《The Book of Destiny》


 Chapter 1: An Allowably Costly Bargain

    World: Vanufas


    Status: Inner Circle


    ¡°The world of humanity is so much more fragile than humans know.¡± The voice was cold, sending shivers down Desmond¡¯s spine. It was a slow, oozing voice that seemed to have a physical presence like liquid in the air. It felt like it filled in any gaps around it.


    Knowing it wouldn¡¯t help, but feeling better for it anyway, Desmond ducked behind a large stalagmite a little ways away from him. He couldn¡¯t hear if the source of the voice was getting closer to him, but he knew that he couldn¡¯t keep his location a secret from the other entity. Therefore, the position might not have been the most advantageous, but it was still human nature to feel safer with things like walls between one and one¡¯s enemies.


    ¡°I know,¡± Desmond called back. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m here!¡±


    ¡°Poor little human,¡± the voice echoed around him.


    From the shadows on his side of the rock, the entity coalesced and emerged. It appeared as living shadow made solid, but it also looked a little darker than that. Before coming into the cave, Desmond had woven together a floating orb of light from the mystical essence of the multiverse. This orb illuminated the creature¡¯s shape in much the same way that a flame would illuminate the shape of a shadow puppet on the wall behind a hand. The creature was partially humanoid, with a torso, shoulders, two arms and a head. Its lower half did not have legs, but just a solid trunk coming from the darkness in the ground, giving more the appearance of a person wearing a dress. The arms ended in two hands with long sinister-looking claws. On the creature¡¯s head, there were no discolorations, convexes, shapes to make the entity¡¯s facial features. Instead, there were simply gaping holes in the shadow to form its eyes and mouth. The holes could be shaped to portray whatever expression the entity wanted to portray. Right now, that was a sinister smile.


    Desmond leapt back over the rock and began to run across the chamber of the cave. Near him was a gap in the cave wall. The edges of metal walls jutted through it, but there was a small open section. Along the metal wall were numerous dials and levers, as well as ancient-looking lights forming a control panel of the oldest technologies.


    For his own part, Desmond didn¡¯t look the sort to be mucking about in caves. In truth, he normally wouldn¡¯t be. Normally, he had people that he could send into situations like this for him. He had used other people to get himself to this point. However, now that he was here, it was too important to do things right. And he couldn¡¯t trust anyone else with the secrets of why he was here.


    He was built tall and lean, with a long face. At some point, someone had joked that it was as though someone had stretched his body out without bothering to widen it again. That person hadn¡¯t survived very long beyond that point in time. His skin was pale and pristine, showing no scars or bruises, as well as showing very little signs of being outside in the sunlight. The only sign of imperfection that his skin did show were the handful of wrinkles that he had earned in his many years of life. His hair was blonde bordering on colorless white, matching the shading of his eyes which were blue bordering on colorless grey.


    His clothes were bright in color, consisting primarily of a purple dress-tunic, and seemed to have very little in the way of functional use. The outfit seemed more like something someone would wear to a low-key dinner party than something for exploring caves in.


    As he drew near to the gap, the creature emerged once more before him, a dark laughter filling the cave. The creature had come forth, once more, from the shadows, giving an unnerving feeling as though it were in every shadow.


    Desmond knew the truth. To a point, the creature was in, or at least connected to, every shadow. This was to the degree that these shadows were the absence of light. The creature was not actually made of shadow, made material or not. The creature wasn¡¯t made of anything. That was what it was. Nothingness. Void. A pure rift in the world. A gaping hole that could never be filled. There was no stopping the entity, the Void. The ancients had at least been able to contain instances of the Void, but that art had been long since lost.


    The creature swung a claw at Desmond, but the human ducked quickly out of the way.


    ¡°You cannot outrun me, boy.¡± the Void said.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dream of it,¡± Desmond lied.


    ¡°Oh no?¡± the Void asked. Desmond felt its cold fingers upon his shoulder. The creature had somehow moved again without him processing it. The thing was so damn fast. The cold came in upon Desmond as if it were the only thing in the world. He felt like he was freezing from the inside, from the core of his body, and from deeper than that: from the core of his essence.


    Desmond ducked out from the Void¡¯s grasp. Turning, he quickly reached into the essence of the universe, magically weaving together strands to form an ethereal wall between himself and the Void. The creature simply emerged on the other side of the wall, continuing to move slowly towards Desmond.


