It's
been 30 years since the Genesis. I hadn't been born yet, but I remember my
father telling me the stories every night before bed. "We must never
forget. We will most assuredly reap what we sow", I can still hear his
voice now, "The Earth sprang open and spewed forth the Prognatus
Terra, 'born from the land', monstrous
beasts, nature's fury and cunning incarnate. Then the sky ripped open and the
Prognatus Caelum, 'born of the sky', fell like a rain that would never end."
This was the Genesis. The Earth and Sky had cascaded their army of champions to
retake what was rightfully theirs. Mankind had become too greedy, we were given
the Earth, and we ruined it. So we took to the skies, yet again leaving a wake
of destruction in our quest to sate our unquenchable thirst for conquest.
Heedlessly pushing onward, at the expense of the Earth we so ungratefully had
been given. Our conquest would soon come to an end, nature had not sent
advocates to plead its case...it had sent its executioners, there would be no
preceding warning. Nearly eighty percent of the world's population was
mercilessly and relentlessly decimated. We had paid our price, the death that
had been sown was undoubtedly reaped. My father was absolutely right...we must
never forget.
I hear
the tales of the great cities of the" time before". Chicago, New
York, Los Angeles; I vowed to myself that one day I would travel there. All I
have ever known is New Aguilar. I was
born 16 years after the Genesis, during what was called the
"Rebuilding". The creatures, or "furies" as they would come
to be called, had done their job, but the few survivors that somehow found haven from the
beasts' eradication of mankind banded together. The siege of New Aguilar was
another bedtime story from my childhood. A group of survivors, starved by weeks
of being lost in the mountains to the west, united together successfully
killing the furies occupying a small abandoned town. New Aguilar, as it would
later be known as, was the only known settlement within 500 miles. Father said
the great cities were the first to fall, mankind turned on itself like a snake
eating its own tail. Those that were left in the wake of the beasts'
destruction fled, not hesitating to look back. Some fled inland, some out to
sea, even some took to the sky...but none could outrun the furies.
I have
never even been allowed to leave the city walls...my father deemed the surrounding
area an "unnecessary risk" . I knew he was right, but to listen to
his tales of the world from the time before...how could I not at least see if
anything remained? What if, in other parts of the world, the furies had been
defeated? My father held his ground, not allowing my curiosity to get the
better of me...until the day the messenger came.
A young
scrawny boy, probably only a few years older than me, stood at the gates one
morning. His gasps for air interrupting some message he seemed hell-bent on
delivering. I stood in awe...someone from the outside...so there were other
survivors! He had been sent to find help. The boy stayed for a few days while
our leaders discussed what course of action should be taken. I tried to spend
my every waking moment around him. The boy talked of Paradise, a settlement far
to the west, over the mountains. I did not even know anything existed beyond
the mountains. The boy had been traveling for nearly two weeks, his city had
fallen under siege and he had been sent out, under the cover of night, to find
help. He said he had nearly given up when he found us. He brought tales that
seemed to be impossible, stories of furies we had never even seen the likes of;
beasts standing as tall as buildings. furies that had shed their legs, grown
tails and leapt into the sea.
The
stories I enjoyed the most were of Domari, the "one who mounted nature's
fury". The tale goes that he had been a soldier in the time before, maybe
even a commander. The military had tried to remain strong in humanity's
defense, but they were no match. Those who did not die on the battlefield,
instead fled for safety, the strength of the world's armies dashed across the
rocks of the furies' onslaught. On an assault on a fury pack, his troops were
completely obliterated. They refused to go down without a fight, managing to
take down two of the three furies in the pack. Domari, left alone with the
beast, armed only with a combat knife, stood his ground. After three days of
exhausting, unceasing combat, the fury collapsed to the ground in exhaustion . And in a moment
of extreme mercy, Domari could not bring himself to kill such a worthy
competitor. The beast, realizing the act
of mercy and gratitude it had been shown, allowed Domari to climb atop its
back, becoming his mount and companion as payment for the sparing of its own
life. Rumors of the invincible warrior charging into battle on the back of a
fury had spread like fire. I wasn't sure if any of it was true, but father had
once told me that "hope is the spark that will relight the flame that is
humanity". Even if it wasn't true, what could it hurt by believing?
After
three days, our leaders came to a decision. We would send out a small task
force charged with assessing the situation, good or bad, that had befallen
Paradise. If the task force could aid the civilians with minimal risks to
themselves they would do so, but
anything more and their orders were to retreat. I don't know how...but I am going with them. I
couldn't let anything get in the way. I had to know what was out there. Let
nature send her titans, I will be
waiting.
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