God tested the light and the air and the ground and all living creates and the nations and the peoples in it and said that it was good and passed His inspection. And then, like a wave crashes against the shores, The Immortals came. – The Creations, Chapter 2, Verses 3 – 4.

The Immortals. They were a scourge on the earth for over 200 years. They come up in The Scriptures first as heroes of the Gar’Shan. The married couple Gareth and Shana were Immortals and spawned our whole nation of Solom. We were descendants of these two, who had 10 children, which created the 10 tribes of the Gar’shan. My matrilineal ancestry traced all the way back to Treena, the third child of Gareth and Shana.

The Immortals appeared in the world as fully formed adults who were as weak as babes. But they grew in strength quickly, and soon became as powerful as the Old Pantheon. Some worshipped them as gods, like the Taurons do. Our scriptures showed that those not allied with the Gar’Shan were evil and treated the mortals as nothing more than chattel and objects to be used and abused. They would kill us indiscriminately and without a conscience. The Immortals of the Yeshuans claimed we had no souls and therefore it was not sinful to strike us down.

Slowly, however, they disappeared one by one, seemingly losing interest in the land. They claimed to have more powerful foes to conquer in different ‘planes of existence’ or what they called ‘endgame material’. They had their fun, ruined nations and whole peoples, started and destroyed faiths and creeds and then just disappeared.

“You see, Teacher Palion, we are the children of the Immortals Gareth and Shana. Their blood runs through our veins. This is why, rarely, a Teacher comes along. We bear some of the power of The Immortals. We have a limited sort of immortality. We see the numbers as they did. We wield miracles and spells and boons and revelations and powers like they did. Now, what does the last line of The Torment say?”

I breathed in deeply. “That one last Immortals shall be appear as a babe in the woods and they have the power to bring us to freedom or perish us forever. And Gar’Shan’s children that will guide them.” I paraphrased the scripture, as it started to make sense.

“Teachers are the children of the Immortals.” I whispered.

“Yes, and it is our job to look for them, and if we ever find them, we then need to guide them. For we cannot overthrow the Taurons without the help of the new Immortal, or so the scriptures say.”

“…So what now? I have to find the young Immortal?”

Teacher Grimshaw chuckled. “No, that has been the goal of every Teacher for the past 200 years; it is not just your task. Instead, you need to train and become more powerful. We need to get you to the Teacher’s school.”

My ears perked up. I had never been in school, like the Taurons had. Even the poorest Tauron had schooling for three years so they could read, write, and do basic mathematics. Wealthier Taurons were in school until their early 20s. The idea enticed me.

Teacher Grimshaw saw my face light up. “It is not a school like that. There are not hundreds of Teachers, or even dozens, your age that need to learn. We will be lucky if we find 4 of you throughout the entire nation of Taurus and hidden around Solom. Think of it as less than a school and more of a training ground. You will train there for a few years and then you will be ready to fulfill your purpose.”

“You mean, go around and tend to our peoples’ needs?” I asked, the prospect did not sound too exciting to me.

“Either that or studying the scriptures for deeper insight. Or being part of the front lines against Tauron and Yeshuan aggressions. Or any number of other things. Perhaps you will be sent out on a mission.”

“Studying the scriptures sounds interesting, especially if I can learn more about the names of God. Once I can wield powers like Hazit, I can go to the front lines and free all of us.”

“Before all that, young warrior, we must smuggle you out of Tauron hands. And then we must travel through Yesuan territory, where they will kill us on site if they know who we are. Then we need to get into the heart of Solom, where there is the free city of Cresh. It is there where you will train. And in order to do all that, we need to get you up and moving.” Teacher Grimshaw threw my covers off and I slowly, painfully, started to stand up.