The Forgotten Gift

Chapter 1: The Forgotten Gift

New Eden: The City of Hope

The city of New Eden covered the horizon like a seamless merger of magic and technology. Gigantic buildings throbbed with magical energy, their sides crackling with sigils that pulsated with the same fierce life force of a living creature. Hovering pathways filled the space, moving its residents from building to building, as golem-like constructs given life by magical cores wound through and shared space with human beings.

It was a world of order, built upon the shoulders of the Paragons those gifted with divine powers, who maintained peace and equilibrium.

And yet, despite its enormity, Asher Reeds had never felt smaller.

He sat on the edge of the rooftop in the West Sector, the wind blowing through his dark curls as he gazed out over the neon-lit streets below. In a matter of hours, his life would be changed.

The Awakening Ceremony.

Every citizen underwent the ceremony on their eighteenth birthday, entering the Sanctum of Awakening to receive their gift from the gods. It was a time of honor, a time of change. Those who were blessed by the gods were Paragons, protectors of society, with abilities that kept the world's balance precariously even

Not all were chosen.

Some left the sanctum normal and Forgotten. Doomed to a life of mediocrity in a world where power determines fate.

And others… others awakened something they were never meant to.

"Asher!"

A voice cried up from below, startling him from his trance. He gazed down and saw Lena Carter, his good friend, waving at him from the alley.

"You brooding again?" she teased, hands on hips. "You do that any harder, and the gods might just grant you a 'Worrying' power."

Asher snorted, stepping back and leaping down nimbly. He landed at her side, hands in the pockets of his jacket. "Just thinking."

"About the ceremony?"

He nodded.

Lena shoved him. "You're going to be fine, you know. You've got the heart of a Paragon you always did."

"It doesn't matter, I never wanted to become a paragon anyway" he admitted quietly.

He chuckled to himself.

They walked through the streets side by side, passing through the busy Market District, where merchants sold magical trinkets and mythically-enhanced guns. A massive holo-broadcast displayed videos from the latest Paragon missions, heroes battling renegade foes, their divine powers illuminating the battlefield.

That was the life Asher wanted.

The life he had dreamed of since he was a child. 

But dreams are nothing but wild fantasies . 

The Sanctum of Awakening

Night fell rapidly over New Eden, its shadows stretching out long across the marble corridors of the Sanctum of Awakening. The great hall was illuminated by floating orbs of golden light, each adorned with celestial runes. At its center stood the Pool of Divinity, a silver-blue fluid that glimmered with underlying power.

The ritual had begun.

Asher stood in line with the rest of the initiates, dressed in ritual white robes. The High Arbiter, a frail old man clad in Paragon splendor, raised his staff, silencing the murmurs of onlookers. 

"The blood of the gods flows through all of us," the Arbiter intoned. "And this evening, it will speak. Come forward and receive your destiny"

One by one, the initiates progressed, pinning a ritual dagger to the palms of their hands, having their blood droplet into the sacred pool. 

The first initiate, a braided silver-haired young girl, dropped her blood into the pool. The pool sparkled, and a golden sheen erupted all around her. Soft gasps of wonder floated through the chamber as the Arbiter shouted, "Gift of the Leader of the Greek gods! Lightning power!"

The next initiate followed. The pool glowed once more, granting him the power of enhanced perception. 

Each gift bestowed was met with reverence. 

Then, it was Asher's turn. 

He stepped forward, heart hammering. The ceremonial dagger felt heavier than it should. 

One cut. 

A single drop of blood. 

It fell into the pool. 

The reply was quick but strange.

The Pool of Divinity turned dark. The supernatural glow of the sanctum shuddered, as though the very heart of the sanctum shuddered in protest. The once golden words on the marble pillars dulled, their holy light withering like smothered embers.

Then, the voice.

"At last… I am found."

The whisper coursed through Asher's mind, ancient and familiar as if it had been waiting for him forever. The air that enveloped him flared without the strength of divinity, but of something more profound. Something lost.

His eyes fogged as his mind was torn out of reality, out of time.

He gazed upon twilight-shrouded ruins, an endless sea of stars, and a lone figure standing on the edge of creation a being whose name had been lost to time.

A name that now seared itself into Asher's soul.

Pain ran through his blood as the burned pool arose before him, wrapping around his arms like sentient darkness. The ground under him cracked.

The High Arbiter stepped back, his eyes wide in horror.

