Illumination - Prologue

In a last stand against a tyrant, Qwen harnesses the power of light starting the new age of illumination

Illumination

                

Prologue

 

Light is everywhere, no matter where you go there is no escaping it in this world

 

 

                                    

Is this my last stand? Is this the final chapter of my story in this world? Am I the cause of the suffering that had plagued my people? Qwen thought to himself grimly as he sat motionlessly in the tent. It was a small and tightly spaced part of a painfully inadequate bivouac. His sister, Intellia was sleeping restlessly and Qwen watched helplessly as his dear sister’s body was succumbing slowly to the malicious disease. Qwen kissed her pale forehead, only to be greeted with a deathly chill.

‘Do not worry dear sister,’ whispered Qwen gloomily. ‘No matter what the outcome will be today soon your suffering will be over.’

Light was fading at an increasing rate, as it does, approaching the dimlight part of the 34 hour cycle of light. Soon that atmosphere would be engulfed in a depressing grayness. That was when Tyranos would come and that was when this whole business would be settled.

‘How symbolic,’ whispered Qwen to himself philosophically. ‘As the light slowly fades, we light lovers will probably meet our end at the darkest hour when light is at its weakest.’

The tent was suddenly opened with clumsily, hasty hands and a face burst in with distress creased upon it. It was Qwen’s other sister, Jen who ushered a quick signal to get outside.

Qwen obliged without any hesitation. There was one word for where they were. Bleak. The barren land was a sea of dust and debris. There were no animals, no trees, and no life. Yes, no life. Qwen had long seen through the eyes of his people. They looked lost and abandoned, without a spark of light in their souls. They simply sat in this plain of emptiness expecting their end by dimlight’s arrival. Who could blame them, their guns were low on cells, food was running out and they had seen their family die around them all for him, their faltering leader. Qwen hated the sight and wished he could retreat back to the tent and study his sister’s beauty.

‘So, this day has finally come, brother,’ said Jen, trying to act strong but the sadness in her was clear to Qwen.

‘How the world has been cruel to us,’ he replied. ‘We have been driven from our land and hunted by a cruel tyrant to the ends of this planet. It is all because I would not give him our hidden treasures.’

‘Do not condemn yourself to guilt you should not have,’ argued Jen passionately. ‘He would have killed us anyway. I would rather die than let that brute control us.’

‘Yes, but I should have been able to do more,’ said Qwen whose guilt had consumed and dictated him ever since his mistake.

‘You did what our father would have done, stop tormenting yourself,’ replied Jen who did not agree with his views.

They approached the lone cave in the plain that went underground. From afar the entrance had looked like a mountain compared to everything else the place had to offer, which was nothing of course.

‘It is time,’ Jen said reluctantly, ‘but I was thinking let me use the machine instead. You are our leader, not a test subject.’

‘What?’ answers Qwen incredulously, ‘That is out of the question. I made that machine and I have to test it. It’s my duty.’

Jen argued immediately. ‘Your duty is to represent your people. What will happen if the machine kills you? Where will your people look to in their last moment for comfort? Where will you be when Tyranos comes? History will have you branded as the coward that drove us into the ground. Let me bear this risk. If it fails then at least history will show you standing up high til the end against a superior foe.’

‘No!’ Qwen ordered angrily. ‘I am the leader and my authority is final. Please, Jen if I fail us then I deserve to be remembered as a failure.’

‘No, you don’t,’ argued Jen furiously. ‘No leaders in the history of our people have come into conflict with such a brutal force. They would not have fared any better.’

‘Father would have, Jen. He was a strategic master, a charismatic champion of the people. He would have found a way to defeat Tyranos. If only he was he’…

‘But he isn’t here,’ interrupted Jen. ‘And how would be beat an economic giant who controlled the resources of the world.’

‘I see you’re trying to sway me off topic, Jen,’ said Qwen gently. ‘Please calm down and stop wasting time. Yes, father isn’t here but would you have disobeyed him?’

Jen tried to form up another argument but her mouth dried knowing that Qwen would not listen. They could all have died together as a family but she knew Qwen would not give up on that machine. At the entrance Qwen paused and gave Jen one last order before disappearing down the

‘When Tyranos gets here, tell him his prize is waiting inside.’

