(Eight parts. 10,000 words.)
One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight
ONE
“Everyone dies, Richard. That’s the point.”
“And if this doesn’t work?” he asked, turning to the woman at his side. “What then?”
Angelica smiled. “It worked. Everyone is dead. We made sure of it.”
The man sitting atop the skyscraper frowned. Below, flames patrolled the once-proud city, purging the concrete streets of the last hints of mankind. It was the last of the great cities to fall, the end of an endeavor that had taken the better part of a decade. The screams had died out hours before; only those of the endless fire remained.
The truth was evident. The humans were finally gone. Only they remained.
The two lovers were the last of the Immortals, relics from the time before time. For countless years, they had been unable to find a path to the realm beyond. In hindsight, the solution had been obvious. Continually tearing down mankind had hindered their goal. Allowing the humans to destroy themselves was far more effective.
When the time had come, they had driven the final stake into the heart of the resilient species.
“Do you remember the library of Alexandria? So much has changed since that time. It is a shame the knowledge the human will leave behind…” Richard trailed off as the adjacent building succumbed to the rampaging flames.
“Don’t start that again, my love,” the woman snapped. “Their existence meant nothing.”
As he often did, Richard disagreed with Angelica when it came to the humans. She had never stopped to marvel at their progress. “And if what Aaron thought was true? If the same force created both of our races? If there are others worlds beyond Earth?”
“Aaron was a fool. Those ants were only our playthings. There is only one other word, that of our creator. When we arrive there, you can ask him yourself.”
Richard met the woman’s blue eyes. Just like his own, they were unnaturally bright, a difference that could only be distinguished by another Immortal. It was a silent means of recognition, a way for one relative to identify another.
“Have you forgotten the Voice?” Angelica asked a moment later.
At last, Richard smiled. The Voice was the first sound he had ever heard. The creator of the Immortals speaking in the time before time. The Voice had told them of what was to come and in doing so had made them a solemn vow.
“Should you tire of this world, find death and return home.” As he spoke, the building beneath him began to sway, its metallic bones finally giving way. “Not only a promise but a challenge.”
Beaming, Angelica stood and raised her arms triumphantly into the smoky air. “And we have succeeded! Without a host, our souls will finally be free to move on!” She turned and extended him a hand. “Come, my love. It is time to join the others.”
Richard allowed her to pull him to his feet. They kissed for a long moment, the flames rising around them. “I will see you on the other side,” he said. “Together, we will make a new life alongside our own kind.”
“Together,” she agreed, interlocking her fingers with his own.
They jumped.
*
Richard opened his eyes.
Instantly, he knew something was wrong. The sky overhead was cloudy and tinted a peculiar shade of magenta. The wind brought the unforgiving smell of death to his nostrils, reviving his senses. He knew this feeling. He had transferred hosts.
No. This is impossible…
Pushing himself up, Richard realized that he had not been staring at the sky. The sea rocked gently beneath him, reflecting the strange sunrise above. He drifted on a piece of wood that reeked of gunpowder and smoke.
Turning, he saw the wreckage of the ship. The bodies of the dead. They looked like … humans.
Angelica!
Richard found his body sapped of strength. His mind raced as he watched a small rowboat emerge from the haze. At the helm stood a man with flowing hair and a glimmering blade.
Before he knew it, the wooden vessel was upon him. The man with the sword barked an order, and Richard was dragged on board.
The Immortal struggled to speak. “Is this … Earth?”
His rescuer raised a brow. “Earth? What is Earth?”
“This one’s lost his mind,” another voice said. “Besides, the Lady said no quarter.”
The man with the sword shrugged. “Not worth soiling my blade.” At another command, Richard found himself back in the frigid water.
He watched the boat disappear, not bothering to breathe.
*
The Immortal opened his eyes as one of the humans on the small vessel. He observed the others, wondering which was Angelica. A heavy hand slapped him on the back. Its owner, a burly man with a single eye, regarded him with a broad smile.
“Cheer up, Rook. The worst of it is over…”
Richard only nodded in response. Why didn’t it work?
He needed to find Angelica.
TWO
Richard had found death, but he hadn’t found home. He wondered if he ever would. Destroying Earth had failed. Somehow, the humans had spread.
No. The Immortal was certain that the humans on the small boat had not come from Earth.
Again, he looked to the magenta-colored sky. Surely, the sailors would have known the name of their homeworld. They had no reason to be dishonest.
But another planet with human inhabitants … how was that possible? Space was endless. Even if the humans of Earth had managed to devise a way to efficiently traverse it, the chances of finding one world among billions that could support life was microscopic.
Angelica. Where are you?
Richard remained silent as the boat continued to move forward, guided through the bloody waters surrounding the smoldering wreckage by a pair of muscular oarsmen. The Immortal studied the eyes of the remaining five men when the opportunity presented itself, hoping to catch the familiar flash of light.
By the time the man with gleaming sword broke the silence, Richard knew that Angelica was not onboard. It made no sense. Angelica’s soul should have followed his own. Their curse was the same, the hardest to conquer of any of the Immortals.
Where is she?
“There it is, men,” the man said. He pointed with his strange sword to the burning hull of the ruined ship before them. “Bring her close.”
Richard mimicked the other sailors as the oars began to slow. The hardest part of adapting to a new host was to not draw the suspicion of those who knew the former inhabitant. Fortunately, the Immortal had long ago learned to adapt.
“I don’t see it,” he whispered to the one-eyed man who had spoken to him moments before.
“Of course you do. You just don’t see it.” The large man chuckled. “I forget that you weren’t with us when we retrieved the last piece of the world-ender.”
Richard’s eyes widened in silent question.
The man pointed ahead. “Its pieces can’t be destroyed. Fire makes ‘em glow. Despite their weight, they don’t sink in the water. The stones defy all the natural laws of the world.”
