The kingdoms always fought each other, but I have never seen or heard of a defeat as terrible as the one I faced. Kingdoms usually never allied to attack another kingdom because there weren’t enough spoils to share. The last time the kingdoms allied was to fight the magisters. We kingdoms were successful in defeating them and have since outlawed all spells. We have a pact among us: if anyone practises magic, they will be destroyed by all the other kingdoms. The resulting rule among us was that as long as magic was not used, no one would face an allied enemy. That rule was broken in this war.

I lost my two sons to fighting in the war and my wife to sickness after their deaths. All I have left is my little girl, Yanna. Hellas attacked us first, from our west. In those skirmishes, we didn’t send too many men onto the battlefield because we both had the mountains to our backs. While fighting Hellas, Barfour attacked from our south. I saw this as an opportunity; Barfour was rich in arable land with no mountain to protect them. All I had to do was withstand Hellas. I sent my oldest son with an escort to Koll – I was confident Koll would acknowledge him. Koll killed him and his entourage. I was outnumbered and besieged. I sent a sizable force, including my second son, to attack Barfour – they had food and no terrain to protect them. While my army attacked Barfour, Hellas ambushed them from the rear. I lost my second son and most of my troops. Hellas and Barfour continued their attacks and eventually besieged my city.

In a month, we had to ration food severely. Added to that, there was a disease that affected many people. My wife caught the sickness and died. We were able to shield Yanna from the illness. Many families affected by the sickness were able to save at least one child, though it often came at the expense of at least one parent. I had failed as the king of Rojin.

Then one day, a magister arrived. I knew she was a magister from her inhuman look and her unrealistic claims. She never gave a name, saying only that she was a messenger of the lesser god, Prince Kamili. She first appeared to me in a dream. She had grey skin and three lines that ran vertically down her face, separating it into sections. Two other lines started from above each cheekbone and ended on either side of her chin, creating marked separations in her face. She had a third eye on her forehead. She said Prince Kamili came to share the will of Goddess Aroa, who wanted peace on her planet so that all people would be able to travel to the stars. If we worshipped Goddess Aroa and followed the laws Prince Kamili gave us, we would be saved from our dire situation and prosper.

Typical of the stories of magisters, they gave unlikely promises, and the cost is that they ruled you. She didn’t pressure me to accept their rule immediately but said that when I was ready, I had to pray to Goddess Aroa and ask Prince Kamili for assistance. That day, Hellas prepared to attack. They were emboldened to set up camp in front of the treeline of the nearby forest. We saw all they did, yet we could do nothing. They used their catapults to bombard us with boulders and spoilt food. Spoilt food either made you sick immediately or caused disease, like the one that killed my wife. Additionally, it encouraged rats. After bombardment for three hours, I knelt and prayed in the middle of my court.

The magister instantly appeared. She asked if I vowed to serve Goddess Aroa and follow Prince Kamili's rules. I responded, “As long as I or my lineage rule Rojin, we will do all Prince Kamili asks.”

She then said, “There are three rules you and your kingdom must follow; if you break them, you and your kingdom will be penalised:

Goddess Aroa is the land, seas, and sky; respect her and her creatures.

Before you go to war with anyone, seek peace first.

Follow all instructions sent by Prince Kamili.”

I responded, “Save me and my people, and we will follow all your rules, now and in the future.”

From then, we called her The Messenger; she said, “You may eat the food they throw at you; it will not make you sick. I will return in the afternoon when they attack.” She disappeared instantly, just as she had appeared. Those present in my court only watched. I had entered my kingdom into a pact with magisters to save everyone’s life.

All in my court protested. I told them, “We can die now or die another day. If we don’t serve the magisters, Hellas and Barfour will kill us when they attack. If we serve the magisters, we will be saved. If the food is good and we eat it, we cannot renege on our promise to the magisters; that would only add another enemy to those we already have. Eat what they throw at us, and prepare to fight under the guidance of the magisters.” We all knew that if we survived today, all the kingdoms would attack us because they would consider us magisters as well.

