He groaned as he pushed his cart forth down
the unlevelled, sloping lands. The heat of the mid day sun washed
over the land, unyielding. Elgar stopped for a mean moment,
withdrew his hands from the cart and wiped a coating of sweat over
his forehead. The barren region was hot enough without Elgar’s
thick red fur adding to it. Hands on his hip, he stood gazing about
the scene before him.
As he moved his gaze along the land before,
his eyes paused on a sight which was not wholesomely unfamiliar to
him – a dead body lying further down the right, carelessly over the
rocky land. This was the third dead desert traveller he had treaded
past today. A pack of cruel vultures were circling the body,
pecking at it and tearing strips of flesh off it. Muttering a
prayer, Elgar pushed his cart on. As he ploughed on down the
unlevelled land, ignoring the weariness, every minute seemed to
survive for an hour. Elgar kept himself occupied by humming a meek
tune to himself, diverting his mind from the heaviness of his
labour.
The sloping land dipped in front of him,
forcing him to clutch his cart tightly as he slid down it, before
slowly climbing back along with it. As he reached the top of the
slope, he could make out meek stubbles rising over the horizon.
Smiling, he realised that he was almost at the end of the desert. A
new vigour rising in him, he went on.
Meanwhile, far behind him, lying lifeless
over the barren land, was the dead body surrounded by vultures.
This body had belonged to the one known as
Zardin.
__________
Hovering over where his body lay, fading
from the world like a gentle breeze would after wafting through the
sky, Zardin survived as a mere thread of consciousness. He could
sense his surroundings as he floated above his body. The black
hearted vultures were spiralling around, sinking their beaks into
what had once been his vessel of life in this world. But no more.
He was no longer a part of this world … He was only surviving as a
mere shadow that would soon pass to the next world, a loose rope
tied to this realm that would wear and break soon. His life had
ended, and he was cast between a mere veil separating this world
from the next. Anytime now, he would be gone for good…
For it was time for him to leave.
And now, with the end now upon him, Zardin
felt his entire life run past him like a speed train. A life he had
striven and ploughed through to reach nothing at all in the end.
And now, as it ended, he was left with nothing at all … but pain
and suffering. For that had been his life. And all of the agony of
his days compressed into the present, crashing upon him like a
tidal wave of grief and fury. He remembered everything that he had
lived through, and realised that it had left him with nothing but
pain.
And all of it came from one reason.
Zardin had been a mystic.
And that had made life hell for him. He
remembered his days, scurrying and fleeing from the authorities,
and braving the world of pain that mystics faced. And he had faced
and braved it all his life. And now, at the end, it had left him
with nothing … nothing but grief and angst. And fury.
As the veil separating the two worlds began
to dissolve, Zardin could feel the tug of the next world slowly
draw him off this one. He was moving … He was leaving. And at this
final stage, as he relived the life he had known, he was left with
nothing but grief and rage. And now, at this final hour, though it
was beyond too late, he wanted just one thing…
A second chance.
A second chance at life. But not for himself
… for the world. To show the world what he had been through, and to
rage through it. To unleash his wrath upon this realm that had left
him with so much grief. But he knew it was too late. Far too
late…
As everything around him blurred, he could
sense the oncoming blanket of silence slowly cloak around him. The
world he knew, along with the body which he had known, lying down
on the ground, being pecked at by vultures … everything he knew was
fading. Everything was melting back to the abyss from which it had
all begun.
And at the teetering final moment, as he
passed on, Zardin sealed his vengeance with the one thought: if he
had a chance, he would make this world pay.
And right then, as though in response … as
though in reply, came a voice. A voice that rumbled with the force
of a thousand avalanches. It shattered the peace and seemed to
leave the entire world quaking along with it.
“Look towards me … Zardin.”
Then, as the voice faded, silence settled
over the realm again. But it wasn’t the same silence he knew before
… Zardin felt a sudden thrill of fear like nothing before. For he
realised, as he floated in the abyss between life and death, that
there was a strange, unknown presence … an unknown mind, attempting
to communicate with him
Zardin waited for a moment that could well
have been an eternity in the endless abyss that he now found
himself in. And then, very hesitantly, he probed the strange new
entity that had arrived here by asking,
Who … are you?
Then,
even more hesitantly,
God?
The voice loosed out in a great rumble of
laughter, and Zardin felt his being shrink inwardly at the colossal
rage that the terrible voice seemed to contain within. The laughter
died slowly, and the voice replied:
“No … better. Much better.”
__________
The voice was silent for a few seconds. And
then it spoke again.
“I go by many names. But you may know me as
… the creeper.” it said. “I am a person who cannot physically move,
for I am crippled. And so, my body is grounded to where I now lay.
But even from here, I can sense things and make contacts like I am
now. And I can very meagerly influence the passing events. Very
meagerly … for you see, I am a mystic. And though deprived
physically, I can use my powers to sense the wanderings of others’
around me. And that was where I found you.”
The voice fell silent again, but something
within it seemed to bubble with glee. “I have seen your soul,
Zardin … I can see everything that makes you who you are. And I
know it. The desire that possesses you now, the terrible wrath, and
the yearning for a second chance to release that wrath.”
What do you want with me?
asked
Zardin.
I’m not even alive!
Silence lingered for a few seconds, before
the voice broke out in another wave of laughter.
“That’s the very part I’m here to change, my
good man.”
Everything within Zardin had gone
temporarily jammed. What remained of his untethered consciousness
had frozen in shock.
