The Exile

“A great evil has come to creation. When the Chaotic One is known, the true King of Dragons will arise to fight. Twice the King will see beyond the veil and twice he will be tested. Only the true King of Dragons can neutralize the greatest evil. Only then will there be balance within the machine that is the Universe.”

- Hrogkn, last of the great and noble Cyclops, Prophet of a forgotten god

Jake woke up coughing and laying on his back. “Brother,” he managed, though it was hardly more than a croak. He rolled over and pushed himself to a sitting position. The action brought on a stronger coughing fit, but it allowed him to get a better view of his surroundings. Everything was decimated. “Oh no. Delano,” Jake whispered, searching the rubble around him. His pinky finger twitched subconsciously as he activated his power over time; everything froze and was silent. “Brother!” A muffled cough brought a sigh of relief. Being his twin brother and a mage with the power over dimension, Delano was immune to his power over time. Jake stood up and raced passed the debris that used to be their parents’ home and followed the sound of coughing.

Delano’s leg was pinned under a brick wall. Jake helped pull his brother out with little difficulty. “Where is she? Is she gone? Dead? Is there anyone left alive?” Delano stood and tested weight on his leg. Not broken, so that was good news at least. He looked around at the destruction as Jake released his grip on time. In a whisper, Delano answered himself, “It’s all gone, brother. Our home, everything. By the gods…” Whatever else Delano was going to say was cut off as he went into another coughing fit, but Jake understood.

As Delano set about clearing his lungs, Jake looked around. The smoke was beginning to settle, which meant they were unconscious for a while. He looked up to check the sun’s position and saw something that filled him with dread. “The sun. Oh, gods, Delano, look at the sun.”

Delano looked up to see what his brother was talking about and fell down in shock. “It’s dimming. That’s not part of this world’s timeline for how many eons? Six? What…” Delano activated his power over dimension instinctually and broke out in gooseflesh. “Oh, no. Jake, she’s consuming it. Soon she will be more powerful than us. Even if there were survivors from the last attack, they won’t live long once the sun is consumed.”

Jake stood there a moment, trying to process what he was just told. As the words were sinking in, he stumbled to the bushes and vomited. All those people… When he was finished, he wiped his mouth and stood up. “Maybe we can fix this,” he said quietly. “Undo the last few days.”

Delano shook his head. “No.”

Jake continued, ignoring Delano, “we can convince the Hub Guardians to allow it. She threatens their existence, too, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t.”

“Jake, stop. Listen,” started Delano, but Jake still wouldn’t stop talking.

“We have to think of a way to kill her. Or should she be contained? Can she be killed, as powerful as she is? If not, how could we contain her?” Jakes eyes became strained. Panic was beginning to set in.

Delano, his power of dimension still active, performed the very first spell he ever learned to get his twin brother’s attention: color spray. But with panic also rising in him, the spell went wild and caused fireworks of color to explode in Jake’s face. It did not hurt him, but the brightness did succeed in getting his attention. Being twins, Jake was just as immune to Delano’s power as Delano was of Jake’s. Jake finally closed his mouth with a click and turned to face his brother. Delano pulled a chain out of his vest pocket and showed it to Jake. At the end of the chain was a beat-up locket in the shape of a heart. Jake didn’t have to inspect it to know that it was the one that belonged to Delano’s betrothed centuries ago.

Delano, still holding up the chain, spoke his peace. “When we received our power, I begged to change the past to save Gwen. You remember what Ophilium told us? ‘It was meant to be.’ Some things can be changed, but most things cannot. The truly large things cannot, and you know that. That is why we are Guardians. But our world cannot be saved. This is too large of an event to undo. Even if it could be done, it would kill the both of us and possibly the Hub Guardians as well to do so. You know this. Hells, we theorized on similar events over drinks, did we not?” Delano put the locket back where it belonged in his vest pocket and looked back at his brother, who appeared to be less manic. Good.

“Our world is gone, brother,” Jake whispered. “All of our friends. She killed… How could she kill all of them?”

“That isn’t the question of the day, though, is it,” asked a woman walking up to the brothers. Jake and Delano spun to face her, disgust instantly filling their expressions.

“Calliope,” hissed Jake. “What happened to you? How could…”

Calliope held up a finger to his lips to shush him and smiled brightly. “I was talking. The question of the day is how did the two of you survive?”

Delano shook his head in disbelief. “You have forgotten your basic teachings, Calliope. You cannot kill another Guardian with your power. It is also nearly impossible to kill another Guardian the conventional way. And why would you want to?”

