“What about our homes? Our farms?”
“Where would we go? How would we live?”
“Dirty, filthy liar!”
And then, as Raiden tried futilely to regain control, a powerful, entrancing voice boomed across the courtyard.
“Enough!”
It induced a soothing, comforting sensation into the minds of the villagers, and they fell instantly quiet and calm. The crowd parted as Priest Jaaro limped his way to the center, leaning on Kaiyu for support.
“Is that who you were relying on to give the sermon?” Sable asked Raiden.
“The villagers trust him,” Raiden answered. “They’ll do anything he says.”
“I witnessed your exchange after the temple ceremony yesterday. He hates you. What makes you think he’ll support your claim?”
“Jaaro might be a jerk, but he isn’t stupid,” Raiden answered. “At least I hope not.”
Jaaro had Kaiyu place him in the middle of the crowd, then turned to speak.
“The stranger is right,” he said. “Last night, our village witnessed a tragedy.” Raiden looked gladly at Sable and sighed in relief.
“But the nature of that tragedy, whether a fire or an attack, is hardly known for certain.”
Raiden’s relief was short-lived. Jaaro glared hostilely up at him. His lips curled into a treacherous sneer. Raiden’s heart froze with dread, and his eyebrows rose in anticipation.
“And neither is the validity of his claims.”
Raiden couldn’t believe his ears. He flushed with rage.
“You selfish bastard!” he cried. “You’re putting your hatred of me before the safety of your own people!”
“We welcomed the stranger generously into our village, and he repays us with lies and tales of terror! This village was peaceful for hundreds of years, free of even petty crime! And suddenly, this stranger appears, and tragedy hits! That cannot be a coincidence! He brought this evil upon us!”
Kaiyu shifted uncomfortably as his father continued to shout. He looked at Raiden’s face, at his anger and desperation.
“You’re gonna get them all killed!” Raiden yelled desperately.
“He wants to scare us from our homes so he can loot our village!”
“Father,” Kaiyu whispered. “He’s telling the truth.”
“I didn’t ask you to speak!” Jaaro hissed back.
“But I can see it in his ey-”
“Shut up, you stupid boy!” Jaaro snarled.
Kaiyu looked up again at Raiden, his heart torn between his father and his conscience. Raiden caught his gaze.
“Help us,” his expression begged. “Please…”
“We must purge this corruption from our midst!” Jaaro cried. “We must exile the stranger!”
The people roared in agreement, turning against Raiden with violent fervor. Raiden grew tense with fear as they closed in around him, cheering for his demise. Mara and Ferrus hurried up onto the carriage beside him, drawing their sword and bow.
“Father, please, stop this!” Kaiyu begged. “He saved your life!”
“He’s a liar and a thug!”
Kaiyu looked desperately at his father, taken back by his stubbornness.
“Why are you doing this? If we do not listen to him, we will all die!”
Jaaro ignored the question. He guiltily avoided Kaiyu’s gaze. And then, as Kaiyu looked at his father’s face, it dawned upon him. His eyebrows rose with dreadful revelation, his blood boiled with rage.
“You know he’s right,” Kaiyu muttered in disbelief. “But you don’t care. You’re willing to let the entire village die, just to get your revenge.”
Jaaro snarled viciously at his son.
“Another word from you, boy, and I’ll make you cut your own throat!”
Kaiyu defiantly returned his father’s glare. Hordes of suppressed memories erupted to the surface, all the times he’d been insulted, all the times he’d been struck. His heart pounded with anger. Any last shards of respect he still held for his father shattered in a flood of hatred and disgust.
“I don’t answer to you, father,” Kaiyu growled. “Not anymore.”
Jaaro looked up in surprise. His eyes filled with fear and uncertainty as Kaiyu broke out from under his control.
“You cannot disobey me!” he yelled in desperation. “I am too powerful!”
“You are nothing!” Kaiyu exploded, his face red with rage. And then, to Jaaro’s shock, Kaiyu threw his father’s arm off his shoulders and pulled away, watching with indifference as he crumpled to the floor.
