-Vincent Bellow-

I wake up to a weakening heartbeat, am I still alive? This feels strange, like a dream. Can’t move my limbs, can’t even feel them. Am I paralyzed? Maybe, or perhaps I'm frozen stiff. I did try to kill myself, maybe it’s the blood loss. Is this what it feels like to pass on? Not too bad then, not as frightening as I always imagined it. Can’t feel my heart anymore, must have stopped. I wonder what Clam will name my grandson… with that thought I drift away from my consciousness…

I regain my senses, only to be met with an ever encompassing darkness, for a moment I remember the terror I felt in my tomb, but it passes quickly enough for me to just shake it off. Is not the same, not as menacing, I would even call it inviting, warm. I momentarily see a fading scene; it resembles a man sitting on a chair. The recollection passes and I bask in the warmth offered.

I stay in this familiar place, pulling closer to the warmth with every chance I get, the closer I am the clearer I can think, the more I can hold on to. I feel like if I don’t reach the warmth I would disappear. So I pull harder, and harder, sometimes stopping and looking around, noticing flickering lights all around me. I pay them no mind, I have something I must do.

I don’t know how long I’ve spent here by now; I don’t think there’s anything resembling time in this place, just the flickering of lights. I'm stuck by the way, can’t pull any further, the stronger I pull towards the warmth the fiercer I am pushed back, sometimes even losing ground and having to pull back to the ‘barrier’ as I’ve named the phenomenon that’s preventing me from reaching the warmth.

While I was stuck I tried calling out to the lights, only to find that I could not do so. No voice came out, now that I think of it I have no body here, it’s just my consciousness… just me. I tried reaching out to one of the lights, couldn’t make it, seems like I can only maneuver towards and away from the warmth. After giving it some thought I consider that I'm not alone in here, the warmth I strive for may as well just be one of the many lights in here, maybe the flickering is caused by someone reaching his warmth, or being pushed away by it. Shame there’s no way to confirm this.

I begin to feel comfortable at the barrier, no use to fight it if you can’t beat it right? So I stay here, observing the lights, I noticed that most flicker while a few just shine weakly, eventually I start searching for a pattern to entertain myself. There was no pattern to be found; the lights flickered so randomly, sometimes starting to form a consecutive sequence just to break it in a haphazard manner, some shining for a time only to flicker out of existence in a few flashes of light. I grew irritated at the inconsistency.

Soon after abandoning the thought I start counting them, no pattern needed, just counting the flickering of one light, after it disappears move on to the next one, comparing the number of flickers each light makes. I made mental notes on the highest number of flickers, some reaching the hundred thousands while others fade away after only a few flickers. This is how I spent my existence here, counting the flickers. Once, while I was in the middle of observing and counting a flickering light I felt a push, a rejection from the warmth. The barrier, as if expanding, was pushing me away.

It got colder and colder with each push, I refused to be rejected, I struggled and refused to move, and the barrier flickered. My thoughts froze on me, just until the next push awoke me from my mental stupor. I was one of the flickering lights now, as realization hit me I grew afraid, no matter how much any of the lights I counted flickered they always fade away, without fail.

Again I am pushed, further away this time. I need to concentrate, the barrier didn’t move before, so why did it start now? As I ponder on the possible answers I am once again pushed away. Feeling desperate I fall back to my previous attempts of pulling closer, only to be pushed again. Every push takes me further away from the warmth and presents me to the cold, I feel it encircling me now. I don’t like the cold. In a last ditch effort I push the barrier, and it obeys.

Surprised and overjoyed at the same time I push again, the barrier once more heeds my desire. I continue with steady progress and return to where I first encountered the barrier. I drew confidence from my new found knowledge and pushed on, intent on forcing the barrier to submit to me. Many lights faded out in the dark, yet the barrier stood strong and hindered my passage.

