In a world divided into three races since ancient times, there have been three kingdoms. The first kingdom is the kingdom of the gods and sits in the heavens ruling above the other two. The second is called Amaryllis and filled with the prosperous...
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"Lukas ran at full speed."
The halls were empty. They were always empty. A person could wander the maze that was the palace of the heavens for days and never cross another soul's path. The fact that Lukas and Dai had run into Terrin and Victoria was worse than bad luck but Lukas could accept it. They knew him. They knew how reckless he was. It wasn't completely improbable that they would linger to assure he didn't seek to return to the mortal plane.
But when Mother appeared, Lukas knew better than to think of it as coincidence. She was there for a reason. An express purpose. She never wandered the halls without triple intent. And with the stars behind her back - and their ability to glimpse the future in the eyes of living creatures - Mother was neigh invincible in her game chess, moving her children along the board.
She had to have known that they would be there. She had to have wanted to cross paths with Lukas and Dai. And more likely than not, it was the latter of the duo she truly wished to glimpse up close.
Lukas was not so arrogant as to believe he knew everything. He was acutely aware that things were going on behind the scenes. He could turn and look, stare into the shadows, but he'd only get glimpses. Nothing of substance. And if he did that, he'd miss the play. His attention was not omnipotent - not like Mother's. He couldn't afford to stare at stagehands in an attempt to see the greater workings of things.
But he still knew that things were happening. He still knew someone else was behind the curtains. He knew it from the way Dai refused to bow. From the way he spoke in that ancient tongue - something only really used by stars when they gave prophecy. It was older than the gods and as far as Lukas had been aware, only beings of celestial origins used it. Things such as stars and suns and moons and Mother.
Yet the words flowed out of Dai like a first tongue.
Instead of pondering every awful implication of that - of how Dai would have ever come into possession of such a tongue, of how he could have so easily mastered what was impossible for even the eldest of gods to grasp - Lukas focused on running. It was easy enough. Much like when it came to fighting, Lukas would always reach for his blade before resorting to magic. Running was simple. He could trust his body. The mind was something else. The mind could not be trusted.
The halls moved quickly now. They were all echoes of one another, impossible for those who had not spent centuries learning their subtleties. He focused all of his mind onto finding these subtleties and guiding both him and Dai safely through the heavens. He was going as fast as he could. He knew they needed to escape - he knew they needed to find refugee in the Wild Woods before Victoria awoke - but he was pressing too hard.
Dai's breathing had become ragged. That was Lukas's first sign. Then his familiar's pace started to lag. He couldn't keep up. Lukas knew that. In terms of physical strength, Dai was a marvel compared to his mortal counterparts, but he was still no match for a god. His hands were soft and his paws unused to long sprints down halls of divinity.
