Book 1: The Beginning || Chapter 2: The Recruit

Wave was in The City of Stone today wearing a cloak to cover his face and the rest of his body. Wave had spent a few days making up a list of a few people that he wanted to join Genesis, and the first on the list was a god. This god went by the name of Maldrean. He knew that Maldrean would fit his organization perfectly, seeing as he is already a big supporter of equal racial rights, mainly those for humans but he thought he could sway him to care about the monsters. Wave was currently in a bar as he scouted out the area. After he had been sitting for about 20 minutes wave left some money on the table as he got up and walked away.

Wave began to walk around the city with a sketch of Maldrean which was given to him by the monsters. Wave was using the sketch to match it to the face of everybody who walked by to see if he could find Maldrean. Suddenly Wave saw a man with almost the exact same features as the sketch, so he began to follow him. He followed him for at least 15 minutes before he made his approach. Wave approached Maldrean with a drawn sword in his right hand and wrapped his arm around him with the left. With his arm around Maldrean from behind, and his sword at his neck he gently and softly said "Don't turn around and slowly walk into the alley 20 ft in front of you." However upon further inspection Wave realized that this man was not Maldrean. After realizing it he released the man and apologized as he quickly jumped high into the air, and landed on the highest building in the city. "I'll never find this guy..." he thought to himself with a sigh.

A chuckle could be heard as a figure sat quietly on a nearby roof watching the people walk by trading goods and conversing doing there daily life duties. He was clad in a blue hooded like garb with white trimming, his hood was down revealing his short black spiky hair, his dull blue eyes and his white tattoos covering his face. The figure watching the people pass by was focused one one lone hooded figure who seemed to be out of place as he was searching for someone or something. The being on the roof took a bite of the sandwich he had letting off a delightful mumble as he stood up almost vanishing as he reappeared on an adjacent building following this hooded figure from high up. He stopped to see the figure drag one man who semi resembled himself with the black hair but that was about all. "So it is Wave been a while since i have seen him" the man mumbled as he took another bite from the sandwich watching as he noticed his mistake and jumped high into the air landing on the building adjacent to his.

With a snap of his fingers the man emitted a glowing blue dome that covered a good portion of the city appearing to stop every human animal and noise in this radius. "Wave, you do know we have the ability to sense eachother out. If you really wanted to find me you should of remembered our little talent of finding one of us" the man said with a bow as he put the sandwich in the air which floated there as if suspended in time. "So what is it you wanted to talk about which dragged you all the way out here to one of the human empires" he said in a sarcastic like tone as he began to walk  off the building and on thin air as if it was solid ground towards the hooded figure waiting for his response. He stopped 10 feet suspended in the air looking over this hooded figure knowing who it was even if his face was concealed.

As Wave stood high up on the rooftop, he began to sense something, the power of another god. However before he could exactly pinpoint where the feeling was coming from a large rush of magic passed him. He had no idea what it was but then as he looked around at the city streets he saw that everything was frozen, but not in ice but in time. Wave recognized the ability type anywhere seeing as not a single human or god has been able to replicate it. "So he is here..." Wave mumbled to himself. Then Maldrean finally revealed himself by asking why Wave didn't use his sensing ability and why had he come out to the human empire just to find him. Wave turned to the direction of Maldrean's voice to see that he was standing on an adjacent rooftop.

"Hello brother Maldrean, I hope things are well. But my reason for being here is of grave importance and I thought you would want a piece of this action im about to be in on, since you love the humans so much." Wave would then jump over to the building Maldrean was on and remove his hood. He walked up to Maldrean and put his hand on his shoulder and smiled. Wave had a plan to sway Maldrean however would it work was most definitely not guaranteed. Wave would sit down on the roof and motion Maldrean to sit down too. "So as you know I have always been interested in equal racial rights and all that, so I finally decided to act on it. I am coming to you because I am starting a group called Genesis. Our goal will be to have all beings on this earth unified and at peace. Of course I need capable men and woman to help me fight in this battle, so I am coming to you. You are by far the strongest of us gods, you are responsible for the humans knowing magic. So what do you say, will you help me?" Wave would say as he looked at Maldrean would a smile, but with eyes that were like a lttle brother begging his big brother for help.

