Elizabeth had a theory that when Visitors arrived on Toblitche, something was torn at the bottom of the sea. It was an event none could divert their attention from. It was as if the Island rejected the existence of people outside Ichemound's domain. The clouds and the earth beneath would quake and crack, rigged lines protruded, and animals and people alike would panic as they never stood a chance.
She'd never witnessed one firsthand, but so far it was everything she could have wished for.
They were stationed in the Chieftain's quarters, a small building built on the edge of town. Built from grey wood it was state of the art when fighting the harsh climates of Toblitche. Inside was minimal in decor only the sparse flag representing who they were affiliated with lined the walls, a shrewd eye with a red background, the Eye of Rendition.
Elizabeth sat in front of the window, her hands resting on the bottom of her chin, admiring the view. The winds were picking up, and so was the rain.
Along with her was her father, Shane, adoptive father, to be exact. She was found at the entrance of Grey Wood, frail but alive. Wandering for hours, stuck inside a forest that at a moment's notice take her away. It was too early to remember, but at times, she could feel the fright from back then, the hopelessness. And strangely enough where she believes her obsession with the Island came from.
She yearned to find out why she was scared, why she was frightened even without the preconceived knowledge of what lay within. Fear was innate, even to the smallest child. Yet it had been misconstrued as something holy; it didn't make sense to her.
"Three more months of this." Elizabeth said, "Hopefully we can make it." The window shook violently, the wind pressing against the glass with immense pressure.
"Don't say that, we'll be fine." Unlike her Shane seemed unresponsive by their current circumstances. Not a sense of wonder. She questioned when he'd lost that drive to learn more about the Island. It was an innate feeling she was sure of it surely he must be feeling something. However, she knew without a doubt that one thought above all else was fluttering inside his mind, the subject of the Visitor.
Right before them, the world could have been ending, but the near utterance of the subject would halt her. It was a touchy topic in the parts where the church called home, especially when it involved those from the other side, and in his position, it must've been nerve-racking for him. She could only wonder what was going on in his head.
Darker clouds began gathering in mass among its grey brethren taking over like a plague. Until the entire sky was engulfed In a thick layer of filth would the apex of its advance begin and winds shape into something monstrous. A vortex half the size of the island consumed the surrounding clouds, water, and anything it could grasp, an unnatural event, terrifying even but fascinating in others. Elizabeth was amazed in every sense of the word. The storm went completely against everything natural, both in terms of its speed of strengthening and its length.
She peered at the map nailed to the back wall.
"I bet even the people in Ichemound could see it. Never seen anything like it. Can't believe it's happening."
She was obsessed with all knowledge surrounding Toblitche and the world beyond it. The idea of a Visitor had always piqued the sides of the brain that wondered about all the unexplainable things in her world. But there was always one mystery that always seemed out of reach and still even as all events were leading towards the eventual conclusion was unattainable.
What is their world like?
A constant hankering thought that received nothing of value, an empty plot begging to be filled.
It was said Visitors came from the other side. A plane of existence only the chosen people would be born from. The random but important piece to anybody who wishes to climb the hierarchy of power that could potentially rival the capital, Ichemound.
"You ever get curious about what's out there." She leaned to the window her nose pressing against the glass. Her grey eyes reflected into the glass reminding her of her mother. She turned away instinctively.
"Careful what you say, Liz, you never know who's listening." Shane was scanning through a pile of papers as she spoke, such was the job as the Chieftain of Diedmons Roue; a never-ending list of complaints from the church.
"How about you take a break from that and watch outside with me? It's getting interesting y'know! Looks like a cyclone might form!". She turned her head with vigor and smiled, her hair flowing into her face.
"You might be the only person who's excited about this. You and that librarian."
"His name is Luka." She remarked brushing her hair back into her beanie.
"And he's the reason you're looking outside like that. It's just a storm, nothing more. Once it passes we'll go on with our lives until the Visitor arrives. Simple as that."
"Yeah, so simple…" she muttered the last part. Everything would change once it happened. Life in Diedmon's Roue would be flipped upside down, and the once-forgotten town would be seen. Knowledge was favored to the highest bitter; a Visitor of any worth had a plethora of the outside world, which meant Solomon Grimmer, the king would hold them to a higher standard. As a result, a herald of his would soon come. Elizabeth had an idea of who it was.
"I hear Mr.Beckman's been making the rounds around the outskirts. You think he's coming here?." She smirked as a grimace of disgust washed over his face. His beard covered most of it the slight showings of red were beginning to erupt from the base of his neck.
"Who knows."
"I'm sure we have lots to talk about don't we?"
"Hehe, I'm sure we do!." He drove his pen deeper into the paper piercing through several stacks before hitting the desk with a thump. He stood up storming off into the other room.
"Now's my chance." Given the opportunity, she shot up but came to a stop when out of the corner of her eye the storm had changed. And her body froze.
