The Venerate Order

by Troy Dukart

  As I looked around, I saw the horizon begin to move. Across the flatlands we stood on, I saw an army moving toward us, as far as the eye can see. They didn’t look like the soldiers I was standing with, they were in grey and purple armor. There were also strange looking, translucent creatures with them. Each creature reminded me of a polygon, their bodies are made of acute angles. They had sharp looking claws and teeth. Some looked humanoid, some like animals.

  “Lieutenant Rocknus! We await your command,” a soldier in blue and gold armor told me.

  “Lieutenant? . . . I’m, not. . . What the hell is this? There hasn’t been a military for 30 years,” I scratched my head in confusion.

  “Sir, they are approaching,” he pointed out to me.

  The opposing army began to march forward. I kept looking back and forth; I was clueless still to what was going on. A man that looked like a ninja, wearing a pure white bandana across his forehead with a symbol on the front walked up to me.

  “Strafe, get ready. We are about to charge.”

  He looked different than the soldiers around me,

  “Wait, who are you? Is this New Santa Barbara?”

  He squinted his eyes, tilted his head and walked away. Another man wearing shining silver armor imbedded with blue and red diamonds grabbed my shoulder, “Don’t mind Zon. He gets edgy before battle, but you already know that! You ready for this brother?”

  “Battle? This is a battle? Wait, what the hell is going on!?” I was freaking out.

  “Ha-ha! Have you lost your guile mate!? It’s me, Rousseau! Your best buddy! Don’t let the fancy armor confuse you, I’m the same one in a million snowflake,” he told me, “I got your back.”

  He tapped my chest and returned to his ranks. I looked out and was speechless. A woman in a pink hood approached from my right; she was beautiful. I looked into her eyes and couldn’t speak.

  “Strafe, it is time to end this. . . for the both of us,” she said.

  “Who. . . what’s your name?” my jaw dropped.

  “Silly. Did you bump your head? You said you’d never forget my it.”

  “Right, my head,” I said as I reached up and rubbed my forehead.

  “Roya,” she told me as she pushed my chin up, “That is my name. We will be okay. You’ve become so strong.”

  As she walked away, I couldn’t help but look at how she moved her hips. It was mesmerizing. I shook my head and turned back out at the enemy forces. They were legion, and there were huge lurking sky-ships in the far distance. I wondered if this was an illusion, but it felt too real to be so. I could smell the air, there was blood and dirt in it; you can’t do that in dreams.

  These other people, Zon, Rousseau and Roya all looked over to me and waited for my signal. Thousands of troops stood with us on the muddy battlefield, with a stern look. They were ready to give up their lives. I’m not a warrior, I don’t even have a weapon.

  My fingers skimmed my thigh and I felt a metal device floating next to me. I grabbed it and held it in front of me, there was a black orb at the top of the hilt. Before I knew it, the metal encasing the handle sprang forward and assembled into a sword. It was razor sharp and was many different shades of silver. The handle was swirled in colors of blue with cords of the same colors. Two pieces of metal sat horizontally on the orb, providing a hand guard.WHOA, This is awesome!

  The air was cold enough to see my breath. Roya, Zon, Rousseau and I each led a group of soldiers, who carried their own respective flag, but seemed unified to fight this enemy. Whatever this was about, that same compulsion that had compelled me to jump on that ramp was pushing me forward to meet this foe. The others looked to me to order the charge. Evidently, I was their leader and for some reason I knew I was going to do my best to bring them victory.

  “How long do you think we can hold out until the Sky-Ship, Soldaflak, arrives?” Rousseau asked.

  “I’m not worried about that. I’m only thinking about what lies in front of me. That’s all we can do.” Zon replied. He tightened his bandana and knelt to the ground on one knee to silently recite a battle prayer.

  “In all of my years, I have never seen such a monstrosity,” Roya lamented. She looked down on the tattoo on the left side of her chest and with her right hand she caressed it.

  “Well, we all know that my aim is on par with how fast I run my mouth,” Rousseau joked, “If they don’t want to suffer from either, they need only give up.” Zon let out a sigh, seeming to be irritated Rousseau’s statement.

  “You have a good sense of humor about this stuff at least!” I paused and look down at my talisman, made by my mother and father. The medal of it is a combination of a dream-catcher and a Celtic rune. It was an emerald shade and reflected the sunlight as I took hold of it.

  “You can still save him, he is not lost,” Roya said to me.

  “Save who?” I asked.

  “Your brother,” she told me.

  My eyes widened. My brother had been missing almost my entire life. My father had run away with him when I was five. That was why I became a pilot, so I could search the world for him. But, he was here? In this place?

  She gave me a thumbs-up, which Rousseau and Zon did as well. I held up my sword. They pull out their weapons and let out a battle cry to which the troops respond surging forward. Damnit, here goes nothing!

  While fairly flat, the terrain of this battlefield was rough and rugged and shined of black and brown dirt. This place had known many battles, and I think the grass tended to grow in more peaceful lands. The ground began to shake from all the hundreds of footsteps striking it. Sweat poured out my body and adrenaline poured through it while we raced toward our foe.