Push after push proving pointless as I felt the warmth moving away, as if the barrier protects the warmth. Anxiety washed over me as I grew restless at my lack of success. Soon all I could focus on was the warmth that was kept away from me on one end, and the merciless cold that I’ve witnessed devouring countless lights on the other.

Turning away from the barriers I resumed counting the flickers, one after the other… I observed many lights fading away and many more being born into existence, most didn’t last long. The barrier didn’t try to force me away since its last attempt, it seemingly knew I was here to stay.

As I was counting the flickers of a newly born light something drew my attention, an ‘old’ light, a light that shone ever since I first started counting the flickers, seemingly the only one older than me now… Consequently, what grew my attention was that it too started to flicker. This saddened me somewhat, I drew comfort from knowing I wasn’t the only one continently shining, the thought of this light fading away has sown a seed of fear in me… maybe I too would only last so long…

The old light was gone now, and I am now the ‘old’ one it seems. Looking back on the barrier that stood tall through all these cycles, a forgotten emotion covers my being, loneliness. I once again try pulling myself to the warmth, no success, pushing provided the expected result. Rejecting the thought of once again counting the flickers I try something new.

I don’t pull myself to the warmth, and nor do I push the barrier, no. What I decided to do was to push myself to the barrier while pulling it to me, letting it encompass me. No resistance. I feel the warmth embracing me as I fall prey to slumber again…

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

-Walled City of Rodun; Western corner-

-Innienette-

… *sigh* The kids are being rowdier than usual today, can’t even filter out the noise anymore… must be because of the rumors that recently got passed around… how did they manage to convince me to teach kids again? I thought I finally earned my freedom but no~oo… ‘You’ve imprinted on them’ they said… ‘No one else can manage’… boosting my self-esteem and dragging me back to this torture chamber… I digress, better finish up quickly and go back to my research…

“Quiet!” I yell, sighing again I make sure to make eye contact with each and every one of the unreasonably loud ‘kids’, seeing as they’ve settled down a bit I press on…

“Looks like you all want to end todays lesson early… I have no objections…” this draws their full attention, heh, can’t help but tease them a little… make use of what you have eh?

“But… you have to convince me that I wasn’t talking to myself earlier; I want a briefing on each of the main races… Let’s start with the Karisha, go!” I sit back in the stiff wooden chair with a grunt, I hate this chair… if I’m such an ‘irreplaceable asset’ the least they could do is purchase a comfy chair, heck even a padded stool would be appreciated… next meeting its either they replace this damn monstrosity or I’m gone for good. The looks the kids are making pulls me back from my inner rant and a smile makes its way across my face, they can be cute if they try.

Some are brainstorming, some are furiously trying to mix and mash their knowledge together in hopes of coming up with something presentable, while others have almost visible smoke coming out of their ears. The sight pulls out a few muffled laughs from my side.

A few moments pass and I’m surprised at their cooperation skills, the numerous groups of kids began working as a whole, compiling singular knowledge for the sake of the many. Surprising indeed… shortly after an older girl named Cam’ly is pushed ahead of the rest to meet my gaze, looks like she was the chosen representative. Seeing this as appropriate I motioned for her to continue, she was a bright little girl.

Puffing her chest out, as a show of confidence no doubt, she begins speaking…

“The Karisha are an aqua species that evolved to breathe air and walk on land, they look like humanoid lizards, averaging at 3 meters in height. They are blessed by the Goddess Iacta of water and given the gift of speech. Although they are peaceful in nature, they learned to protect themselves and eventually to attack others if antagonized. Even though they have settlements on land their kingdoms are built under water, spreading across the great Viriden Sea” This got her cheers from the other kids, if I hadn’t noticed her clenching her fists around her pants I would’ve bought the ‘leader’ façade…

“Next…Tunge.” I briefly state, leaving the girl no time to bask in her newfound glory. Silence spread across the room as all eyes were on the poor girl; seemingly nervous at first she quickly regained her composure.

