Chapter 8: The Prophetic Paradox

As the Age of Wonders drew to a close, the Aestari Matron-Magus, Kaon Deladriss, having mastered all seven Schools of the Seventh Sanctum, retreated to the top of Ivory Peake to meditate. After a decade, she had gained the ability to commune with the Great Tree of Eyos, and the Great Tree observed her thoughts and actions as well. It deemed her virtuous, worthy by deed, mind, and spirit. Kaon returned to the Seventh Sanctum by teleportation, becoming Mythron's first Horizon Walker.

Years later, as Kaon Deladriss was dreamweaving at the White Mantle, she received from the Great Tree a devastating Prophecy of Ages. It foretold the destruction of the Aestari civilization in a coming Age of Decay, a time of chaos and unfathomable suffering that would last a millennia. But while the Age of Decay was inevitable, the tapestry of Kaon's dream contained a single thread of hope, a way that the Age of Decay could be shortened to a single century, to be followed by an even greater civilization built atop the foundation of the First Empire. But the price for this would be terrible, indeed.

It would mean forsaking forever her harmonious meditation and near immortality. It would cost her ongoing ascension, her connection with the Great Tree, and even her ability to Horizon Walk. More importantly, she wondered if her actions to spare the world such suffering - to save nine centuries of unborn lives - could bring about something unimaginably worse. Kaon struggled with the paradox of the Prophecy.

In the end, she decided that the chance to prevent such suffering was the only path forward, even though the task it demanded was too horrific to speak of. The demand of the Prophecy was that the Heart of the Great Tree of Eyos must be removed - cut out - and placed as far away as possible, never to return to Aestari soil again.