“Why?”
He was the stranger here, an outsider, the alien from another dimension and even if he didn’t pose an immediate threat, there could be repercussions for aiding him. What sort of help was he after exactly? Laja knew that getting off this lump of glass would be a start. Then he would have to hope for some guidance from the Harmonic Ones to enable him to track down the humans and more specifically, the messenger. Laja felt uncharacteristically negative about his prospects and feeling Laja’s despair, the entity drifted closer.
This being was like nothing it had ever encountered before and its downed comrade was an even bigger mystery. They had come from the upper atmosphere and yet they did not belong here and together they were attempting to save another life form, the human.
Humans were being brought here against their will, falling like stars from the heavens and then enslaved to help power an army and right at the centre of this chaos was the Formless Ones. They had a lot to answer for, having bent and shaped Ruma to suit their requirements, dividing the heavens and turning a once lush planet into a vision of hell.
They were a bad seed and this had got them ejected from their lofty position and then removed completely from this dimension. There should have been no way back for them, but since they were here, it was clear that they had already achieved the impossible.
The Formless Ones could taste victory and were pushing forward with their plans in the hope to manipulate their way back into power.
Ruma was being held to ransom, clear and simple, but there was far more at stake than a planet, a star system or for that matter, a galaxy. The very fabric of this dimension was feeling the strain and the Formless Ones knew just where to apply more pressure to send it spiralling into a dimensional collapse. The outcome of such a collapse would be catastrophic.
What would save them this time, surely not this single being?
Realising that the entity was interested in finding out more, Laja opened up to it, showing his hand after a prompt from the Harmonic Ones. The entity was now able to see the thread, which linked Laja back to his dimension and the Harmonic Ones. Perhaps there was hope after all.
The messenger had the power to stop the Formless Ones in their tracks, but to be effective they had to find him and reunite him with his physical body and do this right under the noses of the Formless Ones. Impossible. That is how it sounded.
To accomplish this, Laja would be guided by the Harmonic Ones, but he wouldn’t be going anywhere unless this entity agreed to assist him.
The entity expanded slightly and its many moving parts fragmented and began to glow. It was now like watching a cloud of fireflies and Laja felt a tingling sensation travelling throughout his body and with this sensation came pictures. It turned out that this entity had been around for a very long time, which wasn’t a great surprise, considering its intelligence. There were also indicators to suggest that it was connected to this planet in such a way that it might actually be an extension of it.
It was soon apparent that the entity wanted some form of guarantee and speaking through Laja it laid down its terms to the Harmonic Ones. In return for its help, it wanted the Harmonic Ones to leave this world and more specifically, this dimension, in peace.
This seemed an unusual request, owing to the benign nature Laja had always associated with the Harmonic Ones, but the entity had its reasons for setting down this condition.
Having been led to this dimension through the misconduct of the Formless Ones, the entity feared that the Harmonic Ones might see its potential and then came the biggest reveal of all, this planet was without modulators.
Was that even possible? Thought Laja. Clearly, it was and it wasn’t long before Laja understood why this entity was behaving so cautiously. The Formless Ones had once been the modulators of this planet until they fell from grace and were stripped of their status. That was quite a bombshell and Laja was still waiting to hear what the Harmonic Ones decision would be in response to the entity’s terms.
The Harmonic Ones had no jurisdiction here, but that would change once the messenger had spoken and the entity knew this. Could the Harmonic Ones simply leave this dimension unchecked?
Since sacking the modulators and then banishing them, nothing much had changed here and it was being argued that this was proof why the planet didn’t need modulators. Of course, the planet hadn’t done all that well, but that was mainly down to the adaptions the Formless Ones had made to it, which had proven irreversible, until now.
If the planet was free of modulators, then where did that leave the rest of this dimension? Since the planetary modulators were normally part of a dimensional federation.
These were unique circumstances and Laja felt he was witnessing history in the making when the Harmonic Ones finally agreed. He hadn’t been privy to all that was said, but a middle ground had been found.
Throughout its conversation with the Harmonic Ones, the entity’s appearance had closely resembled a cloud of confetti and Laja was still trying to understand what all these changes to its appearance meant. Maybe it was as confused about Laja’s appearance and there was one thing that it did seem particularly interested in and that was the flute that hung around his neck. Why this should be, would remain a mystery for the moment, but Laja was sure it knew its function and perhaps even understood its intrinsic value to the Lumsulu race.
With the negotiating over, the entity wanted Laja to move closer and as he did so its mass of moving parts returned to look like molten alloy. Laja was only a few metres away from making physical contact and he had no problem in doing so because he actually felt an attraction. It was difficult to explain, but it was likely to be another of the entity’s methods and within the blink of an eye, hundreds of silvery droplets swept around him.
Laja was prepared, but even so, he was experiencing something close to a sensory overload and closed his eyes to help himself adjust. The side-effects wore off quickly and Laja was now fully integrated with the entity and together they left the lump of glass and rapidly gained height.