    Desmond knew that the creature was playing with him. It didn¡¯t need to approach slowly; it had demonstrated that much already. Still, he hoped that he could use that to his advantage. He slowly backed up and began another weave. This time, four strands of light wrapped themselves around the Void¡¯s arms, tying it to the ground and ceiling.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    The Void laughed again, and Desmond was reminded of the freezing cold he had felt earlier. His weaves burst apart as the Void continued forward.


    Desmond dove towards the gap in the metal wall, but was suddenly propelled back by a wall of solid and moving shadow.


    ¡°Your mind betrays you to me,¡± the Void¡¯s voice oozed.


    The light in the room was fading. Desmond looked to his orb of light and could see shadows swirling around and within it. Looking deeper, into the essence, he could see the strands of his weave slowly being pulled apart. The Void was still toying with him.


    ¡°Yes,¡± the Void said. ¡°But I grow bored with you. I know what it is that you seek. If I want, as you can see, I can easily prevent you from reaching it. In fact, if I wanted, I could easily consume you and rip you apart before you can use your anchor to return to your ship. I could return you to the void, as I will soon return this world to the void.¡±


    Desmond thought about going for the anchor, but he had come too far to give up now. Besides, he didn¡¯t think it would be a good idea to call the Void¡¯s bluff.


    ¡°No, it would not,¡± the Void answered his unspoken thought. ¡°I am not human. I do not need to lie.¡± The Void seemed to pause in contemplation for a moment. ¡°You are just built on lies, aren¡¯t you? It¡¯s very interesting. With all that absence in your life, I think that, was my existence under different circumstances, we could have been friends.¡±


    ¡°You say that you know what I seek,¡± Desmond answered the creature. ¡°If that is the case, can we make some sort of bargain?¡±


    The creature smiled. ¡°Based on the bargains in your mind, I do not think that you would uphold such a thing. However, what is it that you want, and what is it that you think you can offer me?¡±


    ¡°I would like my life, being able to go my own way physically unharmed and without your influence; the book; and the pendant.¡±


    The creature¡¯s smile didn¡¯t waiver. ¡°And in return I receive?¡±


    ¡°I would argue that you already owe me a debt,¡± Desmond answered. ¡°After all, I used the control panel and set you free.¡±


    ¡°This you did because the chamber which was confining me blocked your path to the book and the pendant. You viewed me as an allowable cost in your journey. You did not free me for me.¡±


    ¡°Nonetheless, regardless of motive, I did free you. Therefore, you are in my debt.¡±


    ¡°I accept no debt for actions that you performed in the past without establishing said debt before performing them,¡± the Void answered. ¡°If this was the deal you had wanted to make, then you should have done so before freeing me.¡±


    ¡°Then what would you ask of me?¡±


    ¡°When I have returned this world to the void, I will be adrift within myself,¡± the Void explained. ¡°Within a world, flitting between shadow and shadow is simple within the rules and allows me to move with nearly unlimited speed. However, within myself, based on your rules, it is much more difficult for me to arrive in new locations quickly. This is illogical, but nonetheless the case.¡±


    ¡°What does this have to do with me?¡±


    ¡°Once you have the book and the pendant, you will wait for me in your ship. I will return this world to the void, and then I will join you. You will then take me with you to another world. One of your Sparkling Band worlds.¡±


    ¡°No deal,¡± Desmond said. ¡°I will take you to another Inner Circle world. I am willing to go further away from this one to give you the benefit of distance. But I will not take you to a world within the Sparkling Band.¡±


    ¡°Then I do not need to allow you to have the book or the pendant,¡± the Void answered. ¡°After all, if you have your way, you would use these things in ways that run counter to my existence and to my plans. Your worlds are offensive to me, and what you personally plan to do with them is even more so.¡±


    Desmond tried to weigh the risks. If he did not agree to bring the Void to a Sparkling Band world, then the Void would not allow him to have the book or the pendant. However, if the Void destroyed one of these worlds, then the same things Desmond was working towards would be...if not ruined, then incredibly damaged. Bringing the Void to a smaller world still was against Desmond¡¯s own plans, but not as much as allowing it to destroy part of the Sparkling band.


    ¡°Very well,¡± the Void sighed. ¡°In truth, I believe that, despite your goals being directly opposed to mine, your actions to achieve them will prove more to my benefit than to your benefit or to my cost. I will allow you to bring me to another Inner Circle world instead.¡±


    With the bargain made, things were simple beyond that. Desmond took the silver Book of Destiny and the pendant, shaped in the circular pattern of the Winged Flames: a symbol that had been marked on the book as well. From there, he¡¯d gone back to his ship, and he¡¯d set a course for a random Inner Circle world: Batmuzil.


