Of Humans Beasts and a forgotten Past

== Of Humans, Beasts and a forgotten past ==
=== Part One ===
She saw the smoke pillar rising from the horizon at noon. It was not uncommon to see such phenomena these days. The beast probably got another village, Agi thought. None in her village will miss it, in fact, none in her village knew it existed.
In the calendar of the old gods it was the year 3488. No one knew from where or to where it was counting. Most people in Agi’s village used the calendar of the beast. It was the year 665. 665 years since the beast came, since the age of the beast started. No one knew how many humans were left. The only indication of humans outside Agi’s village were these pillars of smoke. A grim symbol. It was another step closer to humanities eternal night. It couldn’t be far, Agi knew. The smoke pillars rarely rise these days, and the sky was quiet.
Agi looks at the river of floating water in front of her. Still no catch.
She lied back into the soft and pleasant smelling grass. It was another one of the old gods’ creations. They had the power to change, end and create life at their will. The green fields of grass, soft like silk, forests of trees bearing ever-ripe, brilliantly sweet fruit and animals all too willing to be eaten by the villagers are the legacy of the old gods. And yet, for all their might and power, even they could not resist the beast. Even they fell.
It was time to head back, Agi knew. She packed her equipment and put her meagre catch into her backpack. She reoriented herself and took the first step on her journey home.
The horrible realization hit her within an instant. The smoke pillar was rising from the east, from her village. And Agi ran. Past the lovely hills, through calm, green forests, windy, golden fields, and quiet, inviting beaches of white. Through it all she ran, and the smoke grew closer. Why she ran into certain death she did not know, and the smoke grew closer. She did not think clearly now, overtaken by some prehistoric instinct, she kept running, and the smoke embraced her, blocked out the warm sun, blinding her, robbing her of her senses. And yet, she ran. Her thoughts were racing, she had trouble distinguishing real sounds from imagined ones. She heard the village elder and his instruments, she heard the cheerful shouts of her friends, she heard her mother calling for her.
She stopped. Agi didn’t know for how long she ran. She didn’t stop in the smoke-filled ruins of the village. She didn’t stop between the distorted remains of the village elder, his instruments, her friends of her mother. She kept running. From what, she was not sure any more. The beast was not there any more. She would have died if it was, Agi knew.
She would continue straight ahead. She would keep walking until she couldn’t or until she found a new village. She mostly did this for a lack of better things to do. And thus, after scarcely more than a minute of pause, she started to move again.
==== Part Two ====
One day Agi drank from a pink sweet stream.
“Hello there,” a voice called out cheerfully
Agi jumped up in surprise and saw the source of the voice. An old hag sitting on a large boulder. She had long gray-blonde hair, and her clothes seemed strangely colourful. Her face seemed ancient one moment and young and ageless the next.
“Lost?” the old hag asked kindly.
“No” Agi responded dumbfounded, “Who are you?”
“Oh, who are we anyway? What people say? What you remember?”
Agi, confused at the reply, said: “I’m Agi- “
“Oh, I know” the hag interrupted
“I come from the west.” Agi pointed towards the setting sun, bathing the evening scene in a warm gold.
“Oh, I know” the hag repeated. She untied a plain metal flask from her belt and took a hearty sip. The air filled with a thick smell that burned in Agi’s nose. The hag separated the flask from her thick lips and tied it back to her belt.
Still coughing a little from the strange smell, Agi asked the hag, “Is there anything you don’t know?”
The hag slowly shrugged and replied, “Perhaps, I wouldn’t know.”
“Where is your village? Can you lead me there?” Agi asked irritated.  The sun was just over the mountains now.
“Ah- you see, I’m not from a village.”
“Where do you come from, then?” Agi uttered confused
“A place, presumably, I don’t remember.”
“Well, do you know where the next village is to be found?”
“Ah- well- that’s the thing, you see, now isn’t it.” The shadows grew long, Agi could feel the last warmth from the sun in her back slowly dwindling. “There are none left” The sun set, casting Agi, the hag, the stone she sat upon, the pink river and the valley around them into shadows.
“What?” Agi meekly asked, yet she knew the truth that need not be spoken.
“Well just what I said, the beast destroyed them all, your village was the last the bea- “
“Don’t” Agi interrupted the hag
They remained silent for a minute
“You’re trying to forget, aren’t you?”
Agi stood there in silence for a while.
The hag smiled friendly, “Come on then, we have a long journey ahead of us.”
