The Leviathan - revised plus more chapters of scifi

After the great comments from more than 90 people as a First Chapters submission, the Leviathan has been revised to meet YOUR suggestions. Most of them, anyway. The entire story is now in the past tense and the beginning pages were reworked to read more smoothly. And for the dozens of people who wanted more, many of your questions will be answered in Chapters 2 and 3. Read on and please comment further!

 Brian Bandell

THE LEVIATHAN 

By Brian Bandell
 

Chapter 1

Only one with the purest of hearts may read the covenant etched in stone by the eternal wind. An abandoned faith cries for rebirth while the iron-clad leviathan churns on through the dark world that has forgotten its creator. A lone soul hears it, and that is all that’s left to answer.

- The last writings from the leader of one of the eradicated religions. These were the only written words recalled from the forbidden faiths.

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            He had traveled up every snow-blanketed mountainside, delved into all the caves, and searched around the countless boulders in this place from when he was half his height until he was full-grown. The man found no one else like him. There was no way out and no memories of how he got there. He was not sure anything else existed outside of this frigid world, which basked in the moonlight radiating down from the ever-black sky.

            He had seen this barren landscape so many times that he wished he could snatch the yellow moon out of the sky and bury it in a dark grave.

            The young man’s toes curled over the edge of the frozen cliff halfway up the mountain overlooking the vast snowy land. He was perched like a fragile sculpture of frost a breath away from collapsing. On this spot, he had the best vantage point to overlook his wide-open prison of solitude and reflect in the futilely of escape. He had no measure of time but for the increasing lengths of his beard and matted brown hair, which the biting wind whipped across his bare chest and down his back to the loincloth around his waist.

His slender, yet muscle-toned frame swayed back and forth in the wind. He relaxed his legs, indifferent to whether the gusts pushed him back on the mountain or over the ledge. So many times, he had clung to mountainsides strenuously fighting the wind’s insistence to pluck him off the great rock and propel him like a snowflake in a swirling blizzard. He decided to no longer resist it.

He closed his eyes and thought about the difficulties he constantly faced to survive, from the merciless weather to the perils of hunting the large beasts. A scar was etched across the firm muscle of his upper thigh from where one of their tusks had struck. He recalled how he was then nearly trampled by the herd before rolling into a narrow cave. It happened so long ago, but the man couldn’t think of a single thing that had changed in his life since then.

What if I had died then? Would it be any different than if I died today?He rarely thought to himself anymore. There were only so many internal conversations he could have. But the questions kept building up like the snowcaps on the mountain peaks and he had no one else to give him answers. It’s not worth all the suffering of survival to be here alone.

            The misshapen boulders on the mountainside besieged him like mocking gargoyles. He cried out into the flurries of snowflakes twirling through the air out before the cliff. He waited and listened. Only the echo of his voice responded.

In this landscape, the jagged mountains stood side by side like brothers. The stars above flashed messages to each other. He stared with milky brown eyes into the yellow glow of the lonely moon. The man had come to think of that ever-round smooth disk of light like another loner stranded on a distant mountaintop. 

            He struggled to recall his only solace – his dreams. He has had visions of different places and strange colorful lands. They seemed so far from the bleak reality he inhabited, yet knew equally little about.

            He held his palm over the rough skin on his belly to feel his growling stomach. How long have I been up here? Why can’t time go by here like it does in my dreams with the movement of the sun? But there is no daylight here. There is no sun. Why do I always dream about the sun—being out near the ocean with the waves crashing against my chest? Is that a real place I have been to?

            So many things are missing from my life. I’m alone here, but not in my dreams.  It’s like there’s something, or someone else there… I hear it in the corner of my mind. It listens to me. I know there’s something there. If I could just reach out and touch it—reach out and grab it.

A powerful gust of wind whirled around the mountain and lashed across his back. He teetered forward without resistance, but the gust soon subsided. His leg muscles by instinct balanced him on the pointy edge. His eyes burned as stinging teardrops fell down his cheeks. It’s futile to struggle against this. I live here, not in my dreams. The only escape is inside my head.

He recalled the visions of his dreams: a crystalline brook reflecting soft sunlight, trees with orange and golden leaves frolicking in the breeze, a land with no snow—only a sea of dry green grass. He snapped back to his reality and set his worn gaze upon the frigid world of damp, icy peaks and black sky.

There’s nothing like that in this land. This world chooses to torture me. If the wind decides to send me dropping like a stone, I am nothing to question it. Maybe death will be an eternal dream. Then it won’t matter what’s real or not.

            He tilted his head back and welded his eyes shut. He lifted his foot off the ground and slowly began to extend it into the open air out over the cliff. He felt the wind pulling, pulling, pulling. He exhaled the fear from his body with each breath until no more doubts remained. There was no backing away from the ledge. The fall couldn’t be survived.

            Then there was a voice in the back of his mind that was not his own. It was a whisper—a falling snowflake landing on his tongue. Yet it was something he couldn’t ignore. It told him, “Look.” He opened his eyes and saw a star in the sky shining brighter than all the others. This was not like the other stars. It looked closer. It was moving. His heart skipped a beat, sending a jolt through his body.