An observer might be forgiven for thinking they had just witnessed a magic trick, particularly as it seemed that Laja had completely disappeared, but like any good trick, what had been observed was only an illusion. This entity’s many moving parts could reflect and bend light, so it was very adept at illusion. Of course, they were going to need more than a visual illusion to get close to the Formless Ones and Laja was sure this entity had a few more tricks up its sleeve.
Hot-wired into this entity’s sensory functions, Laja could hear, see and feel things like never before and now accompanying the falling stars was a sound that chilled him to the bone. The sound of people screaming, just before their souls were ripped from their bodies.
Countless souls had entered this place and Laja had to find just one of them and with the help of this entity that was going to be a whole lot easier.
Since Laja and the entity had entered into an agreement, their thoughts had merged, but the idea that it might be able to retrieve David’s sound signature from a memory, was remarkable.
The link developed quickly and the rewards were breathtaking and Laja was treated to a conversation the entity was having with the planet itself. Of course, this was not a conversation as we know it, except to say that the energy of a single word or thought is lost on most of us.
There were numerous perks from having integrated with this entity, most noticeably was that they were now practically invisible. The only part of the entity that Laja could see was the flicker of its rapidly moving parts, making it feel as if he was flying unaided.
They descended through the clouds towards the charred landscape and Laja couldn’t help but wonder how this place might have looked before the Formless Ones got their hands on it.
It was hoped that with the removal of Formless Ones, the planet might have been able to heal itself, but The Divide had prevented this, since lifeforms like the Manui had inadvertently maintained it.
There was n
o denying, Ruma was in desperate need of help, but time was running out to reverse the damage that had already been inflicted upon it.
After dropping a few hundred metres, the entity levelled off and Laja was able to see the devastation up close. A landscape in a constant state of flux.
Steam rose from gaping fissures, open wounds etched into a patchwork of recently solidified rock, stretched like an ill-fitting skin across this tortured land. A scene that wouldn’t have looked out of place in anyone’s nightmare.
There was something quite different about the area they were about to fly over. It was relatively flat in comparison with the rest of the landscape and Laja quickly realised that it was only a small section of a far larger expanse that stretched off into the distance. From this height, it looked like a crooked asphalt highway, which would quite likely lead them straight to hell.
“Close,” came the reply.
This highway of melted rock would lead them to the Formless Ones and as they made their way along it, they noticed that its dull flat finish was glossy in places, suggesting it hadn’t solidified all that long ago.
The longer they travelled this strange highway the more molten it became, until rivers of lava started to appear, jagged wounds that bubbled with the blood of the planet. So where was the blade that had inflicted the kind of damage they were seeing?
The entity guided Laja’s attention to an object still a number of miles ahead of them, and like so many things on this planet, it appeared to defy gravity. The object was spherical; an orb of gigantic proportions, hovering over the landscape, except it wasn’t static. It moved at a constant speed, carving up the landscape as it went. Like an icebreaker, but instead of water, in its wake were lakes of molten rock.
This gigantic orb was the Formless Ones weapon of mass destruction and tearing up the planet was only a by-product, while its main function and purpose was to trigger a dimensional collapse. The orb had been put out of commission when the Formless Ones got themselves banished, but it was up and running again and they were working feverishly to finish what they had started.
Closing in on the orb, they could see just what sort of beast they were going up against. The orb had a halo around it, a distorted blanket of air that pulsed with shockwaves and lightning strikes. Most of this energy was being directed into the ground beneath it, which tore up the rock and melted it, spilling more of Ruma’s blood.
Was it any wonder that the planet turned on the Formless Ones?
It was clear that the orb had some major defences, which they would have to find a way around. Apparently, it had all the attributes of a planet with a powerful magnetic field to match. Tuned to a human’s bio wave, it drew the falling stars to it like a magnet.
Were the human souls what gave the orb its power? Thought Laja.
No, apparently not. The orb drew its energy from the planet, but that alone could not trigger a dimensional collapse. To accomplish this, the Formless ones needed a different kind of energy and this was where the humans come in.
Their combined spirit was what was needed to trigger a dimensional collapse. Having been used in this way; they would have nothing left to fight off the Formless Ones and would enter their ranks automatically. It was known that many humans had already entered the ranks of the Formless Ones, some by force, while others had done so willingly.
What were the chances that David was still in essence, a human?
The entity informed Laja that David’s spirit had not been broken and in theory, it couldn’t be, but that didn’t mean the Formless Ones wouldn’t be trying.
Laja could only imagine what David and the rest of the humans must have been going through and he wondered how many of them would actually survive their ordeal.
The entity was confident that it could get Laja to where he needed to be, but even so, it wasn’t taking any chances and to help conceal their approach, it was staying close to the ground. This meant they were only metres away from the molten rock. Staying close to the heat was an effective way for the entity to remain stealthy, but it made for an unnerving ride.
