It had been many years since Timur had made the jump. The realm of the other world was where he had been trapped for multiple decades, and an irrational fear of becoming trapped there again continually lingered in the back of his mind. While he had been there without any means of escape, his entire empire fell apart. Formerly known as Tamerlane of the ancient Timurid Empire, he had laid siege to hundreds of villages.
The night before he intended to lay siege on China, however, a flash of brilliant white light filled his tent. A man appeared out of nowhere, clad in ornate apparel, wearing a crown and holding an old balance scale. Timur cowered before what he thought was an angel who had come with the wrath of God to destroy him. Instead, the old man dragged him away with another flash of blinding light and trapped him in a dungeon upon an unknown world. He wasn’t aware at the time that he had been predestined to become the next Seraph and Guardian of both worlds.
As months turned into years and years into decades, Timur began to lose all sense of sanity as he awaited death to overtake him. Deprived of food and drink, he expected his death to come quickly: but death never came to knock on his door. Many times he screamed through the iron bars, but neither guard nor warden ever came to his aid. His only companion was a dark voice from the shadows.
The voice gained intensity as the years dragged on, comforting him that he would get his revenge in due course. Though Timur was unable to see anything in the darkness, he could feel the presence of the Leviathan as if it were a man standing before him. Nearly three decades had passed before his depression turned into anger and his anger mounted into rage. A sickly green light emanated from his eyes, and he could make out strange symbols covering every wall.
“What are these markings?” he asked the darkness.
“Thou art entrapped by these spells of binding.” the dark voice spoke. “These ancient symbols doth prevent thee from developing thine divine powers and doth prevent thee from escaping this dungeon.”
“What powers?”
“Thou art a Seraph,” the Leviathan explained. “It hast been prophesied that thou shalt take thy place as the rightful heir to the throne of Atlantis. During thy reign, Death and Hell shall follow thee as a fourth part of the earth shall be destroyed with hunger, famine, and with sword.”
“But how will I get out of here?”
“First, ye must yield thy soul up unto me and become my servant.”
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“I’ll do no such thing,” Timur huffed. “I’ve got my own empire to redeem.”
A pair of burning red eyes lit up the chamber. “Yes, you shall!”
The ground began to shake violently. Timur staggered and fell as several stalagmites crashed down, crushing him alive. The red glow disappeared, and Timur was left alone in the darkness of the cavern. He screamed out in pain for days, but the Leviathan would not heed his cries.
Several weeks of agony passed before the Leviathan finally returned. Timur was weak yet unable to succumb to death. The Leviathan offered freedom in exchange for yielding up his soul for consumption. Timur accepted the offer in desperation, and watched the white glow of his spirit exit his body and erupt in flames. He felt a part of him die inside as the Leviathan inhaled the thick smoke emitting from Timur’s corrupted soul.
The ground shook again, causing the walls of the cave to crumble around him. At first Timur thought he had been betrayed, but then he felt a warmth growing inside. The pains he had endured over the past few weeks subsided, and he felt himself growing stronger. The green glow of his eyes burned brighter, and his anger blazed into rage. When his fury overtook him, an unknown power began to seep from his bones. The sickly green light radiated from his eyes as an aura of power surrounded him. In an outburst of inhuman rage, all the rubble within a fifty-foot radius incinerated into ash.
“I have freed thee from thy spells of binding,” the Leviathan spoke. “Now go. Seek thy revenge!”
Tramping forth out of the dust, Timur climbed a mighty flight of stairs carved into the rock. Though pitch black, his path was lit by the green glow of his eyes. A small pinpoint of light emanated from the top of a far-away exit. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he climbed the arduous staircase. When he finally reached the summit, he was bathed in sunlight. High above he could see two Solar Giants lighting the sky from either end of a valley spread out far below. It appeared the staircase had terminated at a cave opening near the top of an extremely high mountain. Down in the center of the valley arose a great and glorious city far more exquisite than any he had ever before laid eyes upon.
Timur broke out of his reverie and focused his thoughts. He knew that in the ruins of that once glorious city he would find a way to eliminate his most recent obstacle. Though Allan’s powers were already beginning to manifest, Timur instinctively knew that there must be something hidden in that long-forsaken city that would give him the answers he needed. It was there that he would find the key to destroying this newly-emerging Seraph.
Mustering his courage, Timur reached out to the urn that sat upon his desk. His forehead began to sweat profusely as he clenched his teeth. Though he was ever loyal to the darkness, it had been many years since he had felt the overwhelming presence of the Leviathan. Removing the lid, he reached in and took a handful of ashes. In his other palm sat a small reliquary. His stomach was tied up in knots as he slowly poured the ashes into the small container. As he did so, he closed his eyes and focused all his energy upon the ashes. That familiar sickly green light escaped behind the slits of his eyelids as the aura surrounded him. In a flash of brilliant green light, Timur and the reliquary were gone.
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