Prologue[]
In the morning, the sky was as clear as the ocean. The town was suspended in the sky by clouds. The clouds were as white as paper, and the town was like a small speck in the middle of a vast world. The people didn't notice, or care to notice, that even though the day before was dark and gloomy, this day, was clear. This was often a sign that something bad was going to happen, but everyone was preoccupied with an important noble's birthday.
At noon, the townspeople saw some dark clouds creeping up in the distance. The people, again, didn't lift a scale. They continued on, trading with merchants, polishing scales, and rushing from store to store. Toward evening, the storm clouds began to roll in before the watchers could inform the town. Before long, the entire sky was an angry sea of vengeful dark clouds, rumbling through the darkness, shrouding any sign of light.
At midnight, lightning struck.
The temple master stood at the top of a pillar, muttering a rite for divine incarceration. A young human, a Thunderscale, was chained up to the wall with torches surrounding her. Her yellow scales flashed in the moonlight. Her face was not contorted with anger, but wallowed with acceptance.
The temple had no roof, which was intentional. This was supposed to be the bridge between the gods and the mortals. To connect it and then cover it with a ceiling would be unacceptable. Grey pillars towered over the roof-less temple, and fires dotted the walls.
The temple master waved his arms to show his purple and blue scales and suddenly said, "Thunder gods! We give to you a sacrafice! A sacrafice of divine incarceration!" He raised his hand and electrified it with his own power. He slammed it onto a blue stone.
Suddenly, the sky filled with lightning. It made the moon completely invisible, as if the entire sky was a huge white painting. Then a streak of lightning came down and slashed across the temple master's right ankle, then the left, then his right hand, then his left.
The girl smiled.
Another streak of lightning came down and roared louder than ten thousand men. The flash of lightning came down and stabbed straight through the young Thunderscale's heart. But it wasn't done yet. It continued to grow, absorbing the life force of the girl, and then exploded in a blinding flash.
The entire temple was incinerated.
The lightning flashed seven times, and suddenly, the sky blacked out until the world was as pitch black as tar.