《Rise of Heavenly Earth》
Sorine Chapter 1
¡°oh God, no, what have I done?¡± Harmon Sorine whimpered softly to himself as he lay there. All around him a field of corpses, burnt and charred, barely a smoking husk remaining. He looked up at the sky and saw a blue sky with sparse clouds, truly a beautiful day save for the remnants around him. He tried to think to himself about how this had happened. He tried to form recollections through the trauma of what he had done, what he had been forced to do, because he would never voluntarily have done the things that he had. He didn¡¯t know how many had died, he didn¡¯t really care how many, all he knew was that as of this moment everything would be different. He would be hunted down by everyone for what he was capable of, what he had done. He was sure he would be tested and experimented on for military purposes if nothing more.
He slowly sat up and looked around. The buildings that used to cluster together here were gone, just piles of rubble. On one particularly odd-looking assemblage of rubble he swore he saw a child¡¯s hand sticking up, bloodied and beaten to a pulpy mess only to be burnt to a crisp. For exactly 100 meters in a perfect sphere around him everything was destroyed. Pieces of buildings and body parts scattered about, smoking ruins of what had once been a downtown area. He tried to forget what had happened before. He could remember hearing a weird noise, like the rest of the patrons at the restaurant he walked outside out of curiosity. Then a raging headache, to him it felt like a wild boar had decided to use his head as a battering ram. He had collapsed from the pain but was fully aware of his surroundings. Suddenly it felt like he could see more than any man had the right to. He could feel, more than anything, the world around him and at such a level of details that he just knew instinctively that it was exactly a 100 meter sphere. Then in what spanned an instant but felt like days to him he felt it, a throbbing energy pulsating around him, slowly expanding from the North. He reached out to it with his mind not knowing what to make of it. Once he touched it he realized he could control the energy to a certain degree, more the closer it got to him. When the pulsing energy touched his physical being light flashed all around him as the energy was sucked by his body at a prodigious rate. He couldn¡¯t control it, he couldn¡¯t influence it, he could only watch and grimace in pain as his body soaked up the energy as if it was a sponge. At this point he noticed that people had finally noticed him on the ground writhing in pain as his mind and body adjusted to the newfound senses and energy. Years passed in an instant and a crowd gathered around him. That¡¯s when he felt it, his body had gathered enough of the energy and was overflowing, his newly acquired control over his body starting to slip again. He tried to form words, but nothing came out as the world slowed around him. Then like a dam crumbling he felt as if his body exploded outward in a blazing heat. Static trembled the air in his sphere as his body lost control over the energy it had gathered. He felt it as the energy moved through him in a pattern he could not understand but knew that it came from his very being, as if his soul was guiding him to a profound conclusion. Then all around in his little sphere lightning and thunder blazed with the glory of hurricane. He was a powerless god among men as he watched everything in the 100 meter sphere slowly char from electricity, even the buildings crumbled perfectly leaving a beautiful perfect cut where his sphere ended.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
He cried in agony at the recollection. ¡°NO!!! Why is this happening!!¡± A few moments later he finally regained some composure. He started thinking more rationally. ¡°I got to get out of here, I won¡¯t let anyone find me like this.¡± He finally got up and was startled at the fact that he was now naked, his old clothes seemingly evaporated in the violent exchange of energy. Harmon yelled in frustration as a dawning realization came to him, ¡°My keys! How am I going to make it back to the apartment without my... Wait, where¡¯s my, my car!!¡± His car had been destroyed in the blast. Now he was stuck in the middle of the wreckage, naked, and without transportation in the middle of a Michigan winter. Soon the air started to stabilize as it recovered from the sudden heat. The temperature was dropping rapidly, soon it would be back to the freezing temperatures it had been before. Strangely, he noticed that even though he knew the temperature was dropping rapidly and would soon go back to the single digits he felt fine. He stood there stark naked in the middle of the day on a frigid January and new that he could stay there forever and be perfectly fine. He felt as if he was in his apartment with the heater on just walking around in his underwear. This new revelation excited him, and he started to use his newfound awareness to look inside of himself. Sure enough, he noticed how the overflowing energy had made his body it¡¯s home, no longer overflowing it was covering every cell individually protecting him from the cold and much more he was sure. He also found that he now had regained control over the energy inside his body. And once again his body was his fully.
