Prologue


    The dull chime of the elevator arriving brought the sleepy-eyed, coffee deprived man back from his brief daydream and back to the reality of life. Just another day, the same as yesterday and the day before that and the day before that and on and on. The days and weeks blur into months and then years just step on by without any warning and suddenly you''re so much older than you remember being.


    The man sighed, adjusted his gray windbreaker and shuffled into the empty elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor, something he had done thousands of times over the years. As the doors closed he pulled his phone out of his pocket, checking the time.


    7:10 the screen showed, letting him know that he had just about twenty minutes to get to work. Plenty of time to stop for a coffee and have a smoke, as usual. If there was one thing he was, it was predictable He liked routine and punctuality, it made things easier, more predictable. It helped too that work was only a 10 minute walk away.


    The elevator opened a short minute later and he stepped out, putting his phone back into his left pants pocket while he fished the red pack of cigarettes and lighter from his right pocket. The lobby was empty, as he knew it would be, as it always is at this time, and right on cue as he pushed open the door to the outside, the cigarette was already between his lips and being lit. A slow, pleasurable exhale of gray smoke came next as he went down the steps to the apartments and made his way to the crosswalk just ahead.


    A neighbors dog was barking, and a couple of cars were waiting at the stop light as he approached, his eyes on the coffee shop a couple of blocks down. Caffeine and nicotine were his two favorite breakfast items. He waited as the light turned green and the drivers went on their way. The coast was clear.


    He stepped off the curb and onto the crosswalk, and into nothingness. There was no feeling, nothing to see, or hear. There was no darkness or light, distance or future. Time didn''t exist, the past never happened and the now is nothingness. Eternity means nothing when there is nothing to measure it against. The consciousness, or soul or spirit of who he was, was all that remained, a frozen sliver of something in an infinitely vast nothingness. He no longer knew fear or happiness, struggle or heartbreak. It was bliss, the ignorance of everything, or would have been if there was bliss to be had. The only thing that he knew was that he still existed.


    While he existed and where or for how long, he didn''t know and it really didn''t matter, he had no thoughts, just the vague sense that he was. If he could have, he would have seen and been aware of the other Existences around him, slowly but surely being ushered along to wherever they were going by an unseen shepherd.


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    The Shepherd observed impassively as its charges flowed onward towards The Gateway to be reintroduced into The Continuum. The process was mostly autonomous, with The Shepherd never really having to do much of anything but watch, as these wayward Existences had no will or direction and simply drifted along in the current like flotsam. One of those pieces of Existence was brought to their attention by a gentle chiming and a nearly imperceptive pulse of energy coming from the vast expanse of nothingness they all inhabited.


    It had felt far too long since The Shepherd was able to fulfill its purpose and a feeling akin to glee was felt by them as they guided the chime ever closer until they could grasp the Existence, inspecting it, laying bare everything that made up that Existence. So, the Continuum had marked this one, and as The Shepherd finished its inspection, if it could have grinned, it would have.


    A fragile little thing, full of so much potential, potential that had always been there if it had had the chance or opportunity to bring it out of them. The potential for change, progress, evolution. They were imbued with the potential to change everything that has been, and a sense of fulfillment coursed through the being of The Shepherd. It had been far too long since it last was able to serve its purpose. To bring change.


    Change was the nature of existence, the foundation of adaption and survival. Stagnation would infect everything worse than any cancer if change never came, and change would never come without a catalyst. This small little Existence that The Shepherd looked at lovingly would be that force of change, if it decided. Change can''t be forced, and the Right of Choice was an immutable law of The Continuum, and all The Shepherd could really do was guide the Existence to where it needed to be to facilitate any chance of bringing change, regardless of what that would mean. It watched, a little less impassively than before as that Existence was pushed along towards a separate flow, all by itself until it passed beyond The Gateways and to its next journey.


    Chapter 1


    The boy, Brennan Rosby as he was named, came into the world without a sound, he didn''t scream or cry as he exited the womb into a cold and bright world. His eyes fluttered against the bright candle light that was assaulting his freshly opened eyes, for all he had ever known was darkness, and he shivered as his bare skin was mauled by the harsh air, soft and exposed, having only known nothing but warmth and his face was scrunched up in displeasure at the countless smells and sounds he had never experienced, yet he didn''t cry or fuss. A thing that those in the delivery chamber commented on in various ways.


