The altar laid before him was as inanimate as can be; there was nothing to indicate any form of danger. Nevertheless, the ruin in his hand pulsated, bringing a slight worry into his programming; his functions were cautious and made him unable to push forward. The words of his master played in his memory banks; the task needed to be done, he could not ignore the demands of his master.
Diggix looked at the beast one more time, unsure of its thoughts. If it led him there, it meant that the beast wanted him to complete his mission. Though he could not calculate the ramifications of completing the task, it was beyond his understanding. Hoping he was not making a mistake, he slowly stepped up onto a step that brought him closer to the top platform of the altar.
On the table of the Altar, there was nothing of note; there was no holder or hole for him to place the strange ruin on. He hesitated once more. The beast seemed to notice his hesitation and stood closer. For the first time, Diggix sensed agitation in the beats’ voice; he paused for a moment to listen to the words it was speaking.
“In your hand, you have the power to change the destiny of worlds you have not seen, to change the course of history by initiating the sequence of events that would lead up to the downfall of Epsimus Thanatos the Wise.”
Diggix looked back in surprise; he had not heard the beast say Thanatos’s name once; suddenly, he knew what his name was. He took a step back off the altar to study the beast; he now had more questions than before.
“What is the matter, young child?” The beast sat down on the grass, stretching his legs out.
“If you know Epsimus Master Thanatos’s name, surely you can give me the name of the devourer.”
The beast laughed; he looked around the forest, stretching his arm wide.
“I’ve met Thanatos in these woods; we’ve fought many battles. I know his nature and cruelty towards everything and everyone around him; I even know his deepest and darkest secrets. Yet the name of the Devourer is not known to me, I have seen him in the jungles, but I have never spoken to him.”
However, it made sense to Diggix, which brought up another question: why hasn’t he yet approached the devourer if he had seen him in the forest?
“I no longer approach humans; they are destructive people only seeking death and annihilation. However, the one called The Devourer lurks, he pretends to ignore life, but he plans in his mind, he is the true enemy of this forest.”
Diggix turned back to the altar, wondering why he should place the stone on the altar; he knew it was for the training of Izzar, but to what end did the priests of Nivshevus send him to do this. The beast behind him shifted; his legs were growing tired of sitting.
“If you place that which lays within your hands on the altar of the world, you will unleash the vengeance of the forests upon those who tread within it. Not until it has been removed will the forest's anger be quenched. On the contrary, it will assist you in the downfall of your master.”
The little robot looked at the altar once again; it stood higher than him. He would have never reached the top if not for the single step. He thought carefully about what the beast had said; he looked back, the beast relaxed its features and laid back.
Diggix climbed the single step, bringing him to eye level with the altar, the vibrations from the stone in his hand increased. Finally, a strange whistling sound resonated through the air startling the beast, gaining his attention; he stood up and looked around. The little robot studied him intently, watching his every move as his nerves grew ever more present. Finally, the beast calmed down and indicated that Diggix should hurry and place the stone upon the altar.
As Diggix lifted the stone above his head, the ground gave a slight rumble but did not shake the earth. Slowly, and carefully he placed the rock on top of the altar and stood back this time, knowing it would increase in size without warning.
As expected, the ruin expanded, filling the top of the altar and pushing it slightly down under its wright. The rumbling beneath the earth turned into a slight tremor. Diggix was cautious, and the beast seemed pleased by the action.
“Stand back, child.” Said the beast while pushing the little robot back till he stood behind him.
The altar lit up; vapor from around the stone seemed to be sucked into it, giving it life as it lifted from the altar, floating gently. Sparks formed between the rock and the altar, flashing and sparking continuously. It seemed to be building up energy.
Diggix could feel with his sensors that the energy within the stone was building up; it was getting dangerously high. He stepped back even more until he reached the first pillars; he noticed beams of light were pulled in from the posts to the stone. It was all reminiscent of what happened at the previous stones now in his storage.
The beast turned towards Diggix; he could make out a smile beneath the sharp teeth protruding from his mouth. Slowly the beast walked forward, not too concerned with the amount of energy generated by the artifact; the beast knew this was going to happen; he was aware of the amount of energy the stones would have generated.
The ruin released all the energy at once in a blinding flash of light, pushing the trees beyond the pillars like a massive explosion. Purple energy resonated from the stone creeping inside the forest's undergrowth, making every animal and creature around scream, roar, and shout. Even the beast seemed to become agitated, but something within him stopped him from exploding or running.
“The energy your sensors are picking up is that of the Nihil, it is overpowering, and I’m afraid it enters every living being it comes into contact with. Including you.”
Diggix stood back; he didn’t understand; he was not a living being. His processing led him to the biochip, the only organic thing the beast could refer to. Strangely enough, when he turned his attention towards the chip, there was a strange function at work, one he did not know to be there. A feeling in his chest was intensifying; he could not process this feeling; there was no function with a name to place it with.
“What you are feeling is not a program giving you the delusion of feeling; it is actual, true, and raw feeling and emotion. You have unleashed the Nihil through that stone, and it entered you the same as it entered the body of this beast.”
The beast grabbed the little robot’s head, fear shot through his limbs; he was unsure what he was doing. The beast turned towards the altar and approached. After the burst of energy was gone, the stone rested on the altar again. The beast placed Diggix on the altar with the stone; grabbing onto the rock not to fall off, he felt the energy of the stone pulsating into him. The world around him faded, and his visual and audio receptors went dark.
Opening his eyes, Diggix saw Dessix as it was, overgrown and full of life. The fog was thick, and the sounds of the forest were loud. He looked around to see where the beast had gone but could not find him. The Citadel stood far in the distance, as high and proud as possible.
Without warning, the Citadel was destroyed; it crumbled to a heap of dust, and the forest's fog lifted immediately. The planet turned quicker, making the sun rise and set a thousand times or more, and in time, Diggix could see the forest reclaiming the Citadel ruins. Finally, however, the sun stopped, and the world stopped turning; above the citadel's ruins, an entity appeared in a cloud of black and purple smoke, though this entity did not have a body.
The dark entity floated above the ruins for a short while, but quickly another energy burst came similar to that of the stone, but it disintegrated everything around it, the planet around the little robot turned to sand, all life gone besides a few trees. The planet turned into a barren wasteland.
In an instance, Diggix woke up and found himself back in the present; the Beast was still standing there as close as can be.
“That, my child, is the future of this planet. That is the power of the Devourer.”
Diggix turned around to look at the stone behind him. It was standing there without purpose now; the glow in its strange lines was gone. Though he could sense there was still energy flowing from the stone. He turned to face the beast again but could not find him there. He was not sure what the beast was or what his purpose was, but he was gone now, and there was only one thing left for Diggix to do, to place the other stone where it needed to be and return to the Citadel as quickly as possible.