The powerful shockwaves and the gravitational abnormalities that the orb created, were just a couple of ways it kept unwanted attention at a safe distance and it hadn’t reckoned on anything being able to break through these defences.
The entity had slowed right down and yet there was no denying, it was fully committed and that was reassuring. The orb would certainly pose a challenge, of that there could be no doubt, but the entity had had plenty of time to observe this thing and identify a few weaknesses.
They flew into the shadow of the orb and although Laja was shielded by the entity, he could still see and hear the devastation. The rock directly below it, would first buckle and splinter, then almost instantly, melt and this he was informed was the orb in a relatively passive state. Being this close was quite disconcerting, but it enabled the entity to perform a search for David using the information Laja had shared with it. The memory of David’s sound signature.
After a few minutes of trying, the entity announced that the Formless Ones had hidden him well and they would need to get closer.
The orb hung over them like a demon about to stomp them into the ground and it was a miracle that this hadn’t happened already. The entity was confident that no harm would come to Laja while he was in its protection, although the thunderous sounds, the explosions and the destruction around them, were reasons enough to be fearful.
They rose from the ground, leaving the orb’s shadow and despite his fear; Laja was hoping to gain a better understanding of this thing. Through the distortion caused by the halo, he could see that in essence, it was almost identical to the obsidian sphere inside the Manui, only a lot bigger.
Laja knew he was in safe hands, but did they really have to fly this close? The entity reminded Laja that if they were to locate David, it was the only way and while focusing their efforts, a large object swept in from nowhere and only narrowly missed making contact with them.
It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that there was more to worry about than just the orb. The entity had seen this life form before. It had entered through The Divide in the same manner as the Manui, only it was not from around here.
Laja was pretty sure it was a Balacoback, but what was it doing here? Whatever the reason, it would help draw the Formless Ones attention because when the time came; their actions were likely to blow their cover.
The orb must have been at least two miles in diameter and they were climbing steadily, following its contour, but at the same time, keeping their distance from the halo, which was easily a couple of hundred metres thick.
During their ascent, the entity had remained alert for anything out of the ordinary and brought Laja’s attention to a dark mass, emerging from the orb’s shadow and there was no mistaking what this was. Then the words, it’s back, came into his mind and sure enough, it was. The Balacoback had returned and was closing in on the dark mass and not wanting to get tangled up in a fight, the entity made an abrupt change of direction. A manoeuvre that should have rendered Laja unconscious.
The Balacoback made quite an impact on the Formless ones, which should have been impossible, but this animal’s knowledge of sound must have made it possible. Laja was less inclined to think its presence here was purely an accident, as it seemed to have turned up at just the right time, allowing them to slip away undetected, to continue their search for David.
“David, David. Just because your eyes are closed, it doesn’t mean I can’t see you. You know how stressed your father gets when he’s late. Come on, David, get up.”
David rolled onto his back and finally gave in and opened his eyes. “Why do our holidays always have to start so early?”
“You have twenty minutes to dress and eat something.”
David had been dreaming for a while now, only this was no dream, this was a memory and it was replaying with such clarity that it was like he’d gone back in time to relive it. He remembered what he h
ad for breakfast that morning and now partly dressed, he watched his father loading the suitcases into the car from his bedroom window. Then after a reminder that he was about to be left behind, he raced down to the car and they were on their way to the airport. David remembered the journey well, a tedious bumper to bumper drive and he was getting the blame for them being held up in traffic. They always arrived early anyway and being held up, meant less time in the boring airport lounge.
David hadn’t packed much in the way of entertainment for the flight, just a couple of comics and some paper to scribble on.
He’d spent a good part of the journey watching raindrops arc across the passenger window and in the end, he’d turned his attention to one of his comics. Only now he was feeling quite nauseous, so he closed his eyes for a moment in the hope that it would pass. Throwing up on the back seat was surely not going to improve the tension he’d already caused.
The rain had eased by the time they dropped off the car and then the short hop to the airport where the queues were surprisingly short. This lifted the mood and they filed through security.
David was ushered towards the security scanner by his mother. It beeped and a smiling face on the other side beckoned him forward. Somehow one of his toy cars had slipped through the packing process and he was quite pleased to see it, as it happened to be one of his favourites.
David waved goodbye to the nice lady and they passed the bright lights of the duty-free shops and settled into some comfortable chairs where they could easily see a large board, displaying flight information.
After checking their flight time, David’s father left them to go and get some refreshments and it didn’t seem long before he was back. David was soon immersed in the storyline of his comic and laughing to himself; he wiped a few crumbs from its pages and took a sip of his orange juice.
His parents were talking, about what, he couldn’t say, but it usually went something like this. ‘I thought you turned the kettle off.’ ‘I know I locked the back door, you saw me do it.’ ‘We forgot to pack the after sun.’
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