The hag stood up and started to walk next to the stream. The hag didn’t turn around to see if Agi was following her. Agi grabbed her things and set out to catch up to the old hag, who had put an impressive distance between them in the few second since she had departed.
=== Part Three ===
And so, they travelled through great tunnels large enough to drain the ocean in hours. They travelled under floating mountains and wandered on walking trees. They hiked over mountains of discarded machines and walked under great lakes.
They were silent for most of the journey. Agi followed the old hag a few meters behind. Every few minutes, the hag took a sip from her flask.
“Isn’t that going to be empty soon?” Agi asked the old hag. The old hag shrugged and turned the plain metal flask over. A steady stream of clear liquid flowed out of the small flask, burning Agi's nose.
“A creation of the old gods, don’t worry about it” she muttered.
And finally, on they arrived at a great mountain. Agi looked around and decided it must be the tallest mountain. On top of that tallest mountain, on its highest peak, she saw a city.
“The old gods called it Obruk-kant,” the hag almost whispered, “there we will find the first item you will use to slay the beast.”
The hag was right, Agi knew. The menacing black towers reached to the sky like bony fingers, the thick walls as impenetrable as they were tall, and the great titanic door could only have been constructed by the old gods. And yet, the towers were broken, the wall toppled, and the gate breached. The houses, all once in some delicate geometric symmetry were not more than rubble on the earth.
As they drew closer, the Hag asked: “What do you know of the powers of the old gods?”
“Well, they could create life and change it, and they could bend everything to their will and they coul-”
“Ah-, yes” the hag cut Agi off, “they had one more power”
The hag paused as they walked through the bent and broken gate.
“The gods, you see, they had the power to lie to themselves”
“Lie to themselves?” Agi asked
“Yes, they could change their opinions, views, thoughts, and emotions at their will”
Agi paused, not quite sure what the hag meant. They were silent for a while, walking through the ruins of this once mighty city. They walked past broken machinery, crumbled buildings, unusable roads and mighty mounds of rubble. It did not take very long to reach what seemed to be the hag’s goal. A single bland tower reaching far into the sky. The blackish-gray stone covered with gigantic scratches. They entered through the broken doors.
“The old gods of Obruk-kant tried to fight the beast. They rebuilt their city into a mighty fortress they thought impenetrable, trying to kill the beast when it inevitably attacked. The people of Obruk-kant decided to make themselves fearless. They, from that day on, thought themselves to be invulnerable.”
Agi looked around the tower's interior. It was completely hollow, and only the faintest rays of light penetrated the cracked walls. There was no furniture or feature to speak of, except for the illuminated table a few hundred meters in front of them.
“When the beast came, the gods did not use their defences. Each imagining themselves to be unkillable, they charged the beast, not regarding their own safety. They did not dodge, cover or retreat. The beast had no trouble butchering them”
The towers inside fell silent again. When they finally reached the white rock table, there laid a single obsidian-black sword on it. It had no decorations but a single white glowing line down its central ridge.
“This is the sword you will slay the beast with. Once you wield it, you will have the power to destroy and kill. To end and annihilate.”
And Agi grabbed it, and the hag was right, she knew. She swiped to her left, the sword almost moved on its own and from the sword emerged a great pillar of black fire. Even the mighty tower walls of the old gods crumbled under that onslaught. She swiped to her right and evaporated a large chunk of wall. Agi laughed maniacally. With this she could kill the beast, she knew. With this she could split continents and eradicate mountains, she knew. She swiped back to her left, the pillar of black flame launching out over the land into the distance. Gods, why was she so scared? This will be easy! With this, she knew, she could, if she tried, destroy the world. Her laughter could be heard echoing from the walls of the tower for many hours, deep into the night.
=== Part Four ===
Agi woke up the next morning, leaning against the table, cradling the sword like a mother cradles her child. The hag was sitting on the table with the flask in her hand. Behind her was a giant hole to the outside. The landscape was scarred, with whole areas of the land charred and twisted.
“Come on now,” the hag said, “we should go.”
Agi nodded, and the pair left Obruk-kant without saying another word. They left behind the great mountain with its broken sides, shattered peaks and fallen city crowning it. When they reached the mountain’s foot, it's hard dark-grey rock gave way to a small golden grassy patch in a long straight line. No other plant beside the golden grass grew on the patch. The patch was only about five meters broad, after which a dense forest with trees hundreds of meters tall and with trunks of no less than ten meters across. Agi struggled greatly with the travel through the forest. She couldn’t pull herself over the great roots of the trees easily, she couldn’t jump from place to place precisely. At times, when she had to squeeze herself between two trees sideways, she feared she’d get stuck. She felt as if she was chased by something and the forest itself was trying to slow her down.
