The Awakening

by Ryan Sova

  Detective Grant and Garry continued talking for several more minutes. In time, Anna also joined in on the conversation. The topic eventually came up concerning whether Garry was planning on continuing his current fight against the undead by destroying any aircraft that he could find. Garry thought about this for a moment, then decided against it. He didn’t see that these particular efforts did much in the way of slowing down the advancements of the dead. Unlike when Garry destroyed the entire satellite network orbiting the Earth, aircraft were not very useful to the dead at all. The dead typically preferred hunting in large groups on the ground rather than using aerial reconnaissance first.

  There was also another problem that was discussed during the morning conversation. Detective Grant’s family was running out of food. Garry thought about this and decided that finding food for Detective Grant’s family was a far better use of his willpower than destroying a bunch of useless aircraft. Garry’s only concern, however, was that the dead might have already cleared out most, if not all, of the grocery stores already in an attempt at making food become more scarce for the remaining survivors.

  Garry prepared to make a food run. He teleported to one of the grocery stores that he already knew a location for. He then grabbed a shopping cart and entered the Walmart Supercenter. The store was completely empty. The power was still on and the automatic doors still functioned, but not a soul could be seen anywhere. The many isles had items that had been strewn on the floor and displays had been knocked to the floor. The supercenter had the look of a place that had been abandoned in a hurry.

  Garry filled his grocery cart to the brim with both food and water then teleported back to the island. After returning to the island, Garry considered returning to the same Walmart again and filling another cart, but decided against it. He didn’t know what he might learn tonight, but he wanted to be ready for whatever he might need to do come morning.

  Garry retired to bed early that night. As he was falling asleep, Garry’s mind returned again to his dreams. Someone or something is sending me these dreams for a purpose. So if someone is taking the time to send me these dreams, there must be a way for me to fight back!

  Garry then remembered the strange voice that he had heard twice now. “Who are you?” Garry said softly to himself as he drifted off to sleep.

  ****

  Heragald had a point. Nephal knew that she did, but he still wanted to try it anyway. When Nephal first told Heragald that he wanted to go back in time to see how the undead plague began, she had told him that his idea would never work.

  She had gone on to explain that all nations have enchantments that make teleportation into certain vital areas impossible. She told Nephal that unless he somehow knows the correct response for the code word enchantment that the Yessitic Empire used back then, Nephal’s idea would be impossible.

  Heragald’s logic made sense and, under normal circumstances, she would have probably been right, but still, Nephal doubted. Heragald’s opinion was based on how normal teleportation in a ghost form works. To teleport into an area that is guarded by a code word enchantment the enchantment would say a word, after which you have to give the correct response. If you don’t respond or your response is incorrect, you are denied entry. If you attempted to gain entry in a ghost form, your spell would just end, no harm would come to you. If you try to teleport in both body and spirit, though, your body will then reappear just outside the protected area as a mangled collection of skin, bones, and guts.

  In spite of all this, though, Nephal still had his reasons to doubt Heragald’s logic. Enchantments fade over time, so if the Yessitic Empire was indeed the first to fall to the undead, how long has it been since their enchantments have been renewed. And if the code word enchantment is no more, what is stopping Nephal from teleporting to the capital city of the Yessitic Empire. Now, Nephal was more than aware of the fact that even if the code word enchantment has faded in the present, it might still exist during the time period that Nephal will be visiting. He was not convinced, though, that this would be an issue.

  My spell will be cast in the present. Even if I project myself into the past, it should only be the magic of the here and now that should be able to interfere with any spell that I might cast. And if that magic no longer exists, what is there then to stop me?

  Yesterday, Nephal had decided to return to Bragsdale and get some rest before traveling through time again. Normally, Nephal would have been able to make at least one more trip before his energy would be totally spent. The conditions on the mountain and the other magic that he had already used that day had already taken too much out of him, though.

  Nephal was now sitting alone in the Conference Room. It was still very early in the morning when he had arrived. After a few minutes of silent reflection, he began chanting.

  Nephal waited as a small fragment of himself was pulled through the sea of colors. He waited for the voice to come, a voice from the code word enchantment that guarded this city of the Yessitic Empire against intrusions like this one. The voice never came.

  Nephal’s ghost form appeared inside the capital city of the Yessitic Empire, the city of Valdar. Upon arriving at this city, Nephal observed his surroundings. The city of Valdar was substantially larger than the city of Bragsdale was by comparison. But even so, there were some very distinct differences between the two cities. At the east side, a large river traveled through the city. Boats could be seen traveling through the city which were being used for both transport and for trade. The vast majority of the city’s inhabitants were poor. Most of the buildings within the city were simple and homely to look upon. In fact, the only building throughout the entire common area of the city that was fancy in any way was the synagogue.