Finally, Richard saw it, a blue stone somehow brighter than the surrounding flames. It hung at the end of a metallic necklace wrapped around a splintered plank of wood.
“To think that it was right under our noses the entire time!” the one-eyed man exclaimed. “They thought they could get away from our Lady, but Captain Marston always catches his prey.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Uno,” a smooth voice interjected. Richard turned to see that the captain had joined them at the bow of the small ship. “There is a reason that these men evaded us for so long.”
On cue, a cloaked figure leaped from the flaming hull, clutching the stone in hand. Captain Marston reacted quickly, pushing both Uno and Richard into the cold water before meeting the blade of his foe.
Richard kicked his feet, forcing himself back to the surface.
He watched in awe as the two blade-wielding figures danced atop the small rowboat, thoughts of his unexpected revival and Angelica’s absence temporarily forgotten. Sparks flew as the two swords collided faster than his eye could track.
After the first exchange, the two rowers at the stern leapt overboard. The remaining man didn’t move quickly enough; blood spewed from where his head had once been.
Then, the fight was inexplicably over. Marston pulled his gleaming sword from the chest of the cloaked man and held up the blue stone victoriously.
Dumbfounded, Richard allowed Uno to pull him back aboard the wooden boat. Could these really be humans? He had never seen men move so quickly. Not the warriors of Sparta. Not the Ronin of Japan. Not the celebrated athletes of humanity’s golden age.
The captain donned the necklace and ordered the boat away. When they were beyond the fiery remains, he brought the oarsmen to a stop and wrapped the body of the dead sailor in the cloak of the would-be assassin.
“Shell wouldn’t have wanted us to mourn him,” Marston said somberly. “He will live on through us. He will see our Lady raise the world-breaker through our eyes. He will hear the voice of our creator through our ears.”
Richard hung his head with the remaining sailors, working to keep his composure. First, the world-ended. Now, the voice of the creator. Who were these humans? Who was the Lady? Where had his final death on Earth brought him?
Most importantly, where was Angelica?
*
Hours later, Richard found himself aboard a larger boat. It was a single-masted sloop, long and narrow like those used by the infamous pirates of the early Americas. Just like its brethren on Earth, the ship was crafted for a single purpose, speed.
Captain Marston set a breakneck pace east.
Richard kept his eyes skyward, waiting for the strange pink sunrise to subside, for the emergence of a familiar sea of blue. It did not come. As the hours passed, he came to grips with the fact that he was no longer on Earth.
The Immortal turned as Uno joined him before the starboard railing. The one-eyed man grinned as he noticed Richard’s puzzled expression.
“It’s the captain, ain’t it?” the sailor questioned, scratching his gray beard. “I didn’t quite believe it myself the first time I saw Marston wield his blade.”
Richard licked his lips, assessing the situation. He had drawn a fortunate lot with his latest host. The closest man to where he had drowned had been the crew’s newest member. He hated to think of what would have happened if his soul had claimed the body of Captain Marston.
Before unleashing them onto the fledgling Earth, the Voice had explained to each of the Immortals how they could find death – how to break their curse. Richard knew that he had to be in the body of another human. But I have to know for certain…
The Immortal chose his words carefully. “I wonder if he’s even human.”
Uno roared with laughter. “Of course, he’s human, Rook. What else could he be? Even our Lady is but a mere human. Both she and the captain have spent years gathering the stones of the world-ender. They’ve grown old under the burden.” He wrapped his arm around Richard’s shoulders. “Don’t tell her I said that of course.”
In response, Richard gifted the man a false smile. The sailor carried the same misconception about Immortals as the humans of Earth once had. It was their souls, not their physical being, that were truly immortal.
“You’re a quiet one, Rook,” Uno said a moment later. “But I guess growing up as one of the Last-born would have that effect on you. Back when I had both eyes, this sea was filled with ships. After we bring our Lady the last of the magic stones, it might be once again…”
Richard only nodded, understanding the risk in pushing the conversation forward. This was clearly common knowledge. It was best to pretend that he knew what was going on. Not many humans ever questioned the essential facts of their own world.
Before silence could settle, the Immortal changed the topic, “What do you think is really going to happen when our Lady gets the last stone?”
Uno hummed in thought. “Truthfully, we’ve only the legends to go by. And those are relics from long ago. The last time the rainbow stones made an appearance, the world came to an end.”
“But we are still here.”
“Only by the grace of the creator. The user of the world-ender had to sacrifice himself to continue our race, to give our world a second chance.” At that, Uno let loose a long sigh and turned his gaze to the sea. “A second chance we ruined. Sure it took thousands of years, but it seems we can’t quite control ourselves.”
A tragic human trope. “The past is too often forgotten.”
“Wise words. You should speak more often, Rook.”
“I don’t want to overstep my place.”
The one-eyed man laughed bitterly. “When there are only dozens of your kind remaining, every voice is an important one.”
Richard nodded in approval. It truly was a shame that mankind only realized their mistakes in the end. From a single conversation with the old sailor, he had decided that he was indeed among humans – or, at the least, a direct relative.
The Immortal ran a hand through his mess of dark hair in frustration. Even after living for thousands upon thousands of years, there was still so much he didn’t understand. As ever, knowledge was the secondary curse of the Immortals.
Angelica. Where has the creator sent you? For the first time, Richard worried that he would never see her again. They had often been apart for lifetimes, but eventually, they had always found each other.
“When will we reach home?” he asked.
Uno drew a blackened pipe from his coat pocket and lit the contents. “Best guess, a little after dawn. I know … it’s rather hard to believe that their ship made it so far from the City of Grace. But, on the bright side, we’re sure to receive a hero’s welcome.”
*
Dawn found Richard seated alone at the bow of the ship.
The newborn light wove around the wooden figurehead an arm’s reach away. It was a simple representation of a woman with flowing hair, the very sort of figurehead that had been commonplace on Earth. The Immortal wagered that it was modeled after the Lady.
