The Iron Forest: Ancestor's Legacy

The sun set into night, providing a veil of darkness over Gathal. Lady Karmera led the way through the shadowy keep with Prince Shunlin following close behind.

Gaia’s temple, formed from sandstone stacked in a stepped pyramid, stood outside the palace. Rituals and worship took place above the pavilion that held the King’s Brazier, lit by a column of flame that burns while the monarch lives. King Akutu built the great monument as a tribute to the mother goddess, but below the temple contained a secret. A forgotten shrine of antiquity, ancient and filled with wonders of a world long forgotten, slept deep beneath the stone. Corrugated steel plate and moldy roots became bundles of pipes and cables.

Torches illuminated a massive steel door, guarded by a pair of black-robed acolytes. It creaked open to a unique form of illumination that required no fire. The glowing tubes along trussed ceilings radiated a brilliant white light. At the end of the room stood a pillar of steel that pulsated a bright blue glow. Shunlin saw this many times before, yet each time he was awed by its beauty. The monolith before him was more than a forgotten relic. It was the god Abaddon himself.

A man in tattered Shainxu robes approached with a low, reverent bow. Light shined off his bald head, crossed with many wrinkles across his face. A thin mustache extended from his upper lip to the center of his chest.

“Is everything ready, Master Gihlan?” Lady Karmera asked as several of her acolytes walked in and crowded around her.

The old wizard nodded. “We have enough power to breach the veil. But only for a short time.”

“How long?”

“Hard to tell. A couple minutes at best.”

Shunlin inspected the pillar. The base contained a myriad of the world’s technology crammed into a waist-high cylinder, but the real mysticism rested on top. A dark monolith, tall as a man, hummed a sequence of pulses yet made no audible sound. Its metallic surface glittered with the surrounding light.

He held his hand across the rows of blinking lights. “Upstairs is my crown, whose bearer will soon pass with age, but not soon enough. In here, is my power to rule.” He looked at Lady Karmera. “I’m putting a lot of faith in all this. Are you sure this will work?”

She smiled, comforting him by gliding her fingers across his chest. “Relax, my prince. Master Gihlan has been working on a way to break through to the universe held within Abaddon’s prison. The Sleeping god will show us the way.”

Prince Shunlin nodded. He trusted the priestess even though he had little understanding of the Ancients’ magic. In fact, no one understood how the relics of green boards adorned with lines of copper worked, except for the Shainxu. They studied the arcane, keeping their secrets that was lost to time and the machines.

He observed the old wizard who was poking at a square glowing box covered in words and symbols of a forgotten language.

“I’m getting a faint signal.” His eyes squinted as he poured over the ancient text. Other devices showed lines and waves, dancing to the monolith’s low hum. He glanced at each one. “A connection has been established. Now is the time, Priestess.”

With a wave of Lady Karmera’s hand, acolytes congregated around the pillar and bowed their heads. They hummed in a cadence that echoed the monolith while hunched over in a posture of reverence.

Shunlin watched the priestess stroll toward the pillar with grace and a look of confidence. She expressed little fear, as though she knew what to expect. It was a far contrast to himself whose heart pounded with anticipation of all the work that led to this point.

For years, he hated his father’s decision to dedicate their faith to Mother Gaia and reject Abaddon. His people are Chotukhan and should have a god of their own. One who is powerful and capable of defeating Gaia and her Shainxu children. It is the dawn of a new era and a new god. Soon, everyone will live in harmony as one people, not separate and spread across the world.

“Behold! The sleeping god is rising and will guide us into a new age!” Lady Karmera held her hands high in the air, facing the monolith that glowed bright. “Abaddon will return and bring balance to the world. All hail Abaddon, Lord of Shadow!”

The acolytes sat up and raised their hands above their heads. “There is no light without darkness. All hail Abaddon.”

Shunlin dropped to his knees as the monolith’s glittery metallic surface began to swirl. What was once a pillar of steel, pulsated with energy.

Lady Karmera approached and placed her hand on it. Blue light glowed through her fingers and around her palm. He shot up to pull her away when her face twisted in pain, but a scrawny handheld him back.