“Kaiyu, please,” Jaaro begged on his knees, his voice growing quiet. “I am still your father. Does that not count for something?”
Kaiyu glared down at him with a distant gaze.
“As I said,” he repeated coldly. “You are nothing.”
And with that, he turned around and walked away.
◆◆◆
“We must leave them!” Mara shouted as a barrage of fire, electricity, and other projectiles headed their way. Raiden, Sable, and Mara crowded inside the chariot for refuge, while Ferrus covered the entrance with her body like an enormous, metal shield, the attacks bouncing like sticks and stones off her armor.
Ferrus cried out as a great, fiery star struck her just below the face. Mara growled angrily and strung an arrow against her bow. She moved to the center of the chariot and aimed at a villager through the gap between Ferrus’s head and arm.
“No!” Raiden shouted. He knocked her arm just before she could shoot. The arrow skidded aimlessly away.
“Your mercy will have us all killed!” Mara snarled.
“They don’t mean it! They need help!”
“Look at them! They do not want our help!”
“Raiden,” Sable grimaced tensely beside him. “She’s right.”
Raiden looked out at the raging crowd. As much as he hated to admit it, she was right. They needed to leave.
“Raiden, look out!” Mara warned. She pushed Raiden aside and strung her bow as someone attempted to climb their way onto the chariot.
“Wait!” Raiden shouted, stepping into the line of fire. He bent down and grabbed the boy’s hand. Kaiyu looked up at Raiden, giving him a slight, thankful nod. Raiden nodded back with silent understanding. He pulled him up onto the chariot.
Kaiyu looked from Sable to Mara, then rested his gaze on Raiden.
“I’m sorry about all this. My father’s arrogance has driven him mad.”
“Just fix it,” Mara snapped.
Kaiyu looked at her, then nodded. He walked out in front Ferrus, directly into the line of fire. He lifted his hands into the air and yelled, his eyes burned with conviction.
“Stop!”
His voice rippled across the courtyard like a wave, leaving calm and silence in its wake. The attacks stopped, and all eyes turned to him. He took a deep breath and lowered his voice.
“Look at yourselves,” he said pitifully. “You should be ashamed.”
He paused, allowing the words to sink in. And then, without warning, he raised his voice.
“Are you so desperate to hide from your problems that you’re willing to purge the only man brave enough to admit the truth!?”
The villagers looked at one another, their faces wrought with pain and guilt.
“Are you so selfish that you’d deny your loved ones the right to a proper burial? You’d desecrate their bodies and leave them to rot, just to maintain your sense of comfort?”
“Don’t listen to him!” Jaaro yelled madly from the ground. “Don’t let his lies destroy your happiness!”
But Jaaro could no longer overpower his son. Kaiyu glared defiantly down at his father, and then, to the shock of his father and all of the villagers, he removed his PDs. He staggered back for a moment, bombarded by the sounds and looks of reality. But he took a deep breath and regained his balance. He held out the PDs for everyone to see.
“We have hidden behind these illusions for too long. The time has come to
make a choice. You can remain here and die, oblivious and ignorant, like sheep at the slaughter. Or you can escape your mask of illusions and face reality with courage and dignity, no matter how painful it may be. Personally, I choose to live.”
The crowd gasped as Kaiyu crushed his PDs within his fist.
“Heresy!” Jaaro cried. “He preaches heresy!”
“What you call heresy, father,” Kaiyu said, “I call Enlightenment.”
“The angel Gavriel will protect us!” Jaaro shouted desperately. “We do not need to leave!”
“Where was your angel last night, father?” Kaiyu asked. “I waited. We all waited, as the village around us was burnt to the ground. I am done waiting. I will not place my life in such unreliable hands. I will determine my own fate.”
Kaiyu looked back at Raiden.
“You can speak now,” he said. “They will listen.”
Raiden nodded. He stepped forward, stopping Kaiyu for a moment on his way. He placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Thank you,” he said. “What you did was very brave. It isn’t easy, going against your father.”
