Howdy readers! ~ This story is the sequel to my other story "Beyond One"
which used to be called "Beyond All" but changed when it got deleted and I
had to re-upload it. It might help to read that story first just so that
you understand this one better. But it may not be necessary because I tried
to write this story so that you didn't have to go back and read the
prequel. But if you want to read it, be my guest. Also, there are some
terms in here that you may not quite understand. If you are totally
confused, have no fear! Just email me at blackrosefallen@hotmail.com and I
will gladly explain anything you want. Thanks for taking time out of your
busy day to read my endless babbling and undetailed ramblings. ~ Serena
Rose
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Prologue
In the star spangled night sky that lay not far above the small planet of Amitie in a solar system far away, lived the young goddess Gaea. Only 17 years old that month, she was short and well muscled form her years of work on her home planet in her younger years. Her sun light blond curly hair was kept half up in a large bun at the back of her head and held in place by circles of tiny star shaped diamonds. A similar circlet sat above her brow making her as the Princess of Amitie. She no longer existed in the flesh, but only in the mind. She was solid however in her own world of the sky. She was made of a misty silver substance that the 5 Elemental Spirits of the Light had made her, her husband and their bonded animals out of after they gave their lives to free the universe from the 6th Element: The Dark One, who lusted after death, destruction and power.
Over 8 months pregnant with her first child, Gaea was sitting under the only tree in her new home, and old oak. It was the first thing she saw after her mother's spirit had bid her a final fare well to go to the lands of Harmony, and the first thing that had brought stability in her new life. She gazed at the world below her that she had brought to life almost a year ago now. A tear trickled down her face at the beautiful green and blue that sparkled below. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see her husband, Degen. He was tall and very hard muscled. He had hair and eye's the same color of his wife's and his bonded, Solanara the raven, was the same white and silver that Athena, Othi's bonded tiger was.
She smiled and patted the ground next to her. He sat down at her bidding and gave her a passionate kiss on the lips. He gave her a hug and laid his hand on her swollen belly that held their child, then looked at her expectantly. She just smiled and sighed.
:Only a few more weeks before she'll be born into the world of the living. I can feel her restlessness growing.: Gaea said looking back at Amitie where her child would be born and raised by Princess Rini of the Moon and Earth, Gaea's blood-bonded friend. She looked back at Degen to find him staring at her with a concern beyond that of her state of being. She gave him a open mouthed kiss and felt him arms wrap around her and hold her tight as if to say that he would be there for her and their daughter always and forever.
:I believe you. Last night while you slept, and I held you tight in my arms, I listened to you breath, she kicked my hand. It took all the will power that I owned at the time to keep me from leaping out of bead form the shock of the thing, she's a strong little hellcat isn't she?: He asked watching his wife's amused look and saw that she was holding in the urge to laugh aloud.
:Yes, she is. I would know, I'm the one that she's kicking the innards out of you know.: She laughed, finally giving in. He smiled and squeezed her hand. He was about to crack a joke when they both felt another mind in their land. This wasn't an uncommon occurrence since many beings, no all human, wanted to talk to the one's who had saved the universe to get advice and stuff like that. But this presence was a familiar one, one that Gaea knew well and that Degen had come to know just as well.
:Rini! How are you?: Gaea called out, turning just a little so that she could see the shadowy figure walking towards them. Her body of mist solidified into her mental image as she walked quickly over to sit with them and give hugs all around. She smiled hugely and patted Gaea's stomach as they laughed and talked to themselves, not including Degen in their mind- spoken conversation. That was the way to communicate in their world, the only way, by mindspeech. Over the months that they has dwelled in the world of stars and mist that the Elements had given them as repayment for what they had done in the name of the Light, he had come to be used to only speaking mind-to-mind. At first it was frustrating to open his mouth to speak only to find that no words came out when his lips moved. But at least he had his beloved life-bonded wife, their mentally and physically bonded animal protectors and their lives together.
