The Finale

The First Hubbert

Love should never come before duty

Vasilias

Earth/Inferna (Mount Tenebra) EarthYear 999

Vasilias experienced a moment of clarity after the blank. His friends were still in a trance and he had to take over. In that frozen moment, he concentrated hard and saw that the fiery figure was still there, right in front of him. His countless other splits were everywhere wreaking havoc but Vasilias could see the real demon. There was an intimidating aura about him. Vasilias's eyes met with the demon and he knew Hareeq was coming right for him.

Hareeq swept down on him. His fiery sword aimed for Vasilias's heart but just before it hit him, Vasilias snapped his fingers. Hareeq got Vasilias but at that exact moment, Vasilias made a split-dash to go behind Hareeq and drive his dagger into his heart.

A soul-piercing screech reached the far corners of the world. Hareeq injured Vasilias's split, but the real Vasilias pierced Hareeq's soul. However, both got entangled into each other like an inextricable knot or roots of a plant. Molded into one another like a body and its soul.

Vasilias felt Hareeq inside him, seeing right through him. And in that nonexistent moment, Vasilias saw his whole life in front of his eyes. His purest feelings, his wildest emotions, his darkest desires, his hidden ambitions. Every single aspect of his personality was laid bare in front of the demon. Hareeq explored the deserted corners of Vasilias's mind and a part of him took refuge in a dark alley of his soul that he never knew existed.

After that split-second which felt like a lifetime, Hareeq erupted in a ball of fire. All his splits disappeared with soul-numbing shrieks. Vasilias was thrown up hundreds of feet in the air. He would have met a painful end if Sherwin hadn't conjured an air cushion to soften his landing.

Vasilias's face was singed and the right side of his body was charred. The excruciating pain was killing him. However, something else was tormenting his heart. He felt a humungous weight on his soul as if someone had placed Mount Tenebra over his chest.

The battle was won, but the war still loomed.

And something told him that this war might not be the end. It would be the beginning of something far more sinister.

***

Mysha

Earth (The Valley of Reckoning) EarthYear 1999

A loud bang followed the sound of tens of guns firing at once. Mysha opened her eyes and saw a fleet of AirCars circling over them. David, Roger, and Arun were in the first three cars, firing incessantly to disperse the Soulments that had surrounded the Potens.

"Jeez, that's some timin'. I'd almost given up."

Ten AirCars had reached the spot. Five of them kept circling and shooting to keep the darklings at bay. The other five cars landed in a nearby field. David and company jumped out of their vehicles to rush towards the Potens.

"Bless the Souls! That is what we call an entry with a bang."

"We were just shooting blind," David sheepishly admitted the logic behind the bang. "We don't even know if we even hit anything."

"Ya just blew'em up, mate. They were all over us before ya came n now they're fleein'."

"I can't believe this," Tri said rolling her eyes toward the sky. "Can't you see this is just a temporary retreat? The shock value won't last long and they will be all over us again. And honestly, we won't last for too long. We have been pathetic so far. Ryan, do you have a few more dragons up your sleeve?"

"Pathetic? Holy Angels, we have given our all. What more do you want?" Ryan sounded hurt.

"Seriously? Given your all? Do you know why Hubberts are winning? Because they are twenty but fighting like one. And we who were trained to fight like the One, are waging five different battles."

"It is my fault, I am not able to bond you together," Mysha mumbled, more to herself than others.

"Yes, you are right. Honestly, this is all your fault because you have been utterly woeful, miserable, wretched. I may run out of words to describe your abysmal performance." Tri's scathing words were more scorching than Lahab's fire. "And believe me, you are letting down the whole of humanity, not just us. I didn't know my friend would turn out to be a loser crybaby on the big night."

Mysha, I have told you before that your friend has gone nuts.

Mystic, she has a point. I haven't been able to lead us like one.

You can't be blamed if your friends were overpowered by beings far more powerful than you.

But Mystic, we have to find a way to fight them.

So ask your psycho friend to come up with a plan rather than blaming you.

"I can't believe this," Tri shouted. "For Almighty's sake, Mysha shut that thing down inside your head. It is screwing your already messed up brain." Tri took a couple of deep breaths and turned her volume a few notches down. "My friend, stop whining and pick up your act. All of us are nearly spent. Now is the time for you to become what you are destined to be. You are Earth's last hope so act like one, The One. Understand?"

"But..."

