The Scarlet Moon

It was a cold and silent night, so silent that you could hear the snowflakes falling on the tree leaves. A sudden wind brought a light from above – an angel. When its light touched the ground, it cracked and formed a wound on the earth, from where a demon crawled from the depths to sit next to his visitor. The Reliquums later would know them as Amadiél and Gallúm, the angel and the demon who loved each other. But that love was considered such an aberration that a legion of angels came down from heaven in lightnings to destroy them. The demon and the angel fled through the silent forest, although there was no escape. They felt cornered, and their only way out was to hide where other spirits and souls dwelled: inside a living being. They wandered in silence and cold without finding any creature until a cry was heard in the distance. The crying of a woman echoed, and they followed it until they reached a hut where a woman was giving birth. The moment of birth is sacred and unique; it’s the moment in which the soul and spirit enter and attach to the body. The baby’s head was coming out, so Amadiel and Gallum took advantage of that to enter and hide in the baby’s body. But something unexpected happened – the two spirits fused, creating a single spirit living inside this child. The legion of angels was incapable of destroying a human life, so they disappeared, not without swearing to return one day to finish their job. The boy grew up, and today, we know him as Gálio. Gálio became the head of his tribe, thanks to his healing powers and his ability to dominate nature and its elements. His tribe learned many skills from him, and they became powerful as well, for which they were grateful. But not all was kindness; his hybrid spirit was volatile and rapidly changed polarity. Gálio was also ruthless and greedy; he organized the men of his tribe to loot, destroy, and even kill other tribes. It is said that on some full moon nights, the moon turned red, and demons would come out to prowl around the forest, thanks to his authority over the earthly and spirit world. Soon, the humans of all the tribes got tired of all the looting, abuse, and slaughter. They felt it was time to end Gálio and his powers, so they invoked divine help. A legion of angels came down to earth again and warned the humans that they could not end any earthly life and, due to their spiritual nature, could not even touch anybody’s flesh or clothes. The job had to be completed by a human of flesh and blood. They quickly designed a plan: to build a physical weapon that could also destroy spiritual beings. That’s how they forged what we know today as the Andorá, a dagger capable of killing body, soul, and spirit. It was forged with gold and strange, unusual materials that took them years to collect. The angels shaped the dagger with the sacred fire of their swords until it absorbed the necessary force to act in both worlds. The dagger was shaped like a long maple leaf, and its golden hilt was full of inscriptions in angelic language that glowed in contact with light. Once the dagger was finished, the humans of all the tribes formed a horde and went to a mountain where Gálio used to admire and read the signs of destiny in the horizon. He already knew their intentions and was eagerly awaiting them to show his power and subdue them. When the horde of humans reached the mountain, a storm fell on them followed by hurricane winds that would not let them get closer. But the humans were persistent and managed to climb and get to where he was. Gálio was commanding nature to attack them, but they kept getting closer, so Galio raised his hands to the sky, and lightning bolts began to fall on the horde, killing several of them. There was no way to defeat him; he was too strong. But unexpectedly, Gálio’s tribe appeared from among the trees, not to help him but to finish him instead. They were tired of the evil and the blood he shed against their brothers, so they used everything he taught them against him and turned the storm back. They called the animals for help, and the eagles and the owls quickly appeared, attacking Gálio and leaving him wounded and weak next to a cliff. Humans approached with the dagger ready to finally destroy him, but he asked for help. To everyone’s surprise, the demon, the prince of darkness himself, appeared in the form of a snake. However, not to help him—the snake bit him and threw him into the cliff. All men surrounded the lifeless body of Gálio, knowing that they had failed. The hybrid spirit had left that body, and the demon had taken it with him to protect it. The angels appeared behind them and warned them that one day the demon and the powerful hybrid spirit would return to take revenge, and it was necessary to be prepared. At that moment, the angels regrouped the tribes, selecting eleven leaders tasked with traveling to various points on Earth. Their mission: to maintain peace and shield the world from impending evil. The eleven Reliquum tribes emerged, each bestowed with blessings and heavenly gifts to combat darkness and safeguard divine creation. Among these gifts was the ability to naturally speak the language of the universe and nature, known as Trigelium. Additionally, they were granted the power of transformation, enabling some to take the form of animals whose spirits protected their inhabited areas. These eleven tribes persist to this day: The Nazga, dwelling in the tundras and ice lands of North America; the Razgel, residing in the southern Americas; the Norzel, inhabiting the frozen forests of northern Europe; the Cafrím, dwelling in the jungles of South Africa; the Zugulem, protectors of the savannas and the African desert; the Bengél, residing in the Middle East; the Dimiáne, inhabitants of the Far East; the Kenepūa, found in the Pacific islands alongside the Benkleys; and the nomadic Chridium and Phlegelons.