Prologue

Stars and planets, water, fire, meet to raise our beings higher out of mud, ooze, and slime, bathed in blood, fused in time. We grapple skyward, blow-by-blow, leaving our putrid past below to speak, think, dream, and cry, floating clockwork in our sky. The gifts of flame, wheel, and time are snatched by dreamers as they climb, collecting treasures as they go to mark their progress as they grow.

How many passioned peaks still lie untouched as climbers pass them by, convinced the path of progress winds, a narrow course through narrow minds. Yet greater treasures Time shall teach lie out of sight, within our reach.

So rage the battles, the curse of war, Man to sub-man, slime to gore. Where strength creates the power to kill, the raging brain creates the will. Where does the treasure softly lie; with those who live, or those who die?

Swords clashed, metal rang and blood flowed across the Central Plains as Kilban watched his men drive the demon creatures farther south. They had been fighting, this time, for nearly a day and the sun was setting. Kilban shivered as he watched the rusty sun sink below the horizon. A good omen, he thought. A red setting sun meant victory, the end of bloodshed.

"Highness!"

Kilban ducked as a club sailed toward his face. His lieutenant, Eldred, slashed his attacker from shoulder to hip before joining his king. Eldred's face was covered with the deep blue blood of demons and the fatigue of one who had been fighting nonstop.

"Highness, do you see the demons retreating? Marklund has given the order to retreat for the night." Indeed, there were fewer demons on the battlefield, though many lay dying on the battlefield. One fleeing demon rose up on his hind legs and stared at the retreating sun, bathing the field in crimson light. The creature punched a claw at the sun and hissed as if cursing it for it's weakness in fleeing the sky.

One of Kilban's archers sent an arrow flying into the leathery flesh of the demon. It screamed in anger and sent a shard of ice that fell short of its mark ten paces before the humans. The air swelled with the scream until it nearly suffocated Kilban and Eldred before the demon died, curling in upon itself like the other demon corpses around it. The air cleared with a dull clap of distant thunder.

The sound made one of the demons turn around and lope back toward the fresh corpse. The creature examined the body, sniffing and prodding it with long

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