The first scripture – Church of Complexity

The breath of creation is the directive. Live and build on what came before, stand on the shoulders of giants. Moths to the flame, fuel the furnace of genesis. Always more, never less.

-

Will was floating, he dreamt he was flying, gliding through the air completely free from the call of gravity. He couldn’t remember where he was before he fell asleep, somewhere dark maybe.

The dream changed and it felt so real, that as he hung suspended in some sort of fluid, he could almost feel the sticky substance clinging to his hair and skin. He opened his eyes but there was no difference, all he saw was complete darkness whether they were open or closed.

Although his left eye felt strange, itching slightly as it opened. His whole body was icy cold, his heartbeat strangely slow but steady. He tried to take a deep breath, which was about the time he realised everything happening was real.

Warm fluid rushed into his mouth instead of air, shocking him out of his befuddled state. He tried to cough but there was nowhere for the fluid to go. It was everywhere, surrounding him on all sides.

In the dark, he couldn’t even tell which way was up. He kicked out, pushing himself up, and his foot hit something smooth and hard at almost the same time his head did.

Cursing, he pushed himself forward, but the same wall was in front of him as well. ‘Am I in fucking a tunnel?’ Will swore, turning around and swimming through the viscous liquid towards the only remaining exit.

His hand hit the same smooth wall as before. He had nowhere to go, darkness surrounded him. And whatever he was trapped in was enclosed.

By now, his lungs were screaming for air and the slow drum of his heartbeat had turned into a frantic crescendo. He reached out, clawing at one of the walls for purchase and noticed that when he pushed with all his strength, it gave a little.

Without any other options, he placed both his hands against the wall and floated up, bracing his feet against the wall behind him. With one push, he felt the wall crack slightly, but his head was beginning to throb.

Since it was already dark, he couldn’t tell, but he imagined black spots were swimming in his vision. He summoned every ounce of strength in his body, his muscles squeezed, and his heart raced as he pushed with everything he had.

He felt it before he heard it. The wall splintered and broke with a sharp crack, the viscous fluid draining away. It didn’t take much strength to punch through the wall and he tumbled out, sprawling in a puddle of the strange goo.

Spluttering, he coughed up wads of mucous and slime, his lungs rejoicing as cold air finally found its way in. He had never known that breathing could feel this good.

Dumbstruck by the insanity of his situation, Will began to shake, his body racked with wheezing laughter.

It was certainly a strange sight to see a young man roll about laughing in a pool of goo. At least, the snake thought so. What’s wrong with you? It asked coldly.

Will looked up at it as though he had only just remembered it existed and when his gaze landed on its glowing green eye, another bout of laughter struck him. This one held a tinge of helplessness and self-deprecation.

The snake narrowed its eye in confusion, studying Will intently. It was becoming increasingly worried that he had gone completely insane. What use would he be then?

When he felt like he couldn’t laugh anymore, Will crawled out of the puddle and slumped into a chair. He looked like a drowned rat in the eery green glow of the flower.

In the middle of the room, he spotted a massive black egg, almost as tall as the room itself. One side of its glassy smooth surface was cracked and ruined where Will had managed to climb out from.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Will stared directly at the snake without flinching away from its poisonous gaze and asked his first of many questions.

“What did you do to me?” He asked. A simple question, but of the utmost importance. He could already feel some of the changes throughout his body.

His skin was pale and cold, where it had once been tanned. Two of his teeth felt strange, almost hollow and his left eye itched incessantly. There were other changes but these three made themselves apparent the quickest.

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I gave you my bloodline, reforming your body in the process. The snake replied, still sounding slightly confused about Will’s crazy outburst earlier.

Nodding, like he understood what that meant, Will asked a question that he personally felt was more important. “Why me?”

The snake shifted slightly, the building creaking around its massive bulk. I need an apostle to help me with various tasks and my requirements are not as stringent as others. While you seem fairly average when it comes to fighting, your mind is sharp and your wit quick. Since I don’t need you to fight anything for me, this is not a problem.

Will wasn’t sure whether to feel happy about the compliment or annoyed that he was essentially being called a weakling. “Is it not an issue that I can’t use magic?” He asked curiously.

No, that is a problem your new body will solve. With it, the cultivation of Atma will come naturally. The snake answered.

Barely able to hide the grin creeping across his face, Will quickly asked his next question, with more than a little trepidation. “So, what exactly do you need me for?”

