THE DISCOVERY AND THE INTRODUCTION
In 1934, A geological expedition to the northern slopes of Alaska uncovered the mouth of a cave, deep beneath the surface of the ice. Inside, there stood a single stone case, and with in was there the remains of a single, solitary book, the leafs of no known parchment, while the cover and spine set contrived of a strange sort of marbled, black stone, bound to its content through no known process of adhesion. The contents of the book was written in a deep, permanent residue, died thick in the fibers of the parchment, though thin enough to not bleed, and in fine penmanship. But, to their horror, it was realized upon observation that the odd scrawl held an uncanny similarity; even a perfect alikeness, to have been written in that of the Arabic language , though the ice in which the cave mouth had been buried beneath predated any known settling of the region. Even more shocking to them, as their investigation continued, was that the ice of the cave, itself, was aged to some ancient era, before even the times of man and his brethren. A search for signs of a hoax was taken, but to no end, for the ice was both naturally shaped and naturally formed. Only the cavern itself seemed to be odd, for it seemed as if stone in its fashion, though hardly could this be.
Boggled by their discovery, the team returned to the University of San Francisco, where they confronted a Dr. Marvin Sutter of the Archeology department with the find. Dumbfounded by the account of where and how the book was procured, Dr. Sutter insisted that he be given the chance to attempt a series of tests on the tome. Though hesitant, the group of scientists agreed to the tests, which proved to be most troubling. No known solvent could effect the books cover, nor pages, nor could either be burned in flame or electrical charge, nor could any sort of sample be taken by either cover material or parchment. What was even more troubling to them was the seemingly uncanny likeness of the books text to ancient Arabic, and it was decided, unanimously, that the book be attempted to translate.
At this point, no one else had knowledge of the book, and it was understood among the small circle, that until every possible angle could be ruled out as to its source, the book set as a potential threat to the very fabric of recorded history. After all, how could a book, written in ancient Arabic of a time no nearer than 1700 B.C. and comprised of unknown materials, be sitting beneath a naturally formed sheet of ice nearly twice the age of the language, in a cave that was formed before mankind ever began?
They were very careful in whom they chose for the deed of translation, and though many were there among the renowned, it was Professor Homadon Qui’zaar of the University of Chicago’s department of Archeology who was chosen. He agreed to keep to their obligated secrecy, and with in 3 weeks of his response, delivered by 4 of the original science team and Dr. Sutter, himself, the book was taken into his care and the translation begun.
Word was sent to the two remaining members of the team, who were stayed behind to tend to the affairs of their cover story and explanation for the leave of their friends, nearly every week, accounting that Professor Qui’zaar had grown very quiet in his studies of the tome, and spent long hours of contemplation every evening after a session of reading had been completed, the records of which had yet to be disclosed to them. It was his only request in the matter, that he be allowed to finish it completely before consulting them, else it would disrupt his work, and he was being put through enough with the secrecy of the translation to begin with.
Then, one month after the initializing of the reading, the two received an urgent request for their presence at the home of Professor Qui’zaar, telling that all had been requested to be present for the finished article. The two made travel arrangements immediately, and were in Chicago before the end of the week.
When they arrived, they fond their associates in the Professors Parlor, eager for what had come of the months wait. Dr. Sutter, in particular, had taken especial interest, having spoken with the professor after every reading, to be told that he had gone further and further, though with every reading did the state of the professors character seem strained, until the man that they had initially contacted, who was known as brilliant in his field and a passionate of all knowledge, was now quite estranged, indeed. Though, to what extent, the two could not guess, till their presence was graced with that of Professor Qui’zaar, emerging from his study, carrying a great package with him. All were requested to sit down, and the two were able to see in the dim light as the afternoon waxed to twilight that the professor was seemingly quite on edge, and an obvious victim of many a lost nights. Before them, he set down the great package, and spoke very slowly, tiredly, that what he had to tell them, after the months work, was that not only had he completed the translation process of the book, but was now thoroughly convinced, more than anything he had ever encountered before, that the material he was about to unveil would change the face of human reason and history, for ever. He did not doubt the legitimacy of the book, nor of its age, and proceeded to unveil to them the contents of the package he had brought out.
And from with in the package did the professor procure that of a great manuscript, some several thousand pages in length. Every page, so it was told, bore as little space as possible, filled to its fullest capacity with what was transcribed from the thick, Arabic-like written book from the north.
All set quiet, staring at the odd, nerve stricken professor, who looked so much older than he was said to be. Then he requested that they stay a bit longer, so that they may read it before leaving. "It is imperative", he instructed, "that this manuscript does not leave this house; that you come to understand it as I have, for what it truly is, and that you come to the resolve I feel I have come to, by the time you are finished. I shall not dare endeavor on reading it again, , for it has cost me more than afordable."
And with that, he turned, and left them for bed, alone in his parlor, all 6 staring at the great stack of papers that set on the coffee table. And Dr. Sutter reached over, after everyone set for a great deal of time in silence, turning the first page over, and began to read. Note here, that what follows is the account of Dr. Qui’zaar’s translation of the strange, mysterious tome brought before him, in no way implying that two languages of such difference in origin and build allow perfect centricity to the context of the message spoken, and attempted. here is what they saw:
Lo! Here has the Avathothon boy Damned the Earth, and all of its children, for deep in the darkness, where the lights cannot bleed, has the power of infinite age conjured his will, and so does it reign against us, mere mortal men, in rage and bloody terror, for it knows more then we, and despises our young naivety. For it was here sense before the beginning, when Sundra, great conceiver and light breather, clashed the making tools together, and sparked the fire of life. It was ancient even before the days when the Kariukan’s stormed against the stars, and Reeked terrible havoc upon all that burned and bore birth and breathed, and we still live with the memories of their terrible, ruinous cities, which now lie deep in the black hearts of the worlds oceans.
What caused the turn, the plan, and the conception, I shall never know, for I am from a time much beyond this now, though have lived here most of my life. It was by mistake that I have come here, for I stepped through the circular prism with out knowing, and found myself alone, in a great dark field, beneath the wide array stars that were unknown to me. and a young man, as I was, is sensitive to such things. I was taken by it, and wondered what had happened to the world I had known. For days I wandered, until I found the people who would dub me friend, and though alike are we in face, color and hand, it is their ways, those which I have come accustomed to as my own, that told me I was no longer in the world I knew; the days of Persia, of the People of Babylon and of the mystery of the sands and their songs.
And I came to know their language, for it is not so dissimilar from what is spoken among the cities where I come from, which I had come to know slightly in my travels. Too true, it was with this that I was able to speak with them, and to learn from them where I was, and when. And I learned, through study, that the world was much different than what was known to me from my old home, and that the sands of the great desert, the rivers and seas and the mountains so high, were no longer there, but replaced by wholly different masses of land and water. And the mappings, so I was shown by my new keepers, displayed to me a method of mapping I have never known to exists anywhere else. It was as if the very lines of the earth had been put to paper, which was long and thin, and not feasibly torn or burned. And it shown with an odd luster about its surface and pictured a great globe, greater than all the deserts, all the seas known, and all the countries with in the rule of the one Lord of my land. And upon my study of this could I find no place in resemblance to that home I had left, for all was different. All had been replaced.
And when I inquired, as best I could with what I knew, of how this could be, my keepers told me of the world that they knew, as best they could, seeing me quite a stranger, and forgiving to my lack of full knowledge of their language-as they would speak to me from then on. That before me was not just the known world, but the complete world, linked from one side to the other, in the form of a great sphere, only on the map was it put flat as for better reading. It was, so they said, by the skill of the Navigators, the ones who set out ages ago to catalogue what could be found, and so were they triumphant in their efforts, and now had their styling and cataloging from journeys into once unknown lands taken as the picture of the world. And thus did this allow, with the exposure of the once small homes of the people, new places in which they could go and settle, and so they did, and constructed great, titanic cities to harbor those many peoples which had grown as dominators, and which held as capital in the most marvelous way, and the heart-keepers of their civilization . And hearing this did I request, after many days and nights, to see the cities of their people, for my keepers lived in the country, next to a babbling brook and a line of great, tall trees, and mountains far off in the distance, snowy peeked. And they consented.
And to this request was I given place on their mode of transportation, which was a small, golden object, much like a chariot in nature, but holding no steed or reign, but rather, possessed a strange assortment of keys upon its inside, to which the man of the couple that had found me would stand, and turn in unison to a strange harmony that seemed to play from inside the golden shell. Then, with a hum, the golden chariot leapt forward on its two side wheels, and began to coast slowly as we left the holding house where it was kept, and made full circle about the plot, my keeper laughing greatly at how uneasy this made me. What marvels had been secured here, I could see, that a chariot could move to music, but not to horse, for there was no need for them.
And then he took me out and into the wide, open country, and began to turn the keys a bit further then before, to which the speed of the chariot began to excel. He bid me to hold on, though I had begun to grope against the side of the vehicle already, utterly taken by the speed the thing as achieving. I saw the grass beneath us pass as if a great, green carpet, devoid of any form of consistency. Faster still did we go, and never could I properly adjust to the speed of the strange device, for no horse had I ever heard of that could achieve such distances in such time.
And then did we come upon a small a lot of houses beneath the shadow of a mountain, and with my interest insisting did my keeper choose to slow our progress, so that I might look upon them and observe. And here must I take a moment, reader, to describe to you the queer fashion in which these people modeled their homes, as was the same for my keepers. At the base to a good high standard, high as two men and as wide as 20, did they stand as cubed and made of a dark black stone that I could not place. As the building grew taller, reaching the height of 3 men, it roofed into a strange, amorphed cone, which erected to the height of 6 men, peaking off with a single point. The walls were cluttered with windows, though all of which were kept with a sort of heavy shutter, bolted from the inside. And on the western portion of the roof, looking at the sun, was there a single cut, much like that of a crescent moon, through which sunlight could filter when rightly positioned.
Doors were of heavy metals, shimmering in lusters of gold and colour which never Before were known to me, and all about each house did their stand magnificent plants of fruits and color, even stranger still.
I asked my keeper many questions regarding the houses as we passed, to which he told me many things. The materials in which the walls were shaped was of a predominant mineral known through out the world. It was harvested along the shores of the Great Sea, and able to ply easily, once heated, into any shape. The metals of the door were mined in the mountains which neighbored, that looked terrible and ancient, and upon seeing this impression in me did he speak no more of them, but told of the peoples who lived deep beneath the surface, who made their lives as miners of sorts, and produced the majority of all minerals the earth could offer them.
Then he sped us up with the turn of a golden key, and we left the small village of odd houses behind us. Many more did we see as the day light grew dim, though I cared not to see these, for I was but ill in the speed of the vehicle which we road, and took to my own stabilization over other matters. Still, the glimpses of the landscape were awe- inspiring, showing to me a vast green country, forested with mighty tall trees that my keeper, upon inquiry, called “ the Abis”, and they were known to have stood before man ever rose, ever withholding from them the secrets of more ancient times. And there were rivers of great width, which to one who did not know them could easily have mistaken for a sea, for so wide were they, and so calm there shores. But, so my keeper and guide told me, that one that we saw then was of the smaller sort in the known world, where greater still ran mightily along the coasts of Red Rock and Clay, which I would one day see.