Mysha didn't get a chance to complete her sentence. One of the AirCars circling above them crashed and went up in smoke. The remaining four fell from the sky one after another. In less than a minute, the battle had turned on its head, again.

"How the hell?" Raksha exclaimed. "Those were Soulment-proof Vayu380s."

"Let me remind someone to always expect the unexpected from Hubberts. They know a thing or two about crashing these things, you know."

"Honestly, our element of shock has come crashing down," Tri announced. "Mysha, now lead us like the One. Let us do it for Earth, Bliss, and all the humans who have pinned their hopes on us."

Tri had woken up Mysha from a slumber. Mystic was gone and Mysha was back in charge. "Tri, connect our minds, guys assemble your unseens. Harbux, be ready to take over. Raksha, you lead the human troops, you will know what to do."

The Potens joined their hands. They all took a deep breath and closed their eyes. Eyes were anyhow useless against the unseens. Tri cleared their cluttered minds to provide them with some much-needed clarity.

The next wave of descending mist froze mid-air. Tri diverted soldiers' attention, and their guns, toward the fog. A second later, some well-directed bullets at the Soulments' hearts blew away the mist. Ryan melted the hail stones through a warm breeze and MaxDash took care of the snakes before they attacked anyone.

The Potens were running on fumes. Ryan pretty much looked like the grown-up version of the skinny boy who had burned the shack. Max had deep wounds all over his body. Brendon couldn't stop coughing and hundreds of demons haunted Tri's mind.

However, a surge of energy coursed through their veins. It made them oblivious to their pain, free from the shackles of their fragile bodies that couldn't withstand the pressure.

Hubberts tried the old tactics, acid rain, bushfires, ice shards, and poisonous smoke, but nothing went past the Holy Powers of Five when they were in full flow.

Mysha's invisible shield kept attackers at bay while her power flowed from one Poten to another. When she put all her might behind BrenFreeze, Ryan exposed the demons using water, fire, and smoke, and Tri took control over the soldiers' minds to blow up these rogue Soulments. Meanwhile, in the same frozen moment, tens of Max dashed around to strategically place Anti-Soulment mines amidst the demons. By the time Hubberts wrestled back the control over time, the Free Souls were blown away.

Hubberts pulled out a few new tricks when the old ones didn't work. A herd of huge beasts, the size of some overgrown tyrannosaurus, came charging at Mysha's men at the speed of agile leopards.

"I can't believe this. They just keep on inventing new ideas to kill us."

"Okay okay, calm down. I give them full points for innovation but let me tell you that even these beasts are Soulments. All we need is one good shot at their hearts. The larger the bodies bigger the target to hit, you know."

"Curse the Demons, their hearts are near their bellies. We need to flip them over."

"Brendon, Mysha just do a BrenFreeze. Me and Tri will do the rest."

Brendon and Mysha froze the charging beasts. Then Max whistled with all his might. The twenty or so beasts became airborne and turned on their sides, exposing their bellies, like lambs hanging by hooks in a slaughterhouse. Tri knew what she had to do. She made her soldiers aim their guns at the beasts' bellies. When the time moved, the bullets ripped apart their bellies and punctured their hearts. Those poor Dyno-Demons got no chance to leave a mark.

"Jeez Max, ya've become a heavy-weight champion."

"Thanks to Julian," Max said with a tear in his eye. "And his flying train."

A giant flame in the center of the valley interrupted their chat. All eyes turned towards the flame and in that split second, Mysha saw a spear pierce Max's heart. Max collapsed and blood started pouring from his mouth. Brendon screamed in horror when a bullet passed through Tri leaving a perfect round hole in her forehead. Ryan fell to his knees, writhing in sorrow and pain, when a raging blaze turned Mysha to ashes.

"Seriously? Is this what you have got?" Tri wasn't impressed by the latest Hubbert sorcery. "This is the same childish trick that your ancestor used a millennium ago. Dear Hubberts, whoever amongst you is responsible for mind games, tell him to upgrade."

Tri's friends and all the other humans were transfixed by the flame. They were watching their worst fears materialize in front of them.

"Guys close your eyes or just look away. You will be fine," Tri shouted.

Everyone shut their eyes and the spell was broken. No more horrifying scenes of gruesome deaths.

Hubberts were looking for a way to strike back and Max gave them a tiny opportunity. He dropped a bomb amidst a nest of snakes slithering toward Raksha's men. Brendon let go of time but Max had made a small mistake. He had left a window of a tenth of a second for the bomb to go off and that was just enough for Hubberts to take over. Time stopped again. A Hubbert picked up that live bomb and teleported near Raksha.

