Chapter 1 : The Hunt Begins
The heavens cracked before the child ever cried.
Stormclouds tore open the sky like wounded flesh, spilling lightning across the infinite realm of the gods. Thunder did not roll it roared, shaking palaces carved from gold and flame. The stars themselves trembled, dimming as if afraid to watch what was about to unfold.
Three gods stood at the edge of the Celestial Divide, staring down at the mortal world.
And somewhere far below, on a quiet patch of Earth, a god was being born among humans.
War.
Fire.
Shadows.
The God of War was the first to move.
He stood tall in armor forged from a thousand fallen battlefields, each step ringing like a war drum. His eyes burned red, not with rage but with certainty.
"It has begun," he said, gripping his massive blade. "I can feel it in the blood of the world. A god has crossed the line of mortality."
Lightning split the sky again, as if answering him.
The God of Fire laughed, flames rolling off his shoulders like living beasts. His hair burned upward, defying the wind, his grin sharp and dangerous.
"A god born?" he scoffed. "No. This one isn't half-blood. He's whole. Too whole. And that makes him a threat."
Fire twisted in his palm, forming a spear of pure heat.
"Threats get erased."
The shadows around them shifted.
From within the darkness stepped the God of Shadows, his form never fully solid, his voice echoing from everywhere and nowhere at once.
"The prophecy was clear," he murmured. "A Light Among Immortals. Born of peace. Ruler of elements. The end… or the balance… of us all."
Silence followed.
Then War snarled.
"Prophecies can bleed."
High above Earth, the gods descended.
Not openly.
Not honestly.
They cloaked themselves in illusion and deceit, masking their power as they crossed realms. The sky over the mortal world darkened unnaturally, clouds swirling in violent spirals as if reality itself sensed the invasion.
Far below, in a small home lit by flickering candles, Mary screamed.
Lightning flashed outside her window.
"Tylar!" she cried, gripping the sheets as pain tore through her. "Something's wrong!"
Tylar stood by her side, fear etched deep into his face. The ground beneath their home shook. The walls rattled. Outside, the wind howled like a living thing.
"This storm.... it came out of nowhere," he said, though his voice trembled. "Just hold on. Please."
Mary gasped, her eyes glowing just for a heartbeat with pure white light.
The gods felt it.
Fire cursed under his breath.
"There. That's him."
The God of War struck first.
From the heavens, a blade of energy tore downward, splitting the clouds as it raced toward the house.
But before it could strike...
The earth rose.
Stone surged upward like a shield, forming walls of rock around the home. Lightning exploded outward, colliding with the attack and shattering it into nothing.
The gods froze.
"…He's defending himself," Shadows whispered. "Newborn. Unaware. And already controlling the elements."
Fire's grin vanished.
"That's impossible."
Inside the house, Mary screamed again and this time, the world answered.
Thunder detonated across the sky. Water burst from the air itself, rain crashing down in violent waves. Light poured through the room, blinding, powerful, peaceful.
And then....
A cry.
Not loud.
Not angry.
But calm.
A cry that silenced the storm.
The child was born.
The God of Life had entered the world.
Lightning bent around the house like a bow. Fire refused to burn near it. Shadows recoiled, shrinking away from the glow that now wrapped the child like a promise.
War clenched his fists.
"If we don't act now, we lose everything."
Fire raised his spear again.
"Then we finish it. Together."
But the shadows twisted, hesitating.
"…Or we let the hunt begin," the God of Shadows said slowly. "Let the world shape him. Let fear decide his fate."
Below them, Tylar held his son, tears streaming down his face as the storm faded into a gentle rain.
Mary looked at the child, exhausted but smiling.
"He's… beautiful," she whispered.
None of them knew his name yet.
But the gods did.
And they were afraid.
Far above, the three immortals vanished into the sky plotting, hunting, dividing themselves even as heaven itself began to fracture.
Because a god had been born among humans.
And the heavens would never know peace again.
End of Chapter 1: The Hunt Begins