Before they set off both Cayden and Ava looked at each other deeply as they noticed Hale’s eyes. They also noticed that his radiation field had become much more complex, now his aura had the slightest effect that made others feel like he was incomprehensible. He had learned how to channel his concept. But, time was of the essence so they simply took note of it and said nothing else. Of course, this also didn’t escape Hale’s eyes but he was powerless in this situation. If he hadn’t used his concept he might still be stuck in that illusion.
They began to walk through the wide alleys that these tall rocks made. To their surprise there were no strange phenomena. The men in the group were quite happy with the situation. However, Ava knew more than them since she was an heir. The pressure from the residual radiation had disappeared. The core should be the strongest but it was instead near completely devoid of conceptual radiation, that could only happen if something was absorbing it.
As they walked deeper they began to feel a very faint and unstable radiation field. After feeling this strange aura everyone was confused so Ava explained that occasionally a very strong artifact can birth its own radiation field. She guessed that an artifact was being born.
They moved slowly but nothing was around, not even animals could be heard. As they walked around the boulders it eventually opened up to a small glade the size of a football field. 30 yards away was an abomination. It was much different from the first one Hale had seen. It was at least nine feet tall, stood upright like a person and had huge monstrous arms, with a set of smaller arms underneath them that seemed to be for grabbing things. It had extremely long and jagged teeth, with bright red eyes. Patches of fur covered 20% of their gray sickly skin that seemed to be stretched thin.
Everyone stopped in their tracks as they all held their breath. They observed for a moment as the abomination ripped into the body of a now unrecognizable person and devoured the corpse's intestines. The group shared a glance as they all began to take small steps backwards. Thankfully, the CIO seemed to be preoccupied with its meal as it never even looked in their direction. After the group backed up a great distance they began to discuss.
“What are we supposed to do now?” Cayden asked while looking at Ava. It seemed that when push came to shove the heir was the true leader.
“Now? Nothing. That CIO was originally an animal. Even with all the Crest members still alive our chances are only fifty-fifty.” Ava said with her ever neutral expression.
“What does that mean for us? Don’t we need to get to the core?” Hale posited.
“We don’t even have the reality anchor, even if we got to the core we couldn’t do anything. The only thing I want is that artifact. It must be very powerful.” Ava said.
“Then we need a plan to get past that abomination.” Jacob chimed in. Everyone agreed but no one could think of anything that kept everyone out of harm's way.
“What if we got the Rhea’s people to get its attention?” Cayden said aloud as they brainstormed.
“If only we knew where they were. If so, we might be able to lure them into the glade.”
Hale was curious about what the artifact was and he had an idea. If he could steal it and run to the remaining Rhea members then he could switch organizations. From the moment he met Aila at the campus he hadn’t forgiven them for kidnapping him. Not only that, but they forced him into these dangerous situations. This could be his ticket out. He soon became determined.
Hale suddenly spoke up, “What if we lure it into the illusion?”
“Hey, yeah that could work. Who would lure it though?” Cayden asked.
The discussions then soon reached a peak. Hale just hoped that he wasn’t nominated. As long as he was with the ones to approach the artifact and with only two others from the group it was reasonably possible for him to retreat into the illusion and lose them. If he was really in a dangerous situation he could at least peer through the illusion again and find his way out of it
After the discussion Jacob was decided to be the one to go. He had been the first out of the illusion, to Hale’s surprise. He learned that Jacob had the concept of pathfinder, so even if he couldn’t see the way out he could walk and he’d passively get out.
As they worked out how best to make sure Jacob survived, they noticed that the aura of the artifact was getting stronger but also more unstable, it would sometimes disappear for minutes before suddenly appearing again stronger than before. Ava told the group that she guessed it needed a constant flow of conceptual radiation, but since there wasn’t any left in this environment the entanglement it had was becoming unstable.
With that set everyone else precariously climbed up one of the taller boulders that would overlook the field. With the bird’s eye view they could now easily see the situation in the glade and where the illusion started. They watched Jacob take a position just before the glade to give him a huge head start.
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With Jacob in position it was the group's task to first grab its attention since Jacob was too far. They would throw a rock, gaining its attention, then Jacob would yell while running. It was simple but effective.
Cayden grabbed a rock the size of a fist and used his concept, lighting up his eyes with white and yellow hues. He now had a clear view of the situation. As he was about to throw the rock a loud gun shot rang out nearly turning Cayden, Ava, and Hale deaf. Cayden turned his head and saw Michael Shea with a smoking gun and Jacob lying on the ground. He was already dead.
-
Michael Shea watched the body drop as two of the last remaining members of the Shea group flanked him. “Crest scum.” He spat out in disgust.
