The Unfated Wanderers Canto 16
Tong Shatterbone and the Unfated Wanderers continued to question their mysterious visitor: the Equerry, Quake.
“What are Equerries?”
“Equerries are the servants of the gods. We pursue whatever tasks they set before us. However, we perform our most crucial duties when they activate the machinery of Apocalypse. Each Equerry has a different way to facilitate the reset of the world, which is dictated by our actual names. My duty is to create chasms that will swallow settlements. It is not something that I relish but it is my duty. When equerries arrive in the Living World, the true Apocalypse has begun. Any extraordinary catastrophes that occur prior to our arrival merely exist to soften up humanity.”
“I must say, there is something strange about the current Span and this upcoming Apocalypse. But first, we must discuss the nature of Fate. Every person has a Fate assigned to them at birth. This is the purpose of their life, or there could be more than one purpose. The gods know how the People will break the world and that the damage must be undone. In order to maintain control over this process, the gods select an individual to become the Chosen One. The Fates of the People all work together in many small ways to guide the Chosen One to do what they must. The Chosen One is no hero. They ruin the world for everyone. This is a necessary process.”
“Now, the strange thing is you two.” He looked at Vil and Billet. “Neither of you have Fates. You are the only two people on Linomnount that have no Fates since you were not born here. You are outside of the World Machinery. Your presence here is an anomaly. I believe that this anomaly is like a sponge placed in water. You are drawing important events to yourselves.”
“The nature of Arcane Reality is bound to the limits of the lands. The land you reside on has its own gods, its own magic, its own spirits and its own afterlife once you die. Where you were born has no impact on this reality. While you are on Linomnount, these rules apply to you. Since Fate is applied at birth, you are in this unique situation where you are affecting Linomnount without being subject to the normal rules.”
“Be wary. I fear that this Apocalypse will not proceed as it should. I fear that your lack of Fate is causing pre-planned events to go out of control. You are upsetting the narrative by drawing events to yourselves, instead of events playing out as they should. Ultimately, there is nothing that anybody can do about this.”
“What do you mean by pre-planned events?” the Unfated Wanderers asked.
“The gods always plan ahead. They assign Fates to ensure that People create important items in their present so that these things will be available in the future. A meaningless book. A strange portrait. These things have no reason to exist when they were made. But you need them now. These things are prophecies and they are a part of Fate. Everyone is guided to do the thing they must do, at the place they must do it and at the proper time. Prophecies are a part of this.”
“Prophecies are objects that are scattered throughout history, Fated by the gods to be created by the People, for use by the People in the future. The book The Land Above Our Heads, the Sky Beneath Our Feet is a book of prophecies. I believe that the gods retroactively placed it in the world to guide you in the completion of their plan. It did not exist prior to your arrival on Linomnount. Since you needed guidance, it was placed into past to be present in the future.”
“I must return to the Supernal Realm now. I have no advice for you other than to prepare. If you are prepared, you may survive the end of the world.”
The Equerry vanished with a slight rustle as air quickly occupied the space where he once stood.
Tong said, “I think that I will move all of my precious things, my artifacts and my library to Keeper of Lore’s home in the Only Mountain. They should be safe there.”
Tong continued, “Quake mentioned the Darklings flooding our world during the last Apocalypse. They were invisible, as you know from your fight against Kyrndizenodd. I have read much about that Apocalypse… many diaries, reports, histories and the Moonskull Verses wherein they first called them Bloody Winds. Darklings grabbed people and tossed them into the air. They would slash and stab with their knives. People could only see the carnage.”
“Eventually the Elder People took the Darklings to the battlefield. They could not see them. But they could see their soldiers dying. They would direct people towards the invisible threats and watch the slaughter from a distance. Then their magic users would strike the Darklings at the center of the violence.”
“We need a way to fight them. Icebrunt does not have an army like they did back then. I will look through my texts and see if I can find any ideas.”
“In the meantime, I need you to go back to Twigstar. I received a message from Unbe. He has something for all of the Learned Scholars.”