“He is at death’s door, Master.”
I looked down at the ogre who had been beaten near to death by his kin. I could feel it, that this is the one who had guided me here, not just recently, but for all the warnings and wisdom I had received from that voice that spoke to me in my mind. More than that, I could tell, he is the ogre that I share some bond with, one that transcends this life and has existed for many lives before this one. I did not expect our reunion to be one with such perilous circumstances, but I knew what I needed to do to save him. I drew supplies from my pocket dimension for a tent, one with an enchanted object that would repel the heat of the day, and left them on the ground.
“Skull, set up this tent and keep watch. I will tend to his wounds.”
“It will be as you say, Master.”
That is one of many things that I love about Skull. She does not question my judgment in the heat of the moment. She obeys, perhaps more loyally than I am worthy of, but I appreciate it nonetheless. It was not my ambition to be a master over anyone, and yet circumstances have brought her under my care, and so it seems, this ogre.
With caution to not aggravate his wounds further, I sat at his head, or what was left of it. Terrible blows had rendered it to little more than swollen flesh and broken bones, the whole lot of it covered in his lifeblood that slipped away moment by moment. The rest of his body did not fare much better, for it lay battered and broken beyond repair for any natural remedy. Fortunately, the remedy I offered transcended what his body’s own healing could provide.
With a focus of will, I forced the skin on my hand to soften, and with it now unprotected by the boons of my many Skills, I cut into it, and let a single drop of my blood and desire to heal flow from me and into the ogre’s mouth. For a moment, nothing happened, and then without warning, bones snapped back into place as flesh mended. His breathing, once shallow and ragged, now smoothed itself to the gentle rhythm of one asleep.
And as if in sympathetic connection to my friend both old and new, I too felt drowsiness wrap me in its soothing embrace and lull me to slumber within the confines of the tent that had been erected around me. In my sitting position by the ogre’s head, my own head drooped as I fell asleep in the gentle yet strong arms of Jericho holding me upright.
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My soul floated in The Void beyond time or thought. I knew not fear or pain, only peace, for the troubles or my mortal coil had been left behind, abandoned in favor of oblivion. How much time passed in that manner, I knew not, and cared not. There was naught here but rest and freedom from the perils of the flesh.
But then, a great serpent shattered the walls of The Void and stretched seemingly infinitely towards me, its maw seeking to close down upon me. No, that is not right. No mere serpent, but a dragon, its long neck seeking me out, its mouth closing down around me protectively, pulling me back from the brink as the darkness of The Void split into legions of angry specters that shrieked in disdain. I watched in horror as the illusion that was The Void became a tide of hate and hunger, their grasping claws reaching for me to reclaim their prize. They ripped and tore at the dragon’s flesh, and his pain, my pain, our pain, flashed through my soul as he reeled me back towards the light.
Screaming in fury at the interloper who had absconded with their prize, the specters gave chase, but faltered where darkness greeted light, their seething hatred evident in their eyes as they cursed us both for our transgression.
And then we were back in the world of the living once again, or perhaps not. All present were completely still as if frozen in time. I looked down and saw my body, the only thing that moved, as flesh warped to divorce itself of grievous injuries that had been brutally administered to it only moments before. Blood stood frozen on my savior’s face, trails of it seeping from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth as his face scrunched in pain.
Yet beside me stood my savior as well. A smile lit his face, and the pair of us appeared ghostly, astral even, as if our souls had departed our bodies but lingered nearby. And then the world around me shattered, reforming to show me a vision I had seen before. The dragon, the serpent, arriving from the north and devouring a path through the earth, transformed, the serpent becoming a road of black obsidian, smooth and well-crafted. The dragon changed, shapeshifting into the man I see beside me, my savior, and my Emperor.
What had been a mystery had now become clear. The companions that walked among him were those I knew, that I have seen beside him in my visions and in my scrying upon him. They were my friends, in this life, and in past lives, and we had been reunited once more. I knew their names, their faces, their mannerisms, and their desires, familiar with them more than they were with their own kin. For we had always been together, and always will be, until the end of time.
“It is good to see you again, Nabonidus,” he spoke with a friendly smile on his face. “I am glad I arrived in time to save you. Would you join me one last time as we face weal and woe together?”
I knelt before him, which served only to lower my head to his, such was the disparity in our size. Yet, he had more power within him than I had ever seen, and I could see that he possessed only a faint spark compared to the star that he would be, a small gust compared to the typhoon, a single droplet before the ocean, a tiny pebble that would one day become a mountain.
