The Conference of Transitioners
A powerful weapon handled by a malicious heart is a certain recipe for tragedy
Aden. Year 5L 1/1
Solomon stood on the cliff, right above the spot where the Eye of Tenebra appeared every seventh year. The same cliff from where Andrews would slip into the Whirlpool fourteen cycles later, and start a cycle of chaos in both the worlds.
A hundred men, men of upright honor and unwavering loyalty, stood behind Solomon. Men whom Solomon had carefully selected over the past few years and whom he trusted with his life. Men who believed in Solomon and would sacrifice their lives for him. Men whom he had prepared for a secret mission at the turn of the loop. Men who must help Solomon turn the tides and complete the Transition.
With the first rays of the sun, the Eye of Tenebra appeared in the river below. Solomon looked at his soldiers and took the leap. His loyal recruits followed him into the other world.
"We have twenty one days to complete our mission and jump back into the Abyss of Unknown," Solomon said to his men after reaching the banks of river Vinum. He was quietly happy to be back into the world of his birth. "This is the world on whose model I have tried to build Aden. Now this world is under the control of some ravenous monsters and we need to liberate it from their clutches. We need to put this world back on the right path."
Solomon and his men went to a few nearby settlements. With the gold they had brought from Aden they bought horses for themselves. Armed with the formidable weapons they had brought with them, they started their journey towards the capital. Elisium and Aden were peaceful worlds which had never seen war. As per the system of Loops, there had been Transitions in the past, but it had never resulted in a full fledged war. There was gradual deterioration but never an annihilation. But Solomon had some other ideas. He wanted to bring both the worlds out of the shadows and maintain this balance forever. He wanted to stop the darker world from stagnating. He wished to achieve something which had never been done before.
Solomon knew that after the murder of his father, King Isaac, his cousin Jonathan would have taken over the throne. Solomon's mother had told him about how Jonathan, the HighMinister of Aden and the second most powerful person in the empire, had given a free hand to some other ministers to exploit the common people. While these corrupt nobles built on palaces after palaces, the commoners got poorer by every passing day. Anyone who raised a voice against them was severely punished. Isaac tried his best to stop this rampant corruption, but with many of his ministers having reaped the fruits of oppression in form of tremendous wealth, most of them had secretly sided with Jonathan. It had proved impossible for Isaac to correct the rotting system. Isaac knew it was just a matter of time. The end of loop was near, and the tables were about to turn. The Transition was upon them. Isaac was almost prepared to meet his horrific fate and had already passed on the amulet, the baton of hope for the next loop, to his son Solomon.
When Solomon and his men visited some of the villages for buying horses, they learned how quickly this world had deteriorated under the new king. Under his ancestors rule, people lived a prosperous lives. Whereas now they were struggling even to make their ends meet. Heavy taxes were imposed on farmers and traders. The officers of the throne were given limitless rights which gave them a license to exploit the commoners. Complaints against the officers fell on deaf ears, and the complainants were punished for speaking against the regime.
Solomon was astonished to see how this world had fallen apart in just a period of seven years. As if the development of one world had inversely affected the other. As quickly as Aden had developed in this period, Elisium had deteriorated at the same speed. The Wheel of Loops, the so called Transition, had changed the condition of both the worlds at an alarming pace. Solomon had achieved what seemed like an impossible goal in the other world, now he wanted to set things right his own world. He wanted to stop this rot. With time running out, he charged purposefully towards the capital. He didn't only had to liberate a world, but he also had to settle his account with Jonathan.
"So, you have eventually arrived in Elisium. You don't listen to my advice, do you?" David said to Solomon, in an irritated tone. They were seated around the dining table in the dining room of the Grand palace of Elisium. It was the same place where Isaac had handed over the amulet to Solomon. Same place where Solomon's mother had bid him the final farewell.
"Grandfather, you know my intentions are virtuous. I have a chance to set things straight once and for ever" replied Solomon.
"Intentions is what matters the most my son," said Adam the first, who was seated at the head of the dining table, "Your heart must be free from malice, grudges, hatred and any evil notions if you truly intend the betterment of both these worlds. Because these emotions will cloud your better judgement."
"Wanting to punish a criminal for his crime, does that count as poor intention?" asked Solomon.
"If you want to punish him for the betterment of society, that is noble. But if that intention is mixed with the desire of settling your own grudge, that is where it becomes problematic," replied Adam.
Isaac who was sitting next to Solomon placed his hand on his son's shoulder, "What happened to me and your mother was a cruel twist of destiny. Let go of that. Don't ever let anguish or hatred rule over your heart. Don't let these emotions control your decisions."
