As I drifted through the dark, I saw it: a light, and I was rushing toward it.
I'm about to start anew. I wonder what awaits me.
Then a man grabbed me, and I felt a slap on my backside.
YOU DAMN FOOL! I'LL CRUSH YOU! I thought. What actually came out was a baby's wail.
That's when it hit me. Starting anew obviously meant being born again.
The man handed me to a woman with a gentle face, blue eyes and a small mole on the right side of her lip. She was, all in all, what you'd call a beauty, no older than twenty-five if I had to guess. The man said something I couldn't understand. Of course. New world, new language. I was excited about all the possibilities this world would offer me.
Nice to meet you, Mother. I'll make you proud someday.
Another man burst in and scooped me up, shouting excitedly. Clearly, this buffoon was my father. My mother watched with a smile. I tried to express myself, but only little giggles came out of my baby mouth. Eventually the man who had delivered me calmed my father down, and I was handed back to my mother to be fed.
Then I fell asleep.
Two whole months had passed since I was born, and I'd spent them living a nightmare: trapped in a baby's body I couldn't control at all. Most of what I could do was soil myself and be fed.
Still, I'd done my best to gather information about this new world. I hadn't been very successful, but I'd begun to understand a bit of the language. I now knew my name was Revan Astley. My mother was Celia Godfrey, twenty-four years old.
I'd also learned she had an aptitude for fire magic. I found out the day I tried to climb out of my crib, fell, and cried like the brat I was.
My mother came running with one of the maids. "By Morana's mercy, Revan, what are you doing? Did you miss Mommy that much? Look at you, you've hurt yourself. Alice, hold him for a moment. I'm going to cast a healing spell on that little cut on his forehead."
She began to chant. Tiny red specks of light gathered in her palm.
"Hear me, almighty flames, answer my call! For the just and the weak have been wounded; let them be cleansed and healed, that they may rejoin us in the warmth of your light. Phoenix Flame!"
The flame in her hand leapt as if it had a will of its own and engulfed my tiny body. But there was no pain, nothing you'd expect from being set on fire. It was soothing. The pain faded away, and after a few moments the flames vanished.
"My lady, wasn't that spell a bit much for such a little scratch?" said Alice.
Apparently, this so-called Phoenix Flame was a high-tier fire healing spell, used on people near death.
"What are you saying, Alice? We can't let little Revan's pretty face scar. Besides, you know that's the only healing spell I actually learned at the academy. I had no choice."
My mother took me back from Alice.
"Still, for him to be this active only two months after being born," Alice said, "that's a feat of its own."
"He probably gets it from his father. I swear that man can't sit still for more than a couple of minutes." My mother giggled as she set me back in the crib. "Now, Revan, be a good boy and stay put until mealtime. Afterward, Mommy will take you to meet the town."
Noooo! Not the crib again, Mother! I need to make the most of my time and learn everything I can. I don't want to sit in this cage all day! Stop treating me like a baby!
But of course, I was a baby. As I complained, my body grew heavy.
Curse... you... baby... body...
When I woke later that night, I was in Alice's arms. She was one of the house maids, eighteen years old, with long blonde hair, red eyes that shone like rubies and skin white as silk she had slender figure that had all the right curves of woman body and had two perfectly form soft cushions where I would always find myself resting while in her arms. She was always gentle with me, and for some reason, in her arms my restless mind finally went quiet.
"Alice, is it my imagination, or is Revan calmer when he's with you?" asked my mother.
"Well, yes. He's a very sweet boy and never gives me trouble. Isn't he like that with you, Lady Celia?"
"He never gives me much trouble, but his eyes are always darting around, as if he's searching for something. With you, he doesn't do that."
Suddenly, the front door opened.
"Honey, I'm home!"
My father, Kevin Astley, twenty-five years old. He was a knight of some renown; from what I understood, the lord of the region had entrusted him with defending the village against what everyone called the Dark Ones. I could only assume they were beasts of some kind, or soldiers from another nation.
"Welcome home, dear. How was your patrol?"
"Quiet. Too quiet, if you ask me." His expression was tense. "Lord Elbert doesn't think much of it, but it feels like the calm before the storm. Not a single Dark One sighted in weeks. It's as if they're preparing for something."
"You worry too much, dear. Lady Morana said the attacks would stop eventually, without the Dark Goddess to lead them. As long as our fair lady stands with us, the Heim Empire will not fall." My mother spoke with complete faith in Morana, the goddess of ice.
"Well, it's my job to worry. We can't trouble Lady Morana with every little thing. We have to hold the defenses ourselves, without relying on her strength."
"Well then, sir knight, let's get some warm food in you so you can keep up the good work." My mother smiled and led him to the table.
Days became weeks, weeks became months, and months became years.
I learned to read and speak fluently, and I finally gained full control of my body. I devoured everything in my father's study.
This is what I learned.
I lived on the continent of Valentia, where, as far as I'd read, six gods ruled six nations. Real gods — the kind people actually interact with, not just pray to.
First, the Heim Empire, my home, also known as the Land of Everwinter for the cold that lasts all year. It occupied the northernmost part of the continent. Across the sea to the east lay the Dark Continent. I found almost nothing about it, only that it had been the domain of the Goddess of Darkness, defeated by the six gods five hundred years ago.
South of Heim lay Eleutheria, the Free Kingdom, overseen by Aeolus, god of the wind. It was by far the smallest of the six: a single city and a few scattered settlements. Although Aeolus was its ultimate authority, its policy was that every citizen was free, bound only by a few basic rules to keep order. In its capital, Elsis, order was kept by a small council and the kingdom's knights, the Order of Elsis — the Storm Templars, as the citizens called them.
Also south of Heim, bordering Eleutheria to the east, lay Gareth'Moh, the Trading Kingdom, governed by Sirius, god of the earth, and his council.
East of Gareth'Moh lay Arnor, the Kingdom of the Blazing Sun, ruled by Guinevere, goddess of fire.
South of Gareth'Moh lay the Aeutreus Empire, better known as the Eternal Empire, ruled with an iron fist by Ba'al, goddess of lightning.
And finally, southeast of Gareth'Moh and east of Aeutreus was the Maerus League, a chain of islands united under Amphitrite, goddess of water.
Magic, too, was divided into six elements: fire, earth, water, wind, lightning and ice. I found nothing about light or dark magic, which I'd assumed would be common in a setting like this.
Now I'm five years old, and today, for the first time, I'll leave the family manor and go into the city.