“Eh… Well, the Tunges… yes, they were once human but a small sect took a different evolution path and were blessed by the God Petram of earth. They were given the gift of greater strength and reduced in stature to be closer to the earth. Eventually they grew tired of racial politics and withdrew underground where they built great cities. They never disappeared entirely thought; they just didn’t care as much about the outside.” Mhm, not bad.

“Yes… a bit on the short side though, next… Elves! ” This proved more interesting that I first thought, its fun seeing their faces in the background, reacting to every word we speak, quite fun indeed hehehe.

“I’ll try… The elves are forest dwelling people, almost human on the outside but strangely different on the inside. Their pointy ears are the only way to differentiate between an elf and a human. The elves are blessed by the Goddess Foliume of the earth and given the gift of time.

Thus their lifespan is considerably longer, some having reached passed 200 cycles of age, and while that was once considered a positive advantage it also meant that their young were aging slower and thus only reached adolescence at about 30 cycles, almost twice as long as humans. The elves are fairly reserved, and mostly keep to themselves but are quite aggressive if one were to intrude upon their land uninvited.” Impressive…

“Well said Cam’ly, next are the Neph!”

“*Ahem* The Neph live high in the mountain tops, they are blesses by the God A’uru of wind and given flight. Thus they conquered the skies and built their cities on mountain tops, it is extremely difficult to visit one of the said cities without help or permission by one of the Neph, and it is said that their cities are magnificent to behold. They hold a special place amongst the races, mostly as result of their pacifistic natures; rarely would you see one of the Neph engaging in conflict.” Quite a boring race they are…

“Next are… Humans! ” Should be easy enough talking about your own race.

“Hehe, we humans are thought to be the offsprings of giants, having inherited our ancestors free spirit we once roamed the world, in small tribes, preferring a changing climate we mostly populate the central continent. We are blessed by the Goddess Pulvics of fire, the mother of the first giants, and are gifted adaptation.

That same gift being the reason for the evolution that the Tunges went through, and eventually leading to the separation of our ‘two’ races. While it is hard find faults in us, we can be considered impatient” You could say that again… impatient being too mild a word to describe humans.

“Plenty of faults could be found in every race, no one is perfect. Remember that little ones, next are the N’ani” This should be good…

“The N’ani were once tree dwellers, said to be ancient trees that came to life, they have light brown colored skin and have high affinity to animals. They were a secluded bunch that mostly never left their forests and groves, taking care of both beasts and plants alike. They were blessed by the god Serenus of life and given the gift of knowledge. Even with their gift they remained unchanged, preferring to lead their life as they have all along.

At a time they were protected by the Elves, being seen as spiritual leaders and guides, this soon grew to annoy the N’ani, as the Elves were beginning to become possessive, so they abandoned the forests, taking all life that would come with them. They made their new home in self-made caverns, stretching across as far as the eye could see, containing life in all colors.” Cam’ly looks into my eyes as if expecting a treat, well she did practically pass my test so I throw her an apple I planned to eat afterwards, which causes a gasp as she barely caught it, seemingly frightened by my gesture, amusing. I flash the kids a wide smile implying I was satisfied.

“Well done. “I gesture to the door with my left hand while grabbing another apple from my basket with my right and taking a bite.

“…” The kids don’t move, what’s more unsettling is that they aren’t making a sound… now this just feels weird.

“W-what is it?” I slightly stutter because of their intense stare… oh no, they can perceive this as a sign of weakness… how do I fix this? I begin to panic…

“Can you tell us of the demons that were spotted in the north a few years ago?” A boy, not much younger than Cam’ly finally breaks the silence… thank you, you’re my favorite now, uhmm, what was his name again…

“Yeah! The demons, tell us about them!” before I recall my saviors’ name my thoughts are interrupted, eh might as well… sigh… great now I’m sighing inwardly too.

“Well I know a legend about them… will that suffice?” yet another smile creeps its way onto my face.