:Degen, I need your advice on matters of war.: Rini said. Her mindvoice was very like Gaea's, songlike and soothing. He could tell that when she was younger, she had had a cute small voice that had been slightly whiny. He turned his attention to her because he loved discussing war matters, especially when the person that her was discussing them with understood what he was talking about.
:I'm all ears.: Degen said, hearing Gaea's sardonic comment to Rini about how she bet he was. She hated when he bragged about all his war experience. Rini suppressed a smile and nod then continued.
:Well, if we have 1,000 foot soldiers and 5,000 mounted fighters along with 500 spears men where do I place the foot soldiers if we were going to be all sides? I don't want to split them up so that they are to thinly spread out and are useless to the mounted fighters.: Rini looked very interested and had a twinkle f revenge in her eyes. {So,} Degen thought. {Darien's been challenging her again has he? I thought he gave up after she beat him 13 times in a row.} He smiled and gave her a look that meant that he understood why she was doing this.
:Well, I would place them I the center of the mounted and the provision carts with their spearsmen inside that. That way, your footers aren't spread out to a thin useless line, and your food and such are safely guarded by three different protections. Your mounted riders can fend themselves against the first attack.: Degen smiled as her saw her running this through her mental battle field and storing it away to use it against her father in their next mock battle. She would beat him and win a new riding horse he supposed. {And I get the satisfaction of knowing that he was beaten by his daughter. He knows that I am giving her advice, I just hope that he never asks to play me here, I would abolish his armies and feel bad.} She nodded in satisfaction. Then turned to talk to Gaea some more before she left again. She had been coming more often lately, mostly because it was easier for her now that her training in her gift had been completed. She would be here when their daughter was born to take her into the world of life and light. Their tiny baby could not survive here in their world in the sky, she would die and rest with her grandmother in the Lands of Harmony. So as soon as her umbilical cord was cut Rini would link minds with her and bring her back with her to raise her as her own.
Finally she made her good byes and left them alone in their life of watching and waiting. They watched everyday and night for sign's of Dark doing. They had been warned that it would comeback with vengeance to destroy all that served the light, and turn the universe to the Dark. So far nothing had shown up, but Degen had a feeling that the birth of their innocent daughter would tip the delicate balance of good and evil. He felt helpless as all he could do was watch and wait, wait for the evil that they had worked so hard to demolish to comeback to mock the flesh that they no longer wore.
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Prologue
In the star spangled night sky that lay not far above the small planet of Amitie in a solar system far away, lived the young goddess Gaea. Only 17 years old that month, she was short and well muscled form her years of work on her home planet in her younger years. Her sun light blond curly hair was kept half up in a large bun at the back of her head and held in place by circles of tiny star shaped diamonds. A similar circlet sat above her brow making her as the Princess of Amitie. She no longer existed in the flesh, but only in the mind. She was solid however in her own world of the sky. She was made of a misty silver substance that the 5 Elemental Spirits of the Light had made her, her husband and their bonded animals out of after they gave their lives to free the universe from the 6th Element: The Dark One, who lusted after death, destruction and power.
Over 8 months pregnant with her first child, Gaea was sitting under the only tree in her new home, and old oak. It was the first thing she saw after her mother's spirit had bid her a final fare well to go to the lands of Harmony, and the first thing that had brought stability in her new life. She gazed at the world below her that she had brought to life almost a year ago now. A tear trickled down her face at the beautiful green and blue that sparkled below. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see her husband, Degen. He was tall and very hard muscled. He had hair and eye's the same color of his wife's and his bonded, Solanara the raven, was the same white and silver that Athena, Othi's bonded tiger was.
She smiled and patted the ground next to her. He sat down at her bidding and gave her a passionate kiss on the lips. He gave her a hug and laid his hand on her swollen belly that held their child, then looked at her expectantly. She just smiled and sighed.
:Only a few more weeks before she'll be born into the world of the living. I can feel her restlessness growing.: Gaea said looking back at Amitie where her child would be born and raised by Princess Rini of the Moon and Earth, Gaea's blood-bonded friend. She looked back at Degen to find him staring at her with a concern beyond that of her state of being. She gave him a open mouthed kiss and felt him arms wrap around her and hold her tight as if to say that he would be there for her and their daughter always and forever.
