Raiden walked through the village streets towards the family farm. He tried his best to block out his surroundings, to ignore the cries of suffering. But as he trudged through the mountain of black debris, he felt his foot land upon something soft. He looked down into the charred, lifeless eyes of a young boy, no older than fifteen. The terror of his last moments was forever sewn to his face. Raiden moved his foot and bent down slowly beside the boy.
“Rest in peace, kid,” he whispered softly. With a heavy heart, he closed the boy’s eyes.
Raiden struggled to his feet and gazed painfully at the devastation around him. The village was in ruins. Ashes fell from the heavens like plaques of snow. The wooden houses had crumbled under the flames; the once-fertile farmlands were scorched beyond relief. Stray pygmies trampled aimlessly in panic, others cried out in terror, stuck beneath the rubble of their collapsed dens. The trees and flowers lay crushed or wilted, and the fertile, white soil beneath them hid beneath a layer of poisonous, black soot. The calm, orange waters were stained red with the blood of those who’d tried to escape the flames; their bodies floated stiffly to the surface. Children limped through the streets, hurt and scared, crying for their mothers. Mothers stood on the ruins of their homes, calling desperately for lost loved ones.
How could anything cause so much pain and destruction…Raiden thought, heartbroken. Why would they do this?
Finally, Raiden reached the family farm. He could hardly bear to look. The potatoes to which he’d dedicated countless time and care lay scattered and desecrated across the scorched earth, their plants uprooted and singed. The pygmy stable was utterly destroyed. As he passed by this time, he heard no greeting.
Finally, he reached the house. The door hung from its hinges, and the ceiling seemed to have collapsed. Raiden barged inside and hollered, his voice shrill with alarm.
“Mama! Mama, are you here?”
He rushed up the stairs and turned left into Mama’s room. As soon as he entered, his heart began to tremble. The entire ceiling had collapsed inwards. Riva lay still on her bed, her eyes closed, covered in dust and debris. A long, wooden shard stuck out from within her body, surrounded by a pool of blood.
“No, no, no!” Raiden cried. He ran up to the bed and tossed away the surrounding debris. “Not you too,” he said as he worked, tears welling in his eyes.
When he finished, he bent anxiously by her side and placed his hand against her neck. Her pulse was weak and deteriorating.
“Hang in there. You’re going to be okay,” he said desperately. He tore a piece of the bedsheet and applied pressure to her wound. Suddenly, he felt someone grab his wrist. Riva opened her eyes, looking weakly up at Raiden.
“Kiara,” she rasped.
Raiden hesitated. As much as it pained him to admit, Riva was dying. He might as well let her die in peace.
“She’s okay,” he lied.
Riva leaned her head slightly closer, her eyes filled with emotion.
“Take care of her, Raiden,” she gasped. “Take care of your family.”
As she finished her final words, she closed her eyes. Her hands grew cold.
“I will,” Raiden whispered. He placed her hand gently onto the bed. And then, with tears in his eyes and a promise in his heart, he lifted the woman from the bed and carried her in his arms down the crumbling stairs and out into the field. He placed her body down onto the dirt, fetched the gardening shovel, and began to dig. His arms began to ache, his face filled with sweat as he plunged the shovel down, again and again, each stroke a stab to his heart. And then, as he brought the shovel down for the hundredth time, a second one landed beside it. He looked up, panting. Sable stood beside him with a shovel, gazing solemnly at the floor. He paused for a moment, touched by her show of compassion. Then they continued to dig side by side, their silence crying out the words they could not speak. Their shovels moved in unison, united by grief. When they’d finished, Raiden lifted Riva’s body and placed her down into the earth.
“She wanted to be buried in the fields,” Raiden said softly as he gazed down into the grave. “She wanted to bring life from death. But all that’s left here is ashes…”
Sable lay a compassionate hand on Raiden’s shoulder.
“If anyone can bring life to this destruction, it’s Riva,” she said.
He nodded and let out a painful sigh. They pushed the dirt back into the hole.
