Lying on hard rocky ground was a young boy chewing a strand of straw and enjoying the cold night breeze.
His clothes as well as his brown skin were covered in dust.
He wore a yellowish dusty coat, a rusty and washed-out blue overall, and some muddy boots. A straw hat covered his head and hid his face. With this attire, it was easy to guess what kind of work he did. And if it wasn't already clear, there was another hint: a pitchfork lying beside him. Yes, this guy was a farmer.
''Hey Martha, isn't it nice to take a nap here after a long day of hard work?" he said glancing at the pitchfork.
"..."
"I know right?"
In response to his partner's silence, he focused his gaze upward once again.
High above them an ink veil, stained with two circular and glowing moons, stretched into the endless horizon. Countless shining dots were hung on it, their calm glows relieving the night's darkness. Some people believed that they were spirits of mighty heroes still watching over the world even though they were already put into eternal slumber.
While those warriors were fulfilling their never-ending mission, a rare phenomenon broke the scenery's stillness.
A bright glistening streak split the firmament.
The unusual phenomenon didn't escape the farmer's gaze.
"Martha, look! Hurry, shut your eyes and make a wish with me!" screamed the young farmer while reminiscing the tales that were told to him by his elders.
He covered what he believed to be his partner's eyes and then began a silent prayer.
What he wished for didn't match with what an ordinary poor young farmer like him would desire. Although he often dreamt of glory, a huge amount of money, or having a young and beautiful girlfriend, his wish reflected what he was truly at heart: a simple farmer.
He just wished for the lost land where he dwelt to finally have a year of a good harvest. He then opened his eyes.
And as if to answer his plea, a rain of colorful celestial objects poured from the dark sky.
The young farmer was taken aback by the sight. He forgot to breathe for a while and his chest was as hot as a campfire.
A grin suddenly twisted his face.
"Did you see this Martha? Seems like heaven heard me for once!"
He then froze and tears fell from his sunken cheeks. "… Wait… Damn it… If it was going to be like that I should've asked for a wad of cash, a castle, or at least a pretty lady falling head over heels for me! Or at the very least a chance to eat Gertruda's cakes! ... GRAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
The colorful comets, ignoring the young farmer complaints pursued further their journey to the horizon, reaching a land still basking in the sun's last rays.
They began to quickly lose height, pierced a hill of cotton-like clouds, continued their ineluctable downfall, then…
"PLOUF!"
This heavy sound didn't come from these comets…
It was instead from a less gracious one released by an elderly man comfortably sitting on his throne.
"Hmpf" he grumbled breathing out from his nostrils a flood of white smoke. He then took a deep breath from the cigar with a wolf head held between his raspy lips.
This new flood added itself to the already thick mist reaching his muscular and hairy calves.
Our old fellow paid no mind to this and was instead focused on an old scroll where the slightly erased inking was now even less readable.
The old man basking in his comfy cloud suddenly knit his thick white brows.
A passage caught his attention and he began to decipher it.
With his spiky unkempt hair, muscular built, wild eyes, and especially the place he was in, it was hard to imagine that the geezer was doing anything serious.
And yet, he was a prominent doctor of Akatriel. The sole country where species from all other the world were gathered, despite centuries of racial warfare.
And in his hand was a piece of paper that could influence the entire country's fate… If it wasn't used by mistake as toilet paper.
While he was overheating his seemingly hollow skull, a couple of flies attracted by the delicate fragrance, found their way through a small hole serving as a window.
Rejoicing to have found a honeymoon meal, they began cuddling noisily with each over and ended up on a pile of paper fortunately above clouds' level.
Overjoyed to have in addition to an appetizing meal, a cozy place to laze around when full, they became restless and decided to test the bed.
The place also seemed totally secure. The clouds provided a natural camouflage against natural predators, and the only menace was busy operating the meal-crafting engine. Who would not be excited in this situation? All alone with one's beloved, free of all danger?
The male quickly took the lead and began riding its partner.
But ...
''This one is gonna blast it all!!!''
Another meteor fell inside the throne making the entire place shake. A spider about to die after five months of starvation fell exactly on the spot.
It's easy to guess what happened there.
As the spider began feasting on the flies' bodies, the geezer a little dizzied by his huge endeavor made a quick pause and threw a grateful glance toward the arachnid. Thanks to it the troublemakers were silenced.
He resolved to immerse himself again in his "work" when letters on his toilet-paper bundle caught his attention.
"Taboo Children…" He thought to himself after reading it….
He then released a powerful sigh. A new flux of clouds escaped his nostrils and gulped down the arachnid and its meals.
However, the geezer was already lost in thought.
The children harboring this title were all hybrids intended to be used as the symbol of the unification of Eien's races. Even if it took time, it began working at least. The Akatriel country was created and peace was brought on Eien.
Until a certain accident happened.
It was during the baptism ceremony of the "children". For who knows what reason the earth began shaking and rainbow light pillars rose toward the sky.
After this strange event, the children all fell sick and spread the disease to their surroundings. It quickly became a pandemic and panic overtook the heart of the union land's people.
Many of them began to formulate their own theories about the origin of the disease. Some believed that it was a result of heaven's wrath forbidding race merging.
Others believed that the children were caught in the middle of a battle between a spirit of order and one of chaos.
Some even said that they were cursed because they made a contract with spirits of both order and chaos' side. This made them traitor according to their religion as one can't serve different masters.
Those rumors quickly lead to a huge rise of tensions between people and soon enough riots were spreading like a fad.
Authorities for the sake of silencing the rumors decided to prove to the agitated crowd that the pandemic wasn't a divine curse but just a trial to test whether the existence of the country was just a Utopia.
For this purpose, they gathered scholars and doctors from all around the world.
And as incredible as it may sound, the geezer dwelling in the toilet was the first one to find a cure. Only for those infected by the children tough.
But this was enough to make appointed as the country's chief of doctors. With the benefits obviously.
Now, his next goal was crystal clear: heal all taboo children and restore peace in the country's back alley. Without overlooking filling his pocket.
It was with this goal in mind that he restlessly put himself deep in research each day for one year. He pursued his task even during meals, sparing almost no time to sleep, going so far as to bring his work to the throne room.
Still gazing in the nothingness, he soon came back to himself when he began smelling a burning odor.
It was coming from the scroll in his hand. In his daze, he let some still blazing ashes fall on it.
Far from entering panic mode, he blasted a huge gust of cloud and the small fire disappeared as if it was a lie… Put aside the remaining stain hiding half of a keyword.
As soon as he opened his mouth to roar some curses, he remembered that he had already seen a similar word in another ancient scroll.
Back then he remembered having translated it as ''taboo''.
Refreshed by the lead he just found, he restarted the steam factory and brought back his focus on the shriveled parchment that he received thanks to an acquaintance.
'She was one of his former pupil who became an archeologist, but because of the complexity of the scripts she discovered, requested help from her former teacher.
The geezer reluctant at first, yielded when he noticed that the scroll contained data somewhat related to his current research subject. The fact that the scroll was from the ruin world-renowned as the Oracle grave, was enough to convince him of the old piece of paper's value.
All of sudden, he burst out laughing.
"So, they will send a meteor to wipe us off the map? He's got some good ones this oracle. If it's like that, I've got your meteor right here!"
Taking advantage of having cleared his clogged transit thanks to the earlier blast, he released his last shot with all the strength he could muster.
BLAAM!!!!
The bombing echo reverberated in the corridor just outside and reached a room at its opposite end, ready to defile the delicate eardrums of its occupants.
And then…