He hadn’t bothered to sleep. There was little point. He had spent the night beneath the alien sky of the strange world, watching as the light faded and countless stars appeared in the heavens. He found a modicum of comfort in their distant light. One of those stars was certainly the sun around which Earth rotated.
As the strange light grew, Richard stood and stretched his weary limbs. His new body was young but weak. It had certainly never trained for battle, never worked the fields.
He looked back at the sound of footsteps. Captain Marston approached with long strides, his long hair swirling in the maritime wind. Richard’s eyes went to the sailor’s waist where the gleaming sword slept in a weathered sheath.
“So eager to return home?” Marston asked, flashing a tired smile. “I would have thought after your eagerness to join my crew that a return to Grace would have been the last thing you wished.”
Again, the Immortal considered his words, returning his gaze ahead. As if the Captain had spoken them into existence, the walls of the distant city became visible. Such walls were a familiar sight. He wondered how many humans were within.
“I thought that the world outside the city would be different,” he replied at last.
The captain clutched the blue stone hanging around his neck. “Our Lady will not fail us. She will find a way to save mankind, to help us flourish once again.”
“But what of the legend?” Richard asked, remaining purposefully vague. “Will the creator not be upset of what we’ve done with our second chance?”
Marston frowned. “In a matter of years disease and famine will take all who remain. This is our only option…”
The captain was interrupted by the waking bell, a sharp, metallic cry that echoed across the silent sea.
“To your post, Rook,” Marston ordered. “It is the day of reckoning.”
THREE
The ship docked upon a dreary stretch of rock outside the walls of the City of Grace. There, a small group of men awaited their arrival. When Marston presented the blue stone, a brief cheer arose from their lips. Then, they set off toward the city in silence.
The city gate was unsurprisingly open. Richard saw no signs of farms or fields beyond the walls, only soiled earth and the blackened foundations of long-abandoned structures. It was apparent the City of Grace, just like the humans, was on its last leg.
Inside, the city was stuffed with a mixture of wood and stone structures, reminding Richard of the crowded towns of old Europe. However, where he would have expected to see hundreds of humans congregating on the dirt streets, there was only a precious few, slipping like phantoms from their homes to join the procession. It seemed that each knew Captain Marston on sight, that everyone knew the importance of his return.
The dirt path gradually turned upward, climbing toward a distant peak.
In the odd light of the world, Richard studied the city’s dilapidated castle. Its crumbling walls were unmanned, and its half-dozen turrets had fallen into a state of disarray. If he had needed further confirmation on the state of the world, the castle provided it – there was no longer any need for protection against other men.
At last, the growing crowd reached a stone square in the shadow of the abandoned castle. A small group of armed men surrounded a large white tent in its center. At the sight of Captain Marston, one ducked inside, presumably to retrieve the Lady.
Richard stayed close to Uno as the group of morose sailors advanced toward the tent, noting the humans collected on their march through the city had fallen back. The crew stopped on Marston’s command, equidistance between the dying populous and the abode of the mysterious Lady who ruled the dying city.
At another command, the Immortal fell to a knee alongside the others.
Finally, the Lady appeared. She was a slender woman garbed in a white cloak, the ends of her blonde hair spilling from beneath a raised hood. The men who had surrounded the tent formed a protective ring around her as she neared the sailors.
“Rise, Marston,” she commanded in a soft voice. “You have done well.”
The captain obeyed and presented the blue stone with a deep bow. The woman took the object into her hand and raised it to the rose-colored sky.
Richard withheld a gasp as the woman’s hood fell back to reveal her eyes. He quickly returned his gaze to the cracked stone below, mind once again racing.
“You,” the Lady said a heartbeat later. “You’re the boy who volunteered to help Captain Marston complete the final quest.”
It wasn’t a question. Richard looked up nervously as a pair of muscular guards came to a stop before him.
“I would hear your version of what transpired.”
Richard stood and stared at the woman in the center of the square for a long moment. There was no doubting it. The Lady was an Immortal.
*
The two guards did not follow Richard inside the tent. The space within was surprisingly barren, comprising only of a small table and a pair of chairs. Richard’s eyes fixated on a picture drawn on one of the loose pages scatted atop the wooden surface, a golden dagger fitted with seven colorful stones.
“Sit,” the Lady commanded as she entered.
Richard took the nearest seat and crossed his fingers together in wait. A moment later, the woman sat down across from him. The spark behind her blue eyes was unmistakable.
“You possess the body of the boy I sent to retrieve the stone, but you are not him,” she said. “It had been quite some time since I have seen another Immortal. Would you care to enlighten me to your purpose here?”
“I’m not quite certain myself,” Richard admitted. “I destroyed my world in an attempt to find death and instead ended up here.”
“And what world would that be?”
“Earth.”
The woman’s eyes narrowed. “What is your name?”
He told her.
“I am Elizabeth. I have worked for thousands of years to bring the humans on this planet to extinction. I too wish to find death and find home.”
“You implied there were other Immortals here.”
“Only one and he found death long ago,” Elizabeth replied. “Your appearance here makes me fear where he has gone. Before today, I never questioned if there were any other worlds to go to besides the home of our creator…” She trailed off, twisting a strand of blonde hair around a long finger in thought.
Richard’s curiosity got the best of him. “The world-ender? What does it do?”
The woman remained silent for a long moment, then said, “Tell me of this Earth and your trials there. In exchange, I will return the favor. However, there is one condition. You must do nothing to stop what is to come. Swear it.”
Richard did not hesitate. Somewhere within the woman’s story could be the key to solving the mystery of Angelica’s whereabouts. “I swear.”
“Do be quick about it, Richard,” the other Immortal smiled. “I am eager to die.”
FOUR
Elizabeth spoke at the end of Richard’s tale. “You claim that you and your lover share the same curse, that your souls are forced to move to the nearest human host upon death.”
The Immortal nodded.