There was an immediate change in atmosphere, tense, goosebumps ran up and down her body, and above all else, she felt sick. It was as if she was forced down to her knees.
She attempted to scream, but her voice wouldn't escape her mouth. Instead, she continued her attempt to stand, her body resisting every step. Each foot she firmly planted would slip and fall right back to the floor. She experienced intense pain followed by a visceral crunch that she attempted to ignore as she continued to stand up. Liquid beads of heat trickled down her mouth, and as she finally had a firm foot on the floor, she stood up.
She shot up, panting as she struggled to catch her breath with the strength that continued to persevere.
A vacuum of space prevented all oxygen from going near her and she began to suffocate. Images flashed before her eyes of the ocean, water splashing in and out of her mouth, each attempt at breathing was unsuccessful. Panic seeped through her mind replacing any rational thought that was left. It was only when her eyes met the storm, the hole in the sky meeting her gaze that everything returned to normal, and when she blinked she had just exited the building.
"What..." She wiped her cheek but nothing was there. The pain was gone and the crunch she'd heard had become a memory. She couldn't think of any answer.
The world's silence interrupted her thought and her attention was focused on the storm. Slowly her eyes moved toward the cyclone, the building blocking half of what was the cyclone. Stepping away from the building, the scope of the remains became clearer and clearer until the entire sky was in full view.
In her peripheral vision, she noticed others had begun exiting their houses. There was one, then the two, then four, then seven, then twenty-five, then a hundred. In unison, they pointed.
What was left from the storm was a hole—a spinning crater with no attainable end. If the dark hues hadn't covered the edges, Elizabeth would've thought this was the entrance to heaven the Christians talked about. But this wasn't it. She didn't know why but knew this couldn't be it. Whatever this was, it wasn't supposed to happen.
Shane stormed out of the building, grasped Elizabeth's arm, and attempted to drag her back inside, but she wouldn't budge. He noticed the group of people gathered quickly and soon enough realized what everyone was fixated on.
"What the hell is that?" Squinting his eyes, his confusion quickly turned to fright. He grabbed Elizabeth by her arm, threw her inside, and followed closely behind, slamming the door behind him.
She was broken from whatever trance had plagued her, but she was still dazed—but only for a second. Having only a small amount of time to register what had happened, the screams that began erupting from outside brought her back.
The both of them clasped their ears shut. Their screams were a mix of muffled and others' pure anguish as if they were being burned. She couldn't mistake it for anything else, and the smell that followed confirmed that. Metallic, Acrid, and strong, it was nauseating, and she begged for it to end.
For several hours, they stayed inside as they waited for the last people who survived the onslaught of whatever had erupted from the hole. No one was brave enough to test it; no one was brave enough to help any survivors, and the ones that were figured whatever came next from them was better than how they were now. Shane was one of those few and above all the one who should have taken charge. But Elizabeth knew that if she weren't there he would've. He couldn't take that chance, not until it was completely safe.
Was this common? There was no writing, no warning. they'd received from the capital that something like this was possible. And none of the Schnee had even mentioned this; she was sure some of them even became victims to it. Now more than ever was the time to question, but given she wouldn't have even been in that situation if her curiosity hadn't gotten to her; Shane must have realized that too.
Without warning, he grabbed the doorknob and swiftly slid out, only leaving the door open for a second. She scampered to her feet and then the window.
"No, no, no, no, what are you doing?" She attempted to wipe off the mist that accumulated on the other side of the window in a panic. Pressing her eye on the glass, she scanned for him, her rapid breathing fogging it even further. But after a few seconds, she couldn't see anything. There was only one thing she could do. She grabbed the doorknob and turned.
"Shane!" She shouted but didn't need to, he was standing only a few feet away, and others had gathered with him on the road.
Farther up the sloop toward the church, a group of people began coming in droves. They all stopped before they made contact with the source of the smell. No one spoke; they just gandered at something no one could begin to explain.
They were dead, a hundred of them, maybe a bit more. But that wasn't the most harrowing detail, no, far from it. They'd been burned from top to bottom but like a wave. Half of their body had been incinerated to the point where the only way anyone could recognize them was by what was left of their pants and shoes.
There was a clear point where the fire hadn't traveled, around the midpoint of their torse. And above all else, they were standing. Not collapsed on the ground, crawling to any safety, they were as erratic as the last time she'd seen them. She could even picture them pointing at the sky. They'd been dead several hours ago and yet the screams lasted much longer than that.
Taking one last look she looked towards the sky. The hole remained and a voice could be heard from within.
Darkness treads along the land, driven by maleficent gusts of piercing wind. Rivers begin drawing back, afraid of the rolling black clouds that replaced the once-white sky. In a flash of light, striking from the heavens onto the ground below lightning struck in pairs of three and four, and in its final smite, it birthed an unwelcome visitor. Being washed ashore upon Ichemound domain, a man clinging to life had been given a new purpose