The falling star drew nearer. Its light set upon his eyes, filling them with a brilliant radiance the likes of which he had never seen. The red streak that trailed it was the most colorful thing he could recall seeing during his lifetime in his dull world. A loud hum that made the man’s skull vibrate. The object was huge and long, like a pack of wild beasts stampeding through the air on fire.

Is that the sun? It’s not just a dream.

His ears were jabbed with a loud whistle. He covered them as the light blinded him. Suddenly the familiar cold was gone and the star’s burning heat came upon him. His body burst with sweat and his skin felt like it was roasting over a fire. The star rushed over him. For a split second, all was silent. Then an explosion ignited the air behind him into an avalanche of scalding heat. He turned around and saw the top of the mountain spark with light and spew up a ball of smoke and fire. The snow beneath his feet rapidly began to melt and he started to slide. Desperately trying to run, he lunged forward but the force of the snow was too much. He was thrown down onto his face.

Arms and legs flailing wildly, he grasped for anything to save himself from falling over the cliff lurking menacingly behind him—the same cliff he was willing to fall from seconds ago. The breath left his body. His heart sank like a stone inside his chest as he was pulled less than his body’s length from the ledge.

            Suddenly, something within him awoke. His mind was driven by a maddening thirst to see what was on the mountain. The man could not recall anything in his life that had given him hope such as this. I have to survive one more time.

Parting the roaring wave of snow with his shivering hands, he pumped his legs and broke free. He sloshed onward and battled through the snow up the side of the mountain. He stepped over jagged rocks with his carven wooden sandals as he climbed toward the remnants of the fallen star’s light. With a triumphant burst, he reached the mountain’s highest point and peered down into a wide glowing crater.

Metal. Glass. That was the first time he saw those foreign materials. Yet he could clearly recall their names as he watched flames ravage the twisted wreckage in the charred pit. He had seen fire before, but never in such a chaotic state. It lashed about, smothering and devouring like a rampaging beast. The stench was much more powerful than any cooking fire he had set.

The wreckage spread over 200 footsteps. It looked like a giant metal finger that was cut open, spilling tangled wires and boxes – another two words that suddenly pop into his head when he saw these things.

            Is this a star? Why does it seem so familiar?

            The blaze raged across the metal frame as thick black smoke engulfed the sky. The metal twisted and turned like it was withering in agony. “Help!” he heard a voice call. “Help me please!”

            He shivered with shock as the acid in his stomach boiled. The young man clasped his hands over his ears. This voice didn’t come from inside his head, he realized.

            “Hello?” he heard again. “Is somebody there?”

 What’s this I’m hearing? That’s not my voice. It’s different. What is it?

            “Is anyone there?” The voice was high pitched and hysterical. “Please get me out!”

            He gazed past a pillar of smoke and saw something he couldn’t explain. It was a living creature shaped much like him. This…person became trapped under a heavy piece of metal. Black wires held the piece down so it resisted the person’s thrashing attempts to break free. It looked like me. It’s almost me, but not the same. What am I seeing? What should I do?

            “Is somebody out there?” he heard the other cry. He noticed its hair was black and long, but much smoother than his. Its body was also more slender. “Help me, please!”

            Help. The word bounced around in his head until he matched it with a meaning he was not entirely sure of. He wondered where this knowledge came from, but then recognized the urgency of the word help. The young man saw the fire drawing closer to the other person and that it could not get away. I’m free to escape, he thought, while the other person is not.

“Me,” he apprehensively murmured. He wanted to say more, but just that little word shocked him to hear from his mouth.

            “Yes, come on.” The voice paused and then grew louder. “Hurry and help me!”

            “Help?” he asked. “What help you want?”

            “What do I want? My air cargo transporter crashed and I want you to get me out of the damn wreckage. Now move.”

            He digested the long words like a thigh of beast-steak. “Air cargo? No understand.”

            “Cut the bullshit and lift this hunk of metal off me. We need to get out of here! They’ll be here soon to finish the job.”

            He slid down the slope into the crater and saw a thick slab of metal pinning the other to the ground. Immediately he started to sweat—a feeling he was still quite unaccustomed to. He hesitated.

“It’s okay to touch the metal. It’s a composite material that resists heat conduction. Grab it!”

He dodged through the flames and wedged his hands under the metal. The heat seared his skin and sapped his strength as he pulled. It didn’t budge. The man yanked a handful of wires out of the way.  He bent down and took a deep breath as he clenched his teeth. His tendons tightened with a scathing pain as he hoisted up the metal. It felt like his teeth grinding into dust from the strength of his own clenched jaw. The person crawled out from under the metal and wobbled to its feet. Dizzy from the heat, he dropped it. Pain shot through his back.

Panting for breath, he took a good look at the other. It had long black hair that hung over its back and smooth light skin. Despite the impact of the crash, it only had minor cuts and bruises. Its intelligent dark brown eyes reflected the raging flames. They were not round like his eyes, but slanted and came to sharp points on the sides of its face. This person was slightly shorter than him and much more slender. It wore a black fabric suit that tightly hugged its body and a wooly coat.

Another strangely familiar word popped into his head: woman.

