Central by Raine Thomas

caretakers.”
    “And they protect everyone else from the Mercesti?” Amber asked. She was sitting back on the couch, her arms crossed.
    “Yes,” he responded. “Before the creation of the new plane, all of the nine Estilorian classes lived in relative harmony. The eldest of the Mercesti at that time was Volarius. He was an innovative and forward-thinking strategist, and it was actually Volarius who first suggested the creation of the new plane when we all despaired over the turmoil our presence was causing among the humans. If it had not been for Volarius, we would not have succeeded with the plan.
    “We knew when we created this plane that we would have to limit the ability of Estilorians to cross back to the human plane. As is the case whenever you have a great number of voices and opinions, there would be those who resisted the change. And, quite frankly, there were many of the younger Estilorians who found great satisfaction in having abilities beyond those of humans and being able to demonstrate those abilities. But we decided that we could not risk the safety of humanity any longer for the sake of a limited few. The warring among humans had gone on for more than a century. Thousands and thousands of human lives were lost, even with us extending our assistance as much as possible. It was simply unacceptable.
    “The power required to create this plane was beyond description. I, along with Gabriel, Ini-herit, Volarius and the remaining elders, called forth the height of our powers, extending our abilities beyond anything we had ever thought possible. And this,” he indicated the room around them, “is the result.”
    “So, what happened to Volarius?” Skye asked after a brief pause.
    Jabari frowned, a rare expression for the elder. “He was killed by the current Mercesti leader, Grolkinei. Grolkinei was among those who believed that we should have remained on the human plane. He lived the life of a worshipped god there, flicking his power at the humans around him in unpredictable and careless ways. As soon as he realized what we had done—that he would never be able to return to the human plane again—he lashed out against Volarius and assumed control of the Mercesti class.”
    “How was he able to do that, though?” Olivia asked. “Just because Volarius was dead, that didn’t mean all of the other Mercesti had to accept Grolkinei as their leader, right?”
    “You are correct. Grolkinei gave the remaining Mercesti a choice: join with him or die. Those who chose to join with him had to prove their dedication by killing another Estilorian. In this case, he turned the Mercesti against each other. Those who joined with Grolkinei hunted down and killed those who would not. We did what we could to protect the Mercesti who resisted Grolkinei’s evil, but we learned something essential about ourselves during this terribly bleak time. When the leader of an Estilorian class acts in a particular manner, the beings he or she rules will inevitably follow. It did not take long for Grolkinei to completely alienate the Mercesti from the rest of the classes. To this day, any Estilorian who kills another or intends to kill another for a reason other than to defend is instantly converted to a Mercesti.”
    Having born witness to this process when the Orculesti named Kanika attempted to kill Amber by shoving her into battle with Angius and then changed into a red-eyed Mercesti right in front of her, Olivia processed Jabari’s words in silence. She sensed her sisters doing the same. Ini-herit had discussed some of this in a more general way while they were all on the human plane. He had also explained that Grolkinei had led the resistance against the birth of her and her sisters, in turn leading to the circumstances of Amber being transitioned unescorted to the human plane and then a childhood filled with disrupted placements in foster care. Olivia and Skye, on the other hand, had been escorted to the human plane as