“Thank you, Mama,” Raiden whispered, his words heartfelt. “For everything. I was alone, a complete stranger, and you took me in with no questions asked. You made me feel like part of the family. You were my mother, my counsel, and my friend. I lost both my parents when I was young. I never thought I’d have to lose another one. But I’m going to avenge you. All of you. I’m going to find out who did this to you, and I’m going to make sure they are punished. And I will keep Kiara safe, Mama. I promise.”
They stared silently at the ground before them, as if waiting for some reply.
“What now?” Sable asked, lost with despair. “It would take years to rebuild. Generations, even.”
“I don’t know. But I can’t think about that right now.”
“Kiara? Is she-”
“I don’t know. But I have to believe she’s alive. I’m going to find her. I’m going to bring her home.”
Raiden clenched his hand into a fist.
Just then, a faint cry sounded from the pygmy den.
“Maxie,” Raiden gasped.
He ran towards the den and searched the ruins. Finally, he spotted the small head of a trunk protruding from beneath a pile of rubble. He tore the broken, wooden planks from the floor and helped the scared, shaken mammoth back to its four feet. Maxie cried out with happiness and relief at the sight of his master. As he smothered Raiden’s face with his trunk, Raiden was pleased to see the pygmy’s injuries were minimal. By the looks of it, he’d still be able to ride.
Raiden climbed onto the pygmy’s back, grabbed hold of the harness reigns, and knocked his feet inwards, signaling Maxie to move. He knocked again, and Maxie broke out clumsily into a run. As they headed back out into the street, Sable bounded beside them in the form of a leopard.
“I’m coming with you,” she said firmly.
“Chances are I’m not coming back.”
“Kiara’s my oldest friend,” Sable insisted. “I’m coming with.”
As they continued through the desolated village, Raiden recognized the area where he’d stumbled on the body of the boy. Although he didn’t want to waste any more time, he couldn’t stand the idea of the child’s body being stepped on and left to rot in the middle of the street. He pulled back on Maxie’s reigns, signaling him to slow down.
“What is it?” Sable asked, stopping beside them.
“There’s one more thing I need to do.”
Raiden walked over to the pile of rubble where he’d found the boy. But as he bent down, to his surprise, the boy was gone.
“A miracle! It’s a miracle!”
Raiden jolted upwards and spun towards the voice. His eyes widened in fear and alarm as he saw the burnt, broken figure of a child, limping slowly towards a woman at the side of the road. When he looked into the boy’s cold, lifeless eyes, it seemed all too familiar. A dark, unsettling knot formed in his stomach. He’d seen that face before.
“Get away from him!” Raiden screamed desperately. “Get away!”
“My boy!” the woman cried happily, too excited to hear him. “My boy’s alive!”
Raiden charged forward, but he was too late. As the woman moved in to embrace him, the boy dug his teeth into her arm. The woman’s eyes widened in shock.
“No!” Raiden cried.
Sable stood frozen in horror.
The boy jabbed his hand into the left side of her back, his nails tearing into her flesh. He let out a terrible, hungry shriek as he sucked the remaining life from her body. Just before he could finish, Raiden pounced forward and smashed his fist into the boy’s head, knocking him to the floo
r. The woman fell beside her son.
Raiden looked down at the bodies, his chest heaving, his hands drenched in blood. His stomach churned in grief and disgust.
“We need to go,” he whispered gravely, his voice filled with dread.
He turned to Sable, still speechless and in shock.
“We need to evacuate the village, now!” he yelled with urgency.
“I-I can’t…” Sable stuttered. Her body shook, her breathing was rapid and unsteady.
“Sable!” Raiden shouted. He grabbed her trembling hands and looked her firmly in the eyes. “Sable, this is only the beginning. If you wanna get out of this alive, you need to snap out of it. I need you to focus.”
Sable hesitated, but as she peered into Raiden’s steady gaze, she began to recover. Raiden released his clamp around her hands, and the trembling began to calm.