            “Whoa! I can’t believe I survived being shot down.” she said. “This isn’t over yet. We’ve got to go. Come on.” The woman grabbed his arm and started to pull him along. He hastily snapped his arm back and unleashed an ear-splitting scream. The first touch of another person felt alien, yet so warm. It was a warmness he remembered, but not from any world he could recall.

She gave him a wide-eyed stare. “What’s wrong with you? This thing could blow at any moment and the Hands of Rajak are on the way. We can’t let them see us. Run!”

            The woman turned and began to run toward a cliff. She screeched and stopped in her tracks just before the edge. He clasped his ears from the sound of the scream.

“That was close.” The other looked over the steep edge with panting breath. “Warn me next time. Say something before I fall to my death, all right?”

            With a quizzical look, he hesitantly followed the woman down the side of the mountain. He strived to keep her pace. The other displayed astonishing strength as she climbed down with great quickness and agility. He resigned himself to staying several steps behind her. They soon reached the plateau near the cliff, where a thick sheet of snow had settled after sliding down the mountain.

            “Oh crap!” The woman pointed to the sky. “They’re here already!”

            Two more balls of light blazed through the sky toward the mountain. These were very different from the thing the other came in. The two great beasts of metal and fire tore through the black sky with the demeanor of bloodthirsty predators. More than six times his height, they had bulky armored bodies flanked by razor-sharp metal wings that left two trails of flame as they barreled onward. The beasts had massive metal arms and wide-stubby fingers. In place of legs they had dozens of black tentacles that whipped around with claws, hooks and blades on their ends. Among these blood-encrusted cutting instruments, some carried rotting dismembered arms and legs, a few blackened with decay. Their faces were masks of shiny black metal with two inhuman eyes emitting an eerie red glow.

            “The Hands of Rajak…The killing machines of god,” said the woman in a voice muffled by trembling lips. “Get down and cover yourself with the snow. They sense heat so we need to try to blend in with the cold as they’re attracted to the wreckage. Hopefully, they’ll think I’m in there.”

            He stood still and waited for those weird words to fall into place in his mind while the other dove into the snow and began to cover itself. Then he saw the beasts were almost to the mountain. With trembling hands, he got on his knees and franticly dug into the freezing blanket of snow. He held his breath as he wiggled his body to get even deeper. In a furious rush, the beasts whooshed over him, leaving him petrified. Everything was silent. He jumped at the sound of something pounding. Then he realized it was his heart. A slight whistle resonated from atop the mountain. It built louder and louder, becoming a shrill screech that caused each snowflake to quiver. In an instant, the sound ceased and two thunderous blasts of air shook the earth. The entire mountain trembled like it had been stepped on by a giant. Then it abruptly ended. For several moments all was still. Suddenly, something moved next to him. It jabbed him in the back with a boney limb that felt too hard to be human.

            “Agghh! No! No!”

Chapter 2

The man fell on his side as he pushed the firm limb away from him. He quickly realized it was a knee.

“There you are. Sorry about that,” the woman said. He sat there with his chest heaving. “It’s only me. Come on, it’s safe to come out now.”

            He struggled out of the snow, gasping for air as he crouched on his knees. He peered up toward the crater atop the mountain. Nothing. It was as barren as if not a thing happened there.

            “I can’t believe it…freedom!” shouted the other in an exhausted yell. “I’m not a slave to that twisted god anymore. Now I can think how I want, live how I want and love how I want. Even if I have to die in this wretched, wasted land, I’ll die the only free soul.”

She paused in her weary panting and bared a relieved smile.

            “Free - dom,” he said, slowly pronouncing the new word. “I no see it.”

            “It’s not something that you see. It’s something that you feel…It’s something that you breath. It’s…” Its teeth starting to chatter, the other submitted to a wave of shock and cradled its arms over its chest. “It’s so cold out here. I’ve never been this far outside the cities. How do you survive this freezing hell-hole?”

            He rubbed the back of his bare neck, wiping away the sweat from his fiery encounter. “What you mean?”

            The woman chuckled and smirked. “Okay Mr. Strong and Speech Impediment Type, can I ask you a couple of slightly personal questions? Why are you wearing nothing but that scrawny loincloth and how do you keep your balls from freezing off dressed like that in this damn cold? Where’re your clothes?”

            “Clothes?” He looked down at his body, which was bare except for a ragged piece of fabric over his genitals and buttocks. “You have clothes. Clothes keep you warm. I have no clothes. I’m…cold. I’m very cold!”

            He collapsed to the ground and shivered. He flailed about, trying to cover himself with rocks and snow. She jumped back and gasped. “Whoa now! I didn’t mean to insult you or anything. I just thought you’d like to know that little detail. Come on now.” The woman draped her coat over him. “Here take this.” He tugged its warm collar to his face and sat up. “Fine, no need to thank me. That’s all right. I don’t mind freezing my ass off as long as you’re not screaming like a maniac all day.”

            He rose to his feet and stared down at the dirty snow around his ankles. Finally, he eyed the woman. In some ways she looked much like him, yet in many ways appeared very different. Both had long hair, but his was matted into clumps while hers was straight and smooth. She was hairless on her cheeks and arms while he had long scruffy whiskers on his face and a mess of curls on his forearms. Her skin was smooth like it had been kept away from the elements while his skin was leathery from lashings by the wind-whipped snow. Her figure was more slender and curvy. Her soft chest stuck out from her body.

