New Book Release: White Serpent
After the War of Angels, humanity was thought to be extinct. When the sole survivor, an immortal man with a mysterious past, rescues a young woman who shouldn’t exist, he discovers she possesses a weapon powerful enough to kill a god. Together, they must embark on a journey to kill the artificial intelligence that destroyed humanity and restore balance to the world. Novella · Science Fiction
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Prologue
“In the beginning, we called her an angel.
“But I suppose that’s not the true start, is it? My time is very short, but let me start by introducing myself. Guten tag. My name is Greta. Dr. Greta Berger. And you…are very, very important.
“You might be wondering why you’re here. Why you…exist. Well, the answer to that question isn’t exactly simple.
“You are here…because of her. Before long, you will become acquainted with an entity, a creature which we call Lilith. She has…escaped, so to speak. In our hubris, we thought we had created the Angel of Nature — a savior for our broken world — but she became something more…sinister.
“The devastation…. We called it the War of Angels. Millions — if not billions — of innocent lives have been lost already. The suffering has been unconscionable.
“Which brings me back to you. You are the answer to Lilith, the response. Only you can bring true balance back to this world. But be warned that you will suffer. Like a predator, Lilith will hunt you down and destroy you if she gets the chance. But you won’t let that happen because you’re better than her. Stronger. You were born to reverse this kind of power.
“I need you to remember something very important. The key to life is death. Remember that. I don’t know how long it will take, but when the time is right, you will know and understand your true purpose. Speak the words: Nebula, moon, wave, salt, thought, birth, life, death. Remember those words. You are —
“She’s found me! One of her creatures is almost through the door. You must listen to me! You are very important! Only you can destroy Lilith! Only — ”
Error 9.3.
Recording suspended.
File saved to remote databank 335.2.
Chapter 1 — The Hunt
The only things that moved through the jungle was the deer and the pale man chasing after it.
Acharon pursued his prey with the precision and determination of a leopard. Half of the left side of his bald head was covered in a red scar, a remnant from his birth. He still remembered the day when he was born. The day when Lilith had left her mark on him. How could he forget such an entrance into the world such as that?
The two creatures zigzagged through the dense jungle as Acharon slowly gained ground on the frantic animal ahead of him. He had been chasing the doe at a full sprint for six minutes straight, and he wasn’t even sweating or breathing hard.
Being cursed had its advantages.
The jungle was green and vibrant around him as he whipped through the wet leaves. Acharon appreciated the level of precision she took in the care of her jungles and forests. For all of the devastation she had directly caused, Lilith kept the world of nature in a wonderful equilibrium that made the planet resplendent and beautiful. But Acharon could never fully enjoy the spoils of her efforts, for she was always hunting him, always seemingly on his tail.
Suddenly, the jungle broke ahead of Acharon, and the doe emerged into a grassy meadow. This was the place where he would make the kill. Acharon broke into the clearing a moment later. A thick perpetual cloud cover blanketed the sky overhead, blocking out all sunlight. In his left hand, Acharon held the hilt of his obsidian sword, which he called Fang. Acharon rarely kept Fang sheathed and preferred for it to be ready and available at all times. After all, he never knew when he might be walking into one of her traps.
As he continued his mad chase through the meadow, the doe jumped around a large boulder set in its path, but instead of following the animal, Acharon ran straight for the large rock.
When he reached the stone, he jumped up onto the top of it and leaped. The powerful jump sent him sailing through the air towards the unsuspecting animal. Acharon flipped the sword around in the air and grasped the hilt with both hands so the blade was facing down. When he arced downwards, he plunged the weapon into the back of the doe’s neck, splintering its spine.
As the animal stumbled and crashed, Acharon tumbled into a barrel roll into the wet grass, leaving his weapon pinned in the animal’s flesh. He lay in the grass and mud for a moment, but when everything was still, he slowly stood, his leather clothing soaked in rainwater and blood. He glanced down at a puddle and saw his reflection in the rippling water. Dark eyes stared back at him. His scarred, white face was covered in blood. Using his sleeve to wipe the liquid from his pale skin, he walked over to the dead animal’s carcass.
He reached for the hilt of the sword and pulled the weapon out of the corpse, the black blade covered in blood. He squeezed the handle, which activated a pressure switch hidden inside the hilt. A moment later, the obsidian blade began to glow red hot as flames sprouted along its surface. As the steaming blade burned off the beads of blood, it left an intoxicating smell in the air. A pang of hunger hit Acharon’s stomach. It had been three weeks since he had last fed, but more than that, the smell also brought to his mind a reminder of…that place.
The dark tunnels. The flames, the blood…the burning flesh.
That was how he had been introduced to the world.
He pushed the memory out of his mind as he snapped the sword in a blindingly fast motion with his wrist, which flung off the extra condensation from the steam, the blade now pristine.
“That was a very good kill,” a voice said in Acharon’s mind. “Though, the jump was a little dramatic.”
“I have to kill, so I kill. I don’t exactly care how it’s done.”
“Don’t sell yourself short,” the voice said. Sam was a sign of Acharon’s isolation and madness. He knew he was insane, but he embraced the voice in his head like a friend, his only companion. Sam continued, “You make killing look easy.”
Acharon frowned as he slid Fang through a loop on his belt. “How good of a killer could I possibly be? I haven’t been good enough for her.” He reached down and grabbed the doe around the torso and lifted the dead beast up onto his shoulders without much effort. He made sure that he positioned the doe so that the wound was facing up so it wouldn’t drain itself of much blood. “If I was, she would be dead already.”
“Everything wastes away and dies eventually,” Sam said. “Even Lilith isn’t immune from that fact. Perhaps we just need to outlast her.”
“You mean I have to outlast her,” Acharon said as he turned and began trudging eastward. “You’re not real, remember?”
“Real or not,” Sam said, “I’m a part of you.”
“So the only way to kill you is by killing myself?” Acharon said, a hint of a smile forming on his lips. “I’ve never considered that thought before. But do you ever think — ” Acharon came to a sudden halt as something unusual caught his eye.
“Think what?”
“Do you see that?” Acharon asked, looking down at the muddy ground. He let the dead animal slide off his shoulders and fall into the wet grass behind him.
“See what?” Sam asked as Acharon stepped forward and knelt down.
“Tracks,” Acharon replied softly. He pushed the long grass aside and nearly gasped at what he saw imprinted into the mud through the grass. The nature of the footprints was unmistakable.
They were human.