  Their infantry of shining silver and purple armored soldiers stood still, along with the colorful looking beasts with them. As we drew closer, each of my footsteps caused me to experience a different flashback on my life. The images were as quick and vivid as lightning; I’d never experienced this before. It was almost like my soul was giving me one last glance at timeless memories, more beautiful than paintings. I wished I could’ve had that feeling for just a few seconds longer, as it made me realize how important each moment is. I remembered that my life was far from over though when the ringing of my sword’s steel crashed against the first siege of my enemy like a wave against a rocky shore.

  When we were within striking distance; the colorful creatures were unleashed. They had crystal bodies which light could shine through, and looked to be one with nature and their surroundings. Some formed the shapes of animals, some in a humanoid form and others were of a completely different kind.

  My men and I worked our way down the battlefield, easily cutting and blasting through the wolf and lizard-like creatures with much ease. Whenever I would cut through one, its body would explode, like a mirror shattering into a million pieces. I felt as though I was in a field of diamonds with so many shining sparkles around us. We pushed on but soon a different group of creatures appeared. There were some with the ability to fire energy projectiles; and giant, two storied imposing beasts. They were much tougher than average ones. This sword alone wasn’t going to cut it. Suddenly, I felt my body getting very warm, and my skin began to burn. It felt like my veins were on fire. Constricted by pain, I couldn’t move.

  I looked down at my arms and noticed red tattoos emerging from under my skin all over my body. It seemed to be some sort of ancient text. My hair turned bright red, and a crimson aura surrounded me. Clutching my hands into fists, I threw my hands down to my side.

  “AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!” I screamed.

  A strong gale blew in all directions around me. After the aura dissipated I could move again, and I felt incredibly strong.

  A few of our men succumbed to these creatures but when my blade struck them, it looked like an explosion of light. We fought for what seemed liked hours. All was looking good until I heard an eerie laugh and saw a man with a black-hooded coat on, with a devilish smile standing twenty feet from me. His eyes were glowing
hot pink. He smiled at me and said, “You are not ready for this.”

  I ran at him but as I did, a bright light shined down from the heavens. The whole battle field turned scorching white. As I was about to reach the hooded figure, I stepped into a puddle of water and fell down into it. There was a roar in my ears as I plunged, falling straight down into total darkness.

  Chapter 3/

  Artifact of a Champion

  Strafe

  When I woke up, I was coughing up water.

  It was as if falling through that puddle was some kind of portal. The cool sword I had was gone, along with the tattoos and red hair. Looking around I was fixed in curiosity of this underground cave I’d washed up in. It smelled like fresh water and mint and the walls glimmered in various hues of blue. Am I in New Santa Barbara? I was at the mouth of the cave, with my feet in the turquoise water and my upper body lying on rocks. I coughed up what felt like a whole river of water, and grabbed my chest in pain.

  I couldn’t see much in front of me, but reflected light from the waterhole illuminated much of the cave. I stood up and noticed my left leg pretty bruised up, and it hurt to stand on. The side of my head that hit the jagged rock was still sore too, oddly, like it was on the battlefield. Other than that, I was completely okay. I thought about swimming back down the hole, but didn’t want to risk it with my bad leg. The mouth of the cave was small, with the ceiling reaching only about 15 feet. There was a thin tunnel that diverged from the water hole. I remembered thinking, what the heck? Even with my wounds, I decided to walk. I knew I couldn’t stay there. I would die.

  I could faintly hear the sound of wind blowing, so there had to be a way to the surface. I pulled out a solar cell from my belt that I was going to use to signal to Yessa and Gain that I had made it across the canyon safely. Miraculously, it was intact and had power. Before I attempted to contact them, I was distracted by strange markings I noticed on the cave walls. There were lots of lines and swirling curves, like the ones that had been on my arms on the battlefield. I began to make my way in the direction I sensed was the way out. As I passed by, the lines would start to glow and shimmer. There were drawings of figures that looked like the creatures we were fighting on the battlefield. My light only illuminated about ten feet in front of me, so I took my time. Who knew what could be down here.

  Soon, the cave opened out into what appeared to be a large cavern. There was a small, yet brilliant beam of light pouring down from the ceiling in the center, helping to illuminate the place. I put away the solar cell and looked around. This looked like it could’ve been a tomb. The floor was decorated in gold, with accents of blue. There were incredible decorations of warriors everywhere. Upon further inspection, they looked exactly like the soldiers I was leading in that battle!

  “The hell?!” I said aloud, which echoed.

  The area was as wide as it was tall, maybe about three-stories. There were obvious signs of human presence, broken furniture and other debris. I saw there were intact torches on the walls with wrappings still on them. I got out my flint. I didn’t even have to hit it twice and the torch lit up like the sun. When I did this, all of the other torches on the walls lit up as well, like nothing I’d ever seen before. It took my breath away. The room was now completely lit and on the other side was a wall decorated with many beautiful statues.

  The cavern’s walls were a golden color that had begun to flake. Lying straight ahead of me though was a grand insignia behind the statues, ancient text like the symbols that adorned my skin when I was on the battlefield. Of all the statues, there was one statue that seemed to stand out and I made my way towards it.