Before Brendon could wrest back control, time moved. Hubbert exploded with the bomb and Raksha got no chance to escape. Hubberts deliberately slowed down time to make the Potens witness their friend's death in slow motion. The Five watched in horror as Raksha and Arun, who was fighting beside his wife, were blown to pieces. The iron shrapnel meant to destroy the Soulments, pierced the bodies of Raksha's soldiers and condemned them to a painful death. One Hubbert's sacrifice had wiped out half the human line of defense.

Max erected a vacuum shield to protect the Potens from the physical damage of the blast, but its boom reverberated in their ears, hearts, and souls. Raksha and Arun were gone. They had lost two more friends to Hubberts. Alexander, Mahendra, Julian, Edward, and now Raksha, the list of Pieteous Scions murdered by Hubberts was getting longer and longer.

Dark Souls feed on fear and despair. Hubberts sensed that the Potens were dejected and gave them no time to mourn their friends. All Free Souls that had escaped Tenebra were now inside the Valley. So no more attacks in waves, it was time to put all their chips in.

Fire, mist, smoke, shards, snakes, acid, fireballs, beasts, and God knows what else, swooped at the Potens from all directions. Hubberts threw everything at them, all at once. It didn't matter how many Souls they lost, they had to finish the war. Right then, right there.

"Mysha, let Raksha go," Tri whispered to her friend. "Don't let the intensity drop."

"Don't worry Tri, I will not let us down again. Hubberts will pay for this. I will wipe these demons off the Earth's surface."

Mysha started snapping her fingers at a frenetic pace. Harbux's pitch-black form encompassed them all. Brendon stamped his right foot. Olivia's blood-red melted into Harbux and everything froze. Hubberts exerted their collective power to break the shackles, but nothing moved. They screeched like chained beasts trying to break free but there was no escaping the chosen one's wrath.

Ryan grunted with all his might. Wavey's navy blue merged into the overwhelming gloom to create a destructive elemental wave that submerged the valley. The Potens didn't need any metal to annihilate the Soulments anymore, they were already burning from within.

Max's deep loud whistle mixed Stoke's sparkling gold into Harbux. Max was everywhere, or was it Mysha? All Hubberts and every single darkling were now staring into the deep green eyes of Mysha, or rather into the Abyss of annihilation.

In the end, Tri blinked to blend Sia's ruby pink with the black. The minds of Hubberts and their Free Souls went blank. They knew it was over, they couldn't fight, and they didn't need to. They had to accept the annihilation and go into oblivion. Their darkest desires, their unspeakable crimes, their wretched life in Inferna, their fears, their lusts, and their hopes combined with every dreaded moment of their existence came in front of their eyes. They gave up. They wanted this misery to end.

The One had taken over them all. They just couldn't see Mysha they could feel her inside them. Like a Goddess towering over them in her Omnipotent avatar, or like a Demoness hell-bent on destroying the whole world.

Mysha whispered. A whisper that curdled their forms. A whisper that spelled death, destruction, and doom. "Harbux, it is time to end this war. Time to finish all of this."

The world came to a standstill. There was absolute silence. No one spoke or moved, but everyone heard. And they didn't just hear, they saw, they felt and they lived every bit of what Harbux had to say.

"Destruction is what Pieteous want. Today Harbux's mistress would have made her esteemed forefathers proud by following their footsteps. But Harbux can't allow this. He didn't wear these chains for this."

"Harbux, this is not the moment." Mysha's voice in that overpowering nothingness made everyone's skin crawl. It wasn't the roar of an all-powerful destructor, it was more like a whimper of a powerless imp.

"This is the moment Mysha, and it has come down to this because of you. Harbux desperately wanted to avoid this fate. He tried to break the Potens, tried to kill them but they always somehow survived. Miss Tri wanted to see what lies in that dark gorge, today Harbux will take every one of you down there."

Everyone in the Valley, the few remaining humans and thousands of Souls, felt the sensation of falling from a cliff. A pitch darkness suffocated them. They wished for some light but there was none. Mountains of despair crushed their souls. Nooses of darkness strangulated hope out of their hearts.

After what felt like a lifetime they found themselves standing in the woods outside the cottage in Richmond. And then they heard Harbux. In fact, they heard themselves because they were inside Harbux's head, watching this memory from his eyes.

