Rise of the Godking

By the time Seline had stepped into the dim cavern, the member of the family who had given no name was collapsing to the ground, his eyes rolled back to show their whites and with a face as expressionless as one in a deep, deep sleep.

Confused and quite shocked, she turned to the old man who had raised her to see that he had closed his eyes and his head was arched up, as if he was praying to some unknown deity. His hands were clasped close to his chest, and his breathing was labored, as if he had just had to exert himself a lot.

Behind her came the two others who froze as they entered the cavern, just as stunned as her the moment they took in the state of the place. They looked between the old man and their companion, taking a second to understand what the hell might have happened, and then, one went to the former and the other walked with concern to the latter.

The one who had spoken to them, for the most part, was soon at the elder of the slaves. He was soon right in front of him, hands raised in front of his chest, opening and closing as if he was tempted to do something that he shouldn't, and then, finally unable to control himself any longer, he caught the old man by his robes and lifted him into the air as easily as if he was a log of wood.

This, of course, made the elder's eyes snap open. He was alarmed, for a bit, due to the weightlessness he felt, but then, laying his gaze on the one who was holding him up, he relaxed as if this was just a game he was playing with a child.

This infuriated the man even further. He walked forward, his feet stumbling over a few errant rocks on the floor but never enough to make him fall, and soon, he had the elder's back against the rough wall of the cavern. He shook him, then, and shouted, "What did you do? What just happened? Don't try to deny it, because I saw you look like you're scared of something! Speak, or I don't know what I'll do to you!"

His words echoed in the cave, driving off the silence that had occupied it for centuries. The crystal in the middle was strange in the fact that it seemed to absorb any sound that fell on it. Hence, even the echoes were eerie, appearing from some directions but not from others.

The transformation that Seline had gone through had truly changed her, mind and soul, but the situation was far too bizarre for even her newly found self to function properly. This was someone who had saved them, who had saved her from the clutches of material greed and a life that would only have ended with her regretting it in its entirety, but there he lay on the ground, looking dead, at first glance, if not for the slow, rhythmic rising and falling of his chest which indicated that he was in a deep slumber.

This brought more of a change in him than anything the other man had done. Those eyes… those eyes had a sort of a promise to them, a promise of death, a promise of suffering unlike anything that anyone could even begin to imagine. The air, itself, fell heavy, and even though she was not the target of it, her brow beaded with sweat and she stepped back until her back hit the wall.

Everything around her seemed to thicken, congeal, entombing her in a personal prison that she feared would trap her forever. Even an inch of her body couldn't move, every scrap of her wanted to get down on the ground, like a mouse crouching in its little hole while a cat passed by.

It was only because of where she had backed off to that she was still able to see the old man and his reaction. She couldn't even imagine how it must be to feel the brunt of that gaze; his eyes bulged, his body went loose as if he couldn't control it anymore, and his jaw quivered, his lips opening and closing to indicate that he wanted to say something, but couldn't because everything he felt was just too damn terrifying.

When it disappeared, Seline took in large, halting breaths, falling to her knees as she couldn't hold herself up anymore. With one hand on the ground, she tried to calm her pounding heart, and when she looked up, she saw that the other man had dropped the elder to the ground. Because he had been near its target, even he seemed to have felt its effects as he shuddered and wrapped his arms around himself, like someone standing in the middle of a blizzard.

While she watched him, she realised that a large part of that aura or whatever it had been had possessed such a mind-numbing coldness that anyone who experienced it would be convinced that whoever it belonged to wouldn't even hesitate before killing 10,000, or even a million if it meant that it could further their cause. She had never thought that the elf could be capable of such a thing, but now, she felt happy that she had never gotten on his wrong side like the mage.

When the elder finally spoke, he had to croak out a few words before being able to talk normally.

"An ancient elf and, if I'm not mistaken, one of the Burned."

The man who had held the elder before flinched and took a few steps back as he heard that last word. He frowned, then, but decided not to say anything.

"I know what you wish to know. But before I tell it to you…look at what just happened. The two of you, two individuals with power and knowledge and the world, itself, at your feet if you wish it…have chosen to follow that man. I know what he said is true, so he is nothing but a rebel slave trying to do something for his puny town. Still…the ancient elf was able to draw on his 'frafall', his deathgaze, a power reserved for only the elite, and even then, only accessible when elves who are usually dispassionate feel emotions beyond what they can control. And you… you didn't say what you were ready to do, but I saw it in your eyes. I can tell that you didn't even meet him far too long ago. Why do you care so much about him? What is he to you?"

Seline watched with widened eyes as she heard the things the elder said, things she couldn't understand, but could identify as knowledge that shouldn't normally be known to someone who had been hidden in the pits for so long on an obscure island. Faced by his questions, the two faltered, and after giving them a few seconds, the elder waved his hand and said, "Don't bother to try and find an answer. I saw it the moment I saw him in the town square, the moment I felt him break our shackles. He has… something, about him. A natural disposition, an impression that he gives to anyone who sees him, anyone whose life is touched by his… I don't know how to put it perfectly in words, myself, but there is something. He is able to change things that would never have changed unless he arrived. I was convinced that I could feel him tugging at the very strands of fate, transforming our drab lives into something that might never have been. So, I took a gamble. The prophecy speaks of the Frelsar being able to bind the spirits of the worlds to his fingers, to give him power and the authority that can only be his. If he is who I think he is, he will return to us with some of the power that he needs. If not… he shall die, and you can kill me. It is worth the risk, because the lives of tens of millions hinge on the outcome. We cannot take any chances. We cannot be careless. This might only be one part of the prophecy which does not even validate all the others, which does not conform, a hundred percent, that he is who I hope he is…but I will at least know, with certainty, that he could be the one we have been waiting for. So, take a seat, and let us wait."

Taking his own suggestion, the old man sat on the ground.

The other two looked at him with complicated eyes. The one who had stepped away from him looked like he wanted to say something, but after glancing at the elf who shook his head, he nodded.

They both sat down, too, and Seline was the last one to choose a spot on the ground that wasn't as dirty as the rest.

And so, their vigil started, and just after a few seconds, Seline could tell that it was going to be the most nail-biting one she would ever have to sit through.