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Three brothers © Barbara Boot 2022-23 All rights reserved.
Published by DR21Publishing
Cover art by the author.
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The sky over central China has been covered in a veil of thick grey clouds for over a century, making it feel like is it is evening regardless of the time of day. No wind can blow the swirling mass away. A team of Soul Drinkers rise to find a way to destroy the dark veil. They discover a spell, when spoken made a circle of light that punched a hole right through the mass, letting in the sun once more. They became known as the Circle of Light.
The only problem was the shafts of light that rain down revealed what the monstrous shadows were upon the horizon. Colossal creatures that had come from Shadow Realm, known as Destructors. They could kill everything in their path with just one swipe of their mighty, bony clawed hands. This was because they put out a wave of energy which caused instant death. This made it impossible for anyone to get close to them.
When all hope seemed lost, three young men suddenly appeared. They were westerners, who turned out to be Soul Drinkers and Masters of the Obscure Arts. Eyewitnesses watched in amazement as all three summoned colossal creatures made from dust and dirt. One was a Minotaur type creature. The second was a man with a crown and dressed in some kind of armour, wielding a double bladed axe. The last one was just a beast, with horns, dressed in simple amour and wielding a large sword. These giant creatures were controlled by their masters and were able to return the Destructors to their realm with not much trouble at all.
One thing a lot of people talked about was the fact that the third youth was always consuming food. It was not until a Healer named Xuě yuèliàng (Snow Moon) managed to get close enough and inform everyone, there was energy flowing from the third brother’s heart and stomach to his creature. The more food he consumed, the more powerful his beast became. No one had any idea how he had been able to achieve this.
Until one day an Eternal named Yè húlí (Night fox) witnessed what the third boy did. He would untie a small cloth sack from his belt and carefully empty the contents on the ground. It appeared to be some kind of sparkling black sand. The young man would hold out his left hand and utter a spell, which made all of the sand gather in to a huge heart that even beat. The thumping motion, could not only be felt by Yè húlí penetrating through him and the ground, it could also be heard for miles across the land. The third brother would just watch the heart form the beast around itself, which came to life with glowing amber eyes. The Eternal also informed everyone, the third youth had named his beast, Yin yin shin, Beam of light and would cheer him on in battle and also warn him when he was getting low on food.
When Yè húlí’s report reached the Circle of Light, they agreed the third child had been taught, what is known as Shadow Heart, and is part of the Lost Arts. A form of spells that are only passed on verbally, for none of them have ever been written down. It was strange in a way, why only one of the three brothers had been taught those ancient spells? They came to the same conclusion with the eldest two bearing marks of Light Spells upon their hands, and the third only baring marks of the Obscure Arts, he must have been born after the family had switched. Xuě yuèliàng confirmed the youngest was at least five nearly six years younger than his siblings. They can only image, because Soul Drinkers have the capability to foresee things, someone within their family must have made the decision to teach one of them the Lost Arts. And because the third boy was also the only one to be heard speaking, this was another factor why he could have been taught differently, for Light Soul Drinkers barely spoke or were completely silent.
It took the three brothers almost half a century to return all the Destructors to the Shadow Realm. When the last one was gone, they lifted what remained of the veil, returning the light once more to all of central China. Then one day they were gone to never be seen again.
They are only remembered throughout history as the Three Brothers and the third was given the title, Shadow Heart Summoner. Everyone who fought in the Dark Chapter, also known as, Battles of the Paranoid Pixies, know one day, the three heroes will return... or at least one of them.
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