“I’m inclined to believe that you’ve left something out. Obviously if you share the same curse, you would both be here. Perhaps she’s been misleading you.”
Richard regarded the woman blankly. Until now, he had never considered the possibility. “No,” he replied firmly. “Angelica and I keep nothing from each other.”
The other Immortal shrugged. “Think what you will.”
“And your story?” he asked, changing the subject. “The world-ender?”
“You must first understand my curse. The Voice told me that I am to live as long as there remains one person on this planet who worships me.”
Richard had heard of similar curses. “Then why become a god to these people?”
“My curse is not as simple to break as it sounds. Have you ever cast yourself as a god?”
“Many times. Eventually society would collapse for one reason or another and my assumed identity would be forgotten. On Earth, old gods were easily dismissed; their worshipers were often hung as heathens.”
Elizabeth smirked. “After hearing the words of the Voice, my lover and I decided to rule this planet together. We thought we had been created for the very purpose. It was easy to make the transition into godhood, to reap the rewards of worship. Death was never further from our minds.
“But, as you surely know, such happiness is fleeting. While he never aged, I did. We drove this world to the brink of extinction in an effort to find a way to prolong my life, but we failed. It was on my deathbed that he came to me bearing the jeweled dagger and revealed his curse – he could only die at the hands of another Immortal…”
Richard hung his head. He knew what came next.
“… so, I killed him, knowing we would be together again soon.” She sighed. “Only it turned out that I was reborn into this word as a child, that my past lives are linked, and that the worship bestowed upon my former host body was transferred along with my memories.”
“Meaning the world-ender is just a dagger,” Richard concluded.
Elizabeth nodded somberly.
“And those who stole the stone?”
“The last of the warrior-priests who called me a false god. Fools.”
“Is Marston one of them?”
“He was. But where did I leave off?” At that, she smiled. “Ah, my first death and rebirth. By the time I reached an age to travel back to my former city, the humans had rebounded. Legend of my lover’s sacrifice still held every tongue.”
“I’m assuming they hadn’t forgotten you either.”
“Even worse. They believed me to be the creator of this world, that I had come to this planet in human form and made a deal with my lover to exchange his soul to save that of mankind. Since that day, I have worked for a dozen lifetimes to escape this wretched prison. Armies fighting in my many names have salted this earth and poisoned its wells from one coast to the other. Nothing will ever grow here again.”
With a flourish, she produced a golden dagger from within the folds of her cloak and placed it on the table between them. Embedded in its hilt were six glimmering stones. She fitted the blue stone in the empty slot and met his eyes. “We share a mutual goal. These are the last of the humans on this world. Once they are dead, perhaps we will both find that which we seek.”
Unless there are other worlds with other humans…
“Do you pity them?” she asked. “I thought you wanted to find your Angelica.”
“More than anything.”
“Then, the solution is simple. Together, we kill the remaining humans.”
Richard nodded. The solution was simple. If he was taken to yet another world upon his death, he would kill the humans there as well. To find Angelica, he would end the entire species. She had been right all along. His attachment to humans was dangerous.
He extended his hand to the other Immortal. “Let us find home.”
*
Richard followed Elizabeth from the tent, emerging into the pink light of the dying world. The humans remained as they had left them, silent and scared. Only the sailors dared to look up. Uno’s eye widened as he saw the ropes tied around Richard’s wrist. Marston regarded the Immortal with a grim expression, knowing what was about to unfold.
Of course, that was impossible. The gap between what humans knew and what they thought they knew was infinite. This world had done nothing to dispel that notion. These humans had ruined their lands with war and tied their hopes to the false-science of magic.
Richard now understood exactly where he had arrived. A failed version of Earth.
I am coming for you, Angelica. If I have to kill every human in the universe, then so be it.
“Captain Marston, please step forward,” the Lady said. Her soft voice was deafening in the silence that had overtaken the city.
Marston rose, approached and bowed before Elizabeth. A frigid wind whipped through the square, pulling back his long and dark hair and revealing his weathered face. “What does my Lady ask of me?”
“I ask you to kill this boy.” She presented him the dagger. “We will use his blood, the blood of an innocent, to summon the creator.”
The rugged sailor took the knife.
Richard refused to meet the human’s eyes, hoping Marston would find his task easier. Of course, there was no doubting that the man would do as his goddess willed. Once humans convinced themselves of a certain truth, it was impossible to change their minds.
“I’m sorry about this, Rook,” Marston said as they waited for the appointed hour. “Know that your sacrifice will not be in vain. Because of you the human race will continue.”
Richard only nodded. He could sense the touch of the Immortal on the imposing man, her words on his lips. Elizabeth had played a familiar card. A human in love with an Immortal would do anything for them.
A bell sounded within the highest turret of the distant castle. Richard watched the dagger slice through his worn clothing and disappear into his weakened body. He welcomed his latest death, his only thoughts of Angelica.
A moment later, Richard turned to face the last of the humans. Something was different about the body of his new host, something he had never felt before. He thought back to the battle between Marston and the cloaked warrior-priest.
This man is something more than human…
Wordlessly, he turned and handed Elizabeth the bloody dagger.
“The creator awaits, Captain,” the Lady said.
With a nod, Richard drew his radiant blade. The strange feeling within his new body intensified, driving him to action.
I will find you, Angelica.
*
In a moment, it was over. The humans lay lifeless around him, a haunting image he had seen countless times before. None had raised a hand against him. Many had not even moved.
Once, he would have pitied them.
“What was this man?” Richard asked. “He moves faster than any human on Earth.”
The Immortal shook her head. “Do not forget your promise to me, Richard. You swore to do nothing to stop this, asking pointless questions included.”
She smiled. “I will await you in the world of our creator.”
True to his word, Richard struck and watched as the other Immortal fell.
Then he turned the strange blade upon himself…
… Richard stared into a green sky, the chaotic sounds of war surrounding him. A rough hand gripped his own and pulled him to his feet.