"That Windsor cottage is a trap. You shouldn't go there," Harbux said to a Hubbert standing in front of him.

"Abah, We have a great chance to kill them when they are still untrained."

"Harbux thought the same when he gave you Brendon's details in Australia but you failed."

"That last-minute room change messed up our plan. Before our brother could think of a solution, Mysha summoned you."

"Son, Olivia is looking over the preparations there. Harbux doesn't know anything about it. They have kept Harbux and Mysha posted here as distractions for you."

"Abah, we have to pretend to fall for the trap. Can't let them be suspicious."

"Max has a sharp brain. He is planning something horrific. We just lost one of us in Australia, we can't lose more."

"Abah, you know many of us will fall by the time this ends," Hubbert said in a husky voice, very different from the spine-chilling tone the Potens were used to hearing from him. "We have to make sacrifices. Don't worry we will send only one of us."

Harbux nodded. "Whoever goes there, tell him to target their weakest link. They can't become the One if we get even one of them. Let the sacrifice count for something."

"Noted. Why is your form flickering, Abah?"

Harbux gave a wry smile. "Every time Harbux betrays his mistress, these chains burn his forms. Harbux suffers a hundred hells every day. He prays no one ever has to endure such torment."

"This will end soon, Abah. Very soon."

"Now get going, son. Best of luck."

They heard Harbux's booming voice inside their head. "That night in the cottage you were the weakest link Mysha, so he went for you but Max became your shield. A part of that Soul latched onto Max and kept burning him from within, but Tri pulled it out of him in the Himalayas. Every time we tried to get one of you, someone else intervened."

The scene changed and now Harbux was in India, talking with the Potens, trying to convince them to travel on the Dark Night. "You are heavily outnumbered. Hubbert has had a headstart here. He has been planning this attack for weeks. Trust Harbux, if Hubbert attempts anything remotely similar to the Windsor ambush here, you stand no chance."

"I hate to say this," Olivia said. "But I agree with Harbux."

"Harbux, what's ya plan then?" Brendon asked him.

"Master Brendon we start right now and try to reach Delhi as soon as possible. Mahendra's Armies of Unseens are our best bet against Hubbert."

"Well, we must reach the AirCars before sunset," Mysha said putting the final stamp on Harbux's plan. "So let us kind of stop discussing and get moving."

Harbux closed his eyes and his mind connected with a Hubbert waiting in an AirCar. "Get ready, we are on the way. You know the route. Don't miss this time," Harbux whispered into his mind network.

The scene changed and Harbux was now at the car crash site. Brendon was holding three AirCars mid-air and before Harbux could think of something, Mysha gave Harbux a Binding Command to join forces with Olivia. His hands were tied once again. Harbux turned his face to the other side and saw Swati's body lying on the grass.

"That poor girl sacrificed herself to save Max and Brendon. Such a waste."

"You double-faced monster, we loved you and you betrayed us?" Mysha hissed.

"Every time Harbux betrayed you, he suffered in a way that you can't even imagine. Any lesser being would have been destroyed, but Harbux endured the pain. He loathed you every time you ordered him to kill his brothers, but he committed all those heinous crimes just to survive because rejecting your Binding Command would have meant instant annihilation."

Flashes of Harbux's memory played out for them. In one of them, Harbux stopped the fireball from consuming Mysha and her friends. In another, he helped Potens annihilate Souls at the Windsor cottage. Then there was a memory from India, another from Vrindavan, another from the Valley of Reckoning, they just kept playing on. Harbux vividly remembered every single time he had destroyed a Soul at Mysha's command.

"So the ever-selfless Harbux, who always claims to choose others over himself, murdered his people to kind of save his own skin." Mysha's tone reeked of contempt.

"Harbux never chose his well-being over others. He would have happily sacrificed himself for his brothers but he had to stick to the plan. He had to go on, no matter what the circumstance, till he reached the Nox. During the process, he had to eliminate as many Potens as he could so that on this night, you don't turn into this full-blown Omnipotent evil."

"Well, if you wanted to kill us then why did you save me so many times?" Mysha asked.

"Because protecting you was his main task. Even a hint of hesitation in protecting their masters means instant annihilation for the slaving Souls. Harbux so dearly wished that any of his children would overpower him and kill you, but Harbux is too strong for his own good and that is why Vasilias chose him. He knew no one could go past him even if he wanted to."