The sun set upon the land, and an odd darkness took everything, and to my fear of collision with some object at such great speeds as we were traveling, my keeper turned one of the many assorted keys, and behold there was light from the head of the Chariot, though not of flame, but as if the sun itself had been imprisoned with in, and it shone brilliantly, as if it were day, before us, piercing through the dark of night magnificently. Now, all the while, at the end of this day, were their clouds which covered the sky, and into the night were they still there and stubborn, and I became quite dim in mood. But, it was later that they did, indeed, part, and I beheld once again those magnificent stars that I had seen upon my arrival to this place, ever stable in the dark sky as we rode upon the surface of the strange world. And I looked, to see no moon upon the heavens, and inquired to my guide what had become of it, to which he gave a puzzled expression, and requested that I explain what I spoke of. And I replied of the moon and its luminosity upon the face of the world, sitting far as second sun, a child at play while the father slept. And he laughed at this greatly, and told me there had never been such a thing, for the heavens were ever bare in the night, and the sun of the day, the only sun there ever was. I did not know what to make of this, and pondered on it greatly, confused.
I could not sleep, though only watch in anticipation, for great was the land, indeed, for such cities as they had told of to be so far away. The stars wheeled over head, until finally did we come upon a great, open area, where no mountains or trees could be seen. And my guide, who was now very quiet, dimmed the head-light and motioned for me to stay silent. It was in this manner that we continued for a long stretch of the night, and when I was bidden able to speak, I inquired greatly as to the reason, and my guide spoke only that in certain places must no one be heard, and he would say no more.
Dawn crept up in front of us pushing the stars away out of my site, and this showed that at one point we must have taken a great turn, for we set out with the sun rising to our backs. But as I watched the sky in morning luster, could I see a great conglomeration of starlight that had yet to dim away, and upon inquiry of this was I bade to be patient, and wait for the sun to begin its rise. And as I did, the golden raise of the new morning broke the far off horizon, and it was seen that we were in a vast open plane, and before us, to my horror, as so I felt, did there stretch the great shape of a mighty city, towering near infinitely into the sky, and spreading far from point to point, so as to show its massive length. And those stars were as lights with in the city, though in numbers beyond reckoning, shimmering in the black shadows casted beneath the great, towering spires and monolithic cubes of structure. It was something I never could have dreamt of in all my wildest fantasies, and I wept at its marvel, for it was truly an achievement of engineering that surpassed far beyond anything the world I once knew could ever achieve. The great walls of majestic Babylon were but mounds of earth in its shadow.
And greater still did its size unfold as we neared, and I began to see many a shimmering objects course upon the landscape beneath the titan towers, and my guide told me that these were the people of the city, those who either lived in the outskirts of its enclosure, or who were in transit through there hence. And he spoke of how the very machine on which we road was nothing in comparison to some of the greater machines which flew there, and some of them took to the skies when excelled furthest, and those were great machines of transit, and were what allowed man to venture all over the world in a short amount of time. And to this, I was in wonder, until I saw them for myself, like great birds but with no wings, and traveling at speeds beyond comprehension.
Now, so massive was the cities greatness, that indeed, it took over a day for us to come upon its outskirts, even then, and the plane in which it was settled held no curve, but was perfectly flat, so that we could see it ever growing closer to us with no disruption. And to this, I was told, man had mastered the art of demolition, and had carved it when the foundations were first poured long ago.
And here, reader, allow me to tell you that the wind was cool, blowing from the right of us, while generally the air was quite a bit chilly in these lands to begin with, and the night began to set on. And as I looked, I heard the vague notion of some far off singing of a mass chorus, and grew wondrous of what this could be. It seemed to permeate from every direction, though strongest was it in that of the city. And I was told that this was the encompassment of all the transit machines at use in that time, for such sweet music did they generate, and all in different tones and keys to their size. And I thought, what a truly beautiful thing it was, and listened as we went on through the night, before the day broke once again, casting the dark shadows upon the plane.
Eventually, we made it into a great stoned area that set wide beneath the shadow of the towers, and here did I see closely, for the first time, the many strange vehicles of mechanical mastery. There were some that rode on four wheel‘s, while others that rode on none at all, yet still could these move along, upon the surface in a glide of undisturbed transit. And fast were they, to which I was afraid of collision, but my guide assured me that he had been here many times, and knew the traffic of the City well. So in great speed did we venture on, never slowing, as I was told was the custom and method of driving the machines, save when need be for proper observation and nothing more. For the whole of the city was indoors, connected through underground and over ground bridges, that interlocked and twined to form a great network of tunnels and access roots, while the outside was reserved for the travel of the transit machines alone. Then did I see the tall, outer towers begin to emerge from the utter swarm of great structures, and with in an hour did we come close to these, so that I could look upon them with watering eyes, for they were crafted from the same golden materials that were prominent among the land, intertwined with the odd black stones in great networks of sculpturing and masonry. And I saw, to my surprise, for so large were these smaller ones still compared to us, that the towers were not made of great, titanic blocks as I had first guessed, but of ever small, round stones, no larger than the palm of my hand, carefully placed in meticulous fashion and patterned in various ways. Yet so many of them were there as to cover an entire land, were the tower taken to pieces, to be sure, and rounded and polished to look as if they were of one great object, though I saw this rather for some hidden necessity. Now, of their sculptures, the outer walls were decorated near to the fullest degree, and so complete was the mastery of the craft that had born them that the very mosaics and statues of black and gold material came off as if grown from out the very walls, themselves, rather than simply placed there. So beautiful were the things that stood there, and in a custom and series of imagery that were most alien and bizarre, yet interesting beyond imagination. Strange, well featured people, shown in various acts of courtship and dance, and in such a wide array of detail as to give the breath of life in the works, so that I swore they were of living beings when first I looked upon them, ever kept in stasis by some terrible magic of the towers.
***
Now, soon did we come upon the standing of a single great structure, which spanned as far left and as far right as I could see, and as tall as even the mountains of my homeland, and as golden as the very sun that rose. And I saw that it was a single great wall, asked my guide of it, and was told that it was the outer protection of the great city, as accustomed among all the cities of the world, and that no one remembers quite why it was made so large, save only to know that it was out of necessity when the engineers still thrived, and to this I wondered of what dangers could possibly demand such a great wall, which soared so high that one could see clouds linger beneath its summit, and my guide saw my wonder, and assured me that those times were long sense past, and that the great size of those walls was now more of novelty and grandeur of the cities majesty than of anything else. Though still could I not shake the fear that it sparked in me.
Then did I see something which startled me so as to bring me to the floor of the Chariot, and my guide looked down at me, and up at what I saw, and then laughed, and he took me by the shoulder and lifted me up slowly, as he pointed to the great black figures that stood sentinel among the coursing veins of traffic. So tall were they, and so gruesome. Large, broad shouldered men, crowned in strange head dress, and adorned in stranger attire, still. In their hands were held to long things, one in resemblance to the staff of a priest, while the other of a large, gruesome design, and in a crude way, to the likeness of an axe. And so dark were these men, faces clean shaven and expressions of nothing less than absolute malevolence, that surely would one expect them to fall upon him, and crush him beneath their great feet. And my guide told me that these were the Protectors, which stood guard of the one great gate always, and were that of statues, not life. But so detailed were they as to far surpass that of any the works which were done upon the towers, and so featured as to give the very breath of life which coursed through the great animal of man, himself. And of this, the hands of the craftsman that had formed them were undeniably divine, for no such mastery of the skill of carving and craft could ever exist, yet here did these things stand, quiet, dark and terrible, and emitting what airs I expect they were meant to when built.
It was after this that we turned, and began to speed up, and before us did there stand the tall one gate, so many miles away, still, yet wholly of such size that it complimented the shadows which bled from the greatness of the city, arching to a single point at its top, and holding a high, golden door, which seemed too heavy to open. And I asked my guide of how we were to enter when to great it was, wondering if they would not crush us when swung. And he told me that the great gate was made of many smaller doors that were the entrances and exits into the city, allowing many thousands by the day to come and go as they saw fit. But never could the entirety of them be opened, for it was in their laws that forbade the opening, and left the inner city bare. To this, I complimented on the greatness of the tall towers, and the advancement of the people, and boasted that surely no attacker could take down its walls and its build, to which my guide grew stern, and glared at me with such scrutiny as to make me feel small before him. I was assured that I talked too much, and so did I keep quiet for the remainder of our approach, wondering what it was that had come upon him so, for surely could nothing of nature conquer such a mighty thing, until I began to think of that might, and of the people that had built it, and cringed, for surely could such a people, in such advancement and superiority, harvest an array of terrible weaponry, and ungodly destructive power.
And so did I come to see that much of the world I was in had been contrived from some great time, long ago, that left its mark in a great way upon its descendents, with mighty technologies and strict rules of cultural obedience. And so many things were there still, I could see, when finally did we enter the city, now beneath the callosity of the great gate with the setting sun behind us, this our second day of approach. And when we neared, I saw that the gate was not bare, but scaled by many bridges and structures on its face, and there were men that looked down upon us, all dressed in thick armor of the golden metal, adorned with the black mineral in many different ornaments and designs. And these were at the bottom, closest to us, for so many were there as its scaled higher that I eventually could make out only small black dots, as ants, moving to and fro among the bridges and walk ways. Wide was that gate, and many entrance ways did it allot, to where I saw nearly a hundred to my right and to my left, most conceivably, and all full of transit, streaming to and fro in single file, and in various sizes of mechanical fan fare. Now, we entered the jarred way nearest us, and my guide put on his head light, so that we could see. And I wondered why it was that he did this, for surely could the others, in their various vehicles, emit enough light for all of us. But then I saw, as we entered the dark, that no light did there shine from behind us, though surely were their others that drove there. And I broke the silence that stood between myself and my guide, and he told me, softly and in better temper, that the lights were for the site of those on board, and could only be seen from their exact perspective. This was so, so that in the dark times of the night, and in the underground tunnels, all would not be blinded by one anothers passing. And I asked to this how we saw them from afar when first the city rose to us, and he said that those were the lights beneath the machines, that shone from the wheels and the under side, so that if needed, one could locate another with out being blinded.
I looked ahead, and beheld the long ranks of driving patrons, all looking forward, as to see through their lights, and this process was of great allusion to me, and something I have never sense been able to fully comprehend.
Now, allow me a moment reader, to tell that I still had not seen the city from with in, and had been traveling with my guide for several days, and was feeling quite tired and in hunger. And it was in this dark tunnel that allotted us long that I fell into a deep sleep, leaning against the rail guards of our chariot, and listening to the mass chorus of all the other vehicles that abounded there. And what strange dreams did I have, to be sure, as they were of home, of the deserts and the mountains and the rivers and people, and spectacular were they, yet never before had I seen them as thus. My wanderings through out the wide lands of the country had always been for more, and though kept in fear was I of much, as no man must live his life with out fear, I ventured ever further beyond what all else felt decent, and lost my footing, as a young man, in the world that had born me. But something was different about everything I saw. A strange, offal aura that hurt my senses and bludgeoned my mind, and when ever I looked up at the sky, for so far did I wander in my dream, there was always a sickening feeling like I was not alone, but scrutinized and hated and wished for dead. This, I could not properly explain.
