Holding the world in its gaze, the Eye of Araek prophesized the destruction of all things. When I stared into it, I felt my mind starting to change. It felt like looking into a mirror and not recognizing myself, a fleeting sensation, unsure of who I was. It was taking something from within me, with every moment I peered into it.
There was widespread chaos and destruction, an apocalypse of magic, as the balance became unraveled. I watched some of it in literal form, seeing riots and atrocities, nightmarish creatures rising from the seas and doors between worlds opening to allow monsters to cross freely into unspoiled landscapes. It hurt to witness, but there was so much more to see.
Other moments were too complex to be seen as they were, and these were symbolic, showing the meaning of events on a larger scale, such as four beautiful pillars, somehow both structures and as creatures that looked like women, falling one by one. In their place arose an army of shadowy creatures, giant centipede-spiders, bats the size of humans and nameless serpents that held scepters and wore crowns. I understood the meaning, somewhat.
Realization dawned on me that I was witnessing the return of the remnants of ancient species that had ruled the world long before men. All of them were arrogant, and when mankind replaced them, it was an insult worse than death. They had long awaited the fall of the pillars, who were the embodiments of the cardinal directions, four winds, the daughters of Lilith. I understood that they had all died, killed somehow by the treachery of the Elders.
Without them, humankind would face the unstoppable rise of such monsters as I had seen, and worse. Things that ate the bodies of fairies, drank the blood of unicorns and ravaged the hearts of angels. Horrors beyond description, demons that thrived on wickedness and fear, nightmares brought to life and given the power to reshape the world in their image. Not even the Elders could stand against what they had unleashed.
Araek was born from a prayer and given license to destroy whatever was in its path. It was a horror of darkness, a thousand tentacles covered in blasphemous mouths that ever writhed in mind-shattering complexity. Its first act was to find and destroy all of the greater Sons of Araek. Before it could begin its second act, or before it had even destroyed all of them, the prayer was unsaid, and Araek was brought to the place of its birth and killed in a terrible battle, in which many brave souls lost their lives or their minds.
I could not witness any more of the apocalypse. My mind was full, and I had to look away. Part of me was so sickened by the awfulness of it that I vowed to never make myself gaze into the orb on the altar ever again.
When we had each gazed into the orb as long as we could stand to, the consensus was to leave it there. Doctor Imbrium worried that destroying it would unleash the power it contained and set it free and wild in an already damaged world. After what we had seen in its depths, we knew they were right.
We carried Dreich with us and found Frosty and Adam, and McRaze. All of them were severely weakened from their battle with the Sons of Araek. We returned to our cave with them and made them comfortable so they could rest. Over the next few days, we gathered supplies such as food and any weapons we could find. There were still the guns and ammunition left behind by the retreat of the military divisions that had come to the town-turned-battlefield.
Our friends all recovered, and their strength returned. Dreich took the longest, but his half-vampire body cleaned the poisons from his blood, and he got up slowly, joking about being sick of magic.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Cory, the crow, spent some time with us but he grew restless to find his friend, Lord, and flew away, promising us we would see him again.
The pack rested in the evening, most of them were inside the cave. I sat out, watching the sky turn a pale, pus-colored yellow. Lieutenant Colonel Rose and Doctor Imbrium were there too. As we sat quietly, we saw the approach of just one person.
From a distance, we could see he was like a very old man. We stood up as he continued to walk toward us until he reached the bottom of the hill. He held up his hands, greeting us in peace.
"Ravenrock Pack, I am Enkbav. I have come here to make you an offer. I come in peace, will you parley with me?" Enkbav requested.
"He's an Elder. We cannot trust him." I growled.
"How did you find us?" Lieutenant Colonel Rose asked.
"General Stone found you. I have ordered him to withhold his armies, not to attack if there is a way to bring you back into the fold." Enkbav came near us.
I saw the light of his magic powers in his eyes, like unnatural embers, ghosts trapped inside him. He smiled without affection, a cruel and wicked smile. I felt a shivering chill in his presence, sensing all the evil he had willfully done.
"Send your armies." Lieutenant Colonel Rose folded his arms. "We aren't going to join you and we won't surrender. You've only warned us that General Stone is coming for us."
"No. You must understand, this is what it takes to bring the world back into a balance. Things will be as they should be. There will be peace, longevity, wisdom and the return of magic. Aren't those worth it?" Enkbav asked.
"Not at the cost of all humanity." Lieutenant Colonel Rose shook his head.
"You are fighting on the wrong side. You are not humans, the humans hunted you and nearly eradicated your kind. Some of you are the last of extinct species. Join us and together we will put things back the way they are supposed to be." Enkbav pled with us.
"We'll never do that. Nor will we hand over the weapon you need in order to complete your terrible task. The Elders should fear us, we will triumph over you and give the humans a chance to rebuild. Your war to end the world will fail. We will never stop fighting, we will never back down, and we will never surrender." Lieutenant Colonel Rose swore.
I sensed the rest of the pack behind me, and I looked and everyone I knew was standing behind me. Enkbav blinked and frowned. He thought for a moment and then said:
"I do not wish to see all of you destroyed. I value the last remnants of the yeti tribes, the Uphirim, a man made in the image of Mankind, the ancient bloodlines of wolves I see here and the rare unbreakable mind of a daughter of witches. You are all the last of your kind. If I cannot win your hearts, I must watch all of you die. This is not something I will enjoy. It breaks my heart to see you all perish from existence. And for what? Because you are too stubborn to consider the world I am trying to create?" Enkbav spoke to the whole pack.
"We are not that sentimental. We know we are monsters, and we live together, and we are willing to die together. Our cause is just. You are only offering tyranny and hoping we will be frightened enough to accept bowing to you in cowardice. It won't work. You are wasting time. Send your armies when the moon rises and find out if we are strong enough to prevail against the evil of the Elders." Lieutenant Colonel Rose spoke for all of us.
There was growling from the cave as we all agreed with him. We were not going to join the Elders. Whatever Enkbav hoped for was never going to happen.
"Very well. You served The Cabinet already, both with the legend of who you were, the parts of the Majara you have, and the blood you will sacrifice when the sun rises tomorrow. We will not attack tonight under the moon. It will be at dawn that we come for you, and we will walk over your dead bodies and take the Majara. Nothing will be lost except the final representatives of failed creatures that don't deserve the grace and blessing of The Cabinet. We Elders have waited too long for this, you children, with your petty belligerence, won't be able to stop us." Enkbav threatened the whole pack.
Without further words, the Elder we had spoken to turned and walked away, leaving us there in our cave. We watched him go, and then the pack went back in and tried to get some rest. We knew he would keep his word and wait until morning. Under the sunlight, we were at our weakest and they at their strongest, and he hoped that left to our thoughts we would grow fearful and consider surrendering.