Protector Aarush, Maximilian, and Dillon continued to watch the scenes unfold. They watched the Novatus escapee glue to her position, frozen in fear in front of The True One. The only part of her that moved was a shaky bottom lip.
The godly beast glared at the woman, its black beady eyes filled with untethered rage. Smoke emitted from its body as it breathed heavily, crouching to her.
"Please," the woman whimpered. "Spare me."
The True One scoffed at her pleas. It let out a beastly scream, loud enough to make the strongest of ears bleed. The scream harboured so much raw power that it continuously rang in the ears of everyone within its radius, including Aarush and the boys.
The scream's most successful feat, however, was its instant killing of the young Novatus woman. She dropped to the floor, her ears leaking, and eyes filling with blood. The True One threw the woman's corpse into its mouth, swallowing her whole. With its first treat consumed, it stood back up and walked towards the cliff.
The nobles and Vyre guards shifted out of the way, allowing The True One to crawl a direct route towards the edge of the cliff where Reyan and the remaining four captured Novatus stood.
"Do with them as you please, my Lord," Reyan offered with a gesture.
The deity examined each of the four Novatus. "Blasphemous creatures," it derided.
The True One attacked the four in a fit of unrefined fury. It tore them limb from limb, dismembering then consuming them in horrific fashion. This, of all things, was what brought the crowd's chanting cheers to its height. The nobles celebrated their god's desecration of the Novatus captives. Invigorated by the praise, The True One crunched the bodies to bloody paste with its silver teeth.
Dillon and Maximilian watched on in speechless horror, their faces coloured by cold trauma. They looked over to Aarush, stunned. Protector Aarush closed his eyes.
"I'm sorry you had to witness that, boys. But it was for your own good," Aarush apologised. "It is not enough to hear of the horrors our people go through. You must see."
Once it had finished eating, The True One leapt over the cliff's edge and out of everyone's sight.
The Vyre guards escorted the noble onlookers away from the cliff and up the hill, ready to resume their normal lives as if nothing had happened.
Dillon gripped one of his arrows in a tight, closed fist. Overcome by vehemence, he snapped the arrow clean in half. Maximilian clutched his stomach, feeling compelled to vomit. He could not hold it in, crumbling to his knees as he heaved. The boy shook with such turmoil that lightning charged around his body. He dug his fingers into the muddy floors of the forest, crying.
Protector Aarush crouched down to Maximilian. He rubbed his back in a smooth, comforting motion. "Now do you see why we stay within the shelter?"
"Yes," Maximilian gasped in between tears. "I do."
Dillon helped him back to his feet. Max wiped his mouth clean, composing himself. Aarush looked over the two boys, his arms connected within his robes.
"I have a question for you boys," the Protector said. His face was stern and stone-like, his sunken brown eyes seemed to tear straight through their souls. "What are you to do when your very existence is condemned by a god?" he asked.
Maximilian and Dillon stared at him blankly. Neither was able to give him an answer.
Aarush chuckled. "It's okay if you don't have an answer," he assured them. "It's a question that has plagued the Novatus people since our conception. One we still do not have an answer for."
The two boys looked at Aarush with engaged, melancholic stares.
"But one day we will have that answer," Aarush asserted.
"We will?" Maximilian asked. His teary eyes glimmered with tempered hope.
"Yes," Aarush assured with a beaming smile. "The work we do at the shelter shall lead us to it."
***
Protector Aarush watched over the boys in a far more peaceful setting.
Hidden deep within a forest of the tallest trees was a large, rudimentary, abandoned building. A structure that was formerly a temple as grand as it was cream, but repurposed to house troubled Novatus, young and old. The Novatus, mostly children, teens, and young adults, wandered the grounds free and happy. It was easy to feel that way with Protector Aarush watching over you. He surveyed the perimeter from deep within the forest, standing by the temple. His eyes waned, working to keep all the troubled young Novatus within their gaze.
A perturbed boy stood far from the temple. Soft-faced and caramel-skinned with short dreadlocked hair and bright brown eyes, the boy was a picture of innocence as he stood at the forest edge with his fists clenched and body shaking. Whilst he seemed timid, there was an essence of righteous bravado about this boy. This was the nature of Gabriel Bejide.