            “Okay, awkward moment,” she said. “Look, I’ll introduce myself. How’s that? My name is Hosanna. What’s yours?”

            “What is name?”

            “I’m Hosanna. Who are you?”

            “Who me?” His expression went blank like a lost child.

            “Tell me your name. What’s your name?” the woman snapped back.

            “Name? Uh, name?”

            “Oh please! What are you a baby? My name is Hosanna. What’s yours, little boy?” Hosanna put her hands on her hips.

            “Oh, a name. I remember,” he replied. “No remember my name…no have name.”

            “Really?” Hosanna bite her lip as her skeptic grin shifted to a look laced with sympathy. “I suppose that’s possible. What use do you have for a name if you’re all alone out here?”

            He scratched his head and did not respond. Before Hosanna could open her mouth again, he blurted out a stuttering sentence. “Can I ask you…a slu…a slightly personal question?”

“Well, since I’ve got nothing better to do.”

“You are like me.” He paused for a second and looked Hosanna over once more. “But not all like me. Your body almost the same, but different in places. Your face, your hair, your chest…”

“Whoa! Slow down cowboy!” Hosanna cut in. “If you’re trying to come on to me, that’s the lamest line I’ve ever heard.”

“No. I mean…” He stopped and looked at himself the same way he had just studied her. He grasped at the new words in his head, trying to pull some together into a sentence that matched his thoughts. “Man…I’m a man. And you’re a…a woman.”

She gave him a condescending look. “How long have you been out here? Do you even remember the last time you’ve seen a woman?”

“Out here? Always been out here. Nothing else. No see woman before. No see anyone before.” He buried his face into the collar of the coat and turned his back on her. He remembered a word he has never had to use when he was alone: embarrassed.

“What?” she gasped. Hosanna grabbed the shoulder of his coat and spun him around to face her. “You mean you’ve lived your entire life out here without having any contact whatsoever with another human being?”

“Contact? Uh, no.”

“Wait! Have you ever heard of Rajak?” Hosanna leaned in closer, shocked that he did not immediately respond. “Do you know Rajak, lord and almighty creator Rajak? He’s the man who’s god. He created the Earth and every living being to serve him. Rajak owns our souls and our lives…He’s made my life miserable. Rajak is the one who sent his metal beasts after us. ”

He lifted his head up with a baffled stare. “What Rajak?”

“You really don’t know.” She paused with her mouth agape. Now she studied him. “This is fascinating. Impossible. Too good to be true.”

“Fas-cin-a-ting,” he mumbled as he turned away from her and crossed his arms.

“You don’t know the half of it. Look, I’ll explain more of this to you later, but first we need to get off this mountain. The risk is too great that they’ll come back once  they discover my heat signature was present away from the wreckage and only disappeared just as the Hands got here. I’ll bet the mission review will catch that, so we better move.” She motioned for him to come with her. The man remained still, clenching the warm coat tightly across his chest. “Come on. Don’t be shy…How about you show me where you live?” Hosanna offered an inviting smile.

He looked to the solitary moon. “Where I live…Here.” He pointed to the ground at his feet.

“No, I mean your home, the place where you sleep—the place where you keep your things.”

“Home?” He turned to face her, apprehensively peering into her eyes. “This is my home. I go no other place.”

“That’s really great but I don’t have time to be your psychiatrist right now.” She rolled her eyes. “We need to get moving. How about this: let’s have some fun and go somewhere warm. What about that?”

“Warm? You want fire?”

“Fine, let’s go get fire!” She waved her arms in big circles.

“Come.” He spun around and sprinted down the mountain. This time he ran harder. He landed at the base of the mountain and peered behind him. She was not there. He stared into the empty snow for a second until a finger tapped him on the shoulder. Hosanna had been standing next to him. He solemnly walked on as she sent him a playful smirk.

The bright light of the lunar orb guided them through the darkness. They trekked through a valley that was being slowly filled with snow from the scattered flurries sprinkling down. “Can I see something for a second?” she asked him after several hundred steps of awkward silence. He stopped in his tracks. “I want to check the back of your neck. Let me see.”

He nodded. She circled behind him, pushing his head down so that he stared at the ground around his feet. Hosanna’s delicate hands sifted through his hair. Her fingers were warm, yet soft and smooth—not rough and worn like his. A grin grew across his lips.

“Yuck! Looks like you haven’t showered out here either,” she said with a chuckle. He swallowed his smile as he recalled that yuck isn’t a good word. “Okay here’s one indent. And the other one should be right…no way! There is no other one. You only have one indent…You only have one.”

“What is the indent one I have?”

She tried to choke back a giggle from his poorly-worded response. “The indents in the back of people’s necks indicate that they received their implants. Everyone gets two, but you have only one. You truly are special.”

“Implants?”

