Isaac groaned as the immense pressure from the now human-like floral beast’s foot threatened to cave his head in.
The creature hummed with delight. “So, tell me why you’re here.” She squinted with suspicion. “I absolutely must know.”
“I’m here to stop you.” Isaac strained to speak.
“Oh!” The floral beast called out with a patronizing tone. “Now I really am curious, stop me from what?” Her voice oozed condescension.
“From taking over this ship.”
The creature scoffed, disappointed. “Now here I thought it was going to be something more interesting. Come to slay me in the name of… what’s-his-four-face…” She thought for a moment. “Doesn’t matter, but you’d be here in the name of honor, or duty.”
“I am here in the name of duty.” Isaac grunted in pain and thrashed his legs.
“Yes, yes, I’m sure.” The beast rolled her emerald eyes and sighed out of boredom. Silence fell between them as the creature suddenly became lost in thought, her eyes searching the far distance while her unenthused expression melted away for surprise. The pressure on Isaac’s face eased and with two toes, the creature unzipped Isaac’s jumpsuit down to his navel, parting the two sides with her big toe.
After staring at the pinkie-nail-sized mark on his chest for a moment, she cooed a satisfied hum. “I was locked in that prison for far too long. This is a far more interesting revelation.” What was once an unenthused tone changed to determination, teetering on the verge of excitement.
As Isaac tried to sit up, she slammed him back down with a toe to his chest. It was like getting hit by a pneumatic jack piston at full force.
“You were with him.” The floral beast’s eyebrow twitched.
“With who?” Isaac struggled out between labored breaths, the beast’s weight threatening to crush his ribcage.
“Don’t play coy with me. The Son of Stars.” Her voice was harsh, impatient.
“I don’t know who that is.” Isaac puffed out.
The beast grimaced and pressed her whole foot against his chest. “How about now?” She spoke through her teeth. “Does feeling your mortality coming to a close spark any kind of memory?”
Isaac yelped as the sudden pressure came with overwhelming agony. He gripped her calf and tried to push it away while slipping out. But her pin was so powerful that he couldn’t even wiggle his body enough to roll even a little. As he sputtered and it became hard to breathe, the shadow dream washed over everything around him. The darkness spread out from under him and washed over his surroundings. Isaac felt the mark on his chest grow hot, a searing sensation emanated from his heart.
As the void engulfed everything, the pressure lifted and Isaac was able to breathe, but not move. An invisible force pinned him to the non-existent ground beneath him. He could hear the familiar, rhythmic snoring of the giant afar.
“I should have known,” the giant spoke, “that after all this time, even the Ordinals couldn’t stave off the madness this trek imposes.”
“She’s an Ordinal? Like you told me about before?” Isaac called out into the void, finally able to catch his breath.
“One in the same.” The giant’s voice was washed away of its drowsiness. “Long ago, they were the anchors of the elements which spurred all life, from the world in which we all departed.” His voice sounded as if he were roused—awakened and fully alert.
“Why did you want me to find one? If they’re all mad, what hope could they have to locate you?” Isaac was filled with despair.
“The Ordinals, when brought together, form an equilibrium with all life.” The giant sound perturbed as he finished speaking. “At least, that was the case before we left Home.” He let off a frustrated groan. “I can’t be sure how this all works, among the stars. Now I’m nothing more than a minnow swimming in a vast, dark ocean. Where I came from was familiar, certain. This voyage brings us to a place where we’re nothing more than uninvited guests.” The giant sounded demoralized.
Isaac felt a strange solidarity with the giant’s words but wanted to focus on changing things for the better. “You said an Ordinal could help me find and free you. Why, what can they do that any sane human couldn’t?”
“We’re all connected, the Ordinals and I.” The giant spoke, a tinge of nostalgia laced within his words. “It’s not just that, but what powers they can bestow to one they deem worthy.”
“Powers? What does that mean?” Isaac placed a hand on the mark, intuition sparked curiosity.
