Rupture: Rise of the Demon King

by Milo Woods

  “Fair enough. I suppose if it was me, I would be afraid too.” Dyzely moved back to the dais and reached for a bottle. He took a swig, moved back to Aenia, and offered her some.

  “It is not custom, master, to take from the same bottle as you.”

  “Please, call me Dyzely. You are different from the others, Aenia. I almost feel bad for you.” He downed more of his drink, eyeing the bottle like it was her. “Go.”

  Despite the fact that Dyzely was a creep, Aenia did not want to leave. She felt like if she stood there, perhaps time would lapse around her, the deadline would pass, and she would be safe.

  But then Iessa reentered the room. Without a word they left Dyzely’s chambers. They moved into the giant tree, up the spiral staircase that wound its way throughout.

  The tree’s trunk thinned as they climbed and eventually the staircase opened up into a large platform. The canopy of the gargantuan tree was cut above so she could clearly see the moons above. Teritia was already halfway across Vesitia. Where had all the time gone?

  In the center of the circular clearing was a short wooden platform with stairs up one side of it. Upon the platform were four sacrificial fires, already burning. The guards moved her up the platform and forced her on her knees. Iessa stood before her and spoke, cold and soft. “Rise your head, Vesan.”

  Aenia obeyed. The trembling began once more as she stared into Iessa’s blue eyes. Iessa pulled out a small cord and bound Aenia’s hands behind her. Then she moved in front of Aenia, facing away from her.

  Soon the lords of the various trees began to file in, with the exception of one: Dyzely. The ceremony could not start without all of the lords in their respective thrones around the platform. Where was he?

  The moons overhead were almost eclipsed. The waiting was killing Aenia. She almost wished for Dyzely to show up so that the agonizing waiting could stop.

  One of the guards shifted to Aenia’s right. She glanced at the guard and double took once she recognized him: Dyzely. How did he even switch with one of the guards?

  Guardsman Dyzely winked at Aenia and moved behind her. He began to speak in a thinly disguised version of his normal voice. “Ner-Terin of Theris! Today, we beg the sacrifice of this young girl!”

  The Terin lords shifted uncomfortably. The ceremony could not begin with a lord missing. One of the lords pointed to the guard and yelled just that.

  Dyzely gestured skyward. “We have no more time to wait for this missing lord. We must carry on or risk angering the gods!”

  The lords did not like that idea, but the idea of breaking tradition wounded them just as much. They began to debate on what to do.

  During the commotion Dyzely kneeled down behind Aenia and cut her bounds. “Don’t move,” he whispered in her ear. “Not yet.” He rose back up.

  Aenia did as ordered. She even stopped trembling. If only she could stop her racing heart.

  “Nowhere in the history of the Terin have we ever missed a sacrifice,” one of the lords was saying.

  “Nowhere in the history of the Terin has a lord been absent, either,” another said.

  The arguing became louder as the moons drew ever closer to each other. Dyzely positioned himself next to one of the fires and nodded to Iessa and the other guards. They made sure no one was watching, then put their plan into motion. Simultaneously, the guards surrounding Aenia knocked the fires off the platform to where the lords were stationed.

  The fires scattered the lords as they came crashing around them. Dyzely grabbed Aenia and raised her up.

  “Go! You need to escape!” Dyzely whispered harshly. “Go to the Krystallina Pyrina! There will be someone waiting for you.”

  “Thank you, master,” Aenia said.

  “You can thank me if we ever see each other again,” Dyzely said, gulping. He shoved her and she almost fell down the steps. She took one step at Dyzely and Iessa, who were looking around in the commotion. Another silent cue and the guards scrambled. Aenia turned on her heel and took off.

  She burst into the tree and fled down the spiraling staircase. As she burst out of the door a guard noticed her and pursued her. Soon an entire group of Terin guards were chasing close behind her.

  The tree rocked as it took a slow step forward. Aenia almost fell, but quickly righted herself and moved on. The Krystallina Pyrina, the Crystal Nucleus, was the soul of the tree. It was located near the roots of the tree, almost a thousand feet down from the top.

  She kept running down though the tree, using every ounce of her being to outrun the Terin behind her. The walls seemed to squeeze her and trap her as she ran. Every hallway and branch she passed threatened to bring more guards. She kept hearing the footfalls of her pursuers… or was it simply her own footsteps?

  She came across a hall with an intricately carved arch, a sign of that only the most privileged Terin could enter. It also told her that the core was in that direction. She turned and took off down the new hall. She looked back to find the Terin stopped at the arch, as they couldn’t break the rules.

  She briefly let out a smile of relief. She knew they would eventually follow her, waiting only for permission. Her newfound security didn’t slow her down, still searching for guards, still scanning for the Krystallina Pyrina.

  Eventually she found it: a large open doorway blocked by roots. The roots, or maybe the tree, sensed her approaching and unwound themselves, allowing her entrance. She ran through the passageway and the roots reformed behind her. Aenia found herself in a large round room with pews facing a platform at the back. A large glass sphere was located on the platform and glowed like amber with a light behind it. It was the core, the nucleus, the beautiful heartbeat of life in Mergathirio Vorphelios.

  Aenia moved up to the softly pulsing orb, easily as tall as her. She looked around for whomever Dyzely told her to meet. Her contact wasn’t here; Dyzely had surely led her into a trap. She hung her head, waiting for capture and death.

  She returned her gaze to the yellowish glass before her. She knew she wasn’t supposed to touch it. Only Priestesses had the privilege, the right, to talk to the tree. Only Terin had the right to be here. Only Terin could live lives, could be more than this. A tear fell as she looked to the door that would soon be rushing with Terin. She had already broken the rules. She was supposed to be dead. She was supposed to be a nobody, another in an infinite list of death.

  But someone had told her that she would be so much more than that.

  She placed her thoughts behind her and reached out for the orb. Her finger touched the crystalline sphere. A sudden flash blinded her and then all sensation was lost.