The Awakening: Artifact of Creation by D James Larsen Page B

man has powers to snuff out the
lives of grown men with the mere wave of his hand. He....has
destroyed so much!” The tears began to flow freely down the side of
his cheeks.
    The Archon’s face hardened. “If the Fallen
have returned, it would have been foreseen,” She paused and pointed
to the Seer who gazed blankly into the darkness of the room. “The
Seer would have foreseen it.” She shouted angrily.
    The Archon then quickly calmed her emotions
and leaned toward the guard and whispered something in his ear. He
nodded and hurried off into a nearby hallway. The Archon turned
back to address Lyle. “We will provide food and shelter for the
night and then you will be on your way come the morning. Perhaps a
petition to the king would better serve your needs.”
    “ With respect, Archon
Ingel, we need the power of the Awakened. We are helpless with our
swords.”
    “ Since the time that
Gaphii’el and the Awakened caste the Fallen into the forbidden,
there was no need for them. I am the last of the Awakened.” The
Archon said softly. “I cannot offer the help you seek.”
    Lyle’s heart filled with hatred toward the
Archon and Seer. Suddenly they appeared to him as mere mortals like
himself, and not as the fabled legends told among his people. He
clenched his fists tightly, his finger nails cut into the palms of
his hands, droplets of blood began to drip. His appearance seemed
to change in the faintness of the candles flame. His skin turned
pale grey and the white of his eyes took on a sickly yellowish
hue.
    “ You would rather hide
behind these walls and watch us suffer, then offer your support.
You are not sworn protectors. You are cowards.” His words were
searing with accusation. The Archon was taken back by his sudden
impulse of disdain. “You take our money and claim to protect us.
And when the occasion asks that you act, you cower in fear. Just
like the King.”
    He smiled a deathly grin and his appearance
began to transform further. In his smile, he revealed fang like
teeth, yellowed, cracked and oily. Saliva dripped from the corners
of his mouth. Rage garnered beneath his crooked smile. Under the
concealment of his cloak, he revealed the shiny metal of a long
hunting blade, he held the blade forward, trembling with rage. “I
will prove to the world that you are a fraud Archon, and that the
so called Seer no longer sees!”
    Lyle lunged forward, knife aimed at the
chest of the Seer. The Seer stared into the emptiness of space and
time, seemingly un-affected by the sudden change of events. Lyle
plunged the knife deep into her chest, blood spurted and covered
her white cloak. She stumbled backward with a moan of pain and
anguish. Helplessly she fell to the floor.
    Ingel screamed in horror as she watched her
beloved mentor and friend fall. Quickly she knelt beside the Seer
and placed a hand over her wound to help stop the bleeding. The
Seer gasped for air in between the garbling of blood that pooled in
her throat and lungs. Ingel clenched the woman close, tears
streaming down her face.
    “ No… no... please stay
with me.” She sobbed and cradled the dying woman into her arms.
Lyle looked down upon her his grin wide with pleasure.
    “ I did what was necessary
oh holy Archon.” Lyle spat on her as she wept. “I exposed the lie
of the false power you held over us for so many years. I have
delivered the message of the Dark Lord Elixir. He is my master and
I am his humble servant.” He lifted the blade now stained with
blood and pointed it at the Archon. “You too will suffer the same
fate.” His grin dropped, replaced by pure rage.
    He slashed violently forward, this time the
attack was aimed at the Archon’s throat. She ducked beneath Lyle’s
blade and quickly extended her hand forward, palm facing outward.
Beams of white light and elements swirled in a mist about her
extended arm. In an instant, the whir of white light exploded from
her palm and crashed into the man. His body was whipped