“Okay?” Raiden asked, lowering his voice.
“Okay,” Sable answered, nodding as she shivered.
“I need you to spread the word to all the surviving villagers,” Raiden said. “Tell them to meet in the courtyard immediately if they want to live.”
“And if they won’t listen?”
“Tell them it’s the Priest’s order, and that he’ll explain everything when they get there.”
Sable nodded.
“And Sable, stay away from the corpses. If you see one of them moving, either run or rip off its head.”
Sable stood still for a moment, gazing gravely into Raiden’s eyes, then gave a slight nod. She morphed into the form of a cheetah and took off down the street, growing quickly out of sight. Raiden hopped back onto his pygmy and continued down the street, looking vigilantly for both the living and the walking dead.
“Get to the temple courtyard, now!” he shouted as he passed a group of wandering children. “And don’t stop for anyone!”
The children stopped and looked up at him. As Raiden glanced at their faces, he noticed something unnerving.
The children were smiling.
As Raiden rode around for hours, spreading the message to more and more people, he continued to notice an odd and unsettling change. People were no longer panicking, no longer afraid. It happened all at once, as if they had all fallen under a spell.
“Raiden,” someone called out. Raiden turned around to find Sable approaching from behind. She turned back to a feline, humanoid form and ran beside him.
“I told it to everyone who would listen.”
“Were there many who wouldn’t listen?” Raiden asked.
“Surprisingly, yes. They claimed that they were fine, and that there was no reason to worry. And they seemed oddly…”
“Happy?”
“…Yes.”
“I’ve been seeing the same thing.”
As they spoke, a family approached from the opposite direction down the street. They walked slowly and calmly as the mother sang to and stroked the baby in her arms.
“Excuse me,” Raiden shouted as they grew close. “The Priest has ordered a meeting in the courtyard.”
“What for?” the father asked.
“To discuss the attack. It’s urgent.”
As they spoke, Sable stepped forward, following her instincts. She looked closely at the baby.
“I’m sorry, but I do not know what you’re talking about,” the father said.
“Like hell you don’t,” Raiden growled impatiently. “Did you see the deadly horde of monsters destroy the entire village last night? Or were you asleep!?”
“Monsters?” the father laughed. “You mean the fire? I’m sure the damage wasn’t that bad. Things are looking better already. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we don’t have time for a meeting. Our baby is hungry.”
“Raiden,” Sable said grimly, her voice shaken.
Raiden turned towards her.
“Their baby is dead.”
Raiden paused in heavy silence, processing her words. He looked hesitantly at the baby. It lay still in its mother’s arms, burnt and covered in ashes. It wasn’t breathing.
His stomach churned in disgust. He couldn’t bear it any longer. Raiden looked away from the disturbing sight, his heart torn with pain and sorrow.
“How dare you speak that way about my child!” the father snarled.
“They can’t see it, Raiden,” Sable said. “They don’t want to.”
Suddenly, Raiden realized what she was talking about. It was their PDs. They were using them to escape reality, to pretend nothing had ever happened.
“This is so wrong,” Raiden muttered, appalled by the sight.
Sable removed the PDs spitefully from her ears.
“It is sickening.”
She crushed them in her fist.
“I have had enough,” the father said angrily. He pushed aggressively past Raiden.
“So have I,” Raiden growled. As the man’s wife followed past, Raiden reached quickly for her ear, and before she could react, he crushed the PD between his fingers. The woman gasped and froze for a moment in surprise.
“Raiden, no!” Sable cried.
But before she finished protesting, Raiden crushed the second one. The woman’s body jerked violently, as if struck by electricity. She gazed at the destruction around her, and her eyes widened in shock. And then, she looked down slowly at her baby. Her eyebrows rose and narrowed, and her lips curled inwards with grief. Her body began to tremble, and her hands began to shake. The baby fell from her arms.
“Yosi!” her husband exclaimed in concern. He ran back towards his wife.