    Desmond looked back to the silver book on the desk, trying to refocus and figure out where he had been before he''d gotten sucked back into the memory. That had been about eleven years ago now. He looked around the room and all that he had gathered and accomplished since then. It was a testament to his determination. He put a hand to his chest and felt the pendant hidden beneath his grey robes. The pendant bore the symbol of the Winged Flames: the symbol that was at the center of all of his plans.


    A knock resounded from the door. Desmond opened it a small amount and stepped out, not wanting to reveal what was on the other side. The woman who had knocked was wearing grey robes, not unlike his own. He recognized her as Wilda Marsden, who normally worked in Communications.


    ¡°High Priest Tindall,¡± she greeted, bowing in reverence. She came up from the bow very quickly, and he noticed that she seemed to be out of breath.


    ¡°Yes, young one, what is it?¡± He had to keep his voice level and rhythmic, as was expected of him.


    ¡°We¡¯ve detected a void ship nearby to one of the worlds where we¡¯ve sent a missionary.¡±


    ¡°There are void ships all over,¡± Desmond answered. ¡°It¡¯s probably nothing.¡±


    ¡°The ship has an anchor on the same world our missionary is on,¡± Wilda said.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Desmond mused. ¡°I suppose that having other outsiders on a world might cause issue with¡­¡±


    ¡°We think it¡¯s a wolf ship,¡± Wilda said. ¡°The signature matches one from other local reports.¡±


    The wolves were destroyers of worlds. If this was really the case, then Desmond knew that their missionary was in great danger.


    ¡°Which world is this?¡± Desmond asked. ¡°And who do we have down there?¡±


    ¡°Axpin, Father,¡± she answered. ¡°And Penuel Clark.¡±


    Desmond wracked his brain to call up the details of Clark or of Axpin. ¡°He was just sent there a day or so ago, was he not?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Father,¡± she answered.


    ¡°Ah, well then, have him use his anchor to return,¡± Desmond said. There was likely nothing they could do to stop the wolves from destroying Axpin. They might as well save their missionary. Losing worlds was always such a disappointment. Then again, this close to the Calamity, it happened all the time.


    ¡°We¡¯ve been trying to reach him,¡± Wilda said. ¡°But so far we haven¡¯t been able to get through.¡±


    Desmond¡¯s frowned. ¡°You should keep trying. If you cannot get through before the world is destroyed, then hopefully he will use his anchor and return to us.¡±

 Chapter 2: A Simple Pickup Job

    World: Navtyi


    World Status: Sparkling Band


    The column next to Zhou exploded, dust and chunks of debris flying towards her. Still, she kept running. She knew that if she stopped, the next bullet would be in her back. The column exploding was unsettling, but she thought her back exploding would be much worse. The tails of her long brown coat flapped in the air as she ran. She leapt to the right, behind the next pillar.


    It seemed like the man who was after her needed to take time to reload each bullet individually, so at least that was to her benefit. She tapped the screen of the mechanical device strapped across her lower left arm. She was careful not to tap it too hard, since her left arm was also supporting a golden metal box, about a fourth of a meter cubed, that she was holding pressed against her side. It would be a shame to drop or lose it after coming this far.


    ¡°Hello, Ms. Jin,¡± an artificially pleasant and happy male voice chimed from the device. She cursed its volume. ¡°What can I help you with?¡±


    ¡°How long until you can get a portal open?¡± she whispered in a hiss.


    ¡°Based on current conditions, that endeavor will take about five minutes, unless you can find somewhere with a lower stability rating, where it might be easier to form a rift.¡±


    ¡°Great, is there anything like that around here?¡± Zhou asked.


    A circular progress/searching icon appeared on the screen. Great, she thought. This is just what I need. She brought her hands up to the top center of her face and pulled them out across in opposite directions, pushing any of her straight black hair out of her green eyes. Then, she sighed and decided to see what was going on with her attacker.


    She moved with as much caution as possible into a position to look around the column. She knew that Psifiak, her digital companion, had probably already given away her location. Still, she tried to make as little noise as possible as she slowly crept around.


