Destiny: Book of Light (11 page)

"Where have you been?" she asked with a warm concern in her eyes.
"I followed you into the Caverns?"
"What Caverns?"
"The ones over...." he looked back and the stone corridor had changed into an old Tentle wood doorway that was ajar and led into a back room of pirates around a table.

"Are you ok Sean?"
"Ya fine." He paused for a minute to think, and she looked at him with concern. He noticed.
"So what did the crew say."
"Ya there are 30 men ready and waiting outside."
"Ok we must get back to the ship, it's nearly time to go."

Not much time was wasted on the return. Vulita was curious about the change in mood of Sean, but decided better off to say nothing and stand off and watch. For now. Quick introductions were made between Sean and the crew. Like what their speciality is, sniper, explosives and so on, and then they were on their way. Again introductions were made between other crew members on board, the captain, and new crew members brought from different sources. In total there were 78 crew members. No introductions were made to the Rionions.

The captain made a speech welcoming everyone on board. He apologised for the secrecy involved in the mission, and that the holding bays were off limits, but assured everyone all questions would be answered when they needed to be. Some of the crew did kick up a fuss, but the captain shut them down by informing them that, this was the reason they were getting paid so much. He also offered to double the original amount to anyone who made it back, calculating that there was going to be extra shares from those who died. He also informed them him that he didn't expect everyone to return, and that anyone who wished, could leave now and get slightly reimbursed for their inconvenience. One did.

Sean wasn't paying any attention to any of this. He had an indescribable urge to read the Book of Light. As soon as they awayed anchor, he went below decks to his sleeping quarters. Only he and the captain had their own room.

By the light of candle he took the book from his bag. It had changed colour to silver and seemed to glow a light shade of blue. He took the key from his pocket and as it was freed he felt it be drawn to the book. If he had doubts before they were quenched now as the stone drew itself to the book through his mind. He placed the stone on the Sun emblem in the center of the cover and it began to shake and melt through it. Sean watched in wonder, and as the last bit went through, the book burst open leaving off an explosive blue light. Sean struggled to regain his vision and as he did so he heard a voice in his head.

