Book of Seth: Home: A Fallen Chronicles Book

  Book of Seth: Home

  Dan O’Brien

  © 2015 Dan O’Brien

  “The laws of the heaven and hell, above and below, ceased to exist upon the tundra. The frigid, merciless winds and cold that assaulted us was purgatory. We had no other choice. Our journey was one that began in pain and would end in the death of everything we knew.”

  -Unidentified traveler’s log

  The tundra seemed like another world; the events in the caves happened in another lifetime. We had seen almost a hundred lunar risings since we had begun to travel south. Fredrick had found his ways into the tunnels that day as well and joined us. His frantic ramblings had dissipated the farther south we traveled. I had begun to fear that we would not find anything. That was until the morning following the seventy-sixth rising of the moon. The rising and falling of the mountains on the horizon subsided and they soon became nothing more than a distant view. The plains that welcomed us seemed to stretch far off into the distance.

  I walked out ahead.

  The warm winds caressed my face as I pulled the wraps below my chin, exposing my face to the air. I sighed, my chest expanding as I took in a deep breath. Looking back at the others as they straggled behind in a loose formation, I saw that the tightness of the group had dissipated as we got to progressively warmer weather.

  Ryan looked up and ran. “Seth,” he called breathlessly as reached me. He pulled his mask away from his face. His boyish features streamed with sweat. He placed his arm on my shoulder to slow me and I obliged, stopping in order to let him continue. “Where in the name of the Believer are we?”

  “I don’t know. No one has traveled this far south and returned to us.” The Fallen had sent travelers into the south in hopes of finding warmer climates.

  Now, it seemed warmer weather did exist.

  “I can see why. Who would want to go back to that cold hell after finding a place where you can live without burrowing into the earth?” called Fredrick as he and the others came up alongside Ryan and me.

  I looked out onto the new horizon. “Yes, why would they?” I replied.

  Nothing had followed us this far. It was as if our departure had meant nothing in the end.

  Something caught my eyes in the distance, a shadow on the horizon. I shook my head as the dark forms took shape. The ground shook a little as the shadows got closer; soon, I realized that I could make out what they looked like. There were hundreds of them. My pack felt heavy on my back in the warmth and I slid it from my shoulders easily, the heaviness sinking into the claylike consistency of the earth.

  The others watched as I moved forward.

  The beasts neared and then passed.

  Their muscular bodies shone brilliantly in the sun. An amber aura radiated from them. Their skin was glossy; some of their hides were a deep black and some were a mixture of earth tones, black and browns. Some even had white splotches. They passed by us as if we did not exist. I reached out at them. My hands trembled as I did so.

  One of them stopped. I watched as its shadow hovered over me.

  My hand immediately went my planedge in fear, but I realized that it came forward without any such trepidation. Its head was angular, the triangular clip of its ears perked as it neared; a fantastic mane of hair cascaded over its skull. Two identical white stripes traced down its jaw. It shook its head, its mouth opening slightly, exposing rows of stained white teeth; it made a shrill sound in its throat as it did so. One of its muscular legs dug into the ground, pulling soil from the gray earth. I watched, completely absorbed by the magnificence of the creature. It reared back and I stood transfixed by the strength the beast conveyed. It landed back on its feet and shook its massive head once more before joining the fleeting image of its herd. As I watched it go, I realized that the others were at my side, their faces filled with worry.

  “By the Believer, Seth, are you alright?” queried Leane as she gripped my arm tightly.

  “I’m fine. I just can’t believe what I saw. It was a herd of animals,” I whispered in awe.

  “Yes, I don’t know what they were though,” replied Ryan as he stepped back away and stood near Summer.

  Her eyes watched the fleeting herd as mine had.

  “They were beautiful though,” conceded Leane as she stepped away from me and watched them go.

  I looked once more and walked back to where I laid my pack upon the ground and picked it up with a grunt. I slipped the strap underneath my arms and clipped it across my waist.

  “Where do we go from here, Seth?” she asked.

  “The Shaman,” whispered Summer distantly.

  “How do you know of the Shaman?” queried Fredrick wildly, his voice shaky.

  She looked at him dismissively. “I heard Ryan speak of it before. The salvation of man resides with the power of the Shaman and the awakening of the Believer.”

  “That is true enough,” I agreed, smirking slightly.

  It felt strange that my feet found sure footing on the firm earth beneath me. I felt connected to my surroundings in a way I never had upon the tundra.

  “How can we find this shaman?” queried Leane, coming up beside me.

  “South. That is all that we have ever known. His temple resides to the south,” I replied, turning away from her and looking back out on the open range that stretched out before me.

  “How far south though? There seems to be much of it,” replied Leane.

  “Until we find a new place, a place when we can begin again.”

  I did not feel like talking at length yet. Leane seemed determined to do so.

  Summer and Ryan walked together, their hands interlocked as they moved along.

  Fredrick remained at the back of our ranks.

  Leane stopped me. She placed her lithe arms on my shoulders, her face serious. “Seth, I’m scared. We can’t just keep going until we find another place. We have to have some direction, some kind of plan. This place is so….”

