*Concept
art for Absalom and his specters
Chapter 4 – The Absolute’s Love
Caleb used to be sleepy as we
traveled our way here. Now, he’s awake and focused. Absalom’s city is in the
distance. It sits upon an inactive volcano and is surrounded by what must be
hundreds of thousands of specters that fly around it like a tornado. The sky is
covered in black clouds that swirl around as if something bad is going to
happen. Sure enough, Absalom approaches us by using one of his specters to
speak to us.
“You’re going to wish that you took
my offer and died in the battle against my allies and specters because I won’t
kill you in this battle. Instead, I’ll sacrifice you to add to my power just
like I’m doing with the men, women, and rebellious children around me right now,”
Absalom says.
“Don’t do it!” I say.
“It’s too late. You can probably
hear their screaming from where you are.”
It’s true. I can hear and feel
their screams in my soul even though they must be far away from us. The tornado
of specters grows fiercer and black lightning starts flashing in the sky.
“You’ve crossed the line and you’ll
pay for what you’ve done!” Caleb says.
“I thank you for the inspiration.
Your power has shown me that I need more to beat you. I also have to concede
that you’re right in that violence is needed in some cases to bring about true
peace. These people were threats to that peace whether you think so or not. No
price is too high for peace and the people you love after all. I’m sure you
agree. Now, enough talk. Behold my power and despair.”
“I don’t think we will. Caleb!”
“You’re the one who’s going to despair
at our power!” Caleb says before taking my hand.
Together we say, “Beg for mercy
from the Absolute, all you conceited sinners! Judgment has arrived!”
Our dragon combines itself in a
flash of golden light before it breathes its golden and black fire at the
incoming specters and the conceited. It then spirals around the inactive
volcano to create a tornado of flames. While it does this, we defend it from its
attackers on top of its body until the entire volcano is covered in gold and
black flames and many of the conceited and specters are burned to ash. The
clouds have also somewhat cleared so that the sun can shine down in places.
Seeing that it's safe to go down, we head straight to the castle that sits on
the volcano, where Absalom must be.
Going into the castle, we find it
mysteriously quiet. Be careful, Kyla. I know, Caleb. There are probably more
enemies around here somewhere. Also, I know it's okay to admit you're starting
to feel tired. Though that battle was short, the power to make that tornado
took a lot out of you and me. It sure did. Hey, when this is over, do you want
to finally start to have children? Why bring it up now? I'm not doing it, Kyla.
Neither am I, Caleb. I guess it's on both of our minds. I guess so, Kyla. So,
do you? I think it's a good idea, especially since there aren't any threats
like Absalom around that need our immediate attention and it would be good to
let our armies do the work for once rather than just being peacekeepers.
Let's try then when we get back
home and after the celebration. I'd love to have two daughters and two sons.
You know what I'd like, Kyla. Four sons and three daughters. Or we could have
four daughters and four sons, Caleb. Who am I kidding? The Absolute decides
this, so let's hope and pray for the best. Thank you for bringing it up. We
both did. With something that we really want now in our minds, we both feel
invigorated with more energy to wipe away our tiredness for the time being.
There's still no sign of anyone in
this castle. The sound of nothing but our footsteps and the footsteps of our
dragon is deafening. To our surprise, we don't face any resistance even when we
enter the throne room and find Absalom waiting for us without any of his
specters around him.
“What? Decided to give up?” Caleb
asks.
“No, not at all. I've just been
busy using my specters to keep more of my citizens inside so they don't fight
you. Believe it or not, I didn't intend for any of them to attack you. I only
wanted my specters to do that,” Absalom says. “Now, with the innocent out of
the way, we can have a proper fight.”
To start the fight, our dragon
breathes its blue and red flames on Absalom who uses a seemingly endless supply
of specters to shield him. We attack him on both sides and even now, he conjures
more specters to defend him and fight against us. Seeing that our tactic isn’t
working, our dragon ceases its flames and we back away to quickly think of a
new plan. What can we possibly do, Caleb? Use the dragon’s gold and black
flames, I guess, Kyla? It’s risky and may completely deplete us of our strength
especially since he’s concentrated all his power into himself. Better than
tiring ourselves on his defenses. Maybe.