I awoke softly, slowly, feeling a terrible cold about me everywhere, and it was before I could regain my site, as such deep sleeps often deprive one of when leaving them, that I realized I was no longer in transit, but was lying flat on a great soft mass. And I felt about me everywhere, and saw that it was a bed, to such comfort and fitting that it nearly ripped me from my waking, and plunged me back into that awful venture which beset me so oddly in my dream world. And, when site finally returned to me, I looked out upon a terrible startle, which sent me jumping from my lying position and back to what ever I should find as supportive, but to no end, for all about me did I see only the great array of high, titanic buildings, and in such majesty as to bring one to fall upon his knees. The bed was round, sheeted white and of odd material, and was in the center of a wide room with no ceiling, no walls, and seemingly no way to leave if need be. I let myself calm down, for the start was so great that I nearly shot myself off the bed and over the edge, which promised unarguable peril, and waited for reason to take me again, and asked myself what had happened.
Then did I hear a voice speak allowed, and looked about as if to expect someone standing next to me, only to find no one. And in a familiar voice did it say, “are you alright?”, and I hesitated. “there is no need to fear” it said, “for the walls and ceiling are there, though you cannot see them. You were sleeping, and I thought it best to comfort you as needed, and the morning was coming along, so the site is at its best now, save at night.” And I realized the voice to be that of my guides, and set for a long moment, wondering how this could be. Then a faint, soft noise caught my ears, kind as it was unexpected, though entirely could I have guessed it to be what it was. I turned to look over my shoulder, coming to realize more and more what it was I was about to see, though could not hesitate to turn, but rather had no power in the matter, and gave in to my urge to look, and forgot all fear.
For was I then washed in a power of absolute beauty and greatness, and the fluttering wings of a flight of birds, which chirped and sang in great melody breezed into my ears as the softest wind I had ever felt, and the full effect of the city was upon me, for dawn had come, and pierced the edge of a far black horizon, breaking way for the make of a new day. Yet not of land, but of dome and spire and great citadel was the lay that stood below, spanning as far as the eye could see, and the great populace that lived there worked as if one, and showed in the display of their vehicles how many of them truly lived. I saw in the sky the great flying machines, which came to and fro in massive fleets to break away and go to where ever they intended, larger then life and in defiance of all below. and I was unable to move. Such beauty as has never been known among all the dreamers of my time. Such immensity and mastery of the physical elements as to build such a thing as this place of titanic towers and tall, twining gardens. And there did I see the many of them, as there were, which stood some many miles above the earth, and these were quite far below, and only noticeable in the shadows of the greater structures by their openness towards the sunlight. And these gardens grew to such size as to hang off the very edge of the structure, and fall in beautiful, botanical assortments that put those of all Babylon to nothing. And in this scene could I feel a cold breeze, and smell the smells of sweet flowers. But it was what stood to my right that sent me down, and brought me to cry in utter dumbfounded ness, for it stood upon a mighty platform, and as a beacon of those peoples absolute mastery of the skill of sculpturing, as I have already spoken, of, stood against all other structures in defiance, glaring at the dawning sun sincerely. And it was that of a mighty man, bearded and crowned with a magnificent head peace, and adorned in such golden display of majestic robes as to defy all manner of royal treasures, and there did he have one hand at his side, while in the other did he hold a massive scepter, out towards the rising sun as if in command. And it was the detail of this thing that made it look as if it were alive, and sent me crying in the bed, for I could take only so much, and was from such a truly inferior world by comparison. And the voice was silent, and with understanding allowed me my peace.
THE CATALOGUER
Now, long did I stay in the city, and much did I learn in my stay. I came to know more of the people who had taken me in, and of their ways and customs. And it never failed to impress me, the more and more I sought, that their patience of such interest was endless, and never failing to lend guidance when needed. For they prided themselves in teaching, and respected knowledge above all other things. And my guide stayed with me so long as I was in need of him, and taught me the language so that I may speak on my own, fluently and able. And it was from him that I learned much as well, for he was truly an intelligent man, and a scholar of his time, and taught me many things of the ways of those people who mastered all craft, so that I may live amongst them. Yet, with every day did I see his yearning for return to his home in the far off country lands grow more and more, and so when ready did I let him go, promising that I would see him again, and thanking him, in his own pure language, for all that he had done for me. Then we parted, I forever in his debt and watching him as he left in his vehicle, soon lost in the traffic that never ceased to run.
And in the years that followed did I see much, and come to know my new surroundings as one of them, forfeiting my upbringing for the new, greater world abound. I traveled far and wide, taking on the use of the mighty air ships, which moved in such speed and grace as to bring all birds to shame, and in such mechanics and ingenuity that impressed me ever more. And I learned that the great city, which I kept as my one home, was named Xanadon, and was not alone on the world, but one of many, many more that stood in glorifying splendor of the civilization. And I became known for my curiosity, and took to the worlds historians for knowledge, and wrote down all I had learned here, in many texts and tomes, and was known from then on as The Cataloguer, for so was the name of this type of historian among them, as translated in that sweet, sweet language.
Now, so many people were there that lived, that the cities were built out of necessity, for the lands were precious to them, and of such that they dared not rarely ever mar them, and if so, only respectfully, as in the constructions of towns and villages, and in certain places which were of such beauty, unbounded that such efforts would be worth investing. This sense of beauty controlled most of their lives, and peculiar was it in taste, for they saw things differently than any other. This, I believe, was what I respected of them the most, for their admiration was acute to the natural way of things, and the possibilities it possessed on its own, rather than treated for their own benefit as material. And this was, to be told, because they had no longer the need to conquer the land, for it was felt that the land was greater than they, and thus could not be conquered. And I asked many wise men about the mining peoples, and their use of the land, to which I was told of the bare necessity that it held to them, for the world was full of great energies, as they put it, that could be harbored and put to use, but the dark below was of no beauty as the land above, and was still of use, for it slept endlessly and was able to be stolen with out notice. And of this, they would say no more.
Here must I be allowed a moment to describe to you the ways of their government, and as briskly as I can, for there is still so much to say. The way of life was not cut in classes, as was the case in my former home, replacing the wiles of aristocracy and greed with the fundamental belief that all men were equal to one another, and shared the earth as a great body, rather than alone and on one point. It was this doctrine of life that allowed them to work in so great a whole, abolishing both bigotry and segregation to unite all in the common interest of survival and advancement in the coming ages, and promising to them that never could they fall when standing as one. The rule of this political philosophy was not given to anyone by birth, nor designated by king or leader, but was given by the people to a choice sect of representatives from all the many cities and provinces that stood as living, whom every year came together to talk of the concerns of their homes, and to agree upon actions for the better of all. And it was every year that they met in the city of Zala Havan, where the Grand Seats of Council were carved for them to sit in. And this was a most splendorous city, of art and song and magnificent thinkers, and viewed in their common agreement to be as the Capital of all civilization.
The chamber in which they set was known as the Fortress of One, and it was here that they shared one voice, and took audience among the several million citizens who had come to listen and to speak with them of matters most crucial in their lives. Votes were casted then, and the agreements were set in way, so that by overnight the whole of production and civil course could be changed if thought best, for action was kept tightly knit with the One Word of the council, as too long a wait was known to bring dismay and bother to those concerned. And in this manner had they lived for long, choosing every 3 set years, as this was agreed to be the proper term, new representatives to sit in Fortress of One. And it was Good, for none were neglected or pushed aside as lower class, and the days thrived with great speech and decision, for the ever well guided course of their coming years.
Now, many people did I take unto me as friend, for friendship and hosting is a great custom among them, and held highly next to that of knowledge and reason. Many of them were of great skill in thought and craft; architects, engineers and craftsman of machines; poets and writers, playwright’s and scholars, scientists and historians, all. And they told me of their ways in the arts and in reason, and to such a degree of interest did I take that I would spend many weeks of visitation at a time with them, and speak of these great things which made their society flourish and blossom. Many a good remarks did I hear, as well as boasts of future promises in developmental sciences, so to ensure that an eternity of their predominance and successes be upholstered. But there were also those that skeptisized much, and questioned the balance of goodness with in the hearts of the masterful people, who had, so they said, lived for some many long ages by then, and had grown rather zealous in many ways, while fearful in many others. And to this fear did I persist in my inquiry, to know how such a people could fear at all, and was told of the old ways, when all was not as wonderful or as bright. Of many a great wars, as well, which were fought by their ancestors, in fiery youth, and the period in history that was given to other, even older races of the world as dark and hostile and young; Told of the Kariukans and the fowler things that had crawled from out the wide array of the night skies and the under earth, back when those places were fiery and awake, though now lay old, and asleep for all eternity. This was long before the age of the Engineers and the first architects of what I now saw, and was remembered only for its vital moments that brought the conquest of their great reign. But these things did not bring down my travels, and I never went too far ahead of myself, to where I may have been found insulting and rude against my hosts beliefs and hospitality.
And all was good.
***
Now, many more years past still, and in my businesses of study did I go all over the world, and see the sites of the master people, so I have called them and so I shall still, becoming as one with their culture and their lives, as well as grow oriented with the geography of the planet they ruled. And in my curiosity did I come upon great findings in particular places, and by my mentioning, in the Northern the most, for they were unlike the rest, by far. Wholly inferior by method and choice, while inbred from strains too few to respect. These people did not live in the cities, and faired hard against a most cruel onslaught of winter seasons, year by year, and lived in squalor and holes and wished to never be bothered by anyone, though when intruded upon displayed welcome, yet reluctantly. Most men from the cities and southern country lands never wished to bother them, for they were seen as a rank, bad people, who threatened no one and held no interest of any kind at all. But it was here that the strange phenomena began to occur, from which I have taken the need to write this account, for these were only a small beginning of a greater terror. Odd things in the farming lands, which greatly perturb me still, as when whole grazing livestock, the likes of which were of the strange, broad backed animals they kept most, went missing for many a day‘s time, only to reappear slaughtered in most terrible and sickening ways. And these were common among them, indeed, though never rightly investigated, for fear thrived among those people greatly, and they always managed to cope with the loss, and bread a plenty more of the animals as need be. But there were other things; stranger things still, that plagued them. Like the great showers that would bathe them for days, but in the colors of red and black, and wholly unwholesome wilds that killed many a crop and tainted their water as poison, and caused sickness and disease to writhe among them badly. It was their way, so I could see, to tolerate these terrible occurrences, and eventually was I asked to leave when present after a great storm of black rain that had killed a young boy in one of the villages during its onslaught. It was when I showed pity upon his death that they became very angry to me, and offered my welcome no longer, following me back to my riding machine, and watching me long until I was gone, ever furtive and dim. I did not return to this place for some time, for the land there is ugly and unforgiving.