"So as you know I have always been interested in equal racial rights and all that, so I finally decided to act on it. I am coming to you because I am starting a group called Genesis. Our goal will be to have all beings on this earth unified and at peace. Of course I need capable men and woman to help me fight in this battle, so I am coming to you. You are by far the strongest of us gods, you are responsible for the humans knowing magic. So what do you say, will you help me?"

These words rang in Torag's ear. It shone the epitome of what he expected of other people. It didn't matter if one was a human or a demi-god, all that mattered was the drive to try and excel. Torag was sitting in a throne made of woven strands of adamantine and onyx. The threads were woven such to given the impression that a dwarf sat in that chair when the regent was away. He stood up -the height of the chair still bigger than he was- and grabbed Kalgremos which lay beside his throne. The sound of forges roaring and hammers clanging was paramount. Noisy and irritating to a non-believer of the God of Earth, but the industry pleased him. He lifted the hefty hammer, which seemed to be bigger than he was. With no effort at all, it lay upon his shoulder as he proudly marched out of the court room and through the city of stone. On his way to the surface town.

Things were going to move fast in the next few hours, so he needed to send a message. He had considered sending an emissary or a messenger, but those would take time for them to get from here and there, he needed something Instantaneously. He stopped in the middle of the courtyard. The center of the yard consisted of a Forge, crucible and a conveyor belt that fed ore to a smelter Which his followers tended to the creation of manufactured goods. Off to the sides were meticulously placed blacksmith tables with rivers of slag fed from the center forge to the edge of the courtyard to provide material to the forgers. Torag lifted his hammer, focusing and with that he channeled his power.

Meanwhile, in the surface city of stone, two people hid in an alleyway, one ran away and another filled his spot. There was some cloak-and-dagger demeanor to these people. After a short discussion, the sky filled with a brilliant pillar of light. It was centered on Wave. It would quickly plow down upon the young god, which would fill him with energy and vigor. With the beam of light, Torag spoke through it with a strong confident voice.

"You have pleased the God of Earth, Count your blessings, as I will be there soon."

With that he strode out of the courtyard. Using his blessing to act as his conduit for his senses for this conversation while he made way for his destination.

Maldrean stood quiet as he heard the young god speak about his reasons for searching out the god clad in the blue garb. He looked inquisitively as he rubbed the back of his neck while walking towards Wave who was sitting on the building where Maldrean was last at. The area they were in still was surrounded in the massive blue dome which held every human frozen in place as this conversation of the gods would need no interruption. He stopped near where his sandwich was floating in the sky grabbing it to take another bite enjoying the taste as he thought of Waves idea for unification of the entire races of the planet. He took a few more bites before swallowing the food before he would speak his mind about this plan.

"As you know i did give these humans the knowledge of there magic but everyday i regret it as they show no control over there greed always wanting more power. But my hope for this race to prosper will always be there as the young humans still seem to be uncorrupted and a few show promise of changing there greedy ways" Maldrean said as he took a break to sigh thinking of these humans and there greedy ways. But as he was about to give his thoughts of this plan further a ray of light burst through the sky surrounding Wave and a loud familiar booming voice spoke from this light. "Ahhh, i see Torag its been a while brother i didnt think i would see you ever plan to leave that forge of yours" Maldrean said in a chuckle as he looked over to Wave with a slight grin. "Well i will give you my answer when our fellow brother has arrived, but until then how has these many years been treating you two?" Maldrean said in a inquisitive tone as he rubbed the back of his head and looked towards the sky the veil of blue from his dome changing the suns color.

Wave and Maldrean were pretty deep into their conversation when suddenly, a bright light shined upon Wave and a voice could be heard. All this was going on while time still was frozen for all humans and objects inside this blue sphere. Wave smiled as he heard the voice because he knew exactly who it was, and so did Maldrean. "Oh hi big bother Torag!" Wave would say in a happy yet juvenile voice. Wave then stood up as the light continued to shine upon him. After Torag said he would be there soon, Maldrean acknowledged Wave's question by saying he would answer whaen Torag arrived. To that Wave nodded with agreement and grinned.

