Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #17 August 2015 | Page 36

controlling share of plasma. Soon, the over use of
plasma began destroying plant life and subsequently
caused sickness in a wave of mass proportions,
especially among the poor and destitute.

According to legend, Adin forgave Siri just
before he died, thus, as claimed by the priests of The
Dei, making it possible for all men to forgive those
who succumb to their jealousy and hatred.

After the planet Sirin had become nearly
barren of its vast oceans and jungles, all the existing
planets of the Un-Ahm galaxy were asked by the
queen of Deius, Queen Amya, to sign a treaty
which promised to mine plasma carefully and on
rare occasion. Hoping to end the spread of Plasma
Sickness, the leaders of each planet signed the treaty
anxiously. However, the illness still spread – even to
the wealthy and the privileged. No one seemed safe
and this made most either look to their gods or to
science for the answers.

After three days of resting within his
sarcophagus, Adin’s spirit rose from his body and
spoke with his brother, giving him a full pardon, as
well as counseling him on how to rule Sirin with light
and love.

The modern citizens of Deius, however, no
longer recalled the days of science; they looked only
to the Priests of their kingdom for comfort and truth.

Thus, the use of prophecy was even more
depended upon. Priests focused all their minds and
souls into the gift of prediction and meditation, in
order to foretell the next coming of the Bodanya
Shiva.

Not since the original Bodanya, The Great
Adin, had the Holy Order of the Dei any insight into
what may solve their crisis. Though they believed
many incarnations of the Gods had secretly graced
their sands throughout time, only the pure bloodline
from the “Shiva” royal name was trusted by The
Council to be the true heir to the Deiusian Kingdom.
The royal line of Shiva began with the first
incarnation of Adin himself, in the year of 11.213.70.
It was written that during Adin’s rule as king, The
Dei believed he would define existence in his own
lifetime, as well as heal the power supply of the
galaxy.
However, according to legend, in his twenty
sixth year - only three years after his crowning - Adin,
Shiva the First, was violently murdered by the hands
of his own half-brother, Siri, whom the planet Sirin
had been named after. It was also written that, even
though Adin had appointed his younger brother as
king of Sirin, Siri was jealous of his older brother’s
power, for he wished to become the new Bodanya: the
universe’s holiest of spirit-guardians, as well as high
ruler of all the planets of the Un-Ahm galaxy.

Unfortunately, after years of war and excessive
mining of plasma, Sirin’s lush lands eventually fell
into ruin and despair, causing most Sirini to question
their once great king, as well as their own beloved
Gods of old.

Through the hundreds of years that followed,
twelve of The Shiva royal line had lived and died.
Unlike The Great Adin, however, they were kings,
not Gods. All had spoken with truth and wisdom, but
none had cured the galaxy of its ever-draining energy.
Some blamed the chaotic nature of the stars.
Some blamed the ones from the past who did not care
for their planets. Some even blamed the scientists for
discovering the uses of plasma in the first place. Most,
however, simply became desperate in their hope for a
man to come and save them from their doom, as it had
been prophesied for so many years.
On his deathbed, Shiva the Thirteenth
promised his priests that he would return in spirit-form
to light the way for the return of the first Bodanya
Shiva: The Great Adin. He had told his high priest,
Amun-Lan, that Adin would be reincarnated in the
season of The Seed, which was now upon them.
“And so it was, and so it shall be,” MeddhiLan heard the famous Deiusian chant repeated in his
mind. He had been given the title of High Priest from

36