There is no grass, nor mountain or tree, but that of great jagged stones and muggy earth and dark colored pools of dirty water, and sprouts of strange, bad smelling root plants, which was the primary food source for them and their livestock. A bleak land that ever chilled me, and disgusted my fellow travelers much, to where avoiding it was as a blessing to them, their shoulders turned with out interest. And talk of it was rare, save of those skeptical sorts whom I have already spoken of. But it was in the days when I had taken residency in the Capital city-that golden place of music and delight- that the poundings in the earth began to sound. Not easily heard was this in the central and southern provinces, but more so in the northern regions, that bordered the bleak lands of the suffering people and strangeness. And many sought out to find the cause of these great poundings, which seemed much softer during the day, yet terribly obvious during the night, only to return with word of nothing, never daring to clear the icy tundra that was known to sit past the horizon. Many days did this persist, until days became weeks and weeks became months, and all the people who heard it went to those men of science and thought, and asked for their theories on the matter. And though it was common for these men to give theories most certain and factual, generally was it known that not one had an idea of their cause or their nature, until all the world became intrigued by the phenomena, and waited to see what would come of it.
One morning did I wake from my bed to hear the loud fuss of the streets, for in the capital were these left open to the people, who met in great forums to talk and converse. And I learned, when asking a young man what was all the fuss, that a single spire of black smoke had been spotted, rising from out the northern horizon, where the tundra that no one dared venture towards was said to lye. And I asked him of what proof he had, and he told me that they had captured its story in the forums from word that came of the Northern provinces, and that a meeting of The One Council had been called most urgently. I rushed back to my apartment home and readied my recording utensils, and took my machine as fast as I could to the Fortress of One, so that I may be present at the word of the Council on the matter. The crowds swelled great and thick, and the traffic held still for the first time sense my arrival here, to where I forfeited my vehicle and ran as fast as I my sandals would carry along the road of the bottom sector, and up the bridges and causeways to the lifts that helped one gain levels on the tall towers, and after much a run, exhausted, did I finally come to those that had flocked first to hear the words of the Council. Their tower is the tallest of all the city, and stands mightily above the courtyard where the gathered would come. The walls were meant to fold inward, so that a view of the interior chamber could be seen, and were they in the process of when I barged my way through the standing crowds of the many millions who had come then, to hear the siren blow from atop the Fortress Head, demanding all quiet and listen, for the One Word was about to be said. Then a voice of strange harmonics began to talk, and loudly so as all the city could hear it. And it told of the manner in which the council had met, and of its findings regarding the phenomena of the day.
I was there when they spoke of a great movement to investigate the smoke, and how intelligence sources brought to them word of its ever growing flow into the sky. The interest in the pounding had sparked an immense score of seriousness on the matter, so that the vote would be past to deploy the scientists of the city, who were the greatest in all the provinces, and send them far into the horizons of the north, and find the cause of the mysterious geyser and bring a final truth to the minds of everyone. The crowds roared at this, unanimously consenting to the action, for too long had everyone set back in speculation, never daring to cross the borders of the north and see what could possibly be out there. I will note here that I never understood that side of them, though believe me when I point out that it was ever prominent in their history to avoid that far off place.
Preparations were made and the ships were readied for the carrying of those many high esteemed men whom stood as icons among the scientific community, and thus the rightful choices for this, a most observed investigation. And they had been called forth by the Fortress of One and given the choice of the assignment, to which all accepted proudly, showing not their most certain fear that quelled with in. Two of them I knew personally, and revered them greatly, for they were truly great men, with out argument to that, calm in mind and strong in will, to never falter in their work and with much of the day’s achievements attributed to their successes. With their leave, a great fleet of airships were readied, so that many a million people could venture out into the bleak north after them, and watch from afar the affairs of the chosen. And these were great, gaudy ships, indeed, holding with in the finest contraptions of navigation and looking instrumentation, so that their passengers may watch closely, yet from truly far distances. Thus did they christen them the Zaz, that lives in their most beautiful of tongues as, “The Eye”, and thus let go to fly in beauty, bronzed to most lustrous splendor.
I did not set sail on any of these, for in council with a scholar was I at the time, but would set out later on that very evening, in a smaller ship I had reserved from a friend, that would take us northeastward through Xanadon, oh gracious of cities, and from there go northward till our party met the others. But we did not leave on schedule, as hoped, but were held back by bad weather that had come in. A strange, thick rain that allowed no flight, to where the entire city and many peoples around were stricken to the ground, less over the clouds and destined for some distances away. I stood up awake for some many hours, waiting for the rain to thin, though eventually standing no more, for it had been a tiresome day, taxing my energy much, and so did I retire to my lodgings on the ship, slowly falling off to sleep, listening to the tinkering sounds of the machinery and the falling rush of the rain bands.
And I dreamed of nothing.
I awoke from my rest, and all was quiet and calm. The rain had stopped, as had the ship, for I could not hear the singing of the engines as they were, nor of the tinkering machinery with in. I rose, looking out the view port of my cabin to see if we still were lay way, but only to see nothing. Neither building nor land. All was dim and cloudy, while the sun was hidden somewhere far too deep for its light to break strong and true. It was as if a great shadow had fallen upon the earth, in mix of cloud and dark gloom, and I made haste from lodgings so as to inquire upon the crew if we had, in fact, left the Capital. But none were to be found, neither in the machine pits, nor in the steering wells, nor the observation decks where their windows set closed. All seemed vacant, emptied and dead. It was of some strange luck that I happened to peak out of a passing view port, to see that the gloom from outside had lifted a bit sense my first notice, for there did I see that we truly were no longer in the capital, but placed on a great landing fixture some many miles across, seemingly alone and unbothered by activity. But I looked for along time, and lo did the gloom lift further There were people, I could see; Dark figures standing round a massive black object far off towards the end, and by shape, I knew it to be one of those mighty observation ships that had gone to the north before us. I did not think how long I had slept, for though it was terribly dim outside, I remembered it nightfall upon my retirement, and assured that we must have taken off sometime there after, for still was the light of the day to a glow, yet, as I have already stated, far off. And I made my way to the exiting portal, which stood both ajar and unmanned, and hurried down the gangway, leaving my sandals behind, and in barefoot unto cold metal.
and through the crowded groups of men that stood in silence, I bustled, seeing from a distance, the hulking mass of the Zaz. And when it was that I finally made it to the center, I viewed in all horror what stood there. For it was a group of men, strong in hand and arm, holding the body of black, burned being, low to the ground so that his back may lie upon the platform, and rest. And looking up, I questioned what had happened, though no one gave answer, only stood in worry and concern. And At the state of that great ship did I gasp, for it was once of grand bronze and gleam, yet there did it stand, heavy and awkward, as if dropped from the sky, stained black as of ash and suet. I approached the one man, whom laid in heavy breathing, and seemed as if dead, save for that, and inquired to him what had happened to his ship, and looking, finding no sign, where his party had been.
He opened his eyes, which were blood shot and red, and looked at me gravely, fearful and near shock, pursing his lips as if to speak, yet straining much to barely let a wheeze. But I entreated to him to tell me, now very much bothered by the total scene, and watched as he turned his head, closed his eyes, and spoke, in a croaking whisper, what I have written, thus:
“All the northern people are gone now. Their homes, ranked, fowled, are no more. There shall be no more concern for them, nor of any who were present when the smoke rose. There was no word. No word from the chosen, and all became course and excited. But as we watched in anticipation, before the borders of the ice, the flames began to spurt from out the smoky tower, and then all came in such rush that I did not know what was happening, left alone to keep ship. The earth seemed to shake terribly below, while ice began up heaving from far off. Many tried to get away, for all were frightened. Millions, frightened. Everything came to disarray. Ships broke unto one another, trying to flee as the fires began to spring out of the ice, and fell upon many, crushing them dead, and the earth gave way and fell. I was frightened, and elevated the ship to go higher. The earth groaned, and a great wave of splintering ice and rock shot out into the crowds, while fire rose from depths now opened, and engulfed the swarm of people below! Black smoke filled the air, and sucked many ships down into the flames. I tried to, I tried to-
“tried to get away. All the ships. All the ships went down, sucked into flames by the black smoke. Day had turned to night beneath it. I could not see. As if alive, hungry. Bleeding through the ship. Staining and burning me! So hot! So Hotttt!”
“Then, I saw it! The light from below, opening wide as a road, and the flames parted, and the smoke as well. And out from the dark did there walk a figure. I could only see from my post, yet so clear was the path made, and so bright was the light of flame. It was a boy! A naked, blackened boy, though I cannot say how!”
Then he fell flat, and stiffened to death, while whispers began to rise among all present, and footsteps could be heard, and people started shouting to one another of what had happened. But I, I could only stand there, staring, for I did not know of a thing to do, petrified beyond all reason or belief while many began to run and to cry. I looked to the men near me, and asked if what he said was true, to be hushed by the largest, as he bade for me to open my ears, and listen. And I did this, and heard nothing. For a moment, I was not sure what to be looking for, noticing that the chorus of the transit machines that were many in the cities could not be heard, to which I was bothered and curious, but still was I bade to listen closely, and so I did, to come, slowly to the realization, that the great pounding could not be heard at all, leaving all eerily tranquil and calm. And he spoke softly to me that there had, indeed, been a great shaking that morning, as if the earth was awakened all over, causing worry and fear, and damage in some provinces, and that no word had ever come back from those many who had left to observe, before this eerie gloom beset everywhere on a North wind. I must have slept through it all, i said, for we were in Xanadon, as planned, and had flown through the night. And he nodded that this was so, for my crew had landed in urgency, and forgot to wake me up upon approach. I left the side of the dead, blackened man, moving into the city to see of its state, but all was dark and silent. No vehicles moved, nor many seen walking around. They were all indoors, kept up in fear, for Xanadon is a northern city, and the shaking was quite great to them that morning, to where all had become frightened of it, and fled for their homes or to the southward lands, for fear of what danger would fall.
After a few days did I venture on to many cities, to hear the claims of horror and death that came in from those who witnessed the black happenings from afar. And all spoke the same, of fire and smoke, and so sadness took unto the end of many love ones. And their families wept, and all those who knew them, while all corners of humanity stood stunned, unsure of what had to be done. All attempts to venture to the lands of the north were stalled, for a great black cloud hung thick and low unto all the borders of the region, and so nothing could be seen of it or traversed. And though the gloom which blanketed us soon lifted there after, never did that cloud that hung over the north lose prevalence, unyielding to prying eyes, as a patch of night that never died.
What followed, I shall never forget, for in my ambitions to procure the knowledge of experiencing, I failed, as did we all then, to see the great wave of change that was coming. 2 years passed during the stand of the great northern wall, unyielding to the site of anyone who looked there. Yet, the provinces of man sent out a great alignment of observation, and built before its towering shadow a long stream of watch towers, strong and sturdy from their masterful craft, and equipped with great instruments of measurement and probing. But all who dared to venture further were lost, seen from a distance to pass over the lifeless lands, and then enter into the ever dark aether, never to be heard from again. It was decreed, after several lost parties, that venturing towards the great wall was illegal, and all who dared defy the word would be at risk of their own life, for the military had been deployed as a warrant to stay back, and they were a force kept in silence less needed.