Curious and intrigued he slowly grabbed some of the energy and moved it in that pattern he had just learned. Although he had just learned the pattern it was almost like an instinct to him. A movement that was part of his very being, a profound conclusion from the universe, a law that was untainted and pure and he knew, unbreakable. So much so that he wondered how he never knew it beforehand. As a small portion of the energy moved through him he saw it change properties and take on an electric form. Suddenly, from his hands, a bolt of electricity shot to the ground creating a small crack of thunder for his efforts. Dread and horror filled him with equal parts euphoria, he could control it he just knew he could. Instilled with a newfound sense of confidence and excitement he started the long trek to his apartment by foot.
Word count: 1126
Somerset Chapter 2
Richard woke with a start, all around him he could feel a pulsating rhythm. It called to him at a profound level. His senses slowly expanded as he gasped in fright. He could feel it all around him, his room, the warn down carpeting, the old stone hallways. He closed his eyes and followed the expanding feeling through the old family manor, going past old worn areas that were no longer in use. He went past the old servants¡¯ quarters, a bittersweet reminder of glory long past. As his senses expanded to encompass a sphere of 100 meters he just sat there in wonderment. He didn¡¯t know what was happening, questions raced through his mind. ¡°what is going on? I can feel it all around me, the house the floor the dirt. Almost as if I am touching it with my hands but only if my hands were calipers.¡± He felt it then more clearly than ever, the pulsating rhythm that had woken him from his slumber was pushing and pulling at his very soul like the tides.
As the rhythm vibrated his very being he could feel a power coming at him from the west slowly expanding. As soon as it touched his body it started being absorbed into him, permeating through his essence. His body drinking the energy almost as if he was dying of dehydration and he had finally come upon a stream of clear crisp water. He could feel the energy slowly building inside of himself, the feeling he got was euphoric, an ecstasy the likes of which he had never known.
Time passed slowly for Richard as his body acclimated to the new sensations. He lay on the bed going through his newfound senses, he focused on a line of ants as they were crawling through a hole in the old walls of his compound. He saw a bat flying in pursuit of an insect he did not recognize. He could see his old car, a classic by age alone, sitting in the front of his small manor. He could feel the smoldering fire still alive in his hearth in the room.
The fire called to him, it was as if alive slowly dying in embers, it touched him at his core as he watched it slowly fade away into nothingness lonely and cold. ¡°ha, a cold fire who would¡¯ve thought¡± Richard joked to himself as the last embers faded away. He felt lonely then as his friend that had kept him company finally winked away, only a few smoking remains as testament to its existence. Then he finally focused on himself, Richard Somerset lay there with his eyes closed staring at himself from above. He could see himself as he had never seen himself, it was like the first time you investigated a mirror and realized that it was you starring back. He lay there in his pajamas, nothing fancy just warm pants and a shirt to help keep the cold away, it was a cold night in January in the British Isles.
He noticed it then that energy that had suddenly come at him had stopped flowing through him and had filled his body to near bursting. He could still feel the energy flowing like a steady stream coming from the west but it was no longer invading his body. He felt the energy that filled him and noticed that it was not just inside of him it was now a part of him. As natural as breathing he started to move the energy through his body. He wondered how he was doing this, it all just felt so natural. As he moved his energy slowly through his body in a seemingly random pattern he felt it start to change properties. The random pattern was not random at all, it was an instinct held back since the dawn of his first day. He could feel the fire now burning and alive again in the hearth. The flames hotter than they had a right to be.
The energy having finished the pattern he had instinctively created started to burn, getting hotter and hotter until the newly lit fire in the corner felt cold in comparison. He was startled and scarred, this energy could kill him, it was too hot. He realized then that it was doing no harm to him, in fact he felt more comfortable with the blazing heat than he had ever before. He opened his eyes for the first time since he awoke in fright and noticed his once brown eyes where now a blazing crimson glowing softly with a promise of heat and power.
He could still feel the energy in him blazing in heat slowly getting hotter and hotter. His skin started to steam as the energy kept building. His pajamas burned away from the heat as he got out of bed and stood in the plain stone floor. For once he was glad that his room, like much of the house, didn¡¯t have any carpeting. He feared what the heat would¡¯ve done to a carpet. When he could no longer hold the heat inside of himself he opened his mouth and exhaled a long held in breath. The fire escaped from him then, it blew from his mouth with his breath. A hot searing plasma came out of his mouth instead of air. It blew hot in his room and hit the window opposite him. He watched in horror and excitement as the plasma hit the window and kept going outside. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
¡°I¡¯m a fucking dragon!!¡± he whooped to himself. He didn¡¯t even care about the broken window or the stone all around him that glowed in heat. He didn¡¯t care that the last portrait of his ancient ancestor Henry Somerset the Duke of Beaufort had burnet in the adjacent room. He didn¡¯t even care that half his house was now smoking from the ruins of the last bits of carpeting igniting. Then again why would he care for such trivialities he was now a dragon, he controlled heat, fire, and plasma.