Maldrean asked Torag and Wave how they had been over the years. Wave scoffed a bit as this question was pretty crazy to ask someone like Wave, who has had everything around them flipped every which way. "It has been... different." said Wave. Wave then sighed as he began to speak agan. "I met another god, he killed himself because he hated this world and I honestly don't blame him. The bright side is he gave me his powers so I have become the Darkbright God, or the Grey god whichever you prefer. But brother Maldrean tell us how are you doing, but more importantly have you found a human girl to fall in love with?" Wave said with a slight laugh.

Wave was enjoying this time with his brothers, and hopefully these good times could continue if they joined him. After all Genesis was the best option to see all beings of this earth thrive together. Wave saw this and hoped his brothers did also, but from the way he sounded Torag was already on board.

Torag began to march towards the city of stone. A flight of stairs up to a pair of double doors was all that was before him and them. These set of stone doors lay near 20 feet tall and about a foot thick, yet with the push of a single finger, the door opened without any resistance. This was yet another of his marvel of engineering. Before him now was a bustling city of merchants and dwarves squabbling about selling wares and purchasing goods. Housing seemed to be set in the cliff face. Roads were placed upon not upon distance efficiency, but landscaping efficiency. Occasionally, the roads led to clearings or centralized bazaars where congregated businesses could be conducted. Some of the mountain peaks were leveled for this purpose.

Torag took a path off to the cliffside, parapets rising and dropping providing -sometimes- a grand view of the world below. With housing to the left and a fair triple-digit drop to the right. Building space was always an issue. Especially, those pesky humans who cannot seem to accept a shared struggle and claims a need for individual property. This led to each building to be segregated with alleyways to the far side of the mountain.

He didnt need to see which path his followers belonged to. Nor did he need to see where the giant pillar of light pointing in his direction. He felt where his blessing was, and followed suit. He didn't hurry. There was no need to. But he carried on his conversation regardless,

"HAH! Grey god, amusing. Never forget that your mentor saw something in you that he saw worth giving to the next generation. You would do him honor by keeping this drive you paved forth yourself."

He bellowed this both out loud, and through the blessing. As old as he is, he still tried to give advice he learned himself ages ago.

"And Maldrean, at least I have been making something to help others, rather than keeping my nose in a book. Har har har."

He said this as if a blatant small-talk joke. It held a message twofold: one, was to incite anger and motivation; and two, to form a fatherlike bond with him through suggestion and implication. Regardless of the message Maldrean took it as, it was not meant to be insulting at all.

"The Years have been good for my beard. This city is prospering well for my works. And all in all, today, of all days, is a good day!"

This was almost a flat out war cry. From the placement of the mountains, they may be able to pick up a physical echo from where he was standing.

With a smirk Maldren stretched as he felt the presence of the old but small god nearing them his eyes settling on the only other object moving though the streets. The being was short, stock and clad in heavy armor with what appeared to be a hammer. He listened to what Wave had been up to and gave a nod before almost laughing very loud when he asked if he had found a human woman to fall in love with. "If only i was so lucky but no im still a loner just traveling these lands and watching the humans develop" Maldrean said in a dull tone as he heard the familiar booming voice of Torag speak to Wave about him inheriting the powers of the Grey god from the previous one. Then he heard the old dwarf god talk towards him about helping others with his creations and not keeping his nose in the books.

With another laugh Maldrean jumped towards the street landing next to the dwarf god before speaking "Well last time i gave the humans something they misused that knowledge and went to war with it forcing my hand in which i did something very terrible" he said entering a serious tone thinking of what slaughter he did long ago when the humans angered him. Visions of the armies preparing to battle then with a loud crash nothing was left except a lone god in blue robes traveled through his mind.

"Now since we are all here what reason would i have to join this group of yours Wave" Maldrean stated as he rested his elbow on the dwarf gods helmet as if he was a resting stool waiting for the response from his fellow gods. "But with this plan of yours would these be a forced unification because i would advise against forcing the humans to this they will want a war with us and i would rather stay out of there affairs and let them unify with the other races naturally" Maldrean said in a serious tone as he stretched looking up to wave waiting for him to come down and address his ideals of this group.

