[THE SECRET HISTORIES OF SHEARATH AND THE LOST LEGACIES OF THE WAY]
CHAPTER TWO: THE GODS
[Well there's a lot to be said about the Gods, to many their true origin and history is as elusive and obscure at the feats and miracles that they were known to have performed. It confuses a lot of people, but in a world like ours there's always an explanation.
The Gods were born at the dawn of time, each and every single one of them connected to a particular aspect of existence and reality. The Gods help govern theses aspects, policing and protecting it, so that there would be balance with all of life. But the gods did not come out of thin air, each and every single one of them in those positions, has had to earn the right to be who and what they are.
Before they were Gods, they were men, women, elves, demons, angels, dwarves, vampires, animals and even plants. They each got to their seat of power by striving and growing stronger, searching for the meaning of life and the aspect that they govern and protect. Becoming one with it, and personalizing that aspect. But in the end, the true duty of the gods is not to be worshipped or honored, their true calling is to protect us. Because the grand stage of the Gods is not a position of power and reverence, it's a position of protection as it becomes their duty to keep us safe from the unruly hands of fate, and the darkness that's beyond us and our mortal and mundane comprehension.
There are many gods and goddesses, and their worship is spread throughout all of Shearath and it's colonies. However only one true entity is truly worshipped, and that is the WAY. Every other god or goddess developed their power and were born from the power of the system. So it's above them in terms of power and divinity. However not many people know, that the WAY, The System or Earth, was actually created by a higher being who is simply known as GOD.]
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Story time ended with a whole lot of questions that I would have really preferred not to answer. There were so many questions about this GOD, and I spent most of my time trying to deflect and avoid those questions. Religion had been a big part of my life when I still lived on earth, everything I did, every decision I made was centered around my faith and belief.
And while I'm still holding on to those beliefs, I'd rather have them be in my heart, rather than propagating them like some sort of evangelist. As far as religion was concerned I did not really want to have to worry about it as Kael Cor. who I am now, is not who I was when I wrote this book.
I'm not an atheist at all, since I still believe, but in a world like this, religion, gods, and GOD will open a can of worms and war that will leave a lot of people hurt. I'm not going to be involved in this, as my dad used to say. "don't sin against the spirit of God, but remember to not sin against your conscience too" Me? I'm just going to go on living my life as simply as possible, which of course is nothing more than a pipe dream. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't try.
The apartment given to me was at the north end of the tower, the hexagonal shape made is so that my apartment occupied a whole edge. My neighbors were at the north east and north wests, then there was the west apartment and east apartment. The last two apartment the west and the east were divided in half, and that half was the path that led to the entrance.
I left the rest outside to take care and have a little chat with the vampires outside. They knew I wanted to go in alone though, and that was because it was time. I felt nervous, scared even. Only God knew what I was going to experience in my seal, I was really worried about what could happen, especially what could go wrong.
I knew the hell I had to go through when I was removing Asha's seal, and the seals on the vampires had to be either the same grade or a grade lower than hers. None the less it doesn't change the fact that this time, I might actually be in for a fight, and the symbolism of what I'm about to do will change the landscape and destiny of the vampire race forever. Well then, let's get this over with.
I was grabbed by the familiar falling sensation as I sent my soul into the seal. Having done this twice, you would think I would have gotten a little bit used to this, but you would be surprised. I landed hard on a thorn covered field, holding my urge to scream and squeal like a little girl as thorns found their way into angles and corners of my body that I didn't even know existed.
"You really should build a tolerance for pain. It would serve you well in the future." A feminine voice spoke up behind me.
I froze, I recognized the bland tone, but not the voice itself. I turned around and came face to face with a...…..dog? A really huge one.
"Why so surprised, haven't you see a Caucasian Shepherd before. I was told they're quite the gentle giants, though they could also be fearsome protectors. Maybe I should get one."
A giant dog having a monologue was not how I expected the unsealing to go. However I stopped being surprised because I knew now who was talking to me.
"Hello Earth, how do you do. Though I can't say it's a pleasure to see your now furry face(thank God, I'm not sure I can handle seeing my old self standing opposite me like some sort of ghost), around. Why are you here again?"
"You know why I'm here Kael. It's time for another lesson."
Well it looks like there would be no escape from this new lesson. Well if it was all the same, I was not averse to these lessons, in a manner of speaking they helped me get a clearer understanding of the world and how it worked. I took a look around my surroundings trying to understand to some degree the environment of my seal. It was a peculiar forest, there were closely and densely clustered trees on both the left and right, the trees were somehow constantly in motion as their branches stretched from one tree to the other, twisting, twirling and creaking as they flowed like snakes or and endless river of twisted branches and dried vines.