He froze upon seeing the other man’s eyes.
It was another Immortal. One he knew.
FIVE
The two Immortals stared at each other for a long moment. Thick smoke swirled about them, obscuring their surroundings, diminishing the sounds of battle. A surface of latticed stone crisscrossed by streams of blood supported their weight. Thunder rumbled in the distance.
Richard broke the silence. “David, what are you doing here?”
The dark-skinned man raised the sword in his bloody hand. Just like the one Marston had carried, it gleamed with an unnatural light. Unlike Marston’s, the light seemed to extend up David’s arm, revealing a series of deep wounds. “Don’t move.”
Richard froze. He did no desire to be killed and forced to find the other Immortal again. He had already spent enough time apart from Angelica. “Don’t you recognize me?”
“You can’t be here, Richard. You were one of the lucky ones, one of the Immortals who truly could not die. You being on this forsaken world…” The Immortal trailed off, glancing over his shoulder as a blood-curdling scream cut through the smoke. “We must find a safe place to talk. Follow me. You best take a weapon.”
Richard retrieved the discarded sword lying at his feet. Upon gripping the hilt, a vibrant energy shot through his entire being, bringing the world into a heightened state of focus. It was familiar to the energy that had coursed through Marston’s body, only stronger.
“Let’s move,” David said. “Kill anyone who approaches.”
They walked for a wordless hour. David set a brisk pace across the gory plain, navigating around fallen bodies and away from clusters of fighting men.
Eventually, the Immortals waded through the last of the grisly haze and emerged on the other side. Richard studied their surroundings, lowering his blade in surprise. The dreary land ended abruptly as if marred by the serrated greatsword of a Greek titan. Hundreds of miles below stretched an endless ocean.
David pointed to the poison-colored sun with his sword. “The day’s battle is almost at an end. We should be safe.” He turned to Richard. “Now, tell me what you are doing here. What has happened to Earth?”
“I destroyed it. I thought that I would–”
“Find death,” David concluded. The other Immortal sighed. “Didn’t we all?” He sat on the rocky ground and examined his wounded arm. The metallic armor clinging to his muscular figure was well-worn and covered in blood.
“What is this place?” Richard asked.
David laughed bitterly. “Tell me of the last days of Earth. Then, I will return the favor…”
As he spoke, Richard paced up and down a short stretch of broken land, acclimating himself to the strange abilities of his new host. The other Immortal sat on land’s edge with his boots dangling over the ocean below, listening intently.
“We were both misled by the Voice,” David said at last, his wounds inexplicably healed. “It told me that I could not be killed in competition, and that as long as there was competition I could not die. The answer to breaking the curse was obvious – I had to win every competition on Earth.” He managed a hollow smile. “That was seven Earths ago. There is always more competition.”
Richard scratched his thick beard. “Seven Earths ago?”
“Presumably these worlds have different names, but does it really matter what we call them? Humans live on Earth. Thus, every planet inhabited by humans is Earth. To find death, I must end every competition on every Earth.”
“This doesn’t look much like a competition.”
“The distinction rests in the prize,” David explained as he stood and distanced himself from the ledge. “The last man standing will earn the right to face the king for control of this world. The king resides in the castle in the center of the battlefield. Its gate will only open when there is one man remaining outside the walls.”
“And the others? Those not involved in this competition?”
David shook his head. “This contest has spanned countless generations. Once, the land stretched for hundreds of miles in either direction. Now, it is only a small island atop a great sea.”
He grabbed Richard’s hand and pulled him backward as the ground began to shake.
A heartbeat later, a monstrous growl came from the ground beneath their feet, resulting in a bottomless fissure that raced across the ruined land. The newly-isolated section of the land fell into the distant sea in a deafening cacophony of noise.
“At the end of every day, the battlefield shrinks,” David explained. “At the end of the competition, the last warrior will be left at the castle gates.”
“Why have you not ended this contest already? You earned your freedom in the Colosseum of Rome more times than I care to count.”
David sighed. “Our Earth was different, Richard. Every world I have been to since, the powers of the humans have increased. Those that remain here are mighty warriors. I’m sure you sensed this upon taking your new host body.”
Richard nodded.
“I had been battling the man who originally inhabited that body for hours before your arrival. Sometimes, it takes an entire day just to put one of the humans down.
“Despite the aid of my curse, it will be years before I travel to whatever world is next. Whenever I finally find death, I have a mind to kill the Voice for what he has done to us…”
Richard placed a hand on David’s shoulder as the other Immortal trailed off in despair. “Don’t worry, my old friend. I will end this competition quickly. Angelica awaits my arrival, and I have questions of my own for our creator.”
*
The deaths began to blur.
It was a strategy that Richard hadn’t used since the early days of mankind, but there was no point in battling the warriors of the latest Earth to the death. For once, his curse came in handy.
Most often he died at the end of a blade, skewered on the open battlefield or stabbed from the shadows. Whenever the opportunity arose, he brought individuals together to incite a bloody brawl. If he did not find an opponent within a few moments of dying, he simply turned his weapon on himself or threw his host body into the sea.
On his third day in the world with the green sky, Richard found David once again. The battlefield was hauntingly silent.
“You work quickly, my friend,” the other Immortal smirked. “More land has fallen into the sea since your arrival than in months before it.”
Richard nodded. His latest host body was a large man wielding a wicked axe. It starved for nutrition. Inside the body, his soul burned from exhaustion, demanding a reprieve from the frequent transitions. It was only a minor side effect – nothing he couldn’t handle.
“I don’t suppose you have anything to eat?” he asked.
“Thanks to your handiwork, I have done quite well for myself.”
David led him in the direction of the sun. When the edge of the land came into sight, the other Immortal walked to a stack of rocks and retrieved a supply bag. Moments later, the two men sat a hundred yards away from the abyss, gnawing at strips of dried meat. Richard didn’t bother to question their origin.
