Quick authors note, the 3 prologue chapters will be shorter and possibly less detailed than later full chapters, I'm just trying my best to get them out of the way so I can start on the main story as soon as possible. I may come back and redo them once I'm partway into the main story if I feel the urge. Thanks, hope you enjoy.

Prologue 1

Age 642

King Cold stood tall at the back of the Arcosian Royal palace library, his eyes scanning the crystal pillar in front of him. Much like the rest of the palace, the walls and ceiling of this room were all made from an ancient material with the appearance of pure white marble, the nature of which had long since been lost to the sands of time. Regal banners of blue, red and yellow were hung from the walls and circular columns which held the roof of the palace in place about one hundred feet or so above the thick shag carpet. In contrast, the many leather bound books contained within were housed in rudimentary wooden shelves and were thick with dust due to many years of non-use. In fact, there was only one thing in the entire room which hadn't suffered from decades of neglect: the Royal family tree.

Having taken to spending most of his time in his 2nd most restricted form, the King towered above almost all of his subjects, yet even he had to take flight to reach the top of the fantastic monument to the Cold family; to his family. For thousands of years they had ruled their home planet of Arcosia, mercilessly destroying all who dared stand against them, and if all were to go as planned his empire would soon stretch to the furthest reaches of the galaxy. A smirk came to King Cold's purple lips as his gaze met the first name on the pillar. His distant ancestor had unified the previously warring tribes of his planet into one kingdom through his cunning, leadership and raw power.

He floated slowly downwards, taking in the names of his many forefathers. When King Cold finally reached his own name in the lower half of the pillar, his smirk faded and a frown formed upon his sharp features as he lost himself in thought.

Of the dozens of generations of Arcosian royalty, every one was exponentially more powerful than the one which preceded it. As soon as he could Cold had destroyed his brothers and father in order to claim the throne for himself, just as his father had done, and just as his father had done before that. This had been the way for thousands of years, with his distant ancestor Chilled being the last not killed by his own offspring. Every time the story was the same: the father would pick the finest mate in order to produce the strongest offspring, then foolishly in either trust of their sons' respect towards them or arrogance in their own power they allowed their offspring to overthrow them. As he was determined not to allow this to happen to him, King Cold had originally intended not to sire an heir, however his honour and loyalty to his family had gotten the better of him and thus he decided to assign his top scientific teams the task of allowing him to create a suitable heir.

Thankfully for them, this team had finally made a breakthrough.

His feet again touching solid ground, the King left the library and began making his way through the grand, clinically white halls of his palace. Along the way, several of his underlings saluted and gave a customary "Long live the King" gesture. The stench of fear and respect never failed to bring a smile to his face.

At his leisurely pace, it was some time before King Cold reached the giant titanium doors that marked the entrance to the research laboratories. As they hissed and slid open, a cold robotic voice chirped a monotonous welcome. These new corridors were built within the last decade under order of the King, and so did not match the architecture of the rest of the palace. Instead of white marble, there was cold, shining steel with various plastics and alloys lining the walls. Where the main palace had thick shag flooring, the labs had only featureless blank tiling. Traversing the winding metal maze, Cold found himself in research room 46A. The room was a large dome with a radius of exactly fifty feet. There were several doors spread around the perimeter of the room, though none were as grand as the entrance Cold had used. Dotted around the room there were also several clear boards with thousands of lines of numbers and symbols. In the centre of the room stood a single diminutive figure.

"I trust you have something that will interest me? I would hate to have to find another scientist as brilliant as you, Mauri" said Cold, his deep and powerful voice bellowing throughout the room.

Swallowing his fear, the small, round and green creature known as Mauri tilted his head up so that his four eyes met his master's own rather than his shin.

"Yes my Lord, we do. Through our extensive research, and using the samples and data which you so graciously provided for us, we believe we have devised a method which will allow you to sire a powerful heir who will surpass your own level of power at least until... long after your natural lifespan, even at our maximum error margins" he managed to croak.

"Excellent, if this method of yours does in fact work as intended." King Cold's eyes narrowed. "Please, do go on."

"Well Sire," Mauri continued, "When we analysed your genetic samples and compared those with the samples of other members of your noble species, we found only a single discrepancy in the genetic code. It is this gene which we believe gives your family its immense power, and this gene which causes your offspring to be greater than the sum of the parts, to coin an old phrase."

"As interesting as that information is, I am extremely busy so please do get to the point before I lose my patience," said Cold, in an eerily polite tone.

"O... of course Lord Cold, please accept my humblest apologies," stuttered Mauri.

King Colds brow narrowed further and the sides of his mouth turned downwards. Mauri gulped before continuing.

"Using the power level information you've provided on your ancestors and their mates, we have devised a formula which will allow you to select a mate who will provide you with an heir to match all of your criteria. In addition to this, we have also created a similar formula which, following annual power measurements for the first few years of their lives, will allow us to predict exactly how their power will grow as they age. Should our initial calculations be off in any way, this will act as a safety net and allow you to see if your son is... to your satisfaction... long before he reaches maturity, and take whatever action you see to be appropriate if he is not."

"Very good, but be warned: if my son does not meet my exact criteria, the first action I will see as appropriate will likely be the removal of most of your organs."

"Of course, sir," Mauri replied, shutting his eyes and lowering his head.

King Cold turned his back to his scientist.

"Create a list of viable mates and have it delivered to my chambers immediately."

With that, the tyrant took his leave.