By the afternoon, I had enlisted all males above ten and given them a sword. Those who were strong enough, I gave armour. We would protect our mothers, sisters, and daughters; we planned to do our best to ensure no one became a slave. I was at the city’s wall when The Messenger appeared beside me. I was looking at the enemy’s army and observing our archers’ preparations for their attack; we had no oil or water to reduce their numbers. The Messenger told me that we would have to do minimal fighting.

In the distance, I saw them bringing boulders to their catapults; their armies were lined up behind their siege machines. The Messenger raised a hand, and several large metal rod-like objects appeared along the city wall facing the enemy. Each large metal rod was on a stand. The stand of the nearest metal rod was fixed to the ground with bolts. She lowered her hand, and immediately, the rods began making a tremendous, repeating noise. Fire erupted from the tips of each rod, and streaks of light shot toward our attackers. Their catapults crumbled, and I heard cries of pain in the distance. Eventually, trees in the forest behind them began to fall. The Messenger continued her strange attack into the night. When she stopped her attack, she commanded us to attack the enemy and take what items we could.

I remained at my castle and had my knights lead my peasants to attack the enemy. They returned later that night with no casualties. They continued to take what remained of the enemy’s supplies for the rest of the night. We took no prisoners. They reported that those who survived The Messenger’s attack were wounded and easy to kill. Most of the enemy’s supplies were destroyed by the fire that came from her large metal rods. Troops who were killed by her fire were sawed in half or dismembered by it.

That night, while my men were taking enemy supplies, The Messenger told me to select five men and follow her. We followed her to one of my deserted rooms, and she gave each of us a sphere. When I took my sphere, I felt a sharp pain that started in the middle of my head and then spread throughout it. My head felt as if it were about to explode – and then I fainted.

The next day, I awoke in my bed. My two knights and three sergeants who had been given spheres were also in my room. One had awakened before me and was being tended to. He was holding his head while groaning. The pain I currently felt was a dull throbbing that started in the centre of my head and then radiated throughout it. With each throb, I saw images of things I had never seen before and knew details about new, strange things. Someone came to me and said something incoherent. They then dabbed my head with a wet cloth, gave me some wine, and then I went back to sleep.

I awoke the following day, my head still throbbing, but the pain had lessened. I looked around my room, and two of my soldiers who had been given the spheres were gone. An aide rushed to me and asked me where it was hurting. I asked about my missing soldiers, and she said they had left and were practising. Despite my headache, I asked to join them.

After being assisted to my soldiers’ location, I saw them with The Messenger. She was instructing them on things I learned after touching my sphere. When they saw me, my two soldiers bowed; she raised her hand, and I instantly felt strong enough to stand on my own. Then she asked if I was ready to begin my training, and I responded, “Yes.”

The first thing she did was make me a wand and tell me I had to fortify all the foods I ate. Although I knew new things, my body had not felt what I knew, nor was it trained to fight in the way I now understood. I had to use the spells I learned to enhance what I ate and improve my body’s ability to adapt. She said she had given each of us a knowledge sphere. We did not know of the technology yet because she could not transfer so much information. The capacity of each individual to receive information from a knowledge sphere depended on two things: 1) how much they previously knew, and 2) how developed their nervous system was. After they received information, their body had to adapt to it. I knew about Vita and that it flowed through everything, but my body had not felt or used it. I knew spells, but my body had cast none. I knew new methods of fighting with swords and new types of weapons, but my body never used the sword in these new ways, nor had I built or used any of the weapons I knew.

She told us she would train us three days per week and that on the remaining days, we were to train others in the kingdom. We were to train capable men and women, not just men. She looked at me and told me Yanna should be trained. My other three soldiers joined us that day, and we were trained into the night. The following day, we began training others in the kingdom. Despite becoming devotees to The Messenger due to the second life she had given us, she never revealed her name or rank in her service to Prince Kamili.