“Tell me more about the humans, about the other Earths,” he said as they awaited the nightly quake. “How have they gained this … power?”
David ran a hand through his dark, unkempt hair in thought. “The differences were subtle at first. Faster reflexes. Better balance. Quicker footspeed. These weapons came into play on the third Earth. As I said before, no humans I have come across are as powerful as those here.”
“And their worlds? Were they all like this?”
“More or less. We knew on the original Earth that humans could not be trusted with power. At least on our Earth, humans had the same innate level of physical ability.”
Richard gripped the handle of his axe tightly. “You should have seen what they accomplished before the end. Cities hundreds of times the size of Rome. A connective network that linked all of mankind together. There were billions of them.”
“They always bring the end upon themselves,” the other Immortal growled. “No matter the circumstances.”
Richard nodded in agreement. “It seems to be the human way…”
They were silent for a long moment.
Finally, David spoke again, “The castle nears. It will not be long before we are able to move on. Soon, the king of this world will open the gate and commence the last phase of the competition.”
“Have you ever seen him?”
“Only once. He is the most powerful human on this version of Earth. Fortunately, we have your curse. Against you, he stands no chance.”
SIX
Richard awoke on unfamiliar feet, blade in hand. The walls of the gargantuan castle loomed in the distant haze, tall and made of thick stone. He lowered his blade, allowing his foe to slice through his battered armor without resistance. Seconds later, he raced on.
It had been centuries since the Immortal had experienced so much death so quickly. His latest host body felt unnatural, like an ill-fitting suit. Growling, he forced it forward, bending the body to his will. On the original Earth the process had been nearly instantaneous. Here, the time varied; some souls proved more difficult to displace than others.
Ahead, two men fought. Their movements were difficult to follow, little more than blurs. Richard focused on their glowing blades, tracking the sea of sparks that rained to the rocky ground after every exchange. It was clear that these humans were far more powerful than any he had encountered before.
The warriors turned as he approached, halting their battle in a wordless truce. Richard didn’t mind. He swung his sword at the first and was promptly decapitated by the second. Before his former head hit the ground, he turned and drove his blade through the heart of the remaining human warrior.
Richard smiled at the thought of their misguided code of honor. It was another connective thread, furthering the idea that, at their core, humans were the same on any world. The revelation comforted him.
The Immortal encountered no further foes as he navigated toward the castle gate. As he neared his destination, Richard slowed his pace and scanned the battlements for guards. There were none to be found. He had anticipated at least a few sentries patrolling the stone catwalk, monitoring the competition.
What sort of ruler is completely unconcerned with the outside world? Richard frowned as he realized the answer. One who wants to destroy it.
A single figure awaited the Immortal at the castle entrance, standing before the monstrous gate with head bowed. It had been nearly two days since he had last seen David.
Richard had spent five days in total on the world with the poisoned sun. Another two on the world with pink sky. He wondered how long he had truly been apart from Angelica, if she had found death or had been taken to another version of Earth.
All this time and I haven’t gotten closer to solving anything…
He spat in frustration, thinking again of the words of the Voice. What had been point of the creator’s words? Without the Voice, the Immortals would never have known there was a world to return home to. Without the Voice, none of this would have ever happened.
“It seems this is the end for you, old friend. I will be the one to face the king,” David smirked as Richard halted before him. The other Immortal had scavenged a new set of armor, and his wild hair was smeared with dark blood. The familiar gleam in his eye was hopeful.
“Are there others within the walls besides the king?”
David shrugged. “It is likely. A king needs people to rule after all. Assuming you take his body, we should be able to kill them without ending the competition and move one step closer to finding our home.”
Richard forced a smile as the gleaming sword drove through his heart…
*
… something was wrong. Richard’s soul screamed.
He found himself swallowed by darkness, seeing without seeing. For some reason he had not taken human form. Just as the transformation had begun, a searing pain had entered his consciousness – somehow driving him to a premature awareness. There had been the familiar sensation of contact with a new host body and then…
Rejection.
Sometime later, Richard’s senses slowly came into focus. He lay on a dark mattress with curtains drawn, brilliant light seeping through the gaps. His heart began to race. Is this another world? It can’t be! What about the king? What about the competition?
Distraught, the Immortal tossed the bedcurtains aside, sprung to his feet and raced to the window. In the courtyard hundreds of feet below, David battled a menacing, crowned figure in radiant armor just inside the open gate.
But he was clearly the nearest human…
Richard remembered his agony from a moment before. Rejection. The word returned to the forefront of his mind.
Had the king somehow overpowered his curse? Was that possible?
It was only then the Immortal noticed that the courtyard was different than the land that had come before, a green oasis in a desert of stone. The sky overhead was cloudless and blue, the sun pure and bright. Dozens of lavishly-dressed nobles cheered on the battle between the king and the other Immortal. Beyond the gate, the ruined landscape was all but forgotten.
Richard turned as the room’s door swung open.
A bearded man garbed in a loose-fitting black robe approached, blade in hand. “My lady, I heard screams,” he said breathlessly. “I know you said not to disturb you once the show started but … are you alright?”
Instinct took over. Richard had been reborn into countless scenarios. Visual and vocal cues were all he needed to comprehend his situation, to blend in. He slapped the guard’s hand away and turned away from the battle raging below.
Red-faced, the guard retreated, bowing low in hopes of not drawing his ire. “Please forgive me, your grace. I did not mean to offend.”
Richard smirked, long blonde hair obscuring his vision. It was now clear what had happened inside the castle walls.
The most powerful humans of this Earth had built their own version of paradise. They had ruined the world outside the walls in search of entertainment, in search of a challenger for their king. If entertainment was what they wanted, then he would provide it.
“There is something wrong,” Richard admitted. “I have been separated from the woman I love. For me to find her, all of you must die.”
With that, he dashed toward the open window and dove to his latest death.