Everyone eventually went back to their lives, though ever glancing for a time at the northern skies, and talking of the businesses that concerned it. The general fear kept most away, and so were the military contingents thin and far between. Yet, still were there the mourning loved ones of those who had never returned from there, and who dared, many a time, to attempt the breach of law, only to either be caught and killed or succeed, and vanish. Both were acquainted as the same among the general populace. During this time, I visited much those watch towers with fear of what stood before me, for I explain it now as a tall, black wall, ever shifting as smoke would, yet from left to right, and ever up as far as the eye could see, daring one of foolishness to cross it. No looking machine from even the tallest tower of the cities could achieve the slightest glimpse of the lands beyond it. And it was tried, to be sure, by many a men and airships, for even they could not elevate themselves high enough to pass its crest, and forced, along with all others, to forfeit the northern transit line, which allowed quick passage to the places opposite of the globe.
Allow me, here, a moment to speak of the military, and its cruel nature, for though great people were those of the masterful race, their thoughts of brutality were stern when called upon for use. Like a wild beast, it was kept under chain, and only released when absolutely thought necessary. When not needed, it was taken apart for other uses, such as policemen ship and guardianship, and never let out for its own work. In the old days, it was a formation of brilliant thinkers who took to the histories study of war and rule, and kept to their ancient traditions of battle and pride as of absolute importance, glorifying the days when weapons were terrible and battles claimed thousands. It was because of this that the One Council saw it best to keep the machine of war beneath the people, separating its higher ranks so that it may never rise up and conquer the state that controlled it, and allowing only the strongest of body and heart to join, and there were many, to be true, who were chosen for the right to bare arm. They trained in camps, high up in the mountains, and were stationed by will of the provincial counselor who decreed them as needed. Of their weapons, I have only seen little. Large, well shaped things of black and silver metals, and in appearance resembling mighty axes, though like swords could they wield them, light and agile as if made of no weight, yet horribly efficient and strong. Good men and women, all of them, yet fierce when needed to be. It was rare for their arms to fall unto blood, but times have occurred where I have seen them use their weapons true, smiting down their targets with the greatest of ease.
Now, on the 5th day of my presence there did there rise a terrible uproar among the stationed observers and military. The day was dying, the sun fading far into the west, casting a strange iridescence over everything. All began to point and shout towards the great wall, making no sense, save to look and see, to which I turned, and beheld with a start the site that caught them so. It was a small, dark figure, walking out from the smoke quite quickly. I managed my own viewing instrument, and beheld it to be a small boy, barely the age of 10, by his look, though stained from head to toe with the black suit. And though soldiers rushed out to pick him up, there was something I noticed about him.
Something odd, wrong, awful, even then from that great distance. He held no expression, and his eyes were buried beneath his brows, so as he walked staring at the earth, though with such pace as to be of some great urgency. That too, I found queer, for his gait was weird, wholly, as if his legs were lose from their sockets, stretching abnormally to and fro with difficulty and a shift in balance. I could only watch, like the others, as the party of soldiers progressed, and by every moment sickened more to fright by the walking, black stained boy.
Then did he open his mouth, and as he did was there emitted from behind that wall a piercing cry that shocked me from my seat unto the earth, and drove the others from their chairs to clench their ears in pain. The soldiers, likewise, fell down hard, yelling in muffled cries, for it was like a shriek of a damned creature, dying in agony, yet awful and sinister and blood chilling. From my spot, I could see through the waste at the soldiers who rode, noticing that their machines had stopped moving, though I could not see them about. I saw the figure, the boy, come upon them, and extend his arms out wide. Then a great cloud of red mist, dark in the dying twilight, enveloped him from the earth. And here did I shake in agony, for that sickened me beyond all measures. I fought to regain my strength, holding my ears as tight as I could, slowly standing and then leaning against the outer wall of the watchtower, for I was outside, in a view-tent, with many of the watchers before the sighting. And I looked, and all was set in orange and red, yet the sun had gone down, so to this light, I could not guess the cause. And the sound finally ceased, allowing the men to stand, and look out as a mighty thunder bellowed, and the wall of black smoke divided into two, and then vanished from site.
And, Behold! For there lay a great, flaming waste of what was revealed! And from hence emerged a massive host of black bodied creatures, terribly disproportioned and bestial, yet not so dissimilar from human likeness. I scaled into the tower, taking up the great looking machine from its top, and then screamed at the site I saw once looking through, for they were as corpses, burned to bone, yet monstrously hideous in change and over growth, holding beside them great weapons of metal, in hands that were no more human than a stone. The terrible shriek let out once again, accompanied by bellowing thunder.
Black smoke bled into the cold clear sky, smothering the shine of the stars and reflecting the fires that burned in red and yellow and the odd lights that glowed about. I bore as best I could through that audible onslaught, returning to the looking machine from a shutter and focusing onto the boy, who now returned to his approach, yet terribly hideous from what I first saw. Now, his alien strides were that of galloping loose limbs, as he swayed back and forth in gaining speed. His head was cocked back awkwardly, revealing, for the first time, his eyes, and I gasped, frightened beyond measure, though no one heard me, for they were that of fire and blood, and burned brightly like menacing torches, streaking left to right as he galloped onward. And it could be said that the men who had left after him were now dead, for their machine, left back in glow, set quietly and unmanned, while the hordes of black bodied, inhuman creatures poured forth from the now revealed north lands, screaming that terrible scream in unison and spanning far into the dark as one could see. The soldiers below had gathered themselves, revealing their great smitters before them, and took their tactics of approach as they wished, for they were afraid, like the rest of us, who could only stand in terror as they went.
To the creature that ran before them, they cried, sided by fast moving vehicles. Then they let lose their weapons, and flung them forward, volleyed perfectly to match the speed of their target. But the creature jumped, so high as to not be believed, and soared passed the falling onslaught that came, landing behind those weapons that were flung. And as they reached for their other smitters, which held strapped unto their backs, he dove far into the front line, bellowing a terrible thunder from his mouth, as limber like a loose doll and dodging every attempt the soldiers took to hit him with their weapons. It was difficult to see for a time, for so small was the creature and so many were the soldiers, and one could only hear their voices yelling and clattering clatter of steel. Then all the men screamed in fear and agony, and their bodies fell fast, cut in two, and revealed to stand was the one dark colored boy, whose hands were now great, monstrous talons. The vehicles came in, and other contingents joined in rank, but on approach did the monster jump back from its killings, meeting the great swarms of black creatures behind. And they took unto him as like a stone in water, and flowed around him with great haste, screaming their terrible scream and meeting the charging soldiers head on.
Then a terribly bloody battle commenced, and many a great weapons were unleashed. From the towers were there launched bright volleys of fire and metal, while oddly lighted machinery sung, sending great waves of sparks and light into the battling swarms, generating yellow plumes that burnt and crushed all those who they touched . But these had little effect, for so many and so great were the things in number and body, that in the end, all persons chose to run, for every one that the soldiers had managed to kill, 20 men fell in its place. I ran as the last volleys were sent out, taking up the gang way of a launching air ship, looking back only to faint at what I beheld. For over the line of military and towers did there pulse a great ocean of those black bodied things, wielding their weapons of metal and claw, and screaming, ever screaming, as shadows of horror leapt out from their ranks and fell upon the watch towers and men, crushing them beneath their weight and mauling devouring them as demons. And as I looked, I saw above them stand a great, towering thing, which swayed back and forth in gangly imbalance, staring out into the smoke choked land from two great furnaces of eyes and bellowing from out its wide, gapping jaws a cracking, thunderous wave of flames.
And it bore, for a face, that of a monstrous contortion, that was hideously similar to that the young, black stained boy. It was my attempt to warn everyone, though I soon learned that they already knew, for the terrible attack had been seen from a distance, and word spread fast that the north had been opened, and unleashed a terrible blackness unto the land from with in its now dark and ruinous borders, swallowing all the towers of observation. The people stressed their fear unmeasured, to which the deployment of the military beast was a certainty. And so were the generals brought out to commission, and allowed to do what they must to gain the needed men, and to take the offensive against the advancing menace, for they believed that to be most effective in times of war. And this was most certainly that. So many times now have I seen the Fortress of One open its gates, and the Council step forth with their decisions of unanimous vote, to decree then that it was war, for the destruction of the watch towers was complete, and from all sides was it agreed this force to be responsible for the millions lost two years prior. So was it their right, and so did I stand by and watch, as the military formed into a mighty machine, enlisting many a million men and more, from out the lower country lands and the cities. By basic strength and pride were they taken for, while the arsenals of terrible weapons were opened, locked from ages long sense passed, yet still quite efficient and functional, for they were built to last nearly for ever, able to sleep until needed. Massive fleets of airships, too, were brought on for the cause, carrying instruments of war and desolation, allowing them to fly over the enemy, and from there hence, drop upon them utter doom. Testing commenced in unoccupied places, and great shaking was there, for powerful was the wrath of those masterful people once unleashed.
And so did they rally forth, marching into the northern planes, and establishing the borders of Mighty Xanadon as in great threat, for as I have said before, Xanadon borders the north, and is the greatest city in all that higher provinces. Scouts were sent to report of the enemies actions, and word returned back soon that the dark cloud that seethed from the fires was moving, ever southward. Yet , this was happening everywhere, it was told, like a burning fire, creeping down into the world of man, and was that further land held tightly with military regiments, so as to guard as fully as they could from dark clouds spreading larger. And then the day of the first great battle began, for over the cold hills, in the ice of deep winter, the blistering heat of the furnaces flooded, and with it, all the endless hordes of dark bodies abominations, beneath the strides of a truly terrible thing. The battle was as a great ring on the northern edge of the world, some many thousand miles north of where the grass was till green and the air still cool.
Simultaneously they deployed their great weapons upon them, so that anywhere that you were if in the northern province could the blasts of their attacks be seen in magnificent displays of light on the horizon, followed by the thunder which emitted from them, unceasing. I was not present at the battle, for I was in fear, great fear, of its outcome. The terrible strength of the master people had been unleashed unto the world, and if they were to defeat this fearsome threat, what then, I asked, would happen? What then?
THE WAR
A troublesome time lay ahead, for the shocking might of the unknown enemy rose in oppressive proportion against the initial offensive of man. The battles spread irregularly, spanning ever southward into the realms of civil man. I kept to the cities of south, and to the Capital, where I would look through their great seeing instruments, and begin record of the awful battles that took place. From my seat atop the Tower Fue, that stood atop the placement of the Fortress of One, I watched from some many thousands of miles the fall of the Emerald colored city of Razaban, held highly for its skills in medicine and healing, and beautiful to the painters eye, sitting along the coasts of the Red Clay rivers and gorgeous purple mountains. It was hideous the way the enemy moved, for they were as one a body, never falling to the chaos of swarming war, but moving as if all shared a great mind, each warrior a finger to the greater, terrible hand. And ever were there more of them, pouring from out the dark smoke that followed, for it was everywhere they were, blotting out the sunlight so as it never touched them, shrouding the forces of man into darkness, and illuminating the fires of battle fiercely.
