The Awakening: Artifact of Creation (4 page)

Chapter
3

Twenty-four hours had passed
since the masked-man’s soldiers had set out in pursuit of the boy,
they had not returned with any information regarding the
whereabouts of the artifact. It was a bad omen that he had not
heard from his men. He clenched his fists in anger,
how could a mere boy escape my men?
He thought to himself.

He gazed out of the flaps of
canvas that formed windows in his quaint quarters. Beyond his
quarters were rows of prisoners from the small village who were
held captive under the watchful eyes of his remaining mercenaries.
The prisoners were a pathetic lot of whimpering children, whose
mother’s sought to give them comforting words of hope, yet the
mother’s knew that their words were lies, born from desperation.
Even more pathetic than the women and children, were the elderly
men. They begged like dogs for food and water. It was little wonder
he did not care for the mortals that inhabited this world. He
brought his muscled arms across his chest, feeling the surge of
darkness and hatred rise inside of him.

“
Pathetic mortals.” He said.
“Mulling over their unfortunate lives. In time, I will show them
that they have yet to experience true misery.”

Desperation grew inside of him for
the artifact that the boy had escaped with. Of course he could
search out the boy himself, by extending his powers into the world.
But the risk was too great. He knew there were others that shared
the same powers as he, borne from the ancient bloodlines of the
Awakened. Those others, who were born of similar bloodlines, and
who possessed the power of the Awakening, would seek him out and
thwart his plans. It was a risk he could not afford, especially in
his current weakened state.

In the darkness of his quarters,
he felt the power of the Awakening churn and swell inside of him,
it was as if it were a living cancer that was symbiotic to his
actual life force, preserving his body for a thousand years until
he was finally able to return to the world of the living. He felt
the coolness of its presence guide his thoughts and actions. The
Awakening began to form images in his mind. The images flashed,
showing portions of both the past, present and future mixed
together to reveal secrets that were never meant to be known among
the world of man.

The churning inside of him
continued. It conjured shadowy images inside his mind of men who
had just emerged from the edge of the forest on the outskirts of
the town. There were a handful of them, each broke off and went
their separate ways save for one lone man. The mists of shadow
inside the masked man’s mind formed an image of the lone man’s
face. It was his captain, Captain Tankard. Within the shadowy mists
that formed inside of his mind, the masked man watched Tankard
slowly make his way through the village. Then Tankard stopped just
a handful of yards away from the canvas quarters. The masked man
could sense the fear that emitted from the Captain’s
soul.

“
I know you are there Captain
Tankard. What news have you?”

Captain Tankard timidly entered
the quarters. He was a round man with rosy cheeks and long hair
that partially hid a fearsome scar across his left eye. He was
dressed in furs about his neck with leather straps that covered his
grey traveling cloak. He stepped into the darkness of the canvas
quarters.

“
Lord Elixir...the boy escaped.”
He said with his head bowed. His hands shook at his
side.

Elixir could sense the Captain’s
fear growing, it was a sensation he relished and longed for. It was
exhilarating watching mortals cower before his presence. He stepped
out of the shadows and into the light of a nearby candle. His mask
was made of rustic black metal that formed tightly around his
skull, a type of breathing apparatus was strapped across his mouth
and nose. Black slits for eyes glistened in the waning light of the
candle.

“
Unacceptable Captain!” Elixir
berated the captain, his words sounded mechanical due to his
breathing apparatus.

“
We tried...we lost the boy in the
forest...” The Captain’s words were cut-short by a sudden
constricting of his lungs. He gasped as air was wrenched out of his
body. His vision began to blur.

In the wake of his blurring
vision, the Captain watched black energy radiate from Elixir’s
outstretched hand. The radiating energy entered into Captain
Tankard’s body. The captain felt his lungs collapsing inward. His
consciousness began to slip. Desperately he fought against the
effects of the dark energy that pulsated in his body, which was
crushing his lungs. Then the Captain coughed blood and collapsed in
a lifeless heap at the feet of Elixir.

Elixir stepped over the dead
Captain and made his way through the canvas door of his quarters.
The captive villagers cowered in fear as they saw his dark form
pass among them. Elixir signaled to a nearby soldier.

“
You there, take charge of this
camp, no prisoners shall escape. If one leaves, they all die. Got
it?” The guard nodded. “I must leave to seek out the
artifact.”

Elixir knelt upon the ground and
bowed his head. Again images flashed in his mind as the Awakening
stirred inside of him. A black and purple aura irradiated around
his being as he reached out into the world through the
Awakening.

In his vision, Elixir could see
the boy with what appeared to be an elf and a girl. They were
sleeping deep within the forest. He let the images of his vision
subside and then addressed the guard once more. “The boy is at the
edge of the forest. I will reach him before dawn. No one leaves
until I return, understand?”

“
Yes my Lord.” The guard
saluted.

Elixir swiftly moved across the
camp and jumped aboard a speeder. He cranked on the throttle and
tore through the village and into the night. His cape whipped
violently about him as he disappeared into the dark.

Chapter
4

Asher arose early the next morning
just before dawn. He stepped lightly past Kayla and the elf,
careful not to wake them from their sleep. He walked away from
their camp to be alone with his thoughts. He began to imagine the
awful things those soldiers might do to his mother and sister. A
cold draft from a gust of wind shifted through the trees. Asher
hugged himself tighter, a failed attempt to keep himself warm.
Despite his discomfort he still remembered his promise to his
grandfather. He clenched the necklace his grandfather had given to
him and whispered to himself.

“I will not fail you grandfather.
I will rescue them.”