    "I''ve never seen a child born that didn''t come out screaming bloody murder," the Midwife remarked as she cleaned the blood and vernix and various fluids off of Brennan, who merely stared back at the women with a furrowed brow and narrowed eyes as he slowly became use to the lights.


    "Is all well with the child?" a mans voice came from a corner, Brennan''s father.


    "Yes, I believe so," the Midwife replied as she but her finger in the boys palm, who instantly grabbed onto it, and then she ran a finger against the child''s bare foot, which quickly jerked back at being tickled. Good signs and a good firm grip. Satisfied, the gently handed the boy into the mothers arms.


    "Hello by little boy. My little Brennan," his mother cooed softly, brushing her finger gently against his soft little cheek.


    The boys attention has still been on the first person he saw, the Midwife but at the touch of his mother and the sound of her voice, his head turned as his eyes met hers. His mother, her Son. Of course they had always had a connection, since he was conceived but now that bond was enforced even more and a smile spread across the boys toothless mouth. Then there was another face, not as kind or as soft and a lot more furrier. His father. He too had a broad smile on his face as he beamed down at his first born child cradled in his wife''s arms. A large, rough hand was placed on Brennan''s head, but a gentle thumb brushed loving across his brow, and his little eyes met his fathers.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    "Such a strange thing though," a whisper came from beside Brennan''s father as another man stepped closed and came into the child''s view. A High Priest from Cenilia. "He hasn''t made a sound."


    Brennan''s sight turned from his father to this new speaker, who recoiled slightly as their eyes met, and almost instantly the man had a strange branch from a tree in his hand, the end of it cutting through the air like a whip towards the child''s forehead. Everyone had the same reaction simultaneously. Their eyes grew wide in panic and reverence as they saw the branch appear. It was an object called a Varym Bough, a highly spiritual branch cut from one of three Varym Heartoaks in the world, of which only a handful of Boughs had been cut. The process of attaining just one could take 10 to 15 years of cutting due to the density of the wood, hardened after thousands of years of absorbing faith and spirituality from the world and its people. The dark golden bark and leaves were unmistakable.


    No one moved as the branch descended and each had held their breath, for they all knew what the Bough meant, and knew what was about to happen. Varym Boughs have the power to withdraw and absorb spirits, and are they only way to permanently destroy them, but the possessed is also destroyed in the process. Brennan continued to watch the priest with far too intelligent eyes for a new born child. For as fast as the branch whipped through the air, it hardly touched the child, brushing his forehead like a gentle kiss, yet as soon as it touched his skin, the branch stopped as if frozen and a tiny hand reached up and grabbed the leafy, golden branch.


    The priest sighed happily and the Varym Bough was returned to his bag at his waist. It wasn''t unheard of for newborn children to be born possessed by a Spirit, which the High Priest was sure of as he looked into Brennan''s eyes, eyes that contained a strange sense of wisdom and intelligence that shouldn''t be there in a newly born human.


    "Apologies," the priest said as he bowed towards the group of people. He didn''t have to explain himself. He didn''t even have to apologize. If a different outcome had come from the test, and the child was truly possessed by a spirit, he could have Extinguished the spirit then and there and no one present would have been able to do anything about it. Such was the authority of a High Priest, who''s first duty was Extinguishing spirits anywhere they may appear. Of course the child would have perished along with the spirit, but once possessed you are considered tainted and can become a gateway for more spirits if not extinguished.


    The Priest placed a gentle hand on Marin''s head as she held her newborn tightly, a whimper passing her lips and a tear running down her cheek as she slowly opened her eyes and breathed again, afraid of what she would see. What she saw was a precious little face staring back at her, a slight curve of a smile on his face. She brought her child to her breast, who instantly began to feed. Marin looked up at the Priest with a grateful smile, her heart still beating furiously with fear, but the gentle touch of the Priest was quickly calming her, and a little prayer and Essence helped as well.


    "We appreciate the sentiment Sera Haliyat," Brennan''s father spoke softly while he remained bowed toward the Priest. "Duty First." A calloused hand turned into a fist and slammed into his own chest in a military salute. He was all too aware of the danger Spirits posed.


    Sera Haliyat smiled softly, sadly, at the new father who was straightening himself up, his eyes now only for his healthy child, snuggled happily in his mothers arms. It was every Priest''s and Senseless Users first duty to combat and stem and tides of Spirits that wander into this world, regardless of where they manifest. Children, women, grandparents. There can be no mercy for them. It is a reality that everyone has had to accept since the world was Shattered over a millennia ago, which first allowed the Spirits to cross the Hidden Veil and into this reality to devour all.


