Long ago, the world of Astrea knew no division. An era of profound peace reigned, where humans and animals communed, sharing wisdom and fostering harmony within their communities.
When a great darkness first threatened the world, the Goddess of the Sun, Litha, bestowed upon us a sacred stone. Forged from the very essence of her celestial realm and imbued with a fragment of her own soul, it held the power to balance the world, ensuring peace would always triumph over shadow. This stone became the bulwark against evil, the reason darkness was ever defeated in Astrea.
But with the Goddess's mysterious disappearance came ambition and greed. There were those who grew aggressive in their desire to find and possess the stone she left behind, seeking to claim its power for their own protection alone.
Thus, the people fractured into factions. Each group coveted the stone rumored to be hidden within the Astrea Kingdom, and this craving sparked a great commotion, turning faction against faction in bitter quarrel.
To this day, that discord endures. Despite the stone's latent power to restore unity, there seems no will for reconciliation, no collective desire to return things to how they once were.
"Mother, are you saying the lives of everyone here in Astrea depend solely on the stone Litha left behind?"
I had been listening to my mother recount Astrea's history. Just yesterday, I overheard some of the kingdom's guards whispering about this legendary stone. It seems people are indeed willing to stake their lives on it, all for the promise of protection against the darkness.
But why do they cling to such desperation when no shadow or turmoil stirs within the city walls?
I looked up at Mother, my chin resting on her thigh. She gently stroked my hair as she gazed down at me. She was seated on my bed, having just brought my meal to my room.
"Not exactly," Mother said. "They simply wish to use the stone Litha left to protect their loved ones."
I frowned. "I keep hearing about Litha..." I adjusted my sitting position to look at her directly. "Where is she now, Mother? Where did she go if she is no longer here with us?"
She sighed. "Her vanishing coincided with the darkness's defeat by the very stone she gave us, hundreds of years ago. To this day, no one knows her fate."
It was a sad thought—that even gods could have vulnerabilities, like Litha's untimely disappearance.
"And some people believe Litha perished," she added.
My brow furrowed again. If the Sun Goddess had died, why did the power of the stone she left behind, now guarded by the Astrea Kingdom, still feel so alive?
"I believe she is still alive, Mother," I told her. "Because if she were truly gone, the stone the palace protects would have lost its power." I offered her a small smile. "Why doesn't everyone just choose one person to safeguard the stone? Then they wouldn't have to fight over it."
I heard her sigh. She broke her gaze from me, stood from my bed, and walked to the window.
I simply watched her, staying quiet as she seemed lost in deep thought.
"It is not as simple as that, my child," she said. "Ever since the people divided, I have trusted no one with the stone except the palace itself." She turned to look at me.
I knew she placed little faith in those around her, but what if that was the only way to restore everything?
"You know, Soleil, you are still young to be burdened with all of Astrea's troubles. You should be focusing on your studies," she said, a soft laugh escaping her.
I couldn't help but laugh a little too. "I am learning from your lessons, Mother. Like right now. Today is the first time I've heard the full story of Astrea and Litha. And wouldn't it be better to try trusting people again? To appoint a protector for the stone under the palace's guardianship?"
Mother sighed once more before approaching me and taking both my hands in hers. "You will understand it all one day. For now, you should prepare for your upcoming weapons training."
Our conversation was cut short as the door swung open, revealing the flushed face of a soldier drenched in sweat. Mother looked at me again, instructing me to stay put as she had matters to attend to throughout the palace.
As the leader of the Astrea Kingdom, she was at the forefront of all efforts to maintain peace within its walls.
I simply nodded. I hugged her tightly first, and she kissed my forehead before leaving my room.
About five minutes after Mother left, an enormous crash erupted from the front of the palace, shaking the very walls and ceiling of my room. Fearful of being hurt by anything falling, I scrambled under my bed, covering my ears and squeezing my eyes shut.
Explosion after explosion followed, making me press myself deeper into the furthest corner under the bed.
"Soleil?"
My eyes flew open. I peered toward the door as it opened. All I could see were a woman's feet, and I knew instantly it wasn't Mother.
"Soleil?" She entered my room.
I cautiously emerged from my hiding spot and looked at her. It was Lily, one of the palace attendants.
"What's happening? Where is Mother?"
Lily glanced out the window. "Several groups are attacking us." She looked back at me. "Your mother instructed me to watch over you here until… until things are settled."
"What?" I stared toward the noise. "No, I need to go to her. Who knows what they might do!"
I managed to dart past her before she could fully block my way. I sprinted down the hallway, calling Mother's name, a knot of dread tightening in my chest.
I reached the palace entrance but couldn't find her.
My eyes scanned the crowd gathered in front of the palace, and then I saw her not far from where I stood, with her hands raised, a weapon pointed at her neck.
Without a second thought, I ran to her, shoving the weapon aside and throwing my arms around her. "Mother!"
"What are you doing here?" she asked, astonished, but I didn't answer as we heard the angry shouts from the crowd before us.
