Chapter 1

Auskan World

5th Realm

He stands firm, defiant against the howling wind as it creates a wind tunnel between the pillars of rock at the base of the majestic mountain peaks that dominate a bleak and barren landscape. The Auskan World, or the fifth realm, is where only the hardest of creatures survive, a place where the misfits of the Kuboran Galaxy grow and evolve into mighty slithering beasts like the Ridish, who live underground, a large lizard-type creature that can reach great lengths. The Mirtogue, with their large non-descript bodies, and the Unne, lesser creatures, pale and scrawny, small in stature, with wide elongated eyes that inhabit every rock and crevice, scrape a living from the dusty soils and left-over carcasses. The sweeping wind plays music as it moves over the grey landscape of stones, and for its inhabitants, it provides a harmonised tune.

Gornus continues to hold his stance between the two rock pillars. He has studied each of the ten realms, and even to the keen eye, there are anomalies that might escape notice. But not to him. There are certain things on different planes of existence that do not fit in with the natural way of the land, like the pillars carved out of rock before him, inscribed with symbols he can make no sense of. What is the purpose of such a construction in a place where only primeval creatures exist?

Buttoning his brown jacket and adjusting his green scarf around his neck, his eyes centre onto the entrance of the cavern and its hidden dark interior. It is a cold, damp place, inhospitable, but ideal for his newly-created prison. Opening his hand, his eyes stare onto the velvet blue amulet, its power pulsating in his hand. Another step in weakening the power of the High Duce. He will have the precious tanzanite stone fused with the emerald, stone of wisdom, now that he has control of the white staff of power. Glancing briefly behind him, his accompanying warriors stand back, wary of the creatures that exist around them. Only the trusted warriors in Gornus’s circle are aware of his plan to bring the Korninti race to a new level of existence. He believes there is more that they can achieve than just being gatekeepers of the Cosmic Pathway that connects all ten realms to his home on Uis-Valla. It has been told to him, and he believes in it.

His greatest feat, and for his plan to succeed, was the removal of the two most powerful elders of the Korninti, but he could not have done it alone for his strength is no match against their power. Hidden within the depth of the caverns in front of him, buried deep within the majestic mountain ranges of the Auskan World, is High Duce of Strife, Soulep, the second elder and most powerful of the Korninti, now imprisoned within her fortress of rock. But rock alone would never hold her for his plan had meant journeying several times outside of Uis-Valla to the Kingdom of Vellig, home to the powerful race of military sorcerers known as the Armonte. A binding spell, unknowingly given to him by the Armonte generals, fused with irodonez, a unique stone to the Kingdom of Vellig, was what he needed. The spell, along with removing the amulet from the High Duce, is enough to hold her captive. It has been a risky move to enter and interact with the Armonte of the Kingdom of Vellig, the first realm, without them knowing his true identity. The Armonte could never be given the location or access to the portal on the Kingdom of Vellig. Only the Korninti possess the knowledge of all ten realms in the Kuboran Galaxy, and that can never change. Of all the races in the third circle of creation, the Armonte are the most powerful, an equal match to the Korninti, but their lust for power and greed makes them ripe for corruption, values that the Korninti do not share as guardians of the Galaxy and watchers of all realms.

It has taken him time and many visits to the Armonte race to learn their ways, keeping his identity hidden, becoming one of them in physical form to lure the magic out of them. He played on their nature of greed and corruption, telling them of a portal that leads to another world, ripe for domination. He held out long enough without the need to tell them of its location in order to get what he wanted. He even feigned intimate interest with Jules, the commanding general, to acquire knowledge, and he got far more than he had expected. She gave him access to the Armonte’s three ancient texts of magic that he has now hidden within the Starlight School of Craft on Uis-Valla. The Armonte will never see of him again, and, in time, he believes that Jules and the other generals will dismiss him as a wandering stranger that happened to cross their path.

Returning his thoughts to the howling wind of Auskan, Gornus is satisfied that Soulep is unable, for now, to escape her new-found prison. He returns to join his awaiting warriors, who remain standing guard, to begin the perilous journey across the landscape before them to where the portal rests, bringing them into the Cosmic Pathway.

Chapter 2

Soulamir Realm

3rd Realm

At the very same time in cosmic existence, on the Soulamir Realm, or third realm of the Kuboran Galaxy, a watcher observes a figure emerging from behind the old gnarled oak on Ridges Hill. From the watcher’s viewpoint, the figure is seen wearing a brown dress of armour fitted to her body with flowing skirts of brown and gold stitching forming elegant designs and patterns. Her hair is raven black, flowing to her shoulders, and set deep into the platinum band surrounding her head is a large purple amethyst stone. But it is her piercing emerald eyes that draw in the watcher.

The visitor to the realm is High Duce of Wisdom, Mursulla, first elder of the Korninti race who finds herself standing in the middle of a glowing field. She pauses, surveying her surroundings. Studying further, she realises she is not looking upon flowers, but yellow and pink jammenflies, small winged insects only found on the Soulamir Realm. Flapping their fragile wings, they depart the ground, rising upwards, their wing movement slowing as if they are hardly moving. Mursulla stares at the spectacle until the jammenfly wings return to their normal speed and depart, leaving trails of pink and yellow dust behind them. Placing her hands gently through the trails of dust, she smiles. Rarely did she venture into the Soulamir Realm, but when she did, its beauty never failed to amaze her. 

