Hall of Games [The Celestial Chronicles #1]

Chapter Eighteen: Under That Mask

"Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives what has been carefully hidden."

-Phaedrus- 

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Chapter Eighteen: Under That Mask

Of many men and tongues, this magical world is the hidden world, the vanishing city. Esvanira is home to all Starlets, Stelliums and Decanates, a haven for those with the blood of the Stars.

Our story centers on the Starlets. Starlets are said to be the first creatures that learned the music of the Stars, they who harness the universe's energy and are able to manipulate it. Starlets are the children of the Stars, those who will forever be their guardians and patrons. A Starling is a term given to those yet of age. The moment a Starling achieves adulthood at the sixteenth moon, they will be marked by a patron Star.

The Five Founders led the first Starlets. We do not know of their birth. But yet, they existed.

Trael is the First: he who breathes the fire of the dragons, he who fights as a legend, he who can tame the wildest beasts by a single command. He is the First Warrior, the first who fought iron with iron, and fire with fire.

Nala is the Second: she who speaks the language of the heavens, she who brings the world of the Stars to the world, she who cries for the pain of the living. She is the first Oracle, the first to bond with a Star.

Najata is the Third: she who sings with the rhapsody of nature, she who is one with the elements, she who resonates with the call of the wild. She is the First Naturam, the first who yield the earth as her own.

Pyramus is the Fourth: he who carries iron and fire, he who forged the realms of stone, he who breathes talent to all who ask. He is the first Tinker, the first bringer of gifts.

Yana is the Fifth: he who blends with the shadows, he who watches over dead souls, he who silently observe the living with keen eyes. He is the first Walker, the call of the dead.

Peace was blessed upon Esvanira when the Five Founders erected the Hall of Games – a Hall that serves as a sanctuary. The Five worked in harmony, bringing the knowledge of the Stars to the Starlets.

But, peace does not last long.

As their influence over Esvanira began to grow, Yana addressed the need for a separate Hall, a place where only Walkers may attend. He claimed that the presence of the other Starlets destroyed his ability to create a pure race of Starlets of the same affinity.

Being ambitious, he walked away from the other Founders and built his own home – The Hall of Shadows. His proposal was denied by Nala, she of the Spirits. Being opposite sites, black and white, fire and water, spirit and shadow, Nala feared that Yana might gain too much power without the supervision of the other Founders and forbade him from building such a Hall.

A fight ensued. Nala, in her fury, burnt down the Hall of Shadows. Yana walked away from the Hall of Games with the promise of a payback: to both the other Founders for not siding him, and at Nala for her prejudice against the powers of Shadows.

It was a dark era for the Starlets. Yana rose with his dark, glorious might and marched onward with his mighty army of Shadows to eradicate the Hall of Games and his mortal enemy – Nala. Before Yana could wipe out the entire Hall, the remaining Founders cast a curse upon him, sealing him within a vessel he could never escape from. It was then cast into the deepest part of the Savage Seas, with the hope he shall never emerge with his dark wish again.