Isaa, deity of the seas, emerged from his ship's cabin to find hundreds of avian creatures circling the sky, just as Sego, deity of time, foresaw. Flocks of eopdi, tartiatoges and halliphals peppered the clouds with colors of green, blue, and red. The eopdi, responsible for the green, were diving at the hull of the ship, using their long, pointed beaks like harpoons. The punctures were devastating, and the screams of humans mixed with the cracking of wood resonated throughout the underside of Isaa's ship as the green avian creatures struggled to free themselves.

Isaa slammed his golden trident firmly in front of him, grasping it with both hands and focusing all of his energy on the surrounding water. Several pillars erupted from the flowing river and dislodged the struggling eopdi. The pillars began to expand and widen until there was a perimeter of geysers around Isaa’s ship. Isaa then curled these geysers to form a dome, surrounding his ship inside a barrier of water. This not only encased the ship, cutting it off from the majority of the aerial ambushers, but the water dome also blocked out the light of the two suns.

“Sego, I need you to restore the hull before we start taking on water!” Isaa commanded as the deity of time and the deity of the soil emerged from the underside of the ship.

“Right!” Sego shouted as he ripped off his tunic to reveal a set of leathery wings.

Sego launched off of the edge of the ship as he expanded his wings to hover towards the gaping holes in the ship's hull. Sego placed both of his hands around the ruptures, creating a temporal field. Hetes, Maker of Tools, crafted Sego a necklace that when worn, gave Sego the ability to turn back time on any object that the deity of time could place both of his hands around. Unlike the future, the past is definite and easily predictable.

As Sego repaired the hull, Cajo, deity of the shadows, made quick work of the remaining eopdi, tariatoges, and halliphals that got caught in Isaa's water dome. Cajo teleported through the darkness using the power of her obsidian stone dagger. With the obsidian dagger, Cajo can travel to any part of a shadow that she is connected to. Concealed from the light of the two suns in Isaa’s water dome, Cajo could dart from avian to avian, unhindered and unseen. Hetes crafted this dagger initially intending for it to bend shadows to Cajo’s will, but the darkness of obsidian did not contain such power.

“Get me off this damn boat!” Sab, deity of the soil, shouted as he kicked at the wooden railing, “then I might be of some use!”

Sab was swinging one of his tools, a giant green bulwark shield, over his head, trying to grab a piece of the action. The bulwark shield was seven feet tall and had a giant green eye set in the middle of it. The eye darted around ravenously as the red feathered halliphals fell from the sky. Sab smacked the already dead halliphals as they fell, ensuring that their razor-sharp tails didn’t impale him, but mostly to stave his own frustration.

As Cajo finished off the last of the avian creatures trapped within the water dome, Isaa began to put his ship back on its course up the River Bols. Isaa kept his ship veiled in water as there were many more flying beasts lurking outside.

“An isolated attack from above?” Sego rhetorically asked as he rejoined Isaa. “That wasn’t a premeditated assault.”

“We should kill the rest,” Cajo suggested, cleaning the blood off of her black dagger. “Or they will send word back to Tanpk and alert the rest of the Makers.”

Tanpk is the Maker of Control, and it was Tanpk’s job to give the creatures that the Makers created with the instincts to survive. Tanpk could also puppeteer any creature of Garsuna.

“No,” Sego said, shaking his head, “if the Makers catch onto us, we best be deep into the mountains of Kohte Hapen.”

Isaa nodded his head, fully trusting Sego's counsel and continued to tightly grasp his trident with both hands, keeping it planted in front of him.

“Sab and Sego, go check on Zilliad. Cajo, remain with me in case the water is breached,” Isaa commanded.

Sab and Sego found Zilliad with the two humans in Isaa’s room. The humans reported something astonishing to the two deities. Zilliad had already grown out of her swaddling and now was crawling around on the rough cedar floorboards. This was to no surprise to the deities. Half-breed humans grow exponentially faster than a regular human. This is because the deities never grew up themselves, they were made fully grown.

