The Tower

Now Available

2006-05-04T20:41:00.000-05:00

The Tower is now available from Lulu.com!

That's right, you can now buy this book from this magic link, for only $9.95 plus shipping & handling. So go out there and buy a copy! Tell your friends! And have fun reading it, I know I had fun writing it!

Back Cover Blurb

2006-04-24T20:17:00.000-05:00

Well, after months of procrastination, I have finally almost completed my cover. The book is almost completely edited, and should be hitting Lulu's shelves in a few weeks. Since I just finished writing the back cover blurb for the book, I thought I'd share it with you. Enjoy!

The world is burned, razed by the guns of an alien race known as the kryons. Humanity is a dead and shattered race, lost in fields of glass, the ruins of once-great cities. What once was a might human empire now lies in rubble, scarring the once-beautiful landscape of the Earth.

But not all is lost. The kryons did not finish their mission, for handfuls of people still populate the charred ruins across the world. Most have turned to savagery, seeing life as nothing more than a fight for survival. Some, however, have formed villages, makeshift clans, that work together to survive the new hardships that mankind must face.

And it is the product of one of these villages, a young man named Jude, who will embark on a journey that will change the future of both humanity and kryonity. For not all is as it appears, and it is time that every soul learns the truth about the invasion. The truth inside The Tower.

Ukl shïkal ûkaj kif ukl Kryonomicon.

Feedback

2005-11-29T20:22:00.000-05:00

So there you have it. The saga of Jude and the burning of Earth, laid out in a novel greater than 50,000 words, just as I promised.

So now then, for those who have finished reading the book: how'd you like it? Think I should write a sequel? Gonna buy it when I publish it via Lulu? Any mysteries I forgot to answer? Please, tell me what you thought about the book. It will help me out immensely. Or just tell me my letter grade. Feedback is much appreciated.

Epilogue

2005-11-27T19:19:00.000-05:00

“It was not my job to tell of the things that once past. Rather, it was my job to uncover those same things that took place. It is my task to uncover these things, and to tell of those things that are happening and will happen.

“The world was not razed by kryonity but by humanity. Where we thought they were responsible for the burning of Earth, it was our own folly that was responsible for it. Man turned on man, burning those who were different, but the kryons were our savior.

“The invasion was a necessity to purge the man known as O’Conner from the head of the world. His daughter, the one once known as Cassandra, now lives on, but she has forsaken her family’s heritage. Kysandra now fights for the survival of humanity, not its destruction.

“Humans still dwell on Earth. It is impossible for us to rescue them all. From the former cities to the vast deserts, man will still dwell. There is no way that we can scan the surface of the world and bring them back.

“Yet hope remains, for the tower that we found was not the only tower built by the kryons. Others were constructed, and from the information buried in the ship’s computer, they too held the great human wasp-ships and instructions on how to operate them. With luck, the other Free Councils of the world will be the ones to bring them to Kryon.

“We shall return to our ancestral homeworld of Kryon. We shall meet our brethren there, and remain there side-by-side until both races crumble as the universe collapses. And we shall work to raise the earth back to what it was.

“Mankind shall return someday to Earth. I may not be among them, nor my children, nor my children’s children, but someday, we shall return. Humanity will work with kryonity to rebuild the great cities, and the worlds shall join together in a union which shall span the universe as a great nation.

“Myself and my lover shall meet my other twin, the one known only as The Messenger. Who or what he is is unknown, but we are destined to meet. I know it and have felt it in my wanderings in my mind.

“The journey through the stars will be long and hard, but we will make it. Humanity cannot be stopped, we are a resilient race. No matter what dangers lie in waiting in the deep of space, we shall make it to the world of Kryon.

“We are leaving our world behind, but our ancestral world is still ahead. We shall arrive and return someday. I shall miss this world, but my heart yearns to see that which I have not seen.

“And so I must depart. I have nothing else to say to those that are left, except a single sentence.

“We will return.”
-The Messenger of Earth

Chapter 66 - Sky

2005-11-27T18:45:00.000-05:00

Jude and Tyra walked towards the door first. Jude placed his hand on the door, which slid open smoothly and quickly. They shivered from excitement and entered, followed by Kysandra, Relik, and Krynn.

Relik stared around in amazement. “That,” he said, his eyes widening in excitement, “is really amazingly spiffy.”

The inside of the ship looked just as clean as it likely had the day it was made. The metal still glistened, and the controls still lit up with a faint red glow. Screens beeped and chirped to themselves, unaware of the presence of anyone within the ship.

They walked slowly onto the bridge. Behind them, they could see the fighter bay, with space for twenty fighters reaching back. The doors were open, just as they would be if the ship ever had to be used in a battle. Large metal shields were there for air containment if the fight occurred in space.

Behind that was the engine room, with a small control room there should something go wrong.

Stairs also went up from the bridge, up to what were marked on a sign as “living quarters”. This was indeed a battleship, meant for long voyages and not short strikes. The kryons had left the ship there as a way for the humans to reach the world of Kryon.

They looked around the bridge. There were a number of seats, such as for the captain, pilot, copilot, gunners, and mechanics. And sitting on the chairs of each were books.

A number of them walked to the books, which were very thick manuals. They held information on how to work the systems of the ship, specifically the ones that someone who sat in that seat would need to be concerned with. Jude stood in the center of the bridge.

“We are here at last! We have reached our ship, and our journey to the world of Kryon is at hand! We shall depart as soon as we can.”

The people cheered. Over the next few days, Jude decided on who would run the various systems. Relik and Krynn would be pilot and copilot, Kysandra and Sylva would be gunners, and Tyra would be the mechanic.

The living quarters were very nice. They were plentiful, and in fact reached up multiple floors. The ship had not looked that big from the outside. They each were fully stocked with sheets, running water flowed through their pipes, and most of all, there were clothes there.

Clothes were very rare, and no one had more than one pair, as they had to carry their clothes. They cheered when they saw them. There were uniforms to make them look like a bona fide group of soldiers, and relaxation clothes for men and women alike. The ship was clearly arranged for them, and Jude’s discovery made it clear.

Sitting on the bed of the room marked as “captain’s quarters” was a note, written in the aurora-script. It read, quite simply, “we wish you safe passage to Kryon”.

They spent more time there in the tower, practicing their skills in a virtual training room that they had found. They also trained fighter pilots, so that if on their journey they were et by anyone, they would be able to fight them off as best as they could.

After three months of training and learning, Jude walked outside of the ship. The skeletons of the twins still lay there, and he carved a small bit of aurora-script in the bone of Uk’Yan that read, “dream”.

He walked over to a control box in the tower that they had found shortly after the battle. He opened it, and flipped a switch marked “open”.

Slowly, the clear roof of the tower opened up. Jude returned to the ship, and flipped the necessary controls to ready it for flight.

Relik and Krynn sat and fired up the engine. They pressed the buttons, flipped the switches, and turned the dials that they would need to take off. Though they had never done this before, they knew how to do it from countless hours in the training rooms.

Flames shot from the ship as it lifted slowly into the air. They watched on the screen as they lifted out of the tower.

Cheers erupted from the Free Council. They were finally on their way to Kryon. A better world was coming for them, and they needed only journey to get there. The coordinates had been programmed into the ship’s computer from the start, and they were now on the way to their destination.

The ship lifted up slowly out of the atmosphere, and the people looked at the world below them. It was the same world as on the maps that they had seen, from the room just inside the mainland to the gun corporation. They whispered messages to the world they had just left behind, and hoped that whatever other humans were still there would find the other towers.

That night, Jude sat on his bed, Tyra lying on his side. Jude took a pen that had been in his room, and opened a blank journal that had been sitting in the desk. He opened it, and began to write.

The ship coasted off into the inky void.

Chapter 65 - Raising

2005-11-27T18:44:00.000-05:00

Tears flowed down, mixing with the pool of blood below Jude. He lowered his head, and wept uncontrollably. He had not planned for such a thing to happen, least of all when they had finally reached the tower.

He thought back to what Lukäski had said. He had claimed to be the most powerful being ever, able to master death using his mind. But Jude also knew that Uk’Yan, as Lukäski’s twin, was able to hold is soul in check in whatever realm souls travel to.

Jude wondered if he was strong enough to raise the dead. He suspected not, as Lukäski was much more powerful than he, and almost defeated both Uk’Yan and Jude together.

But he also knew that he and Tyra were twins, at least in a spiritual sense, as Uk’Yan had told him. Perhaps that could help him bring her back, somehow, some way. He bent over her, and reached out with his mind.

His probes reached into her mind, now a barren wasteland devoid of thoughts and feelings. Where in other minds he had sensed color, music, and voices, just as in dreams, here he sensed nothing but grey. There was no voice floating in the void, nor music playing.

He probed deeper, searching for any signs of consciousness. And dark in the grey mists, he found it.

A faint wisp of voice sang a dirge in the mist. It was clearly and distinctly Tyra’s voice. She sang in a monotone voice, but sadness did not fill it, nor happiness. Rather, she was distinctly unemotional.

Jude probed into the mist towards where her singing was coming from. He reached out, trying to feel Tyra’s soul still residing in her mind, to try to bring it back from this abyss.

He spoke quietly in a soothing voice. “Tyra, it is I, Jude.”

The voice stopped singing. Tyra called back, her voice eerily monotone in this dead realm.

“Who is Jude? I know not of my life before death.”

“I was your lover, Tyra. I need you to return, I cannot bear the thought of losing you forever.”

“Lover? Tell me more of this alien word.”

“I loved you, Tyra. Our souls were bound as one, we were made to live forever, together. I need you back.”

He collapsed to the ground and wept. He tried to open his mouth and plead with Tyra to return to her former life, and not to stay here in this mist for an eternity.
Tyra looked back at him in confusion. Emotion began to float back to her voice, and a faint gold light pierced the mist.

“I remember this … love. I remember emotions, and feeling. I remember the happiness you brought me, Jude. I will return with you to the world outside of this place.”

The music played and the voices sounded. The mist fled and color returned to Tyra’s mind. Jude felt her consciousness return. He retreated back to his own mind.

The hole in her back was healing. Her finger began to twitch, then her arm, and her body. She shook, blood reversing coagulation and flowing back into her. She sat up.

She spoke, her voice unintelligible as she whispered at Jude. Jude put his finger to her lips, telling her silently to be silent herself. She stood up.

The Free Council began cheering, seeing her back. They knew that somehow, some way, Jude had brought her back to life.

They climbed off of the wasp-ship. Jude smiled at his friends.

“Who was lost in the battle?” he asked. A few names were given to him, but not as many as he had feared, having watched the battle. Many more were injured, but they would heal with time.

They looked around in the room, past the carnage. There was a ship here. They knew that this was the secret within the tower. They walked towards the ship, towards the doors that were the doors to another world.

Chapter 64 - The Storm Breaks

2005-11-26T21:48:00.000-05:00

“Noooooo!!!” Jude cried out in horror. She wasn’t dead, she couldn’t be, she mustn’t be! No one could survive a hole in their back that large. This could not be, she could not possibly be gone. Gone! She had faded into oblivion.

Jude felt Uk’Yan reaching within his own mind, so he did so. An aurora spread across their minds, and conjoined together. And through the metal at the top of the tower, another aurora was clearly visible.

Time slowed. And yet, Lukäski too was moving at their speed. This was a fight to the death, a fight that would determine the fate of the Free Council, and of the tower, and of the fate of humanity and the Earth. Everything was on the line now.

Jude and Uk’Yan split, running around the wasp-ship in opposite directions. Lukäski shot at Uk’Yan, trying to bring down his twin before the reverse happened. For as powerful as he was, his own twin would be able to bring him down.

Shots were fired, by the kryons, by the Free Council, and by the three fighters. Jude jumped on top of the ship, and stood over Tyra’s fallen body.

He turned down the power setting on his gun, increasing the firing rate.

“It’s time for you to die, Lukäski!” he yelled. “For killing Tyra! For all of the trouble that you have caused the Free Council, it is time for you to die!”

More shots rang out. Explosions rocked the room. Kryons were falling over dead, killed by the Free Council, and humans too were dying at the cruel guns of the kryons.

Uk’Yan had surrendered the idea of simply shooting his twin. He was too fast, too nimble, too cunning. It would not be possible to kill him in such a simple manner. They would have to corner him, knock him out, and then destroy him.

Jude felt a voice within his head. It was Uk’Yan’s.

< Jude, we must corner him. Force him underneath the ship. >

He fired his gun at Lukäski, who reacted with unnatural speed. Shots still moved through the air at their slowed rate, but they were easy to dodge for the three who had sped up.

Lukäski stepped to dodge Jude’s shots, not watching where his foot went. The top of the wasp-ship sloped down, too far for Lukäski’s judgment. He lost his footing and fell.

All three lost their focus, and time returned to normal. But the shots stopped firing, and Uk’Yan and Jude were soon over him, ready to kill him.

“Spare me,” he moaned. “Spare my life, brother.”

Uk’Yan looked deep into his brother’s silvery eyes.

“You’re not worth sparing, Lukäski. You and the rest of your scum companions deserve nothing more than death.”

Lukäski screamed a war cry. Tendrils of thought probed into both Uk’Yan and Jude’s mind. And despite the fact that he was outnumbered two to one, Jude felt Lukäski’s power expanding such that they could not fend him off, not even combined.

A voice echoed across the trinity of minds.

< Jude, strike him with your fist. Distract him, > said Uk’Yan. His voice was pained, Lukäski was reaching much deeper into his twin’s mind than his mortal enemy’s.
Jude reacted quickly. He punched Lukäski quickly in the face. Blood spurted out from his nose, but it mattered not. Heat exploded around the three.

Uk’Yan had pulled the trigger on his gun, destroying his twin forever. He looked over at Jude, sweat pouring off of both of them from the intense heat.

“Goodbye, Jude,” he whispered. He turned the gun on himself, and pulled the trigger.

Another explosion rocked the room. Jude was blown backwards, burns spreading across his face and arms. The kryons dropped their guns, their leader finally shot and killed.

The storm outside subsided. Not even wind sounded within the room. Jude crawled over to the two bodies. Lying side by side were the bodies of the two twins. So there had been a way to destroy Lukäski, but the cost was heavy.

Jude knew that Uk’Yan would never have told him of such a plan. But now their souls were in check, and neither would ever return from the void of death. They were gone now, twins separated in life and joined in death.

The Free Council had dropped their weapons now too, moving around the room to count the dead. They were not sure as to what had just happened, but the kryons had surrendered, and Lukäski was dead. They did not know of the cost that the victory had come at.

Jude climbed to the top of the wasp-ship, where Tyra’s body lay amid a sea of blood. He lowered his head down to hers, and wept.

Chapter 63 - Darkening Sky

2005-11-26T20:01:00.000-05:00

Jude was on the second group up. The cylinder rose them up to the top of the tower, and the metal there raised itself, revealing the contents at the top of the tower. What they saw was amazing.

The ceiling was the inside of a hemisphere. It was made of metal, but simultaneously transparent, allowing one to see outside. A massive thunderstorm was brewing outside.

The actual room was large and circular. A large wasp-ship sat in the center, and smaller fighters were visible inside of the bay. It did not look like it was the same ship that had razed New York, but it was of a similar make and model.

Tyra was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps she had entered one of the ships? Jude did not know, but a voice called out that answered his question.

“Hello, Jude,” it said. Lightning arced across the sky, and thunder rang out. Rain began pouring down in sheets. “Surprised to see me?”

Jude could not tell where the sound was coming from, so he moved his head quickly from one side to the other. More members of the Free Council were coming up from the elevator, but all stopped just after stepping off, seeing the fear in their companion’s eyes.

The voice called out again. “Wondering where Tyra is, Jude? Don’t worry, I have her nice and safe. Just don’t do anything sudden, or you’ll find that you won’t have a lover much longer.”

Jude knew immediately who it was. He muttered under his breath. “Lukäski...”

He saw someone climb up to the top of the wasp-ship, kryons standing behind him. Tyra was bound up behind the man. It was indeed Lukäski.

“You’ve come an awful long way just to be stopped here, at the tower, now haven’t you Jude? It’s a shame that you have to die now. I really do feel badly for you, really, I do.”

Jude looked at him in disgust. After all that he had been through, from the ill-fated fox hunt to the flight to the tower, everything was in vain. Lukäski had beaten him to the tower.

“You probably thought that I had died, didn’t you Jude? I exploded back on that building, didn’t I? Hah! As foolish as the rest of your race..."

Now everyone was filled with disgust towards him, except of course his kryon army. Where the army had come from, they didn't know.

Jude decided to try to ask Lukäski about it, if nothing else to try and catch him off his guard. He and Uk'Yan could easily react fast enough to destroy Lukäski, and much of his kryon army.

"So Lukäski, I know that your army was destroyed by us a while ago. Where'd you manage to dig up more kryons to fight on your side? Been mindwashing stupid savages throughout the cities, have you?"

Lukäski shook his head. He made "tsk" noises, and shook his finger at him, as if reprimanding a small child.

"No, fool!" he shouted. Everyone, including his own kryon warriors, jumped back, startled by his sudden exclamation. "I brought them back! They were dead, just as I was after you killed me on the building, and now they are back! Back from the abyss in which your soul shall be after this, our final meeting! I have mastered death! You, just as everyone else in this pathetic group of people, the 'Free Council', or whatever you fools called yourself, have no idea the power that I can raise! You cannot destroy me! No one can!"

Jude stared back at him. He laughed, and that laugh soon grew into a deep, rumbling sound. Lightning arced across the sky, and thunder shook the entire tower.

"No one could possibly stop you? What about your twin, Uk'Yan?"

Lukäski screamed. He made a quick signal, and a shot was fired. Tyra dropped to the ground, blood leaking from her back.

Chapter 62 - Window to the Past

2005-11-24T22:26:00.000-05:00

They woke slowly the next day. No sunlight was entering the room, rather all light was streaming in from the ceiling. It remained constant throughout the night, evidence that it was not sunlight that was filling the chamber.

The people, as they awoke, wandered around the room, looking to see what all was in it. They could not find anything other than the plaque in the room, besides the metal tiles. And they were all bolted together, impossible to move or shift.

Jude read and reread the plaque, hoping to figure out what exactly it was that was hidden inside the tower. The plaque mentioned a gift, but the room was empty. What exactly was going on?

He decided to try a different approach. He lay down on the ground, closed his eyes, and focused his mind. He could feel the walls of the tower around him, and his mind groped around for something unusual, whether hidden in the walls, the floor, or the ceiling that was impossibly high above.

A strange signature was coming from behind one of the wall panels. Jude felt his way to it. It was a device that seemed to be activated by thought. Jude probed at it with his mind, and suddenly the room began to change.

Jude snapped out of his trance. The people had already ran against the walls, staring up at the ceiling in awe and wonder.

A hologram was projecting downwards. Floating in the center was a world, the same that Jude had seen on the map in the building when he had first seen the aurora-script. It was Earth.

It spun slowly around its axis. Cities were clearly visible on the surface, and the impact of humanity was evident across the face of the world. The hologram adjusted itself so everyone saw the same picture.

It was a city. There appeared to be a celebration taking place, when an explosion rocked the region. The hologram moved back out of the city.

Spaceships were gathering around the planet. They did not resemble the ships that Jude had seen in the children’s book, and so he was left to believe that they were kryon ships. They did not strike, but sat and watched, unwatched by Earth.

Earth, meanwhile, was at war. Planes razed city after city, and the people watched even New York razed by the humans.

The picture of the Earth was replaced by a picture of a man’s head. The man resembled Kysandra, although in all actuality, it was likely Kysandra who resembled the man. A name flashed underneath his head. “William O’Conner”.

He began to speak, his voice sounding like a masculine version of Kysandra’s.

“I come before the people of the world with the gravest of news. Aliens have attacked Earth. We are powerless to stop them, we simply do not have the means since we ensured world peace by disbanding the armies.” (This was clearly a lie, but had the year been the year this had been recorded, it would have been very believable). “We have no choice but to submit.”

The face faded away, and the ships descended upon Earth, which had reappeared. They stayed for a short time, then flew off. But some kryons remained. They built great towers, all resembling the one that the people now sat in. They rose from the rubble of many of the great cities of the world.

But nothing seemed to happen, and the kryons instead left in their ships, leaving the survivors in their wake. As true as it was that it was impossible to rescue all of the humans stranded, it seemed as though they were simply deserted.

The hologram faded. The people began talking quietly amongst themselves. They did not know what had just happened, but it did not seem to explain anything.

A great, low rumble began sounding from above. They looked up. Something was blocking the light.

It was a massive cylinder of steel. It lowered itself with a grinding noise, slowly reaching down to the floor. It touched it, and then a single section at the bottom shot up.

Inside was another hologram. This one resembled The Messenger. It spoke out to the people in the human tongue.

“Enter and elevate,” it said. It vanished from their sight. Tyra walked towards it, and put herself into it.

She heard a voice within her head. “Hold still,” it said.

The ground underneath her began rising, and then shot up with startling ferocity. So this was how they were to reach the top of the tower.

The people began entering the elevator, in groups of up to ten at a time, to reach the top, and to find out what was waiting for them there.

Chapter 61 - The Tower

2005-11-24T14:44:00.000-05:00

They looked down in awe. Although exhausted from the flight to the tower, they had finally reached their destination. It had not been a rumor, the tower was real, and there was an entrance to it.

Still, no one had the energy to move their legs to enter the tower. Night was falling, and they knew that they had to in order to survive the night, but they were still exhausted from the run.

Jude stood at the top of the hill. He called out to the people of the Free Council.

“We made it,” he said, in a calm voice that rang out throughout the rubble.

Cheers came from the crowd. And although no one had the energy to go down the hill to the bottom, they began running again. They ran down the hill, glee taking over their thoughts and feelings. They were here at last.

Kysandra was the first to reach the bottom, then Relik, and Jude. Uk’Yan brought up the rear, still tired from the sheer number of people who he had helped in the flight to the tower.

The doors were metal, just as the rest of the tower was. They had no handle, and the people did not know how to open them. Jude went and stood before the doors.

He spoke in the kryon tongue. “Open,” he said. The doors stayed where they were. There was no sign of a motion sensor, nor instructions written in any language of how to enter.

Tyra spoke. “Open,” she said, this time in the human tongue. That had no effect either.

Despair swept through the group. Yes, they had reached the tower, but now they were locked outside, with no hope of entering it. How were they supposed to bypass the doors and enter the tower?

Krynn, who was still remarkably energetic after the run, volunteered to run around the tower in search of another pair of doors. He left, and arrived again in twenty minutes or so.

“There are no other entrances,” he said, his face dropping in sadness. “We must figure out how to open these doors.

Uk’Yan walked towards the doors. He placed his hand on them, and closed his eyes. He entered into a trance-like state. Jude knew that he was trying to identify how to open them by using his mind.

He walked back over to Jude. “Jude,” he said, “Place your hand on the crease between the doors. Speak ‘open’ in the human tongue, as I speak ‘open’ in the kryon tongue. The simultaneous actions should open the doors.”

They both walked to the doors, placing their hands on the crease. They spoke, and a loud click sounded throughout the still air.

They back up. The doors were opening slowly, and an unimaginable light poured in from the tower. In just a minute, there was a passageway large enough for the group to enter the tower from.

Jude was the first to enter, followed by Uk’Yan, and then by the rest of the Free Council. They stepped slowly into the tower.

The inside was one enormous room, reaching up beyond where the eyes could see. Light streamed in from the top. The walls were made of plates of metal, erratically bolted together, forming a strange collection of shapes on the walls. The building appeared to have been made in haste, however it rose perfectly straight into the sky.

On the far corner was a plaque. Jude, Uk’Yan, and Tyra went over to examine it. It was written in aurora-script, in the kryon tongue. Jude read it out in the human tongue.

“To the humans who shall find this place: may the gift inside save your race. The dead shall walk.”

They returned to the rest of the Free Council with the news. No one knew what else to do, so Uk’Yan and Jude walked back to the doors, which were still open.

Wind was beginning to blow through the doors, and it was beginning to rain slightly. Uk’Yan and Jude walked to opposite sides, and spoke “close” in the two languages. The doors closed as slowly as they had opened.

They were now inside of the tower. Nothing appeared to be happening, and so the Council spread out across the metal floor to sleep.

Chapter 60 - Flight

2005-11-23T21:54:00.000-05:00

Morning had come. Storm clouds were gathered over head, just as they had been in Jude’s dream. He jolted, then moved his hand up to rub his face. Light was streaming down upon the Free Council through the one hole remaining the clouds. Even the area above the tower was concealed by darkness.

Tyra, too, was waking up. She looked at him, her face an expression of concern.
“Jude,” she said, “I had the strangest dream. You and I were in a glass field, and were visited by Survivor, Lukäski, and The Messenger. I - ”

Jude put his finger up to her lips. “I had the same dream,” he said. “It was no dream, but the subconscious bond between ourselves and those three. The time has come Tyra, the storm shall soon break. And when it does, chaos will try to overtake us.”

Kysandra was awake, and was listening to their conversation. She crawled over to where the two of them were talking.

“This is very bad news indeed. Lukäski must be on our tail. We must reach the tower before the storm breaks – literally. The darkness and chaos of the storm would be the end of the Free Council.”

Jude, Tyra, and Kysandra went around, waking the people up one by one. They stirred slowly, but when Jude went to the center of the area and called a meeting, they all forgot their weariness and joined around him.

“This is the gravest of news that I can present to you. An ill omen has befallen us. The storm that gathers above us is ready to unleash chaos upon this land. Lukäski is hot on our tails. We must make for the tower.

“It appears that the storm will break at some time during the night, leaving us today to travel to the tower. Everyone must run. The distance is too great to walk it in a day. If you cannot keep up, keep running. Your very lives may depend upon it.

“That said, Uk’yan and myself will gladly help any that are in need.” (He and Uk’Yan had spoken briefly about this manner just after Jude woke him up.) “The road is dangerous, and we must be swift, but we can do it. The fate of the Free Council depends upon it. We leave in fifteen minutes, no less. Eat lightly, and pack up your things.”

He lowered his hand, signifying the end of the meeting. People stirred about, gathering their things. Many broke open a can of food, and split among up to six or seven people. In fifteen minutes, they were gathered around Jude.

“My people, may we reach the tower together.” They began running.

They started slowly, so that they would not grow tired by the end. Most of the people were in good physical condition, due to the hardships faced by the people who lived after the invasion, but a run of this distance was still a long distance.

They had not been running for half an hour when the first person began to show signs of weakness. Jude slowed down to catch up with Uk’Yan.

“Are you able to support him, or shall I?” he asked, wondering about how to help the man.

“I can bear the burden fine, Jude,” replied Uk’Yan. “We must keep moving.”

Uk’Yan slowed down so that he was at an even pace with the man. He focused his mind, keeping with his running, and slowly split the burden between the man and himself. The man was back up to the average running speed in no time.

In the next few hours, others began deteriorating. Jude and Uk’Yan were nearly exhausted from their efforts to keep the group moving, but they carried on. Every step was a burden, every step could be their last, if they slowed.

The tower loomed closer and closer. It was just as Jude had envisioned. A massive metal cylinder rose into the air, three hyperbolic supports reaching down from the middle section to the ground. A top room was clearly visible at the top of the tower, high in the clouds.

The run continued. They did not stop, for if they did, they would not be able to start again. Slowly, Jude and Uk’Yan became the most troubled people, for they bore the burden of many.

Night was beginning to fall, and still the Free Council ran. No one had fallen yet, but many were on the verge of collapse.

Jude called out in a pained, exhausted voice. “We are nearly there!” Indeed he was right, as the tower was nearly beside them.

They began to run uphill, as the land turned. They ran for at least fifteen minutes up, their legs slowly turning to useless pieces of muscle and bone. They crested the hill.

Below them was the tower. A set of double doors sat at the base, waiting for someone to enter. They had reached it at last.

Chapter 59 - Clouds of Night

2005-11-23T21:52:00.000-05:00

His body hung motionless in the void. Colors swirled around him, and voices sounded. Jude was in another dream, but this one felt more realistic than the other ones he had had, and this one was clearly going to be the most important one yet.

The colors parted and the mist dissipated. It was nighttime. Stars were shining overhead, and the aurora raged, spreading its beauty across the glass fields. The moon was high in the sky. Jude stood next to Tyra in a wasteland.

Clouds began growing from the horizon, moving in a circle centered upon the moon. The voice of Survivor rang out.

“My children, the test is coming. Inside the tower you shall learn many things, but you shall be tested. Your willpower will be pushed to its limits. And the dead shall walk.”

His body suddenly grew out from the glass around the lovers. He placed one hand on Jude’s shoulder, and one on Tyra’s. His face was emotionless, and his body seemed only like an animated corpse.

“Lukäski will strike. Clouds will gather and storms will break. The danger is only just beginning, Jude. Tyra, you shall be tested as well. Saving your friends is one thing, but sacrificing yourself to do it is completely another. May humanity smile upon you both.”

He vanished. He did not so much fade or sink as morph. His face changed into one full of emotion, with red hair and shining silver eyes. He grew abnormally tall for a man, and looked down on Jude. It was Lukäski.

“The time of reckoning has come, Jude. We shall soon see who is the more powerful one. It will be me who triumphs, Jude.

“Humans are stupid and kryons reckless. Neither deserves to have control of either world. Through diplomacy and force, I shall conquer this world. We shall rebuild the great fleets of humanity and fly to the kryon world. You cannot stop me, I am invincible.

“I have learned the secrets of life over death. My body cannot be destroyed, nor can my power. I have no weaknesses, Jude. Your time has come.”

