Ascension

Year 540 After Ascension (A.A)

The air reeked of sweat and blood. I gazed above the broken spears, tattered banners, and

dead bodies that littered the battlefield. The sun shined a bright red as it slipped beneath the

horizon. An oak tree, scorched by fire, towered high above. Fitting.

“Please spare me, Sir Nicholas, I‘ll give you anything!”

I looked down at the prisoner, groveling at my feet. All my life I had seen sculptures and

paintings of him, but I never thought he’d look like this. His face was sunken and his limbs were

lean. His wispy white hair had fallen out, leaving only a few tufts of hair on a canvas of ash.

Upon his breastplate shined a gold and emerald engraving of an oak tree. To think, I used to

believe the oak tree stood for strength and stability. But here, the oak tree himself had fallen to

his crooked knees and begged for his life. I leaned in next to the pathetic old man and whispered

in his ear “I want your crown.”

King Richard stopped twitching and looked me in the eyes. “I will never give up my

crown” his lips twitched as he spoke, but his pupils remained steady and fixed on me.

The soldier on my left shouted “Get the headsman’s axe! We’ve got a tree to log!” and

was met by a round of vicious laughter.

The King became still and cold, his eyes shot up to meet the soldier’s. “The oak is strong

and its roots are deep. You’ll regret ever saying that, barbarian.”

Staring deep into his eyes I retorted, “And you might just regret saying that, warlock.”

“Shall we drown the witch or burn it?” another soldier asked with a crooked smile on his

face.
 A dark cloud of soot rose from the ground as I dismounted my horse. Clutching my

sword, I spoke “Neither.”

Year 535 A.A.

“Nick! Did you hear about Henry?” William asked.

“No, but I think I will.” I responded as I thrust my hoe into the hard earth.

“He said he’s joining the army next week.”

“Well isn’t that a surprise” I dryly said.

William’s eyes narrowed as he shouted out “I just don’t understand why! What type of

person would volunteer to serve witches?”

“I don’t know, Will, but it definitely wouldn’t be the only man in town with an oak flag

on his wall. And it certainly couldn’t be the guy who insists on saying the King’s Pledge every

night before dinner.” I said as I gave him a smug grin.

“Ha. Ha. Very funny, Nick. Y’know it wouldn’t hurt you to be serious once in your life.

You are supposed to be the old mature one.”

“Old? I’m only 25.” I sighed and looked at my younger brother. How the fuck are we

related? Will was a small kid, his limbs were skinny, lanky, and pale. He was 16 but was barely

taller than my 13 year old neighbor. His eyes were an intense, bright, blue and his hair was soft

and black. Meanwhile, my arms were thick and my skin was brown from working in the sun. My

eyes were auburn and my brown hair was course and short. I patted him on the back, “take it

easy Will, Henry will come running back home after his first battle.”

“You and I both know that’s not true” Will said “Henry may be a fool but he isn’t a

coward. You remember the fires in 530, right?”

 I felt the corner of my lip sink into a grimace as my mind flooded with grief. “Of course I

do. He saved you.” When I failed.

“You make it sound so easy. I was pinned down by a fallen branch and every second the

flames grew closer and closer. I thought I would die for sure, but Henry braved the flames, and

carried me all the way to the healers. He risked his life for mine, even though-”

“Stop!” I interrupted “I know where you’re going with this and I don’t want to hear it.”

Will fidgeted and said “It’s just math, I’m going to die sooner than him and you know it”

My heart sank into my stomach. “Will, please believe me, just because you’ll die sooner

doesn’t make your life any less valuable.”

Will raised his voice “That’s not the point. You-” Will’s eyes popped open before he ran

to the bushes. I looked at the sky and tuned out the sounds of Will hurling. Will was sick from an

early age, with what the healers called biophage. Biophage was known for its slow but constant

drain on ones very life, causing frailty, muscle degeneration, and, in this case, vomiting. They

said he’d have 20 years before it would consume him. A pang of fear sprung in my mind as I

thought about him. Biophage has been a plague on mankind since the beginning of time, there

are countless other people with it and they lead happy lives. William will be just fine. Will turned

around to walk back to me. His cheeks flushed rosy red and his eyes were fixed to the ground.

