Several thousand years before the Human Golden Age officially began, a Creator God grew bored with his celestial companions. He made himself a peaceful garden, filling it with creatures from around the world. He even made a few of his own. He named the garden Eden, and for a time, he was content watching his animals. But creator gods are always looking for something interesting and new. So, he took from the fertile soil and created a man. He named this man Adam.

  A deal was struck with Adramelech, one of Tavera's three kings. Adam was to be wed to Adramelech's second-born, Princess Lilith. The Creator was excited to see the fruits of this marriage, for there had yet to be a hybrid from the two realms. Lilith and Adam were also not opposed to the idea, as they immediately felt a connection and believed themselves to be each other's soulmates.

  However, the creator did not know that, because of Adramelech's curse, Lilith was sterile. When the angel Caliel revealed Lilith's condition, the creator of Eden went mad with rage, immediately ordering the execution of Lilith.

  Adam, still in love with Lilith, pleaded with his creator to spare Lilith's life. In exchange, he swore he would never again seek to see or speak to the demon princess. His conditions were agreed to on the terms that if he betrayed them, he would have his tongue and eyes removed with a searing blade. Additionally, the creator also took a rib from Adam, which he forced the man to carve out of himself.

  Lilith was never made aware of the conditions Adam had to agree to in order to spare her life. When Eve was created and Adam accepted her as his new wife, Lilith took it as a complete betrayal. Heartbroken from the disloyalty of her first love, Lilith hid herself away.

  The Primordial Deities, always interested in the mortal realm, watched the creation of Eden with enthusiasm. When Adam and Eve were successfully wed, one of the Primordials gifted the garden with two special trees, one of Life and the other of Knowledge.

  Their Creator, jealous of the Primordial's power, told the humans the trees were his own creation. Worried the Tree of Knowledge was too powerful, he forbade them to partake of the tree's fruit.

  One day, the Serpent Daemon Asmoday, angry at the Creator for his sister's heartbreak, convinced the couple that their Creator was only afraid of the power the Tree of Knowledge would give them. At first, they refused to be tempted, but curiosity eventually got the better of them, and together they feasted upon the tree's fruit.

  Chaos ensued: The human couple was kicked out of the garden; the serpent's limbs were paralyzed; and the trees were taken by the Creator. The Primordial, angry that the Creator could be so selfish, stole back the trees and hid them away.

  The Creator knew the Primordial must have been responsible for the trees' disappearance. Determined not to look like a fool, he convinced the other Creator Gods to help him curse the Primordial Deities for interfering with the Three Living Realms. If they should meddle again in matters that did not concern them, they would be condemned to Ethera, the Realm of Spirits.

  The demon responsible for Adam and Eve's downfall was punished, but the Creator Gods decided it was not enough. They determined the entire realm should suffer the consequences of working with the Primordials. So they placed a curse upon the Daemons. Some would turn into Living Statues. It would be a slow and painful process and only affect young adults. The afflicted would no longer age, but their wounds would never heal because they would be made of stone.

  While the Creator Gods were convened, they summoned the Kings of Tavera and all settled on a plan of action if they ever decided that Vitera, the Realm of Humans, became too arduous to care for.

  Thousands of years later and the trouble those trees caused still ripples throughout the Four Realms, as does the bitterness towards the Primordial responsible.

  ***

  "Did I just waste that on a fairytale?" Keshiema shouted. throwing her notes in a shredder and stomping out of the library, she left the book on the table for the mysterious gifter to collect.

  The more she thought about it, though, the less she felt like the story was just a fairytale. 'Asmoday and Lilith would know for certain. But if it is true, I'm sure it's a sore subject.' She contemplated it more as she headed back to the Great Temple. 'Maybe Dásos would know.' She had a nagging thought in the back of her mind: A thought that the book may have been the answer to her question of what Dásos was. The timing was perfect, but she was unsure if she believed the Primordial Deities even existed. There were small mentions in stories here and there, but only in fairy tales to put children to bed.

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  Pyro greeted her at the entrance and led her to the training arena at the center of the Great Temple. Marble pillars encircled the cobblestone courtyard. Statues of each prince stood between the pillars.

