Chapter 39

YOU HAVE KEPT YOUR WORD. The Storm Crow said as it looked down at him. It’s form was resting on the windowsill, the moonlight casting a strange glow against its crackling form. Henry couldn’t help but feel a strange, ominous type of energy flowing from the bird as it looked at him. At the same time, he marveled at how the D.E.D. and the natural moonlight seemed to interact. Was it like that, for everyone who resonated? Did their world suddenly take on another layer, almost like those strange 3-D glasses he played with as a kid? Or did it differ, depending on abilities and strengths? Or perhaps the D.E.D. could adjust themselves on a whim?

ALLOW ME NOW, TO TELL YOU WHAT I KNOW. The D.E.D. tilted its head sideways, its brilliant eyes flashing. KNOW NOW, THE FOLLY OF YOUR FACE. KNOW NOW, THE THREAT YOU SHALL FACE.

Essence seemed to rush from the Storm Crow towards Henry, and along with it, he could just make out the crackling of electricity. Panic filled his body as it connected with him before he felt the energy rush through him. His mind screamed out, but he quickly realized, it wasn’t from pain, but surprise. In fact, what the Storm Crow sent through him felt, not quite pleasant, but energizing. It was similar to the charged feeling he experienced during the Greater Rift battle, though less intoxicating.

SEE NOW, AND KNOW WHAT I KNOW. WITH THIS, MY FATE IS SEALED WITH YOURS. The voice drifted through his mind, and his vision waivered. The room he was in, the hazy smoke around him, faded. In its place, he saw a desolate wasteland, dimly lit from what appeared to be multiple moons in the sky above.

For millennia our kin have existed. It was the Storm Crow’s voice, and yet it wasn’t. It was clearer, more precise, and less…agitated. It was sage-like, similar to a prophet or seer. Your kind call us D.E.D., before them, demons, monsters, terrors…gods. Our names, like our shapes, were fleeting. We accepted the names of those who gave them to us, but they meant little to us. All we cared for, all we craved, was power.

The landscape below Henry shifted, as he saw a crackling of light, and a massive portal of energy appeared on the wasteland.

This is our current world. It’s not our first, nor is it our last. The energy intensified, and the portal grew and grew. As it did, it seemed to Henry that the light from the moons above waned, as if the portal were drawing power from the moons itself. The strongest of our kind, have always drained the most from a world. Their very existence, their powers, pull the matter of the world around them, converting it into essence, and giving life and power to the rest of us.

After a few moments, the Portal finished crackling, and the light in the wasteland seemed stabilize. Then, to Henry’s amazement, the Portal solidified. In its place, a tower of pure, solidified essence. The light flowing from it was warm and comforting, and as Henry watched, the wasteland below him came to life. From all over, D.E.D. seemed to spring into existence, or reveal themselves from areas they had been hidden. They all moved towards the pillar, and as Henry watched, they were bathed in essence. As the light touched them, they seemed to grow stronger, healthier perhaps, as if the light were giving them life.

Some of our old ones, gather this power, and give it freely to our kind. They view all those below them, as their children, and they care for them. All they wish, is to watch those below them grow.

The scene below Henry shifted. No longer were they in a wasteland, instead, as he blinked, he realized they were deep underground, the light in this area provided from boiling, molten rock. Unlike before, he could immediately see D.E.D. However, all of these, no matter the type, seemed to be chained together, their eyes all turned in a single direction. In the far corner of the room, a red glowing obelisk, pulsating light. One by one, the chained D.E.D. tried to reach the obelisk. Those who did, had their chains broken. Those who failed, were burned into essence, their screams echoing through the cavern.

Others, only offer powers to those who are worthy. They wish to build for themselves an army only of those deserving of it. The strong survive, and the weak exist to feed the strong.

Henry shook his head. It was terrible, and yet, a part of him told him he was just as bad. He’d been slaying D.E.D. all day, in order to strengthen his. A fact that saddened him, and yet, he knew now more than ever, especially with what he was being shown, was also a cold hard truth.

Regardless of their philosophies though, they all agree on a single truth. the voice continued, and the scene below him shifted once more. This time, he was in a grassland. For as far as they eye could see, there were D.E.D. of all sizes, moving in a singular direction. Or, perhaps, it wasn’t that they were moving in one direction, but moving away from another. For behind them, as they all moved in their own various ways, an empty expanse of darkness seemed to crawl. A void, filled with nothing.

Our world has reached its end, and it is time, once again, to find a new home. Henry didn’t like that, not at all.

“Earth?” He asked aloud. He couldn’t’ actually see himself, or his Storm Crow for the matter. However, his voice still echoed out, and he could sense the bird nodding towards him, as his vision waivered once more. This time, they were high above the mass of D.E.D., looking down on the world as if they were soaring through the sky, looking down and taking in all the different views, and situations.

Our existence is one that consumes. When our home can no longer support us, we find another. This time, that location, that home, is your world.

Henry already knew, from what the Exorcists and JJ had told him, that the D.E.D. needed essence to grow stronger, and that the matter of the world was vibrating more and more in the appropriate manner to feed D.E.D., but also attune humans to them. What they’d failed to mention…was the fact the D.E.D. were planning on invading Earth.

“So, the storm you warned me about?” He trailed off as his mind came to that conclusion.

Our time is drawing short, and your world has grown prime. The Old Ones have already given the word. The Ancient Ones already stir. Soon, it will not be low level scavengers like the Larpen seeking to come over, bringing with them their lowly scoundrels with them. Soon, it will not be the hopeful or curious crossing over, seeking an existence of their own, or seeking a chance to feast before the true monsters come forth. Soon, your world will see the creatures of lore. Soon, your world will see those they were warned about so long ago.

The scene below him changed once more. At first, he thought he was looking at a massive ocean, but after a moment of watching the swirling images below, his mind processed what he was seeing. It wasn’t water. It was thick, nearly solidified essence, flowing about like an ocean would. How much essence was there? How condensed was it? The thoughts faded as he saw movement within it, as the thinnest tendrils of the essence, like waves lapping across sand, shifted onto solid ground. From deep within the essence, forms he’d never seen, began to appear. And deep, deep within, a strange, sickly glow, that sent shivers down Henry’s spine.

Soon, the devourers, the destroyers, the bringers of annihilation, the conquerors…those of many names, will rise once more. Soon, the nightmares the betrayers tried to prepare the humans for, will rise up, and when they do…your world, and all those who stand against them, will be consumed.