At World's End

by Levi F Fox

  Behind him, there was strange, looming darkness, and Zac could not see anything beyond the blackness.

  He blinked once as if to ensure that his eyes were working properly, and then he slowly got to his feet, wiping his hands on his stained jeans.

  He felt his blood coursing through his veins very quickly, and it inspired him to imagine that the worst was behind him. There was the gracious sound of the gentle breeze and birds chirping overhead.

  The sky was a mixture of asymmetrical blue and white lines, with a very small cloud cover allowing the sun in the distance to penetrate its rays all the way to Zac’s face.

  It was a truly beautiful place to be, and he felt a strange sense of calmness being in a place where he could smell the distinct odor of flowers in the spring.

  Then, his seemingly heavenly outlook of everything was suddenly shattered when he realized that there was somebody – or something – that had been keeping their eyes on him the entire time.

  There was an elf standing in front of him, staring at him with its deep, engorged eyes and its skin on its face floppy and overlapping downwards. The elf wore an ugly grey rug that clung onto its bony shoulders desperately, and its long, sharp yellow toenails matched impeccably with its inexcusable teeth.

  Zac was unsure where the elf had unexpectedly appeared from—it seemed to have morphed right out of thin air.

  “W-who are you?” Zac stammered.

  The elf bowed gracefully and majestically, answering:

  “I’m Grelda, the messenger.”

  Zac shrugged.

  “I have been sent here to show you everything,” said the elf, its small, disproportional body being suddenly consumed by Zac’s shadow as he came close to it.

  “Cause me no harm,” it said in a croaky, bullfrog voice, raising its hands over its ugly head.

  Zac stared closer at the elf, eyeing its strange body.

  He had never seen one before.

  “What do you want to show me?” Zac asked.

  The elf gestured with its head.

  “Come. I’ll show you everything.”

  Zac did not understand, but followed the elf a short distance as it bubbled over to the edge of the hill where they beheld a scenic view before them.

  Zac could see the whole world from where he was standing, and he stopped paying attention to the elf and marveled at the beautiful sight before him.

  They were standing atop a grassy hill on the Land of Ice, and before them, the Earth stretched endlessly, encircling a massive patch of ice at the center of the universe. Zac could see Atlantis from where he was standing—the small island in the middle of the Atlantic bordered by the African continent and the Americas continents on either side of its eastern and western peripheries.

  Zac could also see the sun revolving slowly and purposely above the earth, categorically washing one section of the world in dull, yellow light while the opposite side had a thin, white light emanating from the moon in the darkened section of the Earth.

  Zac could see that entire landmasses were covered in green, and the air seemed to be owned exclusively by the birds. He could also see the wild animals roaming freely, and there seemed to be a strange sense of peace about the place such that it made Zac feel nervous.

  The landforms were particularly beautiful, with Zac taking note of beautiful valleys and breath-taking stretches of woodland. There were mountains everywhere, capped by snow and numerous streams of water cascading through the lands with larger water masses situated arbitrarily throughout the landmasses.

  “Watch closely,” said the elf in a quiet, husky tone.

  Then, Zac started to see a strange sight on the very peripheries of the earth—the oddest creatures that he was yet to see.

  At first, he thought he had seen a beautiful woman, gliding through the air aided by wings that seemed to be strapped on her back. She was a beautiful black woman, with dark hair cascading from her head all the way to her back, and she had a smile that seemed infectious.

  Her eyes were blazingly beautiful, and even though she was a significant distance away from where Zac and the elf were standing, Zac could not imagine anybody he had ever seen who was half as beautiful as she was.

  And then he realized it—much to his shock.

  “Hey,” said Zac, turning to the elf, “are those wings actually part of her body?”

  The elf did not say anything but nodded.

  Zac watched as she landed gracefully on the very edge of the world to the north-west. He did nothing to conceal his surprise as he observed the same movement from three other similar creatures as they glided through the mushy clouds to the four edges of the world, each of them taking up position, and their wings flapping together on their backs like hands clasped in prayer.

  The four creatures maintained their positions on the edges of the world, watching over the wildlife and the beautiful landforms below them.

  Then, strange darkness seemed to steal over the land and swept through the sun-lit and moon-lit landmasses, causing a strange coldness to emanate onto the place.

