War of Existence : - The Beginning of Saga

In the deep

It had been almost a week since Lucifer’s arrival in Siraya, land of Four Moons. As he had already made it clear that they now needed a paying job, but he was fortunate enough that the city authority was in search for any workers willing to mine in an ancient ruin under the city. The pay wasn’t so good but was enough to keep ‘them’ fed.

So they decided to take that job for the time being. The ruin was under the city itself. This was apparently a normal occurrence as the Vorkens made their cities over such ruins which ran very-very deep in the depths of Siraya.  Lucifer noticed that the designs and structure were vastly different from those made by Vorkens, who made their cities with mostly metals and stone works, but these ruins were made of exquisite marbles ,magnificent stone works and several wavy  patterns on the walls which were filled with strange blue crystals which glowed ominously in the dark.

Many metal ores were being dug out from interior sections of the ruins as the ruins ran deep within the ground of the mostly frozen planet. After gathering some info, Lucifer learned that these ruins where he was working was once home of an ancient and advanced race called the ‘Sai’ore*’, who once ruled Siraya. But that was millennia ago and only the Vorkens remained.

But even if the Sai’ore were long gone, their highly advanced works were still left behind. If fact, Lucifer was sure that the entire Vorken civilization was actually thriving because of the remnants of the glorious Sai’ore machinery for Vorken machinery were all based on the works of the Sai’ore even though the Vorkens weren’t able to perfectly match the technological perfection of the Ancient race. So basically Vorkens were living off scraps left by their predecessors.

Lucifer along with some other Vorkens who all surprisingly had their ankle bound by a shackle with a Guard eying them like a hawk, were amongst the few people who were tasked to drill their way deeper into the ruin. He held his drilling machine hard as it did its job of burrowing deeper into the earth of Siraya.

A few paces away from him stood Luna, who under Lucifer’s ‘insistence’ was working in the ruins as well. While Lucifer dug deeper in the ruin, she was tasked to chisel out the strange crystal from the walls of the ruin.

She effortlessly plucked the crystal out of the grooves of the wall with the tool and, to the horror of a Vorken beside her, tossed the crystal into the cart behind her which contained more such crystal. The crystal would’ve hit the cart if not for the Vorken beside her who did a dramatic dive and held the crystal before it hit the bottom of the cart. With the crystal safely in his hold he turned to Luna and exclaimed “YOU CRAZY?! You nearly blew us all into pieces!” his voice dripping with thick accent.

Luna looked at him warily, not knowing why was he so upset, even Lucifer had come over them to see what the mortal was bickering about. “Um, Something of matter?”

“Well nothing, apart from how your woman nearly blow us up…” grumbled the Vorken sarcastically “You should be very careful while handling Azure stones*.” The man explained as he too chiselled out the crystal now known as Azure stone. The Vorken saw the questioning look in the two young adult’s faces and sighed. He carefully put the Azure atone in the cart “These little things are fragile. Not to mention are quite unstable.”

Lucifer frowned in worry and asked, “Unstable?”

The Vorken chuckled “Well, these stones were used as nothing more than decoration for the ancient Sai’ore, but over years they changed. No one knows how but they all became unstable energy cells…” To prove his point, he took a pea size Azure stone and tossed it to the other end of the ruin. A small explosion occurred, followed by many shouts of disapproval. Luna seemed fascinated but Lucifer was wary, not liking the prospect of her working anywhere near such a volatile matter.

“Since it’s so dangerous why are we digging it?” asked Lucifer warily.

The Vorken eyed Lucifer from head to toe and smirked “You sure are a curious one aren’t you? These stones are refined into Amber stones*. Like azure stones, they are like energy cells, but a lot more stable. If you ask me, us Vorkens have thrived around Amber stones since it powers everything. Cities, air-ships, you name it. Even the drill you’re using has an Amber stone Shard.”

“But mining it must be hard.”

“Aye, it is….and risky too. That’s why the higher ups usually use prisoners to dig them out…” the Vorken gestured the others with shackles who were working relentlessly “And people like us, Homeless, jobless….expendables.” the Vorken said gloomily.

“You sure do know a lot.” Commented Lucifer, which made the Vorken let out a dry laugh.” You have no idea…..” he pointed his leg. Turns out the Vorken actually didn’t have his left leg. In its stead, there was a crudely made prosthetic put together from metal pipes and scraps, held by a fragile wire. 

The Vorken raised his hand towards Lucifer and declared “I’m Kod, but never caught your name Blondie?”

Lucifer eyed the mortal Vorken. He seemed old, grey hair and long beard with absence of moustache. Lucifer hesitatingly shook Kod’s hand and replied, “Lucifer and she is Luna.” The said girl gave a hearty wave.