“Are you done? You’ve yet to bring
me to my knees despite all my specters that you managed to dispel. Remember
that damage done to them is damage done to me and see that I still stand
unshaken and uninjured,” Absalom says before turning his head and eyes to the
side. “No. I thought…I thought I had all of…”
Two people enter the room from
behind us and stand defending Absalom. They are cloaked in darkness and specters
that defend them from their sides and back. The darkness cloaking them dispels
a bit to reveal that one is a woman and the other a boy that’s about ten years
younger than us.
“What are you two doing here? I
thought I said to stay safe in your rooms,” Absalom says to them.
“I couldn’t let you fight this
threat by yourself,” the woman says who must be his wife.
“We can help you, father,” the boy
says.
“We love you and make sure your
dream comes true.”
“You’re my hero, father. Let’s put
these villains down.”
“Okay, okay. Just make my specters do
most of the fighting,” Absalom says as he begrudgingly accepts their help.
“Yes, my love.”
“As you command, my father.”
Somethings wrong. I have a feeling
the conceited are possessing them in a strange way, Kyla. Me too, Caleb. Try
not to hurt them too much. Of course not. We let our dragon coat the room in
red and blue flames to keep away Absalom’s wife and son as it tries to purify
them. Meanwhile, we fight against Absalom’s specters who are more fully formed
now. These specters look like skeletal knights with horns on their heads. They
wield various kinds of heavy swords, axes, and halberds in an effort to overwhelm
us with their strength and end the fight quickly.
The fight seemingly goes nowhere
with Absalom’s side slowly whittling down our strength. That is until Absalom’s
wife manages to get in front of Kyla and starts to fight her while Absalom’s
son fights Caleb. Absalom is sure to overwhelm us like this. Let’s risk holding
these two down while our dragon purifies them, Kyla. I’m afraid that’s the only
thing we can do too, Caleb. It may intensify Absalom’s aggression, but if these
two wake up from their possession, they could get Absalom to stand down. That’s
what I’m thinking.
We take this risk and hold down
these two in front of our dragon as it breathes its fire on us. Absalom tries sending
as many of his specters against us, and even though our dragon’s flames don’t
hurt us and act as a shield, some of his specters’ attacks get through and we
have to suffer being cut and stabbed by their attacks. Eventually, the presence
of the conceited is gone from Absalom’s wife and son, except…something is
wrong. Deeply wrong. Can you feel it too, Caleb? I can, Kyla. They’re dead but
they haven’t turned to ash. It's like…they been dead this whole time, and not
only that. Their souls are in…
“Get away from them!” Absalom says
as he pushes us to the back of the room with a flood of specters.
To defend ourselves from this
flood, our dragon has to use its gold and black flames and use the rest of our
energy to mitigate the damage. By the end of it, our dragon is separated into
two and our strength has reached its limits. Meanwhile, Absalom whispers to his
wife and son as he tries in vain to wake them up. Caleb and I look at each
other before slowly approaching him.
“Absalom, they’re dead and have
been for a while. What have you done to them?” I ask.
“I haven’t done anything and they
have been alive! They were at least…until you killed them!” he says.
“They’ve been dead, you dolt! Wake
up from your self-delusions if you have any sense left in you,” Caleb says.
“I gave them the constant protection
of my specters. I would’ve known if they were dead!”
“You don’t have full control of
them because they don’t always follow your orders,” I say. “The attacks on our
home, your allies not listening to you, and you not even being able to hold back
these two from coming here. Face it. The vainglory are manifesting themselves
through your specters and are using you for their own ends. They aren’t communicating
to you everything. Least of all the deaths of your wife and son who are now…now,
in the Land of the Forgotten.”
“That’s not true! It can’t-”
Before he can finish, I touch his
wife and use my other hand to touch Absalom so that he knows what I do. I’m
able to sense the destination of a heart if I touch their body and his wife’s
soul is damned along with the soul of his son who was at the age of reason.
“You made them conceited, Absalom. Their
souls were in a state of falsehood, of grievous mortal sin and they accepted it
because of you. You helped damn their souls and the vainglory kept their minds
in a state of sin,” I say.
“I…I…” Absalom says unable to make
an excuse.
I can feel his shriveled heart slowly
begin to beat more as he begins to cry and regret what he’s done. Turning
around to Caleb, I see that he’s dropped his guard. Absalom is obviously
defeated and doesn’t seem to want to fight anymore.
