The Pyramid of Andeos

It was an ancient land hidden from memory. A land of hills, valleys, forests, lakes and majestic mountains. A land where the supernatural was not a stranger, and where man was not always the absolute ruler of his destiny.

So it was into this land, that a young child was born. Bearing a holy mark not seen in thousands of years, and given a forgotten name that held a powerful history.

At the name giving ceremony, attended by only the small immediate family, the name was innocently chosen, for no member of that family could possibly have known its storied past. Neither could anyone have properly recognized the significance of the deep black mark on the child’s left shoulder blade.

To the uneducated eyes of the baby’s parents, it looked like a simple triangle, though admittedly a well-defined one. What they did not know was that they were looking at a pyramid. The Pyramid of Andeos. An ancient structure whose destruction marked the birth of the present age.

The child was named Rian and upon that naming, the destiny of all living creatures took a dramatic turn. Events were once again set in motion that would forever remake this world.

*

Early in Rian’s life, he would confuse and often upset his parents with his endless crying. Nothing could be done to quiet those cries. No explanation could be found by any in the medicinal arts for why he would simply not stop.

It was an explanation very few alive could possibly possess. The pyramid upon his back throbbed with heat and pain. It was a throbbing that would not stop until he reached two years of age.

On that second birthday, to the utter shock of his mother and father, young Rian for the first time ever, simply stood and began walking. Perfectly. He also began speaking as a mature adult.

His mother cried fearfully, while his father considered taking a terrible action. He did not, but always felt from that day forward that the decision not to murder his son was not of his own choosing.

No matter how kind and peaceful Rian behaved after that birthday, his parents lived in both wonder and fear of what they had brought into this world. Instinctively, they both knew that this child was not of their making.

*

Leagues way from that forgotten village stood an intricately carved temple, five stories high and ten stories deep, upon the highest mountaintop. The temple had been constructed of local rock, and a deep red marble from an unknown source. It was from this temple, that the lives of all in the land were dominated.

The Ancient and Holy Order of the Golden Eye had been in existence for thousands of years. It had been born from the destruction of the Pyramid of Andeos.

Very few were called to serve in the order. No one knew the exact number of initiates that lived in the temple nor why they were called to serve, but everyone did know that the life of an initiate was of comfort, power and prestige. And as long as the peace was maintained, that would not change.

"How fares the peace?" an initiate of the 4th Eye asked his superior.

"The waves have not been calm recently," came the steady voiced reply of the 2nd Eye.

Regaining his composure from answering in a way so foreign from the regular responses, The 2nd Eye announced he would immediately seek the advice of the 1st Eye, a man who spent years in solitude, neither speaking nor being spoken to. It would be the 2nd Eye’s first personal contact with the Order’s most powerful man, and that alone caused his heart to begin hammering inside his chest.