A hideous guttural roar was heard from only half a mile away. It was beyond what could be possible as it made the ground shake. Any stronger and the vibrations would be able to injure normal awakened. Before Michael could recognize the consequences of his actions the beast had already covered the distance, appearing before the small team in mere moments.
He took the front as he clashed with the abomination head on. Reaching into a small pouch he threw a pinch of loose gunpowder into the air. His eyes that were predominantly yellow with wisps of red in them gave off a light that illuminated the area as the gunpowder ignited in the air giving off a blast as strong as a grenade would have. The blast even engulfed Michael himself, but after the smoke cleared he was untouched while the CIO had a few wounds.
His aura was fully released. It was so strong that it seemed to almost become real. Illusionary flames and smoke appeared around Michael, his radiation field was so strong that it gained a visual element.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hale, Cayden, and Ava drop from the boulder and watched them take off running towards the strange radiation field. Being an heir, Michael also knew what that radiation meant.
“Dammit! You two, go after them and get that artifact. I alone am enough for this.” He yelled to his two subordinates with pure confidence.
-
Hale ran with everything he had. He had already gone through a life and death situation and had then proceeded to walk for over an hour. He was exhausted but continued to push as his lungs burned. Explosions kept echoing in the distance as the standoff between gunpowder and the abomination raged on. Keeping up with Cayden and Ava they quickly approached a small puddle. It was red, looking like blood but would sometimes turn completely black, looking more like the ink from the earlier tentacles before once again turning red.
They all came to a stop a few feet from the puddle and were unsure what to do. Ava seemed to start shaking from excitement and a light of understanding flashed through Cayden’s eyes. The two Shea members caught up but were soon enraptured by the liquid too.
“Is this…” Cayden got that much out before going quiet again.
One of the Shea members finished Cayden’s sentence, “A god’s blood.”
Everyone seemed to look at each other warily as everyone began forming plans. Hale missed that as he focused on something else. His concept seemed to slightly resonate with this blood, there was a repulsion like two positive sides of batteries pushing each other away but, it felt like they could compliment each other. It was a strange feeling, like when two very different people fall in love. Opposites attract. But before he could further explore the feeling he felt a terrible pain from his back.
A large knife stabbed into Hale’s back, directly slicing into his heart completely bypassing his makeshift armor on his chest. Hale fell to the ground as he felt his warm blood pore down his back. He immediately went cold as the pain became unbearable. The headache from his awakening was nothing compared to this. His heart no longer pumped blood and within a few breaths he felt that death was only moments away. This shouldn’t have happened. He was warned. He made preparations. Hale thought himself smart, smart enough to think himself out of the prophecy. Wasn’t his concept hidden knowledge? How could anyone hide ill intent from him? Yet, this situation was exactly that.
“How?” Hale whispered out incredulously. He looked to his side and saw Cayden walk past his shoulder with a blade coated in his blood. Cayden? How could it be him? Cayden walked away from him, never even looking back at Hale. To him, Hale was already dead and he was one step closer to the god’s blood.
Hale watched as the four people began fighting. Cayden and Ava were quick and moved close enough where the other two couldn’t waste the time to unholster their guns as they all started fighting in hand to hand combat.
Hale fell forward onto the ground. His thoughts slowed and he breathed deeply but it did nothing as his blood would never bring that oxygen to his body. He reached his hand out to the puddle but he was a few feet short. The puddle only rippled slightly in front of Hale’s pleas.
With his last remaining moments of lucidity he focused his mind on his concept and let it flow into him, activating acquisition.
His mind was transported to the land of stars and he quickly fell to his knees. Even here the pain never subsided and his breath was no less labored. Hale spent his last moment of life here, stretching one moment into one million. Thinking was hard, and he spent that time thinking about his life. The father he had lost long before cancer took him, the mother he never knew, his ex-girlfriend, ex-friends. The things he did and regretted and the things he’d never get the chance to. Regret was what he felt the most of. Unwillingness. Even now he fought to stay alive, even a moment longer.
The pain never lessened, even after what seemed like hours in the land of stars. Hale watched one star after another blink out and disappear. He had come to think of this place as his own universe and over the coming hours he watched it die. This place revolved around him. In this space of stars and fog everything looked towards him and he watched the heat death of his world. He thought of praying to any of the plethora of gods but after thinking of the pathway to godhood he gave up that idea. He couldn’t stay here much longer but he relished every moment.
“I didn’t understand what they meant but I get it now. We are all guaranteed to die. This world…” Hale coughed out as he talked to himself, “is fucked up.” There was only one star left, the largest one was now only a small pinprick. Hale took a deep breath and steadied himself as he accepted that the world was flawed. The last star disappeared and all that was left was fog. And Hale.
“You say the world did this to you. Then why aren’t you angry? Why don’t you feel hate?”