Harken

Chapter 13

Harken's life flashed before his eyes; his nightmarish manufactured birth, his time at the palace, his malicious murder, every vivid dream led by Jainko, escaping, walking in the forest, freeing Alex from his prison, farming, the final meeting in the Silva Church and Nekrah's unfortunate end. Then the back of his eyes seemed to brighten with blinding white light, invading his head with nothing but shining brilliance. He saw himself in an all white room with a swirling magnificent Milky Way above him. Sparkling planets, glittering stars looking like precious gems. Sensed the panic of all that were around him. His head snapped back, allowing the vision to reveal itself. He saw everything: a tin plane tearing away, young hands holding bloody diamond rings, fear coming off a cowering man in waves while he held a small gun. The images of horror, of disturbance, crept up on him in a way that made him feel physically sick. He gagged, clutched his throat and wept. This fit of insanity terrified his previous companions and made them dream of the worst they could think of. One went to get help and the other called out repeatedly. But that was futile. For soon enough, Harken was no longer there.
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Sand spilled everywhere, pushed into steep dunes by the cruel and bitter wind. It was cold and made the newcomer shiver even in his catatonic state. He was lost deep in his subconscious. But he was pulling himself up and out of it, so much so that in an hour he was able to reach out his hand. He was able to stroke the molecules of sand mixed with smooth gravel and chunks of ice, feel how chilling it was on his bare skin. And he was able to truly mourn the loss of what he had before, the hope of regaining it flickering in the back of his mind. He was able to pick up that strange artefact, that obsidian pyramid that glimmered in the early morning sun. It spoke to him, whispered to him in a tongue he had never learnt but knew fluently. Then the stranger rose to his knees and then to his feet. Wobbling slightly, he surveyed the ruins laid out around him, the desolation an unknown yet interesting endeavour. He went to walk but knew not where he would go. He knew very little now. He screamed into the void around him, one full of excruciating pain and melancholy longing. For Harken no longer knew what his ultimate purpose was.