“We were all bound by the World Spark, a conduit of elemental energy. Without its light, wind stopped blowing, water stopped flowing, earth held not its form, no spark could rouse fire. When the World Spark’s light faded, we had no choice but to escape to the stars. Home died with it.” The giant’s voice was solemn. “But the attendants of the World Spark were the Scholars, men whose duty it was to maintain and protect its light from the forces of darkness.”
“It sounds like the Scholars failed then.” Isaac sounded disappointed in the inevitability of the tale.
A disappointed sigh came from the giant. “All life begins and ends at a single point. Everything that has a beginning has an end. Never forget that.”
Isaac shuffled, suddenly uncomfortable as he remembered where he was before being drawn into the shadow dream.
“These powers,” the giant started. “The ones which come from the Ordinals are only bestowed upon he whom is worthy of becoming a Scholar.”
“I don’t understand.” Isaac cocked his head. “If there’s no World Spark, what good is a Scholar?”
“The light from the World Spark has faded.” The giant sounded whimsical. “But its spirit remains. If there is no single creation worthy of bearing the elements, then it must be found in these machines which carry us among the stars.” His voice became resolute. “And I can think of no greater station than that of the Scholar to marshal them.”
Isaac put his head back and thought for a while, contemplating the giant’s words. If the Phage was as serious as it seemed, then someone like a Scholar would be the tip of the spear, to fight back such a terrible thing. He lifted his head once more. “You want me to become a Scholar.”
“What I said,” the giant began, “was that he who could release me from this dream would be worthy. You, are simply someone that has a chance to rise to the challenge.”
“Yeah, with raging Ordinals, an uncurable disease with 100% lethality, and on a dying, uncontrollable lifeboat.” Isaac clenched his teeth in frustration. “Great odds.”
The giant chuckled. “Long ago, such a task came with an entitlement bestowed by the light of the World Spark itself. Because she is gone now, I shall have to suffice.”
From deep within the void, a small red orb rose. It shot across the darkness like a long-tailed comet. The sight of the sphere reminded Isaac of what the floral beast said.
“Are you the Son of Stars?” Isaac called out to the giant.
“A name bestowed upon me, long ago.” The giant replied with whimsy.
The orb hovered above Isaac and slowly descended toward his chest. As it grew closer, the mark cooled, then oscillated in temperature from cold to hot and back again.
“A meager consolation.” The giant called out as the orb neared the mark on Isaac’s chest. “For an age without light.”
The crimson orb was absorbed into Isaac’s body, and it felt as if he spontaneously combusted. Every inch of him burned with white-hot flame. He wanted to scream but the heat sucked the air from his lungs. As he burned, the pain dazzled and evoked images. These memories he’d never experienced flashed before him like an incomplete movie. Unfamiliar figures in ancient, ornate metal armor drove their hands forth and evoked the very flames that consumed Issac.
The images blurred past him and while these specific figures weren’t recognizable, their designs were reminiscent of the history pages he used to read, about warriors of old who wore metal plates and fought in melee. A style nearly identical to the marines on the ships of the flotilla. Though, the historical texts never mentioned anything like fire coming from these warriors’ hands. In fact, whatever power Isaac saw in these visions was something completely missing from any kind of history page.
In that moment, the motions and words needed to call forth such fire seared into his mind.
“Send Slephna my regards.” The Son of Stars called out with a mild contempt as the darkness faded.
With the void gone, the fire that engulfed Isaac disappeared with it. The mark was hot and pulsed with electricity that radiated throughout his arms. The crushing sensation on his chest returned as Slephna, the floral beast, reappeared and continued to pin him to the dirt of the meadow within the reactor core.
“How about now?” Slephna spoke with a growl as she twisted her toe. “Does this spark remembrance within you?”
Isaac gritted his teeth, holding back the desire to cry out in pain as the pressure threatened to churn his innards. “Yes. The Son of Stars says hello.” He reached out towards her and thinking of the visions, evoked a blast of fire from his palms.