"My children, my souls, my brothers, we, us, my son?" Mysha sniggered. "You show such affection for those murderous Hubberts but you never tried to be a part of us despite all the love we gave you."

"You are so blind," Harbux cried in disgust. "You compare our bond to Harbux's eternal love for his Souls? You still don't get it? Do you? For you to understand, Harbux has to turn into someone you can easily recognize."

In that never-ending moment, Harbux's ominous form changed into a human avatar. There was no sound but everyone gasped in unison. "Hubbert!!"

"Not Hubbert, Harbux. Hubbert is the name of the twenty-seventh Harbux born in this world." Harbux's every world felt like a thousand daggers to the Potens. There was a mind-numbing silence as everyone tried to comprehend the enormity of this revelation.

Harbux finally broke the silence. "Mysha, Harbux pleaded to you to have mercy but you didn't budge. You kept on annihilating the Soulments. Time and again, you made him destroy parts of his own Soul."

More memories flashed in front of them. One, where Harbux helped Mysha kill Hubbert in the cottage. Another, where he helped Olivia freeze time while Max drove his dagger into the Hubbert in the AirCar.

The landscape changed. Harbux and Hubbert were standing outside the Balmoral Castle.

"What are you and Hadriel doing son? Turning Souls into acid, poisonous mist? These dangerous forms will corrode these Souls forever."

"Abah, tell us what to do. Even these extreme steps are not working. They are hunting us down in America. We wanted to teach them a lesson on the Dark Night but they are hiding behind these impenetrable walls," Hubbert said pointing to the castle.

"Alexander is still out there," Harbux mumbled.

"If we take him out that would send a strong message to them."

"Son, he is Mysha's own blood, one of us."

"Abah, you sometimes forget that we share your pain. We hate to kill but we can't let them destroy us. We have to fight back."

Harbux hung his head for a few seconds. When he spoke his words were in choking whispers. "Alex is lying low in David's house in America. And you will have to do this yourself, in flesh and blood, because Souls won't be able to enter that place. Hurry up, you have little time to get there."

"Don't worry Abah. We will make it such a spectacle that whoever sees it will be shaken to the core. If we have to cut our own flesh then at least we must make full use of it."

"Harbux you filth, you told Hubbert about Alexander? You got my son murdered?" Mysha's voice echoed in the nothingness. If she could detach herself from Harbux's hold, she would have ripped him apart.

"Yes. Harbux had to send a part of his Soul to chop off the head of his son and burn his flesh, just because of you."

"You demon, you monster, you butcher my son and dare to blame me for that."

"Don't you hear what Harbux says?" Harbux thundered like the wrath of Gods. "Alexander was Harbux's son too because you are his progeny. Harbux is Vasilias. He is the First Soul that splintered from the Holy Father of Bliss. And all these Hubberts, the much-loathed demons are parts of Vasilias's soul too, your real forefathers."

The Valley of Reckoning, from a thousand years ago, appeared in front of their eyes. Just like today, everything was frozen there. The One held everyone in his grasp and Lord Vasilias, or Harbux's real avatar, was everywhere.

The One was not one, but thousands, or millions. He was in front of their eyes, behind their back, inside their brain. He was in clouds, in fire, in smoke, in rain, in mist. He was attacking on foot, riding on horses, and even flying dragons. He was shooting them with arrows, stabbing their hearts, chopping off their heads. They witnessed a glimpse of what the One could do. And they saw the demons meeting a horrible fate in a thousand different ways.

The darklings were writhing and twitching, shrieking and crying, before going up in puffs of smoke or infernal flames. No one knew what killed whom, but everything was working towards a single objective, annihilation. And the annihilation was absolute.

And then Harbux showed them the final moments of the Great War of Reckoning. Moments that never made it into any legends.

All the demons were wiped out, the only thing that moved was Vasilias and his countless splits. No one could say whether that frozen moment lasted a second, a year, or a millennium. A ghostly silence had engulfed the Valley once the annihilation was complete.

Then, in the blink of an eye, all the Vasilias splits converged into five majestic avatars representing the Holy Five. Although all avatars, more or less, looked the same, one of them was glowing like a sun, outshining all other stars. His beaming smile was brimming with love and affection. His presence was spreading warmth and hope. This avatar had a unique charm, an aura that transcended the realms of humanity.

All eyes were transfixed on the Godly figure, relishing its splendor, when it twitched. Vasilias's Soul grimaced as a dark hole appeared in his chest. His form began to split from the middle. He didn't screech or cry while splintering, rather he turned around to see who had the power to drive a sword through his back when no one could even move in the frozen moment.