Isaa stayed at the deck of his ship, guarded by Cajo, controlling the dome of water while simultaneously moving the ship ever faster up the River Bols. The ship was kept safe until it reached the source of the river, Lake Jezero. Lake Jezero is set in a basin near the summit of Mount Hetes, the ancient volcano where the Maker Hetes crafted the deities' divine tools.

By the time the deities arrived at the lake, Zilliad had already grown into an adolescent, able to walk, talk, and fly with her wings. Sab and Sego took turns watching after the young girl, allowing the humans to get their rest. Isaa then ceased his control over the water and exposed his ship before going to the lower decks to alert the humans of their arrival. The humans readied themselves in their armor. They wore banded steel chest plates, steel leg guards, forearm guards and leather shoulder pads, topped with shiny, steel helmets. The helmets had faceguard attachments that completely concealed the human's faces and had long flowing plumes dyed in every color imaginable, a touch of Enia's, the deity of the arts and music's, influence.

“I have assembled the humans,” Isaa began as he entered the cabin. “We will follow the mountains north until we find Mount Caxpa. How do we fair, Sego?”

“It is too far in time to be certain,” Sego replied, reaching for his hourglass for clarity, “all I can see is that we will not travel unhindered.”

“Fair enough. I will watch Zilliad from here on. We now enter into Sab's domain,” Isaa commented before reaching his hand down for his niece to grab. Zilliad smiled naively towards her uncle.

The four deities exited the ship's cabin to be greeted by their human warriors who were assembled on the ship's top deck. Clad in their armor and weaponized with swords, axes, spears, and polearms, the humans presented as a powerful force. Sab took the head of the humans, confident within his domain of soil, as the other deities readied to unload the ship's forces.

“Listen up humans!” Sab shouted out, “we march north, our destination, Mount Caxpa. The journey will be treacherous! Sego says we will be met by the enemy before we reach our destination. Be on your guard and be ready to lay down your lives for me!” Sab finished, thrusting his bulwark into the sky.

The humans uniformly saluted Sab, pounding their forearm guards into their shields. The clanging of armor echoed across Lake Jezero and throughout the Kohte Hapen mountains. Isaa then landed the ship by forcing it onto the beaches of the lake using his control over the water. Once surfaced, Sab used the power of his bulwark to create a ramp of stone that rose to meet the top deck of the ship. The humans followed their deities down to ground level. Isaa quickly snatched some water from the lake and secured it into a waterskin tied to the belt of his kelp green robes.

"These mountains smell of Sab," Isaa scoffed towards Zilliad as he closed his now full waterskin, offering insult to his younger brother, "it's nothing like my sea waters or the purity of Haboo's air... Your air."

"Yes, uncle," Zilliad replied with a light smile before directing her attention to the head of the human army.

With Sab in the lead, the division of over one hundred humans and four deities began advancing north, deeper into the Kohte Hapen mountains. The route was made easier as Sab created a perfectly flat stone bridge that rolled out in front of the deities' company as they walked, like a conveyor belt of soil. Isaa cautiously led Zilliad along Sab’s route, making sure she did not fall off the hastily arranged stones. As they journeyed, Isaa taught Zilliad about her father, Haboo, and the ways of the deities. Isaa educated Zilliad on the power of the deity of wind that dwells inside of her. Isaa also made sure to begin planting the seeds of hate towards the Makers deep within Zilliad's mind. The humans and deities traveled long into the night until the three moons hung suspended over the company, casting an eerie pale light.

Stolen novel; please report.

“The ambush will come tomorrow,” Sego announced. “We should allow the humans some rest.”

Sab raised one of his hands and the humans halted their march.

“We will camp here for tonight!” Sab declared.