The woman looked up towards the heavens and let out one last, terrible cry of anguish. And then, just as her husband reached her, her eyes rolled back and she fell to the ground.
“Yosi, no!” her husband cried.
Raiden stepped back in horror, unable to believe the pain he’d caused.
“What have you done!?” the man yelled at him. “What have you done?!”
“Raiden,” Sable said, shaking his shoulder.
Raiden ignored her, his heart filled with guilt, unable to look away.
“Raiden!” Sable yelled. She grabbed his other shoulder and shoved him towards her.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“I…I hurt her,” he stammered.
“Raiden, that woman hurt herself, and you know it. She chose to ignore the truth. Now we need to keep going, or a lot more people will get hurt.”
Raiden hesitated, then nodded. He could feel guilty later, but right now, he just didn’t have the time.
“We need to get the people to remove their PDs, or they’re never gonna come with us,” Raiden said as he climbed back on his pygmy.
“And how are we going to do that?”
Raiden knocked his feet against Maxie’s ribs, signaling for him to move.
“We promised the people a priest. Well, I’m gonna give them one.”
“That’s your plan?” Sable asked skeptically. “You’re gonna give a sermon?”
“You have a better idea?”
Sable paused in silence.
“Not really,” she said.
“Then sermon it is.”
When Raiden returned to the temple courtyard, it was flooded with anxious villagers, speculating with one another over the purpose of the meeting. Some of them were scared and injured, while others smiled blankly in a PD-induced stupor. They moved aside as Raiden and Sable approached, allowing them to pass through to the center. As he rode through the crowd, he was approached by an angry and puzzled Mara.
“What are you doing?” she hissed. “What’s this all about?”
“I’m taking the villagers with us.”
“No, you are most certainly not!”
“If I leave them here, between the undead and the Decrepit, they’re all gonna die.”
“They would slow us down, make us more vulnerable!”
Raiden glared stubbornly into Mara’s eyes.
“I’m sorry, Mara, but this isn’t up for negotiation. So you can either help or
get out of my way.”
Mara hesitated with a flustered, angry grunt, then let him pass.
Raiden stopped Maxie in front of the ruins of the carriage. He climbed up onto the structure, moving high enough to address the entire crowd.
“As most of you know,” Raiden shouted across the courtyard, “A few hours ago, our village was attacked.”
Immediately, the crowd broke out with whispers and shouts of commotion.
“What were those things?”
“Attack? What attack?”
“Does he mean the fire?”
Raiden tried to shout above the clamor of voices, but it was no use. He looked down helplessly at Sable. She rolled her eyes and sighed, then hesitantly climbed up beside him in the form of a lion. She looked out at the crowd and let out a great and mighty roar.
The crowd grew instantly silent.
Raiden nodded with satisfaction, then cleared his throat.
“As I was saying, whether or not you choose to believe it, the village was attacked. The beasts are known as Decrepit. I don’t know exactly what they are, but I know what they can do, and that’s what this meeting is about. When a Decrepit attacks, it leaves a curse on some of its victims. They develop the need to feed on life. As we speak, more and more of the corpses strewn around the village will begin to rise. Some of them might look like your friends or even your loved ones, but they’re not.”
“I don’t see any corpses!” a man shouted. “He’s lying!”
“You can pretend it didn’t happen, but deep down, you know what you saw!” Raiden shouted aggressively back. “As much as it hurts, we all know the truth! Anyone who isn’t at this meeting is either dead or will be in a matter of hours. Denial won’t change that fact!”
“Why should we trust him?” Another voice hollered.
“Because he’s right.”
All eyes turned to the new voice. Raiden watched in surprise as Mara argued in his defense. She shot him a hesitant, yet accepting nod.
“Besides for the undead, the Decrepit could return any time to finish off the survivors. Anyone who does not evacuate this village will perish before the week is out.”
The crowd broke out into panic and commotion. Some villagers began to cry, while others shouted indignantly at Raiden.
The Chamber of Genesis Page 6