Incarnation: Wandering Stars Volume One (3 page)

And the
earth
trembled.

The
righteous
wrath
of the
B
right
O
nes flared.  Heat radiat
ed
from their
blinding light
as they descended to the earth.

The
wicked
fury
of the
D
ark
O
nes seethed.  Bitter cold emanated from the
ir nothingness a
s they moved to intercept their
descending
enemies.

Dark
O
nes
were incinerated
in flashes of light, and
Bright
O
nes were engulfed in shadow, never to return.

In the distance, almost unnoticeable at first, more
B
right
O
nes descended.  Separated from the battle they came to the earth gently, taking the form of
creatures that move through the land, sea, and sky
. 
Everywhere they touched
, the spreading
flow of poison from the
D
ark
O
nes
was
stemmed
.  The earth began to heal as its form was altered
.  When their work was complete, the
stars
ascended
in
to the sky
while
the battle raged
on the horizon
.

And the earth shuddered.

But
not all ascended.  S
ome stayed
behind
, w
andering among
creation, continuing their work. 
And as their light
began to dim and
spread throughout the earth, it
enveloped creatures of the land, sea, and sky, swirling into
disparate bands of color
.  From within the dance of
vibrant
hues
came billowing clouds of darkness that
g
rew into new beings, large and powerful. 
They emerged in
somber
colors
that defied the light from which they were born.  T
heir forms were twisted
perversions
of the
creatures of the earth.  They opened their mouths and began to feed upon the
world
as their
very existence depend
ed
on laying waste to creation and con
sum
ing
the creatures of the land, sea, and sky.

The people fled in terror, their cries rising to the sky as smoke.  And
,
as the people perished, their blood
spilled
onto the
land,
flowing to the low places,
seeping into the
cracks and
crevices
.

And
the earth
shook
.

And the shuddering
increased until the
foundations of the earth collapsed.  Where blood had flowed, great cracks now opened, releasing the fountains of the deep.
 
The
land was suddenly lifted to the sky and the earth
was rent in two
.  The
waters of the
abyss
escaped
from beneath the earth and
covered
the sky with
darkness, raining down
in torrents
.
 
On
the horizon the
shadow
of the
abyss
rose like mountains and
swept across the land
as an insatiable demon,
devouring all creat
ed
things.

Growing.

Moving closer.

Rising
until nothing else could be seen
.

Enoch
sat upright and inhaled sharply.  His heart beat loudly in his ears
, a
stark contrast to the surrounding silence.

“Are you alright?” came a weary whisper from his left.

Enoch simply
exhaled
, trying to calm himself.

“What’s wrong?” the voice repeated, clearer and louder this time, but
cracking slightly a
t
the edges. 
“Was it a vision?”
said the voice, after a long pause.
  This time, the words were steady.

Enoch turned to his wife
,
Zacol
,
and nodded, still
not ready for words
of
his own
.

A soft
whimper
came from the other side of the room and
Zacol
rose to check on their son.
  She
carefully pulled a cover over the boy
and
waited to
make sure he fell
asleep again.  When
the small room was silent
once more
,
she turned and
walked quickly out the door.

Enoch hunched forward and put his face in his hands, gently massaging his eye sockets with his
fingertips
.

After all
this time
, her first reaction is still anger.  I thought
we had grown beyond this!

Enoch opened his eyes slowly and let his hands slide down his face.  With a deep breath, he rose to his feet and
followed
Zacol
outside.

She stood with her arms crossed, her back to him.

Enoch
ducked under the edge of their thatched roof and stepped out into the night.  Over
Zacol
’s shoulder, a
broad expanse of
grasslands extended as far as the eye could see.  A short distance away, hundreds of tiny huts, just like their own, were huddled in the
bright
moonlight.
  Theirs was the only one separated from the rest of the tribe.

“Why won’t He leave you alone?”
she said softly without turning.

Enoch walked forward
a few steps and clasped his hands behind his back
. 
“It’s a privilege that He speaks to me at all
.
”

Zacol
’s head dropped. 
“It
feels like a
curse
sometimes.”

