Prism Academy 5- Interlude 1 (Patreon)

This will happen from time to time since I post the chapters as I write them for the most part, other than if I write something I know comes at the end of the book.

This interlude will likely go between chapters 9 and 10 in the final book, but none of it matters to the other chapters.

This just provides some background information.

And for those wondering- after I finish the first stat sheet update- I will shift over and do a chapter of Dragon Sorcerer.

The later in April it gets though, the more I have to focus on Prism Academy since it comes out May 1st and we don't want Dutch to shank me for pushing it too close to the deadline.



Interlude 1-

Krig stirred. So much was fuzzy in his mind. It had been so long, or had it? He remembered propelling himself through the air with streams of Essence. He had to flee. Ugh… something was wrong. His mind just didn’t want to form proper thoughts. He was Krig, god of war, or was he?

He remembered being betrayed. It felt like an eternity ago. Then he ended up on this hole of a world. He’d chosen it initially to hide in because it was cut off from most of the rest of the universe. A patsy had been chosen to take his place and die in his stead.

How could he have known that the mortal he’d selected would end up supplanting him? Krig ended up stranded on this rock, which was almost devoid essence. His mantle had never returned to him.

Then the Plegerians had come to Earth. The foolish humans called them light and shadow, but they were all one race, a contemptible race at that. They had forsaken the ways of cultivating to instead live in an energy form and then derived their substance in a vampiric fashion from the organic beings around them. It disgusted Krig.

Worse, they were cowards. The little that he had been able to figure out was that they had fled their own plane of existence when the void had destroyed it. A strategic retreat was one thing, but to give up entirely… he simply couldn’t fathom it.

When they entered this world, a trickle of essence appeared, but it wasn’t enough. A dark time occurred and Krig had very little memory of it. He lay in a type of stasis for decades as his body absorbed the now greater but still tiny amount of essence which leaked into Earth.

Then he was betrayed again. Two others from his home had appeared. A pair of fiends who had somehow gathered a sliver of divinity. They had blinded his mind and taken advantage of him, selling him to the Plegerians, the ones known as shadow. He would have his revenge.

Whatever had been done to him had infused his body with a dark power, but that all changed when a crack in this dimension occurred. It was still nothing like his home plane, the one he had created with the other gods, but it was a significant event all the same. His body began to store significant amounts of essence again. After all, he was one of only three beings on the entire world who could use it.

When he was given his chance, he cast off the shackles of his captors and now he simply wanted to pay back those who had betrayed him. Things kept changing, though. He had encountered that mortal. He was something unlike anything Krig had ever fought.

His movements were fast but crude. He lacked any real training in fighting, but he had a tremendous amount of power all based upon that insidious progenitor energy. Krig had never expected to meet a mortal who might garner his respect. It would have been different if he had his mantle, but still…

Then he felt more cracks appearing. The attention of the void had been drawn to this plane. It was only a matter of time. More startling, though, was the fact that he felt the awakening of a cultivator. There could be no doubt. There was now a fourth being in this world capable of drawing in and refining the essence of the multi-verse.

Krig didn’t know who it was, and he didn’t feel that being drawing any essence in, but it was only a matter of time. Perhaps with proper training, this one could become an ally. Krig would think on that. Right now, he needed rest up and restore his supplies of essence.

He closed his eyes and began cycling again as he dreamed of revenge.

_______________________________

The council of shadow and leaders of the light were never together. They might have once been a single race, but that had been long ago. Now they were two sides of the same coin as the humans might have said. At least that was true with regard to the intents.

One of the shadows said, “I’m telling you; it is the only way.”

“It is not our way,” his counterpart replied.

“The son of light has left us no choice. The hosts are of no use to us if they turn on us.”

“Then perhaps you should be content simply absorbing the energy they create in their frantic lives rather than trying to consume them.” The being of light flickered as he spoke. “Besides, he has as much claim to being son of shadow as son of light. Your puppet contrived a way to connect him. If he was truly a son of light, he would never seek your total obliteration. It is your fault that he can do that which our pure power would never push him to.”

The shadows merged and shared their thoughts before forming into the four remaining members of their council again. “The past matters now. All we need to know is if you will stand with us your fallen brothers or if you will watch as the hosts slowly destroy us.”

A second being of light said, “We will consider.”

“Don’t think for too long or the sun will have set.”

Then the light was gone, and the shadow took their own council. They had to come up with another plan. Their weak kin couldn’t be trusted. They were too wrapped up inside their own ideals.

__________________________________

The capital building in Atlanta was surrounded by more soldiers than it had been in a hundred years. Layers of defenses, supers, armored suits, energized barriers, and automated weapons were all in place. They had to be. The president-general didn’t know how it had come to this.

He would have never seen the Prism’s guilt if Representative Bosch hadn’t shown him. That man was the true hero to humanity. Now, though, he had a heavy decision to make. Bosch looked at him. Something flickered in the man’s eyes and for a moment, the president stopped and wondered if something was wrong, but then the pressure on his mind increased and he knew this had to be.

“Fine, I’ll sign the order. Bring him in.”

A general said, “Are you sure, Mr. President-General? Once we go down this path, there is no going back. It will be war with Prism Academy.”

Bosch spoke. His voice carried a distinct weight to it. “You exaggerate. Certainly, some of his followers will stay under his control. That is why he has the Seer with him, after all, to control the minds of others. But at the most, we’ll lose Chicago. That will be a small price to pay for a truce with the shadow and peace for all of humanity.”

The president started signing the order then. He looked up. “You have your orders general. Bring in the Prism, do it by any means necessary. Deadly force is authorized.”