“It was the right thing to do,” Kaiyu answered.
Raiden gave him a heartfelt nod, then turned to address the crowd.
“We’re setting out now for the Capital, where we’re hoping to find some answers and some help. If you want to live, you’re welcome to join. If you’d prefer to die, you can stay here.”
The villagers remained silent, considering their options. Raiden turned around and descended from the chariot, followed by Mara, Ferrus, Sable, and Kaiyu. The crowd parted as Raiden made his way up to Jaaro, still kneeling upon the ground.
“This is your last chance, Jaaro,” Raiden said. “Come with us.”
Jaaro glared bitterly up at him, his eyes poisoned with hatred. He spat resentfully at Raiden’s feet.
Raiden sighed, saddened by the man’s stubbornness.
“So be it.”
He walked past the priest, followed by his companions. Jaaro looked up hopefully at his son as he passed, but Kaiyu didn’t even acknowledge him, staring coldly ahead. As they exited the crowd, a few of the villagers removed their PDs and followed after them. Soon after, another group followed in their footsteps, and then another, until the Priest was left with only a small fraction of scared, hesitant villagers, engulfed by the ignorant bliss of their PDs.
Chapter Six
A Prisoner’s Choice
6 days before planet’s destruction
Kiara’s eyes burst open, and she gasped in a lung-full of dusty air. She jerked upright, straight into the gaze of a man. He sat across from her on the cold, stone floor, a concerned look on his face.
“It’s okay,” the man said calmly. “You must rest.”
“Who are you?” Kiara asked, still in shock. But another look at the man was enough to answer her question. He wore the tattered remains of the royal robes, and a sapphire necklace hung around his chest.
“My name is Suriel. Now lay back down, you have been injured.”
“I feel fine,” Kiara realized in surprise. She moved her hands to her stomach, where the creature had stabbed her. Only a mild gash remained. “I should be dead.” She looked around the room in confusion, finding nothing but black, stone walls.
“Just as the Decrepit can devour a soul, they can also restore one,” the Prince answered.
“What’s a Decrepit?” Kiara asked.
“Our captors,” the Prince answered, motioning towards a small, square window chiseled through one of the walls.
Kiara stood up and walked over to the window. What she saw filled her with dread. Dark, shadowy creatures swarmed the cloudy, grey skies, patrolling the tower for miles. She couldn’t see past the fog, but judging by the clouds, she guessed they were hundreds of feet above the ground.
“Where are we?” Kiara asked, her fear brewing into panic. “What do they want from us?”
“Please, calm dow-”
“I need to get back to Raiden, and my mother, the village was attacked…what if she-?”
Suriel grabbed Kiara’s shoulders and focused her eyes in his own. There was something about him, his firm grasp, his dominant gaze, which compelled her to fall immediately silent.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said. “I will get us out of here, one step at a time. But you must remain calm.”
Kiara nodded, staring silently into his eyes. He had the most beautiful face she had ever seen, as if sculpted by an Artist. His skin was smooth, his body muscular and toned. Lost for a moment, she regained focus and broke the gaze. Her eyes fell upon the amulet hanging on his chest.
“Where’d you get that?” she asked suspiciously, taking a step back.
“It was a gift from my father,” Suriel answered. “Does it mean something to you?”
“It doesn’t belong to you,” She scowled.
“No?” Suriel chuckled at the suddenness and absurdity of her claim. “And what brings you to that wild accusation?”
“It belongs to a friend of mine. He was searching for it.”
“Well, my apologies to your friend, but it is around my neck. That makes it mine.”
“So, if I take it from your neck, it will be mine?” Kiara growled.
“Look, I do not know who you are, villager,” Suriel snapped angrily, “but I am the Prince, this entire planet is mine. Now, if you’d like to leave here alive, I advise we cease arguing and work together.”
Kiara opened her mouth in anger, then hesitated. She let out a sigh.