Richard was the last living descendant of Henry Somerset the Duke of Beaufort. His parents had died when he was 18 and left the entirety of their fortune to him, an old car and a decrepit manor. He remembered how he had cried at their graves and made them a promise he now intended to keep. He told them with bated breath and tear stained eyes ¡°Mom, Dad, I promise you. One day I will fulfill the generational wish of our once great name. I will bring our house up from ruin, I will fight for the honor of our name and claim back our peerage. I will become a dragon among men and make the queen recognize our nobility.¡±
Richard was so excited at his new power and the realization that he could finally fulfill his promise to his parents that he did not notice he had used all his energy in that one breath. He finally realized he was out of energy when he tried to do it again. He panicked then, the energy that was going to change his life, the energy that would allow him to gain back his peerage from the hands of the queen was gone.
¡°NO NO NO NO NO, this cant be. I used my one shot to burn my house?¡± he panicked quietly to himself.
In a desperate attempt at regaining his draconic powers, as he was starting to refer to them, he focused back onto his small sphere around him. He could still feel everything around him, the bat was gone probably scarred away by the fire. The ants where in disarray as they tried to run from the now fully aflame compound. Then, ¡°yes!! It¡¯s still there. I can feel it still pulsing around me filling the air, it¡¯s even denser now.¡± He tried to pull at the power around him that would allow him to use his draconic fire.
¡°I, I can¡¯t use it. Why before it just came at my body by itself. Why won¡¯t it come now?¡±
He kept trying, he kept pushing and pulling the energy around him trying to gather some. He noticed that his body was very slowly filling up with energy. ¡°There has to be a better way to get this.¡± He then recalled the pulsating rhythm that had awoken him originally. He tried to mimic that rhythm to gather the energy, he used his sphere to push and pull in accordance to the rhythm he remembered. ¡°It¡¯s working, the energy is coming much faster now and is filling up. But, what is this?¡±
As he kept staring at himself and focusing on the pulsating rhythm around him. It was becoming faint now, barely a whisper from the loud crescendo that had awoken him. He noticed that the energy would gather towards his cells and some would fill him but about half would just flow out of him. ¡°That¡¯s such a waste, if I could hold onto that I¡¯m sure I could become much more powerful. But where can I store it? My body can only handle so much before I feel like I¡¯m about to burst open.¡± He started to think about this energy and what he could do with it.
He stared at himself trying to figure out why he couldn¡¯t hold in all of the power that was coming at him. ¡°Maybe I have to turn it into draconic energy first then I can absorb more.¡± With that thought in mind he directly gave up the pulsating rhythm and started to circulate the energy that was within him once again. Moving it in that mysterious pattern he had discovered. He held it in but instead of focusing the energy he tried to disperse it back to his cells. Meeting with mediocre results he decided to try something else.
Now that he understood how he could gather more, albeit very slowly, he was more inclined to experiment with the storage. He knew instinctively that the energy could not harm him while it was within him, so he was not scared to try a few things.
He started by concentrating the energy like before but instead of blowing it out from his mouth the tried to compress it. ¡°yes, this could work. Now I just need to compress it some more and¡± Richard started to cough and wheeze uncontrollably, he had lost control of the compressed heat energy and it had detonated inside of himself.
¡°ok, so maybe compressing superheated energy was not the best idea let¡¯s try something else.¡± He just stood there for hours gathering energy, experimenting, losing the energy then gathering some more. This cycle kept going until he noticed it was close to noon. He was surprised that he didn¡¯t feel hungry or tired but decided to ignore that for now.
Full of energy and an understanding that had eluded him before, he could now gather his entire pool of energy from zero in just 2 hours. He was still looking for a way to store more energy and make the gathering process much quicker, but he knew it would take time and patience. Two things he was not sure he had. Someone must have noticed the light show coming from his manor and would come to investigate.
Apocalypse Chapter 3
Qadir sat in his room in front of his game console fuming in rage. For the 3rd time today some little kid from who knows what part of the world had killed him again in COD. In his blind rage he threw his controller in a random direction and watched in delight as it smashed into his bedroom mirror shattering the glass.
