Silence reigned over the great woods as the trees turned crimson in the light of the setting sun. The birds had long since returned to their nests and the few woodland denizens that were out and about scurried quickly and quietly back to their homes, hoping to avoid any night-time predators. As the shadows lengthened, none of the creatures noticed the hunter, stalking through the trees on silent cat-feet, his arrow nocked and ready to take down whatever prey was unlucky enough to cross his path. He paused near the foot of a large spruce tree, his sharp eyes scanning the grass for any small movements. He caught sight of the tip of a rabbit’s ear twitching above the grass. Faster than thought, he let his arrow fly, and was rewarded with the sight of a large white rabbit with an arrow through its eye lying lifeless on the ground. As was tradition, he cut off one of the rabbit’s feet and buried it in the earth with a quick prayer to the Heian Sith. Although they had been responsible for the protection and prosperity of the world for centuries, this mysterious race of godlike beings were notoriously temperamental; if they weren’t appeased with offerings or gifts from time to time, they tended to inundate a few villages with storms or flash floods just to indicate their displeasure. People like the hunter lived every day careful to avoid the smallest misstep that could bring the wrath of the gods down on them.

 Although even all that caution hadn’t saved his parents from the flash floods that had killed them years ago.

As he made his way back to his cottage, he mused on the recent mysterious happenings that had the villagers looking to the skies with worry. The skies had been overcast far too often for the middle of summer, with black storm clouds and ominous roars of thunder. There had also been reports of freak storms and violent tornadoes, as well as a terrible hailstorm in the north region where hailstones the color of fresh blood rained down from the sky. The villagers were convinced that someone, somewhere had deeply offended the gods and that any time soon the gods would come down from their heavenly world and rain death and destruction upon them all. The hunter, however, was not inclined to take note of these rumors. No one in living memory had ever actually seen one of the Heian Sith, and he was sure that they would never bother with the puny mortals under their power unless they were very, very bored.

And that’s what he believed, until one of the Heian Sith fell on top of him.

One minute he was making his way back through the forest, and the next minute he found himself on the ground flailing in a tangle of limbs and- were those wings? He forced the creature off and managed to sit up, only to freeze in shock as he came face to face with most beautiful person he had ever seen. The man who was currently sprawled on the grass before him had crimson hair like the heart of a flame and glowing golden skin as if he had swallowed the sun itself. He also had enormous iridescent tipped wings of a color darker than midnight. But the thing that had the hunter completely transfixed was the intricate black marking, shaped like flickering tongues of flame, winding its way gracefully across the man’s throat.

The marking which identified this man as a god.

The god looked a little dazed, but he shook his head and looked around, frantically.

“What the…where am I? I didn’t mean to land here! I was going to teleport to Argavia…Damn you Jaehwan! Why can’t you concentrate for once in your life…?” Only then did he seem to notice the hunter. His amber eyes widened as he stared at the hunter and then without warning, he flashed a brilliant smile. “Taekwoonie! What are you doing here?”

X----------X

Taekwoon gaped at the god in shock because this could not possibly be happening and- “Wait…um…how do you know my name?” A second later he realized who he had spoken to and flushed scarlet. “Oh…I mean…I’m sorry, my Lord, I wasn’t-“

The god laughed, the sound clear as a silver bell. “Oh Taekwoonie! You’re so cute! There’s no need to apologize. You can just call me Hakyeon. Let’s be friends, ok?’

Taekwoon decided that he was probably hallucinating. There was just no way that a god, an actual God, had just asked to be his friend. Gods didn’t have friends. They had subjects and worshippers and possibly sacrifices, but not friends. The gods were above that. And since he couldn’t recall the last time anyone had even seen one of the Heian Sith, let alone actually spoken to one, he found himself unable to believe the evidence of his own eyes. And it was probably just easier to believe that he was dreaming than to believe that the being in front of him was real, because nothing in the real world could be that beautiful, and- oh ye gods, those eyes; how he hoped, fervently, that they weren’t real and he wasn’t staring into them-

And all his hopes were promptly dashed when the god (Hakyeon, a traitorous voice whispered in his head) lifted a finger and traced it softly down Taekwoon’s cheek, sending a bolt of fire up his spine. His eyes were sparkling with curiosity and delight. His fingernail lightly scraped against Taekwoon’s jawline and neck and finally came to a stop over his heart. The frantic pace of that organ seemed to cause a flash of something that looked like regret to pass over his eyes for a brief instant, before he looked back up with a brilliant grin on his elfin face. “So Taekwoonie! It’s getting dark here, so why don’t we go to your home? I can see you are burning with questions to ask me”- Taekwoon blushed again- “and I’d be more than happy to have a nice long chat! It’s been so long since I’ve had a chance to just talk to any human! Come on, let’s go!”

Without warning, Hakyeon stood up in one supernaturally fluid motion, dragging Taekwoon up by the hand. And then, to the hunter’s great shock and embarrassment, he slid an arm around his waist (some small hidden part of Taekwoon’s brain noted that although the god was shorter and a lot slimmer than he was, his figure had no bearing on his strength) and spread his midnight-hued wings.  The resulting jerk from the lift-off was enough to steal the breath from Taekwoon’s lungs. Within the time it took for him to blink, they were already airborne and flying over the forest at great speed. He didn’t even have the time to see the view before they had landed outside his little cottage on the outskirts of the forest. He was dimly aware that he hadn’t told Hakyeon where he lived but decided not to question it. The ways of the Heian Sith were inscrutable. And judging by how Hakyeon seemed inclined to chatter almost ceaselessly, he figured he’d find out soon enough. Swallowing, he slowly opened the door, and then turned back to look hesitantly at the ethereal creature standing behind him. Hakyeon was staring at him again, with the same look in his eyes as before, except that now he looked even more regretful. Again the emotion was gone as quickly as it came, replaced by a mask of bright cheerfulness. He waltzed into the cottage, his wings folding in behind him in a graceful sweep. And as Taekwoon shut the door behind them, he couldn’t help but wonder.

What have I gotten myself into?

X-----------X

Many miles away, in the innermost sanctum of an ancient temple, the Oracle’s eyes fluttered open. He stood up from his meditative posture and made his way to the altar, where there lay a gem of the purest light, as if a star had dropped to the earth. Reverently, his hands fluttered over the gem, and his eyes fluttered closed as the gem whispered its secrets to him. His lips curved as he saw how events were flowing in the fabric of the universe, all leading to an as-yet unknowable future.

“So……….it has begun.”

X-----------X