    Haliyat sighed as he took his hand from Marin. He didn''t want to have to destroy the child and thanked the gods that it didn''t come to that, but he still had a strange feeling about the Rosby child, and his instincts had never been wrong before when it came to sensing a Spirit inside someone, but he was this time. Thousands of Spirits had been Extinguished by his hand and he had an intimate sense of what a Spirit felt like. There was something different about Brennan for sure, something unnatural, but it wasn''t a Spirit, and it left the Priest feeling uneasy. It felt exactly like a possession. He would have to stop at the closest Chapter House of Varym to make a record of this event.


    "Duty First," Haliyat echoed and turned towards the door, leaving the small family and their few retainers behind as he left the Rosby house. As he passed the empty gatehouse the hair on the back of his neck stirred and a cold sweat instantly covered his back as he turned around to look the small estate of Baron Rosby. A sense of impending doom and primal terror overwhelmed High Priest Haliyat and he was instantly driven to his knees by an unseen force full of a power so far beyond his comprehension, all he knew for certain was that he was going to die, and he was right. It felt like every atom of the world was screaming in protest at the power, on the verge of total annihilation. As soon as his knees slammed into the cobblestone, his entire body and everything he wore and carried burst into thousands of particles and drifted skyward towards the heavens, completely and utterly removed from existence and the pressure was gone as soon as it has appeared. It had lasted less than a fraction of a second and didn''t seem to affected anyone else but the Priest. As the motes of dust that were Haliyat dispersed, the stars above shifted. They had momentarily converged to form a constellation that resembled a face, but it was fleeting and any who saw it forgot the phenomenon as soon as it ended.


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    The morning sun poured in through a window and the scent of sunbathed flowers drifted in,


    tickling the noses of mother and child as they slept. The deep, soft breathing of his wife and son was the sweetest music that Adair had ever heard as he sat by the fireplace watching them. He felt complete, wholly content as crossed his ankles and leaned back in his chair, his eyes turning to look out the window and over the treeless hillside of where the sun was rising. Three shadows sat on the horizon, coming closer as he continued to watch. He knew they would be coming and if his guess was right, they would arrive in about thirty minutes. Adair picked up a pipe sitting on the table next to him and thumbed some herb from his tin into the bowl, lighting it with a coal from the fire. He had time before they arrived.


    Adair emptied his pipe into the fireplace and slowly got out of his chair and made his way over to his still sleeping wife. Both had had a long night, and it seemed to take hours to settle Brennan down after he decided to start crying out of no where as soon as the Priest left. He placed a gentle kiss on each of his loved ones brows and Miran slowly opened her eyes while Brennan furrowed his brow and snuggled in closer to his mother, still not ready to wake up.


    "They''ll be here in a moment, Dearest," Adair whispered softly as he brushed his wife''s hair back from her face.


    "I knew it wouldn''t take them long," she sighed and looked at her sleeping child. "Do you know when you will be back?"


    "I expect six months at the most, these things don''t usually take longer than that," he said with a sad smile.


    Adair had been selected several weeks ago to oversee the construction of an Outpost on their Kingdoms border. Rumors of a Spirit outbreak were being heard coming from their eastern neighbor Cenra and the construction of multiple outposts was ordered. Spirit outbreaks has been becoming more and more rare of the decades and any rumor of one was taken with the utmost serious. The most recent outbreak was over twenty years ago and it decimated a third of the world before it could be contained and the Spirits Extinguished. It was a fresh, hellish memory in the minds of a lot of people, like Adair who had been just a child during the devastation of the outbreak.


    "This is our Duty," he said softly as he brushed another soft kiss against Marin''s brow.


    Miran nodded solemnly as her husband stood up straight and seemed to vanish, then she heard his voice softly from outside, and another man. She suspected he didn''t want then to knock on the door and wake Brennan. It was still fairly early, not too long after dawn. She looked down to the angelic face of the baby boy sleeping in her arms.


    "We all must do what we must my son, as you will too," she whispered and turned her sight to the east, looking through the door to where she could still sense Adair as he and the three men with him made their way to wherever they had to go. There was no need for drawn out good-byes between the two. They knew their feelings for each other and nothing else needed to be said. She kept staring through the door until she couldn''t feel her husband''s Essence anymore and gently nudged Brennan awake, getting the biggest smile as his eyes fluttered open.