The Reconnaissance Clock

CHAPTER 15 OBLIVION'S MAW

The Dark Realm was as dark as it had been when it was first conceived. The sky was nearly black and the cracks in the metallic black ground shimmered red as if fire was trying to pierce through. Apollyon descended from the sky, with wings that looked more angelic than they should, and peered at the remains of Valefar. "What a shame..." he said aloud as his feet touched the cracked ground. He looked over at Galed. "You have failed, just as we all have." He said. "Valefar... he made it impossible." "This is the first time we have failed Galed." Apollyon said, "but it is only one path that is destroyed now. We can only hope that it does not fork into the other paths." Galed thought about how it could possible change other paths of time and wondered if it were even possible.

Apollyon knelt down on the ground next to the corpse of Valefar and reached deep within himself for the power to bring him back. Nothing happened. He continued to try for an entire night and Galed watched and paced nervously. There were more cracks in the ground than ever now, but the sky seemed to be back to its normal shade of purple and the lightening touched the ground as slow as it did before. Apollyon stopped trying and laid on the ground next to Valefar. "There is only one thing left to do. Galed, go gather up the other apostles if there are any that are still alive. Bring them to the shrine" He said to Galed. "I will try." Galed responded and looked upon the corpse of Valefar sadly and thought to himself that it was his fault that this all happened. Apollyon started walking towards the old wooden shack where he knew there would soon be a séance again. The only difference now would be that he would be the one gaining the energy from the other apostles.

Now, with Valefar's soul in limbo, Apollyon must take the role of the Lower Creator for the time being. But even with him gone, time still will flow. Apollyon, being Valefar's most trusted apostle, had been given the powers to create in the Dark Realm if it were ever necessary. The burden has now been laid on Apollyon's shoulders and he must rule the Dark Realm. As Galed returned with two of the remaining apostles a smile grew on Apollyon's charred remains of a face. "There are so few of us now, but we will find four more. I have one in mind already. But, for now we will meditate." He said as he instructed them to kneel before him. Apollyon forced the flames on the chandelier to ignite above them. Galed was reluctant to kneel before Apollyon but when he realized that Apollyon had the same powers as Valefar did, he knelt.

Time passed and Galed knelt many times before Apollyon. There was no news of what was going on above. He did not even know what planet that the humans were inhabiting now. He was confused and had many questions that Apollyon did not answer. He wanted to be a loyal servant to him but it was hard. He was acting differently towards him now that he had power. Things were different now. After Valefar's death, there were less gargoyles in the sky and less Vors on the ground. Lately, though, the Vors had been increasing in number and it was clear that Apollyon had been busy.

One night while Galed was looking over the cliff into the molten ravine below his cell, Apollyon approached him, "You have seen the Vors and a few of the other creations multiply?" he asked as if he already knew the answer. "Yes", Galed responded while turning to give his attention, "I see that you are planning something but I have not acquired the courage to ask you since last time...". "Do not worry brother, I will not hurt you. Valefar might be physically gone, but you and I together are more powerful than he would have ever been. He will be returning eventually as well, we will try to continue the mission while he is gone. After all, he was just one of us at one time as well." Apollyon said as he pulled Galed away from the ravine and up the stairs to the hellscape. "We will meditate and we will plan just as we have before. I know it has been a long time, but I had to train my powers of creation. There was no one here to teach me, so I had to learn the hard way. There are many plots against us now, and we will need to find more apostles. That will be your job Galed. I will open the gate for you."

Galed was free now and faced no repercussion for anything that he had done wrong since being in the Dark Realm. Galed knew where to go. He knew that he could find the apostles but he planned out his voyage wisely. One by one, he would bring them in and train them. He would have to wait for some, but for others he could give them a push. For now, though, he would wait.

As time passed, more structures were fabricated in the Dark Realm. But, for every one that rose, more had to be repaired after the damage done by the sudden storm from Prirmenha that still continues to strike fear amongst Apollyon. Galed left the Dark Realm and began his journey above. Apollyon planned for potential threats and prepared for Valefar's reincarnation. The Tympanum laid dormant and the fawn meditated in silence. Screams still echoed into the dark sky from sinners in torment and time continued to pass by in this path as well as others.

In the meadow beneath the stars, with flowers as healthy and tall as ever, stood the Higher Creator. He looked up at the stars above him at his creations. Morso approached him and began speaking, "What will we do about Apollyon? What will we do about Valefar?" he asked. "Neither is of any concern to me now. It is proven that we can regain control of a path that the Dark has nearly fully gripped. We must continue to plan and not allow the Lower Creator to intervene, whether that is Apollyon, Valefar, or even Galed." Morso pondered and walked with the Creator through the garden. Beautiful streams of water trickled down from a river by the hill they were walking over. "We have the artifact again now." Morso said with a smile. "You are correct." The Creator spoke, "We will only use it if necessary though. There will always be evil in the world as long as the Dark Realm exists, but we will not let it destroy creation." The Creator and Morso continued to walk under the countless stars. There are many paths of time and hope remains strong among the Creator's elect.

New paths emerged with new creations. New pieces emerged on the puzzle that is the Vacuum. New chronicles emerged and were told to children as folk stories in the new paths. Stories were told about Flel, who challenged the forces of Valefar. Stories were told about Prirmenha, who challenged the dimension-traveling demon called Galed. Flel's path was hardly insignificant, but Prirmenha's story was far from idle and continued to sow seeds of hope in many different paths for thousands of years. The new manuscript was gifted to the followers of Marcus and the stories were passed down through many generations. This knowledge was learned to be a very powerful tool. The new order that was created was found to be a threat as human life grew on earth. A discipled and orderly society developed, where every citizen knew his place and where the majority of common men were held in thrall to a new ruthless and powerful entity. There were few humans who wished to stand up to the new Lower Creator, but some had the knowledge and means to undo the undoing.

Even after the Lower Creator left his prison, his creations during his time resided there. Gwaltney tended to the structures that were built by Valefar. He was the only apostle assigned to this task. There were not many structures, but time flowed differently in limbo and it seemed that things decayed which Gwaltney was not used to in the Dark Realm. There was a building so tall that he could not even see the top of it. The dark fog shrouded the sky and everything around him. While he was there, souls would appear and then disappear. He did not know the meaning of the structures but did not question them. He used a staff that Valefar had given him to tend to the structures and herd the souls in the ways that he was trained. Valefar promised Gwaltney that he had a larger purpose. Gwaltney waited for his calling as did the other apostles.