January 14, 2112
James Stone
I woke up underwater, my back lying against bedrock. With haste, I sat up into the icy air of the room. Rubbing away the water from my eyes, I found myself in a pond at the center of an onyx and gold, domed cavern. Torches flickered against the rock covered in inscribed symbols. Brushed with the same hand, the aesthetic and design of the cyphers told me I was in yet another place of Precursor origin just like the Vault of the Seven. That was, of course, if these so-called Precursors truly existed in the first place.
Then Jeremiah popped out of the water next to me. He was as quick to recover as I was. "Did you get it?" he asked.
That's when it hit me - The Blade of Wrath. I had failed the last trial. I shook my head. "I didn't."
"Me neither. Worse yet, I no longer carry the Book of Sin." His voice was uncharacteristically dower.
There was a flicker of light, followed by a sudden voice. "Trial-takers whom awake in this district--" The voice seemed to echo throughout the cave, with no point of origin, almost as if the cave itself was speaking. "--Although unworthy of wrath, those whom awake here have proven worthy of commemoration. May those here shroud the light until extinguished."
Shroud the light? I wondered.
Jeremiah and I weren't pleased with ourselves. With no visible exit to take out of this cavern, we left the water and waited with our backs against the rock wall. Time ticked onward, and I could practically hear the clicks of a clock in my head. Yet nothing alerted my senses. Everything was still and quiet, like a soundless, underground cage left abandoned to the slow creep of time.
Many minutes passed, and I shifted around from my spot against the cave wall. I was beginning to fiddle with the idea that we may stay there until we were but skeletal remains. Still, nothing was happening. "Maybe you could ask God to throw us a bone," I said, with a small laugh.
"You could just as well as I. What's stopping you?" he asked.
"Don't think he cares for my voice."
"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:4-5. He cares about all his children, James. You need only allow him into your life."
"There was a point in time that I believed, but that was long ago. Going down the path I have in life has led me to believe a controversial take on the subject… religion is all horseshivf aimed to control."
"Have you been hurt by it?" Jeremiah didn't take offense at all by my attacking words. His tone held a curiosity to it, a genuine interest in my story.
I shook my head. "No. See, my issue with religion is you got to do this and that… that and this. Live by these guidelines, or thou shall be forced to eternally suffer… all that shivf. And let me tell you what: That shivf just isn't me. I'm a man that lives by simple rules. People should be able to do whatever the hell they want with their life so long as they don't hinder the natural freedoms of others. If someone wants to live on pins and needles, fraken let them do it… let them self-destruct. If some dude wants to bail on a marriage or cheat, let him. It's only natural to want to spread the seed. Hell, if a man wants to be gay and gurgle on someone else's shaft, what's religion to say he can't enjoy himself?"
"Morality and belief are all he asks, James. Live under the ideal nature of a good, god-loving man who believes he is already saved by God. These restrictions that you allude to, what do you mean?"
"When I went to my local Sunday school, I remember tales of a lump-sum of things men are condemned for in the Bible. No eating rabbits, pigs, or camels… no short haircuts, requirement to have a beard… that stuff. I know there's more that I can't place."
Jeremiah's head rose in realization. "I understand. Leviticus - That is what you remember. That truly is a misunderstood book, and to appreciate it, you need to understand Leviticus in the context of the Bible. It represents a huge chunk of the Mosaic Law, which was a special covenant made between God and the Israelites. It is a strict, severe set of ordinances designed to separate the Jews from the Gentiles in every conceivable way. In other words, those laws were never made for Christians."
"You say that like you were there." I chuckled.
"When you've read it as my times as I have, you would be, too." He paused. "And besides, the Bible, although in inspiration of God himself, was written by men. Men's nature is to allow a certain margin for bias and personal beliefs to cloud what truly is the story of God. That is why there are many interpretations that led to different denominations."
"I admit, my attic has always been a little dusty when it came to religion. However, my stance is still my stance. Freedom and independence are core to the human condition to me."
"Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. John 5:24. That is what I live by."
That sudden moment, a stone sank below the cave floor and gave way to the open sunlight. We went just outside the cave's entrance. Clouds roamed the sky, and I felt warmth upon seeing the beautiful sky once more. I looked at my cyberwatch. My eyes widened at the sight of the date.
"January 14, 2112," I shouted. "We were in the trial for a half a day tops. How can we go in on the twenty-second of December and come out on the fourteenth of January?" Though I already knew the answer. The question came more as a shock than anything else.
"Relativity," Jeremiah responded.
We both knew that meant the threat the corelinns spoke of would've already made it out of the forest. It was predicted to emerge and reach the Treasured City two days ago. In words put another way, we were two days late.
"James? James, come in." That was Valiic's voice on my cyberwatch.
