Chapter 16: The Gathering

What is a rift? The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. A rift is exactly that, a straight line between two points. A link between worlds can always be drawn. The only factors to consider about rifts are their starting point and their ending point. A rift is opened at one point, leading into the void. A second opening is created from inside the void.

What is the void? The void is a place that has no location. There is nothing in the void, hence its name. It is emptiness in which bubbles of space-time exit. Each of these bubbles is surrounded on all sides by the void, and yet they do not lie within it. There is no distance between points in the void. It isn't a giant carpet laid out. The void spreads in all dimensions, yet it has no dimensions. Every world lies in its own position within the void, physically nothing exists.

When a rift is formed both ends are open and anything that enters appears in a place within the void. I entered a rift and was within the void. The only thing that existed in there however was a tunnel leading to the other side of the rift. By tunnel I don't mean a physical tunnel. Simply the void was around me, the only thing present was the light from the other side. The first time I entered the rift this travel between points was instant. I didn't notice anything aside from being drained.

Over the years I have perfected the art of creating rifts. They can be used to pass from one world to another; or from one location in a world to the next. There are two forms of rifts, random and focused. A random rift forms at any time. These random rifts are tears in the fabric of the world's space-time. Random rifts can be very disorienting compared to a focused rift. When a rift is formed naturally passing through may seem like walking through a doorway. There may not even be a noticeable passing through the void. At times memories of the void have been known to be lost within it. Every focused rift I have created includes passing through the void.

I haven't been able to explore this much, but I believe random rifts are points where two worlds of space and time become linked. A random rift is the point where the worlds have merged. There is no travel through the void since the worlds themselves are linked. A focused rift has to travel through the void since the two worlds are not merged in any way.

For a time Lilah and I lived freely. I told her of my world and what would happen if they followed me here. We learned that when draining someone, we could give back to them some of our life and they would turn. Together, we grew strong. Lilah had a deep thirst for life. Seeing so much death when she was young had changed her beyond what I had done. I didn't see it. I didn't notice her changes. I didn't want to see the number of times she fed.

I know now how foolish I had been, but I was young. After a hundred years with Lilah I went through my own changes. I was sick with a bloodthirst. No matter how much I fed for a week I needed more. This final change I grew an additional foot. I was a little over eight feet as you measure height. Sixteen foot black feathered wings sprouted from my back. I had finally become an adult. Lilah did not like my metamorphosis. She grew to dislike me, and often would throw temper tantrums about my actions. At times I realized how immature she truly was. She was still that same girl whom I had turned after laying her family to rest.

As the years passed Lilah had grown lonely. She had me, but no one like her. As human as I became through absorbing their life, I still didn't possess the same mannerisms or emotions. With my metamorphosis I had added a new level of difference between the two of us. Lilah was determined to get wings, and since our life energies were now so similar, it made sense to her that the same thing that got me mine would do the same for her. I hade gotten my wings through draining life. I had gotten so much energy that I had changed. Lilah would do the same. She began to feed with a great vengeance. She took more risks than necessary, whipping out whole clan lines within months.

Lilah was very talented at controlling me. She was such a good demon, and I was powerless to deny her anything. I was so wrapped around her fingers that I didn't even notice her bloodlust. She became enamored with a young man barely living within a mountain range. Lilah seduced him and had him eating out her hand. Moments later, she was eating out of him. She begged me to turn him, and foolish me, I couldn't resist. The deception of demons is always regarding physical threats, power plays, and mind games. Her human mind was much better prepared for emotional deception.

I showed her how to release her energy into him. I taught her how to corrupt others. She named this child Kaan. I soon realized the great importance of protecting this world. I would not be able to do it alone. I started to turn others. A council would be needed. I would be able to have my family watch the different areas of the world while I could watch over them and provide aid where needed. I chose my second son. He was from a lush valley and so I named him Avil. Kaan and Lilah were very close, the closer they became, the further she drew from me. I did not have the family I had craved.

While mourning something I still didn't fully understand, I found comfort in a young girl. She made me forget the pain I felt at the loss of Lilah's affection. When Lilah found out about her she became very jealous. The girl had not been turned by me, I just enjoyed her company. Kaan called me away while Lilah got her revenge on my girl. She drained her until little but a husk remained.

I returned to my newest prize and discovered Lilah looming over her lifeless body. I felt the most human I ever had at that moment. The emotions of revenge and hatred flared through me though I didn't recognize them at the time. I threw Lilah up against the ground, pinning her there with my hand on her neck. I stared her in the eyes. "GIVE HER LIFE TO ME."