“I, your humble servant, friend, and companion through life have awakened once more, and would gladly serve you as I always have, should you accept me.”
“Then, my friend,” he replied as he placed a hand upon my shoulder. “Rise up, and tell the World who you are.”
My vision of him flickered, for but a moment, and where I normally saw the youthful and cheerful man that had come to my aid, I briefly witnessed an older version of him, one with a thin beard and mustache. One who was, who is, but who would never be. Such a paradox confused me more than most visions, but I would reflect upon that later, for my friend had given me my first task.
“I am the [Oracle], Nabonidus. I have become Nabonidus, [Vizier to the Draconic Emperor].
He smiled at me as he bid me to rise to my feet, and without reservation, I obeyed.
“Now go, Nabonidus, friend and ally. No matter where the road takes you, you will not walk it alone, for we are with you,” he finished as he gestured in the direction of the others. I could clearly see Skull, Gambino, Bambina, and Alterez, although the rest were mere silhouettes. Yet, they took their places beside the Emperor, and I joined them in my rightful place. Together, we strode forwards towards the light.
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“Where the fuck am I?” I asked the nothingness around me as my feet touched down on some invisible surface.
A door appeared in front of me as it spawned from the nothingness, a door rather ordinary in its form. It promptly opened, and out walked… me.
Stolen story; please report.
“Well, that was a weird meeting,” the not-me said before walking past me. “Good luck in there,” he said to me as he continued on and faded away entirely.
Perturbed, I collected my wits before opening the door and stepping through to what lies beyond. I don’t know what I expected, but a spaceport was not on my list. A grand observation window allowed me to witness all manner of spacecraft docking and undocking, while display boards overhead showed arrival and departure times to destinations that tickled my memories, but the specifics of what they alluded to otherwise remained elusive.
I heard beeping to my left, and as I turned, a little two-man cart rolled up to me, the driver appearing to be dressed as some sort of bellhop in his outfit of red with gold buttons. His little cart stopped next to me rather abruptly as he didn’t even bother to ease on the brakes.
“Hop on, time’s a wastin’.” He paused for a moment in contemplation before trying again. “No time to explain, get in!” He tried again with more enthusiasm and urgency.
With no better alternatives, I took the seat next to him in his little cart, and without delay, he floored it. Before I knew it, we were zipping along at the same pace as a jog.
“Nice of you to show up, sport,” he said as he pulled up a sleeve to look at a myriad of watches on his wrist. “I don’t have a lot of time to spare, so let’s make this quick.” He took my silence for at least acquiescence before he continued. “That portal to another world is going to open soon. Happens all the time, really, we gods just don’t remember those are even a thing until they come around again. Some weird rule placed on us by those who made us.”
I held on tightly to the cart as my driver beeped his little horn and zipped around people or things that were only visible to him in this empty spaceport. He appeared to be a little stressed, as if we were running late, and such was a completely unacceptable outcome.
“Us gods are gonna be busy fighting the gods of the other world, as well as making sure portals don’t crop up like daisies. I leave things to you specifically to build the fort to contain the breach until us gods can win the war. I reckon it will take us around 800 years tops to achieve victory, so hold down the fort, will ya?”
“Echludoro?” I half asked, half stated.
“Oh yeah, that’s me. What pantheon am I part of again, was it Light or something?” he asked as if uncertain. “Hard to keep track of it when time isn’t linear for me. God of Time and Space though. Oh, that reminds me, I am giving you a lot of leeway with those pocket dimensions of yours and all that teleportation you will be doing; don’t abuse it.” He finished as he looked at me pointedly.
“Watch where you’re driving, buddy!” Another Echludoro shouted as he swerved out of the way of us while shaking his fist on his way driving past us.
“Hah, that guy is a thousand years too young to tell me what to do,” Echludoro remarked with a sneer as he continued on our haphazard drive though the terminals of the spaceport. “Anyway, just letting you know that when the portal opens, a lot of refugees will be pouring through, so take care of them, will ya? Oh, I mean, ‘give them housing and hospitality’, not ‘kill them all’, I’m not a mobster.”
I guess clarifications are always good to ensure there are no misunderstandings, but it did seem fairly obvious what he meant. As to the refugees he talked about, I had heard no mention of them prior to now. I was about to ask more about it when he took a sharp right turn, nearly causing the cart to roll over, and we headed towards a train station, judging by the trains ahead.