His body began changing. He shrunk down to normal human size, and his red hair changed black, long, and ragged. He looked Tyra in the eye.

Tyra recognized him immediately. “It is The Messenger, Jude,” she said, not moving her eyes off of him.

He nodded to her, but then turned his attention to Jude. He looked him head to toe, and then began to speak. His baritone voice surprised Jude, and the authority within it was unearthly.

“We are well met, twin. I am The Messenger of the kryons, as you are of the humans. You are not a Messenger truly, at least not yet. You must learn more about the worlds and about the history of the races.

“But you must also free the human race from the bondage of Earth. The world is burned, and will likely not return for a millennium. Someday it may be colonized again, raised back to its former glory. But until then you must rescue what humans you can.

“Beware of Lukäski, Jude. If anyone shall be your undoing, it is he. And do not think too heavily on him until the time is right. Until we meet again, Jude, farewell.”

The body of The Messenger melted into glass and flowed along the ground until it vanished. The mist began swirling again, and colors began to surround Jude and Tyra.

They embraced and kissed. They were near to the tower. Soon, they would unlock the mysteries of their world, and free humanity. They would meet their brethren, the kryons, someday.

Jude looked to the sky. The clouds had advanced upon the moon. They now circled it in a thick blanket, and the moon was almost obscured by them. The aurora had stopped.

A storm was gathering.

Chapter 58 - Jubilation

2005-11-23T21:51:00.000-05:00

They walked further during the next few days. Some were beginning to grow weary, but they excitement of the importance of the tower drove them onwards. The land here was torn up worse than usual, and few buildings still stood. Rubble lined the streets that waited forlornly for the humans to return.

The weather was beginning to get cold and raw, and the people scavenged the rubble for warm coats, hats, or anything else they could find to keep themselves warm. None had any clothing of that sort, for it would be far too difficult to carry. Many had not even looked for clothes since the liberation from the Order of Vengeance.

Jude and Uk’Yan were coming to know each other better, and Uk’Yan was learning the human tongue at a surprising rate. Jude estimated that he would be able to talk to everyone else in only a month or so.

Tyra and Jude were rarely seen separate, and while Jude was trying to teach Uk’Yan the human tongue, Tyra was trying to learn the kryon tongue. She was not doing as well at it as Uk’Yan was at his language, but she still could read small portions of the Kryonomicon and carry on basic conversations with Uk’Yan.

Together, the three of them, along with Krynn, Relik, and Kysandra, discussed the matter of Lukäski and his band of kryons. They wondered how he managed to raise up a group that quickly of kryons to join him.

It also appeared that they were being followed. Lukäski had not been seen since the incident at the weapons company, but his signs were everywhere. And the personal message to Jude on the rock was seen as the clinching proof that he was coming.

They also discussed the matter of the four words, “ukl mort tÿr undâr” and what they could mean. Uk’Yan seemed convinced that it was an omen of things to come, though how it could be such a thing he did not know. Perhaps Lukäski had planted the message in Jude’s brain when they had their first confrontation.

But what could the message mean? Kysandra was being needlessly pessimistic about it, believing that Lukäski would somehow bring back the dead to fight against them. This was clearly impossible though, as death was irreversible. Uk’Yan’s interpretation was that the dead were the spirits of the dead, and the walking referred to was simply that they would have their vengeance upon O’Conner.

Of course, O’Conner was dead, and therefore they were lead to believe that under Uk’Yan’s interpretation, something would come back to harm Kysandra. But precisely what this could be was not known.

In the past day, someone had claimed that they, too, saw the tower. They walked further, people wanting to see it. And then they crested a hill, and suddenly the people cried out in joy. There it was, clearly lying at the horizon. It was only a small metallic cylinder rising above the horizon, but it stood high above the rubble that surrounded it. They were going to make it to the tower, and unlock the secrets that were within.

The person who had seen it before cried out, “There it is! The tower lies within our grasp!” The people cheered as they crested the hill and saw it.

They began dancing, and sang impromptu songs about humanity. Some got down and prayed to whatever powers that be lie above. People wept and people laughed, and the group had a happy demeanor for the first time since the motel was destroyed and their friends burned.

Jude, hating to spoil the celebration, raised a hand and called out, “We must keep traveling! We must reach the tower before Lukäski does!” He, Tyra, and Uk’Yan began walking away from the crowd towards the tower. The celebration did not cease, but rather it simply followed Jude down the hill.

A ruined city waited below them. The skyscrapers had long crumbled and the buildings lay dead, but it was a city indeed. The tower grew slowly closer, and they continued their journey.

Night fell, and the people had no choice but to stop and find shelter. No buildings lay standing, and they could not simply find a building to sleep in. They made makeshift huts of rubble and entered them to sleep.

Jude found himself lying outside, staring at the aurora and the stars. He wondered from which star the kryons came. Tyra lay beside him.

“Tyra,” he said, turning his face to his lover. “What do you think is in the tower?”
Tyra shook her head. “I don’t know, I know only that the answers are there. Just as the Kryonomicon illuminated many things that were darkened, so the tower will make it clear.

“But I also believe that in the tower is hope. We will be able to rebuild this world, and bring a new day to our children. May you sleep tight, Jude.”

She turned over and fell asleep. Jude shifted closer to her, and wrapped his arms around her, and fell asleep.

Chapter 57 - Tracks

2005-11-22T21:32:00.000-05:00

Jude took the rock in his hands. The words were clearly carved into it. What did they mean? And why had Jude said them first before they began appearing.

Angry at the world he was born into and cursing the men that had cursed him, Jude threw the rock into the bushes. He fell asleep soon, the aurora spinning above him peacefully, doing little to calm his angry disposition.

Morning came swiftly. The Free Council got up, and Jude kissed Tyra, and then said, “I will be back shortly.” He walked over to where Uk’Yan was.

He addressed him in the kryon tongue, as Uk’Yan had not yet learned the language of humans. “Tell me, does the phrase ‘Ukl mort tÿr undâr’ mean anything to you?”

Uk’Yan stared deep into Jude’s eyes, as if trying to see the mind operating within the skull. “Yes, it does. It is a burial saying of kryons and half-breeds, and is ingrained in the minds of those who speak the kryon tongue.

“It means ‘the dead shall walk’, but I believe that you likely already knew that. Most believe it simply to be a peaceful message saying that there is a better world waiting after death, however there is power behind the words.

“The power is drawn from the same source of your power. And while I doubt it foretells anything, it could be a foretelling of bad omens to come.”

Jude nodded and thanked him, and walked away.

The Free Council set out only a little bit later. The day was cold, and the people walked close together to try and spread body heat. They were not watching where they were going, but Jude made sure that they were still headed towards the tower.

A hole seemed to reach up from the ground at him, and he fell flat on his face in front of the group. He stood back up and rubbed his head. He looked back down at the hole that had brought him down.

It was not a normal hole, nor one caused by burrowing animals, but a footprint. It was humanoid, but larger than the average human. Jude asked Uk’Yan to measure his foot compared to the footprint.

They were nearly identical, but they were still different. Beside the footprint were other tracks, looking like they were made by tentacles rather than feet. Everyone knew what they were.

They were kryon tracks. Jude and Uk’Yan almost immediately knew who it was who had created these tracks. Lukäski was nearby, and somehow, he had rallied another group to his cause. They would have to find him and kill him.

The Free Council wanted to be done with Lukäski once and for all, so Ralyn spoke for all of them when he told Jude, “Just follow them! We will kill him when we find him.”

They followed the tracks for about an hour, until Jude looked down at the ground. There was a rock there, with writing on it. Four words were written on the rock.

“Ukl mort tÿr undâr.” It was the same rock as before.

Jude looked at it strangely. “We have gone in circles,” he said, his voice filling with frustration. “These are false tracks! Lukäski is trying to lead us on!”

He took his gun and called out to the people, “We must make haste to the tower! We must beat Lukäski at his own game!”

They took their guns and began to follow him. Out of anger, he was walking at a breakneck pace through the ruined streets of the dead cities, but they were making ground quickly. The tower was nearly into plain sight, and they knew that their journey was almost complete.

They stopped for the night as usual on the road, so that they could make an easy shelter. Jude was helping to clear some rubble, when he noticed that one of the pieces had a message on it, written in aurora-script, though it was not the one that was plaguing him.

It read: “Jude, we can see you.”

Chapter 56 - Twins

2005-11-22T21:31:00.000-05:00

Jude stopped in his tracks. He stared at Uk’Yan. This could not possibly be true. The brother of Lukäski? Surely not!

“Surely you can’t be serious!” he said. “You cannot possibly be the brother of Lukäski!”

Uk’Yan looked back at him. “Why do you say that? Have you met my brother before?”

Jude’s face turned sad. “Yes, I have met him. We have a personal vendetta against each other. I have nearly killed him twice, and he has escaped both times. I am sure he will come to foil our plans again, and soon, too.”

The two stared at each other. Uk’Yan was filled with worry. “We must be on our guard. Lukäski is crafty, and he will stop at nothing to destroy you, Jude.”

Jude nodded in agreement. They began to walk, and five or so minutes later, Jude stopped.

“Uk’Yan, can I ask you a question?”

“Of course, Jude.”

“How do you know that Lukäski is your brother?”

Uk’Yan stopped and thought for a minute, then began walking again. He took a deep breath and began his speech.

“When the kryons came, not all had the noble objective that they did. They did not come as heroes and saviors to humanity, but as pillagers. They wanted money, power, and sex.

“My mother was a human raped by a kryon warrior. She conceived and gave birth to twins, Lukäski and I. He was born first, and thus received the inheritance, as human custom dictated.

“She survived the invasion, but later died of a sickness. Lukäski and I had to fend for ourselves when we were young. He began to believe in the superiority of the half-breeds, but I did not think so. I believed that we were simply a part of the circle of life throughout the universe, as humans and kryons are. We are just another part of the whole.

“We separated. I did not know where he went, but we met again some years later, and he had a band of kryon and human deserters with him. He said that he sought a book, called the Kryonomicon, which would spill the past of this dead planet to him. I told him that I did not know where it was.

“And then he asked me to join him. I refused, and he attacked me. He chained me and kept me as a prisoner. He tortured me, and I always cried out to my twin, but he never listened. He ignored me as a cat ignores a mouse’s plea for help.

“But I escaped. I lived on my own for a long time. I wished to be reunited with my brothers of all of the races, but such a thing is impossible on this world. And so I seek a journey to the planet of Kryon, so that I can meet my brothers at long last.”

Jude walked in silence next to him for a few moments. “Uk’Yan, I have the Kryonomicon. I found it. It may have the answers you seek.”

Uk’Yan stopped dead in his tracks. He looked at Jude in wonder and awe, and said, “I knew there was something about you. You may be the other Messenger.”

He got no verbal response from Jude, but the expression on Jude’s face spoke volumes.
“Everything comes in pairs, Jude, in twins. Lukäski and I are twins. You and Tyra are a pair, as are Relik and Kysandra. The ones I have heard of from the Free Council called Survivor and Pulse were a pair.

“You may be part of multiple pairs, Jude, as many people are. You may have been a pair with Leader, as a wielder of great mental might. And I believe that you and The Messenger are twins. He speaks for the world of the kryons, and you for the world of humans.”

Jude walked in silence next to Uk’Yan. This was something that he had never thought of. The concept that everything in the universe came in pairs was new to him, but it made sense. Good and evil, male and female, human and kryon – everything seemed to fit a twin system.

They spoke no more to each other during the day, Uk’Yan getting to meet new people and Jude thinking more about what was said. He told Tyra of this, to which she responded, “I have never thought of it that way, but yes, I suppose it may be true. We still have much to learn, Jude.”

Night had fallen, and the Free Council stopped for shelter yet again. Jude knew that the tower was growing closer, but it was still not visible over the horizon. He lay down on the ground to sleep, and saw four words carved into a rock beside him.

“Ukl mort tÿr undâr.”

Chapter 55 - Uk'Yan

2005-11-22T18:17:00.000-05:00

The half-breed stood there before Jude. It was not Leader or Lukäski, as the faces were different. A deep scar ran across the left side of his face. He stared at Jude directly, and spoke out in the kryon tongue.

“My name is Uk’Yan.” Jude immediately knew what Uk’Yan meant. The Scarred.

Jude spoke back to him in kryon. “Greetings Uk’Yan,” he said, reaching his hand out towards him. “My name is Jude.”

Uk’Yan reached behind him and pulled out a gun. Jude took a step back, ready to run. “No,” commanded Uk’Yan, as he kneeled down to the ground. He put the gun down. “I seek only for ones to travel with, to the ancestral homeland of the humans.”

Jude walked over towards him. “Then you have come to the right place, Uk’Yan.” He smiled politely at him. A half-breed should be a worthy ally, and should help them decipher the many mysteries of the world. “Come with me, I shall introduce you to the band, known as the Free Council.”

The two walked through the hallways. Jude called out, “Put down your weapons! This one is a friend. Meet in the main hall.”

The Free Council gathered in what they took to be the main hall, a room with tables gathered around a podium that sat at the head of the room. It was still in immaculate condition, the building had been lucky to survive the destruction of its city.

Jude and Uk’Yan walked up towards the podium. Some of the people gasped as they saw someone who was clearly a half-breed follow Jude up to the front.

“This is Uk’Yan,” said Jude, addressing the crowd. “His name, in the kryon tongue, means ‘the scarred’. He wishes companions as he seeks for a way to travel to the ancestral homeland of mankind, the planet of Kryon. He should prove to be a worthy ally.”

Uk’Yan got down in front of the podium. He put his gun on the ground and kneeled, in much the same way as he had to Jude. Jude suspected that this was a half-breed traditional way of pledging allegiance.

Uk’Yan began reciting a verse in the kryon tongue. Although he did not translate it, Jude knew instinctively what it meant.

“My brothers I beseech you / For the good of the union of human and kryon / I shall join in your journeys / Until death separates me from you / I shall be on your side”.

Jude began clapping alone, and soon the rest of the Free Council stood up. Although they did not know much of this man, he seemed kindly and willing to help them.

Tyra looked in wonder as Jude bent over to ask Uk’Yan a question. He asked it in the kryon tongue, and Uk’Yan responded in the same tongue. He appeared sorry as to his answer.

Jude faced the crowd again. “Unfortunately, Uk’Yan has never learned the human language. As I am the only one here who can speak the tongue of the kryons, I shall be his translator. I shall also teach him the tongue, so that we may communicate more effectively.”

He left the podium and joined the Free Council again. The people looked outside and saw that it was daytime again. They left the building to continue on their journey.

Uk’Yan approached Jude. He asked, “Where is it, exactly, that we are traveling?”

“We have received a message from one called The Messenger,” said Jude. “He appears to have been another half-breed, although a very mysterious one at that. We seek the capital of this former nation, for therein lie the answers to our questions.”

Uk’Yan looked at Jude straight in the eye. “We must be careful, however, as I have learned that my twin brother also roams these parts, and he is not kind to humans. His name is Lukäski.”

Chapter 54 - Half-Breeds

2005-11-22T18:15:00.000-05:00

They walked further towards the tower. It was still not visible on the horizon to those other than Jude, but they believed him, if nothing else for the way he carried himself. He acted authoritative and wise.

And although he had not told anyone besides Tyra, he was very glad that he had solved the cube. It seemed as if it was a good omen, and that the mysteries and enigmas of the world would soon unfurl before him.

Night came, and the people set up camp along the road. They sat by a very old building, looking like it had some historic importance before the world was burned. Of course, it didn’t matter now, as the world was a burnt out shell of its former self. A sign by the door read “Independence Mall”.

They entered the building. Years of termite damage had scarred the wooden interior, but for its overall age it was in remarkably good condition. They scattered to various rooms to sleep. Jude slept in the same room as Tyra, Relik, and Kysandra.

He took out the Kryonomicon to read more about the world. The book was fascinating, an encyclopedia that looked into the unseen past of Earth and Kryon. The words inside were clearly truth, as the pieces fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.

On this particular night, Jude began reading a new chapter, entitled “Of the Half-Breeds”. He was interested to learn of this, having known two half-breeds, both of which greatly endangered the group: Leader and Lukäski.

“The half-breeds are the product of unions between kryons and humans. Although now biological separate races, the schism that separated the two races has made it such that a third race forms from these unions, the half-breeds.

“The half-breeds look much more like humans than kryons, although the only known half-breeds have human mothers. Perhaps half-breeds with kryon mothers would look more kryon in nature. This theory has yet to be tested.

“The half-breeds are much taller than the average person, with dazzling red hair and shining silver eyes. They speak like a god when they open their mouths. Most turn against both of the races that are responsible for their existence, although they need these same races to join their cause.

“However, the rare half-breed serves one or both of the races. These beings are incredible allies, willing to lay their lives on their line. Half-breeds are among the most indispensable soldiers that exist.”

Jude told Tyra what he had read. They thought about what it would be like to meet a half-breed who was not bent on the destruction of anybody, but on the preservation of humanity. They wished they could have an ally so good.

They fell asleep cuddling each other. The night was calm and peaceful, and the building kept the warmth in quite well. Some people stirred, but in general the place was as still as a pond in summer.

Time passed without Tyra or Jude aware of it. The moon moved across the sky, and the sun slowly rose.

Noise rang out throughout the halls. The shattering of glass filled the area, and cold air rushed in. The people got up and grabbed their weapons.

Jude took his gun into his hands, and ran around the building, shouting, “Gather your weapons and search! We have an intruder!”

The halls were filled with shouting and footsteps as people ran around, trying to find whoever – or whatever – had broken in.

Jude ran up to the second floor. He walked slowly towards an unopened wooden door.

Without warning, there was a blast, and the door splintered into a thousand tiny pieces. Jude covered his eyes, and when it was over, he opened them again. The dust settled.

Standing behind the dust was a man, taller than most, with fiery red hair and glowing silver eyes.

It was a half-breed.

Chapter 53 - Sight on the Horizon

2005-11-21T20:27:00.000-05:00

They woke up in the early morning. Jude did not tell of his success to anyone but his friends, as it really was not an important accomplishment. However, they did not realize that it was a foretelling of things to come.

They walked for a few hours that day. The one who had been sick had gotten better, so they could walk at full pace. The people were beginning to get restless waiting to find the tower, so Jude focused his mind.

It flipped around several times, seemingly amplified by the increase in thought that solving the cube had done. He added increased power to his eyesight, and looked out over the horizon.

One thing stood out from the rubble. It was still very far off, but Jude could see a building rising off into the distance. Putting all of his effort into looking at the building, Jude saw that it was a metal cylinder, rising high into the sky. Three hyperbolic supports reached down from it to the ground. It was the tower, their destination that had so long vanished from them.

Jude cried out, “We are nearly there! The tower approaches! I give us two weeks to arrive at the tower!”

The people began cheering. They finally knew that they were not chasing after an impossible dream – the tower really did exist.

They slept early again that night, in celebration of the fact that they were so close to their goal. Jude was among the first to fall asleep.

Colors swirled around him, and Jude already knew what was happening. This was not a dream but a foretelling of things to come. Survivor walked out from the mist.

“Jude, my boy, you have done well. Indeed, the tower now rises up before you, but you are further than you think.”

“What do you mean, Survivor? What obstacles still lie in our path?”

“The past will come back to haunt you Jude. Lukäski is not alone, the destroyers of my own life may be the ones who are finally your undoing.

“And even if you reach the tower, there is still a long journey ahead. The tower is not the end but a milestone, an encouragement as you walk forward to save humanity – and yourselves.”

Jude looked into Survivor’s eyes. In them he saw a fire that he had never seen before, a fire that burned with resolution and hope, not with anger as so often fires burned with. This fire was for the hope of humanity.

“I see you have found the Kryonomicon, the book that for so long eluded me. Read it well, Jude, the answers lie in it. Ukl shïkal ukâj kif ukl Kryonomicon. Ukl mort tÿr undâr.”

Survivor vanished, leaving Jude to contemplate the meaning of the message.

Jude awoke in the early morning, long before anyone else, leaving him to think about his vision in the cold.

The tower was not the final destination, but a milestone, Survivor had said. What could lie beyond the tower, and what was actually in the tower? Only time – and exploration – could tell for certain.

One more thing stuck in Jude's mind. He had closed his speech with the same words that Jude had closed the funeral with. Ukl mort tÿr undâr. The dead shall walk. What was this supposed to mean?

He did not know, and he could only journey farther with the Council before discovering the meaning behind the words.

Chapter 52 - Journey to the Capital

2005-11-21T20:26:00.000-05:00

The Free Council left the burnt remains of their former home. They were now a group of nomads, having no choice but to wander towards the capital. They needed to find the tower, so that they could unlock the secrets that The Messenger had said were hidden within.

The days were growing cold again, and the people were happy as they realized that the weather got warmer as they went farther. They did not know what caused this phenomenon, but it was doing wonders for their morale.

They ate well, having caught a number of foxes and even a deer or two on the journey. In general, they were well nourished and healthy. No one had fallen behind because of exhaustion or a similar ailment.

Jude had taken to reading the Kryonomicon nightly, but nothing in it seemed vastly important. It spoke more of the schism between humanity and kryonity, and spoke a small amount on the psychic powers that the kryons had. First-generation half-breeds had the powers, but no one else.

However, a small group, of which Jude was a part, had been affected by kryon genes manifesting within them, not from a return of the kryons. This bit interested Jude, however the Kryonomicon did not touch on the subject often.

The Kryonomicon also spoke of the fall of a city known as Beijing. Jude did not know where the city was, but it spoke that O’Conner, in his gathering madness, had tried to eliminate cities entirely from the planet. He tested a new weapon, the positron bomb, on the city.

The book did not go into detail on the workings of the bomb, but it claimed that it annihilated all matter, leaving only charged vapor hanging in the air. People were vaporized, and most people never even knew of the destruction. The watching kryons, however, knew of the destruction.

Earlier in the day, one person had fallen ill from what seemed to only be a cold, so they stopped early for the night, in the light. Jude looked through the children’s book of starships more, reading the information on the wasp-ship more closely.

It was indeed described as the backbone of the human fleet, and the most powerful ship that humanity possessed. This frightened Jude, as he knew that it was the wasp-ships that fired upon New York City, and presumably other cities throughout.

He sat down next to Tyra. She climbed into his lap, and he removed the cube from his pack. Tyra looked at it questioningly, so Jude explained it to her.

“The cube was something I found shortly after arriving on the mainland. It was scrambled when I found it, and I have this feeling that it is a puzzle, where you are meant to turn the faces in order to arrange them in a colorful manner. I have yet to succeed on it.”

He let Tyra try it, however she made no more progress than he had on the first night. When she fell asleep, he tried it a bit more, and got it up to four faces complete. The last two were only off by one color on each.

They walked for several more days. There was no sign of Lukäski again, as he had probably fled because of the death of his squad. They had since passed between two central metropolises, into a new city. Ralyn, who had looked at the world map quite extensively, claimed that it had been called “Philadelphia” during humanity’s golden age.

They camped in the city for the night. Ralyn said that it was about halfway between New York and the capital city.

Tonight, Tyra sat next to Jude as he worked on the puzzle. He turned the faces, his mind exerting itself to solve its mysterious colors, and he had a revelation.

He turned it as fast as he could, his mind barely thinking about the next move before making it. And in just a few short minutes, the faces were complete.

He had solved the cube.

Chapter 51 - The Return

2005-11-21T20:25:00.000-05:00

The building was in ruins, and the people had barely escaped with their lives. People cried out, wounded from the brief fight with Lukäski’s band.

Jude walked towards the ruins, and called out for a circle to form around him. In just a few moments, another meeting was called.

“It is time that we returned to the motel,” he said, his voice filled with frustration of the escape of Lukäski. “We have much to tell those that remained, and I learned more last night that I have not told.

“I will not tell it now, we should return to safe territory first. The return to the motel is our primary objective.”

The people nodded silently, and not a word was spoken objecting what he said. They were curious as to what he had learned, but it could wait. They wanted beds to sleep in for the new night.

The Council gathered into a pack and began heading back in the direction towards the motel. They went up a hill, the same hill on which Jude had sniped Hylik, nearly killing Tyra in the process.

And when they reached the crest, they looked down at the motel. But it was not there.

A blast crater was there instead, still smoldering. Everyone ran down the hill towards it. Tyra, Krynn, Relik, and Jude were immediately reminded of the destruction of their village. The signs looked identical to those that were present when their village was destroyed.

Skeletons were clearly visible amidst the ash, the defenders of the motel who were left without enough to defend even themselves.

Jude walked towards the ash pile, and lay his head on the ground. He let his mind float through extradimensional space, and colors began swirling around his consciousness.

He saw the motel last night. It was peaceful, and the watch saw no activity going on. A single, soundless bolt of light struck the motel. Blue crackles of electricity wrapped around it, and flames shot up. The images ended.

Jude walked over to his friends, who he knew had seen the destruction of their village.

“Tell me, what exactly did it look like when it was destroyed? I need to know.”

Relik spoke up. “It was peaceful, and Krynn and I weren’t entirely certain that we weren’t just hearing noises in the night. But then, a single soundless bolt of light struck the village. Blue lightning flickered around, and flames shot up, destroying the village. Why do you ask?”

Jude looked at him unhappily. “Because that is the way that this place was destroyed. They may have been the same attackers."

The people walked around in the rubble, crying as they unearthed personal possessions, and the bones of their loved ones. The sadness was contagious.

Soon, everyone was weeping for the dead of the Free Council. They improvised a makeshift funeral for the ones lost, burying both a kryon gun and a human gun in the same hole, then burying it. Jude stood on top, raised a hand to the sky, and spoke an oath in the kryon tongue.

“Ukl mort tÿr undâr.” The dead shall walk.

When the funeral was over, Jude spoke to the crowd.

“If we stay here much longer, we are inviting an attack from whoever has committed this atrocity. I shall now tell you what I learned tonight.

“The city that we live in is indeed New York City, and thus, we must travel with the sun rising on our left side to reach the capital, where the tower is. We must carry out what The Messenger said to us. We will find it and bring glory back to humanity.”

Cheers rang out from the crowd. Kysandra joined Jude in the center, and spoke to the crowd.

“But we will not forget those that we have lost, from Pulse during our rebellion to even Hylik, the traitor. All shared our cause, at least for a time.”

They left the motel, and headed towards the capital, where the tower must be.

Chapter 50 - Ambush

2005-11-21T20:22:00.000-05:00

Screams rang out. Dust from the long-abandoned ceiling tiles fell on the people, and a cacophony of noise and confusion rang out among them. Jude called out for the people to get their weapons, but only a few people listened to him and did so.

Among those were Relik, Krynn, Tyra, and Kysandra, as was no surprise. Ralyn also readied his weapon to fight against whatever had caused the explosion.

It was obvious from the sound and feel of the explosion that it had occurred on the floor above them, so they ran to the nearest stairwell and traveled upwards. They slammed open the door to see what was going on.

A number of creatures stood there. There were both humans and kryons, brothers fighting side-by-side against the Free Council. And in the middle of the group stood one of the half-breeds, acting authoritative, his evil clearly showing throughout the room.

Jude recognized him immediately. It was Lukäski.

“Hold your fire!” called Lukäski to his men. They dropped their guns towards the floor, but were still clearly ready to open fire on command.

Jude looked him straight in the eye.

”Lukäski, it has been some time, hasn’t it? I thought I killed you back in that street!”

Lukäski broke out into a laugh.

“Jude, you are foolish, just like the rest of the members of your race. Except those that fight along side me, the humans from the dominant world of Kryon. I did not die, I used an old mind trick to make my escape.

“I have learned that you have gained some powers in those abilities, after the ghost of my former commander, another half-breed called Leader, came to me. He warned that you were much more dangerous than I had thought. Doesn’t seem quite right now, now does it?”

Jude looked at him, anger welling up within him. Tyra leaned over to whisper to Jude.

“Jude, who is this man? How do you know each other?”

“No time for me to tell you that Tyra. If we escape, I’ll tell you at a more convenient time.”

Lukäski laughed again.

“Ah, I see you have a girlfriend now, Jude. Perhaps I should kill her first?”

Kysandra stepped out in front of Tyra.

“You’ll have to kill me first, filth.”

“Ah, perhaps I was mistaken. I apologize. You don’t have a girlfriend, you have a harem!”

Kysandra screamed in rage.

“By no means are Jude and I on those terms! I am devoted to my lover and my lover alone!”

Lukäski flicked his tongue at her. It was the first time that any of them had seen it, and he looked strangely reptilian, with a forked, scaled tongue. He raised one of his hands into the air, and the kryon and human warriors raised their weapons.

“I am afraid it is time for you to die, Jude. You and your friends.”

The door behind them burst open. Standing behind it was a large group of people from the Free Council. Sylva stood at the front of the group, wielding a large human rifle.

“Get to the side!” she yelled. The people who had been talking to Lukäski jumped to the side, and not a moment too soon. The Council opened fire.

Heat and light rang out, sowing confusion through the room. Kryons and men fell to the ground, dead. Lukäski stared at Jude.

“You won’t get away this!” he yelled. There was a blinding flash, and he was gone. The rest of the group was still there.

The shots continued for only a few more seconds. The group was not nearly strong enough to take on the entire council. Their bodies were clearly lying on the ground, but Lukäski’s was not. He had likely escaped once again.

The room was catching fire. It was on the fifth floor, and Kysandra called out to the Council.

“Run! We must leave this place!” Her voice was as cautionary as it as frantic. They took off in a mad dash for the ground below.

The building was beginning to collapse from the sheer size of the fire, and just as the last person cleared the doors, it crumbled into ash.