"Hello Sean."
At this stage he wasn't shocked by anything anymore. He answered calmly by thinking.
"Who is this?"
"I am the book of light Sean, I have binded my soul to you now. We are one until the feat we have in front of us is complete. There will be many things that you won't understand and will have to get used to, but I will do my best to guide you along the way."
"What are you?"
"You know of my kind as the elders, although your people have lost the real meaning of our race through time. And there were many who claimed to be elders who weren't. This planet is much older than you understand. There used to be many of us when all on the planet lived in harmony, but we were slowly lost as your species got greedy and lived in selfishness. We were a spiritual being and we lived in line with all the nature and forces in natural existence. And there was a time that we spoke with your people when they lived in peace. We taught individuals the secrets about all that you see but fail to comprehend. I am Solas, the light elder, King of elders and master of light and all that it touches. We are going to walk your destiny together in the hopes of saving this planet from the pollution that has manifested here and down to it's very core."
"Why me?"
"Although destiny is set, you chose this one. You were destined to make the choice because of your will to save Sarah. And that will is strong. The path you have chosen is the most difficult one any of your kind has chosen for an age on this planet, and because of the way all has gone before you, you now have the greatest price to pay should you fail. The faith of this world and all that is good in it, is in your hands Sean, so you must have the worlds greatest force behind you when you take this path. That is why I am here and that is why I have chosen you."
"Do we stand a chance?"
"I have the ability to foresee things but it is never set. There is too much left to chance. Destiny has a part to play but even that is not set, there are too many variables so all I can do is study the probability. I will be honest with you Sean because I don't believe in masking things. We are against the odds by far, even if all goes to plan and there is much that may not."
"So why bother?"
"This is our last chance. After this, evil is all that will remain. You know of Sultron, the one that torments your people?"
"Yes. We don't say his name, generally bad things happen to those that do. And all those around them."
"He doesn't have sight in your mind Sean but I would take care in mentioning his name. Sultron is a very powerful adversary, but it is not him that we must worry about. He is the spawn of something much worse. Before my kind there was another kind. The First. We knew them as Elmeshir. That is an old languages word for elements, and these are the powers that created all elements on this planet and created the balance necessary for life to exist. I am not life but they also created us. There were five of them that created this planet and all used to be angelic in nature. But the creation took it's toll on one and he turned to the dark of existence. This showed through in all that was created but since then the other four bound him. Now Sultron intends to release him and he has been harvesting a grudge and growing in unnatural strength. He must not be released. There is nothing more important and anything and everything is expendable to try and stop him."
"What do you know of the Elishmer?"
"The Elishmer are forces that define the stars and that beyond it. They have the ability to allow life or take it away. Create worlds or destroy Universes. There are those of them that are good and those that are bad and they are constantly at war. We do not know much more about them, but what we do know is that the one trapped in this world is one of the most powerful of the evil Elishmer and if he is free he will alert all of his presence. That would not work out well for this Universe and most likely even further beyond this, would be destroyed. I myself can not imagine the destruction that would occur. I have felt the presence of an evil Elishmer but only in singular form and in passing, and that was horrific. I can not comprehend what would happen should they unite and attack."
"So it must stopped, what do I need to do?"
"For now get started on reading the book. It will give you an understanding on the power you're going to have and need."
He began.
Morning broke through the port hole of his room. He jumped out of his bunk and his head seemed blurry from the night before. He knew he was supposed to have read the book last night but he guessed that he had fallen asleep. His mind was silent now. The book lay on the table gleaming in the sunlight. It was now gold again. He got dressed and packed what he needed into his gear bag. He took apart his guns, cleaned them and reassembled them again. Then he made his way to the chow room where breakfast was already being served. The ship was well over it's capacity of men so he had to stand while he ate. The men were in deep debates about where they were going and why the cargo bays were off limits. Some of the more popular arguments were that they were carrying one of the few remaining nukes but who they were targeting nobody could say. Vulita was chatting to a sailor at the table.

The captain entered the room and all fell silent. Sean couldn't help but grin at the respect they all had for him even though some of them had just met him. "Clear the table lads." It was done with efficiency. He laid charts out on the table.

"Right lads, I'm sorry about the circumstances of secrecy, but there are many who are probing the workings of this mission and we could not allow any security breach. There is no turning back from here boys, we're after hitting the south polar current. No small boat would last out here, any big ships that actually risk this path would more than likely be pirates and good luck trying to swim home. Sorry about that, but that's why yer being paid so much. What are we doin here you ask? Well we have a fight ahead of us boys. It doesn't matter whether it's in a year or a day, the fight is coming. You all know what's been brewing in the Tamshir Valleys. There is no hiding from him. We are now officially the worlds last chance at survival."

After the faces went pale one of the older, more experienced crew members said, "Your fucking kidding me right?" "No Grellick I wish I was." "But we're not an army, we don't stand a chance." "Actually we stand the best chance. We have with us a weapon produced from the worst times of our planet and hidden and denied ever since." "What? Rumbled through the crowd. "Sean if you will."

Sean went to the back and opened the door. A very large man stood there. His face hidden in the shadows of the massive black hooded cloak he wore. "Who's this, superman?" joked Grellick. "Not exactly," the captain added with a grin on his face. "Zenith if you would be so kind as to demonstrate."

The hooded figure raised his arm out in front of him. As he did the claw like appearance of his actual hand emerged from the cloak. His fingers, long, grey and bony twitched for a second and then the cup Grellick was taking a sip from, heated in his hand causing him to drop it. It smashed on the table and as the tea begin to spill out from it, it all froze. The liquid did not continue to spill, instead the whole process of the cup being smashed began to move in reverse. The sailors watched in absolute silent awe, their faces dropping with shock or white with fear. All except the captain and Sean who shared the same grin. Vulita looked to Sean.