SEVEN
This time, Richard was ready. As soon as his soul entered the body of the nearest human, he surged forward to claim it as his own, overcoming the resistance of the inhabiting soul.
He would not be rejected again.
Opening his eyes, Richard assessed his surroundings. A group of the nobles had gathered around the body of the dead woman. The others remained focused on the battle by the gate. Standing between both groups, he had a decision to make.
Richard stepped toward the humans surrounding the fallen noblewoman. As he approached, he unsheathed the blade at his waist. The Immortal took a calming breath as the alien power filled his latest body. It was stronger than ever before, nearly twice what he had become acclimated to on the smoky plains beyond the castle walls.
Just how powerful are these humans?
The first noble fell without a sound, blood soaking through his blue robes. Richard struck again as the next man turned, a cry of warning dying in his throat.
It was enough.
The four remaining nobles drew their swords. Richard managed to slay another before he was run through. After acquiring a new host body, he decapitated the two remaining men with a pair of fluid strikes.
Turning, Richard found the other battle had come to its end. The hulking king of the humans stood with his heavy boot on the back of David, a broad smile on his face. The remaining nobles had assembled behind him, gleaming blades pointed in the Immortal’s direction.
The king fingered his shaven jaw. “Not the way I had envisioned it, but now that it has begun…”
The king disappeared.
Richard attempted to track the human’s movements with his eyes – to no avail. One instant, the king had stood before him. The next, he had turned on his human allies. Blood showered the castle courtyard as the nobles fell in near unison.
What seemed a heartbeat later, the towering king reappeared, once again pinning David beneath his heavy boot. “I am curious, Thomas. Why turn your blade on the others?” David managed a laugh before the king stomped his face into the stone. “Answer me!”
Richard narrowed his eyes, perplexed. It was clear that the king had wanted to end the world. He decided to find out why. Humans loved to talk, especially those who held power.
“You question me? I just saved your life, my king. Those men were planning to betray you after the battle!”
The king roared with laughter. “Of course they were! Sometimes I forget that you all know nothing, that this moment has been a millennium in the making.”
Richard showed his surprise. It sounded as if this human thought he was immortal. But it couldn’t be. The king did not possess the distinctive gleam behind his eyes.
The Immortal shook as he recalled the feeling of rejection. If the king had truly been an Immortal, his soul would have bypassed the man’s body and moved to the next available host. Instead, it had been rejected then redirected.
The man before him was no Immortal, but he was not exactly human either.
“A thousand years? What … what are you?” Richard asked, inflecting his voice with awe. He needed answers.
“I am cursed,” the king replied. From his tone, it was apparent that the man was amused by the situation. “When I was a boy, I heard a voice speak to me. It said that I could not die unless I was the last human on this world.”
“A voice?” Richard shook his head. Had this man actually heard the Voice?
“It took many lifetimes for me to see the truth in the words of the creator,” the human continued in his regal voice. “At first, I believed myself to be blessed. I became the king of a small nation and sought to conquer the world. Eventually, I did.
“However, after becoming the god of this realm, I found myself without purpose. I created this fortress and started a competition that would eventually bring about an end to my curse. After the dust settled, I would simply kill the winner and those I had retained to serve my needs. All I had to do was wait.”
Richard forced himself to ask the question. “Why seek death?”
“Because only by finding death, will I find my true home.”
The Immortal’s heart skipped a beat. He has heard the Voice…
The king stepped away from David’s broken body, chuckling to himself. “I see that the rest of my retinue has decided to make things easier on me. I was hoping for a manhunt. If you will excuse for a moment, Thomas.”
The king disappeared once again. The dozen black-robed humans gathered before the ornate castle doors offered no resistance, falling before they could so much as raise their blades.
This time, the king reappeared immediately before Richard and pressed his gleaming blade against the Immortal’s throat. His enormous figure blocked out the haunting scene of the open castle gate and the ruined landscape beyond.
“It is rather fortunate that Samantha has already found her death. She was going to be the hardest to kill.” The king’s grin widened. “I never took her for the suicidal type. Perhaps she stumbled upon the mess in the kitchens. Perhaps the nobles told her about my plan to end this world…”
Richard withheld a sigh. Even the most powerful human in existence could not escape the flaws of his species. “Does that make me the second to last human?”
“Aye. The curse I put upon this land ensured that the gate would only open when one warrior remained on the outside. Everyone else has perished.”
“Not everyone,” a cold voice interjected.
The king turned a second too late. David’s shining blade emerged through his breastplate, and the human’s blood began to pool on the stone.
The king whitened. “How are you alive? What … are you?”
“We are the cursed,” David replied coldly as the human king fell to the ground. The two Immortals locked eyes. “Do you think he actually heard the Voice?”
Richard frowned. “Whatever the case, we are one step closer to finding answers.”
“Agreed.”
“I hope to see you on the other side, my friend…”
*
The strange feeling came again, the struggle of one soul against another. It was akin to swimming against a great current, to racing up a steep hill.
Battling the powerful humans in the world with the green sky had provided Richard all the experience he needed. In a moment it was over.
He had won.
The Immortal opened his eyes and found himself in a dimly lit room that smelled heavily of smoke. He sat in an unbalanced chair pulled close to the edge of a circular wooden table. Across from him sat a man with gleaming blue eyes. Between them was a weathered stack of cards and a dark metallic cube that exuded power.
“I was beginning to lose faith that you would ever arrive,” the man greeted him in a smooth voice. “Congratulations on exterminating the human race. I hope it was worth the cost.”
EIGHT
Richard took in his surroundings while processing the words of the other man. He could not discern the room’s size or its location. The dim lights were without source. The surface of the table was uneven, as if it had been broken apart and nailed back together multiple times.
The only certainty was that the two men were alone … aside from the strange metal cube resting between them. The item seemed to have a distinctive personality of its own, shaking periodically as if it caged a living being.
