The clearing was filled with the sounds of coughing, dust billowing outwards from the impact. I couldn’t see anything through the cloud of dust. I could barely see the people around me. The coughing gradually turned into swearing, one particularly near me, and I unconsciously grinned. That had to be Sturm. The man could embarrass even Gavre with how filthy his mouth was. As soon as Gavre crossed my mind, I glanced back towards where the boulder impacted just in time to see a dull blue glow begin pulsing. Gavre was silhouetted by the pulsing light, clearly holding his arm in front of his eyes as the light grew brighter and brighter. “I think this is your ride, kids!” His voice shouted out, raw and filled with gravel. All of a sudden, there was a brilliant flash of blue light, and the cloud of dust was swept away by a massive blast of wind, leaving me with a clear view of Nyx falling on her ass and Ganta laughing hysterically at her. Beyond them though, was a six foot tall rectangular stone, covered with swirling patterns that held a dancing blue light. The patterns themselves seemed to be sitting both above and below the surface of the dark gray stone, and they even seemed to be moving independently. They clearly weren’t carved.
The rest of Sierra Company began to gather back together again, some having apparently tried to take shelter in nearby buildings. Most of them seemed wary, and to be completely honest, I couldn’t blame them. Being taken away from home and thrown in boot camp was bad enough, not even counting the whole extraterrestrial portion. Not a single one of us had been told what to expect, or what would happen when we left. Most of us kept the practice of using our gamer tags as out names, but that was more to keep things light. The truth was, most of us were terrified, and instead of thinking about it, we worked out every day until we passed out avoid the whole fucked up situation. Two months had made all of us a lot closer, but the sad fact was most of us were highly introverted by nature. Still, by now I knew just about every body in our company.
The heat of the Arizona sun beat down on us for a solid minute before anything happened. Our company just stood and waited, most of us were unsure of what we were waiting for; coughs and general murmurs rippled silently through the crowd. Suddenly, the patterns on the stone pulsed with light and a voice rang out in my head, deep and boundless. “APPROACH.”
Judging by the way everyone jerked, straightening their backs or tensing as if to run, everyone had heard the voice that seemed to resonate from their very bones. It had seemed ancient almost. Profound and beyond comprehension, the single word seemed to hold the wisdom of worlds, hidden just beyond our understanding. I saw familiar faces looking around, unsure of what to do. Before anyone could step forward or discuss the voice or the glowing boulder, the deep, rumbling voice spoke in our minds once more. “APPROACH YOUNG ONES, AND BE BLESSED. THERE IS MUCH TO DO AND LITTLE TIME TO IT.”
Gavre seemed to have heard the voice as well, and he turned to face us, his habitual scowl present on his craggy face. “Well do you need a fucking invitation?” As soon as he spoke, several of the braver members scrambled towards the glowing stone. “I didn’t waste my time out here in this godforsaken heat just for you bastards to stand around quivering when the time comes to leave.” As he continued to talk, the rest of Sierra and I headed towards the stone, Ganta and SunCaller racing at the front. Nyx, Kympi, and I hung back, watching Jade and Sturm fight their way towards the front as well.
Kympi sighed, running a tanned hand through his short blonde hair. His eyes were filled with trepidation as he finally spoke up, drawing our attention to him. “We’re actually doing this? Whatever this is.” He scratched at his chin before looking at the two of us. “We’re actually leaving Earth to play a game.”
Nyx just nodded, seeming for all the world like she couldn’t actually care. I spared her a quick glance before I replied, “It honestly doesn’t sound like it’s going to be a game to me. It sounds like it will be a lot like a game, but not actually a game.” I gazed down at my own body, almost in disbelief as to how far I’d come so fast. I was like an entirely different person. Broad, with defined musculature, still heavy, but with restrained power instead of a restrained gut. “I don’t think we would’ve been trained this hard if it was actually a game. They would’ve had us in our dive gear for that.”