The Council stood outside the ruins of the Smith Weapon Corporation. What was once the headquarters for the manufacturer of the weapons that they wielded was now ash like the rest of the city.

Jude took a few steps away from the Council, and cursed and kicked the dust. They may have survived, but Lukäski had gotten away.

Chapter 49 - Encyclopedia

2005-11-20T21:41:00.000-05:00

They woke up at various times during the morning. Because they were not worried about getting back to the motel, they did not bother waking the others, and instead went to explore the building that they were in. Jude was among the first to wake.

He had slept next to Tyra for the night, and rolled over to give her a kiss.

“Whu....?” she moaned, her mind not coming to quite yet.

“Shh...” whispered Jude. “Go back to sleep.”

Tyra rolled back over and did so.

Jude got up to wander the abandoned halls of the building. He climbed up to the fifth floor, the topmost floor, to see what was up there.

He entered into a small office and looked at the bookshelves. Most of the shelves were devoted to books about weaponry, as this was the headquarters for a weapon-making company. However, one shelf was devoted to a number of similar-looking books, each labeled with letters, such as “M”, “N”, or “U-Z”.

Jude took off one of the books, labeled “A”, and opened it. It appeared to be full of information about Earth topics that began with the letter “A”. Jude realized that these books were a source of knowledge and information for whoever had formerly owned the office.

He decided to see whether or not the island city that he was from was indeed New York City as he had suspected. He took off the “N” book, and opened to “New York City”. It was indeed a real city.

The map of the city did look like Jude remembered it, however it had information about regions not just on the island, but surrounding regions. It appeared that the island part of the city was referred to as “Manhattan”, so he looked that up in the “M” book.

He read about the island that he was born on, for that was clearly where he had been. The river that he had crossed despite the pirate’s attempts to kill him was apparently called the Hudson River. But one place marked on the map proved its identity to Jude.

It was a place in Manhattan called “Time’s Square”, or as Jude had known it, the Square of Time. He looked it up in the “T” book, which of course described it before it was destroyed, but the description was the same.

Jude now knew approximately where they were in relation to the world. He made a mental note of where this room was, and headed to the room where the post map was. He looked for New York City again, and then traced down to the nearest starred city, the nearest capital. It was labeled as Washington D.C. on the map.

He went back to the room with the books in it (the books had apparently been called “encyclopedias”) to look up this city, and sure enough, it was the capital city of the country in which he lived.

The pictures of the city were of the city before it was destroyed, so no tower was visible. Jude could not prove to himself that it was where the tower would be, however it seemed unlikely that The Messenger would have said what he did unless it was the closest capital city.

Jude walked back to the main room in which the people were sleeping. Tyra had woken up, so they cuddled in the corner. Jude told her that he knew which direction they should go in, perpendicular to the directions in which the sun rises and sets, with the sun rising on the left side.

He did not know exactly how they would be able to find the city that they sought for, but sooner or later the tower would become clearer visible in the distance. Nor did he know what sort of troubles might befall them on the journey, but he certainly hoped that the land was less dangerous traveling away from New York than traveling towards it or in it.

Slowly the people awoke, and Jude knew that he had to tell them what he had learned so that they could return to the motel. So he called out to them to hold a meeting in the building.

They gathered around him, and suddenly an explosion sounded below them.

Chapter 48 - Geography

2005-11-20T21:40:00.000-05:00

Jude and Tyra woke in the morning, having gone to sleep making no further progress on the meaning of what was in the Kryonomicon. Jude called a meeting as the sun was rising. When the people had gathered, he called for a silence over them.

“Council, I beseech you, we have a quest that we must undertake. A great tower rises somewhere in the world, and in it lies the answer to our questions and the hope for a better life than this hellhole of a planet that we remain in.

“The Messenger told the people who went to investigate that it lay in a place known as the capital. I do not know where this is, and so we must search every home that still stands for a map of the world. We must find where we live, and where this capital lies. We must find the tower.”

The people stood in silence. They did not know exactly what to think about this decree. They did not know why they should find the tower, but the force by which Jude spoke swayed them. And there was something else about him, some sort of otherworldly power putting meaning behind his words. It may have been his mental powers, but perhaps it was not.

The Free Council gathered up guns and food, and they left, leaving only a few people behind to guard the motel against any sort of outside threat. They walked in the direction in which the sun sets, the direction that had been explored the least.

They walked through destroyed and deserted neighborhoods, searching every building that still stood for a map that would give them the information that they needed to find the capital, and further, the tower.

Night was coming, and still nothing had been seen. So they entered into a large building that had somehow survived the destruction of the planet.

The building looked like it had once been used for conducting business of some sort. A large sign on the wall read “Smith Weapon Corp.” Some of the people who had used their guns frequently recognized it as the manufacturer of a number of the human guns that they now held. However, this place was no factory, rather a place to conduct business from.

They wandered down a hallway, searching for a stairwell to which they could explore the building. They were hoping not only to find a map of the world but also a place in which they could stay.

They wandered up to the fourth floor of the building, which still stood as brightly as it would have during the glory days of humanity. They entered into the office, and there on the wall was a map.

The map’s text was written in the human tongue, and everyone knew that it must be that of the Earth. It was blue and green, just as they had known that their own world was. No other planet had been known by humanity that shared those characteristics.

They found a number of cities labeled with a circled star, and the map key referred to these as “capital cities”. However, the people did not know in which capital the tower would be, nor where they were in relation to these cities.

They stared at the map for some time. They knew that the great island-city was close to where they were, but there were a number of islands in the world. Many of them had cities, and none had cities labeled clearly as covering the entire island.

What’s more, Jude knew that the city was destroyed under O’Conner’s commnad. If this map had been made when O’Conner was in command, that city would likely not be mentioned. Kysandra looked at the map and pointer her finger at an island off the leftmost continent.

“I do believe that that is where we hail from, the new city of York,” she said. “I am not sure why that is what I believe, but it feels right.”

They looked closer at the map. The city, labeled as “New York City”, was relatively close to a starred city. No mention of a tower was there in the capital, however the map would likely not show that as the tower was built after the invasion.

Jude pointed again at that city. “Who here believes that this is our homecity?”

No one besides Kysandra raised their hands. He looked around at them, then spoke again.

“Then we must do more research. Surely there are books somewhere in here that could talk about the cities of the world, and about what they are like. We have to find these books and read them so that we can learn more about where we are and where we must go.”

The people agreed. So they spent the night in the building, looking for books that would speak of the world and its cities. They did not find any, and so they settled into their makeshift beds uncomfortably.

Chapter 47 - Book of the Kryons

2005-11-20T21:38:00.000-05:00

Tyra healed remarkably fast over the next few days. Then again, it was not surprising, considering the amount of psychic help that she received from Jude. In only four days, she was nearly up to perfect health, and thus, she and Jude moved into a room together.

Tyra had only just gotten out of the room in which she was healing, and she and Jude sat in the room. They talked for some time about what all had befallen each other since the destruction of the village.

Jude realized that he had not read the Kryonomicon for some time, and so he took the book out of his bag. Tyra looked over his shoulder, but she could not read the aurora-script as Jude could. So she asked him if he would read it to her, so that they could both read the book and try to find the answers to the enigmas that plagued them. Jude did so, and opened to the first page.

“This book is written for humanity from their brothers, the kryons. We are your brothers. Ten million years ago, the great race fought a war against themselves, spanning the galaxy. Most worlds were exterminated at the hands of the cruel regime that the rebels fought against.

“The war was won, but two groups of kryons emerged. One was ourselves, who remained on our ancestral homeland of Kryon. The other race became the humans, who now live on the planet Earth. Neither group knew of the existence of the other. Until now.”

Jude put the book down and looked Tyra.

“How could this be?” he asked. “Why would the kryons have destroyed us?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “Keep reading, the author may descend further into these topics.”

Jude picked the book back up.

“We found Earth some two hundred years ago. Humanity’s technology was vastly inferior to our own, but we saw that the technological revolution was coming. So we sat back and waited. And about thirty years ago, the war began.

“Humanity turned upon itself, and nuclear war spread across the planet. A leader emerged, a man by the name of William O’Conner. He united the world and the civil war ended, though the damage had been done.”

Jude put the book back down. Tyra looked at him, her eyes questioning. Neither had ever heard of a world war before the invasion. It did not seem possible that humanity could have weakened itself so much.

“Humanity was in no state to sense corruption within its own government. O’Conner became a xenophobe, obsessed with destroying all those humans who were not worthy of the name of humanity. So he began his campaign of cleansing.

“He released the great wasp-ships of the Earth upon the ‘dirty’ cities, to eliminate those who were not ‘ideal human fodder’. We had to step in, and so we invaded.

“Lives were lost in our invasion, yes, but it was necessary. We rescued as many as we could and took them to our land of Kryon. But some were left behind.

“If you are reading this book, you are one of these people.”

Jude closed the book and dropped it on the ground. He walked over and embraced Tyra. Both began weeping for humanity’s folly. Although the book was the only place they had ever heard the story, they knew that what it spoke of was true.

Humanity had been foolish. They had turned on themselves in their greatest hour, and the destruction of Earth had been the result. The kryons were not the cause but the scapegoat.

Tyra turned to Jude.

“Jude, there is something you must know that I have known but did not tell you.”

“What is it, Tyra?”

“Kysandra mentioned once that her father had the surname of O’Conner, and she believed that he was once the ruler of the world. Can we still trust her?”

“Yes, we can trust her, Tyra. Kysandra’s blood may be weak, but she does not know her heritage, and hopefully it will remain that way.”

They talked for several more hours, late into the night, trying to unravel the meaning of what they had read in the Kryonomicon, the Book of the Kryons.

Late in the night, Jude asked Tyra another question.

“What did The Messenger say about the tower?”

“Only that it lies in the capital. He did not state where the capital is, nor how we can reach it. We will require more thought before we can figure this puzzle out. The past still lies hidden from us, Jude.”

“Indeed it does. We will have to travel in search of information about the world as it was when O’Conner turned upon his own family, humanity.”

Chapter 46 - The Council Meets

2005-11-19T21:13:00.000-05:00

Tyra awoke early in the morning. She and Jude talked casually, much as they might have done at the village before it was destroyed, before the fateful day that destroyed their lives. They spoke of their love for each other and of their friends, just as they did in old times.

Tyra’s burns had healed remarkably. Even more surprising, the wounds left no scars behind. She tried walking shortly after the sun rose, and could do it, however she was not fit to travel further than the confines of the parking lot.

So they went out into the motel. Jude found Kysandra and asked her to call a meeting. Kysandra knew that the people would want a vote as to whether or not Jude would be their new leader, or whether Kysandra would be remaining.

When the people had assembled, Kysandra called out to them.

“Free Council, lend me your ears! Today we must run a vote. Jude, Tyra’s boyfriend, the one spoken of in her visions, has come at last. Krynn, Relik, and Tyra all trust him with their lives, and would lay down their own lives to fulfill a plan run by him.

“We promised that when he came, we would have a vote for who believed that Jude should be leader and who thought that I should be leader. Please raise your hands if you believe that Jude should be leader.”

One hand shot immediately into the air. Following the arm down, it was obviously that of Krynn’s.

Another hand slowly came up. It was Ralyn’s. He and Jude had been coming to know each other in the past few days, and had been getting along quite well.

Slowly, more hands were raised, including Tyra’s, though the act was difficult for her, due to the tightness of her new flesh.

In the end, all but two hands were raised. The two were understandable. They were Kysandra’s own arm and Relik’s. (“No offense, but I had to pick Kysandra,” said Relik later).

Jude stepped into the center of the circle.

“We must discuss grave matters regarding the kryons and the current state of our home planet.

“The kryons are returning, if I am not mistaken.”

Fear swept through the crowd. Kysandra raised her hands for silence for Jude.

“Do not fear. Bands of kryons now roam our world, but I do not believe that they are here to conquer it once and for all. However, this has had some side effects on what has happened.

“Hunts should now be lead by multiple people. It is just stupid to have people travel on their own into the distance when bands of kryons likely roam the destroyed streets. It would pure suicide, and nothing less.

“There is another, more subtle effect. It is the effect of psychic powers brewing within perfectly normal humans. I have developed these powers. When I met your former oppressor, the half-breed known as Leader, he told me that I must have kryon blood because of my abilities.

“This is not true. Rather, the return of the kryons has stirred the souls of some of us to produce these effects. Another was your former comrade Hylik. He controlled you as a result of his abilities.

“These powers are dangerous, yes, but they can have dramatic effects. I will disclose to you that had it not been for my own powers, Tyra would not be standing by my side now.

“Also, the powers have granted me the ability to read the kryon tongue. I have not read much of a book that I found, entitled the Kryonomicon, however I plan to in the coming days, after Tyra heals. We must seek out a building constructed by the kryons, known as the tower.”

People talked quietly, but no one called out to the center of the circle. Until Sylva, that is.

“When we were in the square, The Messenger mentioned a tower. He said it lies in the capital.”

Jude did not know what this meant, and sighed. The last thing he needed now was another puzzle to unravel.

Chapter 45 - Lovers

2005-11-19T21:11:00.000-05:00

Jude knelt down beside Tyra’s bed, so that he was face to face with her. She was looking better, not only in breathing and other vital signs, but also her skin seemed to be healing at a remarkable rate.

“Tyra,” he whispered, reaching a hand towards her face, which was remarkably unscathed. “Tyra, its me, Jude.”

Tyra turned her head slowly towards Jude. “Jude...” she whispered, her voice filled with pain.

“Tyra, I am here for you,” he said, his voice filled with compassion for his lover.

He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. Although she was badly injured and very unattractive compared to her normal appearance, the touch of skin was very soothing to Jude, having not seen her since the destruction of the village.

He asked Kysandra and Sylva if they could have a moment alone. They obliged, and left the room.

Jude faced Tyra. “Tyra, I am sorry for what I have done to you.”

“What are you talking about?” moaned Tyra. “You are not responsible for that which has happened to me.”

“Yes, I am. I shot Hylik. It was my fault that I hit whatever explosive device that it was that he had on him, and my fault that you are now as burned as you are.”

“No, it’s not your fault, Jude. If it weren’t for you, I would be dead now, killed at the hands of the traitor.”

Jude thought about this for a moment. He did not know what Hylik’s intentions had been, although Tyra’s assumption did seem to be the most reasonable.

He turned back to Tyra with another matter.

“Tyra, how much do the people trust me?”

Tyra thought for a moment, and then responded by saying, “They trust both Kysandra and I, and we trust you. The same trust carries on to you, Jude.”

Jude took in her words. “Then I have something that I must tell them either tonight or tomorrow.”

“What is it, Jude? My heart wishes to know what is so important that you need to know if they trust you.”

“Something is happening, Tyra. The kryons are returning to Earth. It is the only logical explanation for what I have seen. In the past month I have seen more kryons than lived on the island, and now powers are manifesting themselves within people, Tyra. Powers that may change the world as we know it.”

“Of what are you speaking Jude? You speak in enigmas, my troubled mind can not find meaning in what you say.”

“What I mean to say is that people are developing psychic powers, Tyra. I developed them, and was nearly killed for it. Hylik, too, developed him, for I detected that it was through the use of his powers that he swayed the Council to turn on you four. Krynn would certainly have turned normally.”

“But then how do you know that this is a sign of kryons returning?”

“It is a kryon gift, Tyra. Leader, before he died, told me that only humans of kryon descent were able to manifest these abilities. Surely you do not mean to tell me that one of my parents was a kryon? I am certainly not a half-breed.”

“No Jude, you are not a half-breed. Nor am I in the mood to discuss such heavy matters with you. My body is burned and my mind is weary. Had it not been for you, I would not have made it through the night. Please stay with me tonight for comfort. I do not wish to have to have you enter my mind again.”

Jude sighed, and said, “I will do as you ask. However, if I see you turning in your sleep, I will enter your mind to help you combat the evils that are present. I will not lose you after what we have both been through. We are a team, a union, a pair, Tyra. That relationship cannot be severed by misfortune. It simply cannot.”

Jude stayed up during the night at Tyra’s bedside, though she did not toss or turn, so he did not enter her mind.

Chapter 44 - Healing

2005-11-19T20:23:00.000-05:00

Jude knew that Tyra was on the verge of death, and that the burns that she had sustained from the death of Hylik could easily end her life. In the time before the invasion, she would have been healed by now, but with the limited technology of the time, they had nothing they could do to save her besides hope.

But Jude realized that he had powers that most men did not. He knew that he had his powers of the mind, but he was worried as to what the others would think if they learned of them. So if he was going to try to heal Tyra, he would need to do it in such a way that no one would notice.

Also, he didn't know exactly how he would go about healing her. He had never actually tried manipulating flesh using his powers, and he had never had a serious burn before, so he did not know the anatomy of one of them.

He decided first to learn how bad the situation was. He left his room (which had been Hylik's) to check on Tyra. Kysandra and Sylva were sitting by her bedside.
"How is she?" he whispered.

Both were silent. His look of questioning was penetrating, however, and Kysandra responded.

"I don't think she'll last the night. But if she can survive tonight, I wouldn't worry about the rest."

Jude began crying. He knelt down beside his lover and wept for her. After about ten minutes of this, with Kysandra and Sylva trying in vain to comfort him, he returned to his room.

It was time to act, and it was time to act now. He had to save Tyra, and he thought that he knew how. He sat on his bed and focused his mind. Darkness engulfed him. Colors moved around him, and he was inside her mind.

"Who is there?" Jude heard. The voice was Tyra's, but did not seem to come from Tyra's conscious self. Jude called back into the mist.

"Tyra, it is I, Jude. I have come to help you get through the night."

"What is happening to me, Jude?" Her voice was that of honest wonder, she obviously did not know what had happened to her when she had been knocked unconcious.

"You were hit by an explosion, Tyra. You are burned and unconcious, and we are afraid that you will not last the night.

"You may not know this, but I have special powers of my mind. I've joined with you for the night, in the hopes that together we can get through this better than you can alone."

Jude, being in Tyra's mind, felt her pondering his statement. Her voice rang out again.

"Thank you Jude, you should be a help to me."

Mist swirled around him, and Tyra walked out from the mist. Her form was that which Jude remembered, from the village. She was not burned or scarred like Jude had seen her recently. They embraced and kissed each other.

That night was the most horrible thing that Jude had ever experienced. Voices from the past came back to haunt Tyra, from the other children making fun of her to Hylik's biting words. Images of pain and suffering, and even feelings came back from the mist. Jude, being one with her mind, felt everything occurring to him as well.

They comforted each other through the night, through the pain of what was happening.

Colors swirled again, and the most realistic image of anything that had happened to her came. Jude watched from Tyra's own eyes as Hylik led them out of the truck. He walked over to her, and spat in her face.

"You vermin, he's not coming back. It's about time you were made into the slave that you ought to be."

An explosion rocked the area without warning. Tyra sensed that it was Jude who had caused it. Both minds felt the pain of the explosion, and watched as they were blown backwards and descended into the mist.

Morning came, and Tyra had lasted the night. Jude left her to wake up, so that the other members of the Council would not know what had happened. He walked to her room and entered.

"How is she doing?" he asked.

Sylva's face was one of happiness and joy. She stared straight into Jude's eyes and asked him a question:

"I don't know, why don't you ask her?"

Chapter 43 - Stories

2005-11-19T20:21:00.000-05:00

A day had passed since Jude had killed Hylik. Tyra was badly burned from the explosion, but she was awake and recovering. Jude had talked with her some last night, which they hoped would give her more a will to live. She now fought for her life in her makeshift hospital bed.

Meanwhile, Jude, Relik, and Krynn had been talking to each other. Kysandra had spent some time near Jude as well, but generally she sat near Tyra, helping her recover. Jude was not spending an effort to meet the members of the Free Council, but instead cared more to find out what had transpired in his friend's lives since they were seperated.

"While you were hunting, Relik and I heard something in the middle of the night," Krynn explained. "We woke Tyra and told her to come with us. I don't know why we didn't wake the rest of the camp, but we did not. We now regret that decision.

"Someone attacked us. We still don't know who it was, but we suspect from the style of the attack and the ferocity that it was a kryon band, although a human band could easily have been responsible, simply trying to act like kryons. However, the weapon that destroyed was a kryon weapon.

"We fled. We walked for less than a week before there was one night in which we had to sleep in a truck. A storm came during the night, and we were woken surprisingly by a band of humans in black jumpsuits. They gathered us, handcuffed us, and led us down to the subway system.

"The band was the Order of Vengeance. We were enslaved by them, along with the people you see here. All of us were former slaves of the Order. They were headed by a kryon-human half-breed who went by the forename of Leader."

Jude interrupted. "Leader?" he asked, realizing that the name was the same as the one who had attacked him psychically, and was now directly responsible for his abilities.

"Yes, Leader, why?" asked Krynn.

"I met him on my journey here and we fought. I killed him."

"Praise be to the powers that be," said Relik.

"That is good to know, as he was the last man who was part of the Order who survived our rebellion. We rebelled under the command of a man named Pulse, who was about the age of Survivor. He died in the rebellion, along with many of our number.

"But we escaped, and we formed a group called the Free Council, of which you are now a part. The leader is a woman named Kysandra, who is now Relik's lover." Krynn was finished speaking.

Relik, however, had more to say. "One man turned on the Council, a man named Hylik. He was the one you saw beating us, and the one you killed. He captured Tyra, Kysandra, a woman named Sylva, and I, although he did not turn on Krynn. I don't know what happened, but no one here knows either. It is the greatest enigma of the Council."

Relik and Krynn then asked Jude what had taken place in his life since the attack.

"I returned the day after the attack to find our village in ruins. I left, and decided that I would cross the river of the City to the mainland. I did, and began travelling in the direction in which the sun sets, although I had no couse set in my mind.

"In the village I found a journal written by Survivor, and a message was written in the back pages. It was not in the human tongue, although I did learn recently what it meant. It said 'the answer lies in the Kryonomicon'.

"The Kryonomicon is a book. I discovered it some weeks ago in a house that had been infested with kryons. I killed the kryons and fled the house, though I was stopped by a group of kryons led by a half-breed called Lukäski. I shot at him and fled, and I know not whether he is alive or dead, however, the signs are ominous.

"I recieved visions from Survivor in my dreams, and they told me to return in the other direction and follow the Dancing of the Skies and the Dancing of Souls. I learned that these were terms for the aurora and fires, and I learned to follow them and found you.

"On the return journey I met Leader. He nearly killed me, however at the last moment I got lucky and he fell. Afterwords, I continued the journey, and so I found you again."

Jude sighed and looked back at his friends. Although they had been apart for so long, they still felt the bonds of friendship just as they had before.

Relik turned to Jude. "The people are wondering if you would make a better leader than Kysandra. It is not that Kysandra is a poor leader, however they are looking for a stronger one. Tyra, Krynn, and I all agree that you would make a better leader of the Council, and make wiser decisions. The meeting will take place sometime shortly."

The three split, and Jude went to talk to Kysandra. Nothing important was said, rather they were trying to learn more about each other.

And that night, he got an idea.

Chapter 42 - Sniping

2005-11-19T20:20:00.000-05:00

There was no time to lose. Jude did not know how powerful Hylik was, and he had no choice but to kill him outright. So he closed his mind to the outside world.

Patterns crossed the synapses of his mind like people crossing the road. They sped up, though Jude's perception had the reverse effect, making it seem like time itself was slowing. Hylik's lips moved more slowly, but Jude still moved at his regular speed.

He swung his gun around to the front and turned down the power setting to about medium strength, so that he didn't injure his friends. He put the gun in front of him, and pulled out a feature that he had never used before.

Jude had long known that his rifle could double as a sniper rifle, but had never actually pulled out the sights, as there had never been enough to hit somebody with it. He laid down on the ground and pointed the crosshairs at Hylik's head. However, it was difficult to aim, as the tension of the moment was leading Jude to breathe more rapidly, causing the crosshairs to bob up and down.

Jude took a deep breath and held it. He pointed the crosshairs at Hylik's head, and they remained there as Jude tensed the trigger. There would only be one chance to kill Hylik this easily.

The trigger was moving slowly, even to Jude's perception. It was all nerves now, and Jude could do nothing to combat it. Sweat began pouring over his face, and his hands twitched from being nervous.

Two things happened simultaneously. The trigger reached the firing point, but Jude also flinched at the last moment due to nerves. The shot was off however, and Jude slowed time more to watch it travel to Hylik, hoping that it would still hit.

Hylik was aware of the shot, as were the guards, who almost instantly had their guns ready and aimed at Jude. Still, the shot would easily hit Hylik before a shot came from the guards.

It hit. Though it did not hit in the head, where Jude had intended, but the waistline. A massive explosion rocked the area, blowing Jude's friends back, as well as the guards. Hylik was very obviously incinerated in the blast.

What had caused this? Jude checked his gun again, and sure enough, it was set to the low level that he thought it was. Hylik must have had a grenade around his waist that was hit by the shot, exploding on contact.

It was still too dangerous to go down and rescue his friends, but as he watched, something strange was happening. The people from the motel seemed to wake up. The rubbed their eyes and looked around, a an expression of wonder and bewilderment crossed their minds. What had happened to them?

The guards dropped their guns, not knowing what had happened. So Jude decided to risk it and ran down to his friends. Relik was unscathed, and recognized Jude immediately.

"Jude!" he yelled. "Jude has come, just as we thought!"

Jude ran over and embraced Relik, tears pouring from both of their eyes. They had not seen each other since Jude had gone hunting all that time ago, when the village was destroyed.

And then Jude looked next to Relik. Lying on the ground was Tyra. She was not moving. Jude ran over to her and knelt beside her. He took two fingers and put them on her neck, searching for the pulse through her jugular vein.

It was there. Tyra was still alive, however the shock of the blast must have knocked her unconcious.

Relik had already roused the two females that Jude did not recognize. He brought them over to Jude, and introduced them.

"Jude, this is Kysandra, our leader, and Sylva, one of our best hunters. Kysandra, this is Jude. He has come."

Meanwhile, the other members of the Free Council were coming over to see what was going on. One of the guards, Ralyn, came over, not carrying his weapon or anything. Kysandra immediately moved the five away from him, figuring that something was up, however Ralyn did not make any aggressive motions.

Instead he looked at them and asked "What is going on? I feel as if I have been sleeping for the past few days."

And the other people of the Council nodded their heads in agreement, including Krynn who stood in the crowd. Jude embraced him, happy to see his friend again.
He had finally been reunited with his friends.

Chapter 41 - Hylik

2005-11-19T20:18:00.000-05:00

Jude decided that it would be wise to look to see if anyone at the motel looked like a leader, as opposed to just rushing into the truck blindly. He looked around again, augmenting his vision like before.

The people looked as if nothing was going. Even Krynn seemed oblivious to the truck and what was going on in it. He didn't even seem aware of the fact that his friends were missing. Of course, Jude could not assume that Krynn had even been with the friends since the village was destroyed, although Survivor had said that in the visions.

One man did seem like a leader above the rest. Jude had never seen him before in his life, however, and could not identify him as the leader if he was. He looked for signs of whether or not this man was the leader of the group.

He did walk with a certain authority, however nobody seemed to acknowledge his existence as he walked by. In fact, nobody seemed to acknowledge anybody's existence, leading Jude to believe that something else was going on, something that was deep and sinister.

The man walked over to the truck, and one of the guards nodded at him. He opened the lock on the back, and doors swung open. He motioned to whoever was inside, and four people came out. Jude immediately recognized two of them - Relik and Tyra, but he did not know the other two.

He focused his mind and felt a mental aurora spreading across the neurons of his mind. His brain spun, but when he opened his eyes again to look at what was happening now, the desired effect had not come. He had tried to augment his hearing much as he did his vision, but it did not work. Perhaps he could only augment one sense at a time, or perhaps he simply was not able to augment his hearing.

So instead he watched the exchange between his friends and the man. His friends were badly injured, thin, and tired. Survivor had been right. If they looked like they did, then they were almost certainly in grave danger. And right now, they still were.

Still, Jude knew that it would be unwise to try to free them now without learning more information. So he looked closer, hoping that he could identify what was being said based on body language.

He looked closer at the group, to see what sort of emotions they were displaying. He saw that one of them was certainly Tyra, and his heart fell, knowing that whatever she had been through it must have damaged her spirit. She looked crushed and lonely, but also hopeful, as if she were waiting for something. Another female there simply looked scared of what the man was going to do to them. And Relik stood there, standing close to the third woman. Both of their eyes were filled with crushed pride, and fear - possibly for one another.

The woman by Relik was the first to speak, which seemed odd, seeing as how she seemed to be the prisoner. And although Jude was not able to read lips, his augmented mind seemed able to identify the word being spoken.

"Hylik". Jude assumed that this was the name of the leader. He searched his mind to see if he could identify what, if anything, the word meant in the kryon tongue. The root "-lik" was there, though Jude had not yet worked out a concise definition of what it meant. He thought, however, that it meant "destination", of which the full word would be "rêlik".

And then he thought more, and realized that the name meant "hell-bound". Surely this man was the leader of the group, simply because people were given kryon names for a reason. And frequently, the kryon name would mold the character of the person to match that of the name.

Hylik walked over to the woman, and gave her a hard punch across the face. She looked back at him angrily. He began to taunt them, though what he was saying was not clear. Jude could only tell the basics of what was being said based on the body language of the people recieving the comments.

Tyra looked ready to kill the one now identified as Hylik. In fact, looking closer, all four of them seemed to have that same look of disdain and disgust upon them.
Hylik whistled, quite loudly in fact, as Jude could hear it, and the guards who were still standing by the truck came over and grabbed each one of the people by the arms. They wrapped them around back so that the prisoners would not be able to fight back.