“Odd name, but I think its natural, you people don’t seem to be from the Central State*, maybe the Northern Canyons but your woman seems to be of the Eastern highlands…So which one is it?” asked the old Vorken and Lucifer inwardly panicked. Kod asked about their origins and Lucifer still had little knowledge or means to form a solid background story. But fate seemed to smile on the blonde man because Kod noticed his uneasiness and replied “No need to tell if you don’t want to. My bet is that you’re refugees right?” Lucifer nodded uncertainly but Kod nodded knowingly, “Damn the C.S sure knows picking war. First the Eastern Highlands, than the Southern ocean cliffs and there is talk about The State finding lands beyond the Thundering ocean and are at war with the locals. I don’t believe it a bit, but I do know that the scarcity of Azure Stone is putting everyone to edge. Especially with the State fighting to the teeth for every ounce of the Blue Crustal……” and the old Vorken kept on rambling. Lucifer shook his head and went back to his work, before gesturing Luna to do the same.

                                                                                       ---X---

During the end of the day, a group of guards came down the ruins to take away the dug up Azure stones and escorted the prisoners back to the city prisons. Others were now distributing food to the paid workers.

Lucifer, with Luna just behind him, was in the queue where food was being handed out by the authority. Lucifer’s turn came and he stepped forward towards the Guard who happened to distribute food. He handed out Lucifer’s share which the blonde grabbed. To his surprise the guard didn’t let go of the plate, forcing Lucifer to stay for a while.

“Is something wrong?” asked Lucifer.

The guard snorted, “There’s been talk amongst people, that you and your woman are refugees.”

Lucifer was cautious for he wasn’t sure how the guard might respond ‘Word sure travel’s fast here.’ He thought without humour.

He sized up the guard. Average built, shorter than him, his gear consisted standard guard armoury like everyone in the city. A dark grey cuirass with shoulder pardons, gauntlets, and greaves, all made of some sort of light but tough fibre and under it Lucifer could see a chainmail like covering. His face protected by a dark helmet with a thick visor which revealed only his nose and mouth. A short but durable blade was hanging from his belt along with a loaded flintlock.

Carefully, Lucifer replied “Yes….is there any problem with that?”

A long silence followed. The tension was thick as everyone present there were all dead silent and very anxious. Lucifer was ready to retaliate if the guard attacked and balled his fist.

After what felt like hours, the guard said begrudgingly “No….no problem….for now. Just keep your nose clean and don’t cause any trouble or else we’re gonna have a real problem, Outlander.” He handed the food to Lucifer who nodded grimly.

The blond wordlessly went away tailed by Luna with her own share of food. They found an empty spot near a wall and sat down. Lucifer stared at the supposed food and didn’t know what to say. It was bread with some curry of sorts in a small bowl and a chunk of meat which didn’t look like it was cooked well, but other workers were wolfing it down like no tomorrow. At least Luna had the decency to eat slowly. Lucifer half heartedly bit into the bread and chewed lazily.

“You should eat, Son, or else you might pass out at the middle of the work.” Said a familiar voice which belonged to

Kod. The old Vorken sat beside the two and wolfed down his share of dinner.

Lucifer was amused by the antics of the Mortal. Kod had finished his share but it was clear that he wasn’t quite full. Since he wouldn’t need it, Lucifer offered him the rest of his untouched food. Kod was shocked by the gesture. “You sure Son, as much as I appreciate the gesture I don’t wanna be responsible for you being beaten to your death after passing out at work. The guards don’t take it kindly for being lazy at work.”     

 Lucifer brushed his concerns off “Don’t worry, Old one, let them come, and I’m full anyway.” Luna giggled at this.

‘Turns out his pride is still is his strong suit even after all this years.’ She thought fondly.

Kod sighed in defeat and accepted the food, which he happily wolfed down with a satisfied grin.

                                                                                       ---X---

A huge blizzard had hit the city and the digging crew were given permission to spend the night at the ruins itself as most of them were hippies. This made Lucifer think that the authorities weren’t heartless bastards as he assumed them to be, still a few guards were posted in the ruin along with them in case they tried anything funny. Theft was very common amongst Vorkens.

People had gathered around the fire lighted at centre of the ruin. Lucifer doubted that it was a good idea to light a bon fire inside a ruin filled with the most unstable energy source known to Vorken-kind but the guards seemed indifferent, so it either must happen often or are really uncaring, Lucifer hoped that it was not the latter. People around the fire were talking, laughing, telling stories. Some were even singing to the music of makeshift instruments like drums made of metal scraps. A guard, who seemed more lenient than the other had also joined the group by discarding his helmet.

Lucifer chuckled to himself. It amused him that how mortal races always strived to make their own identity, each race with their own beliefs, creed, culture, some different, many alike, most same to a point with a few deviations here and there.

It really amused Lucifer who was actually an immortal*, as you should’ve guessed. He had travelled for a very long time from one word to another. He had walked amongst the mortals; he had even seen races evolving from lesser beings to sentient mortals. He had seen civilization rise from the ground and seen it fall into the same ground. In all these years, he had learned. He learned that mortals were…………. Weak.

