Empyrean Born (Origins Book 1)
Empyrean Born
Origins Book One
M.K. Hall
Copyright © 2020 by M.K. Hall
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Edited by: Michelle Motyczka
Cover Design by: Damn Good Designs
Formatting by: Inked Imagination Author Services
Contents
Glossary
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
Afterword
Acknowledgments
This experience is dedicated to my loving husband and two amazing daughters. Thank you for all of your love and support. Thank you for understanding my need to close myself away for hours on end and only peek out long enough to say goodnight and I love you.
No matter where.
Places
Terrestrial plane: astral plane where humans reside
Empyreal plane: astral plane where Empyreans reside
Praeteritus: realm of the afterlife for Empyreans and humans
The Harbor: province of Praeteritus and home to Primordials, Creators, and Elders
Nihility: neutral province of Praeteritus
Utopia: celestial province of Praeteritus
Purgatory: underworld province of Praeteritus
Demesne of Power: sphere of power where the Primordials reside, located within the Harbor
Beings
Primordials: highest, most supreme Empyreans whose power is the source of Empyrean magic
Creators: Empyreans who created the human world
Elders: Empyreans who mediate between Praeteritus and the Empyreal plane
Guardians: Empyreans who protect all astral planes
The Council: group of Empyreans who oversee the Empyreal and Terrestrial planes; responsible for enacting Empyrean laws
Kakodaimonos: demons from Purgatory
Drogollans: Beings charged with protecting the Void
Titles
Empyrean Enforcer: Empyreans charged with upholding Empyreal law
Empyrean Protector: Empyrean charged with protecting renowned Empyreans
The Chosen: Empyrean selected by the Elders to be the leader of the Empyreal plane
Other Terms
Transmogrification: process through which an Empyrean’s power is removed so that they may live within the human world
Impetus Transmogrification: process through which an Empyrean’s power is removed when sentenced to death; vastly quicker and far more painful than Transmogrification
Dissolution Blade: Weapon spelled with magic to help spirits cross into the afterlife
Origins
The normally peaceful nighttime sky burned bright with angry red and orange hues that reflected off the billowing clouds as they advanced on the Harbor within Praeteritus. Purgatory’s wrath approached, and with it came the screams of the damned, haunting and relentless. The Empyrean Elders knew the Great War would descend upon them, and soon. Rushing to preserve their very existence, they implored the Primordials, the very highest beings and the source of the Empyreans’ magical powers, to send Creators to the Empyreal astral plane to open a portal to a new realm, one that might serve as a safe haven should the time come when they needed to vacate their homes.
And so it came to be that the Terrestrial plane was forged and the human race was born. Conceived from the powers of the Empyreans, the humans’ primitive society developed impressively, albeit free of any form of magic. However, due to the nature of the Creators’ powers, they could not remain within the Empyreal plane and returned to their homes in Praeteritus. Therefore, the Elders temporarily took up residence among the Empyreans to oversee both the Empyreal and Terrestrial planes.
When the war turned far more perilous than had been expected, the Elders and more highly gifted Empyreans joined forces to fight alongside the Primordials and other higher beings in an urgent, almost foolhardy attempt to defend the Harbor and thus Praeteritus itself. It was not without great sacrifice and unprecedented casualties that Purgatory was finally defeated and pushed back to its rightful place.
Many who survived would never be the same. Desperate for absolution and freedom from the unyielding nightmares, a few rather innovative Empyreans developed a means to eradicate their powers through a process they called Transmogrification, allowing them to live a mortal existence within the Terrestrial plane, far away from reminders of the war they’d fought.
Meanwhile, the Elders faced a new problem. With the ability to open portals between the astral planes, Empyreans were free to roam among the humans, and some took advantage, using their powers on defenseless souls. A new Empyrean society, with laws strictly forbidding interference with life in the human world, began to take shape as the Elders set forth to construct a culture of conformity and responsibility toward overseeing the Terrestrial plane.
Eventually, the Elders sought to return to their home in the Harbor within Praeteritus, but they understood this new civilization they had worked hard to build would need strong leadership to maintain and uphold their laws. Leaders who were not only pure of heart, but also gifted in ways that surpassed the general Empyrean population. After conducting multiple rounds of trials, challenges, and exams, two such Empyreans were selected. They were to be named the Chosen and the Apprentice. Yet, as is often the case where young people are concerned, unforeseen events arose, making it necessary for the Elders to seek another form of leadership. Thus the Empyrean Council was formed.
However, at least for one of the selected, it was not the end of her involvement with the Empyrean and human races. Over a great many years, she would rise through the ranks of Empyrean Enforcers and continue to impact the lives of all with her integrity, impenetrable sense of decorum, and dignified pursuit of rectitude.
