He had been walking for quite some time. A full hour had passed now since
his departure, leaving his wife and daughter behind him. The Shinta
residence was finally in sight, and as he stepped out of the brush he could
make out the sounds of children playing. Dusting himself off, Crux smiled
and walked towards the entryway, noting the happy faces of the children as
they ran around in endless circles. Their voices rose in playful song as
he passed by. Some of the children stopped and waved to him, beautiful
smiles on their faces and giddy laughter in their hearts. He stepped
through the door, and was immediately plunged into a far more serious
atmosphere. The matriarch of the house looked up from beside her strick
child's bed, greetings and concern playing a mixed concert upon her face.
"Dr. Caedon, thank you for coming. His symptoms have been getting worse every day you've been away." The middle aged woman was quite beautiful, but the worry and stress of caring for her dying son had aged her face prematurely, making her easily mistakable for someone 10 years her senior at first glance. For three years now her first born child, now thirteen years old, had been stricken with a plague that was only known as the 'cessation'. Unpredictable, unstoppable, and incurable, the disease ravaged the populace seemingly at random, slowly sapping all of the victim's strength until they died an empty shadow of their former self. Those years had taken their toll on her, but despite it all, the mother had remained by her child's side.
"I see, it looks like it has progressed into a more advanced stage." Crux leaned forward and put a hand on the child's forehead. He resisted the urge to immediately withdraw his hand as he felt the heat and darkness from the blight that gripped the poor child. He closed his eyes and checked the boy's pulse momentarily, and then smiled, noticing the pulse quicken at his touch. "He's awake."
Sure enough, the young man's eyelids fluttered open slowly, his breaths coming ragged, a price the disease's victims paid for consciousness. He was unable to speak, but his pale blue eyes clearly begged for relief. Crux smiled and nodded his head, as if in response to the boy's unspoken request for an end to the pain.
"Dr. Caedon is here, dear, everything's going to be ok now..." The mother put on a brave smile for her son and leaned down to kiss him on the forehead. The child smiled weakly, but as best he could. She knew her son was doing his best to keep her from worrying. He was such a loving child, always trying to think of her feelings even as pain ran through his entire body. Every time it seemed as if he was about to get better the disease would get even stronger, but his spirit never subsided. She wished she could help him escape this pain, if only to see his joyous carefree smile once more. She looked into the doctor's eyes, and her own conveyed this all to Crux in a single expression of mixed sorrow and hope.
Crux knelt down next to the boy and ran his hands back and forth a few inches above his patient. He began to chant various hymns to which he did not know the words. His hands began to form subtle after images and as the mother and child were distracted, his fingers met various places on the boy; Checking his pulse, his breathing, and overall body temperature, Crux did everything he could to determine how far the boy had gone. His little show, chanting and all, were more for the benefit of the mother than the patient. He saw in the boy's eyes that he did not expect to live. But the young man smiled anyways- he was a brave child. Crux felt it was important that the mother felt that there was hope. Better for her to be spared the weeks of misery that would come if he were to tell her the awful truth, the truth that was confirmed by the information he gathered from his tests. The boy was not long for this world, the vile disease sapping away every bit of strength he had. There was only one small glimmer of hope left, even if Crux didn't believe it would do any good, he owed it to this boy and his parents to do anything he could.
He fetched a special concoction from his pack, gently pouring some into the boy's slightly open and parched lips. "This should ease the pain for a while." The boy's eyes closed as the anesthetic brought him into a deep sleep, his breathing once again becoming natural. "The medicine will, however, need to be administered by your own hands in the future, Ms. Shinta." He fetched a salve he had spent the last 3 weeks preparing, and made sure the mother watched as he spread it on the side of the boy's neck, precisely along the path of the carotid arteries. "This salve must be washed and replaced every day, it is very important, it may save your son's life." Crux doubted it inside, but the more hope the woman had, the easier the future would be for her. He knew that the special mixture would increase the amount of oxygen going to his brain, as well as strengthen the immune system to fight this terrible disease. It was a very potent mixture, but faced with the cessation, he felt it was like building a wooden wall in the path of a hurricane. The mixture would help the boy for a while, perhaps even allow him to stand again; however, Crux was unsure of the long term results. But he could not stay to check on the boy every day, he had his own family to attend to, and as much as he cared about the Shinta household, they could not afford to pay his bills.
Crux stood as the father joined them in the room, but whatever advice Crux was prepared to give him stuck in his throat at the man's horrified expression. Crux wanted to ask what had happened, but he already knew something was terribly wrong. It took him a moment to notice that there were no more sounds of children playing outside. He rushed out the door to find the now frightened children huddled against the small frame of the house, trying to hide themselves in the shadows. Looking around, he saw nothing unusual. Nothing, except...