The cup fully restored itself and began to rise into the air centered among everyone's gaze. Zeniths hand twitched again and the cup fell into dust and then appeared hovering centered in his hand, where it caught fire in a blue flame and dissolved into what appeared to look like a black hole on a small scale in the palm of Zeniths hand. After it was all gone he slowly lowered his hand. Silence echoed. Nobody moved, said anything and barely breathed as they stared at the figure searching for an answer, confused as to what actually just happened.

The captain spoke. "This is Zenith. Leader of the Rionions." Zenith entered the room followed closely by two more hooded figures which were previously unseen. Many thought of the hatred held for the Rionions and the previous hell they had put the rest of the world through.

The captain spoke again. "I know what yer all thinking lads, but these lads here had nothing to do with what happened in the dark days. It was the corporation. Most of these were down and outs or gang members who were mutated by the radiation of the Dissect bomb. And besides we have no choice. We know what it's like sending military after him, we all were affected by the conscription, whether you went or not you knew someone who did." A muttered "Here, here," went through the crowd as the acknowledgement of the dead was commonly agreed to.

The captain spoke again. "Now we have no choice left, nothing we have tried works and he is constantly gaining power. These lads however, some of them picked up amazing abilities, and insights into the world and it's hidden untouched power that none of us will ever understand. "So what captain, they are just goin to fight for us? We'll have to do nothing?" "No lads sorry, yer here to fight too. They can't do everything by themselves, they are not invincible. There will be others there to help us, there will be 34 ships assembling on the Drechnoil Beach. All of the worlds most skilled warriors have been assembled in secret. Our mission was to contact the Rionions through Sean here, but we ran into some trouble along the way. Listen, at the end of the day we're goin to have to fight this battle. It is inevitable. It's just a matter of do you want to fight it on your front doorstep with all that we know and love at risk, or do you want to be part of the last chance our home has. All the most skilled the Earth has to offer on a final stand giving our homes one last chance?"

"Aye," started through the crowd and raised to cheering as the final stand spirit was born. As the Rionions left the room again, Zenith stopped and looked Sean up and down. "You have changed Sean," he spoke in a hoarse whisper. "I acknowledge you."

He bowed and walked on. The captain watched with a silent curiosity as did Vulita who was very quiet but very observant since she got onboard.

Even with the earlier cheers for revolution, the journey went on in a sombre light. All had one thing on their mind and that was him. They were deep in his gaze now, they knew it, and he had a lot of influence in his domain. To start the weather was devastating with massive waves and high speed winds. Already a death occurred on board as an older man was washed overboard and lost to the sea, but the real trouble was about to begin. The Ice caps were the first obstacle. Miles of ice. Broken in a enigma of pieces and rejoined through freezing again and again. This left towers of different icebergs soaring into the sky and then coming crashing down as the bottoms broke apart again.

The ship was well built for these abnormal ice conditions but progress was slow, often requiring the crew to dig in front of the ship to help it along. Six days in and things were getting mundane. 2 more crew members had perished because of falling ice towers, but other than that the repetitiveness of pick axing the ice was soul destroying for all on board. They were putting in 20 hour days, of which 18 hours may have been picking ice. Muscles were tired and frostbite had become an issue among the natural humans on board. And all we're at least weak from the cold, but the Rionions did not take part in the work to the disdain of the crew.

That night they were building a fire on board, in their make do fireplace on deck. The sound of cracking ice was all to be heard on the crisp night, but "Picking," had stopped for now as they had come to soft ice, or as the captain liked to call it, level three ice. Thinner than level 2 ice that required picking and much thinner than the level 1 ice of the glaciers themselves. There were seven people on deck including Sean, and the captain as always was at the bridge.