My teeth ripped into her neck. I began to drain. I filled myself with energy, and hurriedly launched myself at the girl. I lifted her cooling body into my arms, and embraced her with my wings. I gently sunk my teeth into her, and returned life to her.

As her eyes reopened I looked directly into them. "Aaisha, my love."

From that moment on Lilah and I were never together long. Honestly, she probably was the one who convinced Kaan to kill Avil and attempt to destroy me. I am getting a little ahead of myself here though. After Aaisha turned I found two more who possessed the right characteristics to be turned. I felt they would fit very well into my family. Raesila, and Dasmir were shortly turned one right after the other. I had my council.

I do not claim to be a genius. Planning was never my strong suit. I had a vision and I brought it to fruition. At my encouragement each of my children built their own house. They turned others to help them protect their lands. Lilan, Kaan, Avilar, Aaishar, Raesilar, and Dasmiren all rose to greatness.

Seeing the strength each of my children were amassing, the one thing which had kept me alive on my world, my survival instinct, kicked in. I would need to have a house of my own. All of my children were firm on their way to getting their wings, Lilah had already gotten hers. I knew that only those turned by me would get wings. It was the birthright I passed on.

My house would all have wings. I created the Ioshari. I turned few, only those who had the right spirit. The Ioshari grew to be a clan of warriors. Beside me they hunted. Beside me they enforced my laws. After a time I learned a way for them to gain their wings quicker. Each and every one of them suffered the second death. They were sent deep into a pit of fire. Sent into a volcano, those that walked the fire and returned all bore the marks of my house. They all had their wings.

I speak of the wings with such prestige and haven't explained what they really mean. Have you ever looked to the sky in wonder? Have you ever spread your arms in hopes of catching the air? Have you ever known that something was missing from your core being, and yet not known what it was? Or known that you were missing a large piece of yourself but couldn't find it? I constantly felt the phantom unease. Out of the corner of my eye I could almost see something, yet when I turned, nothing. The wings are a representation of power. Once we reached the level of power to have our wings we had become much like this worlds gods. We could fly before we got our wings - throwing enough energy at the ground to achieve flight, using more to propel us forward and even more to adjust height. Gravity is a terrifying force. Our wings grant us the ability to fly without using any energy. They signify our lack of need to drain ourselves doing the simplest things. My house was by far the smallest, but always the strongest.

I am incredibly proud of my Ioshari. They above all are my chosen. Each of them was breed for the hunt. When they were human, most were just and kind. I made certain they wouldn't lose those traits when they changed. I taught them a strict code of honor. I showed them how to live with pride. They taught me the unconditional love a child has for its father. I made no distinction between man and woman in my choosing and so the Ioshari were capable of having children, though only in the manner of demons. The final gift bestowed on the children of the hunt was their weapon.

After presenting themselves to me with their wings the ritual of creation began. I had an altar created in the middle of a meadow. Stone blocks forming a ring with pillars rising up and great slabs on top of them. In the center of the ring I placed a large block of stone from my home world. The Ioshari would draw blood and let it drip to the ground. I added a drop of my own blood to where the blood pooled on the altar. Before all of the Ioshari, a medallion showing the symbol of my clan would form. I had performed a similar ceremony for each of the six as well. They all had their own clan symbol on the medallion.

When first touched, the medallion would merge with its creator. From that moment on, the lishan was always at the Ioshari's call. Lishan are the living blade of an Ioshari. They are swords capable of forming any shape desired. They appear as its Ioshari imagines it. The lishan never dull, they are linked to their Ioshari beyond physical proximity. A lishan out of its Ioshari's hand still acts under his will. A lishan never hurts its Ioshari.

The bond between Ioshari and lishan is almost impossible to describe. It isn't master and slave or owner and weapon. It isn't brother and sister, or even lover and beloved. They are two in one, twins sharing the same body. The lishan is as alive as its Ioshari.

As my house grew to its height I began to feel more and more a distance from Lilah and Kaan. I was certain they had become lovers. I knew Lilah was furious with me for the betrayal I had done to her. I had taken her body and mind, a rape far worse than anything I had ever done. She knew I was responsible for killing her clan and she never forgave me for that either. I was happy with Aaisha and it clouded my caution.

One evening everything changed. I led my Ioshari against a reported invasion, finding only a minor random rift. We closed the rift, separating the worlds. When I returned I found Aaisha again in a pool of her blood. She wasn't dead; Lilah had instead cut off her wings. Aaisha's wings had been sealed by an incredible amount of power. The very core of her had been altered. To give her back her wings I would have had to kill her spirit and remake it. I was unwilling to do such a thing to her. My love would never soar effortlessly among the clouds again.

