Once again, I want to thank everyone for their support of Tellest as we draw to close the first phase of our stories. \u00a0It was with all of you that we went on this journey, and I’m excited about taking the next steps. \u00a0Be on the lookout for more stories, art and other projects in the weeks to come. \u00a0Thank you so much!<\/p>\n
\n
\u00a0Keeper of the Void<\/strong><\/p>\n A Story by Michael DeAngelo<\/strong><\/p>\n -Part Two-<\/strong><\/p>\n \n Before his eyes, the orb grew dark, his reflection peering back at him.\u00a0 He did not realize it, but a great influx of mist had entered the void.\u00a0 He shook his head, freeing himself of the trance that held his attention to the orbs.<\/p>\n \u201cYou see now what you are needed for?\u201d Nyrshia asked.<\/p>\n Rhys turned and glared at the keeper of the void.\u00a0 \u201cNo, not really.\u00a0 Nothing I saw looked out of the ordinary in the slightest.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause you\u2019ve already set things right,\u201d Vedas insisted.<\/p>\n \u201cHow could I set things right?\u00a0 I\u2019ve never seen any of those people in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n Vedas shook his head while Nyrshia seemed to float away in the mist.\u00a0 \u201cYou still don\u2019t understand, do you?\u00a0 Time is not some arrow shot forth to meet an end.\u00a0 It is a series of waves on a distant shore, cascading against rocks, sending ripples through the ocean.\u00a0 You are merely a ripple, Rhys, neither here nor there.\u00a0 You\u2019ve rescued these people from a break in the timeline, yet you\u2019ve never strayed from your own.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou told me to witness the events in the orb, and so I have.\u00a0 Give me the mirror, and let me be on my way.\u201d<\/p>\n A smirk was all Rhys could see as Nyrshia disappeared into the mist.\u00a0 \u201cVery well.\u00a0 Give him what he seeks, Vedas.\u201d<\/p>\n While the keeper of the void disappeared into the miasma from whence she came, Vedas stepped forward.\u00a0 He tossed the item to Rhys, watching as the human sprung forth to catch it.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know the power that thing holds, don\u2019t you?\u201d the cobalt-hued warrior asked.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m aware,\u201d Rhys insisted.\u00a0 \u201cI can save my people with this.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt the cost of your soul, perhaps.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLet me worry about my soul.\u201d<\/p>\n As he said the words, though, the orb beside him transitioned once more.\u00a0 He saw the woman inside, her smile so disarming he almost dropped the mirror.\u00a0 Vedas caught that surprise, arching his eyebrow.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, you should never steal something from a thief,\u201d Rhys mentioned.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd why is that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause they\u2019ll steal something back.\u201d<\/p>\n Before he had the opportunity to reflect on that comment\u2014that threat\u2014Vedas could feel his feet leaving the ground.\u00a0 Rhys was already in motion, grabbing the orb beside him and holding it close to his chest.\u00a0 He took several bounding steps while Vedas floated in the air.<\/p>\n \u201cYour tricks will not work for long, boy!\u201d Vedas cried.\u00a0 \u201cWhen I find you, I\u2019ll rip out your insides and feast on your bones!\u201d<\/p>\n As Rhys drew farther away, he snapped his fingers.\u00a0 Vedas plummeted from the air, landing in a heap.\u00a0 Mist scattered about, and when he rose to his feet, the human was gone.<\/p>\n Rhys inhaled a deep breath, straining through the miasma of the void.\u00a0 With every long, quick stride, he could feel his lungs burning in his chest.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t stop running, though.\u00a0 Vedas\u2019 words may very well have been true\u2014perhaps his kind enjoyed the taste of human flesh.<\/p>\n Throughout his ceaseless race, Rhys could not find the exit.\u00a0 Without any observable landmarks, there wasn\u2019t even a sure way to know he had kept to the same direction.\u00a0 Wary he may have been running right back to Vedas, he gripped the mirror and the sphere tighter.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know not what you do,\u201d Nyrshia\u2019s voice echoed out among the void.\u00a0 It was almost as if it was rising from the ground beneath every one of the thief\u2019s footfalls.\u00a0 \u201cReturn the orb to us and all will be forgiven.\u201d<\/p>\n Though her words sent a shiver up his spine, Rhys noted the concern in her tone.\u00a0 The orb could be stolen\u2014she was fearful of that.