  They looked like ancient knights in armor, all holding unique weapons I had never seen before. The stone the statues were carved in looked like marble and the detail surpassed anything I had ever seen when I studied art in college. The statue that stood out to me didn’t carry a weapon or have extravagant armor on. This statue was kneeling down with its hands out, almost as if offering what it was holding. As I got closer I could see what appeared to be a handle that was surrounded by the same marble of the statues. This looks like the weapon I was using on the battlefield. . .

  Beneath the statue was some ancient writing, resembling what was on my skin earlier. I examined the artifact more closely. It had lines all across as if it could be disassembled. It had lightly detailed, beautiful angelic artwork crafted all over itself. There was a round orb on it just like the one on the sword I held while leading the warriors. On the sides I could see faint traces of pulsing light. The handle was wrapped exquisitely in faded blue, just like it when I was using it. Who made this place?

  I dusted off the orb with my hand to admire it. As I reached out to touch it, a glimmer of light shined, surrounding the black orb then quickly vanished. Whatever this place was, I had a feeling this would be a priceless find. I had to tell Professor Sighter back at my university about this. He had traveled all over the world studying ancient artifacts. If he didn’t know the origins of these, he would know someone who did.

  I never cared to own a weapon. All major military powers across the world had been disbanded or drastically reduced in 2058. Since then, we never needed to worry about war. The purpose of a weapon is to hurt people, but, an inconvenient truth was that all societies need warriors and weapons to maintain order. We still had police and weapons to defend ourselves, but humanity had come to the understanding that in order to survive as a species, we had to throw away our need to protect our differences. I was always proud of the United States military, all the great stories and accomplishments that came from them, but growing up without war was something my mother told me was a gift to the world.

  Leaving the artifact where I’d found it, I continued to look around for a way out. Finding an exit didn’t look like it would be easy. I could still hear a faint blowing of wind. I looked to the right and left of the statues and saw staircases curving above the middle insignia. I walked up the staircase and found beautiful blue and gold decorations of soldiers like those who had been fighting on the battlefield with me painted on the wall. In the center of them all was a figure in white, pulsing ever so often. Why was I fighting on that battlefield with those men?

  There was a faint breeze I felt near my ankles. Bending down I saw daylight pouring under a small crack underneath the painting. This was the way out!

  “Gotcha!” I snapped my fingers to.

  I began to look around the area for a key. I searched for thirty minutes around the debris and everywhere else but I couldn’t find anything. Frustration was rising but then it hit me; the artifact! I smacked myself in the head for being such a bonehead. I ran down the stairs and examined it. When I grabbed it and held it up, it felt incredibly light despite its size, just like on the battlefield. I tried to open it like it did before we charged against the enemy army, but it wouldn’t.

  Something began to shine in the orb. When I looked down, a bright red light from the orb shined brightly into my eyes. I let go of the sword and cupped my eyes in pain. It felt like the light had shot right up to my brain and stung like an ice-cream headache. I fell to my knees. This was worse than being pepper sprayed; my eyes continued to sting. I held my head for a minute or two until the pain went away. After rubbing my eyes, I saw words etched into the floor at my feet. I could read the writing, perfectly, as if the words were written in my mother tongue.

  “Only those who do not desire my power may find me useful.”

  After reading the text my head began to hurt again, like I had been studying for a test for too long. The black orb had turned cloudy and was pulsing warm light. The marble had suddenly transformed into metal, and the colors on the handle were the same vivid shades of blue when I raised it to signal the soldiers to charge. I didn’t know what to make of this strange phenomenon. I brought it up the stairs with me and tried shaking it to make the blade appear, but it didn’t work.

  “Damn it,” I spouted.

  No matter how many times I tried, it d
id nothing. The orb’s light on the hilt glowed faintly, so I swiped my thumb across it. Suddenly, the artifact’s blade sprung forth and assembled itself into the sword it was before; the orb glowed red and white.

  “Swords that move by themselves?! That’s a new one; now will you work?” I asked the sword.

  Holding the sword up to the glowing man on the wall caused the entire wall to shimmer. The light was blinding but I could see the door beginning to dissolve in front of me. The wall and its pictures had disappeared, leaving me with a view of New Santa Barbara from the mountains. I couldn’t believe this.

  I took a step forward but noticed new text at my feet,

  “A Champion is made, not born.”

  Once I had stepped out of the cave, the same blinding light flashed again and the exit was covered by mountain rock. It blended so well I couldn’t even tell there had been a door there previously. As I exited the cave, I realized I was east of the city, looking toward the ocean.

  I breathed a sigh of relief as I rubbed my head. Without any warning, the sword disassembled itself and surrounded the handle again, but remained made of metal instead of reverting to marble as it was before. Even if I stroked the orb, the sword didn’t change.

  I began to make my way down the mountain, through the neighborhoods, and back to my apartment in order to get in touch of my friends.

  Now I was convinced it was real, that battle. But there was still no explanation.

  Chapter 4/

  Rising

  Strafe