That very same day I heard the voice of Kaan fly at me, "You never cared for me. Now I have your first mate, your favorite son, and soon, your throne."

"Father..." Avil's cry was weak and cut short as I felt his life cut off.

For the second time I felt a great hatred boil within me. My Ioshari and I hunted again. We took to the skies and started the thousand years of war that would be known as the Demon Wars. "Clear skies and good hunting, my sons. May your lishan be sharp and your aim keen. Clear skies and good hunting."

The beginning of the week, coverage of monsters flying in the night had reached the news broadcasts. One video aired consistently across the country. The same poor quality clip made by a striving smut cinematographer who happened to be taping the wrong scene at the wrong time. The haunting image of the demons tearing into those gathered had become familiar to everyone.

The four Kulghas, all reminiscent of apes, horribly scared skin replacing fur, appeared from the shadows of an alley way. They launched themselves on the female "actress" and her three assailants. The famous cameraman zoomed in, dropped his camera and ran away. Only when the coast was clear did he come back and reclaim his ticket to fame.

Similar footages started coming in over the next few days. Pictures of monsters, snapshots of demons filled the press. The front page of every newspaper displayed coverage of southern California. All of the occurrences so far had occurred in one of the major cities in southern California. Journalists were still speculating as to what was going on. Specialists in biology, religion, psychology, and military were all interviewed. Each specialist had something to say, none of them had anything tangible. The religious specialists dubbed them demons.

Based on patterns, the governor of California, Jack Stevens, had been advised to call in the National Guard. Following the advice of his scientists, it was a terrible infection, the lower region of California, was quarantined. A line was drawn above San Louis Obispo, Kern, and San Bernardino counties. Everything below that line was a quarantine zone.

Special areas were created, facilities, for those that had been evacuated. No one was allowed in to the quarantine areas, and those that tried to get out were placed in the quarantine facilities where they could be studied. Those people that hadn't been able to get out from the quarantined cities were encouraged to stay in their homes and not to go out at night. The evacuation was canceled.

Under the governors orders the National Guard was deployed. They were under orders to shoot anyone who came toward the fence. No one was to be allowed through anymore. The evacuation for over five million people was considered inconsequential, they were already considered dead. Four-hundred miles of metal fence had been laid out across the middle of California. Those above the kill line had given up, on those below it.

At the urgings of President Collins the army and navy were both mobilized. The army took up position along the Arizona and Nevada borders. The mission commander, Brigadier General Michael "Machinegun" Santos of the United States Army, was placed in charge of the operation. He was known for getting the job done, no matter the cost. He was just the right man to fence off five million people and keep them inside to die.

A comet of fire arched through the sky. Cathleen, call me Kat, stooped outside the door to her suburban home in San Diego. She was dressed in black, leather and fishnets, with black lipstick, black nail polish, thick eye shadow, and obviously dyed, long, black hair. The night was cold and it was raining heavily. Kat had had another fight with her mother over her 'Goth thing' and wasn't going inside the house. She cowered under the cover offered by the overhang of the door.

"Ever since this whole evacuation thing Mom has just gone psycho. She has gotten all religious and shit. Nah... seriously Stephanie... that bitch is fucking nuts. She was yelling at me that I was going to hell. Demons are walking the streets she says. Satan is here to bring me down..."

The teenager prattled on to her uncaring friend about all of the injustices of her life. No one experiences the kind of pain she's going through. No one could possibly understand her. She talked on into her cell phone and it continued to rain.

Kat looked upwards as the night brightened. Fire dripped to the ground, sizzling where it landed on the soaked street. A ball of fire arched overhead, fire arching off it as it soared. Kat's mouth stayed half open as her sentence was caught off. She watched the flaming shape hurtle through the air, much like a giant bird of fire.

Kat ran over to where a drop of the flame had landed. Looking like drips of lava from television, the flames sputtered for a few seconds, fighting the water's attempt at extinguishing it. Kat looked back up and could no longer see the comet. When the sputtering had ceased and she was certain it was cool, Kat reached down for the small piece of metal. It was perfectly circular and very smooth. Kat pocketed it and went back to her door. She stood outside for a moment before determining that it was time to talk to her mom.

Tiro'lar flew through the night. He could feel the world repel him with every move he made. Each time it was weaker, easier to ignore. His first thought was his home in San Diego. His family needed him. As he flew over head, he couldn't feel any of them very well.