  “Unfamiliar. Yes, I know, but there is little else we can do. We could not have survived in the north. The caves that housed the Fallen were all that remained. The weather here is ideal for us to live above ground and that is what we shall do. I have not seen any shelter from storms, be it a rock enclosure or a home, but we will make one if need be.”

  “Storms?” she queried worriedly.

  I pointed off into the distance. The sky was blue and sunny, a welcome change from the gray, listless skies of our birth. However, in the distance, bruised masses of clouds had formed and each step we took brought them closer to us––and us closer to them. “Clouds are approaching and they will bring new weather, winds and storms no doubt.”

  Leane looked around, her hair bounced as she did so. Her dark hair seemed even darker; her milky white skin was pure ivory in the sun. Her stomach had grown and I was worried about her. She raised her arm and shielded her eyes her hand. Pointing with her other free hand, she gestured to an outcropping of rocks in the distance that had remained behind the veil of the soon-to-be-setting sun. “Over there is…” She faltered for a moment, her legs shaky beneath her weight.

  I moved forward and held her in my arms. “Are you alright?”

  “Yes, I’m weak. That’s all. I feel a bit faint,” she replied breathlessly and then promptly fainted.

  I picked her up and held her. Her head rested against my shoulder and I moved toward the outcropping of boulders that she had pointed out. Ryan and Summer were quick to join me; Fredrick joined us eventually. As the boulders came into view, I could see the apprehension on Ryan’s face. Summer remained cool and clear.

  “What happened?” he queried hesitantly.

  “She collapsed. She seems very weak,” I replied.

  Her eyes were closed and her breathing had slowed.

  Summer looked at her with a critical eye. The clear irises of her eyes were eerie; it was as if she looked right through Leane.

  “Where are we going?” queried Fredrick meekly. His pale skin seemed even sicklier than before we had come to dry weather.

  “The rock formation,” replied Summer dryly, stealing my words.

  I looked at her, but she continued to look straight ahead, her gaze unbroken. The skies rumbled and the slowly-setting sun fell behind the advancing clouds. A shadow fell across the plains and the only remaining light slipped behind the rock formation, illuminating its outline perfectly.

  “There is sufficient cover along the side. The rocks overhead will provide shelter. Who knows when this storm will pass,” I commented.

  “Agreed,” chimed in Fredrick as he made a mad dash ahead of us. He was the first beneath the monstrous outcropping and sat upon the broken earth. Leaning back against the pale rocks, he closed his eyes, snoring before the rest of us reached him.

  I tilted Leane’s body onto one arm and then slipped my pack onto the ground. Ryan stepped in and pulled the flap open, pulling my sleeping fabric from within and smoothing it over the even earth. I placed her on the fabric, a murmur escaping her lips as I did so. She turned on her side immediately. I wrapped an additional fabric over her frame, afraid that the winds created by the storm might chill her in the night.

  “We camp her for the night then?” queried my brother as he rolled his fabric onto the earth as well. His was a rich tan color; mine was as white as the snow-covered tundra that we had survived on for so long. Summer sat down beside him, her face a slate of stoicism.

  “Yes, we desperatel
y need rest.”

  The warm breeze and the even earth beneath our feet was our salvation.

  “Then what?” Summer asked.

  “We try to find the Shaman; perhaps there’s a temple visible in the distance. Maybe there’s even a village here somewhere,” replied my brother. He shrugged his shoulders as he removed some rations from his pack.

  “Yes, perhaps,” I replied, leaning back against my pack. My head rested comfortably upon it. I placed my right hand on Leane’s damp forehead and my left on the hilt of my planedge. My brother shrugged once more and bit deeply into the jerky, offering a piece to Summer with a sheepish grin.

  She accepted, tearing at the piece nimbly.

  The sky rumbled and I saw water fall from the sky for the first time. My father had talked of rain, but I had never seen it. The tundra was far too cold for such miracles. I watched it stain the earth with each drop and soon the gentle tapping of it on the rocks above lulled me to sleep.

  I LOOKED OUT UPON the plains. The gray earth was covered in grass. Turning around, I saw something I had only heard of in stories: the ocean. I walked toward it, my bare feet caressed by the velvety earth. The emerald field before me spilled into sand. The overwhelming aroma of the sea overpowered me now. I bent toward the earth and pressed my palm into the sand. I grasped a handful as I did so and rubbed it between my fingers. I stood again, wiping my hands against my shirt.

  The sand stuck to my palms. Looking around, I saw only endless sandy beach.

  “Seth Armen, you have come a great distance, haven’t you?” queried a voice I knew well. It was one of the guides, Meinen. She had taken form. Her little frame was accented by a large bell dress, the edges frayed. Her hair was golden, the curls resting politely on her shoulders. Her eyes were nothing more than white globes. She was child.

  “Yes, we have come far. Is it enough?” I replied.

  “Do you believe it to be enough?” Her question was cryptic and little more than a riddle.

  I had many questions. Who was the Believer? Where was I to find this person? Here in the south or on the tundra? Were they testing me?

  “I believe that I know nothing of what is to come.”

  “That is honest, but untrue. You know more than you can comprehend. What questions do you have for me?”