  The synagogue was huge. It was used as a place of worship for the entire city and was adorned with all manner of gold, silver, and other precious metals. Religious leaders from the synagogue enforced strict adherence to the many precepts of their faith and, in return for their devotion, were made rich and powerful by the sorcerers who ruled the land with an iron fist. From what little Nephal had seen from the city of Valdar, he could already tell that the people here were forced to adhere to strict religious customs that dominated and controlled their entire society.

  At the center of the city was a giant wall that separated the common areas from the elite class. Inside this center area lived the sorcerers and their many servants. The seventy-eight homes where the sorcerers lived were all lavish in design. The smallest of these sorcerer homes compared in size and décor to the synagogue. But as you reached the sorcerer homes that were even higher in rank, the homes became even more spacious and lavish in design. All of the sorcerer homes (especially the high ranking ones) were stunning and breathtaking to look at. But there was one building that dwarfed them all in comparison.

  At the very center of the city, was a huge tower. The full height of this tower reached well above the clouds. The tower was beautiful and breathtaking to behold. It was here that the emperor of the Yessitic Empire lived. The ruler whose name was Emperor Yessitic the Eighth.

  Nephal’s appearance in this city was at a time that was five years in the past. This, he assumed, would be far enough back in time for him to be able to witness how the undead plague began.

  Nephal went to work. The first order of business for him was to find this Emperor Yessitic. The man wasn’t very hard to locate. Nephal moved the projection of himself to inside the tower and started a search floor by floor. Emperor Yessitic was attending a meeting with his other sorcerers on one of the upper floors of his tower.

  The emperor wore a golden outfit that slightly resembled a dress except that it remained tight around his legs as it extended down to his feet. This man’s dress was covered with intricate designs that were red, blue, and black in color. The emperor’s eyes were brown, his face was puffy, his hair was black, and he was noticeably overweight. He often looked and acted like a spoiled child and was also capable of horrendous atrocities at the
drop of a hat.

  Nephal watched this emperor closely. He felt confident that whatever caused this plague started with him. The emperor was obsessed with finding a way to seize power for himself. As Nephal watched, the emperor pressed his former allies from the Vestillian Empire about waging another war against the Kingdom of Noah. As it would turn out, though, the Vestillian Empire was not interested in going to war again.

  Emperor Yessitic was furious by this denial. He breathed out threats against his former allies, saying that if they weren’t with him, they were his enemies and he would destroy them with fire and blood. While in truth, he would have attacked them anyway and seized their lands had he been given the right opportunity.

  The emperor grew more and more angry as time passed by. He started punishing his own people for the simple reason that he was powerless to hurt anyone else. People from his empire were needlessly imprisoned, tortured, and executed all to satisfy his childish, mindless anger. Then, Emperor Yessitic’s demeanor suddenly changed.

  He had been desperately searching many books of the ancient text to see if there was a magical power somewhere that might give him the edge that he needed to finally wage war against his neighbors, a power that would allow him to dominate over all other rulers, making him supreme ruler over the entire face of the Earth. As Nephal watched the emperor, it suddenly became apparent that he had just found his answer.

  Emperor Yessitic became obsessed with this new power. He read the book on this subject from cover to cover. As Nephal watched him, he became more and more curious about the book that the emperor was reading.

  The book spoke of how a sorcerer could reach out past the boundaries of Earth and call upon the powers of the last remaining God in heaven. The book went on, “this God (the true master of our world) was betrayed and banished from our Earth thousands of years ago. He seeks above all else to be restored again to his rightful throne. If any brave and devoted man were to call upon his holy name and enter a pact with him, swearing to restore him again to his rightful throne, he would bless this man with power beyond his wildest comprehension.”

  The author of the book later goes on to explain that he has personally spoken with this God, but alas, he wasn’t strong enough to be the chosen one. He was instead commanded to write these things down for the day when a chosen sorcerer would come along with both the courage and power to enter into this pact and become this God’s chosen vessel here on Earth.

  Once the emperor was finished reading this book, he went to a secluded place within his tower and commanded his servants that he was to be left alone. After Emperor Yessitic was satisfied that he was truly alone, he opened the book again to refresh his memory on how to call out to this God. Then he began chanting. At first, nothing happened. The emperor started chanting louder, calling out more desperately to this banished God.

  Then suddenly and without warning, the emperor fell from his knees to the floor. He then started violently convulsing on the ground. The convulsions lasted for a good four minutes, then they finally passed.

  The emperor laid motionless on the floor for the next twenty minutes. He then rose from the floor and started laughing. While laughing, the emperor gazed at his hands and feet and said in a loud voice, “I’M FREE!!!

  “AT LAST I’M FREE!!!

  “THIS WRETCHED WORLD IS MINE AT LAST!!!”

  Upon saying these words, the emperor marched from his secluded room and summoned his servants.

  Once he had called his servants, the emperor said, “Call my sorcerers here at once. We will hold a feast in their honor tonight. Also, bring the cooks to my personal chambers. There are things that I must discuss with them prior to the feast.”

