incredible things that were all sustained by a power that the Sky-Giants had brought with them from the stars.
Once at Sky City Heber planned to find a job working at the docks. He was good with boats—a result of his living on the coast. Once he had something to show for himself, he would return to his mother and step-dad with a beautiful wife.
Heber smiled about his plan and rubbed his eyes as he reached down to put on the wool socks his mother had knitted for him. They had a strong foul odor and were crusty from dried sweat as a result of walking for days. After tossing them on the floor, he reached in his leather pack and pulled out a fresh pair, and then slipped his feet into his leather boots. He was about to take his bow with him, but thought better of it and set it back down.
By the time he was headed to the door, the room had filled with light from the window, making him squint at the orange glow that made a shadow on the wall behind him. He grabbed the key that the innkeeper had given him, unbolted his door and locked it behind him.
As he locked the door, he heard a yelling that made him jump slightly, realizing it was the same noise that had woken him from his sleep. It was the shouting voices of two angry men. Suddenly, he heard a door slam. He walked thru the hallway and made his way down the stairs to the main dining room of the inn. The innkeeper was cooking slabs of bacon and eggs on a large brick stove, both of which were burning as was obvious by the lingering smell which greeted him when he entered.
The innkeeper was a short man with a greying head of hair, thick hairy arms, and a belly that fought the suspenders which tried to keep his pants up. The man appeared flustered, but had an automatic smile which showed off the large gap between his two front teeth. Sweat was pouring down his face as he fidgeted with the iron pan of sizzling bacon. He was muttering to himself, clearly agitated.
Heber stepped on a creaky floorboard and the innkeeper looked up, as if startled. “Oh, it’s just you”, he stated with a look of relief. “Not all of my guests have your good manners I’m afraid”. Heber wanted to ask what all of the yelling and commotion was about, but before he could interject, the man continued as if reciting a memorized speech he’d given many times, “I’ve made you breakfast. It’s complimentary with your room.” He continued, “payment is due each evening. Are you planning to stay another night?”.
Heber was still half asleep and it took a moment to process that the man had just asked him a question. “… umm, I’m not sure yet. I need to find out when the next boat leaves for Sky City.” The innkeeper scraped the bacon and eggs into a wooden bowl and placed it on the table beside Heber. “Well, you’ll need to ask the Harbormaster about that. She is in the Harbor master's office near the dock. You can’t miss it”.
Heber started walking towards the door. “Aren’t you going to eat your breakfast?” The innkeeper said with a puzzled expression. “Ah, yes”, Heber sat down and quickly devoured the food. He hadn’t even realized how hungry he was until he took the first bite.
As he walked towards the door a second time, the innkeeper stepped towards him waving his hand to get his attention. “Look son, I can tell you’re a good kid. Some of the boats don’t always have crews with the right kind of people on them. There is a ship at port now with some real trouble makers. They are looking for an excuse to get in a fight and maybe kill somebody. I know their type. Don’t fall for it kid. If one of them bothers you, just put your head down and find an excuse to leave. I’d hate to see you end up dead from one of them.”. Heber hated being called a “kid”, but was gracious for the heads-up and thanked the innkeeper for the fine meal and warm bed.
As he walked towards the docks, the smell of the sea filled his nostrils and he could see the sun shining on the water. Heber took a deep breath and glanced around the tiny group of buildings connected by a boardwalk that led down to the docks. A few people were carrying farming tools and walking North, towards the field he had passed on his way into town.
As begun towards the harbor master's office, he saw three men talking loudly to themselves. After the innkeeper’s warning, Heber felt uneasy. One of them looked no older than he was, but was a bit shorter than him. Having grown up on a self-sufficient estate and being isolated from neighbors without any nearby village, Heber had only rarely ever met other people. The few times he could recall seeing anyone other than his mother and step-dad was when he was a young boy and would make short trips with his dad to the nearest village, a day’s journey away. Back then, he was much shorter and it wasn’t until this moment that Heber had realized he had since grown very tall compared to everyone around him. With this realization, his confidence grew with his height and he straightened his shoulders a bit. Suddenly, he realized that he had been staring at the three rough looking men while doing so. They noticed.
The one who appeared to be the youngest of the group turned to Heber with a look of obvious disgust and eyed him up and down as if sizing him up. “What are you looking at kid?” Heber’s jaw clenched at being called a “kid” again; this guy couldn’t be any older than he was, and was certainly smaller. Cowards hide in crowds and it was obvious that the one talking was speaking with bravery borrowed from the two men standing next to him.
Heber’s anger was startled out of him when the one who had called him “kid” began quickly advancing at him as if he had something to prove to the two behind him. Within a moment, the man was right up in Heber’s face with an open mouth and his arms postured in a menacing way. Heber braced himself, unsure of whether to run or fight.
“Why are you staring at me kid? You have some kind of problem?” Heber swallowed. He could hear the two men behind him laughing. He had never been treated this way by anyone before in his life and had absolutely no idea how to respond. “Umm… no”. Was all that Heber could think to say. The blonde young man was very uncomfortably close now and kept getting closer. He could smell his breath and Heber had to take a step backwards to avoid being bumped into. “That’s right, back up kid, so you don’t get hurt.” Heber now observed that the man was wearing a long, curved knife at his belt—another source of the man’s violent confidence and he acted like he was waiting for an opportunity to show his friends how to use it.
Before he knew what happened, someone grabbed Heber by the arm and quickly pulled him back. “You forgot your lunch!” came a loud, familiar voice. Within seconds he was pulled back into the inn and the door locked behind him, as the innkeeper caught his breath and looked at Heber with a scolding glare.
“Did you listen to a word I said kid!? Don’t mess with those people. Just avoid them. You have no idea how close you were to being killed. Don’t make eye contact. Look busy and go to where you need to go. We are all just waiting for them to get out of town. I’d bet good money they are pirates. We get pirates in this village from time to time. Usually they don’t cause any problems for us, but this crew is particularly out of hand. I don’t know why they won’t leave town, they have been here two days now and Ronnie says he has seen them up wandering around by the old abandoned copper mine east of town. Whatever you do, don’t go over there.”
Heber was still visibly shaken up. The innkeeper took a deep breath and continued. “Hey if you are going to walk around town, you need to carry a weapon so people don’t get the idea that you are an easy target.” The innkeeper began sprouting parables, to support his advice. “Wolves eat the baby sheep. Bullies love finding people who are unarmed. A weak man invites fights like an unlocked house invites burglars. Wait in here and watch those guys in the window. When they are gone, head right over to the store on the corner and buy a weapon and some armor. It’s amazing how many less crimes people commit when they face the possibility of a fair fight. A sword can prevent violence, and its absence can encourage others to commit it. By the way, my name is Fred and here’s an apple kid. Enjoy your lunch”.
The innkeeper walked off to a kitchen area leaving Heber by himself by the inn’s window.
Heber took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. Sitting by the glass that separated him from his fears, he felt like a frightened child. His own mind began to speak to himself. “What was I doing going out by myself! Why didn’t I stay home where it was safe?” The realization that he had almost died before even boarding a ship was hitting him hard.
Like a protective older brother, the fear began to be replaced by anger and firmness of mind. Heber was not used to being pushed around. He never wanted to feel this way ever again. He thought over what the innkeeper said about carrying a weapon. Wanting to not feel helpless, he decided to walk upstairs to grab his bow. He slung the quiver over his and took the bow into his left hand. The feel of it gave him some courage. Hunting is how his father had taught him to put food on the table in difficult farming seasons. When he came back downstairs, the three men were gone. Heber bolted straight for the store, not even looking to the right or left.