Liev Mikaels

Prologue

It all happened in a blur...

All I could remember was crying over Shira's body. Shira had been my only friend. Now, I couldn't even recognize her anymore. Her once beautiful face, now a vision of pain and sorrow. Her mask, nowhere to be seen.

I felt the anger forming inside me. I turned to look at my brethren, but all I saw was mass slaughter. It was a hopeless battle. I should've listened to my instincts and persuaded them into believing that this was all a trap. I already had an insight of what would happen but I ignored it. Now look where it has gotten us.

My parents were fighting side by side. No enemy could have gotten close. We were the last of the pureblooded Djinns after all. We came from the main family of the Mikaels Clan. Our blood is divine. But our brothers from the branch families were not as strong as us. They were powerless against the overwhelming forces of the enemy and I watched in horror as their masks were ripped from their faces before they were killed.

Everyone from our family was required to wear masks outside our home. Masks are sacred to us for they protect what's most important to us, our identities. And now, these beasts are stripping us of what we value the most!

I know I could stop this, here and now. I have kept this secret for so long, but if it's the only way to stop this holocaust, then I concede.

I have always been an outcast, the odd man of the group. If everyone finds out about this strange ability of mine, then I will never be accepted by my peers. I have kept this for so long for fear of rejection. And now, this is the only thing that can save us.

I had only done this once before, but I still remember the feeling it gave me. A cold feeling that made me shiver to the core. I was only 12 when I first learned of this strange ability of mine.

A lifeless squirrel was in my path. It was already in a state of decomposition.

I picked it up so it won't be anymore of an obstruction, but the moment my fingers touched it, the dead squirrel started to wiggle, as if it were trying to gasp for air. I was so surprised I dropped it. I began to stomp at it with ferocious intensity hoping it would go back to being dead.

Unfortunately, it didn't stay dead. It was still moving even though it was seriously deformed. Most of it's organs were splattered on the ground.

That was when I found out that I can channel the powers of the abyss. Which was very rare for a Djinn.

I hadn't told anyone about this. I trained in secret, did a lot of research while I stayed in the dark. Although I hid it, I never once feared it. Only the consequences it might bring me once I reveal it.

Now, what I tried so hard to conceal could be the only thing that separates us from damnation.

I let the cold feeling sink in as I tried to gain access into the abyss. Slowly, the area surrounding me began to tremble. It was unnoticeable at first, but as I concentrated further, I felt the trembling getting stronger and stronger as the doors of the abyss opened up to me.

Finally, with a blast of infernal light, I managed to open a gateway to the abyss.

For a moment, everything was still. The fighting had stopped and all eyes were on me. From the gateway that I had summoned, all sorts of eerie noises can be heard. Growls, groans, chattering of bones. We were all enveloped in a feeling of hopelessness and despair. I guess this happens when you open the gates to the abyss.