 

Inside the cave as Qwen descended deeper, networks of wires and metal replaced the earth. Most people including his sisters could not stand the irritating robotics inside but he loved everything about it. He was always fascinated with electronics and science ever since he was young. His life work was in this very location. It was not wealth that Qwen had as his treasure, but this cave of innovation that had yet to be fully completed. He entered the giant underground opening hastily and moved towards his masterwork. Light had been behind all of this, acknowledged Qwen. If light was not present everywhere, then he would not have been able to work down here. If light did not exist, then the purpose of this experiment would be pointless. If light did not exist then Tyranos would not be able to see what he greedily desired. Qwen approached the machine quickly without hesitation. It was a rectangular prism of electronics and steel that was all weaved together into a complicated mess. After staring at his creation one last time and comprehending if this was his last act, pressed his hand firmly onto the small keypanel. With a delicate systematic sweep of his palm, it signaled approval of access with a quiet beep. The entrance hatch then lifted open with a trailing blast of steam. Qwen entered and closed the hatch behind him. He paused for a moment trying to depict the outcomes on this grim day but gave up knowing only negative thoughts would cloud his mind, choking his soul with grief.

‘May light illuminate me with its power,’ he whispered uncertainly and initiated the machine. The cold steel button burned his thumb with a shard of iciness before his whole body seared inside the rumbling machine. Every cell in his body was pushing against each other fatally; ripping the bonds between them. His ears started bleeding wildly under the intensity before the destruction of them subvocalized the deafening rings of his eardrums. His eyes blurred and sharpened, repeating in a never ending cycle before an abyssal darkness gripped him. His body twisted as if his bones had dissolved into dust. As he felt his body dissipate and he knew the die was cast.

 

Qwen opened his idle eyes and saw he was lying on the cold metal floor of the machine. How long had it been? The extraordinary pain had obviously overtaken his consciousness. His body felt regenerated, the terrible pain expelled, but no more than that. He didn’t feel stronger, he just felt the same as before and suddenly the guilt of failure was implanted into his recovering mind. What a waste of resources this has been. Staking everything on a single gamble, what a terrible leader I am, he thought. Qwen slowly got up and approached the exit. He opened the door which distorted his vision with steam only to be startled and horrified at what he saw afterwards. Blood, dirt and metal mixed, pasting the walls of the cave into an unholy mind-torturing grotto. Semi charged energy cells, guns and blades littered the ground, creating an eerie glow of radiance. Omitting the glow, Qwen judged the time to be exactly dimlight through the brightness of the light around him. Not good, he had stayed in the machine for too long. Looks like his people tried to fortify the cave but were annihilated anyways. Was there any escape left? However that thought was quickly erased from the mind. There, was Jen, lying motionlessly in a pool of blood alongside many of Qwen’s soldiers. He hastily rushed over and checked her pulse. It was weak. So weak. He saw a grievous wound to the chest. Not good. He had to seal the wound before it was too late. Suddenly an arrogant malicious voice called from behind him.

‘So this is where you have been hiding your pathetic life,’ it mocked with a disgusting chuckle.

‘Tyranos.’

Qwen turned around to be greeted with the man’s vulgar smile and the laughter of his men.

‘It is time for you to die my deer. I have grown tiresome of this hunt.’

‘You’re a monster Tyranos,’ yelled Qwen angrily knowing he could not do anything else about Tyranos. ‘All you do is murder everyone you see. I wish I could teach you a lesson curses!’

‘You teach me,’ laughed Tyranos hysterically. ‘All you can teach me now is how to die like a man,’

Tyranos pulled out his blaster and aimed. Qwen closed his eyes with failure on his mind as Tyranos fired. The energy blast definitely hit him but to his amazement he felt suddenly at ease, his body vibrant with energy and happiness. All his fear subsided with the rise of this new gift of bliss. Was this the afterlife? The old texts had always described that those who do good enter a better place. He opened his eyes. No. He was still in the cave. He was still standing by the dying Jen. He was still Qwen. Except Tyranos had lost his grin and found a horrified look of astonishment.

‘Impossi…’ Tyranos staggered with disbelief shackling him where he stood.’

His face seemed comical compared to the arrogance expressed only a few moments ago. Qwen looked at himself curiously. He was glowing violet for a moment before it shifted to an aura of purity, white beyond imagination. Qwen suddenly realized with the ecstasy of strength within him what dimlight had meant. It symbolized not the end of them but the end of their anguish. The rise towards blazelight now symbolizes their rise. The rise of the illumination age had begun. Qwen smiled confidently as the men around Tyranos frozen in confusion and fear. The atmosphere changes from a roar of arrogance to the nothingness of fear.

‘Yo, Tyranos. Teach me how to die like a man.’

 

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