Ezekiel bolted upright in bed, frightening his wife.
“Zeke, what is it?” she asked in a panic.
Covered in a cold sweat, he worked to steady his breath. “I-I’m not sure. The dream… It was so real.”
Soliana sat up. “A premonition?”
Ezekiel shook his head, but with much less confidence than he would have liked. While some Empyreans were blessed with grander abilities than his own, premonitions weren’t something he necessarily believed in. Still…
“It felt like…” He couldn’t finish the thought.
“Like what?”
Hesitantly, he continued. “Like just before the Great War. As if everything in the cosmos was holding its breath, waiting.” Waiting for what, though, he could not say. Finally looking over at her, he decidedly declared, “If it comes down to another war, she will have to face who she is and what she is meant to be.” Rubbing his face, he looked over at his wife. “My gods. We might very well be doomed.”
Empyreal Plane
Thirteen Months Ago
Oh, fuck me sideways and call me Alice. I’m late! Except that would be weird. I’m Valkyrie, not Alice.
Anyway, dammit, I’m so late.
The brightness
of the day has begun without me, but as I lay within the comforts of my pristine white bedding, I can’t really make myself do more than acknowledge how late I truly am. The ebb and flow of wind, with its magical current, blows through the trees just outside, and for the first time in too long I wake refreshed, if a bit frazzled. The natural power of the Empyreal plane courses through me, beginning to awaken my mind.
After coming home from the Terrestrial plane yesterday, I went straight to bed. Being in the human world always takes a toll, and it was lights out the second my head hit the pillow. Normally, upon returning, I would’ve gone to the Resurrection Pool before settling in, but when I saw my bed, my body reacted before my brain could stop it.
Recognizing the sluggish tug of sleep threatening to pull me back under, I manage to drag my lazy ass out of bed as quiet footsteps approach the threshold at the front of my home.
Unlike in the human world, here we have no doors. In fact, there are a great number of differences between our houses. Primarily, the fact that they’re nestled up high within the trees. Elegant archways, with sturdy wooden pillars and vines spanning the distance between them, separate the interior rooms and the outside. The walls and roofs are made from the trees’ own interwoven branches and limbs, providing shelter from the rare instances when the weather is less than ideal. We have no real possessions to speak of; therefore, there is nothing for anyone to envy, thus no crime - a wonderful characteristic of our world. Well, I suppose there is at least one thing I have that others may be a tad green about. Having earned the prestige that accompanies its location, my home is set higher up in the forest than most. From up here you can see across our vast land. But more than having a coveted view, the air that finds me first feels more alive, more pure.
Although, I will admit it’s a bitch to climb all the way up here.
“Did you really just wake up?” Gabe chides with a shake of his head as he enters. “You better hurry up and get ready for the Council meeting. We’re supposed to be there soon.”
A dramatic sigh escapes my lips as I roll my eyes. “Can’t we just email them our report?”
“Babe. We’re home.”
“Right,” I say, closing my eyes. We’ve been jumping back and forth from home to the human world so often lately that I find myself wishing for some crossover between the two. For instance, I’d love nothing more than to tap out a few sentences on a keyboard, hit send, and climb back into bed for a week. But no. The Council insists on all reports being delivered in person. I could also go for a mug of coffee the size of my fucking head right about now, but alas, these things are limited to the human world. I’m so exhausted despite sleeping like a rock last night. I’d cry if I didn’t think it would cause an uproar. If anyone other than Gabe witnessed me displaying even an iota of irrational emotion, like shedding a tear over the absence of coffee, they’d probably toss me in a cell and make me meditate for a month straight. All Gabe does is call me babe and laugh or shake his head. Sometimes both. Or all three.
Empyreans, by nature, are rational, unemotional, and occasionally cold. I suppose we could be compared to those Vultures or whatever they’re called from the humans’ Star Trek series. However, trust me when I say, we don’t wait seven years to have sex... My current dry spell aside.
Some Empyreans - namely me - aren’t quite as immune to emotions. Or maybe it’s that human feelings are tricky. Like they’re contagious or something. The more time spent in their world, the more likely we are to catch “all the feels.” It takes coming home to the Empyreal plane to replenish our powers and, simply put, get us back to feeling like ourselves again. Although lately, I haven’t had the luxury of sticking around home long enough to even know who my old self is anymore.
“Are you okay?” Gabe asks.
“I’m fine. I just... went straight to bed yesterday instead of the Pool,” I answer as I feel my face flush red, preparing for a lecture. When it doesn’t come, I open one eye and look at him.
