<< Herald of the Change - Hans Zimmer >>
The second sun burned brighter before its eclipse.
Tendrils of searing, orange flame that encircled the red giant seemed to almost reach the planet's surface before they were extinguished entirely.
A sliver of light remained when his eyes swept the battlefield and dead eyes stared back at him from every direction when he tried to shift his gaze.
Everyone was dead. Everyone but him.
Why was he still alive?
Because Gods did he not wish to be at this moment. The pain was blinding and all consuming.
They had been wholly unprepared when the Demon appeared on this doomed planet. None of their powers or weapons had even scratched its thick, black hide as its gargantuan form crashed through them as though they were insignificant bugs that it revelled in crushing underfoot.
It seemed to appear from nowhere, its colossal form looming over them all; its body distinctly humanoid but with cloven feet, a draconic face and razor sharp talons at the ends of its twelve fingers that hung low, scraping across the ground.
Its maw opened wide, bright embers burning at the back of its throat, preparing to scorch the earth and everything on it.
Kaius included.
Kaius Seraphall used to believe that the only moments that he would ever regret were those that passed him by; the opportunities missed, words that were left unsaid, the chances that he didn't take.
But as the Demon stalked closer, every step shaking the earth beneath them, the overwhelming scent of sulphur rolling off its hide and a hundred scarlet, unblinking eyes locked on his broken figure; Kaius was filled with nothing but regret.
He shouldn't be here alone on this dying planet.
He should never have trusted her.
He shouldn't have trusted - him.
Kai's fingers twitched and he slowly raised his hand. The entire left side of his body was crushed, every bone shattered irreparably, but at least his right arm could move.
'Silver linings.' He scoffed, internally.
Without a thought, his hand reached the innocuous, gold pendant, flat and circular, that had hung from the thin leather strap beneath his shirt for the past twenty years.
His Artifact.
His utterly useless Artifact that had never activated before now.
The Artifact that had refused to speak to him.
Half a century ago, when the Demon plague swept their planet, infecting and altering the forms of animals and humans alike, the Artifacts appeared.
Every human over the age of eighteen began to hear a quiet whisper in the back of their mind, leading them to its location; each one unique and unusable to anyone but the chosen holder.
And if the voice was quiet, the Fates would guide you.
Beautiful women who dwelled in the waters atop the mountains of Zenin, they held a strange connection to the threads of fate that wove from one person to the next. It was their guidance that could help you to draw the power from your Artifact.
But they were never meant to meddle any further than this. The threads of fate were to remain untouched.
And yet, the message that Kaius had received did not appear to be related to his Artifact at all.
'Go to Asmarata to die. And then you will find what you are looking for.'
Readings from the Fates were often cryptic, and so Kaius had simply assumed that his death would be metaphorical. Losing your old self before you could step into your own, killing off the part of you that was holding you back - something along these lines.
No such luck, he supposed.
But then again…
His fingers wrapped around the gold disk hanging from his neck. With no firm understanding of what it could do, the piece of useless metal had hung listlessly from the leather band for the better part of twenty years.
He traced the marks and rivets across its surface when the Demon halted, glaring down at the last survivor with malice in its gaze.
And then, for the second time in his life, Kai heard the voice whispering in the back of his mind.
There were no tangible words, no language he could decipher, just a sense of knowing.
He knew what it was for now, what he could do.
With a single thought, the Artifact would activate and Kai could go back.
Back to the day he found it. Back to his old life. Back to his home and his family.
Back to the friends who betrayed him.
'Is this the only thing I can do now? Just go back?'
The thought of returning and facing them all again weighed heavily on his heart. Throughout the years he had spent on this planet, the sharp sting of betrayal had never left him.
'Do I even want to do this all again? I could just never use it. It could end now. I could just let it end...'
He couldn't even feel the pain anymore, as though his body were floating. It would be so easy to just close his eyes.
'No.'
His lip curled up into a grin with the unbroken side of his face and he raised his middle finger.
"Sorry ugly…I hope we don't meet again, I'll make sure I never step foot on this shit heap of a planet." He rasped through the strain in his broken throat, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the ground.
He smiled wider.
'And him…I'll kill him. Even if it's the only thing I can change, I'll make sure he dies before me.'
A bright light obscured his vision and the earth fell away all at once, pulling his consciousness up as though his soul were being jerked from his body.
And then, everything turned to black.
*
A sharp ringing resounded through his head, lancing and persistent.
Pain returned, this time at his temple and he could feel cool, rough dirt beneath him.
And then, as if from a distance he heard a familiar voice calling his name.
His voice. Deep, rough and frantic.
"KAI!"
And Kaius remembered where he was now.
This was the cave he fallen into, searching for his Artifact. The three of them had left together, travelling across the mountains and turning the search into a fun hiking expedition for his birthday.
'Which means...'
He wasn't on Asmarata anymore. He was back on Zenin.
He blinked his eyes open and they landed on the altar. The light from the hole in the ceiling that he had fallen through, glinting off the gold surface of the pendant.
Ignoring the persistent shouting above him, Kai scrambled to his feet, stumbling awkwardly at the shift to his centre of gravity. He was younger now and his body was slighter, his muscle density reduced.
Finding his footing, he reached for it and tried to feel for the connection that he had felt before.
But there was no quiet whisper, no sensation of power hiding underneath the innocuous device.
"KAI! FUCKING ANSWER ME, KAI!"
He flinched at the unbridled panic in his voice and ran his hands through his gold blonde hair in frustration.
'Damn...he's good at pretending to care.'
"I'm here! I'm fine!" He called back, turning the dead Artifact through his fingers in confusion.
'Was that it? It only gave me one use…'
Through the haze of disappointment, Kaius silently thanked the Angels that he hadn't been able to use it before now.
What if it had activated before he knew not to step foot inside of that ship, onto that damned planet.
Because he would have.
It would have been so tempting to use it the day he found them in his bed.
"Kai, stay there! We'll come to you!" Her voice called down to him just as a rope dropped into the hole.
He slipped the Artifact into his pocket and waited for them, his jaw clenched tightly.
**