Sab removed his bulwark from his back and set it in front of him. The eye in the middle of the bulwark emanated an emerald-green glow, competing with the pale-blue light of the moons. The ground beneath the company's feet sank, creating a misplaced, square pit below the surface. Two sets of stairwells spun in opposite corners of the pit as a sheet of stone covered the oddly cubic, newly formed cave. Sab relaxed his hold on his bulwark after he successfully buried the four deities and one hundred humans into the mountains.

“Collect wood for fire!” Isaa commanded the humans, "we will secure tonight's food!"

Half the humans exited the cave while the other half began to set up sleeping quarters. The deities emerged from their makeshift cave behind the humans, spreading out into the forest that skirted below the Kohte Hapen mountains, in search of prey. The trees were old and thick, an extension of the Forest of Ydra. Isaa allowed Zilliad to accompany him but not before grabbing two swords from the humans.

Isaa and Zilliad stalked stealthily through the woods. By this time, Zilliad was as grown as a teenager, and it was time for Isaa to begin to coach her in survival. Isaa showed Zilliad how to lightly plant her feet and how to shift her weight evenly among both sides of her body to eliminate the sound of her footsteps. This hunt would be Zilliad's first lesson in combat and it was not long until they encountered one of the Maker's creatures.

The beast they found was a tarisol, a fearsome nocturnal predator found in the mountains of Garsuna. It stands on six legs and is coated in dark brown fur, patched with spots of navy blue, making them blend in with the light of the moons. The tarisol ranges in height from thirteen to fifteen feet and has a length of thirty-two feet, on average. A quarter of the tarisol's length is from their tail, which they use for balance and as a weapon. Their tail, through evolution, has amassed a giant muscled bulb at the end that is uses as a flail. Isaa gestured for Zilliad to remain silent and unsheathed both swords. Isaa gave one of the swords to Zillad and the steel of the blade shimmered with the moonlight as if made of silver.

Isaa crept towards the tarisol, planning to catch the beast off guard. As he moved through the dead foliage, Zilliad followed close behind. Zilliad's inexperienced footing found a freshly fallen branch and pressed firmly onto it. The branch snapped like the flick of a whip and the tarisol spun around to face its two stalkers. The tarisol’s pure white eyes, developed only for detecting motion in the darkness, peered down its slender snout at Zilliad. The beast curled its upper lip to show its massive maw of over sixty, sharply peaked teeth. The great creature emitted a growl that chilled Zilliad's blood before leaping for Zilliad at an alarming speed, using all six legs to propel itself forward. Isaa rushed to defend his niece.

“Use your father’s grace, harness the wind!” Isaa shouted to Zilliad as he deflected a swipe from the tarisol's massive paw.

Isaa ducked under the tarisol and began to slice at its legs. A deafening roar sounded as the tarisol's tendons became severed. Zilliad began to advance towards the tarisol as Isaa retreated from underneath the beast, having successfully made the tarisol immobile. Frightened, the tarisol spun around and planted its weakened legs into the fallen leaves of the forest floor. From this position, the tarisol began to swing its tail downwards at Zilliad. Its muscled bulb crashed next to her, making a small crater in the ground. Sparked by the thrill of battle, Zilliad heeded the advice of her uncle, Isaa.

Like a sixth sense, Zilliad was able to feel the wind around her and manipulate its course. Zilliad harnessed the power of the wind around her and used it to dart away from the tarisol’s tail. From centuries of manipulating Hetes’ tools, the power of the deities' tools radiated into the deities' cells, and when mingled with the human genes, the deities' offspring wielded the ability to harness their tools' power without having to wield them.

The tarisol’s tail continued to ferociously lash at Zilliad, like a conductor waving their wand. With the power of wind behind her, Zilliad danced around each attempt while Isaa sat back, allowing Zilliad the experience of combat.