Agi could just about see the sun rise, peak, and fall again through the many thick branches of the trees. They made rest on a great elevated root, overgrown with red, cold moss. It smelled bitter and was slightly sticky, but Agi preferred it to the uneven, labyrinthine forest floor. Despite how tired and out of breath Agi was after the hard day's travel, the hag seemed not to even have spilled a sing drop of sweat.
Agi fell asleep rather quickly.
The next day, when Agi finally broke through the forest and left the oppressive looming presence of the leviathans behind, a great ocean of gold opened in front of her.
To Agi’s left, right, and front stretched a golden field for as far as the eye can see. There was only the blue sky, the golden field and the great green wall behind her. Agi felt safe being able to run again, not hindered by the forests restricting terrain.
“This is the realm of Ubruk-mant” the old hag said in a tiered voice. “After the calamity of Obruk-kant, the old gods of Ubruk-mant knew they would not be able to stand against the beast and win.”
Agi turned to see the hag. She had not moved from the forest’s edge, she just looked over the horizon. Agi followed her gaze to the horizon to see what she was looking for. Agi squinted and held her hand in front of her forehead to block out the sun. For a split-second, she fancied seeing a small black dot, but soon after she lost it and saw nothing but gold and blue.
Agi heard the hag move and turned to her. She was sitting, leaning against a tree. Unscrewing the cap of her flask.
“What were you looking for?” Agi asked, still pacing in the field. She could not get the uncomfortable sensation out of her legs.
“Ubruk-mant,” the old hag replied, taking a hearty sip of booze. “The old gods decided, you see, they decided to evade the beast. For that purpose, they build Ubruk-mant on gargantuan legs. They flourished for a while. Ubruk-mant could outrun the beast in sprints, though the captains of Ubruk-mant knew the beast was faster in the long run. They once again, in their desperation, lied to themselves. The beast would tire, they thought, it would stop chasing us at some point. We just have to keep going.”
A heavy breeze swept over the field and into the forest. Agi stopped her pacing. She did now see something at the horizon. And it seemed to grow bigger. It did not take long for her to notice the four great legs.
“Of course, the beast did not stop. It hadn’t done it before, and it wouldn't do it after. For some time at least.” The hag added.
Agi could now feel faint vibrations in the floor. Boom, Boom, Boom, Pause, and repeat.
“Come on now. Sit down, it will take a while for it to arrive here.” The hag said in a mellow tone.
Agi stood and stared at Ubruk-mant’s outline for a few seconds before she began to pace again.
It took the mobile city about four hours to reach them. The great city itself was elevated almost three hundred meters off the ground by its gargantuan legs. The legs were all rather bland when it came to old god artefacts. They were plated with some material unknown to Agi. The left hind leg was ripped off just under the knee and numerous scratches, holes, and tears were littered all over the hind legs. The Inscription “Ubruk-ma- “could be read on just over the tear on the left hind leg.
A few hundred meters in front of the forest edge, the city stopped. It’s truly mind breaking size, dwarfed even the trees of the forest. A small cabin, so small, Agi almost didn’t notice it, was lowered from the city to the ground.
The hag stood up, knocked off any leaves and dirt on her clothes, and started to finally leave the forest's edge. “Come on now. We should go.” The hag said commanding. Agi followed her.
They stepped into the frail looking cabin of glass and metal, attached to the city above by only one hair thick string of blue glittering metal. After a few seconds, the cabin lifted off the ground, creaking loudly as it did so. Agi instinctively pushed herself against the cabin wall and grabbed the metal bar affixed to it.
The cabin accelerated upwards at such a rapid pace that their destination was reached after only a few seconds. The old doors protested with loud screeches of metal scraping against metal as they opened. Agi, having never been high above the ground, found herself kneeling on the cabin floor still trying to recover from the whirlwind ascent. Once the doors opened completely, she crawled onto what seemed to her to be solid city ground.