He had never gotten over his childhood, cruelty has a way of sticking with you.

“Sorry about that” he said, bashfully.

“Don’t worry about it, if you disregard the sounds, how it looks, and the smell, it’s really

not bad”

“Shut up Nick” said Will, stifling a smile. “I’m just worried. I don’t want him to die.

Especially for the wrong reasons.”

 “You have to understand, Will, he’s not like us. He had parents, parents who’d take him

to church and read him the Scripture” I explained.

“Meanwhile we used it for toilet paper!” Will exclaimed with a toothy grin.

Chuckling, I said, “Will, now it’s your turn to shut up”

“Well if we can’t talk, let’s drink”

***

The tavern was dusty and rundown, but to me it was home. I couldn’t count the number

of times I passed out on the table with William and Henry after nights of laughing and singing.

Those times seemed so far away.

Henry firmly said “You’re not listening, Will! King Richard has ruled for more than 535

years and not once has there been so much of a civil war much less a dethroning!”

“But that’s my point!” retorted Will, “He’s ruled for five centuries and I can’t think of

one thing that’s changed since then. Hell, we don’t even know if he’s still alive!”

“You act like stability is a bad thing.” Henry said as he furrowed his eyebrows “Don’t

you know what the Scripture said about life before the Ascension?”

“You know I don’t read that shit” muttered Will.

“Fuck me, I’m friends with a barbarian… Well you better get another beer, ‘cuz this is a

long one” said Henry as he pulled a black book out of his bag. The book made a soft crackle as

he opened it. “A long time ago, the magic folk and normal folk lived together on the ground,

sometimes even in the same city. The land was plagued by murder, theft, and war. The normal

folk were vulnerable and lived in constant fear of the magic folk. The Prophet saw the fear and

helplessness inside the normal folk and felt compelled to help. After 30 days and 30 nights of
meditation, the Prophet found his solution. He ripped the earth from the ground and suspended it

in the air with a spell learned from God himself. The Prophet decreed that from that day forth,

magic folk would live on the floating island and normal folk would live on the ground. And so

the magic folk ascended to the clouds and the normal folk were left in peace.”

Henry closed the book with a triumphant smile. In his mind, the scripture was infallible.

It was written by the hand of the Prophet himself. One night long ago I tried to show him the

inaccuracies and the contradictions and all I got out of it was a black eye. I admired his blind

faith in a way. It must be so peaceful to believe that the world has meaning. My optimism died

with my parents in the street. Left in peace my ass.

“Prophet!? He’s a fucking prophet now!?” shouted Will. “That’s bullshit! We all know he

gave himself that title! ”

Henry spoke firmly “Take that back”

“No, and I’ll be damned if you die for that phony!”

“Take that back!” shouted Henry.

Then these three calm and deliberate words came out of William’s mouth, “Fuck the

Prophet”

The veins in Henry’s face throbbed as his face turned scarlet. Henry stood up suddenly,

his chair toppling behind him. In a split second he was beside Will with his fist barreling

towards Will’s ribs. A loud crack echoed through the tavern . There was one moment of silence

before Will’s moans drowned out everything else.

“What the fuck did you do!?” I shouted at Henry.

“I-I don’t know. I didn’t hit him that hard!” Henry’s anger was quickly replaced by guilt.

“Just get the fuck away from me Henry!” shouted Will.

 ***

The healer’s huts always gave me the creeps. Besides the fact that they almost always

smelled like piss, the thought of someone casting spells on my body terrified me. A long hallway

stretched down the building. The walls were painted a sickly green as if to remind you why you

were there. I walked passed each room, searching for my brother. As I glanced into one room,

an old woman reached towards me, and opened her mouth. But no sound came out, just air. Her

face twisted in desperation as she breathed out. I stood there, transfixed by the morbid scene. Her

eyes watered as she closed her mouth and looked away. With that I made my way over to Will’s

room.