The man seated before him was handsome and well-dressed, locks of brown hair curling just above his brilliant eyes. But the man’s eyes were too bright, more intense than those of any Immortal that Richard had ever encountered.
Richard studied the two cards resting between his long fingers, noting that his legs and torso were bound to the weathered chair by thick ropes.
“Where am I?” he asked.
The man folded his hands. “How about an introduction? I am Samuel.”
Frowning, Richard repeated his question.
“You’ve just replaced my playing partner of the past three thousand years, the last human in the universe. Seeing as you’re the one who killed him, I believe you owe me your name.”
“Richard.”
“Was that so bad, Richard?” Samuel smirked. “It’s hard to believe that this day has finally arrived. When I first ran into William, I never believed that he was actually destined to be the last human. We were alike in that way…”
“What do you mean?”
“You see, Richard. I actually am immortal.” Samuel’s blue eyes grew even brighter. “There’s that look again. How would you categorize it? Confusion? Anger? Doubt?”
“What of the Voice?” Richard asked, subtly struggling against the ropes. “Certainly, the creator gave you a way to find home.”
“The Voice? Do you honestly believe that there is some mythical place for us to go home to? That our creator still cares about us?”
Richard nodded.
“I’m afraid I have bad news for you. The creator long ago abandoned everything and everyone in his manufactured universe.” The man gestured, and the strange cube slid to Richard’s side of the table. “Take a look for yourself.”
At a snap of Samuel’s fingers, the item’s top panel smoothly spun to one side, revealing a lifeless interior.
After a moment, Richard looked at the other man and raised his brow. “I don’t understand.”
Samuel chuckled. “This is how I knew you were coming. This device once belonged to the creator and tracked the status of his many worlds. Once, they glowed like gems in its endless depths, a world for every color imaginable. Now, none remain.”
Seemingly on its own accord, the lid of the cube shuttered.
“You asked where you were before…” Samuel extended his hand and gestured to the dark space around them. “This is the end. There is nothing beyond this point. All those so-called Immortals that you knew before are gone.”
Richard shook his head, finally giving up his attempt at escape. “I don’t believe you.”
“Wake up, my friend! This is the world of the creator, the world he abandoned, the world where each and every one of us was created. This is the home you destroyed so many worlds and so many lives to reach!”
“All you’ve shown me is an empty box.”
Samuel picked up the metallic cube and flipped it over in his hands. At his touch, the bottom plate came to a blue light and the outline of a keyboard displayed on the wooden table. The other man placed the cube into the air where it remained, inexplicably floating a foot above the surface of the table. “Which world do you call home, Richard?”
“Earth.”
“Ah, the sapphire world. I wish I had known more of the creator’s other worlds,” Samuel mused as he typed. After a moment, he smirked. “Here we are, Richard of Earth. Let me know when you want it to stop playing.”
Sound came from the cube: “Richard, live without fear. When you die, your soul will claim the nearest human host. Should you tire of this world, find death and return home…”
Jaw agape, Richard stared at the glowing item. “That is … the Voice.”
Samuel nodded. “There is a message in here for every self-proclaimed immortal.”
“I am just as much an Immortal as you. The same light lives behind our eyes, the same blessing and curse granted to us by our creator.”
“The same light?” the other man repeated. “Perhaps your travels have blinded you. Perhaps you overlooked the fact that my partner William heard the Voice and he was only a human.”
Richard narrowed his eyes, recalling the similar claim of the slain human king.
“William was convinced that we were all just variations of the same basic design, that our traits and worlds were slightly altered to gather data for our creator. In some, the gap between the weakest and strongest was small, in others it was worlds apart.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that you and those you called Immortals were nothing more than the most powerful variation of the human species.” Samuel pounded his fist on the wooden table. “I’m saying that I am the only true Immortal!”
“So, you have no curse?”
Samuel growled. “Of course I do. The Voice told me that I could not die.”
“How can you be certain of that?”
“Do you think that I haven’t tried everything?” His blue eyes flared. The metallic cube began to rotate rapidly in the air beside his head. “That is why I have been so eagerly awaiting your arrival, Richard – you are the key.
“It took me thousands of years to realize the destiny the creator had left for me, why he had gifted me his priceless container of worlds. You see, the creator wanted me to restart creation in his place. He wanted me to become the creator.”
Richard frowned. “And how would you do that?”
In response, the strange item raced forward, halting inches from Richard’s face. The side panel slid open and a radiant blue gemstone emerged from within, bringing light to the dark world, nearly blinding the Immortal.
“This is a world seed,” Samuel explained. “Using the power of the cube, I can create a new world in the image of my choosing. However, for it to work, I need your help.”
“My help?”
“The creation process cannot begin without the energy of a living soul. William and I both tried to be the sacrifice ourselves but were rejected. Therefore, it must be you, Richard. You were the one the creator intended to start life anew. This is your destiny. Together, you and I will control the new world and all who live within it.”
Richard eyed the cube hovering inches away, studying its sharp side in thought. He recalled the words of the Voice, the words that had led him to exterminate the human race. Samuel had claimed that the Voice had abandoned them. Which was truth?
“What is there to decide?” the other man asked. “It is either do as the creator intended or disappear forever into the void. If we must sit for all eternity for you to concede, so be it. As you’ve already discovered, you won’t be going anywhere.”
Finally, Richard smiled. “I am going home. I am going to see Angelica once again. I hope one day to see you there. Do not give up on finding death.”
Before Samuel could move, Richard swung his head forward, driving his skull into the sharp corner of the glowing cube.
*
Richard opened his eyes. The world surrounding him looked just as Earth once had.
A warm wind swirled through the quaint field, tickling the long grass and dancing with the leaves of the distant trees. The sound of birdsong and the smell of flowers filled the warm air. The sky overhead was an unmarred blue.
A blonde-haired woman appeared above him, radiant in the pleasant light of the sun.
“Welcome home, my love,” Angelica said. “I’ve been waiting for you.”