Kympi nodded thoughtfully, a small hint of a smile touching the corner of his mouth. We had continued to move forward, the front finally reaching the stone when the voice boomed once more in our heads. “PLACE YOUR DOMINANT HAND ON THE KEY STONE. YOU WILL BE CHOSEN AND SENT. MAY THE UNIVERSE WITNESS YOUR RISE.”
A faint murmur of excitement and anxiety rolled over our crowd. This was the first verification that we had gotten on what was going to happen. Even if it was cryptic as hell, I certainly appreciated it. It was more information than we had gotten in weeks. I stood up straight, straining to see the front, my neck stretching as much as it could. I was lucky enough to see a bright flash of light that shot towards the sky, almost like a reversed bolt of lightning. “Holy Fuck!” Someone shouted out as the murmuring grew even louder, the excitement palpable. The next few minutes were filled with flashes of that reverse lightning and the crowd slowly shrinking in size. By the time we got close, I could feel almost a faint vibration in the air, growing stronger the closer we got to the stone. Nyx was getting grumpier and grumpier, bouncing on the balls of her feet and grumbling at us for holding her back, causing Kympi and I to burst out laughing. This, of course, just made her glare at us and stomp her way forward, her long black hair swaying back and forth while she shoved past a few of the other members of our company. I recognized them, but couldn’t quite place them to a gamer tag off the top of my head. Kympi suddenly spoke up, that small smile still on his face, his eyes lighting up briefly. “You should’ve asked her out years ago, my friend.”
“Nyx?”
“No, that girl Janice from your gym class. Yes, you moron, who’d you think I was talking about.” He turned to me with that soft smirk still on his face. His eyes were hard to read, but seemed caring enough. It was hard to tell if he was messing with me, but that wasn’t really Kympi's style. He was more of the moral support and light teasing kind of guy.
I just scratched my forehead and arched an eyebrow, questioning him. “Putting aside the topic for another time, do you really think now is the time for that conversation?” The tall man beside me just shook his head, and good naturedly called me a moron again before pushing ahead. I didn’t understand what the big deal was and I wasn’t quite sure what had even prompted him to ask. I just shook my head, and pushed forward towards the stone, one of the last to approach. That was kinda weird.
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Up close, I could finally see what was causing the lightning effect. When Nyx reached out and placed her palm on the stone, the swirling patterns seemed to move up her arm, covering her with a rapidly increasing light. In the span of what was most likely only a second or two, that light reached a climax and Nyx shot towards the sky, her body no longer visible. The atmosphere around her path seemed displaced, quickly rushing in to fill the space behind her. I wasn’t quite sure how it had happened, but it looked incredible. Quickly glancing back at the stone, it appeared that the patterns we’re all still there, and they didn’t look like they had moved from their original position, despite me seeing the light crawling up Nyx's arm. I tried to puzzle out how what was now clearly glowing carvings could move like they had, with absolutely no success. Whatever was going on here was well above my level of knowledge.
There were only about twenty of us left when it was finally my turn. The vibrating heat in the air almost burned. It was energizing and comfortable, yet almost volatile in a way. Like it contained an energy that was never meant to fit into this boulder. As I placed my hand on the surprisingly cool stone, a brief wind stirred in the Arizona heat. Just before the pattern began to crawl up my arm I had enough time to register that the patterns formed something that looked almost like a doorway. I had no time to think about it though, as suddenly, my world was filled with a pure light, and my body felt as though it was tearing apart. Without even a moment to scream in the blistering pain that rippled through me, everything faded to black.
I was woken up by an annoyed grunt and a boot to the face. “You Humans really need to stop doing that. I’m not used to having to rush through this.” I groggily pushed off the ground, trying to focus on the origin of the voice. As the fog of sleep left me, I saw a middle aged man in flannel and jeans, a gray beard covering the majority of his face. “I’ll spare you the coming questions by answering them right now, I’m on a time limit. No, I’m not a human, I only look like one. It’s meant to make you acclimate to the change in reality. You’ll be sent to a world called Atar and yes, the other humans will be there as well.” The man grumbled a bit, shifting in his chair, and I took the brief moment to study the… Cabin? I was in what looked like a log cabin. The walls were clearly wooden, the gaps filled with what looked almost like hardened clay. There was a fireplace on the wall behind me, currently blazing brightly. My eyes snapped back to the old man as he continued. “Pay attention, boy. I am what you Humans would call a god, though I’m much closer to a natural law or phenomenon. Don’t interrupt, I still have much to say. Your world was selected to provide much needed warriors, healers, whatever was needed really. Your galaxy is currently in a civil war, which is a problem because of the universal war that the main government of your galaxy is also fighting. Your Earth government was given the choice between plunging your world into chaos and having those who thrived being taken offworld, or offering a certain amount of humans that could be trained from scratch. Your government chose the second, which is why I’m currently so damn busy. Don’t interrupt, boy.”