    At first, she didn¡¯t see her attacker anywhere. The whole room had an eerie stillness to it. Was he hiding behind one of the other columns? Maybe the long wooden benches throughout the room? She looked to the doorway where she had entered--being pursued by her foe. It was still open, leaving a view of the hall outside. She turned the other way, looking to the front of the room, where a stained glass window lined the wall behind an elevated stage. The window was covered in dust so thick that no new light was passing through at all. This temple had been left to ruins like the rest of the town had been--although it seemed structurally a lot sounder than the rest of the buildings.


    It was possible her attacker was hiding, waiting to lure her out. If that was the case, she wondered if she could make it across the room to the door without him managing to hit her with another of his bullets. They seemed pretty debilitating, and she didn¡¯t want to find out how well she would be able to keep running if one of them struck her.


    She began to move out from behind her column, prepared to drop down beneath the cover of the nearest bench should gunfire start to become an issue. She didn¡¯t make it more than a step before a blade was at her throat.


    ¡°Give me the reliquary,¡± said the man holding the weapon. It was an odd weapon, to say the least. For the one part, it had a blade, about a third to half a meter in length. However, running along the side of the blade was the barrel of a single-shot pistol. The handle of the blade bore a hammer and a trigger for working the gun. Following the weapon up the man¡¯s arm, she could see that he was wearing a dark colored jacket. Like her own jacket, his had many pockets. She could see the outlines of numerous knives and other weapons, as well as pockets of unknown equipment and contents. The man was blonde, and his face bore two long scars across it, running in parallel, only a couple centimeters apart.


    ¡°Are you sure you need this box?¡± Zhou asked. ¡°Maybe there¡¯s a different box that you¡¯re looking for, and you just saw me with mine and thought it was yours. I think there was a bank in this town. Maybe there are other boxes there that look just like this one. Maybe the one that you are looking for is one of those.¡±


    The blade pressed harder against her neck--not drawing blood, but making a point nonetheless.


    The payday that Zhou had been offered for this job had been a good one--one that she didn¡¯t want to give up. Not to mention that, with the sorts of clients that she worked with, especially ones who could afford that sort of payday, failure usually meant being hunted down or facing some other sort of vengeance. Still, she supposed if she was killed here by the gentleman with the gunblade, it would be a bit worse than whatever would or wouldn¡¯t happen to her for failing to deliver.


    ¡°This was supposed to be a simple pickup job,¡± Zhou sighed.


    ¡°Yes, I thought so too,¡± the man said.


    Slowly, she lowered the box and set it down upon the nearby wooden bench. The man lowered his gunblade, but he didn¡¯t put it away in the sheath at his belt. Eying his sheath made Zhou feel a loss at the empty holster along her hip. She¡¯d run into trouble and lost her gun on the way out here. That always seemed to be the way of things.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°May I at least ask who it is that has made my life this much more difficult?¡± Zhou questioned. If she could get a name, maybe she could trace him. Perhaps she would be able to retrieve the stolen box from him before he could return it to whoever his buyer was. A part of her wondered if they had both been hired by the same client, but she dismissed this thought.


    ¡°My name is Theron,¡± he said as he moved to pick up the box. ¡°Theron Spiros.¡±


    ¡°The bounty hunter?¡± Zhou asked. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of you.¡±


    Theron smirked. ¡°And, believe it or not, I¡¯ve heard of you, Ms. Jin,¡± he answered. He reached down and grabbed the metal box from the chair. She knew her window of opportunity was closing quickly. If she was going to act, it would have to be with the element of surprise on her hands.


    ¡°So what¡¯s a bounty hunter doing out here on package retrieval?¡±


    He shrugged. ¡°I am good at finding things. For some people, that is all that matters.¡±


    With this, Zhou leapt forward. She kicked the box from under Theron¡¯s arm. He spun around to face her, but by the time he did so, she had slid past him and scooped the box off the floor. He raised his gunblade at her as she ran towards the middle aisle, turning towards the door.


    As she reached the center aisle, five well-armed soldiers came in through the entry. Three of them carried heavy-looking laser rifles, while the others bore huge mirrored shields and blades. Each wore thick armor and had sturdy helmets with clear visors covering their eyes. They bore the familiar insignia of a silvery fist clutching a rod. The symbol of the Knights of Selas, the local authority on Navtyi.


    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose these Knights are with you?¡± Zhou whispered over to Theron. He shook his head slightly.


    ¡°Lower your weapon!¡± one of the Knights--the one who stood in the center--almost certainly their leader--shouted at Theron. Theron slowly lowered his arm. Zhou felt she could breathe a little easier without that thing pointed at her, although given the more impressive weapons of the Knights that were directed in her general direction, she wasn¡¯t sure how genuine her relief should have been.


