Excerpt: Cries of the Newborn

Willing herself out of the cave and onto the floating Sky Island, the young priestess raised a hand to shield her eyes from the weak sunlight that nonetheless threatened to blind her after her long sleep. There was no immediate indication that any of the Power Animals had awoken yet, but surely, surely at least one of them was: with the Orgs on the move time was of the essence, it was imperative that she find the Gao warriors to begin the defence of the planet. If she couldn’t do that, if she couldn’t find them… the planet would be overrun by Orgs and the world would be plunged into a darkness from which there was no escape.

She ranged across the open plain, but Gao Bison slumbered still, his heavy breaths shaking the ground she walked on. There was no sign of Gao Tiger in the grass and the water of the lake was still, save the faint ripples caused the breeze and there was no greeting from Gao Shark as she passed that way; that only left two, but Gao Lion was resting undisturbed in his sleep and the young woman’s heart sank further. If even Gao Lion was still asleep, what hope was there of--

A shrill scream pierced the air, making her jump and spin around before she looked up, craning her neck for any glimpse. A shadow flew over her head as Gao Eagle screamed again, wings banking as he came to a halt, hovering just in front of her. So, Gao Yellow would be the first this time, would he? Or she. Still, she had no doubts that whoever Gao Eagle chose would be up to the task and whether they were ready or not was the price that would have to be paid: the Orgs would leave them no other option. “The Orgs have woken,” she said. “The Gao Warriors have to be found, before it’s too late to stop them.”

It had almost been too late a thousand years ago and she had none of the power they had had back then: even Arakami-sama was lost and could no longer lend the weight of his power to the fight. The Gao Warriors, when they were found, would be untried and alone. As Gao Eagle spread his wings and flew off, hopefully in search of his Chosen, she hoped they would be enough.