And then it happened. Hylik closed his eyes, and seemed to lose all mental connection to the world around him, and the prisoners seemed to be going into a trance. Jude knew just what was going.

Hylik was using the powers of his mind.

Chapter 40 - Arrival

2005-11-18T21:28:00.000-05:00

Jude walked for several more days, following the aurora and the occasional fire. He did not experiment more with his powers, nor read the Kryonomicon, nor attempt to solve the cube. His only thoughts were on rescuing his lover and friends. He did not know what had happened to them, but the sign was ominous.

He had been hoping that Survivor would send him a message through dreams as to the nature of the peril that his friends were in, but no such things happened. And so he had no choice but to follow the Dances to lead him to where they were.

And it had been last night that he had another vision. While watching a fire that he had set with his powers, he saw Survivor’s face materialize. It spoke swiftly.

“Jude, you will be there tomorrow. Look for the sign.” And it was gone.

“Wait!” called Jude, but to no avail. Survivor was gone. And Jude still did not know what to expect when he arrived there.

And so he slept. The aurora spun overhead, but he did not notice. No dreams filled his augmented mind, nor did he wonder more about the vision. He did not read nor solve the cube, and for the first time in a long time, he slept peacefully.

Jude awoke in the early morning hours. He was lying in a street, and the skeletons of a few deer were lying in the road. They were burned, leading him to believe that someone had caused this to happen.

He lit a fire and watched it and his mind’s aurora to find where he had to travel to. They aligned themselves as always, and he began to follow them.

He crested a hill about two or three hours later. Below was a motel, and people milled about it. And a sign was there, having advertised it before the war. Most of the letters of a changeable part of it had fallen, but the remaining ones read out saying “elaya”, a kryon word. The word meant “here”.

Jude knew that this was the sign that Survivor had spoken of last night. He looked around to see what the trouble could be that his friends were in. The colony seemed to be peaceful, although he had rarely seen people who looked like they had been through so much in their lives before. Even those of his own village looked happier.

He scanned the motel area, and did indeed find something strange. There was an overturned truck, and six men stood outside, each wielding some sort of kryon or human weapon.

Jude focused his mind, and felt it spinning within his head. His vision magnified what he saw.

The truck was locked. That much was clear. The guards outside were not just holding rifles but kryon laser cannons, well-known for their extraordinarily high firepower, albeit they did have unreliable batteries and slow recharge rates.

Only one thing would require that much protection – Jude’s friends. He knew that was certain. He looked back at the motel to see the people who were there. He did not recognize any, though most seemed to be upstanding people, not the sort that would be savages.

But then a face stuck out from the crowd that Jude did recognize. It was Krynn’s. What was Krynn doing mixing with a crowd like that? Jude looked closer.

Krynn’s face was a sign of anguish and inner turmoil. Jude had never seen him so torn apart. He did not know what was going on, but he didn’t like the looks of it.

Also, Krynn seemed to be showing little emotion. Granted, much had changed since Jude had last seen him, but Krynn had always been an active, happy person, usually with a smile on his face. He wore his heart on his sleeve at the village.

What had changed? Surely Krynn had not turned to evil, and was not harming his own friends. These people that Jude could see surely were not in danger, and he trusted his visions that Survivor had sent him – after all, they had gotten him this far.

And so Jude decided to go investigate what was going on at the truck.

Chapter 39 - "Why?"

2005-11-18T20:28:00.000-05:00

All of the prisoners were fully awake now. Relik and Kysandra were sitting apart from each other, but only because Relik was complaining about a sore arm. The bread had been eaten, and human waste was making the interior of the truck filthy and disgusting. Each person sat in silence.

Kysandra, wandering down her thought path as to why Hylik had done this, decided to ask the other people in the truck as to their opinions.

“Why?” she mumbled, her brain not fully able to communicate her thoughts into words.
“Hmm?” Tyra looked up. And soon to follow were the other two. Kysandra had their attention, and now she just needed to formulate a sentence.

“Why did he do it?” she asked. “Why did Hylik do such a thing as this?”

The other people stared at her with bleak expressions upon their faces. They knew as little as she did.

“I don’t know,” said Tyra, her voice quavering with sadness. “What did he have against us?”
“It was because of you, unfortunately,” said Sylva, pointing at Kysandra. “He hates you, because you had been lovers but are no longer.” She moved her finger to point at Relik. “And he hates you as well, because you are her new lover.”

“But we didn’t end it because of hate for each other,” said Kysandra. “We ended it because the Order of Vengeance captured us.”

“Perhaps he wanted you back?” suggested Relik. “Perhaps he thought that you were more on, shall we say, a hiatus? Maybe he thought that you still wanted him. I am almost certain that he still wanted you.”

“That is a possibility,” opined Kysandra. “And that would also explain his hate, for you, Relik. But why turn against you two?” She was looking at Tyra and Sylva.

Neither responded, and instead sat in thought. Relik, instead, was the one who proposed a possible answer to Kysandra’s question.

“Maybe he didn’t do it on purpose,” he said, his eyes staring towards the ceiling.
Tyra looked at him strangely. “Explain.”

“Maybe he simply had to. If he were to turn on Kysandra and I, it would make the most sense to rally the Council while we were away for at least a day. He knew that we were going to be gone for some time. He would have easily enough time to at least attempt to rally them if he fled where we were for whatever reason. His flight from The Messenger may merely have been a ploy.”

“But why would he have turned on Tyra and Sylva?” asked Kysandra.

“Because he didn’t have a choice. He saw the opportunity present to turn on you and I, and Tyra and Sylva were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“That would make sense,” said Sylva. “I never did anything to harm him, or at least, I don’t think that I did.”

They sat in silence for some time. Tyra spoke again some minutes later, and rather unexpectedly.

“What happened to Krynn?”

“What do you mean?” asked Kysandra. She wasn’t sure where the question was coming from, but she wasn’t sure that she wanted to know.

“Relik and my companion, Krynn. I am sure that he would not have turned on us so easily because of Hylik’s plan. Nor did I see him in the crowd that was backing Hylik.”

Sylva looked Tyra straight in the eye, and tears began forming in her own eyes. She moved her mouth slowly, trying to gather the courage to tell Tyra.

“He was in the crowd, Tyra.”

Relik pounded the bottom of the truck. “You’re lying!” he yelled. “You must be lying!”

Sylva looked at him sadly. She shook her head slowly, but clearly and obviously.

Relik looked back at her, his eyes beginning to well with tears. “You’re not?”

“No, Relik.”

Relik began weeping loudly, and Kysandra quickly reached out to try to soothe him.

Tyra too was weeping. “How could this be? What reason would he have for turning on us?”

Sylva spoke back to her. “I don’t know, Tyra, I don’t know.”

A single word formed on Relik’s lips, the word that was central to everyone’s mind.

“Why?”

Chapter 38 - Locked Away

2005-11-18T17:27:00.000-05:00

The prisoners sat in the bed of the truck. Relik and Kysandra were cuddling in the corner, trying to comfort each other. Sylva and Tyra each sat in their own corners crying as well, though they had no one to comfort them. They did not know if there were guards outside, but the thoughts on all of their minds were that it was not worth the risk.

What had caused Hylik to go bad? And how had he managed to convince the entire Free Council of his cause, whatever it may be?

They sat there for what seemed like hours. In actuality, it probably was hours, but there was no way to mark the passage of time in the truck. Sylva had cried herself to sleep, and Kysandra and Relik had not moved for some time, leading Tyra to believe that the same was true for them.

And so Tyra was all alone, left to contemplate her own thoughts, in addition to wondering why Hylik had gone bad, she wondered about another thing. Where was Krynn? Had he joined the rebellion as well? Or had he left to go somewhere else?

She could not imagine that Krynn had left to go hunting, as the Council had had plenty of food before they had gone out on their fateful mission to explore the mystery of the deer. Nor could she imagine that Krynn had joined the rebellion. After all that they had been through together, there was no way that he could have turned against them so suddenly. There had been no warning.

But he had become friends with Hylik, so given enough prodding, he may have turned. This seemed too impossible to Tyra, but she had no other explanation.

One other possibility remained. Perhaps Krynn had tried to stop Hylik from taking control. If this was the case, and he had had no success, then he likely now was dead, shot by Hylik.

Her thoughts led her further down this road. No one in the group besides Hylik seemed to have the potential for organizing a revolt like the one that had taken place. If he had been the one to try to instigate the revolt and Krynn had fought against him, surely others would have joined Krynn in a desperate attempt to stop Hylik?

Tyra did not know of anyone else who was a member of the Free Council who was not present when they revolted. If no one else had, then Krynn had likely managed to escape or had joined the rebellion. Of course, nothing said that Tyra simply did not notice anyone else who was not present, which would imply that Krynn did try to stop Hylik’s actions, but that he and the others were killed.

As it happened, Kysandra was not asleep either. She was thinking about Hylik and what could have led him to retaliate in the way that he did. Yes, it was obvious that he was not happy with Kysandra’s leadership. He had spoken out at the meetings against her, and had attempted to stop her nomination when she was chosen.

Nothing had worked for him, as she had indeed been chosen regardless. Perhaps he was retaliating for this, although why he would also turn on the other three in the way that he did was unknown.

There was also, of course, the attempted relationship between Kysandra and Hylik. It had been a happy one, and Kysandra had never suspected that Hylik was as desperate of a person as he was. And it hadn’t broken up because of a faux pas commited by either person.

Rather, the relationship had fallen apart because they were captured by the Order of Vengeance. Slavery is no place to keep a romantic relationship going. When you have to work to live, it simply does not make sense to fall in love.

So they had broken up. Kysandra considered another possibility of why he might be upset at her.

Perhaps he had thought that after the Order was disbanded, they would get back together. Kysandra had never seen this as what would take place, and so therefore had gone right ahead with her relationship with Relik. Hylik, had he thought that they would be together again, would be understandably upset.

Still, none of these things seemed to explain why Hylik had done as violent of a thing as he had.

Not knowing the answers, Kysandra shifted closer to Relik, and fell asleep.

At some time at night, when it happened that the prisoners were asleep, Hylik opened the doors to the truck. He tossed in some bread and closed the doors again. No one awoke, though they were pleasantly surprised to see food when they woke up. Despite what a small portion it was, they divided it equally, so that they could last longer.

When they had awoken, they sat in their corners again, saying nothing. Morale was already dissolving.

Chapter 37 - Experimentation

2005-11-17T20:55:00.000-05:00

Jude walked down the street. He had been walking all night, and still the auroras did not lead him to Tyra or his friends. It was now daytime. The day was warm and sunny, with a light breeze rustling through the trees. His focus was not on walking, and in fact he still could not see perfectly after his confrontation with Leader. Instead, his focus was on his mind.

His mind felt like it had expanded tenfold during the night. He did not feel smarter, but rather he felt as though his brainwave energy had increased dramatically, and was magnified infinitesimally. And he felt as though he could tap into his mind better than before.

Jude had known his gift for some time, but rarely used it except when hunting. It had never been a major part of his life. Now, though, he felt one with his powers. He felt as though he was his powers, and his powers were him.

He walked down the street, and suddenly saw a piece of scrap wood sitting by the side of the road. He decided to try out his powers on it.

He closed his eyes and relaxed his mind. Strands of energy flowed through the crevices in his brain, and he felt as though an aurora was forming on the surface of his mind. He opened his eyes again.

The wood was floating in mid-air. Jude gasped, for he did not expect something like this to happen. There was no way that he could have performed such a feat before his encounter with Leader.

He decided to try something harder. His mind erupted in a volcano of energy and power, and the log combusted while still floating in the air.

Jude decided to try another thing to the burning log. It would take much strength, but Jude didn’t have much time until the fire consumed the log.

His eyes closed on their own will. They flickered underneath his eyelids, and Jude’s mind spun through space and time. It slowed down, and Jude opened his eyes.

He was lying on the ground. He must have passed out from the sheer difficulty of what he had been attempting to do with the log. Sitting up and rubbing his eyes, they were even fuzzier and harder to see out of than before.

But looking over to where the log would have landed, there was not a pile of ashes like he had expected. The log was sitting there, intact, just as it had been. It had not been burned.

Of course, there were two possibilities. The first was what Jude was hoping was true. That would mean that the log had caught fire and had burned, however he had been able to reverse the process and reconstruct the log from the ashes.

The second possibility, however, made Jude afraid that his powers were not what he thought they were. Perhaps the log had caught fire but not burned. Perhaps it was not fire but a trick of the light, or a trick of his eyes.

Jude did not know, but regardless, the log was whole. He walked over at it and looked at it more closely.

Burn marks were evident along one side of it, though they were not the random burn marks one would have expected from the burning of a log. They instead followed a pattern.

The pattern was an aurora, and the text was obviously written in the kryon tongue. Jude focused his mind and the words laid themselves out in a straight line as they had done before. They formed only a short message, which Jude read quickly. After reading it, he gathered his things, and followed the aurora to find his friends. There was no time to lose.

The message said, quite simply, “Your friends are in mortal danger, save them.”

Chapter 36 - Rebellion

2005-11-17T20:14:00.000-05:00

Wind blew, and dust flew around. Kysandra’s long hair blew in the wind as she faced down the Free Council, along with her companions, Sylva, Tyra, and Relik. Krynn had not gone with them, though he was not visible in the crowd. Perhaps he had had the good sense to flee when Hylik rallied the Council.

Hylik raised his hands, and the Council lowered their guns. He then motioned for Kysandra and the others to do likewise. He walked over to Kysandra and began parting her hair back off of her face. Kysandra made no moves to prevent him from doing so, as confronting Hylik would mean death.

“Kysandra,” said Hylik, his voice full of evil, “it has been a long time since we’ve been this close, hasn’t it?”

“It hasn’t been long enough,” snarled Kysandra back at him.

“Ah, someone is testy today. And here’s Sylva, the quiet one. Is there anything in that head of yours, filth?”

“Get back, worm,” spat Sylva. Hylik’s taunting was beginning to scare the group.

“You’re a bit upset too. Such a shame, such a shame. And let’s see, here’s Tyra. Still waiting for that boyfriend, eh? The one that likely doesn’t even exist? And even if he did, he’s not alive, and he’s certainly not coming for you. You realize that, right?”

“I know what I saw,” mumbled Tyra.

“What was that? I don’t think the Council heard you!”

“I know what I saw!” she yelled.

“And last but not least, we have Kysandra’s boyfriend, Relik. Doesn’t he look so cute today? Sorry to tell you, but I’m sure that Kysandra doesn’t feel for you the same way she did for me.”

“That’s a filthy lie!” screamed Relik. He swung his fist at Hylik’s face, though he was far too angry to actually land a good strike.

Hylik walked back in front of the group. He spat on Kysandra’s face, and then turned to talk to them. Kysandra ignored Hylik’s insult against her.

“I don’t suppose you know why everyone here has turned against you, do you Kysandra? You’re too stupid to know, aren’t you?”

“Actually, I’d suppose its because they’ve been tricked by a certain conniving creature lower than vermin. Namely, you.”

Hylik made a mocking gasp of surprise. “It spoke! Perhaps its not as stupid as I thought.

“No, the reason they have turned against is that they are tired of your lies, Kysandra. They don’t believe that Tyra’s boyfriend will ever come back, or that he will lead us to freedom. The world is burned, Kysandra! He can never free us or return humanity to its former glory.”

Although she tried to conceal it, a single tear dropped from Tyra’s eye. Hylik noticed in, and walked over to her. He slapped her hard across the face.

“Stop crying, worm! You know he’s not coming back! You want power, that’s all you want, and you know it!”

“That’s not true!” sobbed Tyra. Her voice cracked from sadness. “That’s not true...”

“Oh no, Tyra, it is true, and you know it is.” Hylik turned his attention back to Kysandra.

“Kysandra, I told them of your negotiations with the enemy. The man from the road, just yesterday – the kryon. I know you did not fight him, as every self-respecting honorable human being would do.”

“He was not a kryon!” yelled Kysandra. Her voice quivered with rage.

Hylik walked over and faced her face-to-face. “Oh no?” He slapped her hard across the face, and her nose began to bleed. “Then what was he? A man? No man has such unearthly authority such as he! What was he then? Tell me!”

Kysandra began sobbing. “I don’t know,” she moaned faintly.

“She doesn’t know!” Hylik yelled. His voice was itching with delight. “I think you four need to be locked up somewhere. And don’t worry, we found a good place for it. Drop your guns and follow, or else we shall shoot you. The choice is yours.”

Reluctantly, all four people put their guns on the ground to follow Hylik, wherever he was going to lead them to.

They walked only a short distance, until they reached a van that was tipped on its side. Hylik and a few others pushed them in. They closed the doors and locked them. Hylik pounded thrice on the doors and then called in.

“There may or may not be armed guards outside of here. If there are, and you exit, you will be shot and killed. If not, you are free to go. The choice is yours as to whether or not you would like to escape.

“I shall return in a day or two to discuss the issues with you. In the meantime, feel free to talk amongst yourselves.”

Hylik turned back to Tyra and looked her in the eye.

“Oh, and if your boyfriend shows up, and send him in here with you.”

Chapter 35 - Reconstruction

2005-11-16T20:54:00.000-05:00

The tendrils were psychically tearing apart Jude’s mind at the seams. Jude could no longer control his own body, and he was wracked with horrible, otherworldly pain. If he had been born in an earlier time to a religious family, he might have described it as feeling as if he we burning in hellfire.

He had almost no energy left within himself, and yet he knew that if he did not fight back, he would lose for sure. Leader had gotten very close to him now to strengthen the psychic force that he was using to destroy Jude.

Jude rallied his inner strength, and focused all of his thoughts and emotions to form his own tendrils. He even gave up the input of his sense to focus his energy into the attack.

His mind was filled with images of Leader’s thought-tentacles destroying him, and yet his own tendrils were fighting back. Although not as effective as Leader’s, they still were doing damage.

Suddenly there was a cracking noise within Jude’s mind. He felt as though Leader had come with a psychic ax and split his mind in half. Jude’s psyche underwent a great schism.

Two pieces came from it. The first was Jude’s mind, now just a fraction of its former being. The second half was dead matter, performing no actions. Jude no longer had the energy to continue his defense of Leader. He fell into the hellfire.

Although he did not realize it, his body was thrown into convulsions. And against all odds, his leg lashed out at Leader, and, not expecting it, Leader fell to the ground. His focus was lost, and he fell.

Jude felt the tendrils leave his mind, and although his psyche was still split into pieces, he felt as though the torture was over. He tried to reach a single thought into Leader’s mind, and received no input.

Leader was dead.

Jude suddenly became aware of something else. He felt strength returning to his arms and legs, and the dead matter of his mind regained consciousness and joined with that which was still alive. Slowly, his body reconstructed itself to what it had been.

He felt a leech of power coming from Leader. Leader’s own psychic abilities, fueled by his kryon heritage, began leaking into the air, attracted to the nearest willing source – Jude’s own mind.

Jude felt as though his mind would explode with power. Surely he would have to experiment with this power at some point, though now would likely not be the time – he still wanted to find Tyra and the others.

And then he looked up. Leader’s minions were still there. They looked in horror at what had happened to their commander. They turned up the power settings to their guns and fired.

Time slowed for Jude. Reaching into the inner recesses of his mind, he projected a wall of force which stopped the shots.

He then reached out his hand towards his enemies. Bolts of fire shot from his fingertips, and struck each one of the minions. They fell to the ground, dead.

Jude looked at himself in awe. How had he amassed such power in such a quick amount of time? He was sure that he would never be able to understand the mystery of these powers, at least without guidance from a kryon – something he assumed would never come.

He looked around at the area where he was. He did not know where he was, and so he waited until nightfall to use the auroras and the fires to guide him to his lover.

Chapter 34 - The Messenger

2005-11-16T20:13:00.000-05:00

The man stood there, facing the group. He was about average height, with a dark black beard and mustache on his face, growing down to extraordinary lengths. He looked like he had never taken any effort for sanitation in his life (though sanitation in the posttime is rare). He began walking slowly towards the investigators.

They all raised their guns and pointed them at him. Clouds appeared from nowhere and blocked the sun, and wind grew strong and hard. It seemed as if nature itself was collapsing around the man.

“Who are you?” cried Tyra, her voice crackling with both fear and wonder.

The man raised his right hand and called out into the wind, “I am The Messenger.” His voice was startlingly baritone, and he spoke with the authority of a god.

The group was trembling with fear and awe. No one knew who this man was nor even what he was. However, his mere presence seemed to shake the foundation of their beliefs of the universe, and they wondered from whom he was a messenger.

The Messenger spoke again, his voice reverberating in the very souls of the group. “I am here to present a message from my master, the great Lord of the Kryons.”

Hylik called out to the strange visitor. “The kryon filth shall burn!” He quickly turned up the power setting of his gun to maximum, and fired it straight at The Messenger.

A massive explosion of heat, light, and noise spread out in a sphere from where The Messenger had been. Artificial lightning crackled around, and dust flew into the low pressure zone created from the blast.

In several moments, the dust cleared, and Hylik could not believe what he saw. The Messenger was standing there, in the epicenter of the explosion, completely unscathed. It was simply not possible that any man could have survived such an explosion, nor a kryon, nor any mortal beast.

Hylik dropped his gun and ran. The Messenger called to him, saying that he would not harm them, but Hylik fled nonetheless. The man turned to face those who remained.

“My message is this: ‘The tower lies in the capital. When your brother and leader returns, travel there and all shall be clear.’”

There was a brief silence, and then The Messenger spoke again. “I leave you now.” He turned on his right foot and began leaving them. The normal balance of nature returned, the clouds revealed the sun, the wind died, and peace settled upon the road.

“Wait!” called Tyra, but to no avail. The Messenger had left. Those who were still there took off running to see if they could catch him.

They ran for at least a half an hour, but it felt like much longer. They could not find The Messenger, and they felt as though he had departed from Earth, though how, they could not say.

They walked back to the motel. The journey was long, after running such a distance. They stopped to eat canned food that they had brought with them. And then it grew dark.

It was far to dangerous to walk back in the dark, so they stopped to sleep. They slept through the night peaceful, though no one spoke as they had failed their mission. The Messenger surely was not responsible for the attack against the deer, and so they would need to learn more about who was.

They woke the next morning, and realized how close they were to the motel. Walking only for another twenty or so minutes, they arrived back where the Free Council stayed. And what they saw startled them.

Hylik stood there, his gun pointed to them.

“Turn back or die, deceivers,” he said, anger filling his voice.

The rest of the Council stood behind him, their guns also pointed at the group.

Chapter 33 - Kryon Blood

2005-11-15T20:47:00.000-05:00

Jude’s body had collapsed, but his mind still writhed in pain. And though Leader’s tendrils of thought had stopped penetrating his mind, he still felt the scars they had burned into his psyche. He had horrible nightmares of mutants destroying him with stones and axes, and of fires and torture.

When he came to, he was chained to what had once been a bus stop. The world was off-color and blurry, and swam before his eyes sickeningly. Jude had felt this way once before, when he tried a canned drink that was labeled as “beer”. He didn’t know what it was, but it made him feel the way he now felt.

He threw up. The smell of vomit only made his agony worse, as now both his nose and mind were bombarded with pain. The foul taste also lingered in his mouth.

And then he heard a voice, one that he did not want to hear. The voice belonged to Leader.

“Good morning,” he said, content after defeating Jude at the mind battle the previous day. “And just how are you feeling today?”

Jude moaned and turned to the side. He vomited again.

“So I see. Then if you don’t mind, I have a few questions to ask of you. And if you don’t answer them, I shall do to you again what I did last night. And surely you don’t want that, right?”

Jude wanted to shout and attack again with his mind, but he hadn’t the strength or the willpower to do such a thing.

“Right then,” said Leader. He projected an intolerable air of smugness around Jude. “Just what, exactly are you?”

Jude looked up into Leader’s silver eyes. He tried to respond, but could only come forth with an unintelligible grunt.

Tendrils began reaching into his mind, and Jude heard Leader’s voice within his head, though his mouth was not moving.

< Jude, you will answer me, > it said.

Jude realized that he could communicate telepathically with Leader, an idea that had not struck him before. Perhaps he would have a better chance at survival by trying this.

< I am a human of this land, born and bred after the kryons destroyed it, > he said, his thought-voice filled with agony.

< You are clearly not, > said Leader. < No man could have fought against my mind attacks. That is a kryon gift. And you are not a kryon, nor a mix-breed such as myself. >

Jude thought about this. No, he was not a kryon, and he had never seen another human with such a gift. He did not have any idea as to why he could perform such a feat.

< I wonder... > thought Leader. < What does this make you think of? >

The tendrils in Jude’s mind wrapped around his brain and projected an image into his mind. It was an aurora. Jude said nothing, but it did cause him to think about the script.

< I see. You are not a pure human, no. You have kryon blood flowing in your veins, but how so, I do not know. I know not how else you could have unlocked your mind.

< Tell me, Jude, will you join me on my quest to rule the world? I will – >

< Never! > cried Jude. < I will never join you, Leader! >

< I see. Then I believe it is time for you to die, Jude. I look forward to burning your body. >

Tendrils descended into Jude’s mind, and the tearing began.

Chapter 32 - Mind Games

2005-11-15T19:50:00.000-05:00

The figures stopped and turned to face him. Jude’s eyes met with those of the tallest of the group. He was abnormally tall, had extraordinarily bright red hair, and his eyes glowed silver light. Jude reeled in fright.

It was Lukäski, it must be, for it was one of the human-kryon half-breeds. Yet something felt different, and the man did not generate the same air of terror that that Lukäski had. In addition, this man was a companion with humans and not kryons, as Lukäski had been.

The man spoke out to Jude, and instead of the evil and terror that had come when Lukäski spoke, Jude felt goodness and happiness coming from him.

“I am called Leader, for I shall lead the people of the world in revolt against the kryons,” he said. His minions lowered their weapons and stood behind him to back him up. “What are you called, human?”

Jude, although his conscience screamed against it, responded without hesitation. “I am called Jude,” he responded, his mind mesmerized by Leader’s peaceful attitude. He wondered how people from such a race could be so different.

But then Leader ruined it. He called out to Jude, “Jude, join me. I am conquering the world by force, and if you do not join me, I shall have to destroy you. And I shall do it in the barbaric way my father would have, as a kryon.”

Jude was startled at the idea, and called out, “No!”

And then it began to happen. Jude collapsed to the ground. Probes of thought reached deep into his mind. He writhed on the ground in pain.

He could feel Leader probing his thoughts and feelings, searching for a weakness. Jude could do little to fight back.

But he had an idea. He closed his eyes and let his mind revolve. It bent and twisted in non-Euclidean dimensions, and he could feel the cold grip of Leader loosening. He had the energy to stand.

In his mind, a battle was raging. Tendrils still raced through, probing his thoughts, but a wall was being constructed, which stopped some of the thoughts. Jude reached towards Leader’s mind.

What he felt was very strange. He felt not only Leader’s own memories and thoughts, but that of his ancestors. He felt the kryon warriors boarding their ships to fly to Earth, and the kryon messages spanning out over their homeworld announcing the war. He felt darkness spanning over the fields of the planet, which happened to remind him of those of the Earth – except without the glass piles.

But what surprised him most were the actual messages sent to the kryon warriors. They were in kryon, but ever since Survivor had spoken to him, he could understand them. They said:

“We must stop the madman of the humans. We must rescue them from his grasp.”

The assault continued. Jude fell back to the ground, and Leader’s mind cried in horror as it realize that it, too, had been probed.

The tendrils retreated.

“What have you done?” cried Leader. “How can you, a mortal man, perform the kryon art of thought-fights? No man can master his mind!”

Jude felt his mind attacked again, and this time, the tendrils of thought were thrice as strong. And this time there was anger in them.

Jude fought back. The tendrils clashed and wrapped around each other, and soon they were locked in a match of pure mental might. Looking out from the mind haze, Jude saw the minions of Leader watching in fear as the two stood there, staring at each other, their pain clearly evident.

Leader retracted briefly, and then struck again. Jude could not hold off much longer. Especially once the tendrils made contact with his psyche. They caused pain of a much deeper level than before, as if they had electricity flowing through them.

Agony coursed through both Jude’s mind and body. He convulsed and collapsed to the ground.

Chapter 31 - Guidance

2005-11-14T21:28:00.000-05:00

Jude had one desire in his heart on this day. He wanted to find Tyra and his friends. He needed to be reunited with them. But in order to do that, he would have to decipher how to follow the Dancing of the Skies and the Dancing of Souls. Despite the fact that he knew what each one of them was, he did not know how to follow them to his destination.

He had not spent time reading the Kryonomicon, instead traveling and trying to find his former companions. He had been walking for the whole day without stopping, and now night was beginning to fall.

The aurora came out. Jude looked up at its ceaseless patterns. What had before looked chaotic and unorganized now looked made sense before his mind. It was amazing what his revelation had done for him.

He looked at the aurora, and suddenly had a thought. He opened the Kryonomicon, and watched as the fractal patterns unfolded before his eyes into a linear fashion. Then he wondered what exactly he had done to do that.

Jude decided to unfocus his eyes at the book, and the lines refolded into their fractal forms. So he stared into the sky, and unfocused his eyes. And the aurora had the opposite effect. They unfolded themselves into a straight line before his eyes, reaching far out over the horizon.

But they did so in both directions, and so Jude did not know in which direction to follow it. They did not reach towards the directions that the sun rises and sets from, but perpendicular to them. So he had to figure out how to follow them further.

He decided to light a fire, knowing that he would have to follow the Dancing of Souls as well. He gathered debris and lit it, and soon had a small bonfire. Watching the fire crackle and burn, Jude wondered how he could make it unfold in a line.