His parents were asleep and would probably come barging in at the noise, but he didn¡¯t care. What could they possibly do to him at this point? ¡°I¡¯m almost 30 what could those fuckers possibly do to me? At worst they¡¯ll make me get a new mirror.¡±
True to his predictions his father came stomping from across the house and into his room. He fumed at the sight of the mirror. ¡°Damn it boy again? That¡¯s the 3rd mirror you break at least it wasn¡¯t the TV or window. When are you going to get your shit together? Your turning 30 in a few weeks and still living at my house?¡± At this point Qadir tuned out his father.
He knew that his dad would yell for a few minutes then go downstairs to get drunk before coming back up to yell some more then go to sleep. It was their routine at this point. He wondered when exactly he had stopped caring about his parents¡¯ opinions. ¡°it was probably around the time I quit college I guess¡± he thought to himself.
He noticed his father stomping away and head downstairs to grab a bottle of Ouzo, a local specialty. He looked out the window of his room and got a beautiful view of his small town of Parga. He could see the peer in the distance, all the boats moored for the night waiting for dawn to go out fishing. He lived of the west cost of Greece, he had lived there his whole life up until he left for college. He quickly returned after getting kicked out for skipping class. ¡°Who the hell kicks people out of school for skipping class, I¡¯m a fucking adult I don¡¯t need to go to class if I don¡¯t feel like it. They¡¯re all so stupid, the school, my parents, this village, even Greece. I hate them all¡±
As he was thinking and reminiscing he heard his door slam open again and his father walked in holding a half-finished bottle of Ouzo and quickly tuned him out again as he started up his one man charade again. ¡°Hurry up old man I have more noobs to kill tonight.¡±
That¡¯s when he heard it, a piercing undulating noise. He did not know what was going on and grabbed his head as it started to pound with pain. He screamed, or thought he screamed he couldn¡¯t tell what was real and what was happening in his head. He thought he could feel the world around him in a perfect sphere. The noise continued getting higher in pitch until his entire world was white noise. He could feel pressure building against his body. Then as abruptly as the noise had come it was gone, he looked around and he could feel the difference in the ambience immediately. All around him forming a perfect sphere or 100 meters he could feel everything. His neighbor was currently watching TV peacefully, apparently, he hadn¡¯t heard the noise. His mother was in the bed across the house writhing in agony while his father was collapsed at the door to his room, the bottle now empty it¡¯s contents on the floor.
He could feel the cobble stone walkways between the houses, the old lamp post across the street from his house. He noticed the bird seemingly asleep on top of the lamp post. ¡°What is this? This is amazing! I can see, I can feel it. Everything around me is under my control.¡± Qadir was so excited at his newfound sense that he almost missed the opposing something invading at his area.
¡°What is this? It¡¯s like there is someone trying to push at me from the distance. Not someone but many people. Did we all get this sense at the same time? No, I don¡¯t think so there are too few invading senses into my area for that.¡± Then he felt it, a pulsating energy pushing its way towards him from the west. It was moving fast and quickly touched his body.
Lights flashed around him and he grimaced in pain. He thanked what gods existed out there that he was siting or else he would¡¯ve fallen on the shards of glass. The throbbing pulsing energy was rushing at him from all directions now. It had quickly spread through his area of control and moved passed him but what energy was around him was filling him. He sat there holding his breath as he could feel the energy quickly fill him to the point of bursting. The pressure he had felt earlier returned but it was now a comfortable presence more so than a pressure.
He cried in agony as his body was filled with energy, but it kept coming anyways bloating his system. Then he snapped, all the excess energy that had been soaked into his very being came flooding out. It swept through his system in a profound manner that he knew was more instinct than anything else. The pressure kept building around him as the energy moved through his body.
Finally, when the pressure had built enough that Qadir could feel his house start to crumble underneath him, the energy escaped from his hands into the air around him covering the entirety of his 100 meter sphere. At first he was confused as to what was happening when he felt it, his room, his house, the very earth beneath him was pushed away from him.
He stared around him in absent delight as he felt the very earth bend to his will. He willed it to push out farther and faster and it did. Then grinning he willed it to crush in on itself to compress into a tiny ball to the extreme. The earth around him in the 100 meter sphere quickly obeyed his will as a crushing force was created a few meters above his head. Slowly but surely all around him the pushed out material started to gather back towards him and up on top of him into a small ball. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
He laughed as he saw his father flying towards the ball and getting crushed by another piece of debris. He laughed hysterically as his mothers¡¯ corpse, ruined by the push was sucked up as well. His eyes started to glow a dim silver as he continued to laugh. He noticed that one of the spheres infringing on his area had disappeared. ¡°buahahahaha, that¡¯ll teach him to try to steal my area. I am a God! No one can stop me know. Buahahahaha!¡±
He noticed as his energy was consumed by his ever growing pull. Then he did the unthinkable, something that he didn¡¯t even know he could do. He took the ball of super compressed matter and through it towards the peer. Then he willed it and the ball detonated causing a massive blast.
