by Jeff Sproul
Sarah then continued, "About ten years after the demons came to Earth, another species approached us. The Dijori. The spectre you described was surely one of them. They offered us a means of continued survival. And in light of overpopulation in the facilities that humanity had retreated to, and dwindling supplies, it was easy to get volunteers. What happened next was an exodus, of sorts. By the thousands, and eventually millions, people went through the gate. The plan was to get enough people through the gate and onto spheres in the Graymos, so that we could repopulate somewhere safe and build our strength using the unique properties of the Graymos."
"You mean levels and stats?" asked Chaxin.
Sarah nodded. "Precisely. According to the Dijori, demons originate from a sphere, or at least, multiple spheres in the Graymos. The idea was to fight the demons in the Graymos and force them to retreat from Earth, or at least cut off their reinforcements."
Chaxin considered the implications of this. "You sent people through the gate to fight these demons?"
"Well, keep in mind that all of this was decided hundreds of years ago," said Sarah. "Humanity was dying. Losing territory, lives, and resources. For many people, going through the gate wasn't even a choice. They did it willingly and without hesitation."
"So what happened?" asked Chaxin. "Am I one of those people?"
Sarah exhaled and nodded. "In a fashion, yes," she said. "The Dijori tricked us. At least, that's what the history archives say. Instead of the Dijori helping us build settlements, they only made it appear as though they were helping us. The Dijori told us that going through the gate wasn't permanent. Obviously, our leaders at the time were skeptical to trust the Dijori. So there was a 'test' settlement. People were sent through, and people came back to tell our leaders what was going on. Everything was fine. More people were sent through, and communications continued. Unfortunately, people couldn't take anything with them. This meant that our technology couldn’t aid the people in the Graymos. New arrivals appeared naked in mausoleums that the Dijori had constructed. Similar to how you woke up. Well, it just so happened that the Dijori were altering the memories and minds of individuals. Humanity continued to send thousands and thousands of people through the gate, all under the assumption that this was the path to victory. But they were deceived. The Dijori were wiping people's memories and scattering them all throughout the Graymos to many different worlds. The archives are… imprecise, on what our leaders were thinking at the time. There's a lot of speculation as to whether the Dijori were able to manipulate our leaders, or if our leaders willingly exiled large portions of the population just to free up resources."
"Leaders betraying those beneath them? I feel as though I'm familiar with this tale," said Chaxin, unamused.
"Indeed," said Sarah. "Essentially, the Dijori betrayed us, as did our own leaders. In fact, there are still questionable choices being made to this very day. Even though we know people's memories are getting wiped, and that humanity over in the Graymos has no idea why they're even there, people are still being sent through the gate. At this point, it's people that are volunteering, being exiled, or have committed crimes, even small ones."
Chaxin's gaze lowered to the table. Sarah had unloaded quite a bit of information on him, and he was having trouble absorbing it all.
"And which was I?" Chaxin asked, looking up at Sarah. "Is there some record of me going through the gate? Everyone who wakes up initially in a mausoleum is from Earth?"
Sarah nodded. "That's correct," she said. "As for you, you were exiled."
"Exiled?" Chaxin asked. "What do you mean? Did I commit a crime?" At that question, Chaxin tensed. Had he done something terrible, without having any memory of it?
"Oh no, nothing criminal," said Sarah. "You butted heads with our current leaders. That's actually quite a long story, and—" She pressed a finger to the flat transparent device she'd set down. It lit up, and then she looked back to him.
"And?” Chaxin asked. "What do you mean by that?"
"I'm sorry," said Sarah, scooting closer in her seat. "There's so much to explain. Our leaders… humanity. It's not what you envision. We're so fragmented. Personal agendas, corruption. The demons plaguing our world. And all the inhabitants of the Graymos. We're in such disarray that if something doesn't change, humanity will cease to exist."
"Who was Minara?" asked Chaxin. "She had a plan. She worked her entire life to reach this place, to reach Earth. Are you saying that was wasted?"
Sarah shook her head. "You were unconscious for an hour before you woke up. I listened to the recording of the gate room for when you arrived. I heard you say that name, so I looked it up. There was a woman, Minara Evin. She was an agent under one of our intel divisions. She, along with at least nine others, were sent to the Graymos to make sure everything was fine, and that we weren't being lied to. I suppose she discovered the Dijori's intentions, but was never able to make it back. She was part of the initial group, over five hundred years ago. I don't know how it is that she was still alive. You said that five years passed for you when you were between Purgatory and Wake, but… for a woman to have survived for centuries like that, I'm at a loss for such understanding."
