The Prince of Kyria: Altair's Prayer

A teenage boy isn't happy to become the prince of a magical fantasy world, but he can take it out on fools that think his new people are demons.

It's everyone's magical fantasy...isn't it?

Tragedy sets a boy free of one world and sends him to another, where the gods demand that he take his place as future king. However the pain of his mother's death still lingers, so the last thing he needs is the role of magical prince in a fantasy world! Thankfully there's news of a 'mad knight' going berserk in the kingdom, giving him the perfect chance to vent some rage and grief, not to mention test out the new divine power at his disposal.

 

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Jased Delafoy (al-Kyr)- A boy who discovers that he is the Prince of Kyria from his late mother's tales, making him a mortal god who can wield the power of immortal ones. His mother's recent death has left him frustrated and quick-tempered.

Ade- The passionate, somewhat pushy god of the sands, creator of beasts and Brother to Men. Usually in the form of a winged snake, he acts as Jased's primary guardian.

Sefir al-Mat- A lightning mage of noble descent, sometimes called the Prince of Storms. Easily exasperated, proud, and sincere, he has a surprising number of social connections despite being awkward with people. He's assigned to accompany Jased in Soleis.

Nibari al-Detim- An expressionless girl whose parents were killed when the World Knights interfered with a Passing and started a persecution of Kyrian mages. She was imprisoned but then freed into Jased's custody due to her young age.

Mathis- The Solein swordsman notorious for being mad and unbeatable, though in reality he's more shrewd and sane than people think, and simply does as he wishes. Out of curiosity he allows Cerise to hire him as Sarah's bodyguard.

Cerise de Jeruse- The spoiled, devious princess of Soleis. Immediately enamored of the World Knights, she resorts to any and all means to discredit people who stand against them.

Sarah Gillespie- The Heavenly Priestess that descended from the heavens with the World Knights, intending to spread peace and justice throughout the world. They fail to let people know that Sarah killed Jased's mother to gain access to another world and escape a reality as a mundane nobody.

Thaddeus Bradford- A pompous World Knight who can't see that his delusions have caused the deaths of innocent people. It's his mistaken belief that Kyrian mages steal the souls of the dead that causes their persecution, and like the others he came from Earth using blood and hair from Jased's mother.

Mamut- Keeper of the Sands, one of the Masjedhi or priests/administrators that served Jased's father. A kindly and shrewd old man.

~Chapter 1: Amidst the Gods~

 

'Why do you waste time and worry over one beyond every hurt?'

 

-Brother Ade

 

 

Soon after his mother's death, Jased wakes to find himself in the realm of the Kyrian gods. They shatter his belief that the desert kingdom of Kyria was nothing more than bedtime stories invented by his mother. His father, the Altair, died a few years ago in the process of saving souls, but Jased refuses to take the throne he left behind right away. Raveen informs him that he has no choice. Many foreign countries have begun a campaign that accuses Kyrian mages of stealing souls to power their magic, when in reality they shepherd souls through the flow of life and death. The authority of the Masjedhi, the Altair's priests and personal guard, are being dismissed as not enough. Whether the foreign nations try to stop the persecution or not, the hate-filled hunts go on.

 

 

~Chapter 2: Political Game~

 

'And what will you do when you're wrong?'

 

-Jased Delafoy al-Kyr

 

Quickly spreading news of his claim on the throne, Jased agrees to a summit meeting in the Solein empire. He bluntly states that Kyrians mages aid souls through the flow of life and death, otherwise the planet will be overrun by demons and die. The nations must make compensation by handing over the people responsible for the anti-Kyrian campaign, the World Knights, who Ade reveals as not being of this world. The spoiled Solein princess Cerise argues that Jased is also from another world, inaverdently revealing knowledge she shouldn't have of his mother's death. Jased realizes that the World Knights are wearing pieces of his mother's hair and nails, which enabled their entry into this world, and proves that his mother might not have died in an accident.

 

~Chapter 3: Forever Gone~

 

'For everything that's gone there's always something more!'

 

-Mathis the Mad Knight

Jased is forced to acknowledge that there is no proof that the nations will accept, but he is given custody of a young mage, Nibari, based on her young age. He requires divine intervention when he meets Sarah, the Heavenly Priestess that the World Knights protect, and is informed by Ade that she murdered his mother. Jased immediately realizes that Sarah couldn't have done it alone, and that along with Ade's promise to destroy the World Knights' 'talismans' helps him contain his fury for the greater good. The Mad Knight Mathis demands a fight with a Kyrian god in return for information, and much to everyone's surprise, Jased complies. However the god that Jased summons is Tabir, the Mother Goddess, and Mathis laughingly admits defeat for he will not fight a mother.

 

~Chapter 4: More than Enough~

 

'No one can be hurt worse than by themselves.'

 

-Mother Tabir

 

In Mathis's opinion the World Knights are playing out dreams of being heroes just as Sarah is with the role of fairytale heroine. Both supposedly arrived from the heavens as envoys of peace and justice, but the Knights perform good deeds without considering the future or different viewpoints, once resulting in the death of Nibari's parents. The Knights confront Mathis for his 'betrayal' and are defeated in public for berating him in public, after which he takes his leave of them. Jased has a long talk with Tabir regarding his grief and desire for revenge, ultimately deciding that leaving Sarah to live with her delusional self is more than enough punishment for his mother's murder.

 

 

~Chapter 5: The Wrong Ones~

 

'People say you can be anything that you want, but that's not true!'

 

-Sarah Gillespie

 

 

There is a sharp increase of demon outbreaks when Kyrian mages are kept from dealing with the dead or healing the sick. The World Knights try to instigate an invasion of what they believe to be the demons' source, though the ones they saw in the Kyrian desert are actually the first beasts that Ade created. Sefir tricks Sarah into trying to kill him and confessing to the murder of Jased's mother, forcing Soleis to hand her over to Kyria as a prisoner. Before the transfer can happen Sarah's breakdown attracts a horde of demons to the Solein capital, and the World Knights prove to be useless except to enrage the demons further. Mathis is badly injured when they get in the way.

 

 

~Chapter 6: Able and Choosing~

 

'Just because they can live without you doesn't mean they want to.'

 

-Sefir al-Mat

The situation is easily resolved by Jased wielding the gods' power, and Sefir saves Mathis with a blood transfusion that nearly kills them both. In a public meeting Nibari compares the fate that Mathis nearly suffered to the ones delivered to her parents by the World Knights, whose good intentions got innocent people killed. Her speech and recent events convince Soleis that both Sarah and the Knights, whether or not they are frauds as heroes, must pay for their mistakes and are sent back to Earth with erased memories.

 

 

Unfortunately it's impossible to erase the anti-Kyrian feelings that were spread throughout foreign countries. At the official celebration of his return in Kyria, Jased asks for people not to return the hatred and remember that for every ill will, every tragedy, there are happy events and better people to meet, citing his own experience to prove it. He's somewhat depressed at having to end the only life he's ever known, but is cheered up by Ade, Nibari, Sefir and Mathis, the latter two being the first to become Jased's Masjedhi. Nibari is too young and experienced yet to qualify as well.