The Nineteenth Entry

 At times I am reminded of the duties I have as Dark Lord. I am a messenger, a harbinger, and an end when required. This role, however, is not defined precisely. As my travels have taught me, I am a conduit. For what, I am not entirely sure. I am in this moment, however, a hunter.

The Harrower brought itself into the sector indicated by Aberus in a smooth lurch, hardly a feeling passing over me as we approached. The planet was cloaked in black clouds, lightning arcing through them violently and sporadically but often.

“These worlds you visit, are they often like this?” A’re asked, his expression blankly looking through the glass of the cockpit.

I did not answer, for admittedly I did not understand what he meant. This was what worlds are for me. Did they perhaps look differently?

The Harrower drew closer and entered through the stratosphere of the planet. We shook violently as the shuttle was thrown about in the clouds storming around us, until it cleared as we got closer to the ground. Tall buildings stretched into the sky, and roads led into every direction.

This megalopolis was a familiar view and shrouded by the dark clouds overhead.

“This world is a world of metal, much like my own, artificial in construction. Perhaps home to billions of lives. I wonder what they look like, what their world was made for, what dreams they have.” A’re said looking across the buildings and finished: “had.”

Decay had sunk between the buildings; holes were forming in disrepair, but few had such, and the damage was recent.

“Where are they?” A’re asked.

“Sacrificed, perhaps, to one of The Reverent.” I responded.

“By whom?”

“Themselves.”

“Then what my parents told me is true.” A’re said.

The Harrower found an empty section of a large concrete road and set itself down. Abandoned vehicles dotted the entirety of the highway; rust having yet to set in.

I descended the ramp of The Harrower, and A’re followed closely behind.

“What are you to do on this world?” A’re asked.

“Find the source.” I answered.

“The source of what?”

“Souls. They will have gathered a vast amount, billions, to be made ready for consumption or creation by The Reverent. To bolster their power or ranks.”

“And you?”

“To destroy or convert. That is my mission.” I said.

A piercing screech rippled through the air, and suddenly the vehicles in front of us parted. Piling towards us was an abomination of parts and flesh, countless voices screaming all at once.

A’re screamed behind me: “What is that?!”

“A golem of flesh and mind.” I said.

I put forth my right hand and called upon The Excess, crafting the sword.

The golem stumbled closer and closer, until it was within reach; its mouths screeching and churning. I parted it instantly, its screams dying into silence.

A’re looked upon it, and then to me: “Is it dead?”

“It will reform itself, a nuisance.”

“How do you defeat it?”

I put away The Excess and started walking around the beast, A’re close behind.

“Completely.” I answered.

The golem’s composition was of arms, legs, muscles, mouths, and eyes of more than a couple beings. The composition, however, was that of humans. A formless and formed being of melded minds for the use of one. A vehicle for many things to come.

We walked some miles before reaching one of the various buildings, its connection through a parking area. We entered the building, a completely empty lobby meeting us. Its contents, however, untouched, as if nothing had happened.

“Empty.” A’re said, his voice echoing.

I continued walking, my armor echoing upon the ground.

“Where are you going?” A’re asked.

“Down. Humans shelter everything closer to what they believe to be the ground, fearful that the sky may fall upon them.”

“That’s ridiculous. The sky doesn’t fall.”

“Sometimes it does.”

We entered a tunnel that flowed downwards, A’re in front, steps that could be automatic, motionless, and instead we stepped down them. It reminded me of A’re’s own planet, the tunnel leading down in the dark. We traveled for what seemed like miles.

Flashes suddenly broke the darkness in front of us, and the noises that followed grew louder and louder.

“People.” A’re said behind me, his voice of excitement.

Yet, his expression betrayed him as he looked up at me – filled with terror.