"This is not the gift of the gods," he gasped. "This is something else, a devil's gift."

Above, the Paragons flew with a velocity that was close to miraculous.

"Seal the sanctum!" one shouted.

"Contain him!" another ordered.

The room erupted into chaos. The golden-robed beings sprang from the balconies, their hands radiating divine power as they readied to subdue him.

But Asher's shape had already changed.

A burst of power burst from inside him, a force feral and primal, sending the first Paragon flying back. The pillars of the sanctum splintered, dust and debris cascading to the floor.

Asher's breathing was harsh. His hands trembled as he looked at them, dark strands of energy still wrapped around his fingers.

"What… am I?" he panted.

No one answered.

They were terrified.

"Take him!"

The Paragons obeyed the command, and they moved as one. Their golden auras ignited, unleashing weapons of holy light.

Asher ran like the wind.

The sacred halls flashed by him in a blur as he fled for his life, the sound of pursuit ringing in his ears. The world he'd believed he understood the order he'd served inhad turned against him.

Because he wasn't one of them.

He wasn't a Paragon.

He was something else.

Something they never wanted to exist.

Asher's breath came in ragged bursts as he sprinted through the dimly lit corridors of the Sanctum of Awakening. Incense thick in the air, its holy fragrance at odds with the anxiety growing in his chest.

"Stop him!"

A gold spear flew past his head, embedding itself in the marble wall. Divine energy crackled around the impact point, illuminating the hallway in a flash of heavenly light.

They were coming for him.

Asher had trained for battle like every citizen of New Eden. He had expected to fight criminals, maybe even rogue Paragons. But this being the prey was something he had never imagined.

His fingertips tingled with the strange black energy still arcing about them. It wasn't natural, but it had chosen him.

He didn't have time to understand it. He needed to escape.

The Outer Chamber doors invited before him. If he reached them, he could lose himself in New Eden's neon streets.

Boom!

A concussive blast of energy hit him in the back, and he sprawled forward. His ribs seared with pain as he crashed to the earth.

He had no time to get back up before a golden chain curled around his ankle, yanking him backward.

The High Arbiter stepped forward, his eyes ablaze with something Asher had never seen before fear.

Asher," the elder's voice shook. "You carry something unnatural. Something that cannot be allowed to exist, something we don't understand."

Asher gritted his teeth, struggling against the chains. "I didn't ask for this."

"No," the Arbiter said, "but it has chosen you."

The sacred bonds grew tighter, burning into his skin. He gritted his teeth, and then—

The voice returned.

"You are not meant to kneel."

A surge of energy burst forth from inside him. The chains of gold shattered.

The Paragons gasped in surprise as dark energy swirled turbulently around him. The sanctum trembled as if to cast him out.

The gates of obsidian to the outside world stood just ahead of him. If he could reach them—

Then Lena stepped into his path.

"Asher," Lena's voice was gentle but firm.

Her brown eyes, always warm, now were deadly and serious. 

"Move," Asher breathed. 

She didn't. 

"I saw what happened," she said. "You weren't supposed to awaken a gift like that." 

"I didn't choose this!" Asher shouted, his hands trembling. "Something… someone gave it to me." 

Lena's face faltered for a moment. But then she moved forward.

"Asher… you must stop." 

His heart pounding. "You're with them?" 

"I'm on your side," she whispered. "That's why you must surrender." 

The doors to the sanctum were directly behind her but he was hesitant. 

And that instant was all they needed. 

A burst of energy hit him from behind.

He barely had time to react before golden chains wrapped around his wrists and ankles, pulling him down. He struggled, but this time he couldn't break free.

He hit the floor hard, breath knocked from his lungs. 

Golden-armored Paragons surrounded him, their weapons glowing with celestial energy. 

Lena knelt beside him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I had to."

Asher struggled against the chains, but they tightened. His vision blurred as he was dragged away, the golden lights of the sanctum falling back into darkness.

His body throbbed with pain. His wrists burned where the divine chains held him bound.

When his vision cleared, he was in a cold, metal cell far from the sanctum, far from freedom.

A heavy door blocked his path, covered in runes that suppressed power.

He was stuck. 

Far away, beyond the door, he could hear voices. 

"The High Arbiter is making his ruling." 

"He is too risky to let go." 

"His power is not of our gods."

One thing was sure, however.

The Paragons—the very

individuals who had sworn to protect order feared him.

And fear could turn even the best warriors into killers.

A/N: Remember to add to your library