People were screaming in the distance as fire spread quickly through the small town. Qadir kept smiling a manic grin at this. ¡°It¡¯s so beautiful.¡± He saw the world burn around him, and he liked what he saw. A tear slowly formed on his face and fell towards the ruined ground. He knew at this point what he must do, he had a calling, a divine providence. He had awoken as a God and his mission on this earth was death and destruction. He would travel the world and bring his wrath upon it.
¡°Only one problem now.¡± He spoke to himself quietly. ¡°What kind of God is named Qadir Lykaios? That¡¯s such a common name. I am anything but common now. From this day forth I will take the name of the ancient one that stalks in the night. I am Apocalypse.¡±
Apocalypse now walked through the burning town watching the survivors try to put out the fires. He saw some running away from everything and others trying to get to trapped loved ones. He smiled at this, he had started his divine work in this town.
He walked towards the peer to look at the center of his blast. ¡°Hey you, what are you doing walking around like an idiot?¡± Some random person yelled at him. ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there go grab a bucket and help us get this fire under control!¡± Apocalypse stopped and stared at the man, he could tell that this man was dangerous, he could feel a sphere originating from the man trying to push at his, invading his space.
¡°You think you can just order me, Apocalypse, around? I can feel your strength, it challenges me.¡± Apocalypse nearly screamed at the random stranger a menacing growl forming at his lips. He could feel the energy all around him rushing back to his body to fill the once empty vessel. However unlike before this time the energy stopped once his body was full.
¡°Hey man take it easy I just wanted some help with the fires.¡± The stranger said back slowly stepping away.
Apocalypse could feel the energy being drawn into the man in front of him. This got him mad and angry, he had viewed the energy within his sphere as his and his alone. No one, save himself, was allowed to take it. He quickly took some energy from within himself and shot it quickly through his body in the same pattern. This time he decided to send the energy out through his feet instead.
All around him people stopped and started to stagger, they could barely walk. Some people even collapsed face first into the ground as Apocalypse increased the pressure around him. He could tell that those ants around him were quickly being killed by the pressure, some of the weaker ones could no longer breathe.
The stranger frowned at this, he could tell that the self-proclaimed Apocalypse had done something, and people were getting hurt. The buildings were starting to crack and fall, the fire spreading farther out of control. He could feel his body getting heavier and heavier as time passed, soon even him with his newfound energy and control would fall to the ground. He quickly took some of the energy protecting him and pushed it through his body in a seemingly random pattern. He just wanted to get the energy out to protect himself.
Apocalypse stared at the man and frowned as he realized that he was having almost no effect on the man when suddenly light came gushing out of the man in front of him. He closed his eyes and covered them with his hands as a searing beam of light was ejected out of the man in every direction. He started to panic, never had he thought that someone would be like him. But he couldn¡¯t give up now not after all he had done, he had started this fire and killed who knew how many people.
Not knowing what else to do he tried to stall for time by yelling at the man. ¡°You dare attack me? A God? You will pay for your insolence with your life mortal!¡±
The man stared back into his eyes fear clearly shown. ¡®Good¡¯ he though to himself ¡®that is the expression he should be showing me¡¯
The man had no idea what was happening or why, this was the first time he had used his energy. He had felt it fill him to near bursting but was distracted when an explosion happened near the peer. Now as the light excited from his pores and burned all around him he was terrified at what he could do. He didn¡¯t even register what Apocalypse had said to him.
Apocalypse then took some more energy and pushed it out towards the man concentrating it around him. He watched in delight as the light escaping the man was being twisted around the man. He took his hand and pointed it at the man, then clenched his fist as he pushed even more energy out towards him.
The man popped like a balloon at that and Apocalypse smiled. He stood there for a moment while he thought grim thoughts. ¡®I am a God. Non shall stand in my way. I will watch the world burn at my hands and laugh from the top of a mountain as it burns to cinders. But first I need to become stronger, much stronger. This man came to close to beating me¡¯
He stood there a while longer amidst the carnage watching the burning town. When he had his fill of the view he turned towards the main road and started to walk. He did not know where his feet would take him, he did not know where his journey would end. But he did know that wherever he went people would scream his name in terror, and he liked that thought.