"She was very proficient with time magic, knowledge that I now possess," said Chaxin. "If I can return to the Graymos, I can use that knowledge. I now know of where we come from, and why! I have to go back! I can use the glove, I can gather those who will fight. I may not be powerful on my own, but I can do what needs to be done."
Sarah stared into his eyes, and slowly, the corners of her lips curled. "I know," she said. "And I believe you'd be capable of it too. Garns, the leader of our city, and General Damond, the head of the city's military, are going to report to the council. They can't allow that glove to leave here. The council won't allow it. They'll want it for whatever purposes they have in mind, and I'm sure that no good will come of it."
"Please," Chaxin asked. "You have to help me."
Sarah slowly scooted her chair back and stood. "I'm sorry," she said, still holding his gaze. "There's so much more I wish I could do."
Chaxin watched as she went to the door, opened it, and left.
He was alone.
He eased back into his chair, eyes wide. What was he going to do? Were they going to keep him there indefinitely? He had a duty to the people of Wake. He couldn't just let them die. If what Sarah said was true, then there were countless other humans in the Graymos, spread across other worlds. How long until they were assailed by demons, or a nameless? Or even the monsters that seemed prevalent in all corners of the Graymos?
The humans of Earth weren't going to help him. Minara was wrong.
Another minute passed. Chaxin began to fidget in his seat. He looked over to the door. It was probably locked, but perhaps he could try to get out of the room? He had to do something. If he was lucky, he'd be able to—
A strange sound emanated from the hall outside. It was so sudden and loud that it caused him to jump in his seat.
The sound seemed artificial, a blaring alarm that wasn't made by a mouth, as best he could discern. It came from outside in the hall, but was easily heard from where he was.
His heart rate increased, as did his breathing. He rose from his seat. Perhaps he could check to see if the door was unlocked. If the blaring sound was some sort of distress signal or alarm, then perhaps if there were guards outside his room, they would no longer be there? There were too many unknowns to come to a clear decision.
He walked for the door, but before he could reach it, it swung open.
A figure dressed similarly to the soldiers he'd seen earlier rushed into the room. He had the same type of weapon, but there were minor differences to it. At the end of the weapon was a longer barrel. He was equipped with different colored attire than what the other soldiers had been wearing.
"Chaxin Daijon?" came a man's voice from beneath a tough looking gray and blue face-mask. There was a glossy glass-like portion covering the man's eyes.
"Y
es?" Chaxin said, unsure what was going on.
"I'm Sergeant Orn. Please, come with us."
Several shouts came from out in the hall. The familiar 'halt!' was yelled from further away, then a sharp plink, plink.
Then, all that could be heard was the blaring siren.
"Where?" Chaxin asked. He noticed that the soldier, Sergeant Orn, wasn't grabbing him and trying to pull him away forcibly.
"To the gate. Back to the Graymos. Here," he said, and lowered his weapon further. He swung his arm around and tossed Chaxin a long black satchel. Most notably, he saw a long spear sticking out of it.
"My gear," Chaxin whispered as he awkwardly caught the satchel, feeling its weight in his arms and the telltale features of what seemed to be his mage-caster along with the rest of his stuff.
Sergeant Orn reached into his vest and pulled out the Dijori glove. "And this," he said. "Please, sir, we have to hurry."
"Alright, lead the way," said Chaxin, as he pulled the satchel over his shoulder and then slipped the glove on.
"Yes sir," said Orn, before barking, "coming out!" He turned and raised his weapon. He went back into the hall, and Chaxin followed right behind.
In the hall, Chaxin spotted three other soldiers, all dressed and equipped similarly to Sergeant Orn. They were all wearing masks as well, but one of them had longer black hair.
"To the gate," said Orn.
"Yes sir," came the woman's voice, who then turned to the side and went down the hall, her boots clunking against the sleek metal floor.
"Follow Private Ellis, Chaxin!" came Orn's voice.
Chaxin went after the female soldier with long black hair and glanced around when he could. There were bodies on the ground dressed like soldiers. There were notable differences—the soldiers on the ground were only wearing helmets covering their heads, and not full masks like the ones that his 'rescuers' were wearing.
"Is it far?" asked Chaxin, as he raced after the fast woman.
"Not far, sir!" she called back.
Chaxin glanced behind him, seeing Orn with two other soldiers taking up the rear.
He had so many questions, but perhaps that could wait till they were safe.