Crux's eyes widened as he craned his neck to look closer at the sky. The clouds above him were soft and white, as beautiful as they had been when he left. The string of clouds beyond however, moving slowly back over the forest, were dark and convulsive. Something about them was unnatural as they pulsated, a completely solid black that blotted out the very sun as they passed underneath it. He could not see too far ahead, for the shadows they cast were as dark as the night. The father hobbled out of the house after Crux, rapidly spouting words that made no sense. Crux could barely comprehend as the man spilled out word after word about ominous soldiers and hordes of darkness, but he was not truly listening. There was a purpose in the movement of the clouds. They were heading back over the way he had come, the exact path, down to the turn around the hills.
An endless distance in the future, Crux would have quivered in fear as he laid eyes upon the essence of destruction in its purest form. But here and now, he could only come to one conclusion about the dark mass drifting through the sky. This was no storm, this was something else entirely; this was death. A sickening realization filled him, as his previous thought amended itself in his mind; This was death, and it was heading towards his family.
***
Crux stopped walking, pulled out of his memories by a loud voice. His foot caused the dust below to rise into the air in a mist, slowly dissipating as it settled back to the ground. Three relatively lean figures, of an alien race unknown to him, stood in his path, eyes closed. The central one, clearly male, opened its eyes and repeated itself.
"Crux Caedon, you have defied Solitian authority and are to be executed for treason. Do you have any last words?" If Crux heard the man's words, he did not give any indication of it. Instead, a small shudder ran through his body as he saw the man's eyes. A glowing blood red, the eyes were as unnatural as were Crux's own. As the other two opened their eyes to the same chilling effect, Crux knew he had been heading in the right direction, but he was far from overjoyed at the revelation. He looked down at his right hand and the light blue emanating from the palm, and sighed as he knew it still wasn't time. Part of him prayed that he was mistaken about the three standing before him, but he knew they wouldn't send three unarmed men to kill him. No, they were far from unarmed.
Crux's fears proved true as the three men, in response to his continued silence, lifted their right hands into the air, each of them clutching an oddly shaped crystal. The shapes were different, but all three crystals shone with the same dark crimson. Words in a language he only vaguely recognized and even more vaguely understood emanated from their lips, and lightning shattered the heavens. With the night sky illuminated as if it were day, the three figures rose into the air, an energy nimbus swirling around each one. The truth was as apparent as it was grim, as their skin took on a metallic glean before completely giving way to a cold, virtually impregnable alloy. Their crimson eyes glowed through dark crystal visors. Their very bodies transformed from flesh and bone to chrome and crystal, and they stood before him. A good meter taller than they previously had been, these were no longer creatures of life, but harbingers of death. Crux spoke a single, hated word even as his body trembled, and he knew that this was going to be a very, very long night.
"Radam."
"Dr. Caedon, thank you for coming. His symptoms have been getting worse every day you've been away." The middle aged woman was quite beautiful, but the worry and stress of caring for her dying son had aged her face prematurely, making her easily mistakable for someone 10 years her senior at first glance. For three years now her first born child, now thirteen years old, had been stricken with a plague that was only known as the 'cessation'. Unpredictable, unstoppable, and incurable, the disease ravaged the populace seemingly at random, slowly sapping all of the victim's strength until they died an empty shadow of their former self. Those years had taken their toll on her, but despite it all, the mother had remained by her child's side.
"I see, it looks like it has progressed into a more advanced stage." Crux leaned forward and put a hand on the child's forehead. He resisted the urge to immediately withdraw his hand as he felt the heat and darkness from the blight that gripped the poor child. He closed his eyes and checked the boy's pulse momentarily, and then smiled, noticing the pulse quicken at his touch. "He's awake."
Sure enough, the young man's eyelids fluttered open slowly, his breaths coming ragged, a price the disease's victims paid for consciousness. He was unable to speak, but his pale blue eyes clearly begged for relief. Crux smiled and nodded his head, as if in response to the boy's unspoken request for an end to the pain.
"Dr. Caedon is here, dear, everything's going to be ok now..." The mother put on a brave smile for her son and leaned down to kiss him on the forehead. The child smiled weakly, but as best he could. She knew her son was doing his best to keep her from worrying. He was such a loving child, always trying to think of her feelings even as pain ran through his entire body. Every time it seemed as if he was about to get better the disease would get even stronger, but his spirit never subsided. She wished she could help him escape this pain, if only to see his joyous carefree smile once more. She looked into the doctor's eyes, and her own conveyed this all to Crux in a single expression of mixed sorrow and hope.