The trees looked dead, their bodies were withered, and with each movement their branches made, there were nerve wracking creaking sounds that made my spine tingle and my head shake in revulsion. It was wider than the previous hallways that I had been in, the trees were long, reaching hundreds of meters into the air where their gnarled branches arched to form a sort of canopy that covered and obscured whatever light source that lay beyond the wall of almost dead looking trees.
The ground was covered with thistles and thorns, with only a little part of it devoid of the dangerous looking plants. Of course the thorns just like the trees were in a state of constant motion, as they twisted and creaked forward like a marching army of withered sticks.
"our lesson today is rather simple. After you unlock your seal you will have access to a system that's completely unique to you in the entire core universe.
There would only be a few special features that you would share with nine other kings and queens of the seven dragons. So in preparation of that, today I'm going to tell you about the system that you're going to be taking ownership of in the next few minutes or hours depending on your perception of time in this place."
Well that was surprising to be honest, but there were things that I really needed to know since Earth was speaking with a conviction that almost seemed prophetic.
"You're speaking like your so sure or already know that I'm going to succeed."
Earth shrugged her furry shoulders as she laid down and proceeded to cross her paws over each other and looked at me in an attempt to look somewhat regal. To be honest as a dog she looked really nice, but considering the size of a full grown and well raised Caucasian Shepherd, she looked like a lion just waiting to pounce on her prey.
"Well the difficulty of this seal can not be compared to your previous. As far as grades go, they're on equal footing, but in terms of danger, that one trumps this a hundred times in the amount of horror and torture it's capable of dishing out to you. Also I can see the future....millions of them, and in most of those futures, unless you suddenly turn really stupid. Breaking this seal will be a piece of cake for you. Besides you should take your time and get used seeing this, because this is how the rune circles of every other vampire seal looks like, with a few differences of course." She explained.
But I still had one more question.
"Okay then, how come you're a dog, and female?" well that was two more questions, but who cares.
"I'm the earth Kael, I'm literally a planet. I can't very well appear in my physical form now can I, I wouldn't be able to communicate with you. As for my gender, well it usually changes with my mood. But you humans mostly made me out to be female in all of your stories and legends, so my gender is mostly predisposed to the female side than a male side." She answered.
"You made a mistake, I'm not human. I'm a vampire." I replied back with perplexed look on my face. The way she said it, made it seem like a mistake, but I found that hard to believe.
"Hahahaha, oh God!"
"What's so funny?" I asked, a bit irritated by her sudden bout of laughter.
"Vampires, werewolves, elves, every humanoid creature, or species imaginable are all products of the human imagination and the repercussions of their decisions and ability to dream. So if you search deeper into all of your DNA, in the end you will find that you have at least a thirty percent part of humanity in you. Inherently, you're all humans. Just think of the human species as an evolutionary foundation, and every other species that comes next, is just another block on that foundation placed in different sequences and areas. But ultimately in the end, you're all made from the same thing."
I was shocked. But I think I understood, though I was loathe to agree any part of me was human. Even though I was fully human as Jason and as Kael almost a year or so ago, I've fully embraced my life as a vampire. And in that life, humans were the bad guys. But I've lived a somewhat long life, if both experiences from Earth and Shearath has to be compared, and in both lives I understood one thing about humans.
We're the very personification of the words balance, contradiction and yin-yang. With equal capacity for good and evil, humans are the behavioral culmination of every characteristic and personalities of the different races in existence. So it won't be too farfetched to say, that they were the first to exists and every other race in existence came from them.
"I think I understand now. Well I'm ready for the lesson about my system." I spoke up with a tone a little too eager than I expected.
"Eh! What lesson, I just gave you one. A really profound lesson about the secrets of life in the universe. You should be thankful. Well take your time and digest what you've learnt young student. I will be contacting you as soon as you gain access to me again, that is through your system of course. I have some missions for you to take care of."
And with that said she disappeared. As soon as she did a golden piece of paper fell from the sky and into my palm. On it were the words.
[FOLLOW THE RABBIT]
The paper withered away and turned to ash immediately I finished reading it. I looked up in time to see a white rabbit with a waist coat, bounding with great dexterity through ranks upon ranks of tree like soul beasts that each tried to take a bite out of the furry little creature. There was a lot of close calls as the rabbit narrowly missed becoming a meat paste as many of those soul beasts were really as tall and wide as trees. I looked at the rapidly disappearing rabbit and willed my sword and shield into existence, then I took a deep breath and brought my mind to focus. It said to follow the rabbit, well let's see which hole this leads to.