Enoch
gritted his teeth to keep from saying something that would only make the situation worse.  Looking down at the blades of soft grass between his toes, he had to admit that his wife was only saying what he sometimes felt himself.  By the time his
clenched
jaw finally relaxed, he was able to
say the words that they both needed to hear.

“
He speaks out of love for us, even if the message is not always pleasant.  And
we know
the
consequences of ignoring what He
reveals
are borne by everyone
.”

Zacol turned around
slowly. 
Instead of
a
stern expression, she had tears in her eyes.
  “
W
hat did you see this time?”

Enoch
took a breath, then
reached up and gently
wiped the tears from her check with the back of his fingers
.

“Something bad
?
” she
probed.

Enoch
simply
nodded.

“
And w
hat are you supposed to do?” she
asked
,
trying as always
to get to the point as quick
ly
as possible
.

Enoch
glanced
down at the grass again
, suddenly unable to look into her eyes
.  He wished he didn’t have to say it. 
“I have to go away for a while
.
”
 
A moment of silence passed
before he looked up again.

Zacol’s eyes
were closed and her head was lifted slightly.  She pursed her lips, but remained silent. 
Without
another
word
, she
stepped past him and
walked away.

A luminescent trail of blood meandered along the soil.  Its path was erratic; disturbed
occasionally by footprints on one side and lateral scuff marks on the other. 
Sariel
tried his best to deny the fact that somewhere, on the other end of the glowing
line of
evidence
they were leaving behind
, the demonic
hordes were tracking them.  It would hardly be a difficult task.

The liquid light that coursed through angelic veins would have been lost against the radiant backdrop of their own territory.  But they were now behind enemy lines, and the dark, barren soil of this place only made their presence blatantly obvious.

“Come on,” Sariel said, bearing almost all of
Amthardel
’s
weight.

The
Iryllur
was looking paler by the second.  His legs were covered in his own blood, spilling freely from the gash on the left side of his abdomen.

They both knew it was fatal.  But Sariel didn’t want
Amthardel
dying in a place like this.  As he hefted the soldier across the rough soil, he looked down into the valley
to the north
, seeking solace in the iridescent forest now less than a mile away.

“It’s beautiful.  You’ll see,” he assured
his friend.

Painful seconds lengthened into excruciating minutes while the two soldiers hobbled across the land.  In this
E
ternal
R
ealm, where even light and sound were immortal and the passage of time was
irrelevant
, Sariel was oddly aware of every moment.  It truly felt like an eternity before they crossed the line that separated the territory of the Holy from the Unholy.  Finally leaving behind the desolate, shadowy realm of the demons, the two
Iryllur
ym
descended into the protection of the towering trees.

Thick grasses grew tall around the water that
roamed peacefully
through the flat lands
below
, fed by a
n underground
spring
. 
From the rich soil, the surrounding trees grew massive, like giant sentinels keeping watch over the glen. 
T
heir leaves danced in the breeze, the
shimmering
outlines
scatter
ing
a multitude of green hues in every direction.  In concert with this rhythmic motion were the lingering echoes of songs that seemed intertwined with the very spirit of this
sacred place
.  As the gentle passage of air rippled the surface of the lake, melodies were stirred up and tossed along the glassy swells, colliding with harmonies that had been lying dormant for years.

But all of this, Sariel had seen countless times before.  Now, in the last moments of
Amthardel
’s
life, the only thing he noticed was the
distant look
in the eyes of the
Iryllur
sitting next to him.

“You were right,”
Amthardel
said.  “This is a good place to die.”

Sariel
clenched his fists
,
but kept
his eyes fixed on
the
face
of his soldier
.

Amthardel
took a deep breath, then winced.  “Don’t let them
win,” he said, turning his head.  For a brief moment,
his eyes seemed to brighten with clarity
and that faraway look disappeared.

Sariel wanted to say something.  But words were insufficient.  Instead, he closed his mouth and nodded
—a
silent promise.
Then
,
they both turned and looked out over the waters of
Laeningar
, the Valley of Healing.