1 Prologue

Prologue

Sparks flew across the night sky. Fire and lightning clashed. Two massive beasts fought in a battle for supremacy. On opposing sides stood two individuals each concentrating on the book in their hands. The fire beast that stood proud among the clouds looked like a giant lion. Only that instead of a mane full of fur it was flames that danced around its strong neck.

Behind the lion stood a man dressed in a yellow robe looking almost like a Shaolin Monk if not for his full head of bright red hair. His robe was also lined with black flames, and the silk material was of such high quality that no real monk could afford it. He was a westerner with bright blue eyes and a clean-shaven face. Tall and muscular, standing just as proud as the pet lion next to him. He was very handsome and looked to be around his mid-twenties though his eyes told a different story.

"Jade, stop this insanity, the Elder Counsel still is holding your place. But you must stop this madness at once. Call off your followers and return with me. We can salvage this fiasco. No mortal lives have yet been harmed. As for our loss, both sides have suffered enough, don't you think?" The red-headed man pleaded.

"Haha, you are always so full of yourself Keith." Jade spat back. She was a dark-haired woman of Chinese descent. Her hair was long flowing past her feet in length. It was tied back in a loose ponytail. Dressed in a two-piece black suit with gold pinstripes. Her tie and inner vest were gold in color, matching the pinstripes, and also her eyes. Yes, her beautiful face held two golden eyes that seemed capable of enchanting anyone who looked too deeply into them. The suit did little to hide her voluptuous body.

Once hailed as a one-in-a-millennium genius Jade now had been hunted down. Hunted by the same group who once worshiped her as the second coming. Keith had been one of many who tried courting her. No matter how many times he's always fallen short.

"Why should I bend my knee and serve a bunch of upstarts? When I can rule them all with power beyond what they know." She demanded with a grin. It was a breathtaking grin but it held evil intent. "Astaroth Great Duke of Hell, 29th pillar by Ars Goetia and with the blood of Sylph. I, Salomon Heir, summon thee." She finished chanting and her summons, a giant serpent with green wings started to contort and compress as blood oozed out of its pores.

Keith let out a sad sigh and muttered. "Blood Rite and Oath Breaker." Her choice pained him dearly but he has his duty. One he would see through. Even more so now because his love for her was just that great.

"To the northern sky by Bor promise and by the nine-pact of the Elder Counsel, old man Odin, hear my plea and fulfill your duty to Midgard. Odin god of wisdom, poetry, war, death, divination, and magic I summon thee. My life is the price I gladly pay twice." Keith prayed his incantation. As the last word left his mouth his life ran dry.

The lion poofed in a cloud of smoke as if it was never there. Keith's body seemed to age instantly leaving behind a wither corpse of a man. He looked more like a skeleton than a man. As he fell from the sky he disintegrated into nothing but fine dust. His last thought was at least we will go down together. Maybe in our next life, I can free you of that hate.' Even in death, he had a smile on his face.

Thunder flashed and lightning struck. Fires ran wild and winds tore through all insight. At the center of this crazy elemental storm stood a man whose age could not be determined. One second he looked like a boy, the next a mid-age man, then an old man with white long hair. His armor never changed nor did his eye patch. On his shoulder stood two ravens and in his hand, he held a golden spear. His mount was a large horse fully armored. With two pairs of front legs. "Haha, To summon such a creature with evil intent in my realm is courting death, young lady." He said with a grim tone as his crows made caw noises.

The now giant orb of blood that once was the wind serpent Sylph started to turn black. Soon it turned completely black until it started to crack. A young lady naked as the day she was born stood where once was the orb. With long horns on her head and jet black hair. Her pale skin is in stark contrast to her full head of hair. In her right hand, she held a sword that looked like a living snake, and in her left hellfire burned in a ball ready to be used. Her lazy appearance belied the evil intent of her eyes. Before she could even make a move, Oden, the old Norse god sprang.

To be more precise Odin's two birds struck. In a flash, they attack the devil. Tearing it to pieces. They consumed every bit of its flesh and blood. Not even the bones were spared.

Oden himself launched his spear at the summoner, Jade. In horror she watched. She could do nothing. The spacetime, the reality around her was locked. All she could do was watch as the golden spear struck her. One strike was all it took to end all her plans and plots.

Jade never imagined those old men would sacrifice their last hope to stop her. Keith was a kind brave soul. They wasted him to hold onto power that they themselves had hoarded for eons. Her last words were not for Odin but for the Elder Counsel she knew was watching from afar.

"Haha, You think with his sacrifice you have won. You have not gained anything from this. I'll be back. Just wait for my reawakening. Now that you lost your trump card let's see how you stop me next time, Haha" She laughed her last breath as her body was shattered into a thousand stone pieces.

"By Bor pledge, I have come from beyond Ragnarok. The promise is fulfilled. Now I, go to rest with my sons of old." Odin's voice boomed as he disappeared. He left as fast as he had come. As Odin said his part, hundreds of dark streaks could be seen collecting all the stones that had fallen from Jade's broken form. Before the Elder Counsel could send their troops forward all the pieces had been taken by the followers of the Bloody Queen and they swiftly retreated.

That night was marked in the hidden history annals. It was the night the world almost fell to the Bloody Queen. It was a day that the faithful followers of Jade mourned not knowing when she would return. It was a day the Elder Counsel tried to forget. But throughout Highborn society, that day turned into a folk tale. Told to scare their kids into behaving. "Behave if not the Bloody Queen will awaken to get you." they would say.