  The angels abruptly stood upright, their wings on their backs spreading out grandly, making their bodies look much bigger than they actually were. They were clutching large flaming swords in both their hands. Zac felt a strange sensation in his body, that familiar tingly feeling that usually warned him of impending danger.

  And then, flying quietly and undetectably, the sky was snappishly filled with large, black, ugly flying monsters, with long, blade-like wings and reptilian eyes. They resembled the birds of the sky, except that they were almost different in every way.

  Zac realized that they were coming from behind them—from the cold, impending darkness that seemed to be surrounding the dominant parts of the world.

  The four beautiful winged creatures on the edges of the world started to attack the large, flying beasts with humongous blades. They swung their swords at the beasts, but they seemed to have no effect.

  The flying monsters grouped together, their scaly skins gleaming off the rays of the sun. They roared loudly at the winged creatures, their fiery red eyes locking onto their opponents.

  The winged creatures seemed to have resigned to their fate—each of them was completely surrounded by at least a dozen monsters, and there was no way they were going to take them on successfully.

  The flying monsters raised their heads simultaneously, and to Zac’s shock, the animals proceeded to exhale fire from their opened, scaly mouths.

  Zac could barely hear the screams of the winged creatures as they were immediately consumed by the flames and turned to smoldering remains.

  Chapter 26

  All the four corners of the world were gushing with thick red blood despite the fact that the winged creatures were burned to death. The blood soaked up into the ground, transforming the edges of the earth into thick, impenetrable ice barriers.

  The ice just formed in an instant, and it spread so fast, rushing and encroaching the Earth at top speed and making such a frightening sound as it approached Zac that he cried out in panic.

  “We should get out of here,” he said to the elf, but the elf did not move. Instead, he replied:

  “Be calm, master.”

  The slain winged creatures suddenly appeared in the sky for a moment, formed in the shape of the clouds. They stared down at Zac and the elf with big, relieved smiles on their faces.

  The moving ice finally got to the spot where Zac and the elf were standing, encroaching from both sides. The moving ice from the opposing sides collided right in front of Zac, and he winced, raising his arms to his face and preparing for the inevitable pain.

  But there was nothing.

  When he opened his eyes, the land that he was standing on that was once covered with beautiful greenery had now been replaced by an ice-covered ground. The hill that they were standing on had now been turned into a block of ice, and there was some light steam rising into the sunny atmosphere.

  Zac noticed that the sudden ice
transformation had no effect on the monsters that were now roaming the skies of the world nor the wild animals roaming freely in the landmasses.

  The mass of ice had effectively enclosed the earth, acting as a boundary. The ice wall went so high up—right to the point where Zac and the elf were standing, and it appeared high enough to prevent even the flying monsters from leaving the center of the universe.

  “What the hell is this?” Zac asked.

  “Watch and see,” said the elf.

  Zac felt frustrated. He grabbed the excuse-of-a-cloth the elf was wearing and threw him to the ground. He pinned the elf with his knee, suddenly noticing how cold the icy ground was.

  The elf cried out.

  “Where the hell am I?” Zac asked.

  “Master,” said the elf, raising its hands to protect its face and trying to keep as much of its body off the ice as possible. “Cause no harm to me.”

  “Then, tell me,” said Zac.

  “You are witnessing the birth of the world, master,” said the elf in a frightened voice. “Cause no harm to me.”

  Zac let go of the elf’s rug apparel and got to his feet. The large monsters were still patrolling the skies.

  “What are those?” Zac asked.

  The elf got to its feet, brushing off the coldness of the ice on its side.

  “Those are magical creatures, master,” said the elf. “They are dragons.”

  “Who sent them?”

  “The first human beings, master,” said the elf. “To make the world free.”

  Zac frowned. “Free?”

  The elf nodded. “Yes, free.”

  Zac watched as the scene before him changed, but it took a significant period for it to display a different scene. The dragons eventually lost their ability to fly, falling to the Earth and disappearing into the rubble.

  Then, Zac watched and saw that there was a thriving human community on one specific landmass—Atlantis. Then, it progressively disappeared under the water and never reappeared again.

  The people who were once living on Atlantis spread out to the rest of the world—different families traveling to the farthest sections of the world and establishing homes and villages in those places. These new families found a way of living peacefully with the wildlife that was more dominant on the Earth.