They were fragile; they are finite, always striving to immortalize themselves by their deeds. But their shortness was what made them more. He was an immortal so even after living with them for so many eons he couldn’t harbour thought as a mortal would but he could see what the mortals had that his kind didn’t. They had a choice, the choice to forge their own uncertain destiny. Everyday battling to survive, no idea when suddenly their finite existence will end, making them more alive than ever, living life to the fullest with the luxury to actually rest at last with a satisfied soul. Only a mortal could do that. So Lucifer respected Mortals, maybe even grew fond of them.

He felt someone leaning on him. To his right was Luna. She had her head rested on his shoulder and her eyes were closed. Lucifer slowly put his arm over her and shifted her closer. He breathed deeply and puff of cloud escaped his mouth. It was cold.

As an Immortal, cold didn’t really hamper his body performance but that didn’t mean he couldn’t feel it. Sairaya was cold and unforgiving. Thinking Luna must be feeling cold as well; he opened his only coat and wrapped it around the young girl.

“Here take it.” A hand held another coat before him. It was Kod who had offered him the piece of wardrobe. Lucifer was glad of the gesture but since all cold could do was annoy him for a while, he decline. Kod was a mortal, an old one at that. He needed it much more than Lucifer, but the stubborn Vorken wasn’t gonna take denial and practically shoved the coat into his hand.

“Look, I know you’re being all Goodie-Goodie-Two-Shoes but by HELL I am gonna let you two freeze yourselves at night!”

“But what about you?” , pointed out Lucifer.

Kod grinned and took out another coat, from out of nowhere.

“Don’t worry boy, I’ve got bigger one!”

He received a deadpan look from the younger man but gave sincere thanks. Kod nodded and fell asleep beside the fire. Lucifer shook his head. Even though the coat was unnecessary, he really appreciated it. He eyed the coat. A normal brown coat with furry edges, perfect for cold places and it was big enough to cover both his athletic form and Luna’s petite body. He put it over him and his companion beside him. She shifted closer towards the new found warmth, clearly happy with the increase in heat. Lucifer felt Luna snuggle closer to him and sighed in relief.

Soon more and more people were getting asleep. So he too closed his eyes and tried to sleep,

Immortals didn’t generally sleep, most only sleep to recover when gravely injured. But living with mortals had forced Lucifer to bend this law like most of the habits he had picked after living amongst them. All he had to do was close his eyes and shut down his consciousness.

Soon, he too was asleep.

                                                                                         ---X---

Again the darkness.

There he was, alone in the void, again.

‘Where am I?’ he didn’t get an answer, not a single sound, not a single soul. He was all alone.

“Come to me….” That voice

“It’s not so hard…” Lucifer turned around. There she stood. The woman he saw in his dreams. She was just as beautiful as he last saw her. But Lucifer remembered how he last saw her and a wave of guilt filled him. The woman was there, just at his arm’s reach but he couldn’t help but feel a lump on his throat and his chest go heavy.

Finally, he called “Lilith*?”

The woman smiled, it melted his heart and his eyes threatened to water.

“Come back to me, I’m so lonely…” she extended her hands “Please?”

Lucifer tried to reach out to her, but no matter how much he tried, he just couldn’t get closer to her.

“NO, Lily!”

But Eve just stood there with her arms open, her face holding a sad smile and eyes holding deep love as well as tears.

“Lily!” Lucifer screamed in desperation. He ran, ran as fast as he could.

Suddenly he felt something hold him back. He thrashed around, trying to get free from his confinement but no avail. It was soft, but somehow he managed to hear it.

“Luci...”, that voice. It was like a shimmer of hope in a dead world.

“Luci, please….” The voice sounded so small, so soft, and so vulnerable. It put a halt in his actions. He knew the voice all too well who it was.

“Luna?” he mutters out and his vision blanked out.

                                                                                       ---X---

Lucifer abruptly opened his eyes. His breadth laboured, his body drenched in sweat. When his deep blue eyes met Luna’s silver eyes filled with worry and concern, it overwhelmed him. He realized that she had shaken him up from his ……Dream.

“Luci…You okay?” Luna asked.

Lucifer couldn’t answer, still dazed, he looked around to know if he was really in the real world.

Turns out he was still in the Sai’ore ruins. The other workers were all asleep. Only the two were awake. Luna voiced her concern once again. This time Lucifer answered. “Yes, I’m okay.”

Luna frowned, seeing right through Lucifer’s lie and Lucifer knew it. It sometimes scared Lucifer how well Luna knows him. He patted Luna’s head “Don’t trouble yourself kid, go to sleep.”

“What about you?” She asked sternly.

Lucifer gulped. “I…..will be right behind you.”

Luna narrowed her eyes at the blonde. At last she let out a sigh and nodded making Lucifer let go of the breadth he was holding. Luna snuggled closer to him and closed her eyes. But she knew well that the Blond man before her will not join her in the sleep. Lucifer didn’t sleep since then…………………………………….