2004-04-05 - 10:35 p.m.
The Devourer
There was a student attending one of the junior high schools in the downtown area who faced the events that could end all stories. The cataclysm was no surprise when it happened however. With all the strange events that had occurred, many people had already been speaking of the end of the world. Somehow, they had been successful at surviving so far, and in some ways, the everything had achieved a new sense of normalcy. People even began to feel hopeful that they had won, that it was only a matter of time before everything would be as it should. That is when the astronomers discovered it. In a way, they were lucky they were able to spot it from so far, but on the other hand, this was virtually inevitable. It was small in the grand scheme of things, not something you’d find just by chance glancing through a telescope. It was large enough to destroy planets though, which is how they found it. They where able to observe it entering into the solar system as it proceed to destroy both Pluto and Charon.
Nobody knew what it was, but three things were generally agreed upon. It was alive, or at least controlled by something living. No meteor went out of its way to run into planets and moons, and no meteor seemed to envelop them and grow, as if feeding. Secondly, it was definitely headed for earth. Though its path was not completely direct, it never strayed too far from a course that would intercept earth’s orbit in exactly twelve days after it had been discovered. Finally, there was no stopping it. No weapons existed to target something that large moving that fast. All of this was met with an attitude of defeat. No one even tried to suggest a way out. This was final judgment. Everyone would die and meat their maker. In the meantime, all they could do was pray.
That’s what they said at least. Yet despite this, most tried to continue their lives as normal, almost as if they still hoped. There was no hope though, they continued to live their lives because they despaired and could think of nothing else to do. On the last day their attitude was no different. The boy’s teachers led all of the students to a nearby park. Here they would enjoy the sunshine one last time before death came from below. They walked as if in a trance. The comet would strike somewhere in Eurasia, so they wouldn’t even see it coming. The boy tried to imagine the earth crumbling beneath his feet or exploding. As he continued trying to envision this, the absurdity of it all struck him. Surely there was nowhere to run, but he couldn’t simply do nothing! He shouted to his friends and then he ran. He headed uphill to where the college campus was located. Higher ground might save me for a while, he thought.
He had no idea what to do next, but he didn’t stop even when the tremors began. Around him the earth and pavement cracked, people ran wildly about everywhere, some screaming as trees and buildings collapsed around them. Looking down the hill, he smoke covered the scene, and dimly through it, he could see glowing magma seeping from the great crags. All throughout the horizon, he could see large shelves of land raising and crumbling, heaping up mountains, overturning everything. He had no time to stare, but something felt vaguely wrong about what was happening. The other planets and moons has been destroyed in an instant. He did not translate these thoughts into any clear hope, but he did continue. The street became too crowded for him to go on, but he needed to travel further west to escape the lava that had now begun to advance on the hill. He left the street and attempted to go around one of the buildings, a museum, but was blocked by a vast construction site. He hadn’t realized that was still their, but work on the new union must have been halted when they discovered the meteor. He imagined himself being trapped in the great pit they had dug for its foundation, as the lava seeped in and left him with no other choice but to accept the flames. Yet he did not turn back. There was no other way, and maybe… he was fast, there was a chance he’d reach safety on the other side. He didn’t think about what he would do after that. He jumped into the ditch and began to race as hard as he could for the western edge. He couldn’t believe how long it was though, the building was to span several blocks apparently, and it had such poor drainage that he had to track through mud although it had not rained anytime recently that he could remember. He had only covered barely half of the distance when a great rise in the tremors shook the land around him, and the museum collapsed beside him sending stone raining down around him. Magma began pouring over the rim of the ditch from the direction he had come.
Once he recovered he looked up at what remained of the museum momentarily but stopped when he saw a figure looking down from the third floor, now exposed to the outside. The figure seemed to notice him and then waved and shouted. “You! Help! The corpse, you have to destroy its body!” The boy stared at him bewildered. What was he talking about? The person pointed and he looked in that direction. A gleam caught his eye, and he realized he could see a gem shining amongst the rubble. It was part of a necklace worn by a mummified body. He looked up as he heard shouts again “Here, use this!” The figure made a sharp movement, and the boy jumped back as a dirty blade hit the ground next to him. “Use it! Cut off its head!” He still didn’t understand, but he bent to pick up the weapon. It was heavy. He could feel the heat so close on his skin. Magma was now pouring from two sides of the ditch. He dropped the sword and began to move to the western edge again.
“What… No!” The voice came again. “I can’t reach it in time. I can’t explain, but you have to destroy that body, it is the only way!” The boy had stopped as soon as the plea came again. The desperation in that voice, the lack of any alternatives moved him to this action. He picked up the sword and moved toward the mummy. As he approached he realized that the gem around its neck was not merely reflecting light, but shining eerily from within. He hesitated slightly before raising the blade above his head and then swinging down hard at the corpses neck. Though rusty, the sword cleft the ancient skin and bone easily, and the boy felt a painful shock as the tip met the rock beneath the body and reverberated. He stared in amazement as the body dissolved and blew away in the wind. Then, the gems light seemed to recede deep within it. Suddenly, it flash and went black before shattering into countless pieces. As it broke a great force knocked him back and it sounded as though he could hear the screams of thousands of suffering souls.
Without knowing just what he had done, he returned to his feet, and after planting the sword in the ground, he continued running. The figure had disappeared from site, perhaps looking for somewhere to run himself. He was not sure if there was any escape, but he now hoped more strongly than ever. He would survive as long as he had the energy to run. He played his role in the grand scheme, not understanding what it meant. Yet though his actions did not end the threat of the devourer, without him, there would have been no hope at all.
