"Nothing in life is worth,
turning your back on,
if you love it."
― Albert Camus
“Hey!” Christopher’s body jerked back, guided by the Earth but still too slow. Ven’s formation imprinted itself onto the man’s head and sank below the skin. “Nothings happening. Are you sure you didn’t…”
Christopher paused, eyes unfocused. He drifted upward, toward the night sky, like a man in a dream. Ven gave a satisfied smile and followed at a distance, so the man could experience his freedom at his own pace. The rune he’d designed would create a permanent, long distance link to his planet of origin. No matter where Christopher went, a part of him would always touch his source of power.
They drifted, not too far apart, in a leisurely orbit around the system star. Christopher’s eyes were closed, face turned to the light. He reached out and let a small solar wind brush through his fingers, a smile on his lips.
“Thank you…” Christopher’s eyes opened and turned a brilliant green. The Earth looked back at Ven and bowed with her Guardian’s body. “You have given my chosen a great gift, one beyond my power,” a small emerald formed between them, filled with a swirl of images. “This is all my knowledge and speculation, along with my memories about my birth.”
Ven reached out and gently pulled the fragment toward him, until it settled in his hand and sank under his skin. A rush of knowledge, the random shifts and twists of fate that led to the birth of a world. A smile blossomed on his lips, mind already focused on the next step.
“I should be thanking you,” Ven returned the bow with an easy laugh. “What you’ve given me will change the fabric of the realm, not to mention make my life much easier!”
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“I can’t believe this Ven’s inner world…” Rafe sat, back pressed to the smooth curve of a skyscraper’s roof.
The info-drone had been happy to narrate everything about this world and the Empire that controlled it. Mara had managed more than he’d ever thought possible. His old Guild had become the armed forces of a civilization that spanned thousands of galaxies. Peaceful and prosperous, a utopia unlike anything he’d ever seen.
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“What place is there in a society like this, for someone like me?” A sigh passed his lips as his eyelids drifted closed. His profession was death and subterfuge. An assassin without purpose in a realm of honest peace.
“Welcome home, Rafe,” A familiar voice roused him from his dreamy haze. Kalina, a grown woman once more, smiled down at him from the sky. “I thought I felt a familiar brooding energy about the town!”
“Greetings, Goddess,” Rafe returned Kalina’s smile and rose to his feet. “I’m just adjusting to all the changes, I’ll get over it.”
A laugh fell from Kalina’s lips as she settled beside the halfling. She waved to the world around them and patted Rafe’s shoulder.
“I go by Principle now, or Headmistress if you prefer,” Kalina’s eyes grew misty with remembrance. “But it’s nice to see someone who remembers the old days, there are so few of us now…”
“What happened?” Rafe’s relaxed muscles tensed. “How many others fell to the Concept’s invasion?”
“Invasion…” Kalina tilted her head, then gave it a shake. “No, that was just you and Arthur who died…” She gave a sheepish grin. “I was talking about time, it’s been almost a million years,” She motioned for Rafe to follow and drifted skyward. “Many of the old Semi-Divines have died of old age, unable to cultivate true immortality.”
“Oh, well that’s normal, I…” Rafe blinked as a frown pulled at his cheeks. “Wait, you said a million years? ”
An Earth Deity could live forever, if no one chopped off their head, but a million years was unheard of, at least to him. There was more wonder in this new world than he’d first imagined.
“How many of the old guard are left?” Rafe hurried to catch up as Kalina drifted toward the centre of the vast city of Avalon. “Mara lives, the drone told me that much.”
“Hmmm,” Kalina tapped at her chin. “Both Lyra and Brull are alive and well, and Aangor of course…” She squinted, as if uncertain. “I think most of the Dragon King’s family is alive, as well as little Ooulin.”
She landed on a sprawling roof, a building marked with the sigil of the Guild. It towered over the rest of the city, a lighthouse that vanquished the dark.
“There are others, and many that you haven’t met,” Kalina smiled and pulled open the rooftop door. “Come on inside and I’ll start the introductions!”
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“Not quite it…” Ven squinted at his work, a ring of runes that looped around the system star’s vast orbit. A breath flowed into his nose as he channelled power into the formation inscribed on his body. “I need a better set of eyes.”
A rush of clarity, the return of absolute truth. Swift, but steady, Ven started from the beginning. Rune by rune, he picked his way forward, hands a blur as they made corrections he’d never considered before. A grin pushed his face to the limit, even as the strain forced him to stop and take a break.
This was the purpose of his new power. In combat it had great value, the ability to empower his every action with runes was amazing, but this… Ven shook his head. This ability to control and manipulate his own active works changed everything. When his eyes of truth were active, the sky opened up and abandoned its limits.
“It’s almost finished now,” Ven empowered himself once again and took up his work, faster than before. A streak of motion that circled the central star of his realm. “Just a few more tweaks…”
In the end, he took three more breaks, but finally it was done. A perfect band of light, constructed from only words and will. Ven trembled. The weight of the structure pinched at his mind like a trapped animal, desperate to be released.
“Now to plug it in and pray…” Ven snorted. Pray to who… himself? He shook his head and reached out to the star below. The plasma rose to his call, thick bands that reached for his infinite scripture. “Lend me your power, Older Sister, and we’ll unify the realm!”