Abraham came near Solomon and affectionately looked into his eyes, "Son, what you have set out to achieve is something none of us, all great men of their time, never even thought of doing. We were so busy discharging our duties of making the Transition happen, trying to develop the world we were given the charge of, that no one amongst us ever thought of going back to their own world and stabilizing it."
"Remember son," David said in a measured tone, "you are going to have a face off with your enemy. Most of us had never come back to the world of our birth to face the person who betrayed us and forced us into exile. So we exactly don't know what such a person might have turned into after having access to so much power and wealth. We don't know how evil he might have become."
"Well as far as I know my dear cousin Jonathan," Isaac interrupted in between, "he was cunning and evil enough to give the Devil himself a run for his money. So my son, you better be prepared to face a hundredfold worst copy of the evilest person you have met in your life," Isaac added with a smile.
David continued, "when you confront him, face him with righteous intentions. If you have to pardon him to avoid bloodshed, just let him go. Remember, stabilizing this world is your primary goal, and not punishing the culprits. So I will repeat what your father said to you, don't let your emotions control your decisions."
"This amulet in your neck, was forged during the days of darkness at the turn of the very first loop," Adam pointed to the amulet and said in a very serious tone, "Its powers during these times are boundless, and it keeps on growing with every turn of loop. It is a weapon which, if handled by a muddled brain, can wreak absolute havoc. Remember, a powerful weapon handled by a malicious heart is a certain recipe for tragedy. Your great grandfather Noah," Adam said signaling towards Noah, who had been mysteriously silent throughout this whole meeting, "did actually travel back to Aden, his original world. Although not with the intentions of stabilizing it, but for the sole purpose of punishing his culprits and bringing them to justice. And when his enemy decided to fight against him, Noah lost his temper. The floods caused by the amulet, just because a certain Transitioner wasn't able to control his anger, almost drowned the whole Aden."
"I had kept my promise of not speaking a word in this conference, but you still had to tell Solomon about the floods. You just love recounting that incident and show me in a poor light whenever you get a chance," said Noah in a clearly irritated tone, "and by the way dear grandpa don't exaggerate. The floods just submerged the areas around the capital and drowned the criminals. The world was much better without them anyways."
"Yeah, the waters of the floods were specifically instructed by Noah to just drown the criminals and spare the innocents," Adam took a jibe at Noah.
"I stopped the floods before it could do any massive destruction," said an annoyed Noah.
"Yeah, thankfully you got your senses back before drowning the whole Aden," said Adam, shaking his head disapprovingly, "Anyways," Adam said looking back at Solomon, "the point is, that you have a very powerful weapon in your hand. The Transitioners were barred from returning to their original world after Noah's little adventure, but you have decided to break that tradition."
"Only Abraham and David didn't visit their original worlds, so that wasn't such a long lasting tradition, to be honest," quipped Noah.
Adam glared at Noah before turning his attention back to Solomon, "Son, you have come with a noble cause in your heart. Whatever situation arises, don't loose sight of your goal. Don't let hatred or anguish control your mind. During these days of extreme darkness, this amulet controlled by a gloomy heart could lead to a calamitous catastrophe."
David came and hugged his heir, "I am sure you will make the right decisions."
Everyone stood up from their chairs and raised their right hands to bless Solomon, "May the Almighty be with you always. May he guide you in all your endeavors. God bless you."
Solomon woke up from his dream as everyone vanished from the room.
Since the day of awakening, the day he had swallowed the tornado, such visions, which were called the Conference of Transitioners, were a regularity. His forefathers, all the great men who had overseen the Transitions in the earlier loops, constantly visited him in his dreams and shared their experiences with him. In every difficult situation they guided him towards proper solutions. It was because of this appropriate guidance and the shared experiences of his ancsetors, that Solomon was able to forge his empire in such a short time. The amulet did help, but it were his forefathers who instructed him about how to make full use of its powers. When Solomon expressed his desire to go back to Elisium, not everyone was in its favor, but Solomon anyhow decided to go through with his plan.
And now he was in Elisium, just a day's ride away from the Capital.
The extreme days of darkness were living up to its reputation. The thunderstorms were lashing out in full fury. The earth never stopped shaking. It seemed as if the whole universe was anticipating something big to happen.
Solomon looked in the direction of the capital.
Tomorrow, after a long wait, he was finally going to face his enemy.
And tomorrow they were going to decide the future of this world.