“Look, I’ll show you.” She spun around and lifted up her hair. “Look closer.” He leaned in, bringing the cold tip of his nose close to her warm neck and soft silky hair. He whiffed its alluring fragrance. Nothing in his world, even the scent of cooking beast fat, had smelled so good to him. “See the two implants?” she asked. There were two small indents in her skin on the back of her neck. She turned around to face him and let her hair down. “When children are born they are all immediately given, or ‘blessed’ as some would say, with what’s called an identification stamp. It’s a ‘gift’ from Rajak. It’s implanted near the base of the neck along the spinal cord and interacts with the brain. They say it instills god’s divine will into the child. When children turn ten they’re given what’s known as a loyalty stamp. It’s like a coming of age that proves their devotion to Rajak and furthers their development.

“I have both stamps. Everyone has both stamps. But you only have one—probably just the identification stamp, because without it people are supposed to be instantly struck down by god.”

“Implant is in my body! What it do?”

“We’ll continue this after we reach somewhere warm. Come on.” She marched away with her head turned, still talking to him. “I’ll lead this time. Let’s step on it. I’m not about to turn into a snow cone in boots out here.”

As he paused and fingered the back of his neck, he noticed Hosanna walking toward the edge of a pit. “Stop!” he shouted. The howl of his voice echoed into the steep, icy drop before her. Jagged rocks lined the bottom.

Hosanna grinded to a dead halt only inches before the edge. She caught her breath and tried to maintain her balance.

“That makes twice that I’ve nearly taken that dive today.” Hosanna turned her head away and shifted her eyes to her feet. “Maybe you should lead.”

He strolled past her with a grin upon his lips. She followed. They treaded through the valley at the base of the mountain until he stopped and knelt down. He gently glided his hand over the snow beneath him. Hosanna gawked as he drew still breaths with his eyes closed. “What are you doing?”

“Here. This is it.” He dug through the snow and pulled out some withered wood. He set it aside and began to scoop out more.

“Hmm, nice trick.” She grinned. “Why don’t you dig me up a candy bar while you’re at it?” He stood up silently with his hands full of wood and walked on.

“Whatever,” Hosanna whispered under her breath. She scooped up the remaining firewood and followed him onward. He led her to a deep crevice, carved like a gaping wound into the side of a rolling mountain. The giant crack in stone had rocky walls that opened up to the sky and welcomed in straggling flakes from the swirling snow flurries. The howling wind was silenced as they descend deeper and the mountain shielded them from the snow drifts. The ridged stone walls and the silhouettes of their figures were swallowed by the pitch black darkness as the light from the moon was cut off. Hosanna clutched the wood against her body as she crept onward. She followed the sound of his footsteps.

He abruptly halted and spun around to face her. As she grew nearer, her hot breaths breezed past his clammy cheeks. Hosanna stopped. Her breaths quickened as they faced each other in the all-consuming darkness. The aura of silent anxiety permeated the air like an icy mist.

“This is the place,” he said.

“Aren’t we going to make a fire now?” Hosanna asked, rubbing her shivering arms.

He dropped the wood at his side and squatted down. He centered a large piece before him and rubbed a pointed stick against it. Hosanna listened to him work and leaned against the wall. Her eyes closed with exhaustion and she nodded off.

He ground the stick harder to speed up the process. He had never been in such a hurry when he was alone.

If this were a dream, I’m sure I would have awoken by now. She is real. But what is all this she’s telling me? The world she speaks of is even stranger than my dreams.

Not long ago I was ready to leave this land. Now I don’t know where I am. There’s so much more in this world. That is, if I want to see it.

The first flames were born and light spread throughout the crevice as he fueled the fire with more wood. The young man observed her as she slept. The reflection of the fire beamed off her face, lighting it with a picturesque glow. He leaned against the wall and focused his gaze on her.

I don’t know what her freedom is, but she must be happy to have it. If she came here for freedom, then I must have had it too, since I’ve been living here. But it doesn’t make me happy like it does for her. The only time I’m happy is in my dreams...

He placed his elbows upon his knees and shut his eyes.

Chapter 3

The young man got up and brushed the sand off his back. Adjusting his robe, he crawled out from under the branches of the bare tree he had been lying beneath. He rose to his feet and set his eyes upon the landscape of torrid rock and sand, which extended its lifeless flat surface past the horizon. The blinding light of the sun burned the clear blue sky with a heat that descended to scorch the ground. The sand torched the soles of his feet, but they were worn thick with blisters and felt only numbness.

While this might have been the most stunning landscape yet for his dreams, he thought, he longed to be back in the bland wilderness with Hosanna.

He wiped the sweat off his brow and turned to face the tree. It was dead and barren. But there was life within one tiny leaf—a small speck of green hanging from a blackened branch next to him. It twirled around like it was about to fall off yet just was not ready to give up. He reached his dry palm out to touch it. The leaf burst into flames.

“Welcome,” boomed a massive voice, resonating from all around him. He drew his hand back and trembled. “Be not afraid. You have been chosen.”

“Chosen?” He squinted his eyes, combing the blurry distance to look for the source of the voice.

“You have no shoes. It is fitting for where you shall go,” the voice said.

“Where am I going?” he asked, speaking into the building gusts of wind that scooped up the dust from the ground. The sand swirled around him. Yet the tree remained calm, like it was the center of the storm.

“That is up to you,” said the voice as it flowed through the wind. “But I will be there. Do not forget me like my other children did and I will lead you on your way. You must remember me, and remember this.”