I had been leaning forward, about to interject when he snapped at me. I wanted to talk more about the whole war thing, but I just sat back and frowned, waiting until I could get more clarification. Also, a GOD? I thought that we were supposed to be joining aliens, not gods. A frown began to cross my face as my eyebrows scrunched together. “Normally, us gods wouldn’t get involved this early, but the Celentiel Republic didn’t want yet another race to join the growing resistance forces, which is why your Earth was given a choice. I think it was a bad one for what its worth.” The man shifted and scratched his beard. “I suppose I should introduce myself though. Call me Dain. I’m the Hermit. My generous brothers and sisters passed this job off on me because they think I should have more company.” He grunted, a scowl forming on his face. “In normal circumstances, you’d only meet me after reaching a certain level, something you’ll find out later. Don’t fucking bug me about it, there’s things that people that aren’t gods can tell you. Don’t waste my time. Normally, I’d send you off to one of my brothers or sisters, and they’d give you a gift based on the type of person you are, but I’m not gonna do that this time.” The stocky man leaned forward, his hands gripping the armrests of his wooden chair. His eyes were stern and stormy grey. “This time, I want a stake in things too. From time to time I’ll find one I want to guide. It rarely happens, so I suggest you accept. If you use the gift well, it can change your fate. If you use it poorly, it will destroy you.” Sitting back, he settled himself into the chair, sighing. “So boy? What will it be? The blessing of the hermit, or trying your luck with one of my siblings?”
Being perfectly honest, I wasn’t ready to make that kind of decision, but I was still floundering over the rest of the information given. From the sound of things, we were chosen as sacrifices to prevent Earth from descending into chaos. This Celentiel Republic was the governing body of our galaxy and they were currently involved in a civil war and a war with other galaxies. If they weren’t, Earth would already be involved in something. Since the Republic needs our support, we were given the opportunity to avoid that. Dain here was a hermit god who sent people to the god or goddess they were most like? I didn’t quite enjoy the fact that in that case the best choice for me was a hermit. Glancing around the cabin, it looked almost bare. There was a bearskin rug on the floor, but other than some simple furniture, it was empty in the cabin. Dain himself was sitting back, rocking casually in his chair. His massive form seemed oddly relaxed for how much he had complained about being in a hurry. I cleared my throat before speaking up. “I guess I’ll stick with you.”
A broad grin formed on Dain's face, his teeth off-white. His flannel jacket strained against his body as he stood to stand, and it was only then that I realized just how muscular this god was. He reached out to grab my hand and pulled me up off of the ground. “Excellent! Well then Patrick! Or should I call you Rider?”
“Am I going to have to go by a nickname?”
“Most go by an alias of some kind. Keeps others from going after family or friends. Plus it’s just poor form.” The muscled hermit shrugged as he moved towards the door.
“Then just call me Rider.”
“Good choice. I like the name, by the way.” He paused by the door and turned to face me, a hint of emotion I couldn’t place darting across his face. “My siblings think I’m stingy. My gift is not an easy thing to have, and will not help you immediately.” Dain coughed into his beard before continuing. “It’s all you’ll get from me until I find you worthy of more. Now get the fuck out of my house.”
With that, he opened the door, revealing swirling patterns of light, and the blinding flash from when I touched the stone tore me apart once more, searing me down to the bone. The last thing I heard before I passed out once more was an amused voice. “You humans really need to stop passing out.”