“Do it then. Punish me for my
failure,” Absalom says.
Caleb and I step back from him while
our dragons burn him with their flames. By the end of it, his crown is gone
along with the black cloak and the hole in his chest is no longer there. He’s somehow
deserving of the Absolute’s mercy much to Caleb’s and my surprise. Suddenly,
Absalom’s body convulses. He curls up on the spot as specters come out of him and
then disappear.
“Get out of here! The vainglory are
furious at my repentance and are trying to manifest themselves,” Absalom says.
With our dragons, we try to defuse
the situation with more fire, but this ceases Absalom’s convulsing for a few
seconds before it begins again. We then try using our weapons, however, this doesn’t
work either as specters manifest to defend him and push us back.
“Save yourselves and leave me to my
penance!” Absalom says before using his specters to push us out of his castle
along with our dragons.
“Come on, Kyla! We must go!” Caleb
says.
Seeing as there’s nothing we can do,
we ride our dragons far away from the inactive volcano until an explosion rocks
the entire land, and black and white made of specters shield the city that lies
on top of it. This shield is unbreakable as neither our dragons nor are attacks
can make a dent in it.
“We should have soldiers guarding
this thing,” Caleb suggests.
“I agree. Do you think Absalom is
still alive inside of it?” I ask.
“Probably. I don’t know really. All
I know is that he made an act of perfect repentance, so even if he’s dead, his
soul will be purified and then sent to the Land of the True.”
“Yeah, and despite everything that
he’s done, I hope that’s the case.”
“Yeah…”
Now that our job is done, we head
back home much to the joy of our people. We tell them of what happened and a force
of soldiers is sent out to guard the shield of specters. Also, we tell them
that we’re taking a break to start a family, and the leaders of the kingdom
agree and think that it’s an appropriate reward for us after all that we’ve
done. A celebration is then held for us at which we are required to give a speech
much to Caleb’s dismay.
I start the speech by saying, “Though
we are glad for our victory, we mourn the lost at the same time. Absalom was a
man afflicted by tragedy and buckled under the weight of it despite being one
of the greatest self-sacrificing soldiers of his kingdom. During the last time
we saw him, I revealed to him that his wife and son were in the Land of the
Forgotten as a result of his actions and he repented of his sins and did his
penance. Even now, his shield holds him in a makeshift prison where I believe
he is doing his penance. This should remind us that the Absolute always gives us
a chance to repent despite our many flaws and what we do and that even the
worst of us are not beyond redemption. Days and years may seem the same and our
situation may get worse but remember that love and truth remain constant and so
will our promise to the Absolute and to you that we will do the best for you as
your prince and princess of Simbiosi.”
The people clap and await Caleb’s
addition to my speech. All eyes including mine are on him forcing him to get up
and not hide in his chair.
“What else do I need to add to that
wonderful speech?” Caleb adds much to everyone’s amusement. “My wife and I went
out and did our job and despite everything that’s happened, we didn’t learn
anything new and weren’t challenged in any meaningful way, in my opinion. We
were just the Absolute’s tools in Absalom’s conversion. There’s nothing of note
of me to reflect on either than one thing. Life is a constant battle. We
stumble, fall, and get back up repeatedly. Though we know there’s an end to it,
we never know how long we must hold out and sometimes may lose ourselves in the
process like Absalom did. I only ask that you don’t lose yourselves. Remember
who the Absolute made you to be. We are all made to be saints. Remember the
endless mercy that the Absolute contains and is willing to give to all. We are unworthy
of it, but the Absolute is waiting to give it to us like a father waiting on
the porch for a wayward child. Through this war that we call life, we will
sanctify ourselves and the world. Empowered by love and truth, we will make it
to the Land of the True together.”
This speech gets the crowd to stand,
cheer, and clap even more than my speech much to Caleb’s surprise. The rest of
the celebration goes well and Caleb even willingly dances with me and seems to
have fun doing it. It’s a good start for the restful times that we will raise a family in. As the slow music starts to play, I kiss Caleb and rest
my head on his chest while slowly dancing with him thankful for everything I have,
everyone around me, and everything that I’ve been through that’s made me stronger.
The End
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