The old hag stepped out of the cabin, seemingly not having been affected by the breakneck speed, the rapid acceleration or the dizzying heights they were put through in the cabin. Agi, having had her last meal purged from her system into a bush, now stands up and sets her gaze upon the ruins of Ubruk-mant. Though ruins they were, it seemed that, at least the front part of Ubruk-mant, remained largely untouched by the beast and seemed to have fallen to ruin more because of disrepair and abandon. The houses, contrary to Obruk-kant were many stories tall and intricately decorated with paintings, carvings, ornaments columns and statues. All houses were painted in a light-yellow with darker orange-brown roofs. Trees grew from every free green space, out of broken streets and often through the windows or ruined roofs of the still standing houses. Even in its state of ruin, the city still looked awe-inspiring and Agi couldn’t imagine the city's splendour at its peak
“We’ll head to the control tower.” The hag stated, “There we will find the second item you will use to slay the beast.”
She didn’t stop moving when she left the cabin and was a few meters away now. Agi scrambled to catch up to her. The hag seemed to be more tense than usual. The thought of asking her about it crossed Agi’s mind, but she quickly dismissed it. The hag had refused all previous attempts of Agi to inquire about her past.
And so, for the second time, they walked through ruin and destruction and abandon and decay, all caused at the hand of the beast. The great gardens had grown wild, the magnificent fountains had dried up and the extravagant houses had cracked, broken and fallen. After around twenty minutes of walking, they reached what seemed to be the control tower the hag was referring to. A grand mansion with three fountains in its court, the left, crowned with a shield rested against a rock and the wavy inscription Obruk-kant on the shield. The right, crowned with a graceful deer jumping through a grassy plain with the inscription Ubruk-mant under it and the third, crowned with a woman standing proudly with her eyes blindfolded. The state of near complete destruction the third fountain was in made reading Its inscription impossible. The hag walked past the fountains and began ascending the stairs to the entrance.
“What is the name of the third city?” Agi asked the hag, following a few steps behind her.
“I don’t know.” The hag paused. “Well- I don’t remember”
“Are you one of the old gods?” Agi asked not without a certain uneasiness. The question had been on her mind for some time now. After all, she was knowledgeable of the old gods and claimed not to be of any village.
The hag stopped for a few seconds at the top of the stairs. She didn’t turn around and merely replied: “I am no more god than you are, Agi.” She entered the building without saying another word.
Agi didn’t know what to make of this but followed her silently.
Most of the building was inaccessible and in ruin, but its once great luxury and decadence still was apparent. The hag and Agi climbed the stairs to the top floor, which was a small observatory with a balcony. Just in front of the still open door leading to the balcony, there laid two boots. They were silvery with ornate golden decorations of deer and humans with wings next to the sun.
“These are the boots you shall dodge out of the beast’s onslaught with. Once you wear them, you will have the power to run and dodge. To seek and find.”
And Agi stepped into them. They tightened around her feet and extended up her legs, and the hag was right, she knew. She was light as air. She didn’t feel the restraint of the earth or the sluggishness of her own body. In one movement she jumped out the room onto the balcony and from there straight up, into the air. She saw all around her. Nothing escaped her gaze. She saw the mightiest mountain and the most insignificant ant. Agi throw her arms up wildly. She was hundreds of meters off the ground and just slowing down her ascent. She would never be surprised ever again. With this, she could see the world and jump straight to the moon. She wouldn’t have to worry about that bothersome beast, she knew. She was now starting to fall back to the ground. She didn’t care either way. She was as relaxed as could be. Who knew falling felt so comfortable. And through all the night one could see a small dot flying off and tumbling back, Ubruk-mant over and over again.
=== Part Five ===
Agi woke up the next morning feeling heavy. The boots laid open next to Agi’s feet. How they came off, Agi didn’t know. The city remained silent. Though, Agi thought the tilt was slightly different. The hag was already up and ready to leave.
“Come one now,” she said, “we should go.”
Agi pushed herself off the cold floor and stepped into the comfortable embrace of the boots. Again, she felt almost weightless as the boots again covered most of her legs and this time, even more clearly, she could notice every detail of a thing she observed. The hags slightly yellowish teeth, the small patches of red moss growing in the corners of the room, the small scratches and erased lines on the old map on the wall. Even the fine silvery lines of the fabric the boots were made of she now saw clearly. The hag left the room and stepped out into the cold morning air. After a few seconds, Agi’s eyes adjusted to the bright sun, and she saw the red desert expanding in front of her.
“The city had moved in the night” the hag answered to Agi’s visible confusion.