Also, let me note here that all the world shook in horror at the harsh events, for no matter the technology, or masterful skills of war and reason, the enemy pressed with awesome strength, that made the tides quite troubling for everyone, everywhere. It was a strange thing to hear the rumors that no dead soldier of man had ever been recovered, and that when ever a battle was won for us, the dead were ever missing, never found among the piles of the enemy carcasses. And this troubled many people, who by the hundreds of millions watched the battles as I did, for so great is the Tower Fue as to admit an unspeakably great host, and allow them site with its many thousand fittings of the seeing instrument.
By now, so far into the stack that was given by Professor Qui’zaar, those present took a moment to look at one another breathlessly. It could not be believed what it was they were hearing there in the parlor, while Dr. Sutter turned page after page still, taking in every account of battle and blood and defeat according to the ever telling author, so that many a thousand pages had passed with in a short time, taking up the day and bringing in the night before noticed. No one made any motion to speak or leave or even more, for were they too riveted with the translations to feel tired, or hungry, or thirsty at all. Everyone set there, listening as Dr. Sutter continued on in breathless readings. His eyes had barely blinked sense the moment they took on the pages, and his lips were dry and flaked with dead skin, his hands slightly trembling quite oddly. Truly was it a question among them as to believe what it was they were hearing, for the accounts of such things, from such a book as the one that they had found were absolutely astonishing, and beyond doubt, even frightening. The narrator, so they listened to, spelled a great series of events that occurred in the world that he spoke of. The provinces which had held the tall cities most revered by him were slowly crumbling in the sieges of the terrible advancing enemy. His pride in the powers of the Masterful people who took him on as their own had been damaged beyond all measure, and it was clear that his long spells of description soon held a most melancholy tone to them, spelling out a doom that was coming to surface beneath the fading lights of an ever darkening sky.
And yay! Let it be known here that all the peoples of the earth called into the sky, to the gods, whom I shall speak of at a later time, to save them from the terror that had beset their lands, and meant awful destruction to their homes, and death to their children. And they took it to themselves to name the one spoken rumor. The figure who was sited at the beginning, that lead the charge when the wall first opened, and was thought as leader unto the Northern armies of Fire by all those who saw the great cloud come unto them. And the Avathothon Boy was he named, for that word, that word which set in their history as a fowl, unspeakable thing, and by that, the word itself meant only itself, for so terrible was its meaning as to be forbidden the blessing of description. It was he whom was blamed for all that had come, and in various forms did he plague us while we slept, while we ate and while we lived. From a screaming child to a great rain storm, one could not help but see the terror that bled from his eyes, or hear the thunder that roared from his mouth, and this was the word of the Enemy, ever smotting hope in the people as the years of the way pressed on.
Then did the dark shadow cross southward, having won many victories along that south bound paths, and flooded into the planes of Zala Havan. The defenses of that city were great in magnitude, yet pressed most helplessly back unto the city walls. The dark hordes came crashing down upon them from out all sides, so many that the earth shook beneath heir stomping, while the air was unbearable with the screams of their many thousands. The troops of men, unknowing what to do, gave the call for evacuation of the fine city, while sending out a final word into the air, a golden light, to call upon any friendly forces that may hap see their plight. Minutes passed, and hundreds died. The first lines of the arsenal, which ever was kept behind the troops, had been breached before sunset, while by the time of twilight, the city had gone into chaos and panic. The fortress of the one was emptied of its many secretaries, whom kept as cataloguers of the political doings there, while the Councilmen themselves had long sense departed, forced to leave by the military commanders once the first ranks of the defenses had been overcome.
I watched all of this from the Tower Fue, which stood atop the Fortress of One as its observatory. Powerful were those lenses there, which allowed me to see at great mighty distances, and watch the bathing darkness come over the land as the lights of the fires glowed hideously. I saw the many bodies piled among the debris of war in the field, and watched what the idle enemies did when those forward to them were busy. To my horror did I notice something rather odd about them, for curiously did they appear quite human, more so than I had ever noticed before. But of their bodies were their assembled armor of contorted metal and black stones, so that all appeared black and blood stained, but with a strange familiarity to the armor of the human solider. The terror of this thought struck me back and way from my looking glass, so that it was several minutes before I would return, to see an absolutely glorifying thing emerge from the darkening distance of the east. Lights could be seen in the clouds, hovering about strangely, before emerging out into site as a great host of allied airships, raining fire down upon the invading hordes and passing swooping down to as to put a fright into the enemy and push them away. This, however, did nothing to them, for they are ever the unfazable animal, and are only stopped once truly dead, which is, quite unfortunately, at great effort. There were so many that fell when too close, for the masses of the enemy reached up once they noticed the coming ships, and towered in great hulks of their bodies, becoming as one and grabbing them from the sky, pushing them to the ground and then tearing them asunder till al was unnoticeable. But the destructive power of the reinforcements soon turned the tides against our enemy, and with in the night was the siege turned round, and the forces of the evil creatures smitten. At that moment, I felt that there was something possible, buried deep with in the struggles of mankind. A fire that burned unhindered and true. The hopes of the many made manifest. It was the cause of much thankful praying to all the saviors of the day, but such did not last long, both in my vision nor in the hearts of the people, for at the time of the siege, 6 more great cities had fallen in its place, and so was the staggering difference of this victory unacceptable. Those cities, I must name, for there is no other who can, nor anyone to remember the man sons and daughters who were lost. And they were the Tall ones, worthy of remembrance; of Naba, Shui’Zur, Azeira, Koshnal, Farthein and Ranasum, with its fields of golden grain, and an ever love for the arts of crafting by hand, of poetry and fine music. People questioned allowed what was being done in the military. How could it be that in all our capability, they said, we cannot win against an enemy so vile as those who attack us? And the military scolded them, assuring them that all measures were being taken, and that the best options were ever what they had. It was in the unfortunate truth that the enemy was far too powerful to practical measure. That the machines which had been built so long ago were not to the standards required for the war, and so were the soldiers pressed and the commanders stressed with strategies to work unto victory, while ever did the monstrous villains poor further and further from the black cloud that wandered, always to their targets, always snuffing out the lights. To this, the people replied that new machines must be built, to counter the advancements from the North, and to drive them ever back. But the sad truth of it was that no one remembered how, not even in the texts of the military history, for so Old were those weapons that were being used, that their uses were all that had been remembered. The very making of them was a truly complex thing, and of such skill as had been put to other crafts, leaving their need behind for things of peace of cultural prosperity.
Once again was the Avathothon Boy blamed for the shadows of the peoples memory, and perceived to be a curse to them for their forgetfulness and long, peaceful ages.
Now, Too long had they, the men of earth, taken the defensive from absolute necessity, called upon for protection by any town or village or city that saw the black clouds appear over their northern horizon. Now did they feel it was time to take upon themselves the offensive, and drive their machine of war into the very heart of the enemy ranks, and plow their ever battled advancement back into the dark heart of the North. A long flank was arranged, consisting of war vehicles and soldiers of speed and smitters of great body and armor to sit affront by a distance, and wait for the coming cloud. All southern reserves were emptied, and called upon for the mass of the onslaught, between the two great ranges of Fallia and Nui’are, which mean, in that most beautiful language, Father and Daughter. Long was this in preparation, and much resources and time from the arsenals were placed for the hopeful success of their victory. All would move when the war horns sounded, and the command of the high ranking soldiers passes wide, that this will be the final stand, the final time they die. And from the sky did they look to me as a great arrow, formulated in perfect synchronicity so that their steps and movements held tight, while the heavier, stronger armored smitters moved ahead by some many miles in the form of a bottomed half-circle. Millions upon many more bore arms in this organization, and I stress this moment in my cataloguing even more, for so important is it for you to know that, though shameful am I for thinking so, I bore then no true hope for their victory in battle, for ever through this bloody crusade had the victories been sparse, while our dead vanish and the earth stains with blood, and the sites, the terrible sites from my viewing glass in the tower depress my soul with every peek.
Soon approaching was the sky of black color, and the armies of the darkness which swarmed through the northern ranges unhindered, having succeeded in demolishing the that provinces one city, and now aimed for the pass of Father of Daughter, the quickest inlet southward, to open into the plane of Xanadon. The War horns were blown, for I saw the masses march, and the half circle of forerunning ranks meet into the progression of the abominable beasts. The clash was horrible, with many a thousand warriors on both sides crushing upon one another to death, while so great was the clash in many the sections that bodies had even flown into air from the force of it, only to land atop the swell, and be devoured by the rage of the battlefield. Yet, as I watched, a spring of hope, though dim, began to kindle in me, for the dark forces receded back with the pressure in the pass from the men, for the foreword ranks succeeded in standing their ground well. For a time, it looked as if they could not be beaten, their armor glimmering in the mid day sunlight like many a thousand diamonds against the staggering mouth of darkness, the monstrous enemy faltering and falling beneath their righteous blades like cattle unto the slaughter. And the ranks were as water unto rock, unable to gain a footing beyond the army of men. But the numbers of the enemy army were vast, indeed, and soon did it come that so many were there that the humans would soon be overwhelmed, and the pressure pushed hard into their numbers, and the ferocity and strength of the black armies rise to proficiency that would not allow failure. Yet, when this hope of mine soon dimmed, it was sparked once again more brightly than ever, for just at that moment did the great movement of the massing armies appear, firing off the many powerful weapons which drove with them and moving in such speed as I had never before seen them do. Glorious and shimmering like the light of the stars, and calling with horns, so that the front ranks, dwindled and battered, knew of their comrades approach. And when they were nearly upon them, and it would be clear that the arrow would pierce even its own men, the front line split in two, and pushed their way to each side, so that a clear path was suddenly laid, only long enough for allowing the arrow to drive itself head on, into the middle and from there mass against the dark ranks and outward, unleashing their weapons in glorious unison and filling the darkness with blinding light. From there did the battle expand to the northern cupping, pushing back through burning planes and battling among the ruins of lost cities. It was a moment that would ever be known as the Battle of Dawn, for the Darkest Night was finally leaving us, my eyes watching as I wrote down every single detail that I could. Until finally did they venture so far that the smoke of the north had enveloped them, and their light was snuffed by an oppressive cloak, that set on the region, unyielding. For a time, I waited, watching anxiously, as did so many others, all over the world, waiting to see what would happen. But nothing emerged. Nothing
moved. The dark wall set as the one did before it. Impervious, titanic and all powerful. Eventually, the excitement was too much for me, for I was then coming old in age, and worn by the worries of the war, and I left the capital city for Xanadon, and rested but a month there after.