That’s impossible.
he said, breaking
from the daze of what he had just heard.
The voice shook the world in a low chuckle.
“Not to me, it isn’t … with my mystical powers, it is very
possible. I can transmit my powers to nurse your body to a livable
condition again, and then I can infuse your untethered soul back to
that body, so that you can live again. But the question looming …
is do you want it?”
Zardin considered what he was hearing from
this strange new entity. He analysed the entire bizarre scenario,
before slowly responding.
There isn’t a thing in the world I want
more … there isn’t a desire I’ve had when
alive
, which has
burned stronger in me, than this one now. The desire of
revenge
. I want to go back there … and I want to tear everything
apart. I desire revenge. I desire carnage. Because that is the only
means by which I can regain what I have lost. For life had taken
everything from me, and given nothing back.
The voice let silence loom for a moment,
before slowly saying, “You and I are one of a kind, then. We are
but the very same hatred living apart, and we share the very same
wicked goal. And that was the very reason I had decided to save
you. Because I sensed another with the very same goal that I nurse,
and who carries the very same hatred for life as I have. And so,
when I return you to life, I want you to do me this one favour.
Find me and come to me. Join forces with me.”
What are you saying? What will the two of us
do, if I join you?
“We are mystics, Zardin. Mystics who have
chosen the path of hatred and destruction. For us, there is only
one goal … We are going to finish what the great Redgarn started
eight thousand years back. We will repay the world’s deserved share
of pain. And that will give solace to our throbbing pains, and
release them.”
The creeper sent a vision, an image shooting
through Zardin’s mind. And for the split second, Zardin saw the
man’s form where he was, through their present contact. He
witnessed the man’s form for a fleeting moment, before the vision
faded.
But why do you need me?
Zardin
asked.
“Because I am crippled in the current
state,” said the creeper, with a trace of fury in his voice. “And I
need your assistance as you need mine. I told you that I can
influence events without physically being present there … that’s
because I
can’t
be present there. And that’s why I need you.
I need you to find me, and to help liberate me from this crippled
state. Then, together, we can move heaven and earth, and make
everything ours. If you find me, you can help me the way I helped
you … but finding me will be a journey of its own.”
What do you mean?
“This journey may take years. But like I
said … at the very end of it, we will finish what Redgarn and the
Xeni started eight thousand years back. That is our ultimate goal.
But to reach it, there is a long road…”
Zardin was possessed by a sudden, mad sense
of thrill.
Very well … whatever it is, tell me what I need to
do. And I will do it. And join you.
“Good … first, after I awaken you, you need
to find and join the order of the Xeni. I do not know where they
are, but you need to join them, and learn their ways. You will need
years to devote to learning the arts that Redgarn had left behind
through his Xeni. But through your help, make them grow stronger.
And when they have, lead them out of hiding and into the open. And
then, undertake the quest of finding me. All else, I shall take
care. Once we are united, you and I, we will unleash the wrath of
the gods themselves upon this realm.”
It was a moment unlike any other Zardin had
experienced his entire life … a moment of gleaming clarity, mixed
with triumph. For he now realised the very purpose of it all. His
very purpose. And it had, at long last, found him…
I won’t fail you…
As he said it, the entire realm of silence
and peace was suddenly rent … And he felt himself sucked out of the
abyss he was now in with the force of a vacuum pump.
And the next instant, the dead body lying on
the desert floor below sprang back to life, sitting upright. The
vultures surrounding and pecking at the body rose and soared off
hastily.
Zardin turned his head around, trying to
look all around him.
But he couldn’t see.
What is this?
As he brought his
trembling hands over his eyelids … he found that there was nothing
underneath them. The vultures had pecked his eyes out as well.
Leaving empty sockets, devoid of vision.
I’m … blind.
He sat there for many seconds, motionless,
gaping about his surroundings. But there was nothing more that
could be done … his eyes were lost.
Slowly, Zardin raised his hands, running
them over the skin of both arms. It felt lifeless and dry, and he
could make out that the colour of his skin was now a dull pale. As
his tongue tasted the insides of his mouth, he saw that his teeth
were no longer the normal set of teeth. They were sharp, razor like
and pointed. And his fingernails were sharpened to a dagger like
state as well…
As he had promised, the creeper had used his
powers to heal Zardin’s body, to render it capable of holding life
again. But in the process, he had made other, slight alterations to
him as well. Alterations that added a terrifying effect to his
body: he was now a pale skinned, eyeless man with knife sharp teeth
and nails. Zardin had a very faint suspicion that the creeper had
done it to him on purpose.
And for that one reason … I like it.
Trying very slowly, he pushed himself
upright, staggering in the fumbling darkness all over him. But in
the absence of sight, his hearing and other senses had been
sharpened manifold. After a minute or so, he was on his feet,
swaying slightly in the effort of it. The heat of the desert seemed
to now cloak his flesh with a new fury, in the keener sense of
touch he now had.
Despite being unable to see, Zardin could
feel the world around him glow with a newfound beauty. And despite
the darkness around him, a radiating light ignited him from
within.
The light of understanding…
For he now understood the true value of the
gift that he held, the gift of life. And the gift of time. Every
moment that ticked past held a treasure in his eyes, a treasure
that nothing in this world, no amount of riches, could garner … a
treasure he knew he would not waste. For this was a life he would
not waste. This was the life that he would utilise to return
everything that the previous one had given him. To return all of
the misery to the world.