Ch. 2
Gillen left the bickering humanoids in order to search for what he hoped was his companions. He came upon the village of Spree rather quickly. It was smaller than he remembered, but it was also cleaner. The houses looked fresher, and in a better state of repair. I'm in the past. There is no other explanation. I exist, through some means or another, before the Tower was built. This realization failed to bring the response of wooziness or fear one would expect. Gillen simply accepted, and not without a tinge of excitement. I am no longer a slave.
Another creature, which also would have been dubbed a 'Minion' in Gillen's time, watched the argument. Unlike the one the story followed before, this one was skinnier, slightly shorter, less hunched, and had a devil-like tail. The feature that most obviously distinguished him from his brown comrade was the fact that he wasn't brown, but bright red. Abdul-Haqq was his name, and he worked as the imps' spy and scout. It was the name of the former scout, and the scout before that. He ran, returning to his home. It was a cave, surrounded by fire and magma. The Burning Beetles, as his people called them, bothered them on occasion, but at that moment they were nowhere to be seen. Abdul-Fattah greeted him upon his entrance. "The Great Ones, Ahmed and Akil, have summoned the Abdel. Come with me." The two traveled to the Cavern of Council. Numerous Abdel were gathered there. The Abdel were the servants of the Great Ones, the current descendants of those who had led the imps from the Plain of Fire, to Ruboria, to their current home. Each was named Abdul, with a second name that denoted their work. Abdul-Sami was the judge, Abdul-Razzaq managed food, Abdul-Azim was the military leader, Abdul-Bari managed construction, etc. Haqq watched them all, with a small touch of annoyance. They had all been promoted to this station of life because they wanted it, and therefore worked for it. Haqq had been forced into his job due to his ability to withstand the absence-sickness, that terrible disease that befell those who left the aura of the hive, which made him an effective scout. Abdullah, the commander of the Abdel, called the meeting to order in the traditional manner; that is, by blasting fire from his hands into the decorative paper strings on the ceiling. They lit, revealing the flaming pattern of an enlarged imp, followed by the fire fizzing out. "From our birth in the Plain of Fire, to the struggle and awakenings of Ruboria, to the establishment of our home here, the imps have faced everything, risked everything, and lost everything, except for our way of life and our will to survive. We will continue to survive every hardship the Darkest Cold sends us. We are strong, we are enduring. We are imps." A cheer rose after the traditional speech. "This ceremony has but two proceedings. First, Abdul-Haqq will present his report of the pale-flesh's actions. Proceed, Abdul-Haqq." Haqq moved to the center of the cavern. "The short ones and the tall ones continue to argue. The tall ones wish to declare war, in an attempt to exterminate our race." There was some murmuring at this declaration. Abdullah motioned for silence. Haqq continued. "The short ones wish to avoid us, only fighting in self-defense." "Thank you, Abdul-Haqq. Now, the Great Ones themselves have come to this meeting in order to express a vision that the Hive-master has granted them." Two old, wizened imps entered the cavern, which was responded to with applause. "Silence, Abdel." The applause ceased. "The Hive has shown us a future, that is strange and mysterious to us. A metal-skinned creature leads us in this future, who uses a shining object, which was called a Heart, to expand the range of the hive's influence. We were able to travel around the world with it. This was all we were able to see. Whether this vision was literal, or subject to interpretation, is still a matter we have yet to determine. This is all we have to say." The Abdel dismissed themselves soon after. Haqq returned to the outside. He was never a fan of the hive's powers. Maybe it was because of his independence to it. Haqq had come out to think alone, but was interrupted by a strange creature that looked like him, but with yellow-brown skin and noticeably larger. It walked with a hunch, and had no tail.