***
It was on the third day of the new Autumn season that the trumpets sounded in the wind, and the war horns blew high in the cities, while the air felt crisp and cool and smelled of good spices, not of smoke or blood or war as had been. I moved about the city forums, while all was in uproar and question, taking the lifts to the top of the wall that ever protected the inner city, and looked over the plane to the north, un sure of what I would see. But as I listened, I knew those horns to be no sounds of the enemy, for they were as golden brass and fine temper, and played as a beautiful music as a rival to heaven, if ever. And over the horizon did the shimmering shields of the human armies blaze, accompanied with the triumphant warships that flew down from the skies and golden armored land vehicles that ran fast and sung in glorious unison, their song of final victory. Everyone watched, from all the windows of all the towers in the city, and cried when the horns were blown again, for everyone, including myself, had taken by the lack of account that all had been lost in that final assault. But with in two days were the coming soldiers upon us, and the many thousand entry ways with in were let open for them to pass, and greeted by the tens of thousands of singing citizens, while they marched in trumpeting unison and glorified them with praise. All was in Xanadon, the home I kept first, while word of the dissipating black cloak in the north spread like the wind over the planes, and it was told that the war was finally won, and for the first time in years, all could rest. The families and loved ones of those who died mourned, and thanked their gods for the news, for it was believed better to know the truth than evaded with ignorance. These lost, of course, were the ones not accounted for, for as I have told ,the dead were never found.
THE GODS
Here now will I speak of the gods, which I had at first mentioned, and for good reason, to be true, do I speak of them now and so awkwardly placed, for so much was there in those many long years that here now have I only found it best to speak of them, to reflect the comings of my tale and its outcome. I will say little, save that it is a typical thing to hear of in the forums, and spoken of in texts and great works of art and music, and worshipped in a most peculiar fashion. For it is the philosophy, though strange from what I knew, that the gods willed all to live as free creatures, so it was said, and to become great people, not as servants or worshippers, for they were born to live, not grovel or prostrate in temples of stone or idol, as all the earth was as their temple, and to walk upon it was to be one with them, and thus carry the will of the Gods as blessing, until it is time to go back to them. It was their way, alien from what I knew back home, and they looked so often to it for guidance. Difficult times brought frustration and bother, and through the history of them was it the only stable thing to rival their will for knowledge. And it is their main goddess Sundra that is revered as highest of all, and of her, I have known the most in my time here, for she is the embodiment of all graces. The rest are her concubines; great willers of learning and livelihood, while the God known as Trauloss represents that of war, and battle and rage and anger, for it is his influence through Sundra’s tools that make the human so interesting, and able to deviate from good or evil so as to say that there is neither one or the other. He is revered among the military men, and willed as a soldiers High father, and is thought to be among them always ,though never known, in the garb of their own people and in wait for times of war. And those times are his times, as he unleashes his furry and power unto the world of Sundra’s children.
THE RED NEBULAE
Now, as I had said, the armies had returned home in victory, pushing back the monstrous forces further and further every day, and burning their bodies as they went in the dark. And once it was seen that the day had been won, and the remaining forces of evil armies were bottled into the northern ruins, the majority of all the troops were turned back and ordered to go home while forces were left to follow and decimate the slim retreating ranks of the enemy. It was a golden day to see them march, holding out the great banners of the cities and provinces from where they had originally hailed from, many of which were long sense gone, ruined, but to be reborn, we all knew. Weapons held proudly in in parade colored dress, armor put aside for its blood stains and much ware. This was what we had all dreamed of sense the beginning. What I had yearned to see again, sense the day the war had begun, oh so many years ago. We all felt heavy in our hearts for what was lost. Too much had been taken away by the enemy. Too much lost by the gears of the war hammer, so that all the northern hemisphere and into the south, was blackened and burned by their fleeting presence, while Xanadon held strong as the gateway to the rest, and all that remained of us, thankful. I will not make note of the number of deaths it was believed mankind suffered, for so high is it that even in my experience with the masterful people can I never fully recover from knowing it. Yet, indeed, it was felt that all was over. But never more wrong were we to think as fools, unwise, for the terrible creature I saw which stood above the fires was never reported to have been present at the battles, and was believed to have left for the black smoky ruin where first all the hordes had emerged from.
In celebration, we drank ourselves as kings. I was one of the few who stood by sober, watching the dark northern skies of night fall, till bed. And I dreamed of absolute pleasantness, too, of high rising, white washed stairways and golden towers of mountainous height, beneath an ever blue sky and a cold wind. These are how I first felt there; the awe and majesty of those people. But now I felt worried, concerned and frustrated, for so strange was the world becoming around me, even though my familiarity with it, coming to the conclusion that something was wrong. Then the tower horns sounded out, deep and strong and fierce, and running to the balcony wildly there did I see the skies full of a vast Nebulae, unlike anything id ever seen before. Vast, towering clouds arrayed in star light and pigments of terrible reds and crimson, stable, looming and cold. Every star pulsed menacingly, and I asked the soldiers when it had come, and was told that it had appeared just then that night, after most of the celebration in the city was done. Everyone stood in gapping stare, wonder-eyed as new born children, pointing and speaking of its strange coming and awfulness. Then a different noise was heard far off, and attention moved down towards the north, and word spread quickly that a strange glow had appeared there, as if the sun were rising. I dressed quickly and took the lifts up high, bringing myself to the observatory at the top of the city, where the military had established its base of command. It was the tallest tower, to be true, and chosen for that reason, and its sturdiness. For hundreds of times was it thicker than all the others, and controlled all access into the city from the subterranean passages. We all watched the glow rise, deep red and orange, blazing out into the sky as a haze of forgotten sunlight, but growing larger, closer, toppling over the hills beneath the watching cosmos and the newly arrived phantasm of the red nebulae high above. Then did it reveal itself for what it truly was, causing all present to gasp in terror, and the military commanders to sound the horn of battle readiment before the thunder cracked into their ears, and the screams could be heard all over. For there, far across the empty black planes of the city, spilled into view a massive army, alit by fires so numerous as to falter only in comparison to the sky they walked beneath, moving quickly in total unison, marching as if mocking the humanity it stormed upon. It was the black army! returned in unfathomable numbers. I could only see that this surely was a planned move of theirs, as too clean of a passing had they made through the pass of Father and Daughter, and too sure were we made of their defeat that it hit me to be a mere diversion for an all out attack. We all watched, as in the in the sky appeared great monstrous things, which flew wildly, as if birds, yet wholly abominable in condition, for as they turned too and fro, circling above the great hosts, the fire light reflected their macabre silhouettes, and showed them to be of malicious construct, animated monstrosities from blasphemous ill- natures of the designs used for the airships. As if the perversions of their very being mangled the metal and gave it a demon to live upon. Other things then rolled into view. Great, abstract objects, intermixed with cloudy flame, steaming from out great colluders and breathing black smoke into the air, moving on the grounds like the slithering of a giant snake, yet dwarfed by the numbers of fires that still appeared to come, ever making the orange glow brighter. The smoke soon spread wide, clawing its way over the brilliant winter night, darkening the northern portion of that odd display with its putrid pollution. The soldiers readied their armor and weapons, and the air ships were readied for launch, and the walls were secured by the tens of thousands of already waiting guardsmen, while the transit lines were cut and all commuting outside and in ceased. The people who had lived beyond the other wall came in, seeking safety in the towers and the underground roots. All were called in, under no exception, to secure safe holdings in the towers, for the cities were much safer to everyone then fleeing southward to open country. And I watched, baffled at the commanding side, requesting to catalogue the days to come, and thus accepted to do at my leisure. Then the cries were heard, and horns were blown from some where outside the city. And then a bellowing blow of sound and roar came down from the darkening sky, and Lo! there did I see something in the glow, which then spread from east to west. A dark figure, barley noticeable in the swells, yet wholly there and part of the infernal war machine. I shivered at the thought of what it might be, but as cataloguer, forced myself to procure the looking instruments in the observatory, and glanced unto the strange disturbance that rippled in the fire light of that massive host. And when I saw it, I screamed of bloody murder, and fell to floor in petrifying fear, for those instruments are the most acute of all, and can bring their user right there to the place they look, and immerse them in such detail and clarity as to rival ones own site. For the host itself, to all my horror, was made of the black colored blasphemies which had emerged from out the northern ruins. And amidst them, swaying back and forth like a titan overseeing its armies, stood the monstrous creature, that at one time resembled a boy! Now he was too large for all belief; skin pulled taught on a massive frame. And his eyes breathed the reddest of evil fires into black, twining smoke which emitted from out his jaws like unworldly, aetherial feelers. The limbs of the thing were now so massive that a single, razord hand was greater than a standard air ship, and they swayed back and forth as he jostled on legs that bent from back to front with every step. The soldiers scooped me up from the floor and made sure I was well, then looked through the looking instrument with grave concern, barking orders to be sent down that all be made ready by the next sunset, for they feared the advancement went far too unnoticed, and cost them much time to prepare.
***
The sun rose and the air was dank, filthy with smoke and ash, while the red nebulae still hung forebodingly. The entire northern sky was black against an enfant blue, filled with impenetrable smoke clouds from the unchanged advancement of the black army. The cloud by then spanned as far east and west as one could see, so that the sun ebbed as if cleft in two, polarizing the great flatness that surrounded the city in to golden day and darkest night. I was tired, but watched while in council with the military commanders, eager to know what was to happen in their planning. It was obvious to them that their forces sent north had been overtaken, and that defeat, if they could not call upon the southern regions in time, would be eminent. And even then, with the fires growing more and more numerous, it seemed as though all the North had been unleashed upon us, and that everything which was held for reinforcement thus far had been spilled unto the world as one massive sweep.
There would be no stopping this army, I said to them, for your reserves had been emptied in the Battle of Dawn, Which seems to have been their plan all along. It was obvious, did they not see, that the war until now was but a softening! This was the true attack for us. This was the moment that would spell the end for humanity. Their hideous nature of violence and threat had cost the lives of so many by then, for a purpose that no one could know. It was from their abominable need to kill us; a hunger that sprang from their very loins, and coursed through their black bodies as a putrid blood and fouled thoughts. Why? I asked them. Why had this happened? Why had the powers of evil arisen? Was it not the right way that all men had lived? Were the master people not generous to their own lands? Surely was it considerable that they had angered the world with their use of it, while too busy in the myriad ways of everyday life to see the damage. The mining people who took the black rock were so sure of their security In the matter, yet too much killing had happened for anyone to rightly think past their curiosity, and question what it was that the black people of horrors had actually wanted, save to hunt us down to the ends of the earth, and eliminate us.
Now, as I have said, the word could not be sent out for aid, while the enemy advancement coursed with such speed as to never be understood, so as their darkness overtook the setting sun, and but half of that terrible nebulae shone down grimly, their armies stood some few leagues away from the walls. The air was nearly unbreathable, tainted with smoke and the smell of rotting flesh and charring meat, so that all the people had went indoors, save the soldiers who stood by, strong. The precise number of those who were present, I was informed, was that of 300,000. I dare say reader, looking at those who would destroy us, now so close to our gate, that this was far dwarfed by comparison. I ever stress to you that truly was it an endless ocean of them, while those terrible flying monstrosities of theirs could only be glimpsed upon in the glow of their fires and war machine.