:I believe you. Last night while you slept, and I held you tight in my arms, I listened to you breath, she kicked my hand. It took all the will power that I owned at the time to keep me from leaping out of bead form the shock of the thing, she's a strong little hellcat isn't she?: He asked watching his wife's amused look and saw that she was holding in the urge to laugh aloud.
:Yes, she is. I would know, I'm the one that she's kicking the innards out of you know.: She laughed, finally giving in. He smiled and squeezed her hand. He was about to crack a joke when they both felt another mind in their land. This wasn't an uncommon occurrence since many beings, no all human, wanted to talk to the one's who had saved the universe to get advice and stuff like that. But this presence was a familiar one, one that Gaea knew well and that Degen had come to know just as well.
:Rini! How are you?: Gaea called out, turning just a little so that she could see the shadowy figure walking towards them. Her body of mist solidified into her mental image as she walked quickly over to sit with them and give hugs all around. She smiled hugely and patted Gaea's stomach as they laughed and talked to themselves, not including Degen in their mind- spoken conversation. That was the way to communicate in their world, the only way, by mindspeech. Over the months that they has dwelled in the world of stars and mist that the Elements had given them as repayment for what they had done in the name of the Light, he had come to be used to only speaking mind-to-mind. At first it was frustrating to open his mouth to speak only to find that no words came out when his lips moved. But at least he had his beloved life-bonded wife, their mentally and physically bonded animal protectors and their lives together.
:Degen, I need your advice on matters of war.: Rini said. Her mindvoice was very like Gaea's, songlike and soothing. He could tell that when she was younger, she had had a cute small voice that had been slightly whiny. He turned his attention to her because he loved discussing war matters, especially when the person that her was discussing them with understood what he was talking about.
:I'm all ears.: Degen said, hearing Gaea's sardonic comment to Rini about how she bet he was. She hated when he bragged about all his war experience. Rini suppressed a smile and nod then continued.
:Well, if we have 1,000 foot soldiers and 5,000 mounted fighters along with 500 spears men where do I place the foot soldiers if we were going to be all sides? I don't want to split them up so that they are to thinly spread out and are useless to the mounted fighters.: Rini looked very interested and had a twinkle f revenge in her eyes. {So,} Degen thought. {Darien's been challenging her again has he? I thought he gave up after she beat him 13 times in a row.} He smiled and gave her a look that meant that he understood why she was doing this.
:Well, I would place them I the center of the mounted and the provision carts with their spearsmen inside that. That way, your footers aren't spread out to a thin useless line, and your food and such are safely guarded by three different protections. Your mounted riders can fend themselves against the first attack.: Degen smiled as her saw her running this through her mental battle field and storing it away to use it against her father in their next mock battle. She would beat him and win a new riding horse he supposed. {And I get the satisfaction of knowing that he was beaten by his daughter. He knows that I am giving her advice, I just hope that he never asks to play me here, I would abolish his armies and feel bad.} She nodded in satisfaction. Then turned to talk to Gaea some more before she left again. She had been coming more often lately, mostly because it was easier for her now that her training in her gift had been completed. She would be here when their daughter was born to take her into the world of life and light. Their tiny baby could not survive here in their world in the sky, she would die and rest with her grandmother in the Lands of Harmony. So as soon as her umbilical cord was cut Rini would link minds with her and bring her back with her to raise her as her own.
Finally she made her good byes and left them alone in their life of watching and waiting. They watched everyday and night for sign's of Dark doing. They had been warned that it would comeback with vengeance to destroy all that served the light, and turn the universe to the Dark. So far nothing had shown up, but Degen had a feeling that the birth of their innocent daughter would tip the delicate balance of good and evil. He felt helpless as all he could do was watch and wait, wait for the evil that they had worked so hard to demolish to comeback to mock the flesh that they no longer wore.