The Corin Chronicles Volume I: The Light and the Dark Read Online Free

planet, striving to take it away from me. I think it is time I showed him why I am the most powerful being in his universe.”
    A sudden chill filled the air, and the top of the tower soon cascaded into a bed of ice. The Philosophers stepped backward, as the Red God began to take his true form. Completely covered in ice, Baran grew taller until the tower began to shake.
    Standing at a gigantic twenty feet, the Red God brought a halt to the ongoing battle, a flaring red halo circling his head. The glares from his blood-shot eyes sent tremors to all who witnessed his transformation, but his gaze was directed at the three gods who continued to approach the battle. They maintained their human forms, but Baran could see their eyes fixed on him. Leaping from the top of the tower, he began his descent to enter the battle for the first time, joined mid-flight by Eclipse and Diavos. Then the rest of his children and their hyper lords came alongside him, as he neared the battlefield to face Auphora.
    Auphora watched the intensity of the battle, flinching at the clang of swords and the howls of the Noboros. He knew that this course of action was the only one possible. Still, he could not help but feel frustration toward Feliath for hiding the Red Elixir without first seeking his counsel. But his anger was interrupted by a sudden crash, like a meteor striking the plain before him. As the dust began to clear, Auphora caught sight of Baran standing on the field of battle, waiting. The God of Gods raised his right arm in the air, and followed the gesture with a heavy waving of his hand.
    A loud horn sounded, and the masses of human soldiers stopped their attack. Even Auphora’s very own Monoroi, who remained the fiercest fighters in the universe, stood their ground, their golden armor gleaming on the battlefield and their fangs trailing down even farther than those of their distant relatives, the Akarai. After the fall of Crazar, Auphora had employed the Monoroi in the war against Baran, and their power to manipulate the elements had yielded the results he had so desperately desired. But for now the Monoroi fell back to Auphora.
    Across the plain, and at the beckoning of their own god, Baran’s human soldiers, Zoatans, and Akarai, also retreated.
    “Assume advanced battle positions,” said Auphora. He uttered the words so gently that they were barely heard, but his intent was clear.
    “BATTLE POSITIONS! ASSUME BATTLE POSITIONS!” The words echoed across the battlefield, continually repeated by the string of riders, who spurred their horses into a line formation. Standing behind the God of Gods, they pressed horns to their lips, emitting the same loud noise as before.
    Responding to the call, Auphora’s frontline soldiers steadily retreated to the new line. The Guards of the Realm also joined the retreat, struggling to pull back their Noboros, with thick and coarse chains around the beasts’ necks and legs. The immense mass and strength of the great, scaled beasts made it no easy task. Their tails were the length and girth of two grown men, and a minimum of eight Guards were required to handle a single Noboro. The Noboros screamed and fought against their captors, reluctant to move away from the fray and back into formation.
    Kraipo Shamana watched as the Guards struggled to keep the Noboros under control, awaiting the order to resume the attack. How long had he been away from his loved ones? A year had turned to fifteen years in what seemed a short time, but his devotion remained as strong as ever. The defeat his army suffered at Crazar had convinced him that Auphora would not intervene in any way, but his hope returned following the introduction of the Monoroi and, more importantly, the Noboros. Their sheer size and strength had almost singlehandedly changed the outcome of the entire war.
    “You are still thinking of them, I assume?” asked Melot, mounted on his horse beside him.
    Kraipo forced a smile. “I miss them so much,”