Calliope’s smile faltered a bit, then came back just as broad as before. “Because it is fun! What other reason would I need, Delano? Oh well, if you won’t die from my power, I suppose I will just have to try harder, then, huh?” With that, she conjured a dimensional rift and summoned a black dagger that glowed with a dark energy. “Shadow dragons are quite difficult to kill as well, but their blood makes for a wonderful poison. Here, try,” she spoke as she hurled the dagger toward Jake. Jake froze the dagger in a time bubble before it could pierce his skin.

Jake searched Calliope’s face. “Where is Wes? Where is your husband? What did you do with him?”

Calliope was concentrating on releasing the dagger when the name of her husband was brought up. Once again, the smile faltered, and was replaced with a sneer. “He left me. He was self-righteous and wanted to preserve life. To hells with him. I don’t need him.”

Jake let out the breath he was holding and thanked the gods for the one miracle. Delano had other thoughts on his mind, however, and began to quietly chuckle. As the realization hit home, his mirth grew. Jake looked at his twin brother with confusion and growing contempt.

Finally, Delano could hold it in no longer. “You did it, you bitch. You tipped the balance of the Machine. Do you realize what you have done? Do you, truly? You just guaranteed that the King of Dragons will be your demise. You signed your own death warrant!” With that, Delano laughed almost hysterically and had to be held upright by Jake, who was slow to realize the truth of his words. When he did, Jake turned his head deliberately to Calliope and gave a smirk.

Calliope was not amused. Holding her arms out to her sides, she gestured to the destruction she had so recently caused. “Let him come, then. Shall I become the Greatest Evil? The King would not last against me. Hells, he could join me. The King of Dragons would make an interesting ally, would he not? We could compliment each other in power. Then I would absorb his energy, too, as I have done with everyone else in this world. As I have done with the sun. All life will eventually be absorbed by me, and I will be the most powerful creature in the Machine.” Calliope gave a slight bow, almost as if she were expecting to be celebrated by the twins.

Jake was the first one to speak. His quiet words barely concealed the rage he felt. “We will be there, Calliope, watching from the front row, when you are destroyed.” Behind his back, Jake sliced his left palm with a shard of metal. When he could feel the blood flowing freely from his hand, Jake brought it around and activated his power over time. He tried to cast a binding spell to freeze her in time, but she was too quick.

Calliope brought her right hand up to give a halting gesture. “No,” she said flatly, “go away”. She activated her power over dimension and pushed with the added energy of the people recently slaughtered as well as the sun. The boost would have killed lesser Guardians. Jake and Delano went flying, unable to control their trajectory. Calliope created a portal and sent them through the singularity that had replaced the sun she just consumed. “Try surviving that,” she muttered as she felt them being sucked through. For a fleeting moment, she wondered where they would end up, then decided not to concern herself with them anymore. With a smile, she opened a portal and traveled to find another world to consume. It was time to play.

Jake was slow to consciousness. He was barely aware of shouting. Was there a hunt going on? Was there a raid? He tried to open his eyes, but everything hurt. He felt like he went through a building. A feeling spread through his heart and the link with his twin brother, a feeling of panic. Delano! His eyes shot open.

Delano sighed with relief and lowered the hand that was about to slap Jake in the face. “There you are brother. Come on, we have to go.”

Jake tried to sit up but found movement difficult. Looking around, he saw nothing but stars. They were afloat in the void of what they called the “in-betweens”, or what mortals would consider “outer space”. Normally, Jake would have been fine with their location, but he did not recognize any stars. “Where,” he croaked, knowing Delano would understand. He was right.

Delano shook his head. “I haven’t found the Hub yet, but I think we may be in a different quadrant. She hit us with a lot of force. All my nerves are frayed. I can’t create a portal or anything. But we have to find something to anchor to soon, else we will lose ourselves.”

Jake nodded as he remembered one of their first lessons. “If a Guardian is not anchored to a world, they can go insane and cause all manners of chaos within the Machine that is the Universe”. Ignoring his pain, Jake forced himself awaken. “Then let’s go”.

Delano did not know how much time had passed while they were gone; he only knew that they were losing themselves. Had it been a century? A millennium? Several? The hub would not let them anchor to a world, even temporarily, forcing them to wander and try to find a way out. Delano was feeling what was known as space sickness, but he had to stay awake for his brother. Jake hadn’t woken in days. Weeks? He no longer knew. Hope was fading.

*wink*

Delano shook his head. Was that…?

*wink*

A woman? Coming toward him? He strained. Yes. Another Guardian… No, a Goddess; a Creator. “Please…” Delano reached out, activating his power. She was dimension.

The woman reached the brothers and gasped. “You need an anchor. Come, let’s get home. Call me K’horvenyah”.

“Calliope…” Delano started.

“You know her? She’s contained, for now,” she said as she made a portal for home. “We have a lot to discuss.”