An intermingling of bad light and black smoke made for a grim scene, and when we saw the sheets of snow fall down from the blackened sky, well, we did not know what else to believe, save that the world was at an end. Not snow, though, I say, No! but Ash! Ash from the furnaces of those odd looking contraptions they brought with them. Falling all over the city like a grey winter, sticking to what ever it touched like a painting die for the dead.
But then they stopped, some miles short of us, moving not an inch, nor making any noise. Unwholesome silence covering all. They watched us from beneath their black brows, holding their slaughtering devices with deformed arms and clawed hands with utter stillness. Then, making way for the walking of that mountainous mammoth that was the very thing we all feared most. The will of them, the Avathothon Boy, lumbering taller than the walls themselves, breathing fire and smoke to the air, while belching thunder from with in him. Their horns sounded deep, curling the smoke in the sky with their call, while the Avathothon Boy lifted its great razord hands, reaching out wards to the darkness above, and the minions below did the same as he did, and called out in unison, a many millions of unworldly voices, screeching into the air in call of something. I could not help but look up after a time, for they failed to move from this state, and notice the faintness of that shadow above us part away, yet reveal the bright redness of the strange nebulae far above. It was odd, for I felt no fear at that moment, but was rather entranced with a weird curiosity that rose in me, and soon could I stand no more, falling to the floor and blacking out, for in the patch there did an object appear from the sky, hurtling into my mind once I saw it and knew immediately what it was.
Speedily falling into planer site, the deep hideous face of a large, cratered object, rounded to one side, while dark to another, and in similarity from memory did I know it to be that, none other, than the very moon which this world had ever lacked to it’s skies! It blazed as a dark red eye, opening wider and wider until its face was perfectly round, and emitting a strange noise which sounded like nothing that I can describe to you, as if answering the screams of the dark legions. So much had I seen already, only to be put into the unutterable truth of what set before me. I knew then where I really was, or rather, when I really was. The ages of earth are too vast to realize, and though there are men from my time who believe that all they see is true and real, I say that they have not ventured to the realms I have witnessed, through the circular prism that sits somewhere in the northern mountains, possessing all manner of cosmic horror and truth. The lands of the master race and their strange, brilliant ways. Those people who were our forerunners. Our fathers. The last before our coming, who fell from so mighty a throne as rulers of the earth. There they stood , beneath the terror of a one, almighty enemy. Their weapons useless, their armies, defeated, and their reason and passions obliterated before the mouth of a yawning beast that rose from depths too ancient and foul to dare be probed by reason. Yet, there to the fields did I wake and see what happened then, for after is there no need to speak any further. My story is coming to its final turn, and its close, before I set it down into this sturdy case, placed beneath the ice of the cold regions of the farthest south, and left in preservation upon the parchment and inks which were supplied to me by those, a most wondrous and beautiful people, now all gone. For as I have said, the armies of darkness had marched upon the city planes, and stood in ghastly stance some many miles near the wall, depressing the shine of glorious Xanadon with smoldering smoke and suffocating Ash.
My nerves were gone, my energy drained, yet by some terrible, spiritual omission was I able to wake a little longer, maddened by every truth crashing unto me in my flawed perspective, for all of us are flawed, to view as I was carried away, what all who looked had witnessed there, before dropped and left alone upon the terrace outside the viewing room of the tower, by those who wished to the impossible happen, and forget their duties as soldiers. I could only roll to the very edge, and peer down over the city, and see the shimmering object ride defiantly towards the Avathothon boy. It sung against the calling of that most insidious moon, traveling with great speed over the planes of the city. I heard men yelling from with in the observation room. “He cannot be serious!” “What a Fool! He will die, most surely!” And I knew than that one of the persons of the city had dared in a craze I now wholly understand, to give up all reason and venture out to fight the mammoth monster that stood out there, erect, breathing the smoke and the flame. And I heard the name of “Tamiun” spoken among them, which in their language, means “Strong armed”, and that he was the one who broke out of the walls and stole a vehicle, taking with him his only weapon, the smitter of the armies of man, to slay the horrid beast that led the black ones. My eyes grew watery with interest, and I did not blink as I saw him go, closing in on the mountain of skin and lumbering infernality that began to look down at him.
And there did the Avathothon boy emit a most terrible sound, for in some deranged corner of a lunatic could it be similar to a cackle, causing the legions of dark ones below to swell away from him in haste, and the nebulae above, and the terrible moon approaching him, to halt from their activities, and to stop and watch by command. And the glimmering rider, the one known as Tamiun, turned dramatically once he came to the great black feet of the enemy, and stood high defiantly against him. Flame and black smoke flooded down from on high, while lightning broke from the clouds that rolled as the Horror turned its head in grimacing laughter. But this did not faze that one, Tamiun, for he was a brave, pure white soul, that gave not ever to the heat of the flame, or the filthy pollution of the unnatural smokes, but positioned himself so as right beneath the enemy, taking back his weapon, and aiming far and true, while the Avathothon boy lifted his right foot in the air, and sent it hammering down towards the earth, to crush the one small soldier.
And Tamiun flung out his one great smitter, and this cut through the blackened foot of the enemy, and soared high as a blinding light, into the smoke and the flames. And the Avathothon boy gave out a bellowing whale that cracked the very towers of Xanaodon, and made the earth shake before his size, and cause the clouds above him to roll and part and break as waves unto the shore, while the legions of dark ones who had parted before now fell to the earth in terrible spasm, and rolled unto one another like feinding hounds. The flying monsters of metal and contortion began to fall in screeching agony, plummeting from their darkened heights and bursting unto the earth as if fireballs, and the red nebulae then vanished into nothing, while the crimson moon went pale. Great fires sprung from the planes, and raged beneath the feet of the Avathothon boy, whose foot and face were now of black smoke, bleeding out as viscous feelers, wrapping about him tightly. And the people of Xanadon fell to the floor, while the earth began to tremble beneath its foundation, and the light of the one Tamiun vanished in the swell of mongreling dark ones.
Then the body of the Avathothon boy split as if chopped from top to bottom, and released from with in a great, oceanic darkness of black liquid and smoke which enveloped all site and all sound in drowning omnipotence. I did not know if I would live, as I watched its towering wall come upon us, but at that time, I did not care, for too maddened was I to know different.
***
I opened my eyes, and beheld that all was grey and dim. The city was no where to be seen, its tall spires and great, golden citadels given place to an endless league of grey, rolling hills which set beneath a thin white sheet of cloud covering and cold rain. But looking, my eyes very tired, was I dwarfed by the visage of a pale faced moon, looming phantasmicaly through the clouds and over the horizon. Large, so large as to be of no rightful manner to memory, as if it were to collide with all the earth in its massiveness, yet kept away by the will of mercy and the scorning of natures cruel government. Soundless, its song had been silenced, I thought, and now cause it nothing, to lay dead, ever to hold its secrets shrouded in mystery and transcosmic whispers in the bowels of greater darknesses and the wisping frames of shadows when the sun makes its setting so as to rest.
Bitten hard by a sudden strong wind, I turned my attention to the land, and looked about in confusion, only remembering those many years ago when I had visited the northern wastes of the tormented people, and to this, holding likeness to what I was looking upon at that moment. The air was chilly, unforgivingly moist, and devoid of life or compassion, while the wind picked up sands from the hills and planes and danced them in gestures of mockery and false human influences. Something held a familiarity to it all, yet aside from the likeness to that place that was and had sense been no more, I could not come to why I felt so familiar here. Perhaps, it had all been a dream, I thought. Perhaps I was mad, and raved about the world I had come from in utter delusion and craze, unfolding the planes of reality and truth for a world that was far better to me, yet far more menaced then by the infinitesimal hands of men. And to a degree, I hoped for this to be true, for such a terrible thing was, now that I considered the reality of my experiences, to have truly lived through the times of those, the master people, and to see them fall beneath the weight of absolute cataclysm. And all was good to my half tired mind, until I turned my self round, slowly, and beheld the tall menace that would drive me running in fear, regardless of my tire, screaming at the top of sore lungs and giving me my final decision of what must be done once I finish this tale, setting it away with all my strength, into stone case and the cave, to let the cold beyond here take me, and bring me down to die, and may the mercy of all loving Sundra be with me, the goddess whom I came to know after a youth of benign belief in false prophets and endless searching for vaster wonders than what I felt the world of men had ever been given.
It was of some many stories in height. Black in color, yet worn by time, though ever prevailing in its hideousness. The likeness and detail were stunning to truth, even beneath the thin rain and wind and the grey saturation of the land. Even through the cold, and the most certain warring of many long years, aging through elements opposing it. Forces until its day of dust, when the world would break and change for ever, crushing it beneath its weight and age and swallowing the proof of its existence. The face was cruel, mean spirited and angry, its pose one of daring and pride, arms holding two large objects, one resembling the staff of a priest, while the other, a mighty Smitter of the Masterful people, held with in large, stone hands; held out in ready, as if to attack. And it was that I saw it to be a Protector of Xanadon, and realized where it was that I truly lay, for ever in my travels sense my arrival in that world had I only seen those statues in one place…
One place, only. Before the gates of that city, that I knew as my one home, while it stood, Now washed away…
Dr. Sutter, sitting the final page on the stack, set silently in thought while watched by the speechless others, his eyes frantic, worried and sure, coming suddenly to a sense of revelation, glaring down at the papers he had just finished. He then rose, and took the manuscript in his arms with great haste, and in one rush from his chair threw it all into the fire place, letting the flames consume the bulk while keeping his face from the others and coughing out, madly “Qui’zaar read it all! God…in the actual texts! which undoubtedly taxed the poor man to nearly Crumble and certainly lies in skewed translation, else we would carry the same effect…
The implications are…too horrible to think about, gentlemen, you must agree, and so must the book itself be well hidden, away, where no one, not even us, can ever reach it. Notes must be destroyed, do you hear?! We did not read it! We did not find it! You came back with nothing! No one must know of this, do you Understand!?” He turned, and caused the others to gasp, for in the short time he stood away from them had the brown tent of his beard turned white, and his flush face pale and whiten to make his appearance quite old and deteriorated. “ It is of terrible necessity that no one ever know of this..No One!”
Both physically and mentally stressed beyond rightful measure, all took to their beds once swearing on their lives and careers to never speak of the passed days events, nor of the discovery that cost them so much time and soon, so they would discover, so much sleep, taking to the rooms given them in the house of the one, late Dr. Qui’zaar, who died of a stroke some months there after their meeting, a victim of mental break down and unexplained fatigue, leaving behind a legacy of superb contribution to the fields of linguistics and archeology.
***
Some weeks later, a barge sailing from San Francisco to Korea would be ordered to drop, somewhere along its root, a single large crate from America, tightly fastened and heavily weighted, bearing only the words “Geological-Waste, Department of Geology, USF” on its side. The crew of the ship would be paid handsomely to ask nothing of it; to do their duty and then to move on, dropping the one load into the waters of the Pacific, where never could it be reached by anyone again.
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