  "I hear you're fast." Pyro smirked. "Let's see how long you can keep from getting burned." He shot a fireball at her. She managed to dodge his first few attacks before one finally landed, hitting her arm. Her speed was tied to magic, and under the constant strain of using her speed, her self-healing would not kick in by itself. Luckily, the burn was not too severe. She could tell Pyro was keeping the temperature relatively low. It did, however, make concentrating difficult, but she was still able to avoid getting hit again for several minutes.

  When the next shot hit her back, she screamed in agony and fell to her knees, panting heavily. "You've already slowed down significantly." Pyro sighed. "I was hoping you could keep up for a bit longer than that." He walked over and helped her to her feet. "Are you able to heal?"

  She nodded and began healing her injuries. After a short breather, they returned to the training. "Again," Pyro ordered. He shot fireball after fireball at her until he brought her down. When she was hit, he made her heal. Rinse and repeat. By the end of the two hours, her magic was completely spent. "Same time tomorrow, meet Eurynome here for swordsmanship." Pyro told Keshiema when Ayperos showed up to retrieve her.

  After her training with Ayperos, which was more of the same telepathy training, she collapsed on her couch, too exhausted to take the extra steps to her bedroom. This week, she was only doing eight hours of training a day, with Eurynome and Merihim switching places with Pyro and Ayperos every other day. Starting next week, they planned to increase her to twelve hours of training. She groaned at the thought. Her muscles screamed, and her body was heavy.

  Her stomach growled, reminding her she had yet to eat dinner. She missed Cresil. He had a habit of randomly popping in to bring snacks, if not full meals. When her stomach protested again, she huffed and trudged to the fridge. Empty. "Not sure what I thought would be here." She let the door shut. "Stars, I could use a friend who can teleport right about now." She half-expected Dásos to show up, even though she knew he was busy elsewhere. "Guess this is my life now." She whispered to the empty apartment.

  A knock at her door made her jump. She opened it to find a cart with a tray of food and an intricately folded note. There was also a hint of honey, myrrh, and cinnamon, mixed with red wine, floating in the air. Keshiema wrinkled her nose at the sickly bittersweet scent. After taking the cart into the room, she unfolded the note. "I was told to apologize. Here's some food. Eat it or don't. I don't care.~Lilith."

  Keshiema scoffed at the non-apology. The food looked and smelled amazing. Using as much aura as she could muster, she made sure there were no poisons before devouring every last bite. Collapsing on her bed, she succumbed to the coma of overindulgence.

  ***

  1016 D.E.

  The entry hall was nearly empty, and the herald shook his head in pity. "I'm sorry miss, but it seems your partner is not going to arrive."

  On the edge of tears, Keshiema shook her head. "I'll wait just a few more minutes."

  Vetis looked down at her as he entered the hall for some peace and quiet. "Keshiema? If I can beg your pardon, but Marthim just went to the garden."

  "Thank you, Vetis," Keshiema curtsied awkwardly and trotted away, her heels clacking on the marble tiles. The knot in the pit of her stomach grew. 'Should I just go home?' she thought, as she stood in front of the garden entrance. She knew she could find Cresil and ask him to ride back with her. 'he got all dressed up for this. I can't ruin the whole night for him.'

  The gardens were peaceful, and filled with soft floral aromas. The entire estate was decorated for the end of summer festivities; floating lanterns hovered above, and glowing crystals lined the footpath. Her heart pounded against her chest. Breath was difficult and she was unsure of it was because of the corseted bodice of her gown or the gnawing anxiety. 'Marthim probably just went for a stroll to calm his nerves and lost track of time.' she reasoned. 'He said he was nervous about introducing me to his father.'

  Reaching the center of the gardens, she stopped in her tracks. Marthim sharing a passionate moment with Azazel, bodies entwined, breathing heavily. Kissing, biting, begging.

  Her legs collapsed underneath her. Choking on the emotions, she screamed internally. Darkness crept into the edges of her vision. After months of courting her, spilling his heart, promising her a future, he publicly abandons her, falls into another woman's arms? And Azazel of all people!

  'No!' she scolded herself. 'you will not let him see you fall apart!' Trembling, she forced herself to stand and walk away.

  "Keshiema?!" Azazel called, shrill and breathless. She lightly pushed on the Serpent-Daemon's chest, but he made no effort to stop, continuing to kiss and nibble at Azazel's neck, eliciting a deep moan from the faun.

  Refusing to react, Keshiema kept walking, doing her best to ignore the pleasure filled noises behind her.