"Valiic. Where are you?" I asked.
"We woke up in a cave."
"As did we."
"My cyberwatch says we are roughly three kilometers from the Treasured City."
I looked at mine and saw we were even closer than that. "Who's we?" I asked Valiic.
"Shadow-Walker and I woke in the same cave. However, a door gave way in our cave a bit ago, and we ended up finding Geariic and Frost. Based on what the voice told us, we believe that our group was separated based on how far we made it in the trial."
I looked to Jeremiah, who gave a nod in agreement. "It's just me and Jeremiah here."
The looming question was: Where the frak did Brad go?
I noticed someone else enter the voice chat. Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. "Where da hell y'all at?" The voice belonged to Brad.
"Holy shivf, Brad. Tell me you got it. Tell me you got the blade," I said.
"Fuck yeah, I did."
My face was about to explode with joy. "Son of a bitch! You did it, you goddamned bastard." I complimented him not with words, but with tone. Jeremiah tapped on his wrist and gave me wide eyes. I cleared my throat. "Alright, Brad, we'll have to celebrate with a beer on me later. For now, I need to know where you are at."
"Shit, I ain't far from where we started."
"That's the second best damn news I've heard today! Locate the shjarr threat and eliminate it."
"Consida it done, Stonewall." Brad closed his communication.
Valiic jumped in. "James, there's trouble."
"I just sent Brad--"
"Other trouble," he interrupted. "Alabon just finished speaking to Geariic over comm. It isn't good news."
"Alabon? Is he well?" My thoughts lingered on his well-being.
"He is. That wasn't the bad news. That head warlord we fought on Garatopia… well, she's here. And she brought an army."
"God help us all, then." My jaw clenched at the thought of Airra. As far as I was concerned, she was the embodiment of all that was wrong and evil in the galaxy.
Valiic continued. "It gets worse. Apparently, she released another Devisor bomb on the planet just a minute ago. According to Alabon, she wanted to get our attention."
"So she knows we're here. Considering we now have two of those keys that she's after, I've a feeling she plans to royally frak us up the ass herself."
Jeremiah stood up and was now looming over me, listening in on the conversation. "Where was the bomb activated?" he asked.
"In a city south of the Treasured City called Lamnlair. Only thing is, it's moving through that city towards the Treasured City."
"Moving?" I asked.
"Whatever fuels it is beyond my knowledge, but it looks to be a tornado carrying a current of electricity."
Jeremiah nudged me on the shoulder. "Based on your map earlier, we are not even a kilometer away from Lamnlair," he said.
"So?"
"So, I know how to stop it."
I nodded to him. "Valiic, you guys head towards the Treasured City. Jeremiah has a plan to stop the Devisor bomb. Once we do, we'll meet you there."
"Warrior's haste, James." Valiic closed the chat.
I stood up. "What's this plan of yours?"
"No time. We need to move now before it picks up speed."
Still under the warmth of the sun, I pulled up a map on my cyberwatch. According to it, we had to go up the large hill that held the cave we left. We went to the side of the entrance and began our climb. Given the doom and gloom of our predicament, the slope was something out of a nightmare; every step was a struggle, as if I were pulling my feet out of ankle-deep mud. There were more rocky steps than I would have believed, a thousand-thousand steps, and horror waiting for Jeremiah and me at the end.
Still drained of energy from the trials, I was a near mess by the time I reached the top of the hill. Atop, the whole world spread out below us. I could see a great hermitage down the opposite side of the hill. Much further to the right was the fire-blackened ruins of some ancient civilization by the looks of it. To the west, one swollen red sun was half-hidden behind another hill and looked to be rising. Filling in the gaps was open country, farms, fields and forests, and beyond that, somewhere hidden was the city of Lamnlair.
Jeremiah led us down the hill at a remarkable pace. In fact, I had trouble keeping up with him as we dodged and weaved through the forest. However, it wasn't dense, making the task more manageable.
Clearing the brush of the forest, which took less time than I thought, we made it to the outer parts of the city of Lamnlair. Already the buildings were ravaged beyond recognition. Piles of rubble and blocks were scattered everywhere, like a broken puzzle. Among the destruction were the bodies of deceased corelinns. Some were burnt to a crisp, some crushed, and others were pummeled to death – none of which were easy or deserved deaths.
Jeremiah went over to one of the corpses and crouched down by it. He stared for a brief moment, and I could see tears run down his check. He gave me a nod and led me down the street.
Further down, I could see some buildings still standing; architecturally like those we saw in the Treasured City. That was where we went. We rounded a street, and that was when I saw it. As big as the buildings itself, the tornado was rushing at us. Already a kilometer away, it ran through buildings as it zapped apart other buildings. You could see the very lightning bolts bouncing off the high-speed wind in a frenzy. And to make this already literally spinning disaster worse, it got bigger with every building it ran through.
