Page 12 of Interion

Just below, the waterfall merged with other streams to form the Emir River. It wound between the colorful mountains, cutting through Interion until it passed beyond its walls and emptied into the eastern sea, where it served as a port and shipping route. The view was incredible, as if a god had painted the scenery with painstaking attention to detail, intent on creating the most beautiful work of art in the world.

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After running back through the woods, I said goodbye to Breno and headed home. My body was exhausted, and the sun was starting to sink below the horizon.

A bit distracted by the scenery, I glanced up at the screen mounted on the corner near home. The news was playing, and from the red headline, something serious had happened. I pressed the button on my earring-shaped earbuds. The journalist reporting the story was human, beautiful and delicate.

“The purge movement has struck again. A descendant child was found dead this morning. Military forces are tracking the suspects with blood police, and all signs point to the killer group being made up of humans and fae dissatisfied with the presence of the remaining descendants from the Great War.”

Then another reporter appeared on screen.

“Last night, a soldier, still unidentified, was found near death close to the outer wall. Other bodies were also found along the way. Interion is investigating, but there's suspicion of a chase. Doctors are confident the victim will wake up soon. We're awaiting further information.”

I turned off the earbuds and hurried home.

Interion was a dangerous place for descendants of Drutes, and unfortunately, innocent people who had nothing to do with the conflicts were dying for mistakes made by others. My eyes and hair broadcast my lineage for all to see, and I knew I was safe here in the inner district because no soldier would attack or deny protection to someone connected to Zion. Still, fear inevitably crept into my mind.

During the Great War, amid explosions, deaths, and a failed attempt to take Interion, soldiers from the nation of Drutes set up kidnapping schemes targeting fae civilians. They focused on those with powerful elemental gifts, analyzing which ones had the best powers and which would be useful in their cities. They abducted women of childbearing age to force them to bear children with any Drutes man who possessed considerable magic, passing the genetic combination on to future generations.

Each woman was fitted with a collar of pure iron, the only material capable of nullifying elemental powers; it blocked the flow of energy, leaving them defenseless and unable to use their gifts. Chained and with no way to resist, they were easily loaded into train cars—the old main transport between Interion and Drutes. Like cattle, they were taken to the breeding camp, which had been established in the basement of Valmar, the Drutes capital.

Fae are a race that, unlike humans, live extraordinarily long lives. There are records of some who lived for a thousand years, and most reached 800 with ease. Thus, the breeders would have plenty of time to produce the perfect children of Drutes.

At first, the idea worked, and several prodigy children were born. They were taken from their mothers and placed in Drutes households, where they would grow up and develop their powers in a suitable environment. From an early age, they learned to love the nation and remain ignorant of their ancestors.

Once the babies of the First Generation grew up and developed their powers, the nation placed them in positions suited to their gifts. They had never seen so much magic. The diversity was incredible—after all, the number of fae had been small before, and their gifts were almost nothing compared to those of Interion. With that stolen power, Drutes flourished and expanded its resources, becoming the second greatest power of Jupiter. They no longer needed help from other nations to keep the economy running, because now they had their own resources and were an independent nation.

Time passed, and the number of breeders dwindled. Some died in childbirth; others took their own lives after years of abuse and mistreatment. Records showed 212 women at the start, but after the first round of reproduction, only 130 remained. Yet twenty-five years after the First Generation was born, no new children had come. The doctors involved knew they had to act, and so the genetic modification experiments began. They extracted eggs, altered them to be less vulnerable, fertilized them with genes from First Generation men, and implanted them in the breeders' wombs. It worked—their bodies carried the fetuses to term. And so the Second Generation was born: genetically modified children.

At birth, each child's power level was tested by the Sonar—a fae whose gift allowed him to evaluate the natural elemental flow of other fae and classify it on a scale from 0 to 1,000. The Sonar himself was one of the First Generation children, possessing a rare ability in Jupiter. For perspective: a pureblooded male from Drutes, the weakest nation, had a power level between 100 and 300. A fae from Interion, the most powerful territory, might be born with levels ranging from 100 to 600. First Generation children fell between 300 and 600. But the Second Generation babies were born with supernatural levels of magic—each new child seemed to break the previous record. The highest among them was a secondary named Serguei, born with an astonishing level of 1,000.