"Give us the stone, or there will be more trouble!" several people yelled. "We need it to protect our families!"
"Why don't we just divide the stone and give a piece to each group?" another suggested.
A murmur rippled through the crowd as they all stared at Mother.
"Why don't we simply unite as one people again?" Mother proposed.
"We don't need unity! We need protection!"
"But everyone will be protected if we stand together again!" she pleaded.
"You cannot change the minds of the people around you now, Carina," interjected a man adorned in lavish garments made from the combined pelts of fierce beasts. "So, if I were you, I would simply comply. Give us what we want to protect the people of the different factions. Produce the stone before we reduce this palace you cherish to rubble."
Only then did Mother and I look behind us, hearing a shout from someone in the crowd.
"Here is the stone you seek," declared the voice. When I looked at Mother, I saw profound dismay on her face as she recognized the man before us. It was Aspir, her right hand and the sworn guardian of Litha's stone itself. "Now, end this conflict." He walked to stand beside Mother.
"I did not authorize you to take that, Aspir," Mother whispered to him.
Aspir merely sighed. "This is all the people from the various factions came for. To end this strife, we must try their way to restore our former camaraderie."
"But this is not what Litha intended for us…"
"It is better to test their proposition and perhaps bring some change to Astrea's system."
Mother could do nothing but nod in weary acquiescence. She took the stone from him and held it aloft for all the attacking groups to see. "As Aspir says, for the peace of every faction, I will comply. The stone will be divided into parts, so each group may have one. But we will not do this before the Astrea Kingdom. We must go far from this palace built by the gods, so we may still show them due respect."
Everyone nodded and agreed. They all began to leave the palace grounds once Mother announced her consent. Just as the last of them had departed, Lily arrived at my side, breathless, watching the people march into the distance. Despite her panic, she insisted we return inside before Mother scolded her.
I merely nodded, and we turned to go back inside. But before my foot even touched the palace steps, I saw one of the faction leaders aggressively grab the stone from Mother's hand. It slipped from her grasp and fell to the ground.
I glanced at Lily, then pulled away from her, for I could see Mother was in pain as people now scrambled and fought over the stone on the ground.
I ran without stopping until I reached her. We were both knocked over when a man shoved past Mother from behind.
We were trampled, but Mother bore the brunt of it, shielding me with her own body from the stamping feet.
Then, a deafening explosion and a powerful gust of wind erupted, stunning everyone around us and sending us all flying in different directions.
Mother and I landed hard near the palace, as did others nearby, while some were thrown farther away.
And with that cataclysm, a black smoke began to pour from the fractured pieces of the stone. The smoke swelled and expanded, climbing into the sky. Even the sunlight above began to dim until the surroundings were plunged into darkness, lit only by a sinister black radiance emanating from the sun itself.
"The stone!" Mother cried, clutching me to her as she wept.
I pulled away from her and ran toward the darkening stone fragments. I gathered them one by one, ignoring the black miasma continuing to form around us.
Then something stirred in my mind. They divided the stone, and this darkness emerged. If I could put it back together, perhaps everything would return to normal.
All I could hear was the howl of a fierce wind and Mother screaming my name as I desperately tried to reassemble the stone before me. My whole body trembled, forcing me to my knees.
I managed to fit the pieces together, but as the stone became whole, it exploded again. From it poured countless small, shadowy creatures with glowing red eyes, along with many orbs of multicolored light that floated around me. I thought the shadowy creatures would attack, especially when one large, dark mass formed before me, poised to strike.
Instead, the small orbs of light moved to protect me, merging and swirling to form a barrier against the dark entity blending with the smoke.
Before I could even stand, I witnessed the orbs fly toward the people around me—including Mother, who watched in wonder as a blue light descended and entered her body.
I was about to run to her when the gathering black smoke exploded again. I couldn't reach her to hold her, as someone suddenly grabbed me from behind, pulling me away from the dark mass that was now growing, consuming the space where we stood.
I saw Aspir pulling Mother away from the black radiance until they both vanished from my sight, swallowed by the pitch-dark smoke still churning around us.
"Mother!"
"Soleil!"
I couldn't break free from the man's grip as he hauled me onto a horse, mounted behind me, and urged the steed away from that expanding darkness.
As the sky gradually lightened again, the black phenomenon did not vanish but instead spread, not just near the Astrea Kingdom, but around it, forming what looked like a massive, dark wall between what became ten separate palaces. Five in Astrea, and five in the lands toward which the man was taking me, away from the scar on the world.
The horse raced at a gallop. Others were not so fast, left behind.
A monstrous roar from some creature born of the black smoke from Litha's stone echoed across the land. The last thing I heard were the fading screams of people being consumed by the ever-expanding darkness.
It seemed the spreading black smoke left a wound not just in people's minds, but in the very bones of the earth. And that is why the map of Astrea was forever split in two.
They called it… the Scar.
And the creatures that formed from the Goddess of the Sun's shattered stone were named… the Goors.