“Hold on, we gotta train to catch,” he shouted as he pulled a lever that gave the cart a turbo boost. We were now cooking along at a modest sprint as he turned us up a ramp that went almost parallel to the track. Without hesitation, he pulled us along a moving train and drove off the ramp, where our cart thudded down hard on the open carriage of the train. “Whew, still got it!” he exclaimed excitedly as he pumped his fist.
He drove our cart a handful of feet to another car and promptly exited while motioning me to follow. We soon found ourselves at the boiler car, where he opened the furnace door and grabbed a shovel. Instead of coal in the nearby bin, there were clocks, hourglasses, and sundials, each of which was scooped up and shoveled into the furnace. After a few full shovels of such apparatus, he closed the door to the furnace and then wiped his brow with the back of his forearm.
“Whew, it's tough work making the trains run on time,” he said to me with a shit-eating grin on his face as he looked at me expectantly.
I inwardly suppressed a groan, my face blank as I worked to maintain a neutral expression.
“Come on, that’s comedy gold!” he shouted in consternation. “That’s the whole reason I even have this train. That joke is timeless and never gets old.” He continued to give me the look that suggested I laugh, but I maintained composure. “Tough crowd,” he finished with stoic acceptance at my dismissive attitude. “Anyway,” he continued as if he had not been rebuffed, “the other gods and I are going to be busy, so we need you to keep doing your thing. Those roads of yours are going to be rather important in the defense of this world. Not that you are the only important person scurrying around, but what you are doing matters. The other gods and I are giving you leeway, so don’t take things too far and make us have to come down there and box your ears later, ya hear?”
“I understand and will comply,” I responded with my best serious expression. Apparently satisfied, he motioned me back to the cart. “Do the gods have anything specific they want me to do?”
“Not right now,” he answered as he waved me off. “When the time comes, we will make you aware of our desires. I just took the opportunity that presented itself when you bonded with one of your companions. Congratulations, by the way! That should clear up a lot of memories of your past lives.”
“Do you know anything about those, or why I have them?” I asked as we just sat there in the cart while we waited.
“Yeah, no, hmm. It’s complicated,” he replied with his non-answer. “What we gods know or do not know changes all the time, like we have amnesia or something. Very annoying,” he finished with a frown on his face. “But, you are rather exceptional, if not entirely unique. Whether or not you live up the expectations upon you remains to be seen. I know that the other gods and I have a vested interest in your development, but our ambitions for you are more symbiotic than purely benevolent. The tide raises all ships and such,” he finished as he adjusted the side mirror on the cart before backing it up to the end of the carriage.
“Is every god going to have a private conversation with me? From my understanding, I am getting special treatment.” I grabbed ahold of the cart as the look in Echludoro’s eyes suggested he was about to gun it.
“Yeah, quick and the dead though. I beat the other gods to nabbing a conversation with you this time. On one hand, it may behoove you to learn how to open yourself up to conversation, but on the other hand, gods will keep using you as their impromptu [Paladin] if you do. When all you have is a hammer and all that,” he finished as he slammed his foot down on the pedal and we took off at moderately impressive speed.
A portal opened in front of us, and as he drove through it, we appeared back in the terminal where the train station was located.
“Bunch of needy guys and gals, because what they have going on is ‘oh so important’ and ‘critical to the survival of the world’,” he continued as he rolled his eyes. “They just need better time management and could stand to not invade mortal’s personal space with all those requests.” He gave me that look again that suggested I laugh at his puns, and feeling charitable, I gave him a slight smile.
He slammed the brakes, and caught off guard, I nearly smashed into the dashboard as we came to an abrupt stop.
“This is you,” he said, nodding his head to the door nearby. “Take care.”
No sooner had I exited the cart than Echludoro sped off, not even waiting for me to say my farewells. A door, much like the one I had entered earlier, awaited me. I took one last look at the spaceport via the observation window and the many ships I could see coming and going, the nature of them just barely eluding my memories, as if I had been here before once upon a time.
As I put my hand on the handle of the door to leave, I could hear a voice from outside.
“Where the fuck am I?” came the voice that sounded all too familiar.
I opened the door and stepped through, once again finding myself in The Void, where past-me looked around in confusion.
“Well, that was a weird meeting,” I said to not-me as I walked past him. “Good luck in there,” I shouted over my shoulder as I continued past him.
Within a few steps, the nothingness faded away as the familiarity of the mortal world once again embraced me with its all-too-familiar trials and tribulations. I awoke from my visit to the realm of Echludoro to find myself nestled in Jeroicho’s arms, her sitting form propping me up as I sat down over the still but breathing form of my once and future friend, Nabonidus.