He decided to try an experiment, though he had no idea how effective it would be. Closing his eyes and rolling them back into his head, he reached into the aurora above. His mouth moved to the form the word "direction", but that was not the sound that came out. The resulting sound was an alien one, which could best be rendered as "rêlik". Jude heard the similarity between this word and his friend's name, and wondered if Relik's parents had known the word.

Jude opened his eyes. The fire still blew straight up, but the embers and sparks all flew along the straight aurora in a single direction.

And so he followed that path.

He walked for an hour or so, however stopped to sleep when he found a good location. When morning came, he walked further, his mind still projecting the aurora though it was not in the sky.

And then he heard speaking. They were not speaking kryon, but the human tongue. Jude crept forwards to hear what they were saying, but he did not watch his step.

Glass shattered under his feet.

Chapter 30 - Investigation

2005-11-14T21:26:00.000-05:00

Everyone stopped what they were doing and walked into the lot where Kysandra stood. Fearful chatter spread through the crowd, as they pondered what this could mean. Kysandra raised her hands in the air for silence.

“Before you panic, let me tell you that they do not know that we are here.”

The crowd looked around and grew quiet. There was the sound of shuffling feet and heavy breathing, but no one spoke. Except one.

Hylik called out from the crowd. “Who, exactly, is this who don’t know that we’re here? We demand answers!”

Relik called out to him to tell him to be quiet, but Kysandra in turn told Relik to be quiet.

“Hylik,” she said, her eyes narrowing and focusing on him, “you will have your answers. Be patient.

“Now then, since I believe that everyone else also wishes to hear the answer to Hylik’s question, I shall answer it. Please do not be afraid.

“Relik and I were hunting a pack of deer when a shot was fired - not from either of us. We hid, and I went to look. I saw one who instantly reminded me of Leader. He was tall, with bright red hair and glowing silver eyes. But it was not him, no. I would recognize him still, and this was not our oppressor.

“Others were with him too, however. They were neither man nor beast. They had many tentacles coming from a small body. All held kryon weapons. And it is for this reason that I believe that they were, indeed, kryons.”

Fear swept over the Free Council. A few people began speaking, then more and more. Eventually the place was in an uproar, and the volume level was ear-splitting. A familiar voice rang out across the din. It was Hylik's.

"We should investigate! What are we doing here debating this topic instead of doing something about it?"

The rest of the Council, for the first time in some time, agreed with him and called for an investigation. Kysandra raised her hands again to gain silence.

"Who then should seek out this group for information?"

And then the crowd fell silent. Yes, they wanted to seek out information about the aliens that were nearby, but nobody actually wanted to do it themselves.

"I will go," called Relik, stepping slightly away from Kysandra.

"I will go as well," yelled Tyra, stepping out from the crowd.

Silence ensued. And after a few more awkward moments, two more people volunteered to go: Hylik and Sylva. Sylva was the first to raise her hand, and it seemed as if Hylik only did it in an effort to spite the rest of the Council. Still, his true intentions were hidden.

The four people went to get their weapons. Sylva's weapons of choice were two small kryon hand blasters, which could be used simultaneously, and could be adjusted with only one hand. And Hylik took a massive human laser cannon and mounted it on his right shoulder.

And so they left the motel in search of the kryon group. Relik lead them to the area where the shots had been fired.

They walked, cautiously, out to where the deer had been killed. There, lying on the ground, were the bare skeletons of the deer. The bones were not burned, so the flesh had not been burned off but cut off.

Relik and Sylva leaned over to look closer at the bones.

"What do you make of this?" asked Relik to his companions.

Tyra responded by saying, "These were kryons all right. The blaster marks are all identical, and all came from kryon weapons. And I only see a single pair of footprints, compared to the multitude of these marks." She pointed to the ground, at what looked like the path some sort of snake would make.

All the others came over to look at the tracks. No one said a word, but their silence verified their inner thoughts about what had caused them.

Glass shattered behind them. They all spun around to see what, or who, had broken it. Standing there, amidst the rubble, was a man.

Chapter 29 - "We're Not Alone"

2005-11-13T21:27:00.000-05:00

A few days had passed, and still there was no sign of Jude. Tyra had no more dreams, and Hylik and some others were saying that they should move on. Those that were against moving on, however, saw no reason to as they were happy here, even if Jude never did come.

Relik and Kysandra had clearly fallen in love. Although they had only known each other for a few weeks, they were clearly made for each other. Almost every waking moment they were together. The only major exceptions were when Kysandra had to do work to keep the Council running, but even then she received help from Relik.

This day was overcast and cool for the season. Food had been running low, but there had been reports from some hunters that a number of deer herds lived in the area. Kysandra had no major duties for the Council, and so she proposed to Relik that they go hunting together in the hopes that they could bring some deer home.

Relik took his gun and Kysandra hers, and they left the camp at about noontime. They promised to be back by tomorrow, and if they weren't, the Council should choose a new leader, as it meant that they were most likely dead.

Kysandra's gun had been salvaged from the stockpiles of the Order of Vengeance. It had been her gun before she and Hylik were captured, however it was in poor condition after neglect at the hands of the Order. It was still easily a powerful gun.

Relik and Kysandra walked for about half an hour, exchanging friendly conversation and the occasional kiss. They made sure that they knew their way back, but otherwise they wondered to unexplored places.

They walked down a road that led to what seemed to have been the center of a neighborhood. There, standing at the crossroads, was a herd of deer.

Relik motioned to Kysandra to be quiet, and they both turned up the power setting of their guns. They creeped forward, hoping to catch the herd off guard.

The only sound was the breathing of the herd and the light rustling of leaves on the trees.

Suddenly, there was a crashing sound, and the herd bolted. Relik looked down at his feet, and swore. He had stepped in a piece of glass which had shattered, startling the herd.

Both people ran after the deer. They didn't shoot, and instead tried to push the deer into an open area.

The hunt continued for several minutes, and both were growing weary, though the deer were not.

There was an explosion before the herd. A massive blast of heat and light shot out, killing a number of deer and scaring the rest away. Relik and Kysandra darted behind a damaged vehicle.

"Did you shoot that?" Kysandra whispered, her voice ripe with fear.

"No, I didn't," replied Relik, his voice also ringing with fright.

Kysandra looked around the vehicle to see if she could see who shot the deer. She gasped, and turned back to Relik.

"Relik, we're not alone."

"What do you mean?"

"There was a man who looked like Leader, although taller and with fewer scars. And behind him stood a number of creatures I have never seen, that had small bodies with a multitude of tentacles. My guess is that they are kryons."

Relik couldn't believe what he was hearing. He turned towards Kysandra, and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

"Kysandra, you will do as I tell you. If either of us falls behind the other will not come back. One of us is better for the Council than neither. Do you understand?"

Kysandra nodded, and her eyes began welling with tears. Relik wiped them off.

"Ready? Now!" he whispered, and both began running.

They ran with all the strength they had. Neither stepped in glass nor made crashing noises, and the band that had shot at the deer did not notice their flight. They ran for what seemed like an eternity, though it was in actuality a short time. They reached the motel again.

Kysandra walked into the center and called out to the people.

"We are not the only ones here."

Chapter 28 - The Waiting Game

2005-11-13T21:25:00.000-05:00

The Free Council stayed at the motel just as Kysandra had decreed. A few people, primarily Hylik, were opposed to the plan, but in general everyone was just as willing to stay in the motel where they had beds to sleep on and a roof over their head.

They explored the region more over the next few days. They found what was likely once the center of the town, though it was damaged heavily enough that it was hard to tell. One store still remained in near-perfect condition, and had not been looted. It was likely that anyone who would have looted it died in the bombing.

So the Council looted the building for canned food and bottles of various drinks. Some non-water beverages were still available, which for many were their first taste of a drink that was not water. Most decided that water was superior.

Tyra, Krynn, and Relik came to know more people over the course of their time with the Council. Tyra became good friends with Sylva, who had apparently lived in their village for some time, although it was before Tyra would have been old enough to remember. Relik became much better friends with Kysandra, and nobody other than Relik was surprised when Kysandra woke him one morning with a kiss. And although he was surprised, he certainly enjoyed the experience.

Krynn, however, did not talk with many people. He generally only spent time with Relik, but Relik was frequently with Kysandra, as the two were beginning to grow romantic in their relationship. Tyra and Sylva were spending time looting and hunting together, and so Krynn had to find new friends. So Krynn befriended two people.

The first was Hylik, though Krynn was worried that Hylik cared more at getting back at Kysandra for their broken romance than for the survival of the Council.

The other was somebody that they had not spoken to much over the course of their time with the council, a man named Ralyn. Ralyn was apparently the son of Pulse, and was still emotionally damaged over the death of his father. He was recovering rapidly, as he realized that survival was more important than mourning, but the pain was still there.

Ralyn did not enjoy Hylik's company, and so Krynn never saw both of his friends simultaneously, except when Kysandra called meetings.

And so the slaves settled into their new homes, waiting for the arrival of Jude. Tyra thought back to her vision that she had of Jude on the rock, and recalled him saying that he did not know how he would find them. She had purposefully withheld this information from the Council, so that no dissent would rise from people frustrated at the waiting for something that seemed impossible to come.

But Tyra trusted Jude, even though his message came in so strange a fashion as the vision. She believed deep in her heart that Jude's soul had projected that message, and that soon, he would be here.

Chapter 27 - Dancing of Souls

2005-11-13T21:24:00.000-05:00

Jude woke up early the next morning, his mind pondering all that he had learned in the few weeks since he left his camp. Nothing seemed to make sense, from the destruction of the camp to the mystery of the tower, from the aurora-script to his friends. He could not make sense of any of it.

He wandered further in the direction in which the sun rises, although he did not know where he was going. He hoped that he would figure out exactly what Survivor had meant soon so that he could find his friends.

His body ached from his ceaseless journeys, and his mind could barely keep focused on the task at hand. Night was already beginning to fall again, and he had not stopped once to eat or think.

Needing some sort of escape for his restless mind, Jude decided to light a fire for the first time in a while. The weather had been warm and he usually ate his food raw, so it hadn't been a necessity before. And this time he was only doing it as a distraction.

And so he gathered pieces of homes that he knew would burn, such as timber from supports that had long collapsed. He piled them in the road, and then shot a low-powered blast from his gun at them. They lit with only a minor explosion from the weapon.

He sat down and watched as the flames crackled and burned. Despite the fact that the night was already rather warm, Jude felt his spirits lifting as his body heated up from the flames.

Flames circled around, engulfing the wood and waste that he was burning. Using only the light from the fire, he began to look at the Kryonomicon again.

Somehow, the aurora-script within did not seem quite so foreign and alien to him. He still could not comprehend its message, but it did not seem contrary to the human thought process any longer.

Jude suddenly could have sworn that he heard a voice. It seemed to be coming from the flames. And it sounded like Survivor. He looked into the flames, and they seemed to take the form of Survivor's head, albeit an ethereal and wispy form of his head.

"Jude," it said, now clearly Survivor's voice. "Ukl shïkal ûkaj kif ukl Kryonomicon. The answer lies in the Kryonomicon."

It had happened. Jude looked down at the Kryonomicon, and the script now flowed in a linear fashion before his mind, despite the fractal-like patterns that were actually written on the paper. He could actually now understood some of the words there.

And he finally learned what the six words meant. Ukl shïkal ûkaj kif ukl Kryonomicon. The answer lies in the Kryonomicon. This was his Rosetta Stone, and given time, it would surely be able to help him read the Kryonomicon.

He stared at the fire again. The flames had reorganized themselves into their chaotic patterns and no longer formed Survivor's face.

Smaller flames leapt up from the fire, and each one seemed to form a face from Jude's past. Whether they were his mother whom he had never known (but who he figured the face was) or Tyra or Relik, he saw the faces in the fire, the burning souls of the ones he loved, dancing in the flames.

And then he had his second revelation of the night. He had seen the Dancing of Souls in the fire, and he figured that the fires themselves were the dancing.

But he still didn't know how to follow them. Both fires and auroras moved in chaotic patterns that were not followable by the human mind. They did not point in a direction. He would not be able to follow them.

So how was he supposed to follow them? Jude pondered this but could not find the answer. He picked up the Kryonomicon to try to read it, but there was not enough light left from the sun and the fire was dying.

Chapter 26 - Standing Ground

2005-11-13T13:50:00.000-05:00

Tyra sat weeping in bed. Burying her face in the mattress upon which she slept, she wished and wished that Jude was there. Kysandra, the other person in her room, was awoken from the noise. Seeing Tyra crying on her bed, she walked over to comfort her.

"Tyra, what is wrong?" she asked, her voice more curious than comforting.

Tyra sat up, tears streaming down her face. She regained her composure and faced Kysandra.

"I had a dream last night," she said, her voice crackling from her sadness. "In it I saw my lost lover, Jude. He sat weeping on a rock on an island. I tried to comfort him. He looked into my eyes, and began speaking to me. 'Tyra,' he said, 'I am coming for you.'"

"He is coming for you?" asked Kysandra. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"He told me that he received a vision from our mentor and surrogate father from our camp, and that he told them that Krynn, Relik, and I were safe. He was also told how to find us, though he did not tell me how he planned to do it."

Kysandra looked at Tyra, her head filling with questions.

"What exactly do you think this means?" she asked, the question taking the most importance in her mind.

"I am not sure," said Tyra. "One side of my mind tells me it was only a dream, while the other side says that he is indeed coming for us."

"I do believe that he is coming," said Kysandra. "Dreams happen for a reason, Tyra, whether we know it or not. If you dream that someone told you something, then within their soul they are telling you that thing.

"We shall stay here, at this motel. It is in good condition, as is much of the area, and the Council should be able to find plenty of food. I will call a meeting to tell the others of this."

Both walked outside, and Kysandra walked from room to room, banging on the doors and calling for the inhabitants to come outside and hold a meeting.

In a few minutes the people were gathered around Kysandra, their expressions making it clear that they were curious as to why they were being called to a meeting before they had woken naturally.

Kysandra spoke to them. She told them of Tyra's dream, and what it means. "This dream is not just a dream. It is the bind between two souls. Jude's soul is restless in its search for Tyra, and so they will be joined again. This dream is a premonition: Jude is coming. We shall wait here until he arrives."

Hylik was the first to call out from the crowd.

"And just how do we know that this is not just another dream? How do we know that this was not just Tyra's desires manifesting?"

"This was no dream," called Tyra, addressing Hylik directly. "This was too real, and I could feel Jude's truth. We spoke to each other through dreams, it was not just me wishing to see him."

"And why should we trust this Jude? Three people know him, and we barely know them!"
Kysandra silenced him. "Tyra, Krynn, and Relik have all acted very responsibly and helped us an enormous amount. Had it not been for them, the Order of Vengeance would still stand."

"And why should we stay here? Shouldn't we travel more, as we decided just days ago?"

This time it was Relik who spoke. "We have no reason to travel. We do not know for what we seek. We travel aimlessly. This place has beds for all, and the area still lies safe. Food is sure to be plentiful."

Hylik's face turned red, and it looked like he was about to scream at the head of the council. He said nothing, however, and instead returned to his room.

The others murmured, though no others raised questions to the plan. They either agreed with Kysandra or with Hylik, or were indifferent.

The rest of the day was spent exploring the area for food. It appeared that a number of deer herds existed in the area, and if hunted correctly, could serve as a permanent food source - and it could easily hold out until Jude arrived.

The Free Council went to bed that night knowing that they would be spending time here, in this building, until their visitor arrived.

Chapter 25 - Dancing of the Skies

2005-11-13T13:47:00.000-05:00

That same night that Tyra had her dream of the reunion between herself and Jude, Jude had no dreams. The night was calm and peaceful, and he slept easily and without incident. He thought little of his friends or lover.

He woke in the morning feeling lost. Although he knew about where he was, or, more importantly, how to get back to the City, he did not know how to find his quarry. Survivor's message still meant nothing to him. "Follow the dancing of the skies, the dancing of souls." What exactly was that supposed to mean?

Jude did not know. He got up from where he had slept that night and began walking in the direction in which the sun rises.

He purposefully walked a different route back than the one that he had taken out, so that Lukäski and his band of kryons would not be able to find him. He did not want to know what would happen if they did.

And so he traveled, his gun in both of his hands and his eyes on constant alert for any sign of movement. Birds and other small animals frequently caught his attention, though they were clearly not kryons or Lukäski. He only stopped when he had to eat or excrete, never due to weary feet.

Night fell. Looking around, Jude saw nowhere to sleep for the night. Sunlight was decreasing rapidly, and so Jude began running in the hopes that he would be able to find a place in which to sleep.

Just as the sun was sinking below the horizon, Jude found a house that was still relatively intact. One of the walls was burnt and the roof had collapsed, but the furniture was still there and Jude could get a good night's sleep on the bottom-floor sofa.

Jude walked inside and lay down on the sofa. There was a hole in the ceiling directly above his head, which in turn was beneath the collapsed roof, giving him a clear view of the night sky.

He stared at the stars, wondering from where the kryons came. And although he had never heard stories about it, he wondered if humans had ever colonized another planet. He suspected not, as they likely would have returned to defend their homeworld.

Night passed slowly, and Jude was unable to fall asleep. He toyed with the cube for a bit, but was unable to make any progress. He looked through the hole again. The aurora raged above.

He watched as the colors twirled above him, and slowly he began to fall asleep. His mind mixed the reds of the aurora with the red of the fires at his camp, and the other colors as the people dancing around it.

And then he had a revelation. Just as the people danced around the fires, this was the sky dancing around the Earth. It was the Dancing of the Skies, just as Survivor had told him in his dream.

He watched the patterns overhead, and quickly realized that he would have to follow them in order to find his friends and lover.

But then his heart sank. The dancing was chaotic, and it did not follow a set path.
So how was he supposed to follow them to his friends? The aurora could surely not lead him to where he wished to go.

He thought back to Survivor's words. He had also mentioned the Dancing of Souls. Jude had taken this to simply be a synonym for the Dancing of the Skies, though now he thought differently. Though what the Dancing of Souls could be, he did not know.

Jude thought about these things until late into the night, when darkness finally overtook him.

Chapter 24 - Partners

2005-11-13T13:45:00.000-05:00

The Free Council continued to travel in the direction in which the sun sets. Relik and Kysandra were becoming fast friends, and Tyra and Krynn were becoming friends with some of the other people.

The journey was surprisingly peaceful and uneventful. No savage bands had attacked, nor had dangerous animals appeared. Food was plentiful enough, and the people were no longer dying from hunger. Most of the people who had been ill became healthy and active, and the atmosphere had improved to certainty of survival.

The weather had been cool for the time of the year, and light breezes helped keep people active.

They had not, however, found many good place to sleep. Usually they made do in a house which had no furniture due to looters in the years just following the invasion. They would sleep on the hard floors or rough carpets, and most people were weary and tired from their journeys and lack of sleep.

One night, however, they found what had once been a motel. The beds were still intact, and everyone was able to get a good night's sleep. And it was on this night that Tyra received her vision.

She was sitting standing on a small island on a river. Fog swirled around her, and unintelligible voices sounded. Although it was daylight, an aurora raged overhead. Tyra heard weeping coming from the fog.

It was the sound of a male weeping. And upon thinking more about the voice, Tyra was able to identify the person. It was Jude.

She walked through the fog to meet with her lover. He was sitting on a boulder, his face in his hands. Tears rolled down his arms.

Tyra walked over and placed her hands on his shoulders. She lowered her head to his, and kissed him on the cheek. He uncovered his eyes to see who it was.

"Tyra!" he shouted, surprised to see his lover here. His face suddenly became happy, although tears still rolled down it.

Tyra hushed him. Placing her hands on his face, she wiped away his tears.

"I am here," she said, her voice calm and soothing. Her hair glistened in the sunlight, and small waves broke on the island.

"Tyra, you must listen to me," Jude said, his eyes staring deep into hers. "Tyra, I am coming for you."

"How can this be?" she responded, surprised at his declaration.

"I received a vision from Survivor, and he instructed me to find you. I know not how I shall do it, but I am coming for you. I will find you."

Tyra looked at him, and began weeping. "Jude, I have missed you much."

Hushing Tyra, Jude wrapped his arms around her. They embraced, and both wept for their separation.

"Tyra," said Jude, raising his head from her shoulders and looking back into her eyes. "I am coming."

Tyra awoke from her sleep. She reached her hand up to her face, and felt tears rolling down her cheek. She cried and wept for her lost lover.

But he had made a promise. Despite the distance in time and space that stood between their last meeting, he promised to come for her. They would see each other again, though in what manner was not clear.

Tyra's heart both fell for the loss of Jude, and rose again for the promise of their reunion.

Chapter 23 - Reversing Direction

2005-11-13T13:44:00.000-05:00

Jude sat on the glass-covered street. He thought back to all that had passed in his most recent dream and vision. His friends were alive. They had crossed the river to the mainland recently. And now Survivor wanted him to return and seek them out.

But how was he supposed to do that? There was no way that he, after spending so long from them, would be able to return and find them. Yes, Survivor had left some strange clues as to what he should do, but they made no sense to Jude at the present moment.

He decided, however, that it would be best to turn around. While returning to the City, he might have a revelation as to the meaning of Survivor's words. Or luck might be on his side, and he might find them without having to decipher the meaning of Survivor's message.

Jude looked at where he now was, and thought about how he had got there. He thought that it would be relatively easy to find his way back, as all he had to do was travel in the direction in which the sun rises, and he should be able to find the island again. However, he was concerned about one aspect of his trip which would be all too likely to come back to haunt him.

What worried him was the threat of Lukäski and his band of kryons. Jude had never actually managed to pacify them nor destroy them, and if they captured him again, it would be almost certain doom. For as good of a marksman as he was, Jude knew that he would not be able to defeat such a large band of adversaries.

Nevertheless, he knew what it was that he had to do. He had to return and seek out his friends. His heart would not be able to rest if he left Tyra knowingly. He also wished to learn more of the events when the camp was destroyed, and what had happened to them after that horrible event.

Jude did not, however, have the energy to turn around at the moment. He was still tired, and his body still ached from his journey. An empty house lay by the wayside, and he made his way there to rest for a few hours.

While inside, he found a can of food which he ate as his day's meal. He opened up the Kryonomicon and looked at it.

All of the drawings appeared to be of kryon ships and weapons, and no such ship was drawn as the wasp-ship from his dream. And the presence of the wasp-ship within the children's book only made him afraid.

Jude thought more about the Kryonomicon and the aurora-script. Somehow, he would have to learn the language it was written in order to find the truth about the events from the war. He would have to learn the meaning of everything that had happened.

And another thought about the Kryonomicon troubled him. Who exactly had written it? It was likely a kryon, as it seemed that the language it was written in was the kryon tongue. However, he had no idea why a kryon would have written such a book and left it on Earth, where it was free to have been read by the human race.

Also, Survivor did know of the existence of the book. The phrase "Ukl shïkal ûkaj kif ukl Kryonomicon" mentioned it, and it was simply too much of a coincidence that Survivor had mentioned the Kryonomicon that he surely knew what it was. But how?
Jude did not know the answers, and no amount of wondering could possibly clear up this matter. So Jude gathered up his things, and reversed directions.

Chapter 22 - Kysandra

2005-11-13T13:42:00.000-05:00

The Free Council traveled the direction in which the sun sets, knowing not for what they sought. In the past few days, they had spent their effort catching food to fill their empty stomachs. They had been very successful in this, and no one complained of hunger. Even the sick, weak ones looked healthy thanks to a reasonable diet.

After three days of hunting and eating, the Free Council left the shoreline of the mainland. Kysandra, as the leader of the Council, took the front, and was followed thereafter by Tyra, Krynn, and Relik. Hylik took up the rear.

Kysandra began talking with the three friends.

"I know that you have told me that you fled the destruction of your village some weeks ago. However, you have not told me much else of your past. Might it possible for me to learn more? If I am overstepping my boundaries, please so say."

"Yes, we will tell you more," said Tyra, though Krynn and Relik walked silently behind them. "What is it that you wish to know?"

"I wish to know more of the people who lived with you. Did you have any survivors of the invasion? And do any of you know of someone who was away from the village at the time it was razed?"

Tyra responded, "We had one who had survived, and he called himself Survivor for that reason. He was an older man, a bit older than Pulse was before he died. He became a surrogate father to those of us who were orphans, such as myself. We saw him incinerated in the burning of the camp.

"We know only of one who was not there when the camp was razed. He was my lover, a hunter named Jude. We could not stay to wait for his return, as we knew that if the attackers had seen us, we would have been annihilated. We know not where he is."

Kysandra looked at her grimly. "I see. We shall look for clues as to the location of Jude. However, I have no promises that we shall ever see him again. I am sorry, Tyra."

She looked back at the others. "Now then," she said, her voice and eyes brightening. "Is there anything that you wish to know about me?"

"Yes," said Relik, his eyes lighting up. "Tell us of your history before you were captured by the Order."

"Well then, I shall tell you of my past. But be forewarned, it is not a happy one.
"My name is not Kysandra as you pronounce it, but an older pretime pronunciation, Cassandra. My full name was Cassandra O'Conner. I know not if I had a middle name, but it matters not.

"My father was a charismatic leader. Although I was barely old enough to remember, I do believe that he was the leader of the world after a massive war swept over just a decade before the kryons came. He had risen from his ruined homeland of Ireland, a nation across the ocean, to unite the world after its wars.

"He died when I was still very young. I do not know who my mother is, nor have I found documents detailing my father's life from which I could discern her name. I must only assume that she died giving birth to me.

"My father cared for me in the after-war period, however I know that he was slaughtered at some point by a barbarian group. This same group captured and enslaved me. I was only a young girl at the time.

"They tortured me cruelly due to my heritage. Later, however, I managed to escape and lived free for some years. I met and fell in love with Hylik, whom you know. We were growing apart when the Order captured us.

"That was the deciding blow. We separated, and are likely never to love each other again.

"And that is what I know of my own history."

Relik stared into Kysandra's eyes. He had never suspected such a history behind someone who seemed like such a simple woman. He wished to know more about Kysandra, and to became closer to her. For he believed in his heart that she was special, and that whatever powers that be had destined their meeting.

Chapter 21 - Visions

2005-11-13T13:39:00.000-05:00

Jude thought more about the picture in the children's book. The book clearly was a collection of only human ships, as it was written for human children and not kryon children. Besides, Jude already knew of just about every other ship in the book and the fact that they were all human ships.

But what this could mean frightened Jude. If his dream had been accurate, had a wasp-ship unleashed death upon the City, then the kryons were not responsible for the burning of his homeland, but humans.

He had heard occasionally from Survivor that there had been a war before the invasion, but he also knew that his city was burned during the invasion. Besides, there had been the headline of "Contact with Extraterrestrials Made" on the newspaper stand in the square. No, the vision he had had was definitely from the kryon-invasion period, and the ship was almost certainly human.

Why would humans unleash such destruction upon themselves while simultaneously they made contact with the kryons? Should it not have been obvious that the kryons had enough needless animosity to invade the Earth?

Jude did not know the answers. He read the children's book over and over, hoping to find some information about the ship, or about the other ships. He had not seen the fighters released from the ship in great enough detail to identify them, but the book listed three different types of fighters commonly used with the wasp-ship (which was apparently called "The Wasp").

Jude slept for several nights in the same place, not wishing to travel further until he had made some progress in deciphering what this could mean. And it was on the third night that he got the dream.

He was standing in the Square of Time. It was burning, and the wasp-ship was visible over the horizon, flying away. No one was left to mourn the dead. Overhead, an aurora raged as a fog of colors swirled over Jude.

He felt his mind bending and turning, and flipping end over end. The sun raced across the sky, and night fell. Voices and music sounded, though nothing was clearly audible.

But then he heard his namesake spoken over the air. "Jude," the voice said, coming from right behind him. Jude spun around, and there before him was an ethereal vision of his mentor and surrogate father, Survivor.

"Jude," he said again, looking him straight in the eye. "It is time that you find your friends."

Jude looked at his mentor's eyes, and asked "My friends? Did they not die in the destruction of our camp, as did you?"

"No, they did not," Survivor responded, his voice eerily monotone compared to the sound of wind gusts in the Square. "Your two friends Krynn and Relik, and the one who is dearest to your heart, Tyra, are still alive."

Before Survivor could finish, Jude collapsed to the ground. Tyra! So Tyra had survived. He wept bitterly over leaving his friends behind, though he could not be blamed, he had thought that they were dead.

"Jude, listen to me," Survivor said, his voice changing in pitch. "Your friends are alive though not well. They crossed the river to the mainland just days ago. You must return and seek them out. Follow the dancing of the skies, the dancing of souls. Search out and you shall find them, and the patterns shall lead you there."
Survivor's form faded into the distance.

"What? Come back!" Jude called. "I know not of what you speak!"

No voice responded.

Colors swirled and the faces of a cube flipped as the faces of the puzzle cube did. Jude's mind raced and he felt it stretching far above the horizon. Wind picked up, and newspapers in the square flew everywhere, the only sign left from the time after the bombing.

Jude looked to the distance. He could still see the wasp-ship, and it was now joined by others. He concentrated, and could feel his mind reaching forward for that which he could not see.

Fog covered his eyes and mind, and he awoke from the dream.

Jude shivered not from cold, but from fear as he lay in his makeshift bed. He had had another dream, and that was the thing that he had feared the most. He was afraid that the dreams would simply make him too confused or too weary to live, and that he would surely die lost and confused.

And this dream did not help him overcome that fear. Survivor's words were haunting and strange, calm compared to the evil around him.

