Rising Power (#1 of the Canton Chronicles Series)

The Broken Man

Harmony Village, Canton Eastern Province -23rd July, 250 A.D

The wooden clock, carved masterfully in the shape of an owl, kept ticking in the living room. The fact that he could hear its sound, meant that he was awake once again. Alive for yet another day.

The man had once heard of an Earth fairy-tale, in which a young girl was going back and forth to a magical land with the ticking of the clock. He felt very much like that girl. The ticking signed his entrance to reality. It showed him that all the drugs had left his system. It was an incredible feeling, because, even for just a few minutes, he felt like a whole new man, ready to seize the day, ready to be done with the booze and the drugs, to hell with them, he didn't need them. He could be strong again, just like he was a lifetime ago.

But then, while on this determined state, he would turn his head and his eyes would fall on that particular picture, the one next to his bed. The picture showed a happy couple, a beautiful woman and a charming man. Her face was full of joy, gleaming green eyes, bright smile, with strands of hair falling carelessly on her face. The man standing next to her, holding her in his arms, was also happy. More than that. He might just have been the happiest man alive. That man was gone.

At that moment, with his eyes stuck on his dead wife's face and his hands searching blindly for his pills, looking for salvation, Henry White was, indeed, the most miserable person in the world. He always swallowed the capsules hastily, trying to avoid the pair of green eyes who pierced his very soul. The drugs always brought him in a short of nirvana state, images of better days flashing rapidly before his eyes.

Being a little kid, pampered up by his parents, the watchful eyes of the Counsellors turned on him, waiting for his Power to manifest itself...

Growing into a mischievous teenager, dragging his best, life-long friend Vanessa inside Aurelia's cave, showing her how the Deity's aura crumbled under his nullifying hands. Laughing, like the Power of Negation was a game.

Partying in various bars of Canton Centre as an adult, handsome and popular, his Negator DNA providing him all the money and privileges he'd ever wished for, Vanessa and the rest of his friends scolding him for his immaturity, but loving him nonetheless.

His 28th birthday party, BBQ smells in the air and fireworks bombarding the sky. Seeing her face for the first time, the woman who was destined to be his wife. Her slick raven hair, her enormous green eyes, her pale complexion and blood-red lips. Eva Gerard, the first and last woman he'd fallen in love with. The most beautiful moment of his life.

It was always after this particular memory, that the drugs' merry illusions shattered. A trigger inside his brain, forcing him to relive his worst day while he curled up on his bed crying, unable to stop the flood of nightmares.

Eva learning about his grandfather's cottage on the edge of the Deity Desert, wanting to meet the Great Aurelia in person, despite Henry's warnings.

The cold, grey, metallic chairs of the gynaecologist's office, the doctor telling them how Eva would never be able to have children.

Eva's withdrawal from her work at Council archive, her growing obsession of becoming Aurelia's medium: donating her body to the great cause of the Deity's rebirth.

The dark, moonless night, with the rain pouring down his helmet and leather jacket, as he crossed the desert with his motorbike, searching for his absent wife. How he had entered the Deity's cave running, out of breath and saw Eva flying towards the blue aura, her eyes, ears and nose bleeding. The sound of an explosion, and the ground shaking, like an earthquake. His wife exploding into a thousand pieces in front of his eyes, turning into dust. Aurelia, rising from her ashes, wearing Eva's skin, a malicious grin on her face.