She heard a calling, only audible to her, and was drawn to the Soulamir Realm to make sense of it. At first, all seems at peace, but instantly, on the departure of the jammenflies, an unsettling sensation hits her. There is magic in the air, and the space behind her crackles.   Turning, she catches sight of the bright flash of light streak across the sky. It disappears as quickly as it appeared, but she instantly knows what it means. The realm she is now in has been sealed shut from the other side on the Cosmic Pathway. No casting spell or power of any kind can open it from within. The Soulamir Realm can now only be entered from outside. The reaction triggers a moment of disbelief as who would trap her, the High Duce of Wisdom, within the Soulamir Realm.  

Mursulla’s thoughts immediately turn to her sister Soulep, her fellow elder, High Duce of Strife, both being the most powerful of the four Korninti elders. Together, the essence of each elder fuses into their home on Uis-Valla, and flows out through the Cosmic Pathway onto each realm, ensuring a balance between order and chaos. Should her sister have been somehow compromised like she has, then, the very fabric of existence between the realms will be altered. Her fellow elders, Garab Té, High Duce of Healing, and Sarek, High Duce of Love, cannot maintain stability alone. Mursulla fears the outcome for all life on every realm. Keeping cosmic balance is the very reason why the Korninti exist and have done so since the birth of the Kuboran Galaxy.

Stepping forward a few paces, her eyes fall onto the plains of grasslands rolling out before her. The peace settles her thoughts a little, but she feels alone. No longer sensing her home or her people or any other realm, her mind is small, confined only to this world. Her connection has been severed. The feeling of not being able to sense the fabric of life, the cosmos itself, is unsettling, and she is unsure of the new feeling that is now coursing through her body. Control is leaving her rapidly.

The image of Gornus looms in her thoughts. The Korninti elders have been monitoring his movements of late and his many off-realm trips. It is not against Korninti law to travel to other realms, but it is prohibited to interfere with life on those worlds. That is the founding principle of their laws. The Korninti are always to remain hidden, and should not interact with other forms of life. Their existence has always been unknown. Gornus serves as a member and head of the senior council, a level two within the hierarchy of the Korninti. The senior council act as advisors to the elders, and with that come many privileges and influence among the Korninti. Mursulla and her sister Soulep have not humoured Gornus and his ambition to have the Korninti race evolve into more, exploring another level of existence. She now questions whether her current situation was caused by him. If so, is it his intention to weaken her by prolonging her stay away from Uis-Valla, the source of their power?

Sensing a presence behind her, Mursulla turns and faces her secret observer who first watched her appear from behind the old oak tree. Mursulla knows the female biped before her can only be Queen Miranda, the ruler of this realm. The Soulamir Realm is a world where nature is respected and conserved, and home to all creatures, including the dominant species known as the Zarin Fairies. There are very little differences in appearance between male and female fairies, with both being tall and slight in build. Bipeds, they have large ears and a very pale skin pigment.  They are scantily dressed in woven leather dresses, loin cloths, and other fabrics of nature interwoven over their arms and legs, as if nature has taken root within their bodies. Their habitat is trees and woodlands, having the ability of flight, with four green, almost translucent wings that fan out in all directions. Often classed as nature spirits, they use nature’s energy as part of their everyday lives as well as for defence. 

Mursulla fixes her gaze on Queen Miranda, a mystery itself as to the origins of the beautiful creature before her as she does not belong to the fairy species, nor it is believed that she belongs to the Soulamir Realm. An anomaly in cosmic existence. The queen differs in appearance from the Zarin Fairies, lacking the ability of flight, with pale pink pigmentation and two penetrating eyes, hair the colour of blue, and ear lobes that extend forward, wrapping onto her forehead, blending into her eye sockets. She stands almost to the height of the fairies. The queen is a sorceress and master of deception.

The High Duce watches her closely. Standing next to the queen is one of the Zarin Fairies, a male and their leader, Mursulla recognises as Morna, dressed only in a loin cloth and shoulder coverings of interwoven fabrics. Morna is the strongest of all the fairies in appearance, with dark eyes, sporting his slender build, curvaceous hips, and slim waist.

The queen remains poised, waiting for Mursulla to make the first contact, but the High Duce does not grant it.   

“I know every living creature on this realm, and I do not know you. Who are you, and where did you come from?” Queen Miranda asks, stepping closer to Mursulla, studying her in detail.

Mursulla keeps her gaze fixed on the queen standing before her. More and more fairies arrive, filling up the hilltop, with many others hovering overhead in the sky. Mursulla’s options are limited. She can explain to the queen who she really is, and ask her to prepare for a battle should Gornus open the portal from inside the Cosmic Pathway, or, and she pauses, focusing on the army of Zarin Fairies now standing and hovering around her – she can remove the queen and take her place, building an army that will be a challenge for Gornus and the Korninti when the time comes to return to Uis-Valla. 

Anger has now replaced the initial unsettling feeling that she had not quite understood, urging her body into action to undo the situation she has found herself in. She is the first elder of elders of the Korninti race, the bearer of the staff of power, which she knows now is probably in the hands of Gornus, who has dared defy her ruling.

Returning her attention to the queen standing before her, Mursulla takes a few steps forward. “My name is Mursulla, High Duce of Wisdom, and where I come from, for now, is not important.”

“Why are you here?”

“Presently, that is not what is important, as you and I, Queen Miranda, have a more serious issue ahead,” Mursulla states, keeping her eyes locked on the queen.