As I’m sure you’ve figured out, I am The Defector, Latet. Long ago, I caused the fall of the gods, making myself quite a tidy sum in the process. Unfortunately, that old coot on the throne isn’t there just for show. Before he and his brethren were banished into the in-between, he cursed me to be unable to lie. The snake explained sullenly.

Will nodded, he already knew most of this.

As far as you are concerned, I need an apostle who can lie for me and act as a go-between, allowing me to carry out my preparations for the second impact in relative secrecy. The snake finished.

“What makes you think I will do this?” Will asked poignantly.

The snake froze, as though it hadn’t thought that far ahead. Well, I gave you the means to survive in the current turmoil the world is in.

“Not good enough. I didn’t ask for this, besides you probably put a target on my back somehow,” Will said without pause.

The snake seemed to his in annoyance before speaking again, Fine, the truth is that any god worth their salt will try and kill you as they have fallen out with the whole serpent faction due to my actions in the previous war. Without my protection, you have no chance of survival and therefore, you are unable to betray me.

Without really thinking, Will responded, as though forced to. “I think I will still try to betray you, I hate you,” He explained bluntly.

Huh? Why even tell me that? The snake froze, its glowing eye narrowed.

“I-I don’t know,” Will stuttered. “It just slipped out,”

Shit, no. There’s no way the compulsion transfers to my heirs, that would be… that would be impossible unless… The snake hissed in a whisper.

“Oh no,” Will muttered, quickly figuring out what was going on.

Lie to me, Human, the snake hissed.

Anxiously, Will opened his mouth and began to speak, “My name is…” He stopped, unable to finish the sentence. “My name is B-W-Will,” he stuttered, unable to break the impulse that was forcing him to tell the truth.

His eyes widened when he realised what had just happened, but that was nothing compared to the snake’s reaction. It hissed and coiled around the house in a flurry of rage and frustration.

No! No no no no no. This can’t be. I sacrificed so much to come here in the first wave and even used my only heritage on some country bumpkin. And the idiot can’t even do the only thing I got him for! It screamed, sending lances of pain darting across Will’s mind.

In awe of the massive creature’s rage, Will was too stunned to speak, watching helplessly as the house was shredded around him by the thrashing snake.

Light began to stream in the cracks in the walls and ceiling. The refreshing yellow glow quickly overpowering the eery green from the flower. A welcome change to the monotony.

The house creaked and groaned against the writhing snake until finally, it couldn’t stand upright anymore, crumbling around Will in a mess of splinters and rubble.

Will clambered out of the wreckage and peered out at the surrounding land curiously. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting but the village looked nothing like it had before.

It was impossible to tell there had even once been a village here. The ruined structure he stood beside was at least in a small, banked valley, roughly the size and shape of the coiled snake. Everything else was raised grasslands, fresh shoots of grass growing far quicker than they had any right to.

Dozens of flowers Will didn’t recognise were growing in the meadow and even those he did recognise were altered somehow. An extra petal perhaps or a strange new pattern on its leaves, the purpose of which was unclear.

By now, the snake had wandered off, scoring a massive tract into the meadow that led far off to the west, where the first impact had begun. He doubted it would come back, since he was completely useless to it.

Looking back at the final, collapsed house of the village, he began to go through the rubble, picking out anything of use he could find. In the end, he lifted up a sack full of dried meat and the tools he had managed to find earlier.

Now that he thought about it, he wasn’t too sure how long ago he had prepared these supplies. The flowers he had found in the wooden box had rotted away and almost half of the dried meat had gone putrid. Perhaps he had spent longer in the egg than he realised.

He lifted the final thing from the house. A small box he had managed to fish out from beneath the ruined floorboards. Inside the box were a few pieces of silver, some rolled-up parchment and a letter addressed to Ferren Saywer.

Will remembered Ferren immediately, A friendly middle-aged man who had joined his father and him on a hunting trip once. His children were too young for Will to play with, but the man had always treated him with kindness. Even after his father’s wretched end.

Realising he would never get to thank the man in person for helping him survive was like a punch in the gut, but Will moved forward. He had more important things to do.

Now that he knew who owned the house, he was able to figure out roughly where it was in relation to his mother’s house, and he quickly made his way through the meadow to where he thought it should be.

His emotions were in turmoil. He wasn’t sure what he would find, or if he even wanted to find anything at all.

Despite his reluctance, his legs carried him to a patch of red flowers at the edge of the meadow, they swayed slightly in the afternoon breeze, tickling Will’s bare feet as he stood where his house had once been.

He lay down in the patch of flowers and slept in his home for the final time.