Nor did they make sense. Jude could not make much sense at all as to the meaning of the words that Survivor had spoken. Yes, it was clearly true that his friends had survived the burning of the camp. However, he was now supposed to track them down? How could that be possible?

And what did Survivor mean by saying "Follow the dancing of the skies, the dancing of souls. Search them out and you shall find them, and the patterns shall lead you there"?

The words made no sense, and Jude could do nothing about trying to make sense of his latest vision, nor of his previous ones.

Chapter 20 - The Free Council

2005-11-13T13:37:00.000-05:00

The slaves walked outside of the subway system, and gathered around Krynn, Relik, Tyra, and Kysandra. They gathered in a cleared-out area of street, free of most glass and concrete.

They were there to discuss what to do now. No one really had thought about what they would actually do once they escaped the Order of Vengeance.

Kysandra was the first to speak at the meeting. “Ladies and gentleman,” she announced, her voice cool and collected over the silent crowd, “we’re free.”

The slaves erupted in cheers and applause. Kysandra motioned for a silence again.
“We need to have some sort of organizational structure if we are going to escape a fate like that one again. First we need a leader, since Pulse was killed in our rebellion.”

Someone called out from the crowd, “Kysandra shall be our leader!” Affirmative cheers and whistles were clearly audible. It was obvious that she was the only leader that they wanted.

She raised her hands into the air, and the crowd got silent. Although Krynn, Relik, and Tyra had never seen anyone perform an action such as this, it was obvious that it was used before they were captured to gain the attention of the group.

“What, then, shall we do? Shall we stay here and use the subway system as our own homes? Shall we find homes and rebuild them here on this island? Or should we cross the river, in the hopes of finding out what else lies in this dead land?”

Everyone looked at everyone else, but not a word was spoken. Tyra walked to the center of the circle, and stood next to Kysandra.

She called out to the slaves. “I hereby propose that we cross the river to the mainland. We may be able to find others to join our group, and we can search out exactly what happened when the kryons came.”

People pondered this, but slowly they came to agree with her. Only one person was opposed to the idea: Hylik.

“I don’t believe that this is a good idea. We have no reason to leave this island, that we all know. We have no proof that this place is still dangerous.”
The others rejected this idea, if nothing else because they were curious as to what the mainland had.

Kysandra had one other order of business with the group. She decided that they needed a name. Nothing with the word “Order” would do, as it would stir up too many horrible memories of the Order of Vengeance.

And so a debate raged for about half an hour or so. It was decided that they would be called the Free Council, as they were a group of free people who worked together as one unit.

The Council began the journey towards the river. They arrived there later that day, and looked for a way to cross it. Boats were lined up across the side of the river, long neglected after their owner’s deaths. Looking up and down the river, they saw no signs of pirates or savages.

They climbed into the largest boat, and Kysandra, Tyra, Krynn, and Relik all went into the cabin to see if they could figure out the controls. After a few hours of messing around with the controls, they successfully turned the boat on.

It didn’t take long after that to learn how to move the boat forward. Krynn took the wheel, and Relik served as lookout for pirates and such. In just a few short minutes, they had crossed the river uneventfully.

They disembarked from the boat and looked around at the region that was on the other side of the river. It looked just like the region that they had lived before, on the island of the Old City.

They began their journey in the direction that the sun sets, simply because it was the direction away from the island on which they were. They knew not what would lie beyond the horizon, only that they must expect the unexpected.

Chapter 19 - The Subway

2005-11-09T20:47:00.000-05:00

The slaves had no time to lose. Relik, who had been a hunter back before the village had been destroyed, distributed guns to other people, according to how he felt each person would be at them.

Fortunately for Tyra, one of the guards had also had her old kryon Make 2 plasma blades, and so she took them back to use them, instead of wielding a gun. Kysandra was given a gun very similar to the gun that Survivor used before he modified it.

The slaves put the guns over their backs, and held them, ready to fire. Krynn had told them not to keep the power setting too high, but to make sure that it could easily kill someone in one shot.

The slaves cautiously walked down the first staircase. Krynn and Relik lead the way, and Tyra and Kysandra were not far behind. Hylik brought up the rear. The other slaves filled in the area between.

Relik got down on his hands and knees and crawled into the main lobby of the station. A group of guards were sitting around a fire, oblivious to what had just happened above ground. He motioned to Krynn, and the two walked out into the lobby.

“Greetings, boys,” Relik called. The guards turned around, but it was far too late. Krynn and Relik had opened fire.

Explosions of heat and light spread throughout the tunnels, and the footsteps of more guards coming as reinforcements were clearly audible. The other slaves charged into the room.

Tyra engaged her blades. She charged at the front of the line, and within only a few seconds, three guards lay cut in half, their bodies split open by the intense heat of the blade.

The slaves with guns continued to open fire. After only a minute of carnage had passed, Relik called out for a cease-fire. They looked around at the smoldering and melted ruins of what had once been the camp for the guards. No one was left alive.

One slave had perished in the attack, but only because of an unlucky shot by another.

The slaves dropped their power settings down to a much lower setting. Walking systematically from pen to pen, they shot every one of the guard dogs in the head. In no time at all, the dogs were dead, just as their masters were.

They then began to walk down the tunnel towards where Leader’s headquarters were. The same tunnel was also the prison wing for the slaves, and many who were too weak to work but showed signs of improving were still here, chained and hungry but certainly willing to join them.

They walked around, shooting the locks with their guns, set at low power. In half an hour, all of the slaves of the Order of Vengeance were either free or dead.

The mass continued moving down the tunnel. At last they had released the metal-enclosed room in which Leader operated the Order.

Relik slammed his fist against the window.

“Leader, we know you’re in there! Come out!”

No answer came back to them.

A voice from the crowd called out, “Just blast your way in! The doors will easily give way!” The voice was Sylva’s – surprising, as she had never been one to seem particularly assertive.

Krynn shrugged at Relik, and then did as suggested. The door was blasted against the far wall.

The slaves charged into the room. Everything was still in there, except for Leader, who was nowhere to be seen. They began rustling through papers, hoping to find out more about the organization that had kept them on the verge of death for so long.

Nothing was there.

Relik, curious to learn more about the world, took down the poster map from the wall.

A crate of ammo for various weapons sat in the corner, and another slave volunteered to carry it.

And so the band successfully freed themselves from the bondage of the Order of Vengeance, and breathed free air once again.

Chapter 18 - Escapes

2005-11-09T19:40:00.000-05:00

Jude held his hands in the air and dropped his guns. He looked back over at the commander of the squad.

“You have one more chance to answer me, human. What are you here for?”

The kryons turned their guns slightly, aiming them straight at Jude.

Jude looked defiantly at the man. “I am here seeking the answers of the destruction of my home and village. I did not know of your presence here, and will leave should you desire it.”

The man motioned to the kryons, who lowered their weapons.

“Nay, you do not need to leave. We shall not shoot you.”

He approached Jude and reached out his hand. Jude hesitantly shook it.

“My name is Jude,” he said, looking at the strange man. “What is it, exactly, that you want?”

“Greetings, Jude,” he responded, his silver eyes glowing with an otherworldly light. “My name is Lukäski. My desire is simple. I wish to dominate the human race, as you are of.”

Jude stepped backwards slightly, hoping that he could make a run for it. The decision was a bad one. The kryons obviously had much faster reflexes than he thought, and in a split seconds, all guns were facing him again.

“Ah, Jude, you are a foolish man. You obviously have no sense of the skill of kryon warriors. Their reflexes are so highly tuned, you wouldn’t even know that I had moved and they would have shot me thirty times each.

“I am afraid that you are here to stay with us until I give you free passage. Or until you die.”

Jude looked around at the guns facing him.

“What exactly is it that you want from me?”

“We need your weaponry. All three of those guns, we need them. If we get them, we will grant you passage. If not, we will kill you. The choice is yours.”

Jude needed to make his decision quickly and decisively. He began to pull forward his gun so that he could give it Lukäski. At that moment he acted. He pulled the trigger.

Simultaneously, he flicked his eyes and felt the path of an aurora shaping across his mind. Time slowed.

He saw the kryons lifting up their weapons with which to shoot him. His own beam had struck Lukäski, exploding him instantly.

Shots were fired. Looking around himself, Jude saw an advancing labyrinth of beams and rays, all bent on his destruction. He knew that even if he somehow escaped the rays, the combined explosion would easily annihilate him.

The aurora spread. Jude felt as though his mind were spinning inside of his skull, and suddenly, he was in the air. He was not flying, but rather jumping extraordinarily high.

Time was still acting slowly, and the kryons had changed their ray’s trajectories to better suit Jude’s jump. Still, they were unable to react fast enough.

Jude began falling back to Earth. He looked desperately for a place to land, as he suddenly realized that being high in the air was not an especially safe place when gravity takes hold of you.

Fortunately, he found a caved-in house in which a mattress was still intact. He landed on it, and heard the breaking of springs. He fell to the ground, and his pack fell off of his back.

A single book fell out of the pack, though not the Kryonomicon or Survivor’s journal. It was one he had forgotten about, the children’s book of human spacecraft. It opened to a random page.

That page had an illustration of a mothership used by the humans during the invasion period.

The ship was an enormous wasp.

The day of the revolution was nearly here. All of the prisoners had their doubts about whether or not their plan would succeed, but they were all reasonably confident in their abilities.

The revolt had been set to take place in three days, but already tension was high. Hylik, who turned out to be rather difficult to keep a secret, nearly cost them their lives on several occasions. However, he never let out enough information to make their plan obvious to their captors.

The next few days passed peacefully and without incident, save Torture’s lashings of people at the end-of-day work checks.

The day that they would revolt had finally arrived. Pulse sat aside, in the shade, so that the hot afternoon sun would hopefully make him sweat little, if at all. The others worked harder than ever in the hopes that they could work up a greater sweat to make Pulse’s lack of work more obvious.

The sun was beginning to set, and soon Torture and his men had come. The men brandished guns as always, though they seemed to have their whips more readily at hand.

Torture made his rounds. He whipped Krynn once (he hadn’t liked him since he first laid eyes on him), and then walked to Pulse.

“What in humanity? You haven’t worked!” He whipped Pulse across the face. The whip lashed around and hit him in the neck.

Blood poured out. Pulse collapsed to the ground, falling quickly into unconsciousness. Shouts of anguish came from the others, who charged Torture immediately.

They managed to quickly bring him to the ground, pounding him with their fists. The others began beating the guards, and trying their hardest to wrestle the guns out of their hands.

Explosions occurred left and right as shots were fired into the air. Screams of pain came from both sides, and blood soon ran like water on the ground.

Tyra was wrestling one of the guards alone. In what seemed like an eternity, they were locked, unable to push the gun far enough to slay each other. Finally, Kysandra, who had just killed another guard, came over and pushed the gun down. Tyra pressed the trigger, and the guard exploded.

The battle was over. The slaves, successful in their revolt, looked around at the body count. Pulse lay dead, his blood leaking from his neck. Three other slaves also lay dead, after attempting to wrestle Torture. Torture himself was dead, as were all of the guards.

The slaves looked at each other, and thought about what they had just done. They took the guns from the dead guards, and made their way down into the subway system.

Chapter 17 - Trapped

2005-11-08T21:25:00.000-05:00

Jude looked at the book again. Although written in aurora-script, it had a number of easily decipherable drawings, all of the style of the image of the tower. They were generally shaded well, making the three-dimensional aspect of them obvious.

Many of the drawings were of kryon ships and weapons. Jude saw ships that looked like birds of prey, their main cannon hanging beneath the cabin of the ship. He saw guns he had never seen, usually built to what seemed like it would fit the kryon anatomy better. Still, many did appear that they would fit humans better.

He also saw specialized kryon plasma blades. He began to cry when he first saw them, thinking of Tyra for the first time in weeks. He wondered what had happened to her, and where she was now. He hoped with all his heart that she was safe.

And then he had another thought. He had been attacked by not one kryon, but three. It was unlikely that all three kryons would have missed boarding whatever ship they were supposed to return to during the invasion, or that they had lived this long in the house since the invasion.

Only one situation really seemed possible to him. There must still be a moderate-sized kryon population in the vicinity.

Jude's heart rose as he thought more about the situation. Perhaps these kryons had spent long enough from the rest of kryonity that they had lost their animosity towards humans. The chance was slim, but it was still a possibility. Perhaps they would be able to communicate, somehow, and work together to figure out exactly what happened before the war.

He looked through the Kryonomicon more. There did not appear to be any sort of human weapon or ship, and so he took it to mean that the image of the tower would mean that it was kryon-made. But why the kryons would build such a tower in the ruins of an earth city was beyond him.

An explosion disrupted his thought. He turned around, and saw a mass of smoke rising from what had been a stable piece of glass. Shards of glass fell from the sky. Jude ran for cover.

More shots rang out. Each one just missed Jude as he ran towards a building that was only about half-destroyed. He heard a voice behind him.

The voice was not very deep, and sounded asexual. He did not believe that the voice came from a human, as he would have been able to identify the gender of the speaker. The voice was not speaking in the common tongue, but instead was speaking in a language that sounded similar to that which the kryons had been speaking. Jude turned around slowly to face the speaker.

At first glance the speaker looked like a man. His hair was a flaming red, and light seemed to come from his silvery eyes. He was also very tall, looking to be at least seven feet tall. Surrounding him were two kryons, and as Jude looked around he saw more and more kryons moving out of the rubble. Each one brandished a weapon, all wielding kryon weapons, although some resembled human guns more than kryon guns.

The man, obviously the leader of the group, spoke a single word to them, which was obviously a command. He then turned and faced Jude.

"Greetings," he said, eyeing Jude and the weaponry that he held. "What brings you here to these parts?"

Jude was not sure as to how to respond. "I come from the island from the direction in which the sun rises. I am here seeking out the answers."

The man looked back. "Answers? Answers to what?"

And then Jude realized that he wasn't entirely certain what it was that he sought, and he certainly had no idea how to respond to the man.

The man turned spoke to Jude again. "I don't have all day. If you don't respond, I will have to do something that I will regret."

Jude remained silent.

"I apologize in advance for this." He called out to the kryons, and issued another one word command to them.

The kryons turned up the power setting of their guns.

Chapter 16 - Kryonomicon

2005-11-08T21:24:00.000-05:00

Jude walked for several more days, until he thought that his feet were going to fall off. He stopped rarely, only eating once per day and only sleeping for six or so hours per day. He had no more dreams in those days, and could not figure out the answer to that which he sought. Nor did he make any progress in solving the cube puzzle.

This particular day was surprisingly hot for the time of year that it was. Jude began drinking water regularly, although he was afraid that at this rate he would soon run out of it. Sweat dripped off of his back, neck, and hair, and every step felt like it will kill him.

The sun was high in the sky, and finally Jude could take it no longer. Looking around, he saw a building - no more than a residential house - that he could stay in until the sun got lower.

The building was two stories high, and was undamaged, despite the bombing that obviously occurred here when compared to the rest of the area. The plants in the front yard had long grown tall, and front door was nearly covered in vines.

Fortunately, Jude found that the back door was unlocked. He opened it slowly, in case any sort of animal had been locked inside of the building for a time.

Stagnant air hit his face, and he ducked back out of the house in order to get some fresh air. He held the back door open for a few minutes, in hopes to equalize the air between the two places.

Jude walked back inside. The air was fresher now and more breathable. He looked around. The place had remained relatively clean, but dust had long settled and collected on everything. The skeleton of a dog lay in the main room of the house.

Jude walked into the main room, pushing the skeleton aside. A sofa and a few chairs were there, and Jude thought to himself that this could be a good place to spend the night.

He wandered around to the other rooms on the ground floor. He found a refrigerator, and opened it up.

Ignoring the foul stench of rotten food that had had years to stagnate, Jude looked into it. Five bottles of water sat there. He took all five, knowing that he had been running low on it.

Jude then decided to travel to the second floor of the building. Climbing the stairs, he reached a hallway that led to the right from the staircase. Looking down the hallway, he saw into a room that was at the far end. A chest was there, and a skeleton was draped over it.

He walked to the chest, and then realized that the skeleton was not human. It was nearly identical to the one he had seen at the base of the world map where he had first seen the aurora-script. He pushed the skeleton and cobwebs to the side, and tried to open the chest. It was locked.

Jude knew exactly what to do. He swung his gun to the front and turned the power setting all the way down. He strafed to the side of the chest and fired on the lock at an angle. It melted off of chest.

He then walked back to the front of the chest and opened it. It was nearly empty. A single cobweb spread across the floor about halfway down the chest, covering up the bottom. Jude reached at it and destroyed it to see what was underneath.

Underneath was a book. The book was leather and had pages like old parchment. It immediately reminded Jude of Survivor's journal. The title was written in gold at the top.

Kryonomicon.

Jude nearly fainted when he read its title. He opened the book to a random page.
The page had a simple line drawing of a tower, reaching high into the sky, with three hyperbolic supports reaching down from about midway up the tower to the ground. Jude dropped the book on he ground, filled with shock.

And then he heard it. At least three voices were speaking at the bottom of the stairs. They were speaking another tongue and not the common tongue of the land. The voices grew louder, though Jude heard no footsteps as he would have expected. He looked back down the hallway.

Three beings were there, each brandishing full-size kryon rifles. The beings had many tentacles coming from a small body. Jude grabbed at his gun. He swung it forward, then moved to turn up the power.

He had grabbed the wrong gun, however, and the power switch was not where he had been expecting it to be. One of the beings - presumably kryons - pulled the trigger of its weapon. Jude dove to the side, and just in time as an explosion burned the chest. Fortunately, Jude had already moved the Kryonomicon to the side.

He looked at his gun. It was Survivor's. He turned the power to full, and jumped out in front of the kryons. He pulled the trigger. A massive double explosion of heat and light shot out from the end of the hallway. Alien screams came from the end of the hallway. When the dust settled, all three were lying there, their bodies burning.

Jude suddenly realized that he had cut off the one exit from the building. He looked around, and then realized that the fire was slowly spreading down the hallway to the room where he now was.

He looked around, and realized the one and only way out. Picking up the Kryonomicon, he moved to the window and smashed it in. He gathered up his inner strength, and jumped out.

He landed hard on the ground and fell on his face. He crawled away from the building, which in no time was fully engulfed in flames. He slowly stood up, and then looked down at the Kryonomicon.

It was exactly as he had seen in his dream. He opened it up, curious as to what it said. He growled in anger as he opened the first page.

The book was written entirely in aurora-script.

Chapter 15 - Planning

2005-11-08T21:22:00.000-05:00

The next few days, Krynn, Relik, and Tyra all got up as Torture came around banging on the bars, ate only the bread they received in the morning, and worked all day stripping metal. Their bodies were quickly reduced to the same figure as those around them, though the defiance that they had when they were originally captured had not dwindled. Their hands already bore scars, as did their backs.

The days passed uneventfully, with few conversations taking place with Kysandra, and no conversations with Pulse. They did come to meet some other people, such as Hylik, the former boyfriend of Kysandra before they were captured, and Sylva, the only female there besides Kysandra and Tyra.

This day was a particularly hot one, and the slaves spent most of their time working in the shade. Krynn and Hylik were talking in the corner.

"So how long ago were you captured, Hylik?"

"Must've been some two or three years ago. I'm lucky. I've stayed alive pretty well."

"You mean most don't make it that long?"

"No, most make a mistake somewhere and get executed by Torture, like the man you saw killed the night you arrived.

"I'll tell you though, if I ever manage to come up with a good plan of escape and die because of it, that would be a worthwhile cause to me."

They separated and went back to work. Krynn told Relik and Tyra about his conversation. During the heat of the day, they began speaking of a plan.

It would be a daring one indeed, and would most certainly cost them their lives if they were caught. However, it should be able to free every one of the slaves, and hopefully kill both Torture and Leader - or at least Torture.

The plan would involve rebelling when Torture made his checks at the end of the day to see to it that everyone was working properly. They would have to jump him, which could prove difficult as the other members of the Order carried weapons with them during the check.

Still, death at the hands of a blaster is a peaceful death in comparison to the torment that Torture would be able to inflict on them.

And so they discussed these matters further in the coming days, doing so only when they were sure that no minions of the Order would be around in which to eavesdrop and report.

After days of debating and discussion, they had finally worked out a plan. It would involve Pulse purposefully not working for a day. When Torture began beating him, he would have to grab the whip and try to hurl Torture to the ground. Simultaneously, the others would revolt against the guards that were with Torture. So long as they could take the weapons from the guards, the plan would work perfectly.

After they had guns, they would travel back into the subway system and shoot the guards, while freeing any slaves who were, for whatever reason, still locked up in their cells. They would shoot the dogs so that they were unable to be tracked. And then they would travel down through the tunnels and shoot Leader. "Let the kryon son burn," Hylik had said.

The plan would have to wait for some time. Torture would be more likely to expect a rebellion only a week or so after new prisoners had arrived. And so they would wait, in order to have a better chance of catching him off guard.

Obviously some still had their doubts. One day, Kysandra walked up to Tyra and spoke with her.

"May I speak with you, Tyra?"

"Of course, Kysandra."

"I'm not entirely sure that our plan will work. And what if it doesn't? We'll all die for sure. This plan is doomed to failure."

Tyra was unable to convince Kysandra, and she too was concerned. Everyone would need some convincing or else the plan would surely not work.

Chapter 14 - Whips

2005-11-08T21:18:00.000-05:00

Torture spoke to the three prisoners as they wandered back through the labyrinth of tunnels that was the subway system. No one said a word for a while, thinking only of their conversation with Leader.

About halfway back to the camp, Torture spoke again. “Right then, it’s time you three learn your lots in life. You’ll be taken to the labor center and put to work, like slugs like you deserve.”

The three prisoners looked at each other in despair but said nothing. Each was feeling their own individual pain and the communal pain of the horror of where they were.

Some time later, after passing through the camp, Torture led them above ground. It was the first time they had seen light in days, and they flinched as their eyes adjusted. As they looked around, they saw their fellow inmates working to strip metal from buildings and collect things left in them. Standing over them were members of the Order, their harsh whips doing more than encouraging the slaves to work.

“Right then, I think you’ll get to work. Your job is to strip as much metal from the buildings as you possible can. Oh, and don’t even think about fleeing. We have dogs trained to search you down, and you’ll die tied to the tracks if you run and get caught.” Torture smiled, then knocked Krynn to the ground. “Now get to work!”

Krynn stood back up, wincing in pain from his knee which was now scratched and bloody. The three prisoners walked obediently over to the nearest building that was being worked on, and using wrenches that had been provided by the members of the Order, they began to pry metal off of the buildings.

The work was long and hard. All three were surprised that they did not sustain cuts on their hands from the sharp metal, although the other prisoners did have numerous scars across their palms.

About half an hour after the three had arrived, the members of the Order left, knowing full well that the prisoners would not try to escape over fear of death.
However, the prisoners did begin to talk to one another, and one of them, a tall blonde female, walked over and began talking to Relik.

“Greetings,” she said, her voice emphasizing her sad expression on her face. “My name Kysandra. What’s yours?”

Relik, unsure of her intentions, responded simply by saying, “My name is Relik.”
Holding out her scarred and worn hand to shake with Relik, she responded by saying, “Well met, Relik. And who are these other two, do they travel with you?”

Relik reached out his hand hesitantly and shook, but his grip grew firmer every second. “Yes, they are my companions. Their names are Krynn and Tyra. We fled our village after it was destroyed - by kryons, we believe, though we never actually saw the attackers. We were captured just a few days ago by the Order.”

Returning to the sheet of metal that she was working on Kysandra addressed all three of them simultaneously. “Do you have a leader among yourselves?”

All three shook their heads in silence. No leader had been necessary to keep the order among such a small group.

“I see. Don’t fear, we have a leader here among us. His name is Pulse. See him, over there?” She pointed her finger to a nearby group working on a piece of metal. One man, much older than the rest but also much stronger, was carrying a piece of metal by himself. “He received his name after the war. He survived through it. He was taken for dead, until a pulse was found by a pirate organization. He refused to work for them, and has since spent his life in captivity under one group or another.
“If anyone will get us out of here, it will be him.”

All four turned their heads towards Pulse again. Looking at him, he looked to be about the same age as Survivor was before he perished.

Tyra turned back and faced Kysandra. “Listen, is there any way, any possible way at all that we could escape from this place and not be caught?”

Kysandra shook her head and replied, “No, we do not know of a way. We would have to fight the dogs that track us in order to escape. And plenty of people have tried, and all were caught and killed. You don’t want to flee.”

Relik cursed and spit on the ground. All four people went back to work, and continued to work for the next few hours.

As the sun was beginning to set, the slaves were all growing exhausted from their labors. The members of the Order returned, brandishing whips.

They went around to the different slaves, looking to see how much work each had done, based entirely off of the amount of sweat pouring off of them.

Walking around and observing, Torture was the one who acted the most randomly, and seemed to inflict the most pain with his lashings. He walked past the three new prisoners without stopping, but suddenly turned on a single foot and whipped Relik in the face.

Relik collapsed to the ground, blood oozing out of a gash in his forehead. He did not make a sound, but the pain was obvious in his wincing and thrashing.

Torture continued on, paying no attention to Relik’s pain. Some steps later, he hit Pulse twice: once in the back, and once in the neck. He bled from the back, but fortunately, the hit on his neck had not been strong and did not cause any visible damage to his jugular.

Satisfied, Torture called out to the prisoners. "All right, you slugs, its time to head inside and back to your cells! Get your act together and get inside!"

The slaves obediently listened to Torture, and filed back into the subway.

And so they were locked back up in their cells, and told to wait for their oppressor's return.

Chapter 13 - Wounded

2005-11-07T16:02:00.000-05:00

Pain shot through Jude's body. Blood pooled around him as he lay on the ground. He looked around at where he was in the hopes of finding some shelter from the rain. However, the area had been too heavily bombed, and buildings no longer had roofs which could protect him from the rain.

He looked around, and did find an unbroken window lying on the ground in such a fashion that it formed a small area in whch he could lie. Summing up all of his strength, he crawled on his arms to the shelter. With every move, he winced from the sheer pain of his leg scraping across the ground.

After what seemed like an eternity of crawling through the water and muck, Jude finally reached his destination. His body finally in place, he looked at his leg. It was torn very badly, with bite marks puncturing into the muscle.

Jude cursed at the knowledge of what this meant. He knew that muscle injuries took a very long time to heal, and that he simply wouldn't have the time to lay here and heal. He would starve first.

Not knowing what else to do, he pulled out the cube. Turning the face was the only thing he could do in the rain to pass the time. He turned the faces, and slowly uncovered a pattern. He could use this patter to set the edge pieces correctly. He also discovered that no matter how he turned the cube, the centers of each face remained motionless in relation to the rest of the cube.

His mind and body weary from the battle wth the wolves, Jude fell asleep, water pouring down around him.

Colors swirled around him, and Jude felt his mind turning like the faces of the cube. Noise and light began filling his mind, and suddenly everything stopped. The world was white.

Survivor's voice rang out amidst the silence. "Jude, wake up. Your mind, spirit, and body shall heal. Reach within yourself. Discover the truth. Ukl shïkal ûkaj kif ukl Kryonomicon." Jude flinched as he heard Survivor say the words again, and he again pondered their meaning.

Aurora-script appeared before Jude's eyes. A hand reached out from the void, and pointed at the script. "Read it, and find the meaning of the phrase that haunts you.
"Read it, and you shall find your mission."

Jude woke up slowly. It was daytime, and the rain had ceased. He rolled over onto his side, and immediately regretted it. Pain shot through his side as his wounded leg touched the ground.

And then it stopped, quite suddenly, without any warning or explanation. Jude looked at his leg. The wounds were completely healed, with not even a scar left behind from the bite marks.

Jude crawled out from his shelter. He stood up, and slowly put weight on the leg. He felt no pain. He stood on that leg alone, and then slowly crouched down to the ground. The maneuver was completely painless.

He walked back over to where his encounter with the wolves was. His gun still lay there, undamaged from the battle the previous night. He picked it up and replaced the battery.

Five wolves lay dead around the square, and it was impossible to tell how many others had escaped.

Jude, still not sure of how he had been healed, thought back to the dream he had had. "Your mind, body, and spirit shall heal." He was sure that Survivor said these words in the dream.

How had Survivor spoken to him? What could be the meaning of the dream? And why was Jude getting so many of these dreams?

Jude did not know the answer to his questions. And so he continued to walk in the direction in which the sun sets, in the hopes of finding the answers.

Chapter 12 - In Pursuit

2005-11-07T16:00:00.000-05:00

Jude did not have the answers to his questions, and so he continued his journey farther from the place of his birth. The ruins of the dead city did not cease, nor did they show any signs of ceasing. It was likely that the city had once extended very far into the mainland.

Jude walked for the rest of the day with no advancements in his train of thought. Nothing of significance happened as he walked through the dead streets and neighborhoods of the city.

The area wher he now was had been bombed heavily, and no buildings remained standing, and the roads were covered in glass and stone. Unable to find a sheltered place in which to sleep, or even a cushion on which he could sleep, he cleared an opening in the glass rubble and slept there, his pack acting as his pillow.

He slept soundly, with no new dreams filling his head.

Shortly after midnight, Jude was awoken by a crash of glass. Spinning his head around, he peered into the darkness. Nothing was there. He grabbed and loaded his gun, and looked out into the darkness again.

Powering up his gun to full, in the hopes of getting a faint light to eminate from the power storage, he looked again. A pair of eyes looked back, the light reflecting through the eyeballs.

The eyes were animalistic in nature, and were low to the ground, about the height of a large dog. A howl split the silent air, and more howls resonated with it
Jude shook in fear, for he knew what had discovered him. It was a wolf pack.