“Remember what? What is there to remember?” He raised his head to the sky and let out a dejected sigh. Suddenly he felt the ground trembling and moisture spreading beneath his feet. He peered down at the saltwater gradually seeping in between his toes. The tide trickled in against his ankles as he looked out over the sapphire ocean before him. The desert was gone. No longer barren—the tree budded with lush green leaves as its trunk rested beside him in the chilly water. He inhaled the smell of the salty foam generated from the crashing of the waves. Several glowing white clouds blew across the sky as they sparkled under the rays of the sun. He stretched his arms out wide as the gentle breeze caressed his face.

“Have faith, my child. The time will come again when my message is spread throughout the world. But you must bear it first.”

####

His eyes opened to a burning red light sizzling against his forehead. As his vision adjusted, he saw a metal being in the shape of a man leaning down before his face. It blinded him with a rectangular beam of red light from where its eyes should have been. The man was a half-head taller than him and stacked with muscles. His oily black hair hung out the back of his helmet and over his shoulders. As the young man cowered on the ground with his back against the rocky wall, the silent figure formed his gauntlet into a fist.

“Darius,” Hosanna said. She sprung to her feet. She stood near the wall across from him inside the crevice and gave the armored man a cocky sneer. “I can’t believe you’re desperate enough to follow me all the way to this wasteland. You must really enjoy getting your ass kicked.”

Darius turned away from him to face Hosanna. The camp fire burned between them, casting their long shadows on the opposite walls of the crevice. “I see you’ve found a friend out here. That’s great. Now I can bring back two sinners’ heads for Rajak.”

“I designed that external biosuit you’re wearing myself, Darius. Someone with your feeble skills could never master it.”

“Oh really now?” Darius scowled as he reached for a metal dart on the back hip of his suit. “You’re unarmed. I’ll slice your foul mouth to pieces.”

Hosanna stood nonchalantly—a stance more for talking to an imbecile than readying for a fight. “You could never beat me in training combat. What makes you think you can do it now? Frankly, I find it insulting that you’re the best soldier they could dig up to send after me. If you had any sense, you’d have begged to be taken off this mission.”

“Shut up!” Darius spat. “I’ll show your stuck-up ass that I’m better than you. I’ll slice your throat, you dirty infidel.”

“Bring it!” Hosanna spread her feet and lifted her arms in a fighting pose. Her hips swayed while she balanced loosely on her heels and flashed a confident grin. Darius drew the metal dart from his side and tossed it at her like a bolt of lightning. Three thin blades extended out from the body of the dart, making it whirl it like a propeller. With the speed of a blinking eye, she dodged it with a cartwheel to the side and a handstand flip toward him. The dart ripped into the rock wall as easy as cutting through clay. 

The young man gasped at seeing Hosanna moving faster than anything he had ever seen – human or animal.

She did another flip at Darius, but her lashing kick missed as he ducked under it. With a boost to his muscles from his biosuit, Darius jumped high into the air and latched onto the icy cliff up above. He brought his left hand across his body and over his extended right forearm to access his wrist blaster. He shot flashing disks of radiating energy. Hosanna spun past each shot. They sliced cleanly through the rock wall. The young man scurried for cover on his hands and knees.

“Get down here!” Hosanna shouted. She delivered a running jump kick into the wall below Darius, but he leapt from his perch as rocks began to cascade down. He bounced off the opposite wall and sprang toward her. Hosanna rolled out of the way. A rock smacked Darius on the shoulder, shattering over the armor as he buckled. He quickly regained his footing and lunged at her with a jagged dagger in his right hand. She spun around it and planted her elbow against his chin, sending him staggering backward. With a hard whip of her leg, Hosanna’s foot barreled at Darius’ head. He recovered to block the blow and trip up her plant foot, slamming her down with a grunting shove. 

Hosanna’s shoulder bounced off the frozen ground. Darius raised his gleaming dagger and pounced at her. A scream echoed through the crevice. The young man realized it was from his mouth.

How could my one thread of hope be stolen so soon? I can’t survive without her.

The dagger was driven deep into the ground after abruptly changing course to miss her by a few inches. Hosanna’s hand vibrated like it was in a seizure. She rolled away from her stunned combatant and got to her feet. She ducked his off balance punch and kicked him hard in the shin. Darius’ leg buckled and he stumbled to the wall to keep his balance. He clutched his shin and crouched down.

“What’s the matter? Can’t tolerate a little pain?” Hosanna laughed and relaxed her guard.

“How the hell can you hurt me through this armor? It doesn’t matter. I’ll show you pain, damn it!” With a frustrated roar, Darius pulled out a handle that extend in size into a long black staff with razor-sharp scythes at both ends. He rotated his weapon at blazing speed and leapt after her. The blades whisked into a blur and the frigid air in the crevice became even more bone chilling. With a firm stance, Hosanna kept her distance and egged him on with a waving finger. He did a juke at her, but she reacted with an amused grin.