The desert stretched from a sharp line it shared with the field all the way to the horizon. Its dunes arranging themselves into beautiful geometric forms, changing every few seconds as a new gush of wind blew over them. The red sands twinkled like rubies in the morning sun and danced like exotic animals in some ritual humans can observe but never understand. Agi was amazed by the desert beauty and for a moment forgot all her worries, the hag, and the quest. She wanted to admire the desert's dance for just a while.
“Don’t get distracted” the hag warned Agi “You wouldn't be the first one to get lost in the desert”
Agi followed the hag through the desert. The hag moved in a straight line, climbing over dunes and pits if necessary. The sand, though hard, didn’t feel coarse. It felt soft, like silk, as it brushed over her body. Agi noticed that the hag, for once, was not drinking any booze from her flask. She kept advancing straight ahead.
Ubruk-mant disappeared over the horizon after half a day's worth of travelling. It never moved from its spot since they left. The winds grew more aggressive. Agi felt that moving, even in the boots, grew more and more tiresome. The sand began to feel like thin, silky bands pulling all over Agi’s body, making movement difficult. She began to consider taking a break. As she looked around, she saw the enchanting dances of the sand, blown up by the wind. 'Why were they in such a hurry anyway' Agi pondered. She looked at the hag and saw her limp right arm being pulled forwards by someone. She looked old and young and hideous and gorgeous and frail and strong all at the same time.
“Who are you?” Agi asked innocently.
The strange being didn’t respond. Instead, it began to pull harder on Agi. The winds began to blow harder and even just standing felt almost impossible. Maybe she could have a rest? She wanted to ask the person again but only mumbled incoherently. She wanted to introduce herself but couldn’t. She felt how she was picked up but couldn’t see anything any more. It must have been then that she lost her mind. She saw red and black and orange and colours she never knew, in a world where parallel lines met, where circles had edges and where its centre was everywhere.
=== Part Six ===
The young hex woke up then. She was in a red desert and the sand ‘neath her twinkled like rubies and the dunes arranged themselves into beautiful geometric shapes. She saw a large dark-red sandstorm that appeared stationary behind her. In front of her she saw a great golden city.
The young hex stood up. She wore a rather simple outfit. Plain brown pants, white shirt, black leather belt. More intriguing were her silvery boots, decorated with golden stitches of beings she didn’t recognize, and her black-shiny sword. A few meters away from her laid a plain metal flask and a golden amulet in the sand. She walked over to the items and looked at the amulet. It had no decorations to speak of except a few lines of text on it’s front, which she could make no sense of.  Inside was a picture of a woman the young hex couldn’t recognize. The young hex knew she must have been important, she just felt like she was. The young hex pulled the amulet over her head and turned to the flask. She shook it and it seemed to be half full.
She opened the lid and was utterly disgusted. It smelled harsh and bitter with no sweet note in its essence. Yet she felt herself drawn to it. She took a mere drop of the clear liquid and she remembered.
She did not remember the village elder or his instruments. She did not remember her friends, their cheerful shouts, her mother, or her calls. She did not remember the great mountain, the gargantuan forest, the endless golden field or the enchanting desert she stood upon now. She did not remember her past or her name. But she remembered her quest.
She moved into the city, her sword drawn, her boots tight and her amulet dangling from her neck. And there, in the middle of the city, on the grand open plaza, laid the beast. Its maddening outline and repugnant scaly body seemed wholly out of place in this most serene city. Its charcoal black eyes fell upon the young hex. Both knew one of them would perish. It would not be an epic fight. There will be no truces, nor the need for any. After the first strike, one will have fallen.
The young hex grabbed her sword as the leviathan beast rose on its grand wicked legs. As the two charged at each other and one age ended and the next began, the young hex couldn’t help but think back to the few lines on her amulet.
“If you can be brave enough to not banish all your fear, if you can wait for a favourable moment but not run away from difficulty, if you can move on from the past without forgetting it, if you learn from failures gone by and don’t ignore your own instincts, you shall be the first of us to be human again.”
In the last moments of the human project, Agi remembered.
From stone to metal to machines to gods and finally back to darkness:
Agi remembered their humble beginnings.
Agi remembered their troublesome and dark youth.
Agi remembered their maturity and advancement, their mastery of everything and everyone.
Agi remembered their arrogance and ignorance of their own instincts.
Finally, Agi remembered their fall at their own creations.
They woke up from their drugging far too late.
Agi knew.
The sun had set on humanity.