Grabbing his things, Jude ran into the darkness, pursued by howls, growls, and snarls. He did not look back, for he knew that he would slow down and likely die if he did. He discharged his gun into the air in the hopes that the noise and light would scare off the wolves.

The action instead had the inverse effect. In the flash of light that came from the shot, Jude saw no fewer than five pairs of eyes around him, and heard the growls of what sounded like an infinite number of wolves.

He turned the power level down on his gun, so that he would not run out of energy if the wolves moved in for the kill.

Steps were clearly audible in the glass, as the shattering of windows were commonplace.

Jude got an idea suddenly. He closed his eyes and focused his mind. His conciousness revolved around a single axis located in another dimension, and when he opened them, he could see as daylight.

However, he was only filled with despair. At least seven wolves were surrounding him, glaring and snarling, and sneaking slowly towards him, hoping to make him into their dinner.

Jude decided that the time to act was now. He fired a single shot at the nearest wolf. An explosion of heat and light mixed with the sound of shattering glass came from the area which he had targeted. The smell of burning fur filled the air, as the death moans of a wolf came into the square in which the action was taking place.

The other wolves snarled and growled, and one issued a howl. And so the chase began.

Jude fled for his life. Occassionally, he would point his gun back and fire blindly into the night, but the growls of the wolves did not cease nor did the smell of burning fur fill the air again.

Soon, Jude saw what he was most afraid of. The red light on the barrel of his gun came on. He had run out of energy. Grabbing the gun in both hands, he threw it backwards at the pursuing wolf pack, enough to make them scatter for a few seconds. Swinging Survivor's gun back around to the front, Jude charged it to the maximum. He knew that he would deplete its energy stores quickly this way, but only three or four shots would be necessary to get the pack to flee.

He had little time to aim, and his night vision was deteriotaing as he lost mental focus. A shot rang out into the night from his gun, and he saw at least two wolves fleeing in terror. The rest of the wolves charged.

Jude quickly switched the power to low in order to cut the recharge time. He fired three shots into the night. They all hit their mark, although one wolf got past Jude's final attempt to kill them. It buried its jaws deep into Jude's shin.

Jude yelped in pain. He swung wildly at the beasts head with the stock of the gun. It took three or four swings, but he hit. He felt the animal's skull crack underneath the force of the swing.

Jude looked into the night. No more wolves were there, he had successfully killed them or caused them to flee.

He collapsed in pain, his leg spewing blood across the ground.

Chapter 11 - Dreams

2005-11-07T15:57:00.000-05:00

Jude’s next day was uneventful. He headed in the direction in which the sun sets, the opposite direction from which the island on which he was born was. He no longer thought of it as the City, for it was obvious that the City extended beyond the island.

Jude thought more of the aurora-script and the map, but could make no sense of it. He ate a single meal, a can of peanuts he had found in a house some miles back. The day itself was cool and rainy, and the flowers were blooming and leaves were returning to the trees.

Jude slept that night on a sofa - a rare occurrence, as most sofas were destroyed by soldiers, mobs, and bombs. With the most comfortable thing he had slept on in years under him, Jude fell into the deepest sleep he had had in the longest time.

Colors swirled around him. A faint voice was on the air, but it was not clear who it was nor what it was saying - or even the language in which it spoke. Music played and drums sounded, but no tune in particular was playing.

The colors took the form of an aurora, and the swirled around Jude’s body as it projected itself into the world of dreams. And then all motion stopped.

Jude found himself in a city, still built, populated entirely by humans. He recognized where he stood as the Square of Time. Cars drove along the street, people laughed and talked, and an feeling of friendliness was in the air.

Jude noticed a nearby newspaper's headline, in a surprisingly large and bold-faced font. "Contact with Extraterrestrials Made".

The sky began to darken with surprising quickness. Clouds enveloped the sun, and people screamed and ran for cover. Jude stood alone in the Square. He heard a low-pitched noise, sounding like a combination of a buzz and a hum. Looking to the sky, he saw the source.

A massive spaceship, resembling an enormous wasp, pulled in from the sunward direction. The wings of the ship opened, revealing large compartments on either end. Unearthly light flowed from the compartments, and from them came countless smaller ships - fighters.

The fighters swarmed the city, unleashing their deadly laser beams upon the skyscrapers. People screamed and ran for cover, but to no avail, for the destruction was everywhere. A massive doomsday laser shot from the torso of the mothership, incinerating dozens of people in each shot.

Jude himself was not affected, simply watching it as though it was a replay of a historic event and not a dream.

Time sped up, and the sun moved slowly across the sky, illuminating only sections of the city due to the cloud cover. The fighters returned to the mothership, which in turn sped off into the distance. The city was left in rubble, few people left to mourn the dead.

Colors swirled around Jude again, and the music replayed but the voices died. A sickening spinning motion in the clouds and colors began, and a single voice eminated from the void. It was Survivor's.

"Jude," it said, in a tone filled with infinite majesty and calm. "These are what you seek."

A book apeared before Jude. It was leather-bound with old parchment paper, and closely resembled Survivor's book. One word was printed on the cover in gold. Kryonomicon. And beneath the word, aurora-script was clearly visible.

The book flashed open to the middle page, and there was a simple pencil illustration there.

It was a massive tower, standing high above the rubble of whatever city it was in. It was a massive cylinder reaching high into the sky, supported by three large metal supports that went down from the middle of the cylinder to the ground below, following a hyperbolic curve.

The book slammed, shut and the music in the background grew dark and angry. The colors swirled harder, and turned darker and more rapid. Wind began blowing in Jude's face, and rain began coming down in torrents. Jude awoke with a start.

It was raining quite heavily, and Jude found himself soaking wet from the sheets of rain that were falling. He ran for cover into a non-bombed out building.

The building itself was empty, likely looted in the years just following the war. Jude sat down on the floor, and contemplated his dream.

It was so real, unlike any dream he had had before in his life. Could this have been an actual account of the occurrences when the City was bombed by the kryons? How could it have been implanted into his mind like it was?

And another question manifested itself within Jude's conciousness. Judging by the newspaper headlines, contact with the kryons had been very recent. Why did the war start so early?

Chapter 10 - Leader of the Pack

2005-11-05T20:40:00.000-05:00

The prisoners were returned to the cells, their minds filled with the horror of the death of their comrade. No talking came from them that night, not even for discussion within cells as was allowed.

The following morning (at least, it seemed to be morning), Torture came around banging on the cell bars with a human leg bone.

“Get up, slugs! Get up or die, like his who’s leg I hold!”

It was obvious from his inflection that the leg that he held was from the man who had died only last night. He stopped in front of the cell holding Tyra, Krynn, and Relik. He motioned down the tunnel where the three prisoners could not see. In just a few seconds, a man with a set of keys appeared. He unlocked the bars and slid them to the side, and then unlocked each of the prisoners.

“You'll be coming with me today, since its your first day here. Tomorrow you'll settle into your spots as the vermin that you are, but today you'll get to meet Leader. Say nothing to him unless he gives you permission, or we might have to re-enact last night's events.”

The three followed Torture down the tunnel, walking past what seemed like countless cells, all full of emaciated and tortured people. Finally, the came to what appeared to have once been another station in the subway system. A room was there, its windows long smashed in and replaced with metal sheets. The door itself was locked, as evidenced in the fact that Torture had to unlock before he opened it.

The door swung open, and a steady light came out. All three prisoners marveled at the light. They had heard from Survivor that in the pretime there was the existence of a light that was steady and did not flicker, unlike that of torchlight.

And from within the room came a voice. It was impossibly deep and baritone, so low that if it was any louder they would have felt its vibrations. And it did not speak the tongue of those around it, but another tongue, the strange tongue they had heard Slaver and Torture speak.

Torture put a gun behind the prisoners. “Enter,” he commanded, his voice faltering, as if he himself was scared of the one within the room. He pushed Krynn in the back, who in turn pushed Relik and Tyra, and all three stepped into the room.

On the wall was a map. The text was not that of the common tongue, but was a flowing script, and was decorated with strange sigils and accents, and the text curved into a fractal at every location at which was written. This text was alien indeed.

And then they saw the one Torture had called Leader. At first glance he looked like any other man. Upon closer inspection, however, it was clear that he was not. His hair was the color of burning embers, and seemed to give off a similar glow. His eyes were not blue or brown or green, but silver, and a faint light radiated from them. But most striking was his height. The man was easily seven and a half or more feet tall, taller than any they had seen before.

He spoke in the common tongue to them. “My name is Leader,” he said, his eyes slowly turning to each prisoner in turn. “You are my prisoners. You will not speak to me unless I give you permission, or I will let Torture have his way. And in case you haven’t noticed, Torture is a sadist.

“Now, about myself. I am not human, if you could not have figured that out already. Nor am I kryon, as you may have assumed. I am a mix, as my mother was raped by a kryon warrior during the invasion, and survived. I was the result of that. I wish that my birth had not been like it was. I wish that I had been born human, for humans are the superior race.

“This organization is to help my purpose. It is for my vengeance against the kryons. People like you are my bane – people who were devastated by the kryons and yet do nothing to stop it. And so I enslave you and use you as labor to raise my own armies, to take the fight to Kryon.”

He went over to the map against the wall. He looked at it, and pointed at a small island off one of the continents.

“You have probably never seen a map of our world. This island is where we live. And this city,” he said, pointing to a city on the far continent, “was demolished by the kryons, destroyed completely to the ground.

“My mother was from that city, though her people were not from that nation. It is because of the kryons that it now lies in ruins, and because of me that it shall be rebuilt.”

He banged twice on the metal that now was where windows likely once were. Torture entered the room.

Leader spoke again, this time in the strange tongue – likely now a kryon tongue, judging by his heritage. Torture motioned to the prisoners again, and they left the man in his room as they wandered back through the tunnels of the subway system.

Chapter 9 - Contemplation

2005-11-05T18:13:00.000-05:00

Jude did not sleep that night. Instead he contemplated the mystery of the skies above him, of the aurora, and of the script of the kryons. Why was it that a race so different, as was now evident after seeing their skeletons, could have a script based off such an occurrence so common on Earth? Could it be that their homeworld is like our own?

Not sure of the answer, Jude let his mind wander to other subjects, until it returned to the topic of Survivor’s diary. Curious as to any mentions of the aurora, he flipped through it. He found only a single entry that mentioned the aurora. It appeared to have been written about a year and a half ago, judging by the seasonal references in nearby entries.

“My mind wandered today to the topic of the aurora. I have no recollection of the aurora in the pretime, though I had heard of them. Not even during the invasion did I see them. Yet I now realize that I see them on a nightly basis. What causes this, and why are they so common? Has the entire structure of our own atmosphere and solar system changed to create these? Why now do they occur?

“But such things matter not. What matters now is only survival, and the raising of our young…” The entry then turned to other matters.

What significance was there in this? Jude could contemplate it no further. He removed the cube from his sack again, and began turning the faces.

Colors flipped around the three axes as Jude turned the faces. He continued rotating them in all of the three dimensions, as he contemplated whether it was even possible to achieve his goal.

And then he saw it. The green face was completed. Nine squares, all of the same color lay there, sides and corners aligning. The other five faces were still incorrect, but the knowledge that it was possible to solve a single face gave Jude the hope that such a feat as completing the cube would be possible.

Jude put the cube away, and slept with the knowledge of both the mysteries of the aurora and the cube in his mind.

That night, Jude dreamt for the first time since his exodus from the camp back in the City. He saw Survivor as he was before his death, penning his journal as the others were busy about their tasks.

Though he was not writing in the journal, no, but drawing. He was drawing a map. The map displayed two primary land masses, one in the east and one in the west. The eastern one was larger, and had many interesting features. A large sea to the west, and large mountains in the east were clearly visible. To the south was a large desert, and jungles.

The western continent was labeled as cities, though mountains lay to the west. And a place was labeled that said “We are here” on the western continent, on a small island. This didn’t seem possible to Jude, as he knew that the island he grew up on was very large.

And then Survivor opened a new page in his journal. And here he wrote the flowing aurora script of the map that Jude had seen, and translated it into a Roman text, though it was not of Jude’s language.

At the bottom of the page he drew another script, and then wrote beneath it six words. Ukl shïkal ûkaj kif ukl Kryonomicon.

Jude woke with a start. Jerking his head back and forth, he scanned the area for any signs of movement, or too see what it was that had startled him. Seeing nothing, he assumed it was simply a case of being startled in his own dream by the return of the six words from the journal.

And then, as curiosity filled him, he opened Survivor’s journal again, in search of the pages he had seen in his dream. Nothing was there from the dream, save the six words. But what did they mean, and why were they kryon words that Survivor had written?

Unsure of the answer, and unsure of what to do next, Jude decided to do some more exploration in the buildings that were nearby, in the hopes that he would be able to discover more information about the world before it was razed by the kryons that would help him figure out exactly what had happened during that fateful time.

And then an interesting thought struck Jude. Supposing that the aurora-text was indeed kryon writing, why was it that Survivor knew how to translate it and read it? Could it be possible that Survivor knew more about the kryons than he chose to tell? Or could it be that it was an innate thing among both kryons and men, for both hail from worlds with auroras? And how could he, as a man who never had the opportunity to meet or speak with a kryon, learn to decipher this script and unravel the mystery of the six words that were repeated over and over in his mind, ingrained from the strange page in Survivor’s journal?

Chapter 8 - In Captivity

2005-11-05T18:11:00.000-05:00

The three prisoners of the Order of Vengeance were rounded up, tied to a post in the tunnel, and lashed for what seemed like forever by Torture. Finally, another man, a man who looked to be as old as Survivor was, came up and spoke to Torture. Neither Tyra, Krynn, or Relik managed to identify the tongue in which he spoke.

He then turned to the prisoners. "Welcome to our abode, I hope you'll enjoy yourself here. We have a bit of a problem in that we currently have little room in which to keep you, but I think we'll make do."

Gesturing with his hands, he ordered the three to follow him. Walking down the tunnel, the bones of countless people lay smashed against the wall, metal bonds still clinging to their wrists. As the group passed a turn, they saw exactly what the Order had done to the tunnel since the invasion.

In the wall they had carved a makeshift prison with metal bars and chains to keep the prisoners locked inside. The elder spoke again.

"I will require your weapons, or I'll let Torture have some fun with you - no holds barred."

All three relinquished their weapons immediately. The leader took the weapons and walked to one of the cells, in which three people were chained. They were all horrible emaciated, their ribs showing on their bare chests.

And with a single shot from Krynn's weapon, the elder ended their lives. Henchmen who had been guarding the others walked over, and removed the bodies, hurling them against the wall. Then they took the three prisoners, and chained them to a wall. And with a snap and a click, the doors were closed again, locking the three within their rooms.

The elder spoke again. "My name is Slaver. You shall not call me by my name. If you do, we'll remove your tongue, in much the same way as some of the prisoners have had before. I believe that you saw Torture's method earlier. If we hear you speaking to any prisoners other than the three of you, all will die by being chained to the tracks. No trains come, yes, but you will die slowly and learn the meaning of pain, as the tracks dig into your back."

He then called to another henchman in the strange tongue, and a small loaf of bread was tossed into cell with the prisoners, just within their reach.

Tyra, Krynn, and Relik all looked at each other with blank stares. No one said anything, but it was obvious from their expressions that they were sure this was the end.

They all slept, though none were able to sleep well. That night, as they slept, they were awoken by horrible, unearthly scream coming from a few cells down. Torchlight filled the cavern, and on the opposite wall, the shadows of a man being dragged by his feet along the floor flickered in and out.

The three stared at the shadows in horror. They again heard the strange tongue, and then the voice of Slaver.

"You thought you were clever didn't you? Thought formulating a plan to escape was fun, eh? Torture, bring it forward."

The shadows of Torture wielding what appeared to be a steak knife came into focus.

"Torture has here a rusted knife from the pretime. Your job is to cut off the fingers on your right hand one by one, and then the hand itself. If you don't, you will die in a much more painful way. These chains will help make sure you don't try to escape."

Krynn could hold it in no longer, and vomited along the floor of the cell. Tyra and Relik were soon to follow. They slept no more that night, as the sound of the man's screams of agony reverberated throughout the cavern.

At some point in what must have been the early morning, a man came walking down the tunnel, banging two shotguns together.

"Get up, you lazy slime!" he shouted, anger clear in his voice.

They were paraded out of their cells by the guards, and taken back to the main chamber of the prison. There a man with no right hand kneeled chained before Torture and Slaver.

Slaver spoke. "This man is to be a lessen to all of you. Do not try to resist us. It is futile and useless, you will perish before you are free." And with a few more words in the tongue, Torture placed a weak relic BB gun from the pretime behind the prisoner’s ear.

And in ten minutes, the man lay dead, his head filled with lead from the gun.

Chapter 7 - Mainland

2005-11-05T18:09:00.000-05:00

Jude came to in the early morning. His body weak from the previous day's adventure, he broke open one of the cans in his bag and ate it. He then drank about half of one of his water bottles.

Not sure of what to do, he removed the cube he had found in the home back on the island. He turned the faces, trying to align them so that each face would be of one color. He instinctively knew that this was the objective. Right, up, left, down, forward, right, down - he was unable to figure out exactly how he could solve the cube.

Frustrated, he put the cube back into his bag. Looking at the land around him, he saw that it was much the same as the island upon which he was borne and bred. Not knowing where to go or what to do, Jude headed to the largest building that was still standing.

He arrived at the building ten or so minutes later. The doors to the building were apparently automatic doors, however no electricity had been given to them since the invasion decades ago. Fortunately for Jude, the doors were made of glass, and so shot a single low-powered beam from his rifle. The windows shattered in an explosion of heat and light. Stepping through the doorway and through the debris now falling where once there had been a door, Jude was surprised at what he saw.

The building's halls were made of marble, and farther down the entrance hall was a lobby. Entering the lobby, Jude looked around. A wooden counter still stood in one corner of the lobby, but the rest had been destroyed, likely by kryon invaders.

Looking around, Jude saw what appeared to be an elevator shaft, although after melting the doors, there was no elevator to be found. Looking downwards, he saw that the building descended into three or four basement floors, and looking up, he saw nine or ten more floors, and after that sky. The top floors must have been lost during the war.

Jude looked down the shaft again. Whoever occupied this building during the war, he thought, probably stored ammunition and weaponry in here. They are probably located in one of the basements, in case the higher floors were destroyed by bombings.

Looking uneasily down the shaft, Jude noticed an emergency ladder made only of small metal pipe handholds. He climbed down the ladder until it reached the next floor.
Jude swung off of the ladder into the room that was on the next floor down. He walked in, and did not believe what he saw.

There, on the wall, was a poster map that had somehow survived the war. Jude had never seen a map of the world, so he did not know whether it was of his own or of an alien world far away. But then he thought he realized the answer. The writing on it was not the language he knew, and he had been taught that it was the language that was spoken in this land before the invasion. Nor was it a language written in the same alphabet, but it was a flowing script with strange sigils, unusual accents, and odd punctuation. Stranger still, he realized that the text for each area of the map flowed in a fractal.

Jude was positive that this was the world responsible for the burning of his own: the world of Kryon. And he then noticed something else that guaranteed it to him. Lying there at the base of the map, was a skeleton. The skeleton was not a human one buy any means. Rather, resembled one octopuses Jude had seen in books, though it had a small body and what appeared to be close to one hundred or so arms.

In its tentacles it held a gun, though upon closer inspection, the gun was broken and unusable. Not even its battery release lever worked. Cursing, Jude threw it against the wall.

He went back to the elevator shaft and climbed down another floor.

This room had black burn marks across the walls, and both human and kryon skeletons were scattered everywhere. Ashes from shots covered the floor. It was very obviously the site of a battle during the war.

Jude wandered around trying to see if the guns had salvageable batteries. A few did, though not nearly as many as he would have expected. He figured the battle had lasted for some time, and that most of the batteries had died during the fight.

Jude went back up the two floors of the shaft that he had gone down. He left the building, and was surprised to see that it was already night again, and the aurora was out in full swing again.

And then it hit him. The text on the map was not based on any Earthen script, but on something else.

It was a script based on auroras.

Chapter 6 - Order of Vengeance

2005-11-03T20:19:00.000-05:00

Tyra, Krynn, and Relik also fled the region that was once the camp headed by Survivor. Their lives destroyed, the fled northward on the island, in hopes that the primarily unexplored northlands held civilized peoples.

The days had been good weather and sunny, but today, the sun rose red, and even these survivors of the invasion knew what that foretold: storms were coming. And indeed, the wind was picking up, and from the west, storm clouds were gathering.

Still, the trio did not relent on their journey in the ruined city. Stopping only for food, they made their way through the labyrinth of streets, glass, and bodies. Occasionally they would dart behind a fallen building, or a broken vehicle after seeing movement, but they could never identify the movement.

Tyra was the first one to notice any movement. Yesterday, when the sun was high, she said the first thing anyone had said since the flight from the village.

“Look.”

She pointed into an alleyway, and sure enough, a brief flicker of darkness went into the alleyway. Pointing his rifle into the alleyway and turning up the power, Relik pulled the trigger. An explosion of light, noise, and fire came out from the alleyway, and bricks from the nearby buildings collapsed into the alleyway.

When the dust cleared, Krynn ran over to investigate. Despite the fact that there was no way out from the alleyway, there was no one there.

And so the trio continued traveling, and thought little of it as they journeyed, although they did take sudden sights of movement more seriously.

As the sun set, the trio stopped in the bed of a truck to sleep. They ate canned food they had raided from a restaurant, and soon they were asleep.

That night the storm picked up, and ran began to fall. Lightning flash and thunder roared, and in the middle of the intense storm, the doors to the truck opened.

Startled, all three woke up simultaneously. They were already soaking wet from the water that had been falling, and were blasted with gale-force winds.

And suddenly, a shot was fired. The truck was knocked on its side as a small explosion rocked the bed. All three people were preparing their weapons when another shot was fired. And in just a few seconds, they were not alone in the truck.

Entering the truck was an extraordinarily tall man, about 6’6”, and with bulging muscles on his shirtless abdomen and arms. He brandished a full-sized kryon destruction ray, and spoke in a deep, baritone voice.

“Come!” he called. It was not a request, but a demand. Wind wrapped around him. “Come now or meet your doom!”

The three had no choose but to follow him. They knew that a ray of that power could easily kill them in one shot.

Outside the truck, amidst the rain and lightning, were four or five other powerfully built men. One held three pairs of handcuffs in his hands.

The one who had entered the truck spoke again. “My name is Torture. Question anything I say, and you will see exactly why I have this name. These cuffs that Mute are holding are for you. Put them on, lock them, and follow us. Or die. The choice is yours.”

Tyra stepped forward first to be handcuffed, though Krynn and Relik were just seconds behind. Another of the captors brandished a whip, and handed it to Torture, who spoke again.

“You will follow us. You will not say a word. If you do, you’ll become like this fine fellow here. Mute? Show ‘em your tongue.”

Mute, doing as he was told, walked forward to the three people in turn. He opened his mouth, and where there should have been a tongue, was now a stump.

“Would you like to know how he became like this? I did it. He didn’t want to cooperate, so I attached a poisoned metal spike to the tip of his tongue. If he closed his mouth, he would be poisoned and die a slow and painful death. I told him he could easily escape it. He just had to bite off his own tongue.”

Krynn felt he was going to be sick, and Tyra turned away from the face of their captor. The men began to leave, and so the three were forced to follow them.

They marched for several hours, only continuing moving at the tip of Torture’s cruel whip. Finally, they reached their destination.

“Enter,” commanded Torture, pointing his weapon down a staircase.

Going first, the three walked down the staircase into what was once the subway system of the city. They had never gone there, because Survivor had warned about there being bands of savages underneath. It appeared he was correct.

All three could not help but notice the shackled skeleton attached to the wall, and written there, likely in its blood, were four words. Four words that they knew they would come to loathe.

The Order of Vengeance.

Chapter 5 - Crossing the Rubicon

2005-11-03T18:34:00.000-05:00

Jude picked up his gun, and pulled the release lever. A mostly burned out battery dropped to the ground, making a plopping sound as it hit the ground. A thin stream of smoke came from the stock of the weapon. He reached into his sack, and pulled out one of his batteries for the same weapon, and inserted it, listening for the reassuring “click” noise that went along with it.

Jude then did the same things with both his kryon weapon and Survivor’s own weapon. When the last gun had been reloaded, Jude looked at the rowboat, and then at the far shore. Crossing this river would not be easy, especially not as Jude eyed the motorboat slowly making its way up the river.

Jude’s heart sank further as he looked at his own boat again. It appeared to be made for two people, however he would have to use it solo. Still, he assumed that he was in better condition than the average person who would have lived in the pretime.

Looking again down the river at the approaching boat, Jude summoned his nerve, looped his guns around his back, and pushed the boat into the river. Jumping in, he began rowing frantically to reach the other side.

The distance was longer than Jude had imagined, and soon his arms were growing weary. Every stroke was an exercise in self-control and determination. Each pull pushed Jude’s physical strength to the limits.

Just then, a horn split the quiet air. Looking to his left, Jude saw that the boat was approaching rapidly, and men standing on the boat began shouting in gibberish. Surprisingly though, the others seemed to understand, ran to the cabin of the boat.
Jude began pulling and stroking harder then ever – the only important thing was to cross the river, where he would be able to take one of his guns and shoot the ship. However, the savages turned up the engine, and the other boat began speeding toward Jude much faster than he could escape.

In just a few brief moments that felt like a lifetime, it became obvious that the boat was headed in a collision course with Jude’s, and that he would have to abandon ship in order to survive. Removing his kryon weapon and throwing it into the water to lessen his own weight for the swim that would be necessary, Jude began frantically searching for a way out, be it a rock to make the savages crash into or a calm patch of water from which to shoot the boat.

But Jude’s folly turned out to be in his throwing of the weapon. The unusual side momentum of the throw made the boat rock, and Jude, being an inexperienced boatsman, was unable to control. The boat capsized in seconds.

Jude was caught underneath the boat, his head in a pocket of air created by seat of the boat. He was nearly unable to breathe because of the cold temperature of the water. Taking a deep breath, Jude plunged underwater. He reemerged on the other side, and began swimming for the far side of the river.

The savages who had run to the cabin had returned now, bearing standard human military-issue rifles. Shots began to tear into the water around Jude, and in just a moment, the water had heated up to almost unbearably hot. Taking a breath, Jude dove underwater again.

He realized that his only hope would be to charge his gun to the maximum and fire it at the ship, but there was one problem in the plan: he had never learned if human weapons were waterproof. He knew that kryon weapons were, however, he had thrown his weapon off of the rowboat too far back – it would be impossible to retrieve it now.

His only choice was to trust fate, and to surface and take a single shot with his gun. He would have to surface soon anyway to fulfill his body’s desire to fill his burning lungs with oxygen. Holding his rifle in both hands, Jude pushed the power setting to the maximum. He kicked quickly and surfaced.

He had but a few seconds in which to act before the savages saw him again. He pointed the gun, aimed, and pulled the trigger. A shot echoed throughout the air. A massive explosion of fire and heat struck the boat two-thirds of the way down the starboard side. And to Jude’s surprise and happiness, the fire quickly spread to the engine. The boat exploded in seconds, sending shrapnel through the air and the bodies of the savages to the watery depths.

However, both boats were now lost in the river, and Jude would have to swim to the far shore. To do so, he would have to lesson the load on himself, but he had nothing which he could dump, and so he continued to swim.

The heat from the explosions did not carry far in the murky river, and soon it was icy cold, and Jude began to shiver. Still, he carried on, although every stroke felt like it was sending a thousand needles into his body. But to stop was to die.

The agony continued for what seemed like an age. However, to Jude’s fortune, he did indeed reach the other side. Lying on the sand, trying to soak in the dwindling sunlight, Jude stared at the sky.

And then Jude had a horrible realization – all of his food had been in his bag, which had been submerged in the water. Reaching frantically through the bag, he was glad to see that none of the cans had burst from the temperature, although one of the water bottles had broken.

Also, to Jude’s surprise, the book had not been damaged. Jude was convinced that they must have invented some form of waterproof paper and leather before the invasion, and that Survivor was fortunate enough to have found a blank book of that material some years ago.

The sunset that night was a spectacular red, and Jude, trying to warm up after his unexpected swim in the river, fell sound asleep.

Chapter 4 - Preparations

2005-11-02T20:43:00.000-05:00

Jude slept that night in a collapsed bus stop. He dreamt of Tyra, and saw her leaving the village just before the attack. And not only had she left, but he saw two others leaving with her, though he could not make out who they were.

He woke with a start, when he heard thunder. It was raining heavily, and judging by the amount of water pooling in the streets, had been for some time. Jude muttered a few curses, and spat on the wall. Rain was the worst thing that could have happened today, for he had been planning on scavenging parts of the city in order to start his journey.

Nevertheless, he knew that he would still be able to search the city, he would simply have to spend time within the abandoned buildings, searching for water, canned food, and other supplies.

Jude left the bus stop without having eaten; he had no food with him. Unfortunately, the area around where he was was nearly completely demolished because of the battles fought there during the invasion. Jude knew, however, that he would could travel beyond the park that still lay in the center of the city, its trees dying from lack of human care, and that on the other side the buildings were still mostly intact.

And so Jude set out on his travel across the island. After some time of travel, Jude found the area he had been thinking of. He had frequently camped here on hunts, as there was a fair amount of nonperishable food and still relatively intact shelter.