“Yes!” They’re answering in unison now? Where was this discipline when I was teaching about healing herbs? Slightly annoyed I begin my story…

“Very well… Long ago there was another race of man. They lived in the desert to the far west, and were called the Ante. They had scaly skin as a result of the suns exposure, varying in coloration by either age or gender. And took pride in their ability to thrive in those harsh conditions, and their pride was not unfounded, for the desert was also home to many dangerous beings, some of which are even reminisced in our legends to this day.

They were blessed by the Goddess Ignis of fire and given the gift of sense. They had used their blessing mostly for finding water in the desert and building numerous oasis’s as their cities. They were a people living by a simple code of two phrases; In peace give life. In war give death.” Taking a moment to look at the faces they were making went unrewarded, how they are now reminds me of the younnuns back home. Faces stoic and bodies unmoving, apparently annoyed with me stopping my storytelling.

“*Ahem* Now, seeing as we’ve gotten passed that part of the story let us focus on the important part, the interesting part…. How the Antes fell.” Stopping yet again to take measure of their faces I was rewarded with a glint of anxiety in their eyes. Yes… this was what I was looking for.

“As we’ve already learned from the introduction of history, their patron goddess, Ignis gave them ‘sense’… but what wasn’t written down in the history books was the reason she had blessed them. She had seen their battle potential, they were a hardened race, and weakness was filtered out of them even before birth. She wanted them to conquer the other races in order to show the other gods her supremacy.

But it hasn’t occurred to her that the Ante people would not blindly follow her wishes, and after her repeated demands of obedience were refused she grew angry. They didn’t use her gift as she had designed it, they weren’t grateful for her blessing, they ignored her… fully intent to survive on their own.

Her patience dwindled and she finally drew her breath and projected her voice onto the mortal Ante people.

‘It appears I have made a mistake… ‘She said… ‘You are not worthy of my gifts! Seeing as you don’t even use the ‘sense’ I gave you I shall take something else instead…’ So she took their sight, forever dooming them in the darkness. ‘And as repayment for your impudence your people shall suffer my blight. May you stumble and fall…’

The newfound blindness was a growing seed of panic, even with their mentality, suddenly losing one of the primal senses was a devastating blow, thrown together with the blight the Antes had little hope for survival….” I’m interrupted with a sudden question.

“Ma-Inni! Ma-Inni! What’s a blight?” A reasonable question… but I was just getting to that…

“Well… it’s a like a curse, but different, for example; a curse can be cured no matter who inflicted it, but to lift a blight the one responsible had to be killed. And to remedy a blight inflicted by a god was unthinkable.” Seeing that answered the question I continue.

“Now where was I… ah yes, ‘The Blight of Ignis’ was a mutation she inflicted on the Antes, when their young would be born their immune system would let all heat pass through their exterior skin and burn up their delicate insides. All temperatures above freezing would cause this, just at different speeds. So the Antes traveled north, abandoning their homes and cities.

For cycles they traveled, and after every birthing cycle they left little pyres along their path. The Antes grew desperate, they were becoming weak, low on food and morale, and lacking their vision they did what they could to survive; hunt, scavenge, forage, and pillage.

This earned them no small number of enemies and some even used the opportunity to attack and weaken the once great race. After years of war and travel the Antes were reduces to mere thousands. Nothing more than a small shadow of the once hundred million strong race of warriors… now they were only weak blind barbarians to the other races, not even worth the effort to subjugate or enslave, mostly because of their lack of sight.

According to legend on their travels their scales turned as black as night… some say it was to camouflage themselves in the cover of darkness, but from what we know they were too prideful to hide in the dark, even in those circumstances… others say it was because of their rage, their anger growing so fierce that it influenced their coloration…

It was never mentioned when or even if they made it to the north, as none bothered to go after them. But if the reports from a few years back are to be believed then maybe they did make it… or maybe it was a different race altogether. The whole baseline of the Antes connection to the demons is their change of color just before their sightings were lost.” Finally finished with the tale I feel a slightly peckish… should get some steamed veggies later… mmhmm…