Kings and Inmates is a Science Fiction Thriller, and a work generated solely by the heart and mind of the author. No artificial intelligence or synthetic intelligence was used in the development. The literary illustrations shown are absolutely a product of AI prompting and Microsoft Copilot, with gratitude.

-Exerts from the lost scrolls of Raylios-

"The souls of the fallen are ripe with pride.

The bones of a monster, brittle.

The Pride of the damned is fuel for fire.

The voice of the innocent, a spark."

Chapter 1

The Book of Kings

Carved from the core of a red-dwarf star, the tablets were born in time beyond numbers or age, the mining hands unseen for the shared fabric of light. These were alien carvings that held an extreme weight for Earths gravity and their density commanded a weight unusual for size. Roughly the measure of a single sheet of paper and just about an inch thick, each of these anomalies weighed just under a metric ton and tested stronger than any known Earthen metal, capable of returning to the heat of a stars center without damage.

The symbols carved on these tablets came by way of star cartography yet unknown to human technology, the script holding secrets revealed in numerals left simple in written form for human kind to decipher. Untold complexities sank deep into every grove of the carvings and to the touch felt of power and mystery.The message relayed by the tablets had been carved by artisans quintillions of millennia beyond terrestrial minds, the orchestrators made powerful with evolution known only as ascension to some, a shadow of technological clandestine. This culture would be magic to the uninformed and awe inspiring to any curious mind, a childs plea with never ending questions. On the top of the first page was forged a single common character,

V

This is a symbol known throughout the galaxy as one representing peace, also victory

and the Terra-numeral five, which is the number of life. This was the book of Kings.

A second tablet was made ready for later delivery, the symbol carved in title was,

Vl

This is a symbol known universally as one representing darkness and evil, the Terra-

numeral six, and a symbol for death. This was the book of Inmates.