Kasken glanced back at me for a fleeting moment before he stepped forward, off the cliff that resided miles above the regular world. He shared a subtle smile before his body plummeted towards the rocky earth below and vanished from my sight.
Instantly I leapt forward and casted my eyes downward. I could see his black locks twirl through the wind and his eyes gleam as he dove towards battle. “Kasken, you fool!” I cried out as I dove off the cliff to follow him. Leaving our home above the sky and all hope behind.
Eventually his body reached the ground and in the mighty collide it knocked all consciousness from him. He laid there lifeless. Eyes shut and hair sprawled about. And blood decorated the scene, staining his rich white clothing.
My body shook and my stomach turned. Death never looked good on Kasken. It was just wrong. But before my thoughts could spin any longer, I reached the dirty floor as well. My head slapped against the icy touch of death and my eyes fell shut.
“Okar, wake up.” Kasken’s soft voice hummed through my bloody ear.
My eyelids slowly lifted to see Kasken’s pale face and faded azure eyes staring down at me. His lip was busted and his fragile skin bruised, but life was beginning to fill his face once again. “That was foolish, Kasken.” I spat out.
Kasken shrugged, a sheepish grin painting over his face momentarily, as he stood up. “We are immortals. There’s nothing foolish about risking your life when you can’t die.”
I rolled my beaming red eyes and slowly arose from the ground. My arms crossed and my eyes cast away from Kasken and instead towards our home floating high in the sky. “First of all, death only needs one bull’s eye to win.”
“Not when you’re immortal.” Kasken retorted.
I ignored him and continued. “Second of all, I was referring to abandoning our home. How are we ever supposed to get back up there?”
Again, Kasken shrugged. “Okar, sometimes you’re too selfish. You only look towards what is yours. But we have a duty as the sole of eternity. We were gifted the ability to see the world from the beginning, and we can help shape the world for the future. That’s what I had been doing until we met.”
I sighed. Kasken felt empowered, filled with knowledge of the world. But he was missing the key pieces. He thought he was of innocence, but that was not true. We were all weighted down by the sins of our past. Especially when our pasts began so long ago. Nonetheless, I hated to destroy the hope that lived within his soul. So I swallowed me pride and stood at his side. “Fine, then what are we doing down here?”
“Okar, before we met those short three months ago, I thought I was the only immortal to live upon this earth. So I took it within my duty to seek out who would need me and when. And today is the first of many battles. And if we are successful, and can end this war before it begins free of death, then so many lives can be saved. And maybe we can accomplish peace for this world. It is one step at a time process.”
I wanted to roll my eyes, but I choose to be respectful even if it pained me. His wants were pure, but his plan was unsound. “Tell me you at least have a weapon for defense.”
“No.”
My eyes widened. “You’re going to storm into a battle without a single weapon?”
“I’m here to save lives, not take them. Besides, we need no defense. We can’t die.” He argued.
“Kasken, please listen to me.” I huffed out as I stepped towards him and slid a dagger into his hand. “You have to use this for defense. We may live forever,” I paused, there was something unnerving about those sour words, “but that doesn’t mean we will live with freedom. If we are captured, if we are hung or hidden below the earth’s core, if we are trapped forever, then we will truly suffer forever. Immortality is a curse, not a gift.”
Kasken wanted to argue, but my words were too strong. With slight restraint, he eventually accepted the dagger. We then marched into battle.
“Okar, behind you!” Kasken cried out as we faced the war dead on. As I had suspected, Kasken’s plan had shattered instantly and rather than peace seekers, we were received as enemies in war. We became a greater threat to both parties.
I quickly side stepped and glanced behind me to see a man who held a gun to my face.
“Back off.” I growled to the man.
The man’s brow furrowed. He first scoffed, laughing out, “gutsy demand from a man about to die.” But then his eyes met mine. And as he stared into the glow of my deep red eyes his body shook. He pressed the gun’s barrel to my forehead and stuttered out, “what demon spawn are you?”
I lifted my index finger to the barrel and pressed lightly against it. After quickly peaking to assure that Kasken was not watching, I let my true powers begin to shine. My finger’s touch began to melt the barrel until the metal collapsed on itself, causing the man’s gun to be useless. I then leaned towards the man and whispered into his ear, “I am the end of time.”
But before I could hear the man’s quivering response, I heard the cry of Kasken, who had fallen to the ground with a man’s lifeless body lying in his arms. Blood began to soak into Kasken’s white clothes and tears welled up in his eyes. He whispered out his apologies as he began to weep. It was clear; he had accidentally killed the man while trying to defend another.
I shook my head, “innocence cannot last a life time.”
And that was the first step towards the end of eternity.
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