Drutes' problems began ten years after the births. At that age, magic started to manifest and take shape. The Second Generation children began displaying increasingly strange powers that strayed from the patterns of the first lineage. Some had affinities with death or blood. Others exhibited a range of psychic abilities. There were shapeshifters, children with venomous gifts, seers—and many other abilities that were never officially recorded, for fear the information might leak to other nations. It was as if the gods themselves were furious over the sins committed against the women and all that horror.

It wasn't long before the psychics uncovered the secrets and lies surrounding the births of the primaries and secondaries. No information escaped their sharp minds once they entered their victims' heads seeking answers. And so, fifty years after the Great War, civil war erupted in Drutes. Fae of the First and Second Generation rose up against the nation, demanding that the women—their mothers—be freed from the breeding system. But the State would never relinquish them, especially now that they'd managed to shorten the interval between pregnancies. The women gave birth every two years, withering between deliveries until they died from exhaustion.

Soon, a revolt gained momentum, and a squadron rose to deliver justice. They became known as the Night Squadron. Its ranks consisted mostly of secondaries, with a few primaries among them. Conflicts escalated, threats gave way to action, and the rebels demanded freedom. In response, the nation removed the breeders from the capital and scattered them across Drutes territory, making them far harder for the revolutionaries to find.

In the year 51 after the Great War, the Night Squadron smashed through the gates of Drutes and, like a force of nature, destroyed anyone who dared confront them, leaving a trail of death in their wake. The blood trackers managed to locate some of the breeding facilities in Drutes territory, but the moment they entered, everything exploded. Drutes had vowed that the rebels would never see these women again—and if the women couldn't belong to Drutes, they wouldn't belong to anyone.

Exhausted by their losses and having failed to rescue the breeders, the few remaining members of the Night Squadron decided to leave Drutes and seek help from Interion. They endured grueling days reaching the walls, pursued by forest lamias and the Drutes army alike. By then, their gifts had evolved and their numbers had stabilized. The squadron totaled twenty members, led by Serguei, a psychic at level 1,300; Amenadiel, with electricity powers at level 1,050; Lea, a shapeshifter at level 800; Luanda, a blood fae at level 1,000; and Ravena, another psychic at level 1,100. The Sonar joined the cause as well, along with other less powerful members.

The king of Interion, Elazer II, known for his kindness, learned what was happening in Drutes and welcomed the surviving rebels into his territory, along with any refugee of Interian blood. He also declared war on the nation. Another year of searching followed, and new squadrons were formed from high-ranking soldiers, including the secondaries themselves. Battles raged along the borders, and each year Interion advanced, pushing deeper into the Drutes forests and discovering more breeding facilities—which continued to explode. Between missions, new secondaries and primaries were found and brought to safety.

By the year 188 after the Great War, Interion had become an unshakable power, with impenetrable walls and mandatory military training for all citizens. But what no one predicted was that the attack would come from within. Secondaries and primaries living in the city revealed themselves as spies and staged an ambush to destroy the great king. Their goal was to destabilize the government and allow the Drutes army to enter. This day became known as Red Day. The monarch and the Pillars of Interion were assassinated.

Leading the attack was Ravena, the former secondary leader of the Night Squadron. She had joined the rebels as a spy for Drutes, feeding intelligence to the enemy all along. The assassinations shook Interion—but only for a day. Elazer had a younger brother, general of the armies, and had planned for the possibility of his government being overthrown. Elitium I commanded the troops in a counterattack, eliminating most of the small infiltrator squadron and restoring order. The survivors tried to flee but were hunted down by the former leaders of the Night Squadron. The histories say that Serguei himself, wielder of the most terrifying power in all of Jupiter, personally executed Ravena and the rest of the traitors who had aided her coup.

After that, Serguei, Amenadiel, Luanda, and Lea were forced to swear loyalty to Elitium, and the remaining descendants were expelled beyond the walls. Serguei was deemed innocent and joined Interion’s military forces as a member of the king’s inner circle of protection. He became the nation’s thought filter, and through him, the sovereign kept a tight leash on his subjects.

The new king grew paranoid about his security. He increased military strength, surrounded himself with the best elemental soldiers, and positioned the palace right next to Interion’s central hospital. This way, he was protected by the military brigade, consolidating his empire’s power. It was the end of the Reign of Lights and the beginning of the Iron Reign. Once the Interians felt secure in their new routine, the monarch had the decree posted throughout Interion:

Decree No. 188 of King Elitium I:

I – All forced breeding camps shall be eliminated.

II – All breeding women shall be killed.

III – All primaries and secondaries outside Interion represent a threat to the Reign. Therefore, they shall be hunted down and killed.