Gabriel was accompanied by friends. Dillon Fachmann and Maximilian Abrego, two children older than him. A duo jokingly and spitefully dubbed Aarush's favourites by the other children.
Gabriel looked over the dotted lines in the mud that marked the perimeter of the shelter. He nervously attempted to step one foot over it, preparing to take the metaphorical plunge. He raised one foot. But he could not will himself into planting it on the other side. He whispered affirmations to himself as he lowered it. Ultimately, he was too anxious to follow through.
Maximilian burst out in laughter at his expense. "Oh, Gabriel," he chortled. "I knew you were too scared to do it!"
"I'm not scared!" Gabriel insisted.
"You are," Maximilian chuckled, looking to Dillon for corroboration.
"Shut up, Max!" Gabriel retorted, failing to hide the squeamishness on his face.
"Hey, you're the one who wanted to see what was out there!" Max chuckled.
Dillon shook his head. "I think it's best you didn't do it," he sighed.
Gabriel pulled at his tunic shirt's collar. He scratched an itch around his collarbone, briefly exposing a jagged birthmark.
"You're right," he said. "There's probably a reason we're not allowed out there."
Dillon nodded. Max rolled his eyes.
Seconds later, a loud bell rang in the background. Max tapped Dillon on the shoulder with the back of his knuckles.
"That's us. Come on," he said.
Gabriel watched the two start to stroll their way back to the shelter. His arms crossed with petulance.
"Are you guys ever going to tell me where you go after that bell?" Gabriel asked.
Max turned to smirk at him. "There's probably a reason you still don't know."
He turned back and headed to the temple with Dillon.
Gabriel frowned. The young Novatus' gaze shifted from them. He focused on a glimmer of blue sky shrouded by the leaves of the tall trees.
His eyes held both confusion and wonder.
***
That night, Gabriel lay on a fluffy cloth on the wooden floors of the room he shared with both Maximilian and Dillon. Unlike his roommates, he did not sleep well. Wide awake, he stared into space. He scratched at the jagged birthmark near his collarbone.
As he scratched, Gabriel noticed a strange twitching underneath the skin of his hands. Concerned, he sat to inspect it. He tried to hold it still. This only caused both hands to spasm.
Gabriel panted. His eyes darted around as he noticed a second strange occurrence. Autonomous gusts of air started to circle throughout the space. Coursing winds strong enough to rattle the walls in this room. The more Gabriel's hands shook, the wilder the winds became.
Gabriel fell into a state of hyperventilated panic, his entire being jittering with confusion. Another autonomous force of nature manifested itself. A sudden bolt of lightning struck through the ceiling above, scorching the floor an inch from him.
He screamed, waking both of his roommates.
"What's wrong, Gabriel?" Dillon asked as he rubbed his eyes open. The lightning strike mark on the floor caught his attention in an instant.
"Oh wow," Max gasped. He and Dillon shared a knowing look as Gabriel sat frozen in fear.
The bedroom door swung open. Protector Aarush stood at the entrance, startling Gabriel further.
The old man rushed into the room with haste. His first course of action was to review both the lightning strike mark and Gabriel's shaking hands. Gabriel avoided eye contact with Aarush for a short time. When he met eyes with the Protector, he was surprised to see that Aarush was not upset. He was smiling down at him.
"Come with me. All of you."
***
Protector Aarush took the three boys into a vast room with golden walls and a low ceiling. The walls were engraved with images of Novatus, Vyre guards, and The True One. Shelves of scrolls lined the ceiling. Aarush reached for a scroll. He slid it into the arm holes of his robes.
"Protector Aarush, what is this place?" Gabriel asked. "I've never seen it before."
"You never had a reason to," Dillon said as he shut the door behind them.
Aarush cleared his throat.
"Gabriel. I'm sure you have always wondered what this shelter was for. I'm sure you have wondered why we are all here. And I'm sure you have wondered why we mustn't stray too far from the forest that surrounds us. Every question you may have has one simple explanation…"
Protector Aarush rubbed his fingers against his palms until a ball of light was generated. Gabriel gasped. Max and Dillon smirked at his reaction.
"…we are Novatus," Protector Aarush said.
He, Dillon, and Max all pulled at their tunic shirt collars. Each revealed a small, jagged, glowing scar near their collarbone.
Gabriel pulled down the collar of his shirt on instinct. He saw that their marks matched his.