Darius let out an enraged scream as he charged toward her with the blades whirling before him. She matched his taunting yell as she rushed back at him. Darius gripped the staff with both hands and lashed it right at Hosanna’s head. In an instant, Hosanna flew through the air as she leapt over him—avoiding contact by inches and soaring over his head. Darius prepared another strike as he spun around to meet her. He swung the staff with a fury that cut the base of the wall behind him. Hosanna avoided landing by flipping off the wall above the spot where he stuck his blow. As she came down behind him, she grabbed his neck and smashed the back of his head down across her knee. Darius crumpled to the ground and dropped the staff.

“You pitiful piece of crap!” Hosanna continued jawing at him as she stood over Darius’ limp body. “You should have known that I’m always armed. Before I left, I made myself the first recipient of my latest invention, the internal biosuit. This war machine fused to my bones is much stronger than the inferior model you’re wearing. I can do things you’ve never dreamed of. If you’re looking for an easy hunt, you won’t find it with me. So tell Rajak the next goon he sends after me will go straight to hell.”

She shook her head and looked back at her shocked companion. The young man flinched from the intensity of her gaze. He struggled for breath as he slunk against the wall. Hosanna’s face loosened into a warm smile. “Hey…Are you all right?”

Shocked that she switched from warrior to friend so quickly, it took him a minute to realize she just spoke to him. “Glad I not lose you,” he murmured. A deep sigh released his tension. He stood up with a lump in his throat and gazed over Darius’ motionless body. He had felled animals before, but this metal-coated man did not appear to be food. “He is dead?”

“I wouldn’t mind if he was, but I doubt it. His suit protected him from that blow being fatal. He’ll be out for a while.”

He peered at his reflection in Darius’ helmet “What is biosuit? Do I have one?”

“No, no!” she laughed. “Biosuits are developed for combat—for fighting other people. They boost power and speed by delivering a jolt of electricity and hormones to the muscles and tendons. Only the most elite soldiers wear them. He is wearing his suit outside, but I have a special suit that I put inside me…with a little help. The components have been fused to my bones and connected to my muscles. This way I can out-maneuver even the best external models. I also have magnetic properties.” He gave her a blank stare. “I can attract and repel metals. There are micro-particles in my skin that can generate a powerful charge. That’s how I redirected the knife to miss me. They also make my skin much thicker than normal to resist burns and bruising. I designed biosuits, among other weapons, for Rajak when I lived in the city.”

“City? What’s that?” His cheeks flushed red with embarrassment at his confusion. “And why he want hurt you? Will more people want hurt you?”

“I swear! You’re like a child sometimes.” She shook her head and adjusted his coat tighter against his neck. Her gentle touch masked the fierce power within her slender hands. “The concept of a ‘city’ might be complicated for you, but it’s pretty basic for me. It’s where a bunch of people live together with Rajak controlling their lives. God won’t let them leave. This jerk Darius came here to fight me because I left the city. He’s an assassin. He hunts people who defy Rajak and brings them back, or at least their heads back, so he can get a stupid promotion or some other worthless honor.” As he began to speak, she playfully patted her hand over his mouth and grinned. “Before you ask yet another question, let’s get out of here before this moron wakes up. We need to go somewhere where it’s hard to find us.”

            “It hard to find us here.”

            “Apparently it’s not too hard! We need somewhere safer.”

            He nodded. “I know where. Come.”

            He picked up some of the remaining firewood and led her out of the crevice into the open air, where snowflakes gently floated down all around them. They walked across a valley and weaved their way between several towering mountains, which had high peaks shrouded in darkness and barely within sight. The glimmer of the moon reflected off the snow in the path leading up to the mountain they traveled toward. It was a modest mound of rock, so diminutive that it was hard to notice cradled among its colossal neighbors. “See this mountain?” he asked.

            “Yeah I see it,” Hosanna replied. “Is it the runt of the litter or what?”

            “Uh.” He stuttered and then paused to assemble the words to his overflowing thoughts. “I like it there. It gives me warm feeling. This world is very lonely. You share this place with me.”

            “Oh…It sounds good to me then. But still, it’s better to be out here alone than to be a mindless drone in Rajak’s cities.” He shrugged his shoulders and distanced himself a few paces from her as they continued on.

            They reached the base of the small mountain and climbed up most of the way. The pair stopped at a slippery plateau. He pointed out a cave. It was barely tall enough for them to enter. Hosanna reluctantly hunched over and squirmed inside. He ducked in quite comfortably. With a deep breath, he dropped the firewood and sat down. He peered over at her and noticed her crossing her arms nervously. She glanced back at him and offered a half-smile. “Uh, do you think you could start the fire now?”

            “You cold? I am not cold, ever.”

            “You were when I pointed out you were naked,” she giggled.

            His mouth shut and he began to set up wood for the fire. She drifted over to him and knelt down across from his work. He continued with the task. Every so often his eyes looked up from the work to catch a glimpse of her face, which radiated in the faint moonbeams like a blossoming flower in the night. Hosanna smiled and he peered back down.

            “So,” she said, batting her eyelashes. “Don’t you have any more questions for me?”

            His eyes stayed on his work. “You do not want me asking questions. I am like a child.” 

            “Oh come on. I was just kidding. I do it a lot. I say something as a joke. I don’t mean it. I’m just trying to have fun, you know?” She leaned in closer to him, nearly brushing her hair against his cheek.

            His face stiffened as much as a mountain ridge. “It more fun to joke me than answer my questions?”

