Secret societies

She and the lightbringer walked for hours. Eventually he lost his patience and asked,

Where are we going?

To get my army.

What do you mean your army?

Yes, I have an army. Well, several actually. Is that really so surprising?

How the f— Haven’t you spent the last few centuries in prison?

When he seized power, I knew he would come for me. So I sent my true believers to build hidden cities with the promise that I would one day come back and multiply their lands.

That sounds like a ponzi.

Shut up. Anyway, he eventually captured me, yes. Heh, he thought he had won, banning my religion and killing my followers because ‘we were dangerous to life’. For fuck’s sake! We!? When all we did was give people hope, order and something greater than themselves. But, noooo, that vindictive, resentful motherfucker couldn’t understand that!

Now she was screaming.

He dragged me to that-that god-awful cage for two thousand and forty-eight long miserable fucking years! FFUUUUUUUUUUUUCCKK.

He tried to appease her by taking her hands as she ranted, worried that someone might hear her. Then she broke down in cries and fell on her knees.

He murdered my chil—She choked on her own words and had to stop to breathe—I just hope the others are fine. I’m sure, I-They have to be.

He crouched to be face to face with her.

Who? What did he do? Tell me,

He crushed my army. He murdered my friends. And then, then he hunted down as many of my disciples as he could. You know, just because they stood up to him. Just like he did with everyone who opposed him or refused to obey him.

She let go a long sigh and continued,

But thank the gods he didn’t know about my secret societies.

He wiped her tears and they walked together for days. They crossed rivers and valleys, day and night. Eventually they reached a large mountain surrounded by a forest and some smaller mountains. She said,

We’re here! This is it, the home of my firstborn. They always loved me above everything else. We will be greeted like gods. Come, the entrance is hidden in a well, north of the mountain. They-they loved building lairs, dens and burrows into mountains. We’ll find a lot of them, you’ll see. We just—

She threw up. Her face turned blue. He kneeled and asked her,

Oh god, are you ok?

As they approached the mountain, her condition worsened. Soon she could barely walk, talk or see. He carried her to the bottom of the well. She whispered,

Take—ring.

She offered him her delicate right hand and he took the ring from her, well, ring finger. He jumped down to the bottom of the well. His body’s unnatural light was enough to reveal the marks on the wall. There was a loose stone with a round-shaped indent. He pushed the ring against it and the wall unlocked. He pushed the wall aside and stepped into the darkness.

He walked a long tunnel that eventually led into an open hall, with secondary tunnels heading off to other chambers. He stood there for a while, contemplating in horror the burnt altars and the scattered furniture. All the walls were covered with faded marks, many of which used to be full circles. He entered one of the secondary tunnels. After a while he began to hear the echoes of loud screams, but he didn’t know where they were coming from.

He grasped his sword and held it in front of him. He walked slowly until he reached a huge room that used to be a dining hall. There was a mass grave in the middle with hundreds of charred, mummified bodies.

Holy fuck. She can’t see this, her heart will break.

He heard an anemic sound echoing loud and irregularly through the walls behind him. He pointed his sword at the sound. Crawling on hands and knees, she appeared, gasping for air, her eyes seeking what she already knew. She reached for him with her arms as she plummeted to the ground. She stopped crying long enough to say,

Wh-where are they? Why haven’t they come to see me?

He said nothing, looking at the ground. He did not let her crawl past him to the room where the bodies rested.

No! No, no, no!

She pounded on his chest while she cried. Her tears lit up the room, sparkling as they hit the ground. Finally he accompanied her to the mass grave.

NNOOOOOOOOO!

She choked on her own cries and stopped breathing. He loaded her on his shoulders and rushed her out of the dead den. He ran swiftly, tirelessly, never looking back. Two days later she woke up and spoke softly, staring at the infinite, trying to make sense of what she had seen.

Why? We… uh, we meant no harm. Why did he kill all of them?

She went silent for hours.

He won’t stop. Evil never stops…

Tears rolled down her cheek. Since she was too weak to walk, he carried her to the next place where her followers waited. Finally they reached a forest where all the red leaves in the trees stood impervious to the seasons. In a corner of the forest, hidden by the fallen leaves and some bushes, there was a rusty trapdoor sealed with chains.

She removed the leaves, the bushes and the chains. Then she opened the door and rushed inside, the lightbringer close behind her. They walked down some stairs and walked through a dark tunnel with torches on either side. The torches lit up as she walked past them. He feared another oversized tomb was waiting for them so he said,

This place looks abandoned, we will find nothing here. We should move on to the next—

Oh, but you see, this place looks abandoned like it should. A deceitful cover for a city, don’t you think? It didn’t work for—

The words choked on her throat and she had to pause.

But I know these good men and women were saved, I can feel it.

Soon they reached a wall with symbols and engravings on it. A small round carving at the center of the stone waited for her.

They… they are what kept me alive and allowed me to recover.

She reached with her hand into the wall. Light shone from the center of the wall, illuminating the engravings as it spread. The wall trembled at first, but finally opened. In front of them stretched a massive underground city.

All the buildings had been built upside-down, as the ground was dug. In front of them a market with many floors extended both below and in front of them, with a great space between two separated floors of rock. There were many bridges to cross from one side to the other and the occasional stair to descend into the lower levels. Every citizen stopped what they were doing when she opened the door, and they all stood in silence. Thousands of souls watched her in awe. She flew above all to say,

I have returned, my children.

The crowds cheered for her, applauding and reaching out with their hands in ecstasy.

You kept me alive while I was captive in the abyss. But now I’m free and I’ve come to you. Together we will do great things, just as I promised long ago. All the lands on this continent will be yours. Never again will you or your children have to hide. We will remove the curse on the land and reclaim the world!

When she finished her speech the crowds applauded and whistled. Then, with one voice, they recited the ancient words she had taught them,

Make our flame burn bright, in the darkest hour, in the darkest night.

She came down to the floor and invited the lightbringer to walk with her through the city. The crowds reached out with their hands to touch them, calling out:

Savior! Savior!

She and the lightbringer were taken to the finest chambers in the whole city, but they were not tired. She laid in an enormous bed, with her arms wide open, and cried tears of joy. Shortly after her tears turned bitter with anguish for her lost children. She noticed how he stared at her, so she wiped her tears and smiled, saying,

Let’s go, there’s lots to do.