"When we get to the gate, you need to activate it and take us to the Graymos. We don't know how the glove works, so we're counting on your expertise, sir!" came Orn's voice.
"I got it," said Chaxin, turning a corner to chase after the woman.
He wasn't sure how long they were running for. At one point, a soldier stepped out from another hall, only for Private Ellis to aim her weapon at him. There was that sharp plink sound in rapid succession. Then, without even seeing anything come from Ellis's weapon, the other soldier slumped to the side, leaving a trail of red on the wall behind him.
What sort of weapons were these? Chaxin could only wonder as Ellis continued to race down hall after hall.
Then, as they turned a corner and headed down another hall, he spotted two doors on the left wall.
Ellis came to a stop at the first door. Chaxin slowed behind her. She held up a hand, then three fingers, then two, then one.
Orn came around simultaneously just as Ellis opened the door.
He rushed into the room, weapon high.
Several seconds passed before Chaxin heard Orn call "Clear!"
"Get in, get to the gate," said Ellis as she went into the room, Chaxin on her heels.
Chaxin's heart was racing. He was tense, and he wasn't sure what to expect. These people had just saved him to take him back to the Graymos. What was going on? Sure, this was technically what he wanted, but there were only the four of them. Not to mention the fact that they seemed to be against the current people in charge, and their soldiers.
Orn had turned around and was backstepping to the gate. "Activate the gate!" he called, as Chaxin and Ellis passed by.
"Got the door!" came a man's voice from further behind Chaxin.
"Rinks! Body cover Chaxin with Ellis!" Orn ordered.
Chaxin reached the gate several seconds later. Without hesitation, he placed his glove to the gate. His vision blacked out. He had to focus and concentrate and tune out everything around him. He took a deep breath and slowed his breathing. He heard the footfalls of Ellis nearby, behind him now. Then another person's, surely the 'Rinks' Orn had mentioned. Then he could hear Orn's footfalls closing in as well. He shook those sounds from his mind and focused on the Graymos.
White dots appeared in his vision.
Then, he started to think of Grittin, and the gate beyond the throne room. He focused on the symbol he'd seen on Grittin's gate. The upside down V, above a flat line, above a V.
He thought about connecting the two gates. In the blink of an eye, the white screen appeared in the confines of the gate.
He was about to pull his hand away when he realized there was one more step.
Unlock. Unrestrict. Refresh.
The same series of random gibberish words and letters ran through his vision as he removed any restrictions that had been placed on the gate. After speaking with Sarah, he wondered if such restrictions had been the cause for losing memories, as well as age reversion. At least he wouldn't have to deal with any of that now.
"Is it ready?" asked Orn.
"Yes," said Chaxin, as he pulled his haand away. "It's open to Grittin." He turned his head and looked to Sergeant Orn. "We can go. But who are you and these soldiers?"
Orn looked to the soldier guarding the door, then back to Chaxin.
"We received a message a short while ago," he said in a lower voice. "We were told you were being held, and where your gear was. We didn't have much time to prepare, I'm afraid, but this was our only opportunity, sir."
"You keep calling me sir," Chaxin remarked.
Orn nodded. "You may have forgotten who you were, but I, and your men, will never forget. Not as long as we live. Now get through the gate, they're going—"
"Contacts!" called the soldier by the gate.
Chaxin heard a rapid succession of plinks, and looked over just in time to see an explosion engulf the doorway, along with the soldier that had been standing there.
"Get in!" Orn called, grabbing Chaxin's tunic.
Ellis and Rinks rushed through the gate. Sergeant Orn shoved Chaxin into the white screen.
Orn turned and looked at the smoldering doorway. He glanced to the other doorway, which was surely where they would breach from. He reached up to a square black device on his chest and pressed a button on the side.
"Admiral Daijon is through the gate. Proceeding to the Graymos. Good luck on your end, Sergeant Orn out."
With weapon raised, Orn back stepped through the white screen.
After several seconds, the screen vanished.
Book 2 to be released late 2017.
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Sigil Online: Paragons
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Special Thanks
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Thank you for reading Grimoire Bound
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About the Author
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Jeff Sproul is a writer living in a small cabin in Alabama. It’s quiet, peaceful, but there’s a lot of bugs. When he’s not squishing bugs and spiders, he enjoys a frozen pizza on the weekends and a daily two cups of coffee for his sanity.
Jeff Sproul has been writing stories for over ten years. Some of his favorite scifi and fantasy works are Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, Starship Troopers, Warhammer 40k and various anime (which would be far too long to list.)
Jeff Sproul, Grimoire Bound