Bloen [ Part V ]
A Visage for the Abyss
“You’ve traveled a long way to get to this planet Reyn, it’d be such a shame that you would have to leave soon.” The voice in the dark of the room spoke.
“I am yet to meet a foe that would force my hand, at anything. Reveal yourself.” I couldn’t contain my frustration, I had thought the chieftain had dragged me out of that dream, but it seemed like some other ethereal realm had taken hold of my consciousness while it was traveling back.
The headless man got up from his chair and walked towards me. I studied his movement and had prepared myself to counter whatever attacks he might throw at me. But instead, he continued talking.
“Do not feel threatened by my lack of visage, Reyn, it is but a statement.” he continued, “I do not exist in your realm, in your world. Nor in the ones I’m about to speak off. You see, I exist on a higher plane, one which you cannot fathom. At least not in this form.”
He continued walking towards me, slowly, as he was talking. With every step he took, I could feel my will to strike him down fade from me. A very strange kind of darkness took over me and my ears — and eyes — where open wide. “What is your name, and where is your face?” I uttered, finally.
He grinned, I could see a faded grin on his void-ridden face. It was weird to me, how could I not see his face yet I could perceive — strangely — his grin. “My name is Xzain, I am your creator.” a cold drop of swear drilled its way down my shivering spine as the words came out of his mouth. My hands got wet, my pupils — ever so dilated — scanned around the room and my mind went astray. I was looking around me to try to understand where I was, before I could allow myself to understand what Xzain — Mr. Grinn — was saying.
“My what? Are you fucking with me?” I shouted angrily “What is the meaning of this”. I could not help but believe him, my skepticism did nothing but add marginal notes to my streams of thought, all of which converged into one statement that repeated itself in my mind, “He is your god.”
“You see, Reyn, what I said isn’t exactly accurate” he continued, as though he saw no reaction from me. “This plane of existence is made up of many realms, or as my counter-part calls them, dimensions. Before you ask about that — about my counter-part — do consider that you are currently in a state of suspended consciousness, which is to say, that your thoughts are currently not progressing on their own. I am guiding their progression”
His words would not make sense, but then they would appear to me with such clarity. It was like my mind was not grasping his statements but it was as though these statement altered my cognition to match his. I could, at some points, even predict his words before he’d say them.
With that realization, an image of another man came to my mind — and image, and a name. “Who is Seriph, then?” i asked. Given, I had no idea where that question came from, I had never heard of a man called Seriph before. “Who are Dirge, Zusynoid and Duch’ik?” I continued as names and faces poured into my mind. He grinned again and he spoke.
“I do not have time to answer all of these, what I want you to know about them you already do. But I also need to tell you what you have to do now.” He pulled out a small device from his pocket. The device spat out holographic images of a large purple crystal. “On the planet where you currently are, there is a foe. He is a dragon and he is one of Seriph’s creations. His name is Bryxun the Exiled, the chieftain had already told you about him. He is a wingless beast, as he was once the servant of another dragon, The Duchess. He betrayed her when he stole the purple nexus, and as such, he is no longer allowed back in the realm of dragons.”
“Why did he steal it?” I asked Xzain while my eyes fixated on the mesmerizing shine of the purple crystal’s holograph.
“The Duchess, you see, requires all her servant dragons to remove their wings and in return she would grant them great powers. But Bryxun wanted his wings back, he was regretful that he joined her army and wanted to leave the ranks. The purple crystal connects it’s user to his original form, his original shadow. This was the only way Bryxun could be able to use his wings again. But that is not the point now.” The faceless said.
“What is the point then, what is required of me” I objected.
“Your path will unveil itself, but for now, you have three goals: Free the Zooldgars, kill Bryxun and claim the purple nexus for yourself. Once these are done, I will visit you again. Goodbye Reyn” As he uttered his final words, I felt my head getting heavy. My vision blurred and my ever-skeptical mind came back.
I woke up in the hut, the cheiftain’s head hovering over mine. He smiled and nodded, as though he already knew where I had been. Not seconds later, two of my lieutenants came rushing in.
“Admiral, you are finally awake.” one of them uttered, “you had been unconscious for 5 days.”
That did not come as a surprise to me, I got up from the ground where I was sleeping and ordered the lieutenants to prepare the space module that would shoot us back up to our ship.
“We have a lot to prepare for men, we have to cleanse this planet of its evil before we can reside here.”
