The Seventh Gate: Prologue

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Prologue

 

Since the beginning of time, mankind were appointed as stewards of God’s creations. A great creature of intellect, they say. A superior being among God’s beings"the most beloved.

Time passed, the world continued to evolve. And so did Mankind. Civilizations were formed. With it, legends and superstitions were written in memories as the years turned to centuries, and millennia. As Man grew in time, so did their belief in supernatural beings spread.

Many grew with legends of angels and demons, vampires and werewolves, others disregard them as pure imaginations of the mind. Some believed in their existence, to the point of seeking them out or hunting them. Consorts were secretly established. Witchcraft, sorcery, and magic were established. Until such time when those who practiced the dark arts were hunted and killed.

Some chose to write their beliefs, their fantasy and fiction. Supernatural beings became characters of their plot, more often than not, depicted with idealism. Many became fascinated with these literatures, to the point of obsession.

And yet, mankind would say that, to believe in the existence of these supernatural beings in reality would be folly, for they do not. Only in the fictitious worlds mankind created, would they be and always will be.

That is until the Day when mankind ceased to be the only creature of intellect to ever exist, arrived.

The apocalypse. Genesis. Judgement Day. Every culture had its own name for that day. But to all, it was commonly known as the end of the world. And yet, ironically, that day marked the beginning of a new Era.

On the twenty-first day of December, 2012, when the stars in the heavens were aligned perfect order, the world was shrouded in darkness for seven days. For seven days, the seas raged and devoured what they breached. The land trembled and mountains collapsed upon their heavy weights. The wind howled and lashed upon every surface that dare halt its power. Fire consumed every stone it set upon. Fear stroked in every man’s heart " every male and female, young and old, not one remained oblivious. Everyone believed it to be the worst. That is, until the last day.

At the end of the seventh day, sunlight began to pour through the clouds. The humans rejoiced. Once more, they were given the chance to live with light. But, within a few minutes, relief and joy suddenly turned to terror and fright as the air of festivity was broken by a woman’s loud cry of fear and distress. It was the day when myth and reality became one. As the day descended into the night, screams and howls reverberated in the air. Mankind escaped and ran for their lives. Many did not survive.

For many years, mankind suffered in the fangs and claws of the once-supernatural beings. Vampires hunted human blood. Werewolves hunted vampires, never mind those humans who were caught in the fray. Humans were able to hide underground. And yet, even with safety surrounding them, it was a terrible fate for all. They might have not died by the hands of Vampires and Werewolves, but they perished, as illnesses and infection, lack of food, and worse living conditions suffocated the life out of them.

Days turned to years, some humans became hunters. Born out of the will to survive and preserve, the once weak and preyed humans, trained themselves to fight.  In time, they became successful, but not without sacrifices. Many loved ones died"mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters. As each one perished, the thirst for vengeance grew stronger and stronger. The once drive to survive became a drought that craved vengeance like drops of water to desperate thirst.

The hunt became successful for six years, and yet it wasn’t enough. Human skills were not enough to eradicate the threat, only to survive them. And so, after six years of desperate protection, we were created.

The GENES Projects, or the Genetically Engineered Species, was a revolutionary military effort of humans. Humans subjected volunteers who had the highest potential of surviving genetic mutation caused by Vampire and Werewolf genetic codes to create soldiers who can defend humankind from threats. After all, desperate times called for desperate measures.

From the first day of our creation, we were programmed to have one goal. Our existence was solely to fulfil a single purpose. Humans, especially those who were responsible for our existence, believed with righteous arrogance that to protect and defend mankind against any threat was the sole reason why we were created. We were programmed to become mankind’s sword and shield.

And so we fought for their freedom. We became their hunters. And like good little soldiers, we fought to protect their race against the enemies.  We fought to eliminate all those who threatened mankind. We fought"never asking, never questioning our orders. We fought.

Every day was the same. We seek out our targets and eliminate them. Sometimes, we were able to retrieve survivors. Most of the time, we gather information as to how the threats came to existence. Such was our routine.  We track our targets down, kill them, retrieve survivors, and collect intelligence reports.

Until one day, we found our greatest discovery. We were chasing a group of vampires into the wilderness. There were three of us, and I was the youngest. We managed to kill ten of them, leaving one survivor fleeing for his life.

We chased him into the deepest part of the forest, until we reached a swamp sitting in the middle of the forest. Thick mists covered the surrounding, but it was never a hindrance for us. In fact, it became our advantage. Our eyesight was better than those of vampires. Our sense of smell and hearing were sharper than those of any werewolf. We may have been created with their genetic make-up, but we evolved into something much deadlier than their kind. There were a rare few of us, who became hybrids.

In fact, out of every five hundred experiments, only one became a hybrid. But it was never true in all instances. Out of the thousands of survivors who subjected themselves to the experiments, either because of hope or of desperation, there were only four of us who turned out to be hybrids. My birth, as the humans called it, marked the end of their experiment, I was the last hybrid created. With four hybrids, seventy six werewolves, fifty nine vampires, and less than forty thousand humans, our creators did not dare waste any more human lives to create one Genes out of hundreds of potential subjects.

Suddenly, the last vampire in that group jumped into the middle of a lake and disappeared without so much as a ripple in the water. That is where we discovered the portals into other dimensions, by accident. Gates, as we call them, were rifts in our current space and time. The discovery of these rifts became the beginning of the war that drastically changed the fates of each species.

Each hybrid was ordered to infiltrate the dimensions beyond those gates and gather Intel reports. And so the four of us went into each portal alone, gathering data about the dimension that seemed to exist beyond the human world. We completed most of our missions in all six gates. We were successful in collecting those needed data. We found out that there were others who existed besides humans, vampires, and werewolves. But our movements did not go unnoticed.