The Devisor bomb came closer and closer.
"You said you know how to stop it. Now would be an excellent time to clue me in," I shouted over the winds.
Next to me, his eyes never left the cyclone. "I need to get to the core."
"How do we do that? This might come as a shock to you, but those winds are strong enough to push over buildings! Fighting through that is the same as wrestling a mountain!"
"You misunderstand. I need to get to the core, James. I do." Jeremiah took two steps forward before I grabbed him by the shoulder.
"I get wanting to sacrifice yourself to save the planet. But this is batshivf crazy! You'll die before you reach the center."
Jeremiah looked back. "It's our fault that weapons such as this exist. Finally, I know why God wanted me on this planet. I am the only one here who can destroy the bomb." I stared into the eyes of a man on a mission. He tilted his head sideways. "Tell me you didn't see it coming, James. Something inside you must've understood that I was never human," he said.
"Because you're an ace, like me." I was sure as day of the words coming out of my mouth.
"No, James. There are fewer than a hundred of us left, but we still exist. Divisors still exist." I blinked, and my arm went limp at his statement. "Faith and hope. It's who I was, who I've always been." Like a kick in the nuts, the realization was sharp and quick. The piercing arrow hitting The Gatekeeper, the healing of Shadow-Walker, the burst of strength used to save Valiic and me – all of it tied to some latent gift of being a Devisor.
Before I had a chance to say anything, wings of pure radiant light erupted from his back. I was blinded and turned away. The image was burned into my brain. I couldn't see for seconds because of it. Finally, I shook away the daze just in time to see Jeremiah fly headfirst into the tornado. He was gone. And after a few more seconds, so was the tornado, dissolving into nothing.
My legs started moving. With a mind of their own, they took me to where the tornado had been. Down the street I ran, jumping over fallen debris and rubble.
There he was. On the street, motionless on his side. I almost made it to him when I noticed motion from the corners of my eyes. In the time it took me to get near Jeremiah, multiple enemies had enough time to set up an ambush. I was now surrounded by a dozen of them; lycargans, dytircs, and korkyras alike. Every single one emerged from holes in the ground dug under pieces of rubble. The tornado was just bait all along, swinging in the current. And my dumbass rose right to it, like an open-mouth fish.
I readied my gun as they readied theirs, though my weapon was converted to fight shjarrs and I had an aching hunch it wouldn't so much as give them a light sting. Might as well spit at them instead.
That sudden moment, there was a light hum in the wind. Soft, slow, each note dragged on, and it was altogether creepy. The tune was followed by something else. Call it a feeling in my stomach, but something was there. Something was about to happen.
The foes surrounding me lost their breath. They grabbed at their chest as their eyes lost their color, then collapsed to their knees before falling completely over. All of them dead. Nothing over the top; just simple deaths. And that feeling around me kept growing. Getting bigger, bigger, until I felt surrounded by it.
Nothing prepared me for the sudden invisible force that had me on my knees. Air! My lungs couldn't breathe in enough of it.
What is that feeling? I thought. I was cold. My muscles felt frozen over.
I forced my head up, and my blurred vision saw movement. It was him again! It was the man I saw in the Ghost Town, and in Garatopia. Why does his presence still haunt me?
He bent down on one knee, over the body of Jeremiah. White light radiating from his figure. With one hand, he pushed back over bangs of his black hair. His soulless black eyes stared down at the dead priest, his expression calm and tranquil. Tall and thin, his bones were prominent behind his skin. He wore a dark suit jacket over a white undershirt; black tie; dress pants, shoes, he also wore a red tie pin.
"It's you," I struggled to say.
"Me. Me, me, me," he muttered. "What you're feeling is because of me. Living beings such as yourself feel as you do when subjected to this much of my presence."
"Who are you?"
"In due time, James. I'm not here for you, because you are not yet ready." He touched his palm to Jeremiah's cheek. "Rather, it is him that interests me. So few of them left."
"He said-- He told me that Devisors still live. Is he--?"
"Devisors. A rudimentary name befitting use by a primitive species such as yourself. How easy residents of this galaxy ignore that which is right in their face." The mysterious man didn't answer my ill attempt at a question.
He stood up and walked to me, his steps slow and light. He almost didn't look real due to how he walked as he approached me. Though my blurred vision could easily be the cause.
He put his hand on my back, and I felt even colder. I could even see my breath in front of my face. "Your place isn't here. You have somewhere else to be."
Vision left my eyes, and I was blind. I felt a choking sensation and loss of air. Then my body felt dense, as if submerged under deep water. All my senses were completely dulled, and I was fading away. Fading. Then nothing but blackness.