It is common knowledge that getting stabbed to death is not a pleasant experience.
But as the knife retracted from my belly, a cascade of blood erupting from within me, I felt…coldness. My whole body, covered in a blanked of ice. And with the coldness came a sense of peace and serenity greater than I’ve ever experienced in my life. I could hear something in the distance, shouting perhaps, but it was all muffled, like a cloth over my ears.
As I laid down on the pavement, a raindrop fell on my forehead, followed by another, and another, and another. Soon a torrent of rain came crashing down, sweeping away the blood and the last strands of my consciousness. The final thought that crossed my mind before the sea of darkness swallowed me, creeping over my eyes, was that the sky would be the only one crying for me.
Slowly, every sound and sensation ceased to exist around me. I could feel nothing, and all I could see was darkness. Now, my experience with death was quite limited, but that I was still awake was peculiar. Was this the afterlife? Limbo? The purgatory? I sure hoped this wasn’t my punishment for the questionable choices I’ve made regarding the… ahem… media content consumed over the years.
I tried moving, but I wasn’t sure even if I had a body, let alone any control of it. As I was floating away, an explosion of light suddenly assaulted my sight, searing my eyes and shooting arrows of pain deep into my brain. After the intense attack on my senses ended, I opened my eyes, still expecting to be greeted by darkness.
What I did not expect was to find myself in the middle of a room so enormous it dwarfed everything humanity ever constructed. Pillars thick as school buses stretched far into the air, supporting what once must have been a grand ceiling decorated with murals of creatures waging a terrible war. It now had several holes in it, wind rushing through them. Looking around, I could see some pillars crumbled to the floor, vegetation claiming them inch by inch.
Being there felt wrong, like I wasn’t supposed to be in such a place. Great pressure weighed down on me, making it hard to breathe. Even then, nothing compared to the sight of the thrones. There were five of them, arranged in a semicircle, each one build from the same unknown material as the entire building. Just looking at them made my survival instinct kick in, a primal fear fogging my mind. They were simple structures, but the aura they sent forward was so oppressive it made me shake powerless.
“Greetings, mortal one!” a strange voice broke the deafening silence. It sounded human, and I could understand the words, but it was like both a man and a woman spoke, one old and one young. I jerked my head towards the sound, and from behind one pillar, someone or something emerged.
It somehow resembled a human, but it stood taller than anyone I’ve ever seen. Its legs were floating a meter off the ground, and its four arms stood by its thin frame. It wore a tattered robe covering most of its body, but I could still see its white, flawless skin. What shocked me the most, however, was its face. Well, the lack of one actually. Its head was devoid of any future and I could see no hair or nose or mouth. Only one eye stood in the middle of its forehead, looking at me with its three pupils.
“Welcome to the Great Hall. Rejoice, as you are the first lesser being to set foot in this holy site.”
Dazzled by its sight, I hardly uttered a few words. “Who are you?” I’ve asked, my throat feeling coarse like sandpaper.
“I am a servant. A mere messenger of powers far beyond your feeble comprehension. I have no name, for I don’t need one. I simply am, and I exist to serve.”
I did not know how I could hear its words, given the lack of a mouth, but its voice rang clear around the room. Its presence felt ancient, like a king of the past standing before his subject.
“Are you a God?” It said it was a servant, but I found that hard to believe.
“I am not. Gods are a construct of your home. The word has no meaning inside these walls. My Masters would be closer to what you believe a God to be, but Their existence transcends human understanding.” Now I was truly confused. If it was not a God then was this not the afterlife? Because I was pretty sure I must have bled dry by now.
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“You died four minutes and thirty-seven seconds ago. You are here because death is only one force that submits to my will. To best serve, They granted me powers most don’t even dare to dream about. I have a proposition, mortal, and you best lean your ear and listen to it.”
Hit by the flood of information, I could feel my head spinning fast. Here I was, in a strange place, speaking with a being that could control death and read minds, moments after I died from being stabbed.
“I don’t understand!” frustration seeping in my voice. “Why am I here? What do you want from me?”