Jude entered a building, not terribly tall from the standards of those around it, and walked into what appeared to be a lobby or entranceway of some kind. Tables were strewn across the floor, and broken chairs were to be found everywhere. Walking to and climbing over a counter, Jude was glad to find some canned food sitting in a plastic box, and a few bottles of water. He also found a staircase leading up into the higher floors.

Jude was usually reluctant to travel above the first floor of a building, after years of termite damage many were on the verge of collapse. But in this instance Jude felt no reason not to go upstairs and search for rations or equipment.

When he arrived at the second floor, it had obviously been a residential area, though was also apparently used as a bunker during the invasion. Empty boxes of batteries were strewn across the building, and laser burn marks decorated the ceiling and walls.

Still, signs of whoever had lived in the building were still obvious. Jude found clothing, of which he took a sweater for colder weather, a hatchet, which he also took, and a few books.

The only book he took was a children’s book on spacecraft. Jude had never known much about human spacecraft, and so he wished to learn more – especially should he find a still operational craft somewhere on the mainland.

There was also a map of some kind, and Jude realized that it was probably a map of the island before the war began. As he looked at it, he realized that it was, for he could recognize areas such as the Square of Time (though it referred to it as Time’s Square) and a large park in the middle of the city. In the upper right-hand corner was a strange cross, with an “N” above the top mark. Jude had no idea what this was supposed to mean.

And at the bottom of the chest was another strange item. It was a multi-colored cube made of smaller cubes, measuring three units on a side. Six colors were on the cube, and each face could be rotated independently of one another. Jude took the cube, assuming at the very least that he would be able to use it for amusement if he had to spend some time somewhere.

With his bag full of food and supplies, three guns and whatever ammunition he could find, and a map, Jude went back to the first floor.

Map in hand, Jude found his way to the harbor, where he knew he would be able to find a small boat capable of transporting him to the mainland. When he got there, he did indeed find a small metal rowboat, although it looked rusty and dangerous. More powerful, larger, safer boats were at the harbor, however Jude had no idea how to operate them.

But it was not the boat itself that made Jude fear the passage across the channel. Instead, it was a boat, one single boat traveling up the channel that made Jude’s skin crawl, for he knew who they were.

Pirates.

Chapter 3 - Decisions

2005-11-02T19:48:00.000-05:00

Jude woke up multiple times during the night. His mind had been wandering the previous day’s events, from the morning with the fox to the horrible truth of the destruction of his village, his surrogate family. He woke up, caught a squirrel with ease, and ate it raw.

As he ate it, he wondered what would become of his life without the people he knew and depended on. He was certain that he could no longer live a life like he did, but what could he do? Could he join the savages off the coast, live as a wild man in the dead city, or should he sail to the mainland in search of something? But he didn’t know what it was exactly, that he would be looking for. Not knowing, he opened the leather bound book and began reading.

The book seemed simply to be a diary of Survivor’s life since a few years back. The earliest event mentioned in it was the unusual catch of three wolves by a group of hunters, an event that had happened four or five years ago. Using that as a basis, Jude was able to estimate the age of the entries.

Most of the entries simply seemed to be reflections and questioning of the pre-war era. Jude read these carefully, for he had always been curious as to what the world had been like in those times. To his surprise, he learned that it was not a peaceful age, and that only five years before the invasion the Earth had been embroiled in a massive war.

However, Jude was most interested when he read the last entry. It was by far the longest entry in the diary. It spoke was more a summary of Survivor’s life in a few pages, rather than a day-to-day account of survival. It was written as if Survivor had known of the impending attack, and was doing this to speak to those who would live.

After reading it, Jude turned through the last few pages. They were all blank, except then Jude noticed that two pages were stuck together and appeared to be one. Splitting the pages, Jude looked at the text written there. And for the first time in the journal, Jude was unable to read what was written.

There was a single sentence, written in Roman lettering, but not of the language Jude knew. It said, “Ukl shïkal ûkaj kif ukl Kryonomicon”. And of these six words, only one had any visible roots. Kryonomicon.

Jude closed the book, and lowered his head. The book fell out of his hands into the glass below. And it was then that Jude made his decision.

He would leave the dead city, and sail across the coast, to learn of what Survivor had written. Even if it would take him his whole life, he would search, and learn, and discover what it was that Survivor knew that he never told anyone.

Chapter 2 - Unexpected Exodus

2005-11-02T18:00:00.000-05:00

The night before, as Jude slept in the van with a fox in the trunk, Tyra was lying on her bed – a bench that somehow survived the bombing of the park. Looking at the stars, and at the aurora, she thought of Jude, and hoped that he was safe during his hunt. He always had been, but there was certainly nothing keeping him from dying on the hunt, as others had done before.

Watching the colors above her dance like Survivor said was done by people in the pretime, Tyra imagined what the world must have been like. The beauty of the green trees, the laughter of people you don’t know, food on your table, friends from a distant land, and peace. With these thoughts, Tyra drifted off to sleep.

She was roused at around midnight by her friends, Relik and Krynn. Krynn spoke softly to Tyra, saying, “Quietly, get up, take your blade, and follow us. Don’t question it.” They fled into the darkness.

Not knowing what to do, Tyra did as she was instructed. Reaching underneath the bench, Tyra took her weapon. She had found it some years ago when hunting (with, as it happened, Jude), after picking it off of the skeleton of a human soldier. It was a kryon plasma blade, well known for their vicious burning blade, as well as their slow usage of battery. However, this one had some flaws in it, and would malfunction without warning.

Tyra found Krynn and Relik with ease. Relik spoke this time.

“We heard noises in the night. They weren’t human or beast.”

Tyra couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Nonetheless, she did not respond and instead peered at the village, its central fire just embers in the night – a surprise, as there were eight or ten people charged with keeping the fire and keeping watch.

Without warning, a single, soundless bolt of light struck from the sky. Blue crackles of lightning circled around the camp. Flames shot up from the center of the camp, and within seconds, the camp was burning.

People woke up and started screaming. But they were unable to put out the flames, and burned, with Tyra, Relik, and Krynn watching from the distance. Only one man did not scream in agony as he burned. Survivor. Instead, he simply took a single, leather-bound package, threw it in the glass outside the circle of flame, and then fell to the ground as he died.

The three watchers were unable to scream, to speak, or to comprehend what had happened. Fearful of what – or who – had burned the camp, they fled, leaving the package behind.

When they were a safe distance from the camp, Tyra whispered, fear still quivering in her voice, “What was that? Wh-who could create such destruction?”

The others were equally terrified. “We don’t know. We don’t know.”

They had no choice but to flee into the night.

The next day, Jude found the crater that was the camp. His mouth opened in horror, and his soul screamed, but no voice escaped his lips. Dropping the fox from his shoulders, Jude ran towards the crater.

The first thing that struck him was the smell. The smell of flesh, burning flesh, of pain, of death. The smell of the fuel for the fire, the people he had known and loved.

Jude then had a horrible realization. What had happened to Tyra? He was unable to figure out exactly where she would have been. That is, until he found half of a bench – the bench he knew she slept on. Looking underneath the bench, he found no blade. It was likely incinerated in the heat. However, there were also no bones on the bench, unlike the other areas where charred skeletons remained.

Something else caught Jude’s eyes. Where Survivor slept was burned to a crisp. Survivor himself was obviously dead, his weapon still lying on the ground and his bones scattered about the area.

Jude could not stand it any longer. He dropped to the ground, and began to weep for his surrogate family. When he opened his eyes, he noticed a depression in the grass just five or ten feet from Survivor’s body.

Getting up to look at it, he found something he had never expected to. Lying in the grass was a leather-bound book. No text was written on the cover, and the writing inside was handwritten, all in the same writing. Jude was by no means a good reader, however he had been taught as a child by Survivor and the other villagers. He did not bother to read the text, he would have plenty of time to do that later.

Walking back to Survivor’s grave, he picked up the weapon lying forlornly for its master to pick it up again. Placing a single hand on the handle, and then slowly taking the twin barrels in his other, Jude picked up the gun. He had of course heard of the weapon, but had never actually held it before, or gotten to observe it.

It was in surprisingly good condition, considering the charring and burning around it. Looking at it, Jude identified it as a human weapon that would have been used during the invasion. It was a fairly large rifle, though it was obvious that Survivor had taken it and modified it, adding on the second barrel. A battery still was lying in the stock, and another lay on the ground by Survivor’s remains.

Placing the spare battery in his sack, and slinging the gun over his shoulder, thereby adding it to his collection, Jude looked back at his deceased village. Not knowing how else to mourn the loss of so many people, Jude dragged the fox into the center of the village. Turning down the energy level of his own gun to its lowest setting, Jude fired a single shot at the fox’s tail, igniting a miniature bonfire in the village.

The sun was already beginning to set – a surprise to Jude, as he had been at the village since midday. He had not grown hungry or weary. Staring at the aurora, Jude sat down and thought about his options.

Having not reached a conclusion by the time that the sun had set, Jude lay down and let night overtake him.

Chapter 1 - The Hunt

2005-11-01T19:57:00.000-05:00

It was a perfect day for Jude. The sky was blue, clouds were frequent in the sky but not constantly blotting the sun, and the temperature was warm. The only care on Jude’s mind was that of the health of his mentor, an elderly man called Survivor.

Survivor had lived through the war against the kryons, of which Jude was born after. Survivor had accumulated much radiation poisoning from the bombs set off, and was dying from it. It was a matter of weeks until the last known survivor was dead.

Of course, Jude wasn’t thinking only of his mentor and surrogate father’s health, but of two other things: food and Tyra, and probably not in that order.

Food was important because without it, the village would starve. And Jude was a hunter, and so, on a day like today, he went out hunting in the glass fields of the Old City. With his favorite gun slung over his back (an old SC-17 human pistol he had found), and a few extra battery cartridges for it, Jude was on the hunt – preferably for wolves or similarly large game, as it would bring much more food to the village than rabbits or squirrels.

The other thing on Jude’s mind was his girlfriend, Tyra. He had known Tyra his whole life, and they had grown up together as if they were brother and sister. And recently they had fallen in love, and were soon to live together, as independent people. Or at least, as independent as one could be after the war.

And so Jude walked through the fields, still covered with shards of formerly molten glass, and of the skeletons of hundreds of people. The smell of burning still filled the air, and buildings were slowly sinking towards Earth.

Jude noted that it was beginning to get dark, he would have to find shelter soon. Hunts frequently lasted for days on end, though Survivor had implemented a rule – “If you don’t return in five days, we treat you as if you were dead until you return. You will not receive food allotments.”

Jude wandered into what appeared to have been the center of the city (Survivor claimed it was once called the Square of Time, or something similar). One tower had collapsed upon it, but otherwise, the square was intact.

A motion several hundred feet caught Jude’s eyes. Ducking behind an overturned and rusted vehicle, Jude peered around the corner.

His eyes had not deceived him – there was indeed a fox in the square. Jude’s grip tightened on the gun as he pulled a single lever and was greeted with the warm sound of the gun preparing a charge.

Jude waited several more moments, listening to the sound of the fox as it moved about the glass, looking for its own meal. His finger tensing on the trigger, Jude spun around the corner, and shot the gun.

An explosion of heat and light and glass appeared where he had shot the gun. But much to Jude’s dismay, the fox had survived – and was now fleeing for its life.

Not wishing to lose his prey, Jude leapt to his feet and charged through the glass. Flicking the reload button, Jude kept both eyes on the fox.

Winding through the former streets, past cars, bodies, and buildings, Jude maintained his pursuit of the animal. But the animal was no fool, and soon had hidden in a vast collection of glass and metal shrapnel. He knew the creature was there, but Jude did not see it enter.

Closing his eyes and focusing his mind, he heard a sound of shattering glass from where the fox was, and the cry of a wounded animal. Aiming off from the animal, in the hopes of simply killing it and not incinerating it, Jude fired again. A second explosion rocked the air. And there, lying some feet from the crater, a dead fox.

Satisfied, Jude slung his weapon around his back again. He wandered over, and found the body of the fox. Picking it up, he observed that he had burnt a bit of meat to the side, though it was a larger fox, so more meat could be found on it.

He picked up the fox and put it over his shoulders, then looked at the sky and frowned. In the time the hunt had taken, it had nearly grown dark, and the lights of aurora shown brightly above. Seeing a vehicle with only punctured tires, Jude decided to spend his night there. Climbing into the back seat and putting the fox in the trunk, he fell asleep.

When he awoke in the morning, his first thoughts were that he had slept in particularly long. Climbing out of the van, he looked to the sky. Sure enough, the sun was high in the sky – it was midday.

Cursing, Jude opened up the trunk of the van and lifted the fox back onto his back.
The journey back was long and hard. Jude had lost his sense of location during the hunt, after barreling down unknown streets in pursuit of the fox. And so he wandered through the streets of the city, looking for a landmark – to no avail.

Hunger overtook him in the afternoon. Finding what was once an apartment building, Jude was pleased to see that the apartment still had a small, unbroken container of honey. He opened it, and placed a small amount on the tip of his tongue. It was not often he found food that would not spoil, and even rarer that he could indulge in a treat such as honey.

Jude ate half the bottle of honey before he became thirsty. This was generally a larger problem than hunger, as the water of the city was very dangerous to drink. After searching more buildings, he found three unopened bottles of water – another good omen. Yes, this day should be good, and his return to the village should go well.

Jude, after drinking a bottle of water, put the fox back over his shoulders and wandered. He wandered through alleyways, passing overturned cars, shattered construction vehicles, and collapsed buildings. He eventually found the square again, and followed the route home.

He was surprised to find that a car he was used to being parked along the side of the road was now lying on the ground, its hood smashed in and the windows shattered. Walking to the other side of the car, he saw why.

He refused to believe what was lying on the other side of the car. He blinked several times, before looking again. But his eyes were not deceiving him.

There, before him, where his village should have been, was a blast crater.

Prologue

2005-11-01T19:20:00.000-05:00

“It is not my job to tell of those things that are happening now, or to tell of those things that I believe are to come. Rather, it is my job to tell of those things that have passed. The one who shall tell the Present and the Future is unknown.

“I do not know how I survived the invasion, but I did. Despite my young age of nine, I lived through the devastation of my homecity and saw my family burned at the cruel guns of the kryons.

“And yet, I have not devoted my life to destroying these kryons, but to helping humanity survive from its Past.

“Humanity did not know what had happened to it, nor was it prepared to deal with the radiation, enslavement, and death. And yet somehow us few have survived, despite the dangers of the mutated beasts of the land, the savage men of the seas and glass, and even the rare kryon attack.

“The last attack happened some three years ago, and was devastating upon our village. Of the one hundred and twenty-seven people who were living the village, only eighty-three survived. And these eighty-three still carry on.

“I remember little of the pretime. I remember my mother’s face, my father’s sadness when he was deported to serve in the war. And I remember the surprise when contact was made with the kryons. I remember the first contact with them, ‘So we have found you at last.’ I, at my young age, assumed that this meant that the kryons had finally found companions in this dark and lonesome universe.

“But I was wrong. Those seven words were instead a sign that their search was not in vain. They had sought out humanity – their brethren – and were at last ready for communication. And war.

“Peace did not last long. Humanity, to my knowledge, performed no aggressive actions upon kryonity. Still, war occurred, and humanity, under the control of O’Conner, was not prepared. We were annihilated. And few survived, and those that did turned mad.

“But in this village, the last village of the world, I sense something – yes, four people hold the potential to change the world. The men and women of the village know not of this, for none have read this manuscript – nor shall they until the time is right and my passing has come. But they shall, and they shall see my vision of these four rising to unite the fields.

“And in all, one of them, who is like a child to me, shall bring back the glory of the lost age of mankind, and will finally uncover that which I could not find.

“For I learned that a single book from the kryon’s world found its way to Earth, and one copy should have survived the war. But should my child find the book, he may not decipher it – that is for future generations. I can only pray to whatever gods may be out there that he can, and finally uncover the mystery.

“And to the lost world, the world I left without knowing, and the world those remaining on Earth shall never know, I write a single sentence. May you return.”
-Last Survivor of the War

Writing's Eve

2005-10-31T20:04:00.000-05:00

Tonight is Halloween, and you know what that means.

That means that tomorrow is the beginning of National Novel Writing Month, in which I shall write this book. And hopefully by November the 30th, I will have a written manuscript for The Tower. See you there!

The World, Circa 2057

2005-10-12T20:16:00.000-05:00

The actual year of the world is likely not 2057 AD, though it is what Survivor claims. Years do not matter to those left, as the only thing that does matter is survival. What follows is a physical and historical description of the world as it is in these years, based as one looking back millenia from now might see it, should humanity return. By no means is all information accurate.

In the year 2012 AD, during the Summer Olympics in London, a small band of Islamic terrorists detonated five bombs simultaneously in the athlete's village. Yet these bombs were not simple explosive devices, but dirty bombs - radiation soon spread throughout Great Britain's capital city. Accusing the nations of the Middle East, Europe declared war. Surprisingly, the Middle East had a vast stock of nuclear weapons.

In the years that followed, England was reduced to molten glass, and much of Europe and the Middle East was destroyed. However, six years into the war, charismatic leader by the name of William O'Conner rose from the rubble that was his homeland of Ireland. He united the Irish, and soon all of Europe united under his banner. Gradually, through peaceful and diplomatic tongues, O'Conner rose as the leader of the world.

O'Conner's charismatic manner managed to sway nearly 97% of the world to join his nation, now known as the World Union of Nations. He only failed to gather a few tribes in Africa, South America, and the Arctic. As a precautionary measure, all armies were disbanded, and atomic weapons were disposed of by sending them to the moon.

O'Conner managed to rebuild the world to greater glory than before the war. For some three years, humanity worked extraordinarily hard to rebuild, and the golden age lasted for only two years.

No one suspected that an alien invasion was imminent. Fossilized bacteria had been found in the polar ice caps of Mars, but no contact with a sentient race had been established. But sure enough, the kryons came, and humanity was ill-prepared. The war was brief, by some estimates lasting only 4 months. Most lost track of time, for the aliens began by detonating EMPs on major cities, destroying much of the electronics that kept the world running. Only one city, Beijing, was spared, and was instead used as a testing ground for a positron bomb, which completely ripped the city into its composite elements.

When the war was over, Earth, which had been growing close to just one supercontinental city, was a huge mass of molten glass. Few people survived the invasion, and those that did lived in perpetual fear of the kryons returning.

Many of the survivors died of radiation poisoning in the following years, and the radiation caused mutations in others. Animals, too, were often the victims of the radiation.

In the end, the horrors of the post-war era drew many people to turn to savagery, and very, very few people still held to sanity. Most people formed small tribes devoted entirely to the gathering of food and the fighting of other tribes.

The geography of the world remains mostly the same as in the pre-war period. All cities have been reduced to glass fields, except for Beijing.

Beijing, instead, was the target of the kryon's experimental positron bomb. Using large amounts of highly-radioactive isotopes of various actinides, the bomb released massive numbers of the positron antiparticle into the city. These cancelled out the electrons in the city, destroying chemical bombs and completely ripping the city into its composite elements. As such, the chemical structure of the atmosphere was changed upon the bombing. The kryons had been planning on detonating more bombs, but the bombing occurred in the Fourth Month, and there was little reason to detonate more.

As it happens, slightly after the invasion, the magnetic fields of the Earth began changing. This was unrelated to the invasion itself, rather it was a natural occurrence, which has been documented as happening in the prehistoric past. The field simply disappeared, and as such the world was left with little protection from solar wind. Auroras became nightly occurrences throughout all parts of the world, and compasses ceased to work, disrupting the usefulness of surviving maps.

Enough heat was generated from kryon atomic weapons tests that the average global temperature rose by 2^oF, which resulted in the melting of much of the polar ice caps. Low-lying regions were destroyed, however some areas that would have been expected to flood did not, such as the region formerly known as New York City. In this instance, it was caused by the construction of flood walls, meant to prevent against global warming. The rising temperatures also turned many of Earth's remaining fields into desert wastelands.

In the end, the world turned into what enviromentalists had been preaching about for decades, though not due to human error but by an alien invasion. And the situation was likely only to get worse.

Character Sketch: Tyra

2005-10-09T17:44:00.000-05:00

Age: Unknown, estimated at 19
Family: Parents deceased, brother is dying of radiation sickness
Job: Cook.
Favorite weapon: Make 2 kryon plasma blade.
Other information: Insightful, peaceful, reserved.

Tyra is one of the older girls living in the village. Her parents died only a year ago during an attack from some neighboring savages, and her only brother is slowly dying of radiation sickness after setting off a small plutonium grenade while hunting. As such, Tyra has been left to fend for herself.

Tyra and Jude have known each other since childhood, but they have only begun to know each other for about a year and a half now. In the past six months, Tyra and Jude's relationship has become romantic, and most villagers were expecting a baby to come soon. (In the post-war age, marriages were unheard of, as Survivor never passed on those traditions to the village).

Tyra, like many of the girls in the village, has been trained in cooking, as it is generally assumed that girls do not make as good hunters as boys. Two years ago, however, Tyra stumbled upon a collapsed building that inside housed a rare kryon photon blade. Unfortunately for Tyra, it was the infamously bad Make 2 version, which has been known to malfunction without warning. Tyra has been able to control it with reasonable success, however. Despite its rarity and usefulness, Survivor allowed Tyra to keep the blade.

Tyra was devastated when Jude left the village in search of something – she was never quite sure what it was. However, she had no idea of the events that were to come – or the adventure she would have to pursue.

Character Sketch: Survivor

2005-09-29T19:54:00.000-05:00

Age: Claims to be 43 years old, though it is likely that this is an estimate.
Family: Deceased. The rest of Survivor's family died during the invasion.
Job: Chief.
Favorite weapon: Modified dual-barrel F-29 human laser rifle.
Other information: Intelligent, aging, last known survivor of the invasion, heavy radiation poisoning.

Survivor is the last known human still living from the Kryon invasion, which occurred when he was only 9 years old. He does not remember his original name, nor his surname. He has no family of his own, after watching his family die at the hands of the ruthless Kryons.

After being taken in by a small tribe of survivors located in what was formerly New York City, Survivor learned the ways of fighting, having to protect his adoptive family from others. He gained a particular liking to the dual-barrel F-29 laser rifle developed by the humans just before the Kryon invasion, and later modified one in order to increase the destruction caused - though it resulted in the depletion of energy cells at a more rapid rate.

Survivor emerged as the chief of the village about a decade ago, after the rest of the survivors had died for one reason or another. While he had no children of his own, Survivor became the mentor for a number of children, including Jude.

Survivor's health is failing fast. He suffers from severe radiation poisoning after discovering a uranium-powered Kryon cannon some years ago. While he could easily have been healed using pre-war medicine, the other members of his tribe are powerless to help him.

As his life slowly dwindles away, Survivor must make a choice - whether to die in peace or discover the truth behind the Kryon invasion.

Character Sketch: Jude

2005-09-26T15:38:00.000-05:00

Age: Unknown, estimated at around 17 or 18.
Family: Deceased. Father died from radiation poisoning, mother during childbirth.
Job: Hunter.
Favorite weapon: Model SC-17 human laser pistol, Make 3 kryon laser pistol.
Other information: Sly, logical, very minor psionic capabilities.

Jude is the main character of The Tower. After discovering a bizarre artifact, left from the pre-invasion era and lost in the glass fields, he leaves his home village to travel to the obliterated mainland. He leaves behind few but his two friends, Kryn and Relik, and his girlfriend, Tyra. He also must leave his mentor, known as Survivor.

Jude never knew his parents, as his mother died during childbirth and his father about a year later, from radiation poisoning. He was raised by the oldest member of his village, a man known as Survivor.

Jude always wanted to know more about the pre-war era, since he was far too young to remember the world as it was. However, he has taken to learning as much about the Kryons as possible, at least in hopes of surviving a future attack, should one occur.

One interesting effect of the high amounts of radiation present near Jude's village is his development of latent psionic talent. While he is by no means extraordinarily powerful due to his abilities, he has learned to use them to tire opponents, open locked doors, darken rooms, or climb walls more easily - a technique that comes in handy sneaking around, trying to catch the wild beasts of the island.

Book Cover

2005-09-25T19:20:00.000-05:00

towercover
Originally uploaded by Quiggy.

I've developed the working cover for the book. Nice and simple, and already in 5"x8" size for CafePress publishing.

The Short Story

2005-09-24T20:06:00.000-05:00

"To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day."
–Winston Churchill

The Kryons had come swiftly, destroying all that fought against them. The World Union of Nations was powerless against them, after the disbanding of all armies.

The year of the invasion, AD 2023, or simply referred to as the Year of Burning, had started as the best year on record. Under the guidance of the WUN, the countries of the world, now just states in an empire, had solved all problems of world hunger, global warming, and racism. People looked forward to a prosperous eternity.

But when the Kryons came, everything that the WUN had done collapsed. The world fell swiftly. Most people had been killed, while millions more had been captured and returned to the Kryon homeland. However, there were a few people who survived the holocaust. These people gathered in what is now known as the City of Souls, once known, according to legend, as New York. The Kryons remained on the Earth, and demanded a payment of one-tenth of the young males of the survivors to be sent to them and to be killed yearly. However, the Kryons had not come for the past three years.

The surviving humans had lived in fear of the Kryons returning. But now, the Kryons appeared to have vanished, and the survivors, living in the wreckage of an ancient city, wondered what else their planet could hold. Their leader, an elder by the name of Survivor, since he was the only still living survivor of the Great Burning, selected one man to leave the island on which they lived, and to venture out into the world. This man he chose was named Jude, and was one of the men to be sacrificed, should the Kryons return.

He was handed a small hatchet, and one of the few remaining boxes of matches. He also received an ancient rifle, and a small pack of ammunition. Finally, he was given a small amount of rations to help him on his way. He put these items in his sack, and got onto a small, makeshift rowboat.

He rowed to the mainland, and got off the boat. He viewed the land around him, and saw that it looked much like the ancient city. Melted glass and metal, and charred bones were lying everywhere. He looked around to see if anything seemed different from the island where he was born and bred. Straining his eyes, he saw to the west an enormous tower.

The tower stood among a pile of rubble, destroyed from countless bombs, but yet the tower itself was not scarred in any way. Not only that, but it looked nothing like the few still-standing towers of the ancient city. Jude could only suppose that it was a Kryon tower, having been built by them after the Great Burning.
He sat down and pondered what to do. He could either explore the tower, and quite possibly get himself killed, or return to the ancient city, to near the people that he loved, to report that the world was a complete wasteland. He decided to travel to the tower.

Night was beginning to fall, and Jude suddenly realized how tired he had been. In all of the excitement of finding the tower he had forgotten about any necessities of life. Finding a safe cave of rubble, he crawled into it for the night.

Jude was awakened in the middle of the night by a loud humming noise. He looked up to the sky, and saw lights flying in towards the tower. Gathering his sack, he stood up and began the walk towards the tower.

Ships were landing on the top of the tower, ships that did not resemble the human ships Jude had seen in surviving books. They were shaped something like a bird, with a large projection coming out from the bottom, presumably an engine or gun.

Jude approached the tower, located a door on the ground, and entered.

What he saw next amazed him. The entire tower was one large room. A huge hologram of the Earth floated in it, with the moon orbiting it. As he watched he saw small cities begin to appear. They expanded, presumably as populations increased. Watching with awe as cities came and went, eventually the entire planet became covered with buildings.

As the city flourished, a small group of dots began to appear near the moon. They moved down to Earth, and fire began to appear throughout cities. It spread rapidly, and slowly, all of the cities were reduced to rubble. The dots, presumably the Kryons, had departed.

But slowly, a yellowish light began rising from the east. Jude looked closely, and saw that a similar tower to the one he was in was coming out of the ground. Spots of light began appearing from all over the Earth, and towers rose up out of the rubble.
The picture zoomed in on a single tower. Jude saw that it was, in fact, a safe haven for survivors. Suddenly, before him, a staircase unraveled from the wall. He eyed it suspiciously, shrugged, and started walking up it. When he reached what he had thought was the ceiling, a trapdoor opened, and he walked up through it.

Inside the new room was a strange cage, with a door hanging wide open. Not trusting what would happen if he stepped inside, Jude put his sack inside. The door slammed shut, and a greenish light filled the room. When it disappeared, Jude’s sack was gone. Wishing to get it back, Jude climbed in.

He found himself standing in the center of a bustling city. It was populated not only with humans, but also with another race, one he had seen in the books. Kryons.

Stopping a passing human, he asked, “Where am I?”

The man responded, “You are on Kryon, and your dress is not similar, are you the first of the Ancients?”

“Ancients?” asked Jude.

“Yes, those remaining on the Earth. Those towers, they are the gateway to this world.”

Jude, taken aback at this comment, asked how he could return to bring the remaining humans to this world.

“You cannot return, you are stuck here. You must only wish that your fellows find the tower.”

The Tower

2005-09-24T19:20:00.000-05:00

It is a dark time. The world was nearly annhilated in a great war against a race known as the Kryons. Nearly 15 years into the world-shattering war, the Kryons vanished, leaving only a burnt world in their wake. Tribes of humans, now turned savage, populate the glass fields. But hope remains, and one man shall travel from his home and discover the truth in ... The Tower.

This is The Tower, a post-apocalyptic view of the near future. After a near extinction at the hands of a race known as the Kryons, humanity is reduced to only mere shreds of its former glory.

This is actually based off of a short story that I wrote some time ago, and which will be posted to this blog eventually. It only bares a fleeting resemblance, though, so don't worry about it ruining the climax, as it will be very different. In addition, the book shall be published here as it is written, as well as character sketches, notes, and other assorted materials. Prepare to unlock the secrets of The Tower.