“Alby think stupid boy funny for
talking to himself,” Asher spun around, startled at the voice that
came from behind him. Asher saw Alby sitting cross legged on a
giant rock just a few feet away. Alby hopped off the rock and
crawled on four legs toward Asher. “Why is stupid boy
crying?”

Asher could see the innocence in
the elf’s giant brown eyes. Asher wiped away his tears. “First of
all, my name is Asher, and second, it is because I miss my family.
Their lives are in danger and I can’t help them.”

Alby nodded hurriedly, excitement
and understanding lit up in his eyes. “Is that why Asher needs
pretty necklace?”

Asher nodded. “Yes, I don’t know
what it does but the people who are called the Awakened at the
Temple Anin’nar can help. I don’t know how though.” He trailed
off.

Alby scurried away from Asher and
climbed upon the giant rock once more. He waved his hand beckoning
to Asher to follow. “Come, hurry, Alby knows of a secret place.”
And with that the elf scurried off the rock.

“Alby wait! We can’t just leave
Kayla.” It was too late; Alby had already disappeared into the
trees. Asher ran after the elf, dashing through brush and rock
while ducking beneath large limbs.

Within minutes he finally caught
up with Alby just outside of a clearing of trees. Past the
clearing, there was a stone path that was lined with jagged rocks
and descended into the darkness of the forest beyond. Asher noticed
that the forest seemed much more quiet and still. The soft humming
of night insects had suddenly ceased, all there was, was silence.
Even the sound of wind rustling leaves seemed to have
vanished.

Alby waved at Asher and beckoned
him to follow. Slowly the two descended the rock pathway. After
what seemed like an eternity, they made it to the bottom of the
path. In the faint rising rays of the sun, Asher could see enormous
monoliths of stone carved into the shape of warriors both male and
female. The carved stone appeared to be part of an ancient
structure that had long been broken and diminished with
time.

Asher cautiously moved forward,
taking care not to step on stones out of respect for the ancient
structure. In the stones, he could see engraved writings of a
language he did not recognize, he assumed that its interpretation
had long since been lost.

“Alby, what is this place?” He
asked peering about in wonder.

“Alby show Asher ancient
building. Alby’s people tells stories of men and women with
incredible power. We call them
Shinan’nah
. In the tongue of man, it
means The
Awakened
. The legends tell that long ago, the Awakened had protected
my ancestors against a great evil.”

Asher moved silently among the
ruins, tracing his fingers across the rough cold stone. Asher felt
as if he had stepped backwards in time, into another age. He
imagined to himself what the Awakened warriors must have been like,
he imagined the power they possessed.

“And these statues, are they of
the Awakened?” Asher asked.

“Yes, yes, there was seven great
ones among them. These statues are they. Seven great warriors for
seven Artifacts of Creation.”

Asher continued to explore the
ancient structure. He searched for any sign of who they might be,
or if there was any indication if this was the Temple Anin’Nar that
he needed to return the necklace to.

“I only had heard stories of the
Awakened, I thought them nothing more than myths.” Asher said to
Alby.

Asher continued to explore the
structure. Weaving through arched doorways and broken walls of
yellowed stone. At the center of the structure, was a piece of
architecture which resembled a water fountain. It was cracked and
covered with moss and vines.

Asher then returned out of the
structure to speak with Alby. He expected Alby to be sitting on the
nearby stone that was just below the rock pathway they had
descended. Instead, all Asher found was dirt, trees, and bushes,
Alby was nowhere to be found.

“Alby! Where are you?” He called
out. “This is no time for games. We need to get back to Kayla.” He
scanned the area about him, nothing. The elf seemed to have
vanished without a single trace. Then something moved in the
shadows of the trees.

“Alby? Is that you?”

Out of the shadows a dark caped
figure emerged. Asher recognized the man by his gruesome mask,
though he did not see it before as clearly as now. The man’s black
metal mask, glistened in the emerging light of the dawn. Asher
could hear the masked man’s mechanical breathing. Its sound hung
heavy in the silence of the small valley. In both of his arms, the
man held Kayla and Alby, each struggling to break-free. Anger
swelled up inside of Asher.

“You are clever boy, but not
clever enough to hide your trail.” The cloaked man stepped further
out of the surrounding trees, his cape billowed softly as he walked
toward Asher. “This is a perfect setting to take back what is
rightfully mine. Do you know what this place is?” Asher shook his
head ‘no’. “This was the place where I lost the remaining artifact
and my soul was caste into the Forbidding by those who possessed
the power of the pure bloodlines, the power of the Awakened. My
brethren, those of the fallen bloodlines, did battle with them and
pushed the Awakened to near extinction but not without their own
demise. Now I Elixir, the Lord of the Fallen, have returned to take
back what was rightfully mine. It is destiny that I should fall
into possession of the artifact once more, in the same location
where it was stolen from me and had led to my demise. Hand it here
boy, or they die.”

Asher hesitated and exchanged
glances between his friends and the masked man. His heart pounded
in his chest, sweat already drenched his shirt. His mind raced
through different scenarios of how he could rescue his friends. A
quick glance around the surrounding area revealed that there was no
route of escape, they were trapped.

“Come on boy, at least spare their
lives. I will have the artifact one way or another.” A terrible
energy emerged from the man, feeling the space about him with a
dark hazy light. The energy hung heavy in the air and its effect
was astonishing. To Asher, it felt like the very essence of death
and decay, he felt his confidence slip to despair. The anger that
swelled inside of him began to sway to the same feeling of
powerlessness as before.