The being, impervious to my emotions, continued with the same flat tone. I didn’t know whether it ignored my outburst, or if it simply couldn’t comprehend human emotions. “Your universe is but a speck of dust in a vast desert, mortal. And on the dunes of reality, my Masters made their stand against an evil so ravenous it devours all that is alive in its warpath.”
The Messenger disappeared in a blur before materializing in front of me, crossing the distance between us so fast my brain couldn’t process it. With one hand he touched my forehead, and suddenly we were both floating above a planet beaming with life, lush forests and great lakes everywhere the eyes could see. Under all that, however, I could feel a deep, bottomless hunger reach out to me, seeping in my bones. I felt small. Irrelevant. Meaningless.
“After the last battle, my Masters destroyed the body of the Ravenous one, and His offspring slumber deep beneath the ground, 99 Great Seals preventing them from drowning the earth in blood. ”
“But why tell me all this?” For an immortal being with great powers, it sure loved confusing me as much as it could.
“Time erodes anything away, and now the seals weaken with every passing moment. I need a Herald. Someone to bear the mark of my Masters and prevent the four beasts to reunite again.”
“What happens if they reunite?” For the first time, I could see an emotion across its face: fear.
“From their flash, He will be reborn. And with His coming, the Great Canvas will be devoured, the treads of life severed with savage brutality.”
For some moments I looked at the planet below me, entranced by its beauty. Me, a Herald? I didn’t even know what it was, but for sure I wasn’t the right person. I was a nobody.
“If it is as important as it sounds, why won’t you do it? Or your Masters, they seem more than capable enough.”
With another flick of its hand, we were back in the Great Hall.
“My Masters sacrificed Their powers to end His mad crusade. They sleep now, drained of any strength. And until They arise again, my duty bounds me to these grounds. I am to guard Their thrones on which They once ruled over. I projected our souls over the planet so you could feel the hunger of the four beasts. My body, however, remained here."
“Ok, but I still don't understand why you chose me. I can barely do a push-up, I’m not sure I can fight four apocalyptic beasts that want to devour the world.”
“I wasn’t the one that decided upon you. As the mark of my Masters chose me, so it chose you.”
A black medallion with a sword crowned with five stars appeared in one of its hands. Immediately, I could feel a torrent of power emanating from that thing. And it called to me. The power.
“The mark deems you worthy as its bearer. If you are to accept it, the road to absolute power will lie before you. You just have to take the first step.”
As it sensed my hesitation, the messenger continued on. “I offer you the chance of a new life, Alex Wilkes. One with a purpose. Bear the burden of this task and be reborn as a hero. Let the shadows of the past vanish before the blinding light of a new dawn. Cleanse your soul of the sadness of a wasted life and embrace your calling.”
Hearing it say my name sent shivers down my spine. But the words of the messenger cut deep, revealing wounds burrowed deep within. For 19 years I lived as an outcast. Ridiculed and tormented by everyone, I spent most of my days hidden behind a screen. I was nobody. A shadow that society ignored. No friends and no family. An orphan that everyone would rather forget existed. Too weak to change anything, and too weak to put an end to it all. Sacrificing my life was the only meaningful thing I ever did.
And there it was, another chance. An opportunity to make a difference. To finally matter. To have a purpose. Dangling in front of me.
“What happens if I refuse?”
“You will return to the Great Canvas, become once again part of everything.” The servant responded in its flat tone.
Wiping away tears I didn’t even notice on my face, i took one last look at the medallion, feeling the song of power reverberating in my soul. I rose my gaze to the messenger and nodded my head once.
Right away the medallion vibrated, sending waves of energy across the hall, the pillars trembling with force.
The voice of the messenger thundered around me. “A new Ascendant is born! Call your new name and embark on your mission! Be the sword of the Masters and the shield of the weak. Arise!!!”
A new life. A purpose. Power. A new name. From the top of my lungs, I shouted one word.
“ASTARIAS!”
And for the second time today, everything went black.