  The servants dispersed following their emperor's commands. In a matter of minutes, the cooks had all assembled in Emperor Yessitic’s chambers.

  Emperor Yessitic then asked, “Is this all of the cooks?”

  The head chef responded, “This is everyone, my lord.”

  Emperor Yessitic responded, “Good!”

  He then started chanting. Once his chant was complete, he waved his hand across the room. Every cook in the room rose from the ground. Their hands went instinctively to their throats, an unseen force choking everyone in the room.

  Once Emperor Yessitic was satisfied that all his cooks were dead, he let them drop to the floor. Then he started chanting again. The words of this chant were foreign to Nephal. He had spent a full year now learning magic, but even so, he had never before heard the words that the emperor was now speaking. When emperor Yessitic finished with his spell, the cooks in the room started rising from the floor.

  Once the cooks had all risen, Emperor Yessitic spoke, “I am the God of this world, but you shall refer to me only as Master. I have guests coming tonight for a feast. I want you to take SPECIAL care in how you prepare their food tonight. My servants, the cleansing of this world has now begun!”

  The cooks all answered in unison, “Yes, Master.”

  Upon seeing this, Nephal ended his vision.

  He immediately rose from the table and hurried to Heragald’s room. Once he had reached her room, he knocked frantically on her door.

  Heragald answered, startled by Nephal’s sudden arrival, “What is it?! Are the dead here early?”

  Nephal answered, “No Heragald, I just finished traveling back through time and I have seen how this plague began.”

  Heragald was intrigued, “What did you see?”

  Nephal then relayed the entire story of what he had seen to Heragald. After he was finished, Heragald waited a moment, processing what Nephal had just told her.

  When she finally responded, she said, “I would have never thought that such a thing could have even been possible! The demon essentially used Emperor Yessitic as a back door to the shield enchantment around Earth. Tell me, how did the emperor act after the demon merged with him?”

  Nephal answered, “Completely different. Like he wasn’t even the same person anymore.”

  Heragald responded, “I’ll bet that Emperor Yessitic got more than he bargained for when he made this pact with the demon, which means that the demon is here, on Earth, using Emperor Yessitic’s body as his puppet. This changes everything Nephal! Now, I may not be familiar with magic that raises the dead, but I am familiar with what summoning a creature entails. We used to summon and use giants during the War of the Empires. The giants could act independently of us, but they still needed to be maintained by the sorcerer who summoned them. It was once said that to kill an army of giants, all you need to do is kill the sorcerer who summoned them. Nephal, we don’t need to kill an army to stop this plague, we just need to kill one man!”

  CHAPTER 27

  Garry laid in his tent, not wanting to move. He had been hoping for some answers tonight, but this was a bit more than what he had bargained for. As Garry laid in his tent thinking, he realized that there were still some questions that he didn’t have answers to.

  Ok, so now I know how this demon started the undead plague 250 million years ago. But sorcerers don’t exist today (aside from me), so how did the demon get past this shield a second time?

  As Garry was thinking about this, something occurred to him. The demon doesn’t need to have a sorcerer call on him. What do we have today that they didn’t have in the past?

  Space travel!!!

  He doesn’t have to wait for us to come calling on him, we are literally coming right within his grasp every time that we send a space shuttle into orbit. So why then did it take him this long to possess another body? After all, we have been sending people into orbit since 1961?

  Garry thought about this for a moment, when the answer finally came to him. He had to wait for someone that was strong enough. He couldn’t just possess anyone, he had to wait for someone that was sensitive to magic. Someone like me!

  He must have been sitting there, patiently waiting for just the right person to come within his grasp. Then, once that moment finally came, he claimed that poor person’s b
ody and waited for him or her to return to Earth.

  Garry then got up and joined Detective Grant and Anna. Garry immediately relayed the things that he learned from last night to the both of them.

  Once he was finished, Detective Grant said, “Does that mean that we can actually destroy all of the dead if we just find and kill this one person?”

  Garry responded, “Yes.”

  Detective Grant added, “How do we find this person then, this Master?”

  Garry responded, “I have been thinking about that. The only way that the Master could have possessed anyone would have been to wait until a psychic leaves the protection of our shield enchantment. Our Master is someone who has recently been in orbit.”

  Anna interrupted, “The International Space Station!”

  Garry answered, “Yes, my thoughts exactly!”

  Anna continued, “How are you going to find out who this demon possessed?”

  Garry answered, “The same way that Nephal did, by traveling back in time and watching it all happen.”

  ****

  After some discussion, Nephal decided to hold off on trying to locate Emperor Yessitic. The dead would be arriving at Bragsdale within days and he needed to get his family out before that happened.

  Heragald assisted him with this. They first mapped out a location where they would all be safe. Then they teleported there and scouted the area out. Once they had accomplished this, they started teleporting family members, starting with Nephal’s wife and son. Next, they teleported Eliak and his mother and brother. Then last, they teleported all of the servants from the palace.