Drunk on greed and power, the King told his consort that if she did not bear an heir, he would lock her in the dungeons to rot and he’d take another. When no heir came, he kept his promise.
He made four more consorts the same promise.
They each suffered the same fate.
From the damp, cold dungeons, those women cursed the King—upon the next black moon, he would bear children, but they would turn against him. Only death and darkness would befit his lineage.
On the next black moon, the King sired two princes—Desidero and Caym. The babes’ essences were tainted by their father’shate and the curse cast by his former consorts. That was the day dark Source magic entered our ranks; the Shadow Origin and Death Origin were born.
I feared for my children and their children and their children’s children, for I saw all that would happen in the centuries to come—blood, fire and destruction. The very existence of Death in the realm changed the trajectory of peace. Until Caym’s rise, the world had not known disease, war or wrath.
The new Origins grew to adulthood, and Caym overthrew his father, killing him in his sleep. Desidero slunk into the shadows, happy to live an isolated life.
One dreadful day, after having gifted immortality to a young woman who had nearly drowned, the Water Origin, Aquas, sank into the foam of the ocean waves. Pulled back to his Source, he cried, “Death has come for me!”
Thus, the first Source Origin became trapped in the in-between.
Caym claimed Aquas had cheated him of the drowning woman’s life when Aquas lifted her from the seas.
The other Origins grew fearful of Death, afraid they would suffer the same fate if they continued to help mortals by gifting their Source power.
Wracked with fear, the natural Source Origins turned against mortals and Reverists alike. The Reverists’ mind-altering capabilities were too risky, and the Origins began to condemn Reverists to death.
Caym, pretending to sympathize with my children, offered to help. But it came with a price. Under his guidance, the Reverists did precisely what the Origins had feared. He manipulated them into thinking they needed to force the Sources to give away their immortality and all of their magic.
Every Reverist, except my first child, fell to his deceit, and every Origin fell into that in-between plane at the hands of my children.
He made one exception for his brother, Desidero.
Caym agreed to allow Desidero and his heirs to live. But each heir was only allowed one child, who they passed their Source power and immortality down to. Thus, the Shadow Origin would forever be reborn and never grow strong enough to contend with Death.
When Caym found me, he held the one thing he knew I would bargain anything to protect. Isleen.
She was my first child, the only one to have inherited all of my powers: clairvoyance, compulsion, telepathy, dream manipulation, and projection. My other children supported Caym, but never Isleen.
Isleen was helpless in Death’s grasp.
Even all the knowledge in the land cannot stop one from making an unwise decision when the safety of their child is in question. Cunning and persuasive, Caym professed his love for my daughter, and he offered me a bargain. Isleen would get immortality instead of death. My other children would live in peace.
I had to promise one thing in return—my power would be granted to him upon my death. He would be the first full Reverist and Origin in one.
And with my promise, he drove a dagger through my heart.
The peace he promised was a lie. He betrayed my children—made destructive beasts of them.
When he realized Isleen would not bend to his wishes, Caym locked her away.
During a black moon, my cunning daughter summoned the Sources to help her create a trap for Caym and bartered her life for his imprisonment.
But, with my power, Caym will rise again.
I foresee him rising upon the hundredth black moon after his fall.
You must listen, Fifth Heir of Desidero. Find the Last Daughter of my dearest Isleen.
The heir you bear together will be both Origin and Reverist. Your child is the key to ending Death’s reign—the key to setting us all free.
Chapter 19