  Then, a small, secretive group of people emerged from the rest of the families—a group of people that was unconventional in every way, from the way they dressed, the way they spoke and communicated to the way they behaved.

  Despite being spread out to every corner of the world, this group of secretive people frequently met, forming enigmatic ways of control that resulted in conflicts that pushed the dispersed families closer to each other.

  This secretive group of people proceeded to take control of every resource that the families acquired to survive. They created the first currency—mineral gold, and they would not reveal to the rest of humanity the true origin of the currency until after several centuries of working on its true origin, from mining.

  The secretive group of people was also responsible for the changing landscape of the world, as a steady encroachment of constructions would eventually result in the formation of cities across the Earth to a point where there were so many human beings that Zac could not even fathom to count.

  “What is all–” Zac started to ask, but when he looked down, the elf had disappeared. Puzzled, he looked around him, but all the could see was the endless ice that was starting to make the whole place ice-cold.

  Then, it started snowing.

  When Zac looked up into the sky, he noticed that all he could see was darkness.

  When he looked around him, it progressively dawned on him that he was no longer atop the hill, but he was, in fact, in a very lonely place that he could not fathom.

  The blackness around him seemed to be alive, almost elated, dancing in different shades all around him.

  Zac watched in surprise as the darkness started casting its authority nearer and nearer to him, closing in on his very being.

  What’s going on? Zac asked himself.

  The darkness continued to dance around Zac, edging closer and closer to him with every movement.

  Zac watched as the darkness finally enveloped him tightly, coiling around him in a bizarre embrace like that of a snake.

  He felt death closing in on him. He could almost taste it on his tongue, the vile tastelessness of its delicious assurance. He knew that he would be at peace with himself very soon.

  He closed his eyes for what he hoped was the final time.

  Chapter 27

  An old angel with a thick white beard that matched his apparels got to his feet and stretched out his exhausted hands. There was a big smile on his face, and it did reveal his surprisingly white and well-kept teeth.

  “How did you like that story?” He asked.

  There was a younger angel seated in front of his desk in his expansive office.

  The young angel took a moment before he could reply. He had been inside the office for the past few hours, but he was still completely taken in by the scenery that was surrounding them.

  The walls of the office were made of pure glass, and this meant that the young angel could see through to the regal forest beneath them and to a distant sea near the horizon.

  There was light streaming everywhere. It was so much that it made the white-bearded old man one with the light. The young angel did find his voice, though:

  “That was an interesting story,” he said. “I still don’t get it.”

  “What don’t you get?” The old angel asked.

  “The boy,” said the young angel, “the main character in your story. Zac, was it?”

  “Yes,” said the old angel. “What about him?”

  The young angel shrugged a little. “Well, first of all, I don’t get why he is important—I haven’t understood why he’s so different from everybody around him, but more importantly, what happens to him?”

  The old angel laughed a little. He shuffled to the far end of the room where there was a glass table with an array of bottles, clutched his sides, then poured himself a rich red drink into a small glass.

  “I don’t k-know,” he said in between gulps.

  “Didn’t you write the story?” The young angel asked.

  “Yes,” replied the old angel, pouring himself another drink.

  “Then, let me just give you a basic piece of advice,” said the young angel.

  “Says the inexperienced writer who’s only aspiring and has nothing to his name,” retorted the old angel.

  “Regardless of what you might think of me,” said the young angel, “the story would be much better if you just kill off the main human. It is important that you show our people these humans for the vile scum they actually are.”

  The old man was preoccupied with his drink at that moment.

  “The small human boy should be killed off—confirm it at the end of the story.”

  The old angel shrugged.

  “I intend for life to follow that course,” said the old angel, “I have already put it in print. The human boy, just like the elf, is a messenger.”

  “But I just think that the work can never be a masterpiece,” said the young angel, now getting to his feet and walking slowly towards the door.

  The old man set his glass down on the table.

  “Wait,” he shouted.

  The young angel stopped in his tracks, right at the door.

  “Why is it not a masterpiece?” The old angel asked.

  “Because you have revealed too much,” said the young angel. “The humans must never know. A good story is one that doesn’t inform them.”

  The old angel had a puzzled look on his face.

  “A true magician never reveals his secrets,” the young angel said with a smile.

  He let himself out, closing the door behind him.

  fin

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