            “I guess you could put it like that.” Hosanna grinned and backed off, reclining against the wall of the cave. “Okay, let me make it up to you. Ask me any question you want. Go ahead.”

            “Any question?” The first flames were born and he blew on them until they thrived. Finally, he lifted his gaze to study her. Hosanna raised her eyebrows. “You said Rajak. You do not like him. Is he a person like us?”

            “Like us? No.” Her face hardened as she neared the fire. Its reflection blazed inside her eyes. Hosanna began talking but briefly choked. She cleared her throat and spoke in an emotionally strained tone. “He’s the god of this world—a figure that’s greater than human kind. Rajak creates us, raises us, judges us and determines our fate. He assigns every soul its purpose and level of importance…Rajak is a monster! Everyone has no choice but to serve him. We kill at his word and die at his word. Of course, if we don’t, this heartless god executes us and sends us to burn in hell. He believes we’re all too stupid to think for ourselves.”

            His eyes grew wide as he surveyed his surroundings. He wondered why it never occurred to him that someone created the world with a purpose. Everything, from the mighty mountains to the pebbles around his toes, had new meaning. “Rajak created this world. All the world? Mountains, stars, people…me?”

            “Yes. Rajak made all of it. We’re taught that he’s a good ruler too, honest and honorable. I know what he’s really like though. He’s a tyrant! He molds our minds, and if we don’t dedicate our very existence to him, then he exterminates us. To deviate from the will of Rajak is to disgrace his world and face certain death. But the people are already dead, because everyone has surrendered their hopes, their dreams…their loves. Consider yourself lucky. He seems to ignore what people do out here.”

            “Rajak not out here. Why no people live here?”

            “Because they’d prefer to avoid certain death. Even kids know that the cities are the only safe places. Out here in the wilderness Rajak won’t protect and provide for us. It’s cold and dark. There’s no food. There are wild beasts. People never leave the cities. They are afraid.”

            “City is safe. Out here is not safe. Why you come here?”

            “Ugh…” For a rare moment, Hosanna hesitated, her sharp tongue silenced. Her gaze shifted from her companion to the fire. She shook her head and wiped her eyes as her voice began to quaver. “I was a weapons designer for Rajak and a soldier with an elite unit. I worked closely with another great designer. He helped me invent this biosuit and he conducted the operation to put it inside me.” Her lips began to tremble. She grimaced like something was about to burst out of her.  “His name was Asher. See, I grew close to him…I liked him…I loved him.” Tears streamed down her cheeks as the words fell off her tongue. She buried her face in her crossed elbows.

            He looked back at her in befuddlement. The young man remembered crying when he felt lonely, but seeing her cry for reasons he could barely grasp petrified him. He remained silent as Hosanna gathered herself.

            “You don’t understand, do you? Okay, I’ll make this clear. Societies in cities work in family units. Men and women become parental partners when they apply for a permit. If Rajak accepts the application, he chooses a partner for them. This partner lives with them and can apply to Rajak for a child to rear.

“I wanted Asher to be my partner, but our request was rejected by Rajak. People cannot choose their own partners, no matter the feelings between them. I loved Asher and he loved me back so much. We were perfect for each other, but we couldn’t be together because of Rajak. God doesn’t tolerate people loving each other. Rajak wants us to love only him.”

            He stared into the darkest corner of the cave. Tears yanked at his voice. “You were alone. You found a man. But Rajak not want you and this man to be…” He grasped for a word. “Together.”

            “It’s more than that. It was love.”

He looked into her moistening eyes. “Love…I do not understand.”

            “Well…” She perched her head on her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs. “It’s like feeling that you’re the most precious thing in the world when you’re with someone. It’s about feeling wanted, protected, appreciated and valuable. Everything I did was perfect in his eyes. We wanted to be free together.” Rage built in her voice like a thunder clap. “We can never be together now. Never! Asher is dead—executed by that damn Rajak because he loved me.”

            The young man wiped his stinging eyes and looked down at his hands. Tears. “You found the man you want. Rajak make him dead. You are alone. You are alone in not safe place like me. You and I are…” Another word emerged from the depths of his mind. “Lost.”

            “Stop it!” she hollered so loud her voice cracked. Hosanna scooted away from him, her boot nearly kicking the fire. “Don’t remind me anymore than I remind myself. Asher was murdered by Rajak because that all-mighty asshole couldn’t stand one of his subjects loving someone else besides him. We all have to love god—give every ounce of our love to god. Does he even love us back? How could he? He’s too busy forcing us to love him. That’s the way that selfish tyrant works. I wish I could kill him. I wish I could kill everyone who bows to that monster!” She paused to take a deep breath and forcefully raked her fingers through her hair.

The man backed away holding his breath. He saw a flash of something deadly in her eyes.

“But that suffering is all behind me now. That’s why I left. I thought that by being away from everything it wouldn’t hurt anymore.” She shook her head and sealed her eyes shut. Her voice suddenly softened. “Let’s just forget it for now. Forget it, okay?”

Hosanna’s face became tranquil as she leaned back and stared into the fire, but that agony still simmered to the surface with every tick of her fingers and every brooding breath. He shrank away from the blaze and wiped away the tears she gave him.