The Wild Spirit, full of hunger and feral rage.
The Founder, wary and wise.
The Founders, dormant and watchful.
The Khaos, always wild, ever free.
The Sorceress, in search of truth and control.
The Puppet Master, ever present.
The P O W E R : S T R...
The echoes of battle cries, death throes, and desperate pleas for mercy wafted across the land like mist—a land once filled with trees and bushes and rivers and lakes and life, now reduced to scorched, barren dust.
One man stood alone in the wake of a war that had shaken the very existence of the Wonderkind to its core—a man clad in a deerskin cloak, his leathery, tanned skin marked with black and matching the twin ebony antlers protruding from his skull. He stared steadily out across the wasteland through wizened hazel eyes, his chin-length dark brown hair moving ever so slightly in the light breeze.
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A soft clomping sound came from the deer-man's left, but he did not turn, even as a being capable of uprooting an entire continent from the Earth's crust came alongside him.
Mother Earth joined the deer-man in staring into the distance, unable to stop a few tears from sliding down her face. She didn't know how many times she'd cried over the past few days; in fact, she was surprised she had the emotional strength and wherewithal to even function.
The next sound to overwhelm the silent breeze was twofold: the thudding of large, clawed hands that carried forth the owlish Sluagh, and the slithering of the colossal seven-eyed serpent known as the All-Seer, arriving on the deer-man's right and the Doe's left, respectively.
"Are you ready, Mother?"
Mother Earth turned, broken out of her trancelike stare.
The deer-man had fixed his gaze on her—that powerful, unflinching gaze, filled with such resolve, such determination, that even the Magnakind Alliance felt compelled to give this common Wonderkind their respect.
After a moment of silence, Mother Earth nodded. "I am," she answered softly. "But remember that I cannot help you build this city; I must conserve my energy for the Second Haven. However, I will do what I can to restore this land."
"That is all we ask of you, Mother," the Sluagh stated, dipping his head to his fellow Magnakind.
Mother Earth nodded back before facing the empty wasteland again. She breathed in deeply, slowly raising her arms to shoulder height and extending them outward to her sides with the palms of her hands facing up. She exhaled, eyes closing, mind calming, heart slowing.
And once more, there was silence.
The breeze went dead, coming to a quiet halt.
The ground itself seemed to seize up with a deep, groaning, rumbling, rattling noise.