    ¡°Set the box down!¡± the Knight commanded Zhou.


    Zhou thought for a moment, running the calculations. She nodded, raising her hands into the air slowly--keeping the box supported in her left arm.


    ¡°I said set it down!¡± the Knight called out.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Zhou said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I misunderstood. Do you mean like this?¡± she chucked the box with as much force as she could muster at the end of the room farthest from the door. It landed with a loud and hollow thud on the stage at the front of the room.


    While the Knights were trying to process this, Zhou ran at the box and kicked it as hard as she could. It went soaring into the stained glass window, shattering it, and causing Zhou to thank her parents for making her get into sports all those years ago.


    She charged forwards, towards the new exit that she had made from the temple. Behind her, she could hear one of the benches topple over as Theron leapt upon it and began to charge after her. The Knights with laser rifles began to fire at her. She hoped it was just stun-fire, but one could never be sure these days. She ducked down as she ran, the laser fire barely missing her head.


    As she reached the shattered window, she looked down. It was a four meter drop to rough gravel below. Not the most ideal landing spot, but she¡¯d had worse. She jumped out the window, bending her knees inward and putting her arms over her head to shield herself. A gust of wind caught Zhou as she fell, twisting her in the air. Her left side collided with the ground. If she hadn¡¯t been wearing long clothes that covered most of her skin, she probably would have been cut up pretty bad. As it was, there were now a few rips in the side of her long brown coat. She would have to worry about that later.


    She forced herself up, grabbing the golden box off the ground as she did so, and pushed herself to move amid the buildings of the ruined town. Most of the town had been turned to ashes long ago. All that remained of most of the structures were parts of the ground stained black. Those that did stand were made of the strongest stone, like the temple. The temple, in the center of town, maintained most of its structure, while the outer buildings were all crumbling and decrepit.


    Still, they made decent cover for her to hide in while Theron and the Knights hunted for her. After weaving through enough of the ruins that she felt it was relatively safe, she brought up the display on Psifiak again. The portal was almost ready for the jump. She braced herself as suddenly, there was a loud crack and the wall beside her burst apart.


    Theron stepped through the hole in the wall, pointing his gunblade at her.


    ¡°You¡¯re too late,¡± Zhou insisted.


    He saw Psifiak on her wrist and frowned. ¡°I promise that I will find you. I will hunt you down.¡±


    There was a flash of darkness. Zhou felt like she, and all the air around her were suddenly smashed together, all to one point, and then almost immediately stretched and ripped outward in all directions. Every muscle in her body strained as much as it could. Tears streamed across her face. She couldn¡¯t breathe. Her heart pounded fiercely against her chest. Pain wracked its way through her whole body.


    Then it was over. Panting, she fell upon her knees on the cool grass of a different world. She continued to sob in pain and disorientation while it seemed like the whole world was spinning at intense speeds.


    ¡°Portal closed,¡± Psifiak said on her arm. ¡°Welcome to Axpin.¡±


    Zhou coughed, tried to stand, lost her balance, and fell back to the ground. She spat on the ground, expecting it to be blood. She was pleasantly surprised.


    ¡°Perhaps in the future, you will remain stationary throughout the portal formation process,¡± Psifiak said.


    While Zhou understood that remaining still through the process would reduce the negative effects, it still felt awful. Not to mention that she would have been shot by Theron if she had done that.


    She found that she was kneeling on a grassy hill overlooking a village consisting primarily of wooden structures. Red and blue streaks could be seen hanging in the sky like giant scratches against the atmosphere. She shivered to look at them.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just find our contact and get this deal over with,¡± Zhou sighed. ¡°I hate small back-water worlds.¡± She removed the band that Psifiak was on, pulled up her sleeve, and replaced it on her arm, covering up the electronic device with her sleeve instead of having it on top. Psifiak wasn¡¯t the sort of tech that people in this world would be used to. It¡¯d be the sort of thing that might get her labeled as some sort of heretic and killed, depending on what the superstitions of the world were like.


    ¡°I thought that you were fond of the freedom provided by border worlds outside of the domain of the Sparkling Band,¡± Psifiak pointed out, its voice muffled by the sleeve of Zhou¡¯s long coat.


    ¡°That¡¯s fair,¡± Zhou said. ¡°But those are Outer Circle worlds. Nobody wants to be in Inner Circle worlds. Especially not this close to the Calamity.¡±