  “Who is the Believer?” I asked hastily.

  The child paused. She turned away from me and stared at the ocean. Wisps of energy flowed from her eyes as I saw her face in profile. “Is that important? Must you know who a savior is in order to believe in them?”

  “No…yes.”

  “So, you cannot believe what you cannot see or understand?”

  “The Believer is meant to be human,” I replied defensively.

  The child giggled. “Many heroes of lore were once men; yet, they are no more. They live on now in spirit, in belief.”

  “Yes, I guess that is true,” I conceded.

  “Is that your only question?” She had feigned off my first question as I imagined that she would. “I did not dodge your question, Seth Armen. The answer does not matter. When the time comes, you will be what makes the Believer powerful.”

  The seas raged, not the clear blue as my brother had imagined, but instead angry and vengeful.

  “Is this the way the world is meant to be?”

  “The world is as it has always been. What you see here is as it once was: a paradise.”

  “What will happen when the Believer comes? Will it bring peace?”

  “What is peace? Was the Fallen not the epitome of peace?”

  I thought about her words. We did not know war. We had sufficient rations.

  “Yes, we had peace of a sort. I meant that we would be free of the Umordoc.”

  “So you seek vengeance, revenge for what had been taken from you before you were born? Before your father was born?”

  “Vengeance?” I was shocked by her use of the word.

  “You speak of retribution for what the Umordoc have done to your kind, correct?” she returned with a hint of challenge to her voice.

  “Yes, but I do not seek vengeance. Only justice for what they have done.”

  “And you know that they have done wrong then? You can pass such judgment?” She sighed, the sound nothing more than a whisper. “We have spoken enough for now, Seth Armen. You have many trials ahead of you, but know that you are important in what comes next.”

  I tried to speak to her again, but my body screamed in pain; it was as if I had been torn apart.

  My eyes fluttered open and I swung my arms wildly. Thankfully, my knuckles collided with the stone instead of Lean. She was still buried in fabrics and her dark tousled hair covered her face. I rubbed my eyes and stretched my arms above my head, my fingers barely scraping the rocks above. I pushed myself off of the sleeping fabric and onto my feet, making sure not to disturb Leane as I did so.

  Ryan was asleep; Summer was curled up against him. Deeper into the shadow slept Fredrick. The storm had passed and the earth was moist from the rain. I stepped out from underneath the cover of the rocks, my boots sinking into the loose soil there. I tried to make out the shapes I saw in the distance. The darkness of night was beginning to lift, but shadows remained. I could see the outline of the mountains to the north.

  Clink.

  The metallic noise caught my attention.

  I reached my hand down to my sheath and realized that my planedge must have come loose in the night. Cursing myself silently, I backed toward the rocks, not wanting to dart in case something lurked in the distance. The rustling of shrubbery caught my attention from behind and I turned to investigate. A shadowed figure passed in front of me; the speed of the shadow made it impossible to tell its shape. As I looked higher into the sky, I saw several more, unmoving atop the rocky structure.

  I wasted no more time with stealth.

  “Ryan, wake up,” I screamed, waving my arms like a madman and charging back toward the rocky enclosure.

  My lungs burned as I ran.

  Suddenly, thick stick struck me in the chest; it almost lifted me completely off of the ground. I saw the sky above and shook my head, a stabbing pain in my stomach. As I moved my neck to look, I felt the cold touch of a blade at my throat. A face loomed over me, the majority of it clouded by shadow. The thin line of its mouth was evident; cold brown eyes looked into my own. A dark length of hair extended back from his scalp and his skin seemed much darker than my own. The face screamed at me. I could not understand the words. I tried to shield my arms in front of my face, but the figure pushed the blade harder against my throat.

  I looked at the man. The voice was very masculine. His breath was stale and he had a strong odor about him, almost like a beast. Odors seemed stronger here in the heat than they did on the tundra. The language was almost as guttural and over-pronounced as the Umordoc tongue.

  “I cannot understand you,” I replied, trying as best I could to keep a calm tone.

  The man looked at me, pressed the blade against my throat once more, and then moved back slowly. As he stood, I noticed that he was smaller than me. Tan hides were draped across his body like a hunter. He replaced his blade into a side sheath and looked down at me.

  I could not see Leane or the others from my position. I did not wish to jeopardize their lives as well as mine.

  He tilted his head at me, seeming to watch my face as I contemplated attacking him. I thought that he would assuredly draw his weapon again, but instead he pointed one of his fingers at his chest and opened his mouth to speak.

  “Tiken,” he spoke crudely.

  I looked at him and backed away slightly before rising to my feet slowly. I made sure to maintain eye contact. His words were guttural, but they seemed coherent. I felt as if he was trying to convey his name or what he was called.

  I stood a short distance from him and mirrored what he had done, pointing at myself. “Seth,” I replied slowly.

  We both stood for a moment.

  I could make out the figures still perched atop the rocks. The man held up his hand and the other shadows leapt from the rocks and darted on all fours until they reached me. Two of them had thick black tattoos across the bridge of their noses and another line along their shaved skulls. I was overwhelmed. I did not want startle these men, making them unintentionally hostile.