He chuckles. “What? Oh, you’re waiting for me to scold you? Babe, you are about the most independent being I’ve ever been around. You don’t need me telling you what to do.”
I straighten at his words. “You’re admitting I’m a superior being?”
He grins before answering, “In every way. But you’re also stubborn as hell. Especially when you’re going through caffeine withdrawal. Come on, get dressed. I’ll make you something to eat. But hurry. You know what happens when we’re late.”
At the get dressed instruction, I glance down and notice I slept in my clothes. No wonder he looked at me sideways when he walked in. Turning, I head through the archway to my bedroom, undressing as I go. Numerous dresses in varying earth tones hang within my closet. Bypassing all of them, I grab my ornamental warrior gear.
My reflection in the long mirror causes me to stop and turn sideways, patting my stomach. The food in the human world is rather addicting, and as Gabe says, I have a problem. But thank whatever gods, my tummy is still basically flat. I just like to periodically check and see if stuffing my face with beer, french fries, those ridiculously delicious bacon cheeseburgers, and cake - gods, I love cake - has finally caught up with me. My ass, though... Well, thank fuck for stretchy jeans. My eyes wander up to my face, to the cheeks that aren’t exactly defined but reveal prominent dimples. I happen to like my dimples, thank you. Also, my nose. It’s kinda cute with the smallest indentation at the tip.
This had better still fit me, I think, tearing my eyes away from the mirror and looking at the elaborate garment that I haven’t worn in a while.
It’s always a show when presenting before the Council. They’re old school and want to see women in fancy gowns and men in their uniforms. But not me. Oh, I’ll play dress up in one of the many beautiful dresses for any number of occasions. Just not for a meeting such as this. Instead, I opt for a consistent reminder that I deserve to be among the elite group of Empyrean Enforcers. I didn’t climb my way up through the ranks and become one of the best with my good looks and girlish charm. I clawed and fought my way up here, and I suppose I still feel like I have something to prove. Which doesn’t make sense considering how many millenia have since passed. My best friend and I were the first female Enforcers, something we take a great deal of pride in, well, I still do. She’s gone now, living her best life with the humans.
My mind takes a momentary detour, wondering what my girl is doing now. As I make fast work of braiding my long hair, my eyes land on a photograph of the two of us taken shortly after one of our last trips together to the human world. The edges are faded, and it’s beginning to yellow with advanced age. Our smiling faces make me nostalgic for the old days, and I wonder if she ever thinks about me. I wonder if she’s old. Sadness begins to take hold, making me pause. I miss her so damn much.
“Babe, you ready? We have to go,” Gabe hollers, snapping me out of the crushing weight of those thoughts.
Sheathing the Dissolution knife at my side, I walk out of the bedroom. Gabe’s eyes scan my attire, from the black, thigh-high combat boots to the stockings peeking through the slits at the sides of my long vest. It criss-crosses over my chest, revealing enough cleavage to make me look quite badass, if I do say so myself. It’s not the most comfortable outfit I own, and I make a mental note to lay off the fries, but it is one of my favorites. I feel powerful in it. Confident. And I’ll take all the confidence I can get when going in front of the Council. While they are a bunch of pompous blowhards, they can strike fear through anyone who stands before them.
Especially the Chancellor.
After all, they are the ones who preside over the judgments. They decide if the accused will face a test, usually in the form of a challenge out on the fighting fields, to determine if the Empyrean is worthy of keeping their title or if they will be forced through Impetus Transmogrification. No one survives that form of Transmogrification, but that’s the point. Unlike the process one undergoes in order to join the human world, this method rips your powers from your
body at a dangerously accelerated rate, turning you mortal before killing you. But that sentence is reserved for the most evil sort of transgressions.
Gabe’s eyes continue over me, never lingering in any one place too long. The intricately woven dark teal fabric of the vest brings out my eyes, which he is now studying. He nods and grins in approval, the look softening his entire face. My stomach loudly roars, drawing his attention, as he meets me halfway across the room with a plate of pastries.
“Oh, you are my hero.”
Gabe’s a phenomenal cook. Here… not in the human world. If you ask him, he’ll use the excuse that his powers are limited and we’re always in a hotel room with no access to a proper kitchen. Personally, I think it’s because he knows I would beg him to make me whatever these things are, every damn day.
I moan with the first bite. “Is this blueberry wif-lemon?” I ask around a mouthful. He nods. “Damn. When are you going to give up men and be my wife?”
He chuckles and walks into the kitchen to clean up.
“First cooking and now cleaning? Are you trying to give me an orgasm right here and now?” I ask as I take my final euphoric bite.
He makes quick work of cleaning up and warns, “You better rein that in. You know the Council doesn’t have a sense of humor.”