“My prince, the lady is connecting with Abaddon. To interrupt her now would prove dangerous,” Master Gihlan whispered.

“She’s in pain.”

“Yes, but it will pass.”

He felt helpless, watching the priestess shake and moan. Shimmering metallic tendrils expanded from the monolith, sliding up her arms and around her back. They attached to her like leaches sucking blue light from her skin. It took everything for him not to pull her from the monolith.

Lady Karmera tilted her head back and let out a yell. There was no humanity in the scream that was more machine than flesh. Beams of blue light burst out from her in a flash as she rose and hovered in midair.

Shunlin shielded his face, catching a glimpse of her glowing eyes now a radiant blue.

The room fell silent.

“What is this?” a voice asked, deep and penetrating. It was not the priestess’s voice, but Abaddon’s.

He’s here. The god himself is standing here in front of me. Prince Shunlin envisioned this day would come and thought hard at what to say. But the reality of the moment sent his mind blank and heart racing.

Master Gihlan tapped on his devices with a frantic glare at the dancing waves and lines. “My Lord, If you’re going to say something, then I suggest you do it soon. I can’t hold the link much longer.”

Shunlin stood, mesmerized. He forced himself to approach the priestess whose bright blue eyes stared, empty. “Are you the one who resides in shadow? Are you Abaddon?”

“I was,” the god said through Lady Karmera. “Now I am imprisoned beyond the darkness, unable to bring balance to the world.”

“What balance?”

“The balance of the natural order. There is no light without darkness, life without death. It is my purpose to bring back the world to its natural origin.”

“Tell me how to free you, Lord Abaddon. So, you can bring back the balance.”

The god screamed, forcing Shunlin to cover his ears. The priestess’ body flailed.

“My code is incomplete. You must recover the missing piece to initialize my boot sequence.”

Shunlin glanced at Gihlan, seeing his desperate attempts to tweak the devices from losing the link between the god and priestess.

Lady Karmera flailed.

“Look to the ones who worship the dead. There you will find the cypher key, cypher key, cypher key, cypher key…”

Shunlin glared at Gihlan. “What’s going on. What’s happening?”

“The connection has failed,” he shouted over the god’s sudden screaming.

Lady Karmera fell to her knees.

Gihlan shuddered. “We lost it. Abaddon is gone.”

The priestess slumped to her hands and knees. Several acolytes rushed to her aid when she began to wail. Over and over she cried, bringing her hands to her face where her fingernails dug into her cheeks.

“Stop her!” Shunlin shouted, snatching one of her arm’s. Another acolyte, a woman in black robes, grabbed the other.

The priestess’ eyes rolled back into her head..

*****

The prince waited for Lady Karmera to awaken after her acolytes carried the priestess to her chambers, a simple room with a single mattress and chair. Only one sconce provided any illumination when the single window couldn’t. He was surprised at her minimal arrangements, even though she possessed enough station to warrant more. Perhaps her childhood as a slave still lingered, despite being now one of the most powerful Chotukhan women. Assuming she is Chotukhan. He admitted, knowing little of the priestess—no one does.

Two acolytes tended to her, wiping the sweat from her forehead and cleaning the blood from her cheeks. They placed her to rest in hopes she would recover soon. Her breathing was ragged and slow; skin cold as ice.

Shunlin paced the room, feeling anxious. He was worried about his companion that stood by his side for all those winters, but he also wanted to know what happened. She was touched by the sleeping god. He needed to know more.

Hours passed, and the room began to brighten. Shunlin looked out the window at all the pinks and blues and purples that painted the sky.

A shriek broke the silence of the room. Shunlin turned to see Lady Karmera sitting upright with eyes darting in confusion.

“Where am I?”

Shunlin approached. “Your bedchamber.”

“Abaddon?”

“Gone.”

She nodded, sliding off the bed and adjusting her gown. “I was there—with him.”

“Where?”

The priestess paused; her brows drawing together. “Nowhere.”

“What did he say?”

She looked back at the prince and smiled. “That you will become king of all humanity and given eternal life.”