A statue of a long-haired angel upon a throne had long watched over the realm of peace. It was a monument to the god that had created the world in which everything now resided. However, there was a secret that only one angel knew, and that angel was Korn the Protector. 

Korn attended his duty of watching over the realms, a duty that he performed with diligence and love. He flew through the skies faster than any bird, the clouds parting for him as his golden wings sliced through the air. This was his daily routine: Wake up, leave the Realm Peace to fly over the Between Realm, help the races with their problems, then travel to the Realm Strife to help there, then return to the Realm Peace to assist where he could there. The Between Realm and Realm Peace were both easy enough to handle, suffering problems that to a being as powerful as Korn were simple to solve. A famine here, a dispute there, nothing more. It was Realm Strife that took up the bulk of Korn’s days, the beings that resided there were always embroiled in thorny disagreements, much to Korn’s annoyance. But he still tended to them with patience and parental love; he had created them, after all.

It was on one of his daily trips to Realm Strife that he had been informed of the news. 

Korn spoke with the leader of a demon village about the nearby lava pool disruptions. The Chief was an old demon, his yellow skin was wrinkled and his horns had been dulled by time. He clutched his walking stick as he explained the current problem his village had. “If the lava keeps rising it will cause a flood that will wipe out our entire village.”  

“Do we know what’s causing the lava to rise?” Korn asked, running through ideas in his head.

“It could be any number of things. That area is so unstable we can’t get close without the fear of being crushed by falling rock.”

“What about a flyover?” 

“We tried that,” the chief sighed. “We lost three brave men. One was pinned under the lava by falling rock, and the others went to retrieve his body and perished themselves. They are still stuck down there.” 

“I am sorry to hear that Sonpeki,” Korn said, laying his hand on the old demon’s shoulder.“We’ll bring them home soon, I promise.”

“Thank you, old friend,” Sonpeki said gratefully. “The families want to have a proper burial so the men can become one with the Vorkinlin.”

“Of course,” Korn nodded. Vorkinlin was the demon word for the great energy that the world had been created with and where life supposedly went once it died. They believed that mummifying their dad would allow them to rejoin the Vorkinlin.”

“Have you tried magic?”

“We don’t have any spell sayers in the village, unfortunately, so we haven’t been able to try anything yet.” Sonpeki hung his head.

“That’s where we’ll have to start then.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can stabilize the area with my magic to give the villagers time to find the cause of the flooding,” Korn explained. 

“Wonderful! I shall let the villagers know,” Sonpeki said eagerly.

“Let them know to prepare for departure immediately,” Korn ordered.

“Of course.”

Magic wasn’t exactly Korn’s specialty, so he needed to take a second to prepare himself for the next task. He sat down on the floor, placing his palms to the ground. He reached out to the energy within the Realm Strife, connecting with it and feeling the tumultuous magic. Chaotic as it was, it felt warm and comforting to him. The energy ran through his body, allowing him to be one with the realm around him. 

Korn stood and walked out of the building and into the center of town. He looked at the group of villagers gathered before Sonpeki. The crowd was mostly demon with a few Oriicks and Trols mixed in, their mighty statures placing their heads above the rest. 

“We will need the strongest among you to help with this task. It will be dangerous but you need not worry, for our protector Korn has come to help us yet again. He will stabilize the surrounding area to give us time to operate,” Sonpeki announced.

Korn stepped forward, smiling and nodding to the crowd. “Which of you will be joining us?” 

“I will,” one of the larger Orricks said.

“Me too,” a demon spoke up. A few others in the crowd spoke up until there were almost fifteen people to help with the flooding problem.

“We need lifters so we can get those of us who can’t fly to the site. Once we get there you will split into two teams, one for finding the source of the flooding and another to find those who were lost. Everyone understand?” The group members nodded or spoke words of acknowledgment. 

“Let’s go then,” Korn said, walking over to the giant pieces of fabric used to carry species that could not fly. Three demons grabbed the other corners and the Orricks stepped into the middle of the giant square. Korn and the demons began flapping their wings, slowly lifting the Oriicks into the air. 

At the site, Korn held everything in place for as long as he could while the two teams separated. The demons and Orricks dove into the lava, looking for the source of the flood. Soon one of the Orricks found a large boulder blocking the lava flow. Once the obstruction was removed, the lava began to drain and Korn ordered the group to help the other team looking for the bodies.

“And hurry, I’m not sure how much longer I can hold everything in place,” Korn said. As Korn focused his efforts on keeping the area stable, the beat of wings could be heard. Korn looked up and saw a purple-winged angel descend from the sky. 

“Korn!” The angel called, “You must return to the Realm Peace immediately!” 

“I’m in the middle of something, Ehan, can’t it wait?” Korn strained.

“The elder statue has cracked,” Ehan reported. Shock filled Korn, he knew that this day would come but he did not think it would be so soon. In that moment of shock, he lost his grip on the area, causing it to shift slightly. Korn grunted as he tightened his grip. 

“Give me a hand here, then we can go,” Korn ordered.

“Yes, Lord.” Ehan flew down, taking his place next to Korn. Korn could feel the area grow even more stable as Ehan reached out with his magic. Ehan was much more skilled at spell speaking than Korn was, and having him here boosted Korn’s confidence. 

“We have them!” Korn heard someone yell from above the lava pool. He looked and saw both groups carrying the Orricks and the bodies they had recovered.

“Good job! Clear the area; I have to attend to something in the Realm Peace.” 

The demons flew off and Korn released his hold on the area, which almost immediately began to shake and rumble. 

“Let’s go,” Korn said, taking to the sky. Ehan followed after. 

Korn and Ehan entered the Realm Peace and Korn rocketed toward the elder statue. He landed where it should have been, to find only an empty throne with marble lying broken on its seat.  

“Rovekin!” Korn cursed in the angel’s language. He whipped around when he felt a hand on his shoulder and came face to face with Bord.

“What took you so long, my friend?”

End of Bord’s Awakening