Zilliad then leapt into the air and extended her wings. Zilliad swooped down towards the tarisol, swinging and slashing with each dive. The tarisol tried in vain to bat her out of the sky with its massive paws. Having been previously wounded by Isaa, the tarisol's reach proved too short. Zilliad flew above the tarisol for one more decisive blow. She tucked in her wings and dove for the nape of the beast's neck. Zilliad’s sword found its mark, severing the tarisol’s head from its spine with a satisfying snap. The tarisol crashed down with all of its weight, creating a dull thud against the forest floor. The smell of fresh blood wafted from the creature's wound and Zilliad began to feel lightheaded.

Isaa began to clap, “Haboo would be proud. Now help me drag this back to camp.”

"Yes, uncle." Zilliad said as she stumbled off the neck of her first kill.

The pair grabbed the tarisol from opposite front paws. The deities and their offspring possessed inhuman strength, making the ton and a half beast an easy haul back to their makeshift cave. When they arrived, the humans had roaring fires within their square dugout. The smoke funneled out of the stairwells as Isaa and Zilliad descended, filling both their nostrils. Isaa and Zilliad cooked the tarisol along with the beasts that the other deities had slain. After eating, the humans fell into a deep slumber. The deities took turns keeping watch throughout the night. By morning, Zilliad was practically a full-grown woman.

When the first sun rose, the deities roused the humans, and the company continued their trek north. By midday, Sego declared that the ambush was soon upon them.

“Another aerial assault,” Sego began, “but the hourglass also shows me the possibility of ground creatures coming from the east.”

“I’ll raise the stone bridge to not allow them to reach us from the surface,” Sab declared as he produced an incline in the stone path rolling underneath of them. “It would be easiest to fight one front at a time.”

“Agreed,” Sego said with a slight nod.

Isaa looked to Zilliad, “stay close,” he ordered.

“Yes uncle,” Zilliad obliged.

As if a massive tree had fallen, a large crash sounded from the forest below.

“Remember what we talked about,” Isaa continued. “Use the power of your father's wind to swiftly evacuate if we are parted in battle.”

“Yes uncle,” Zilliad repeated.

Another loud crash sounded from within the Forest of Ydra, this time closer. Suddenly, a massive rock came hurtling through the sky and collided with the bridge, behind the deities. Sab's stone bridge began to crack and fall apart from the impact, taking down a handful of human soldiers with it. A shower of massive rocks began to assault the humans.

“Apena, Maker of the Sky, itself comes to meet us!” Isaa exclaimed as a grin spread over his face, "this is our moment to exact our revenge!"

It was then that a massive rock struck the peaks above the company, creating a rockslide. Several humans were crushed by the falling rocks. In a flurry of panic, some of the humans tried to run to safety and unintentionally pushed their kin off the stone bridge, adding to the death count. Sab lowered the company to the ground and began to focus his efforts on a counterattack.

As one of the massive rocks hurtled directly for the center of the human soldiers, Sab turned his bulwark so that the eye was facing the meteor's impact point. A massive stone pillar shot from the ground beside the humans, propelling itself towards the falling rock. The pillar met the meteor halfway in the sky, shattering it into thousands of small shards. The humans held their shields above their heads as the stones fell like rain. Cajo then unsheathed her obsidian dagger. With the second sun presenting at high noon, the shadows were small and Cajo's influence weak.

“Apena will be close if it's controlling an attack that is this focused!” Sego exclaimed, “Cajo you’re no use to us in the sky. Stay here and look to the east for a ground assault. Isaa and I will fly out to meet Apena.”

Another meteor shattered above the humans against one of Sab's stone pillars.

Isaa looked at Zilliad, “she comes too,” he declared, “she can use the winds to advance our search.”

Sego nodded.

Isaa and Zilliad jumped into the sky, and unfolded their wings, followed by Sego. Zilliad propelled the trio with a gale of wind that shot them upwards, accelerating the deities to an intense speed. They hurtled higher and higher until they crested the top of the clouds. From this height, they could see thousands of meteors descending onto Garsuna's surface.