“Fine, ‘Your Majesty,’” she said, eyeing him coldly. “We’ll deal with this later.”
“We need to figure out how they got us in here,” Suriel said, walking towards the window. Just as he bent down to look outside, a dark, shadowy figure emerged from the wall and flew right through him. Kiara shrieked and jolted to the corner of the room, her face white with fear as the Decrepit approached her.
“Get it away, get it away!” she panicked, clinging desperately to the wall.
“Hold still and be silent!” Suriel shushed her urgently.
Kiara closed her eyes, her chest pounding. She imagined herself back at home in Raiden’s arms.
“It’s all a dream, it’s all a dream,” she whispered over and over to herself as she felt the chilling presence of the creature inches from her face. Tears rolled down her cheeks. Her voice squeaked as a cold, sharp claw moved slowly up her arm. Just before it could reach her throat, the cry of another Decrepit echoed from a distance. And then, to her relief, the creature turned around and flew away. Kiara slumped down the wall in shock.
“I can’t do this,” she panted. “I just can’t do this.”
Suriel grasped her jaw and stared down into her eyes.
“It is not about what you can or cannot do. It’s about what you must do. We are going to escape this prison. I just need you to trust me.”
Suriel released her face from his grip and extended his hand.
Kiara looked at the amulet around his neck, then into his fierce, determined gaze. She nodded understandingly and took his hand.
“Let’s get out of this hell-hole.”
Kiara placed her hands against the stone wall. Her eyes flared red as she attempted to draw flames from her palms. However, to her surprise, nothing came out.
“My powers aren’t working,” she gasped.
“Interesting…” Suriel muttered. He brushed his hands against the rugged, cold stone wall. “If there was a way to bring us into this room, there must be a way out.”
“You mean a hidden door?” Kiara asked.
“Perhaps.”
Kiara ran her hand over the nearby stones, searching carefully for anything out of the ordinary.
“Look for the slightest protrusion or difference in color,” Suriel advised. “We need to check every last stone; it could be anything.”
They searched for hours, feeling their way through hundreds of stone pieces, but to no avail.
“Th
is isn’t working,” Kiara remarked skeptically. She looked at the palms of her hands, covered in black residue, and leaned against the wall in exhaustion.
“Keep going,” Suriel ordered without looking up.
“No,” Kiara shot back. “It’s pointless. We searched for hours; we aren’t going to find anything.”
“I told you to keep going, Villager. If you have any chance of getting out of here alive, you must listen to what I say.”
“Alright, now I’m for sure not helping you,” Kiara insisted angrily. “Out there, you might’ve been a prince, and I was a villager. But in here, you’re nothing but a prisoner, same as me. So good luck feeling up every stone in this god-damn room, ‘prisoner.’”
Suriel sounded a cynical snort and stubbornly continued his search. Kiara just stood and watched, shaking her head in disbelief of his arrogance. To pass the time, she tried to summon a fireball to her hand, but once again, nothing happened. She looked at her hand, cold and dirty, wondering why it wasn’t heating up. Giving up, she rested her head against the wall.
“Wait a second, do you hear that?” she asked suddenly, pressing her ear to the stone. His curiosity aroused, Suriel copied her, listening.
“It sounds like someone is screaming on the other side,” he observed.
“That’s not just someone,” Kiara realized with dread. “That’s my voice.”
“How could that be?”
“Well, what if my powers aren’t working because I’m not actually using them? I mean…it feels like I am, but maybe something is playing with my mind.”
“You mean like a PD?” Suriel asked, intrigued.
“Yeah. It would explain why we can’t see the door.” Kiara stood up and walked over to the wall.
Suriel watched her. His expression stiffened as he put the pieces together.
“Perhaps we are wearing PDs, and we’ve trapped ourselves in our own minds,” he said.
“Because we’d rather be trapped in an unbreakable prison than face whatever’s really in front of us,” Kiara finished the thought, a chill running down her spine. “And we need to break out before it kills us.”
The Chamber of Genesis Page 7