Fearing the unknown, the beings that lived in those dimensions began their attacks. We have always suspected that they were manipulated by those who were responsible for the slaughter of many humans. We tried to tell our superiors, the one who gave us orders, but they were deaf and blind to reason. Unknown to us, our superiors began terminating some of us who refused not to be heard. We did not know that some of us managed to gain self-awareness. We were told that they were slain in battle. During that time, we believed them. Until that fateful night.

It was the night when I began to question our orders to myself. Like Humans, the others had their families and children to protect. Like any other time, we hunted the species of those who threatened mankind.  But unlike then, my enemy was different from any other. It was a frightened vampire child, who held a slim and fragile branch of a tree in between his two blood-coated hands. He was filthy, covered in a mixture of tears, dirt, and dried blood. With every step I made, he flinched and unconsciously stepped back, trembling in fear. It was clear in his body, and yet his eyes showed the courage and vulnerability of a child. Until his leg was caught in a rabbit hole.

I knew he twisted his leg. And yet, he did not even grace me with whimper of pain. I defied my orders that night. I took the boy to a place where his kind will protect him. After that night, I found myself following independent decisions. I saw my chance to be free. I was not a puppet soldier anymore. And yet I could never abandon my family. And so I stayed. It was to protect, not only humans, but also my kind " my comrades, my family.

When the extent of my abilities was revealed, I realized that one of them was to create an unbreakable link with my kind. Unknown to my comrades and superiors, I established that link into all remaining Genes for protection and camaraderie. I wanted to protect my family. What I did not expect was in establishing the link; I saw what had become of my brothers and sisters who defied their orders because of self awareness.

Through the eyes of my own family, I saw how they were murdered by our own kind because of an order. Grief and rage were not part of our programs. And yet that night, I wanted to avenge my family. The wasted innocence. Secretly I defied direct orders from my superiors, in order to save the innocent. No matter what species they may belong, I tried to save them. Like the vampire boy.

However, it was never enough.  No matter how many orders I defy to save the innocent, or how strong my desire to end the blind justice of my creators, not all Genes was self-aware.  And yet, I could not abandon them.

And so, together, we continued the fight, even when we were fighting against trained enemies. Blinded by fear and greed, our orders were, later on, changed into annihilation of the enemy species.

With righteous vengeance, the war raged on. Slaughter, bloodshed, and mayhem. The innocents were murdered with the culprits.  I did what I could to protect as much innocents as I could. But it was never enough. Even when four more of my kind became self-aware, we could not save enough of them. Only five of us could defy our orders. Years passed until such a time when the gates grew larger and became permanently open. It was almost as if each dimension became attached to one another, giving the opportunity to send more warriors from each dimension to fight each other. The war continued to escalate.

Each species fought against one another"never satisfied until the others submit to their will or face total extinction. It was a war that terrified each species"a war that defined the fates of each being. It was a war, where history began its new chapters in another book of Life. It was known to all as the Dark War of Races.

            And yet, it was never recorded as such, in history books.  In those fragile pieces of parchment, there was only one name, feared by all. The name believed by many to have brought the war to what it was. The name of the greatest nemesis of all species.

RAEINE GRIMHS.

But, History has yet to reveal the truth behind its leaves.

Reviews

[Rea Sky]

Your prologue seems to draw people in until they need to know more about this kind of legend. I think I check on this now and then to know what happens next. It is very intense and fantastic that you have made a really good fiction that grasp the essence of fantasy and sci-fi all in one. It's a really good story and the way the character speaks as if I was in a campfire listening to old stories--gone forgotten. REALLY MAJESTIC STORY. keep on writing!

[Luna Wynters]

Hi Sola :) Thank you for this inspiring review! I really hope I'll be able to write this story as interesting as you first read it until the end!

[Coyote Poetry]

"Each species fought against one another"never satisfied until the others submit to their will or face total extinction. It was a war that terrified each species"a war that defined the fates of each being. It was a war, where history began its new chapters in another book of Life. It was known to all as the Dark War of Races.
And yet, it was never recorded as such, in history books. In those fragile pieces of parchment, there was only one name, feared by all. The name believed by many to have brought the war to what it was. The name of the greatest nemesis of all species.
RAEINE GRIMHS.
But, History has yet to reveal the truth behind its leaves."
I liked the complete story. The above lines made me want to know more. You are a talented writer. You brought me in and held my attention. Thank you for sharing the powerful introduction.
Coyote

[Luna Wynters]

Thank you for your time in reviewing my prologue. I'm motivated now to continue with this :) Saying that I have talent makes me so happy and inspired to continue writing! I hope "Seventh Gate" would hold your attention till the end (this, I dearly hope so :)) ~Luna

[Coyote Poetry]

Please send read requests. You have create a interesting place and situation. Great possibilities for the story. It will be my pleasure to read your work.

[Luna Wynters]

I'm so happy to hear that :) As soon as I complete encoding the first chapter of the story, I'll be sure to send you a request :) :) :) I usually write my stories (literally) into my worn out Notebook first, then encode it at a later time. It may sound weird, bu I feel as if the essence of my writing style depends when I have a good pen and pristine paper at hand. It's as if I can see the events unfolding when I stare at the blank sheets of papers in front of me. Not that I have something against computers and such. In fact, they make life so much easier. I sound like a creepy writer, right? hehehe XD. I hope I haven't freaked you out, yet! I'm guessing that I'll be able to post the first chapter by January 7th (It's my Birthday!). Gosh! I guess I'm saying too much (I'm just really excited!).

Until Next time ~Luna

[Coyote Poetry]

A delayed Happy Birthday. I hope you had a good day.

[Luna Wynters]

Actually,my birthday is on the 7th of January :) Thank you for the greetings and for the good day :)

[Coyote Poetry]

I hope you have a good day planned.