There are no ends,
Only beginnings,
And conclusions yet to be written
Jon Mollum, 2-13215

If there were one conclusion to the war, it would be that neither side could claim victory, but neither wins anything of great value. The Paladions won the eastern side of Jorro and the Tagerons got the southern region near the Sea of the Dead.

Jorro had sustained life for many centuries with overflowing trees and wildlife. Here, societies have flourished under the control of the Paladions, and decided to claim this land, as it's own. King Hebo, my father, did not like that decision. He waged a fierce battle with them and loss. Tossing us out of our land and into the desert.

For this was known as region that could be used for battles, but not for life. All around it was dead; no vegetation, trees or grass grew there. The reasons for this were as various as the sands of time. No one knew how it became desert-like, but all know that it was the beginning of the end of my people, the Tagerons.

This land was a killer, for there is no way to bring the dead back to life. Many experiments were tried and failed. One major experiment had made some progress. Then one morning, blacks bugs and green algae devoted all the vegetation. Many people died from the fruit. Even those who lived through this, felt something had gone terribly wrong.

What began on a social platform spread like cancer to all other reaches of our society. Death became rampant and destroyed all the king's men one summer. Malnourishment and disease devoured all in its path.

Some died physical, while others it was spiritually. Many churches were closed, burned or desecrated. Ever since the Middle Ages, our society has become more inhospitable to religion. All I could find in history books were very scant references to the great battle known as Jama Lima. After that, not much else is ever mentioned. Religion no longer existed in any form. Books were rewritten to please the government and new policies were set forth by the Council and their henchmen.

My mother had a picture done a few months prior to her arrest. She held a bible with a blank cover. She often read from it at night and kept extensive journals from the different books. An infamous story claimed that a missionary gave it to her several years ago. I don't remember her name, but she was assigned to the valley between the humans and us.

My mother often feared being caught with it. There were many a people who would like to use it against her. They would say she was a spy for the enemy.

But who the enemy was never stood the same. Sometimes, it seemed to be the Christians and others, the supporters and publishers of anything against the government.

The war was ruthless and without mercy. Often killing thousands in one fair sweep. The one I remember the most happened when my mother was captured. She happened to stay at a friend's house for a meal. Someone inside had tipped them off about her activities. That became her undoing. She was arrested without incident, but the publicity was all over it.

Within days, search warrants were issued and questions raised. Did she have any other contacts, bibles or religious paraphernalia? Did she have escape routes in the castle?

Some questions hit harder than others. They wanted to know every little detail about her activities. They check everything, and I mean everything.

In the end, mother was sentenced to death. I had one chance to see her in prison. Handcuffs and chains around her waist and tail. This was awful. Conditions in the prison weren't too good. She was beaten and her eye looked swollen, but now was healing properly. She tried to keep her faith up, and hoped that God would forgive her.

That would be the only time I heard her talk about forgiveness. She never carried any bad feelings and lived an upright life in a crocked world.