His eyes went wide when he saw who it was. This can't be true. Why would he do this to him? How was this even possible?

The most radiant part of Vasilias's soul spent its last moments in disbelief before it splintered into Harbux and Hommer. What little remained of that majestic Soul joined the other four avatars to become the One, but Harbux and Hommer were separated from that One. Forever.

Hommer went to Inferna and Harbux was born on Earth. The Five became Six and Seven, the Seventh became twenty-seven, but the Sixth and the Seventh never joined the One ever again. That shock, that grudge, that anger kept them going for a thousand EarthYears. Their only mission was to destroy the One, now they were one step away from achieving their goal.

The memory faded, but its effects lingered on.

"Mysha, by going down the cursed path of the Potens you have left Harbux with no option. My child, we are not the solution rather we are the problem and we deserve annihilation. All we bring is destruction. These worlds are better off without Pieteous."

Mysha wasn't fuming anymore. "Harbux you can't do this. I have seen love in those eyes, I know you care," She pleaded to the part of Harbux she knew loved her more than anything.

"My child, we both have come too far. There is no turning back from the One. There is no running away from the Binding Command. Harbux endured all the pain for years for this one moment. He knew that if his all other plans failed and you did turn into the One then he would have to take control and stop the catastrophe. He can't let go of everything he has fought for a thousand years for the love you see in his eyes."

"Will your heart allow you to destroy us?"

"Harbux's heart shatters into a thousand pieces doing this, but Harbux can't condemn thousands of Souls to annihilation by obeying your command. Love should never come before duty. Harbux never did and never will choose himself or his loved ones over other innocent Souls. Ask Olivia, she knows that Harbux chose the same path a thousand years ago."

There was a flicker in that stillness, like a ripple in the water. Maybe the time moved for a fraction of a second.

"Master Brendon, give up. You and your friends sealed your fate when you ceded control to the One. You can't break free now. Mysha, my child, you wanted to end this war, Harbux will fulfill your wish. Forgive me if you can."

There was a grim silence. A dreadful chill engulfed the three worlds before Earth began to tremble.

Harbux's mighty form, which seemed to have encompassed the whole world, began dissipating into tiny black particles. Like Hubberts, there was no sadness or remorse, just utter calm, or maybe even relief.

When the time is at a standstill, no one can say what happened first or last. But when it finally moved after an eternity Mysha, a human in flesh and blood, the mighty Goddess who not long ago had the whole world in her grasp, began disintegrating like a Soulment.

In that slow-moving reality, Mysha's whole body, bit by bit, turned into small ash-like particles that were blown away by the winds. Her face was a mix of a thousand emotions but the tears in her eyes told the whole story. Mysha was gone in those timeless few seconds. And the hopes of this world were gone with her.

A deafening explosion shook the Earth and created a huge crater. It was so loud that its shock was felt even in Bliss and Inferna. The massive earthquake created landslides in the Himalayas and tsunamis in America and Australia. Mount Tenebra started spewing out lava and smoke.

Massive fires erupted all around the Mainland.

The Valley of Reckoning looked as if someone had churned the whole place in a giant mixer. There were large cracks in the ground, huge craters, collapsed hills, and fallen trees. Everything was ablaze. Vegetations, plants, animals, birds, insects, and humans, every form of life was wiped from the whole valley. Only the Souls survived the wrath of Harbux.

A thick dark cloud enveloped the Valley of Reckoning. When the sun finally rose after the longest and the darkest night in the history of humanity, its rays never reached the Valley.

The Earth had fallen to the darkness. Humans had lost to demons.

The Pieteous Scions were all gone. The Potens were all gone. Mysha was gone. The One was gone. Humanity's hopes were all gone.

Free Souls had taken over the Earth. The Malaks of the Bliss were only an EarthYear away from losing their heaven. The Pieteous Scions were wiped out from the Earth and their time on the throne of the three worlds was running out.

The Last Stand had failed.

***

He looked in the direction of the Valley of Reckoning. The thick black cloud hovering above it was visible even from the Swarga Parvat. This world had turned upside down in one night. Earth was no longer a haven and humans were facing their doom. He knew he had to find a way. They were humanity's last chance. But from where should they start?

"Inferna," She whispered in his ears. "You will find your answers there."

Book Two

Inferna: The Rule of Magic