Crux knelt down next to the boy and ran his hands back and forth a few inches above his patient. He began to chant various hymns to which he did not know the words. His hands began to form subtle after images and as the mother and child were distracted, his fingers met various places on the boy; Checking his pulse, his breathing, and overall body temperature, Crux did everything he could to determine how far the boy had gone. His little show, chanting and all, were more for the benefit of the mother than the patient. He saw in the boy's eyes that he did not expect to live. But the young man smiled anyways- he was a brave child. Crux felt it was important that the mother felt that there was hope. Better for her to be spared the weeks of misery that would come if he were to tell her the awful truth, the truth that was confirmed by the information he gathered from his tests. The boy was not long for this world, the vile disease sapping away every bit of strength he had. There was only one small glimmer of hope left, even if Crux didn't believe it would do any good, he owed it to this boy and his parents to do anything he could.
He fetched a special concoction from his pack, gently pouring some into the boy's slightly open and parched lips. "This should ease the pain for a while." The boy's eyes closed as the anesthetic brought him into a deep sleep, his breathing once again becoming natural. "The medicine will, however, need to be administered by your own hands in the future, Ms. Shinta." He fetched a salve he had spent the last 3 weeks preparing, and made sure the mother watched as he spread it on the side of the boy's neck, precisely along the path of the carotid arteries. "This salve must be washed and replaced every day, it is very important, it may save your son's life." Crux doubted it inside, but the more hope the woman had, the easier the future would be for her. He knew that the special mixture would increase the amount of oxygen going to his brain, as well as strengthen the immune system to fight this terrible disease. It was a very potent mixture, but faced with the cessation, he felt it was like building a wooden wall in the path of a hurricane. The mixture would help the boy for a while, perhaps even allow him to stand again; however, Crux was unsure of the long term results. But he could not stay to check on the boy every day, he had his own family to attend to, and as much as he cared about the Shinta household, they could not afford to pay his bills.
Crux stood as the father joined them in the room, but whatever advice Crux was prepared to give him stuck in his throat at the man's horrified expression. Crux wanted to ask what had happened, but he already knew something was terribly wrong. It took him a moment to notice that there were no more sounds of children playing outside. He rushed out the door to find the now frightened children huddled against the small frame of the house, trying to hide themselves in the shadows. Looking around, he saw nothing unusual. Nothing, except...
Crux's eyes widened as he craned his neck to look closer at the sky. The clouds above him were soft and white, as beautiful as they had been when he left. The string of clouds beyond however, moving slowly back over the forest, were dark and convulsive. Something about them was unnatural as they pulsated, a completely solid black that blotted out the very sun as they passed underneath it. He could not see too far ahead, for the shadows they cast were as dark as the night. The father hobbled out of the house after Crux, rapidly spouting words that made no sense. Crux could barely comprehend as the man spilled out word after word about ominous soldiers and hordes of darkness, but he was not truly listening. There was a purpose in the movement of the clouds. They were heading back over the way he had come, the exact path, down to the turn around the hills.
An endless distance in the future, Crux would have quivered in fear as he laid eyes upon the essence of destruction in its purest form. But here and now, he could only come to one conclusion about the dark mass drifting through the sky. This was no storm, this was something else entirely; this was death. A sickening realization filled him, as his previous thought amended itself in his mind; This was death, and it was heading towards his family.
***
Crux stopped walking, pulled out of his memories by a loud voice. His foot caused the dust below to rise into the air in a mist, slowly dissipating as it settled back to the ground. Three relatively lean figures, of an alien race unknown to him, stood in his path, eyes closed. The central one, clearly male, opened its eyes and repeated itself.
"Crux Caedon, you have defied Solitian authority and are to be executed for treason. Do you have any last words?" If Crux heard the man's words, he did not give any indication of it. Instead, a small shudder ran through his body as he saw the man's eyes. A glowing blood red, the eyes were as unnatural as were Crux's own. As the other two opened their eyes to the same chilling effect, Crux knew he had been heading in the right direction, but he was far from overjoyed at the revelation. He looked down at his right hand and the light blue emanating from the palm, and sighed as he knew it still wasn't time. Part of him prayed that he was mistaken about the three standing before him, but he knew they wouldn't send three unarmed men to kill him. No, they were far from unarmed.
Crux's fears proved true as the three men, in response to his continued silence, lifted their right hands into the air, each of them clutching an oddly shaped crystal. The shapes were different, but all three crystals shone with the same dark crimson. Words in a language he only vaguely recognized and even more vaguely understood emanated from their lips, and lightning shattered the heavens. With the night sky illuminated as if it were day, the three figures rose into the air, an energy nimbus swirling around each one. The truth was as apparent as it was grim, as their skin took on a metallic glean before completely giving way to a cold, virtually impregnable alloy. Their crimson eyes glowed through dark crystal visors. Their very bodies transformed from flesh and bone to chrome and crystal, and they stood before him. A good meter taller than they previously had been, these were no longer creatures of life, but harbingers of death. Crux spoke a single, hated word even as his body trembled, and he knew that this was going to be a very, very long night.
"Radam."