“Hey Will, how are you feeling?”

He looked down and murmured, “Shitty.”

“Too shitty to go for a walk?” I asked.

“Ugh, fine. Help me up” he said.

We walked into the forest bordering the healer’s hut. As we strolled down the dirt path, I

told him “You know Henry’s really sorry”.

“Yeah, I know…” murmured Will “I’ll talk to him later, I just need some time.” We

passed by a giant tree, towering above the rest. “Sometimes, I wonder if the world would be

better off without humans and animals.” He exclaimed as he stopped in front of the tree. “Plants

cant disagree, they can’t fight, they just grow in harmony.”

As I looked around me, my eyes fixated on a little white tree, about six feet tall and 3 feet

away from the big tree. Its branches were nearly barren. The few leaves it did have were

speckled with spots of yellow and brown. A crimson vine wrapped around the trees pale trunk.
“Well what about that one?” I said while pointing to the white tree. “It’s dying. It’s starving for

sunlight and there’s nothing it can do to stop it”

“But the other tree is so tall and majestic. It looks like it belongs here and the other… just

doesn’t” said Will as he stared at the feeble tree. It looked like a twig in comparison to sheer size

of the other tree. “At least it’s going peacefully” said Will.

My mind flashed back to the old lady in the healers hut. Her face was burned into my

mind. The desperation in her eyes bled into my every thought. Her expression was familiar but

unknown. “Or maybe it’s just silently suffering”

Will shot me a depressed look and said, “You’re awful cheery today.”

“Sorry” I said in monotone.

“Is that an oak tree?” he asked, pointing to the big tree.

I picked a leaf up off the ground and said “I’ll be damned, it is.” I felt a wave of relief

rush through my mind as we both laughed.

***

It was dark and cold. Large wisps of fog hovered over the roads, disappearing every time

I drew close. A blood curdling scream pulsated through the empty streets. My heart pounded

faster and faster as I walked through the streets. A feeling of dread filled my stomach, growing

stronger with every step. My hands were soaked in sweat and curled up into two little fists at my

side. My heart racing, I took a step into another cloud of fog. The fog cleared away to reveal a

corpse embraced by vines. As I stepped closer I recognized the body. Tears began streaming

down my face as I stared into her eyes. I jumped back as her eyes opened. She began mouthing

words and exhaling, but no sound came out. She motioned for me to come over. I hesitated and

move closer. As her arms wrapped around me I whispered “I miss you, mom.” A deep booming
voice spoke “Consuum” a series of runes flashed before my eyes. The voice echoed through my

head before I snapped awake. My sheets were covered in sweat. The rest of the dream began to

fade, but the words were still fresh in my mind.

***

Will burst into the house, “Hey check out what I found!” he shouted as he scrounged

through his pocket. After a minute of waiting, he produced a small white paper. Written in big

letters was the word “Biophage”. “Flip it over, Nick” he said. The other side had the runes from

my dream, written in plain sight.

“Will, biophage is a spell.”

***

The once mighty prophet king stared up at me, in a mixture of fear and relief.

“You knew this day was coming, King” I sneered. “I remember asking my mother as a

boy, why are we down here while they’re up there? Why can they use magic but we can’t?” My

grip grew firmer on the hilt of my sword. “Imagine how it must have felt for us to find out that

we all could learn magic; to find out that you warlocks kept us in the dark; and to find out that

biophage was not a disease, but was a spell cast to feed off of the lives of the common man. That

the reason you lived for centuries, was because you fed yourself off of our souls. Shackle him!”

My men surrounded him and shackled him to the charred oak tree.

“I AM THE PROPHET!” he shouted “You’ll be damned for eternity if you kill me!”

I shook my head and spoke, “I never said I’d kill you.” Will slowly walked over to the

King, shaking he said “Consuum.”