\u00a0 Almost as soon as he considered that, he could see a swirling vortex in the distance: the exit.<\/p>\n \u201cNo matter what happens, you can\u2019t bring her back,\u201d Nyrshia insisted.\u00a0 \u201cIt is a fixed point in time.\u00a0 She was meant to be lost.\u201d<\/p>\n That insight cascaded over him like a raging waterfall.\u00a0 His pace waned for a moment, and he reflected on that idea.\u00a0 His brow furled, and he resumed his hasty sprint, blood pumping furiously through his veins.<\/p>\n When he arrived at the portal, he could feel the perspiration soaking through his tunic.\u00a0 A few labored breaths were all he allowed himself before he lifted the orb, peering at its contents. \u00a0Sure enough, it was the familiar woman again, peering back out at him as though she knew she was being watched.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t care what she says.\u00a0 I\u2019ll find a way to save you, Mother.\u201d<\/p>\n One last burning breath was all he was afforded before he flung himself into the portal.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t instantly faced with the lush countryside he had come from, though.\u00a0 A tangible darkness swirled all around him, oppressive and filled with an unfamiliar energy.<\/p>\n A resounding crack echoed in that small area.\u00a0 He lifted the mirror and saw his reflection, still unmarred.\u00a0 Another crack roared out in that pocket of swirling energy, and he drew back, gazing at his other pilfered item.<\/p>\n The orb no longer displayed a single uniform image.\u00a0 Dozens of events and places were shown across its cracked surface, and as it continued to lose its integrity, still more images appeared.<\/p>\n As though a powerful gust of wind had buffeted him, he was knocked aside.\u00a0 Rhys watched while the orb rose in the air, luminescing between each of its many cracks.\u00a0 The vortex, that little pocket of the void that he had entered, filled with that same bright light.\u00a0 Silence entered the place\u2014not the absence of sound, but the complete destruction of it, Rhys realized.\u00a0 For as the orb continued to deteriorate, he could feel himself pulled toward it.\u00a0 That painful tug had him screaming, but no sound emerged from his lips.\u00a0 A shard of mirrored glass flew toward the floating sphere, and it took all his effort to turn the mirror about.<\/p>\n Fragments of glass remained, enough to see he was being stretched and torn in much the same manner.<\/p>\n The pain and the fear became too much to bear.\u00a0 Rhys ceased fighting against that ominous pull and waited for the inevitable end.\u00a0 Before his eyes, the orb exploded outward.\u00a0 Hundreds of shards, many infinitesimally small, others large and vibrant, stopped in the air, locked in place.\u00a0 He saw his outstretched hand and realized he, too, was unable to move.<\/p>\n The roaring of air preceded anything else, but the blinding radiance was quick to follow.\u00a0 At once, those shards\u2014of the orb and the mirror\u2014drew inward, along with the man who dared to interfere with time.\u00a0 In mere seconds, all those fragments collided and disappeared within the central point of the portal, where the orb had been suspended.\u00a0 The portal, too, closed and faded.<\/p>\n All was quiet in the void, the displaced miasma settling once more.\u00a0 Muted footsteps made their way toward where the vortex had been.\u00a0 Vedas crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at the emptiness of the place.\u00a0 He sensed the arrival of another\u00a0 and pivoted back to the keeper of the void.<\/p>\n \u201cHe took the bait,\u201d Vedas said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe knew he would,\u201d Nyrshia replied.\u00a0 \u201cHe is a part of time\u2019s grand tapestry now.\u00a0 Let\u2019s hope he is good with a needle and thread.\u201d<\/p>\n Vedas couldn\u2019t bring himself to offer up even a polite grin.\u00a0 Another orb swept by him, and he peered at its contents.\u00a0 Sure enough, he knew the inhabitant.<\/p>\n Rhys climbed to his feet in a foreign time and place.\u00a0 The mirror was shattered, though the frame was whole.\u00a0 And beside him, a single fragment of the orb remained.<\/p>\n \u201cIt begins,\u201d Vedas said.<\/p>\n The keeper of the void was already shaking her head.\u00a0 \u201cIt continues.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Once again, I want to thank everyone for their support of Tellest as we draw to close the first phase of our stories. \u00a0It was with all of you that we went on this journey, and I’m excited about taking the next steps. \u00a0Be on the lookout for more stories, art and other projects in 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