Wave laughed at his elder brothers' antics as he followed behind Maldrean and jumped down to the street. Time was still frozen and yet to them it was like everything was normal, up until Maldrean used Torag's head as a elbow rest. Wave made a confused and shocked face as he softly said "Maldrean stop before he gets mad..." Wave then sighed a bit as he began to rub his chin and think of a answer for his brother's question. There were a few answers he could give, however he didn't wanna give any answer. He wanted to give the best answer possible answer so he could get his brother on board With the plan. "Look brother Maldrean I know how you feel about the humans, and I respect that I really do. However I believe my plan is the best choice for them. I don't want to force world wide unification, to start I want to liberate one place to use as a "test area" for lack of a better term. If it works here we expand and if it doesn't work we will keep the liberated land for ourselves and make it like the aether hahaha."

Wave thought his idea was something out of a fairy tale. However at the same time he thought it was like a work of marvelous and fine art.He knew his brothers rather well so he knew what they wanted and how they thought for the most part, and he was gonna use every once of that knowledge. Wave took his sword from off his back and placed it in the ground. He then looked at the two gods and sighed a bit. "I would love it if you two joined me... I feel like its our responsibility as gods to bring some type of peace and order to the world." Wave said in a semi sad voice with a slight pout. Wave then placed his palm on top of the sword's hilt and said "If you with me put your hand on top of mine!" he said excitedly.

Torag looked in the direction of the pillar, only to see someone flying his direction. Flying, he frowned at the thought. He preferred his feet upon solid ground. It was a man clad in blue robes that if one did not look closely enough, it could be used as impromptu camouflage with the sky. Torag shifted his hammer across his shoulders, so that it looked like a carrying yoke. Wrapping his elbows around the shaft he gave a confident look upon the wizard. He spoke quickly of how knowledge is power, and how power can be abused. He began his walk around the valley, closing distance from him and Wave.

Even in this awkward positioning, he raised a palm, and a finger in the other, "See, you are still young. You still make mistakes, When you give a man a sword. Don't tell him how to make it. See if he cannot figure how to make one himself. If he can, he deserves to have all the swords he wants. You say you want to trust humans, but that goes both ways. They fear us, and for that they respect us. Let us not ruin the moment by acting for their benefit, rather than using them for ours. This humble settlement is the embodiment of that ideal. So I ask you the question: Will you make the first move?"

He said this calmly, warmly. As if telling a child a bedtime story. Wave would be holding his hand out after a short agreement. Asking to take it as a gesture of alliance. However, he was still a bit away.

"Hoho Hold on, I am coming youngun. We have all the time in the world. And I will assure you, it the world isnt going anywhere."

Seriousness entered Maldreans face when he heard what Wave had to say about his unification plans. Deep down he knew this could help them but as with the humans how they are now they would most likely fight back against this plan and go to war with the very gods who they worship. This was something Maldrean wished would never come to fruition but being a god who hardly dabbled in the human world other than play the part of a spectator Maldrean would have to regretfully decline his brothers proposal to join. With a stern look he stopped hovering near Torag and headed into the air back towards Wave the seriousness on his face showing his true nature of a thinker over anything.

"So brothers i cannot join you in this endeavor since the humans can be a fickle race and a war will most likely break out between them and us" maldrean said with a pause as he looked upon wave and Torage before slowly vanishing as if he was never there. "But remember this if you are ever in a need for help its not hard to find each other especially in these trying times because i sense a great evil rising in power" Maldrean said as his body faded away in a bright blue light and as he did the sphere covering the town began to fade away also. The humans and other races began to move once more as if nothing happened going back to there remedial tasks.

Maldreans presence vansihed from the city of stone to only reappear on the far outskirts of the city. He looked back a face of sorrow for not being able to aid his brothers dream of unification but his reasons were his own. He lifted his hood to cover his face and began to whistle a soft tune as he began to walk towards the unknown wanting to explore more of this world has to offer and maybe try some more of the humans delicious food. "Such an eventful day it has been. Been a while since i have seen one of my brothers but atleast we didnt argue as we usually do" Maldrean stated as he walked the road picking up humming again thinking of the events that had transpired and thought if he would meet another one of his brothers.

[~EXIT~]