Divine Apostasy Book 11 - Preface

Hey! Here is the preface I mentioned earlier. Obviously, this isn't a comprehensive summary. I tried to hit the items a reader would benefit from remembering to enjoy book eleven. I also have an author's note at the end I plan on including. Please let me know if I missed anything that should be there and if my author's note makes sense. Thanks so much!!!!

Preface

Tarot slipped into the dimensional storage disguised as an earring that Lylan touched far too often for a Shade with her training. Dimensional Inventory normally kept items time suspended, but the twenty-two golems here were far from normal.

The earring was a small pocket world that Tarot had stolen from a powerful Creation Realm being that had ventured too far into the Material Realm long ago. Lylan saw the typical Inventory grids when using it to store the tiny golems, but in reality, the golems had free rein in this domain.

Tarot stood on the shore of a small lake. Black liquid stretched like polished obsidian, not a ripple in sight. He knew his brothers and sisters observed him from concealed positions and wouldn’t willingly expose their locations. He’d need to bait them into revealing themselves.

That was okay. Tarot understood the resentment they held. He could come and go as he pleased from this world, the only golem capable of such a thing. And even though he brought them billions of fate fragments to keep them up-to-date on the outside world, it only increased their resentment.

Tarot removed a silver pouch from his right hip and upended it over the lake surface. Hairlike silver threads poured from the bag. He was a Thieving Misfortune Golem, technically “cursed,” although he didn’t really consider thieving a curse. He quite enjoyed it. And the misfortune only applied to others. Rightfully so, since being linked to him was such an honor, the Universe had to balance it with some bad luck. Although, Ruwen had figured out a way to counteract even that.

The billions of fate fragments entering Mirror Lake would be studied and used by his siblings to assist in their divinations, auguries, and fortunes. None of those fates really mattered though. Everyone, near and far, orbited the fate of one person, Ruwen Starfield, and he contorted fate so drastically that collecting any of his fragments was impossible. They called him Fate Weaver. So while the fragments Tarot had brought provided plenty of entertainment to pass the time, they weren’t what really interested everyone.

All twenty-two golems had arrived, although they remained hidden among the trees, bushes, and rocks around the lake. Tarot spoke loudly to himself. Providing them with the information they desperately desired but were too proud or shy to ask for.

“Fate Weaver died,” Tarot said, unable to resist.

Multiple gasps echoed in the silence and three of Tarot’s sisters stepped out of hiding, their eyes wide.

The last of the fate threads dropped into Mirror Lake and Tarot returned the bag to his hip. He reached into another bag and removed a gong far larger than himself that he’d stolen from Blapy. He placed it in the liquid and pushed off the shore, using the gong as a raft.

Tarot started near the beginning as many of his brothers and sisters had foggy memories. He used the dramatic gestures, poses, and inflections he’d perfected over the eons.

“Ruwen Starfield, Champion of Uru, Ascended as a common Worker. Survival thrust him into the Black Pyramid where Sift Adda, the Soaring Sage himself, guided Ruwen down the path of the Bamboo Viper Step Clan.”

Tarot jumped to the other side of the gong and threw an arm in the air theatrically. “Despite the efforts of the evil Dungeon Keeper Blapy, Ruwen survived, only to be cast into the Spirit Realm by the mysterious deity Naktos, who had almost finished his preparations to invade Uru’s kingdom. Ruwen escaped the Spirit Realm with the help of his best friend Sift, the holy Priestess Hamma, and the Shade Lylan.”

Glancing at the handful of golems that had unconsciously stepped out of hiding, Tarot continued solemnly. “Ruwen arrived just in time for war. He awoke the Third Temple, bringing Lir back to life. Our noble champion defeated Naktos and his ally the Infernal Lord Lalquinrial who had secretly brought his demons to destroy the Third Temple.”

Tarot walked around the edge of the gong as he continued, his voice easily carried in the silence. “Then disaster! The soul-bond of our hero, the Perception Wyrm Rami, triggered an Ink Lord’s trap. Ruwen absorbed the mental attack to shield Rami which caused a sliver of his mind to sheer away. Thus, Overlord was born, the first inhabitant of Ruwen’s fertile mind. After learning critical information, Sift and Ruwen threw their semi-final match of the Step Championship so they could rescue Lylan’s brother from prison.”

“But it was a trap!” Tarot said in a stage whisper. “Once again, our hero sacrificed himself for his friends, and the evil mistress of Fate—” Tarot paused while many of the golems hissed. “Yes, the System’s most diabolical sub-routine flexed her power and threw our poor hero to the far reaches of the Universe. Ruwen and Overlord worked together to understand the Architect Role that the goddess Uru had transferred to Ruwen while his friends traveled in the Elder Star Tortoise Shelly to rescue him.”

Tarot tapped his temple. “Things were growing in Ruwen’s mind. Narrators. Born from the Ink Lord’s trap that still resided inside our hero’s mind. When Uru sent a warning to Ruwen with a projection of herself, instead of allowing the ghostly messenger to die, he sheltered her within his mind, and Uruziel was born. Our group of friends had barely returned safely when disaster struck again.”

Tarot stood up straight and tried his best to offer a conflicted expression. “The Aspect of Death herself, Echo, ambushed Ruwen in the Black Pyramid. Using her Aspect of Death she triggered the Scarecrow Aspect that had attached itself like a parasite to our hero. It teleported Ruwen to the Infernal Realm of Lalquinrial, inside a prison designed and waiting for his arrival.”

Crouching, Tarot moved quickly from one side of the gong to the other. “They underestimated our hero! He escaped their prison, risking his own life once again by pushing his core to its limits. This took Ruwen to a sacred place—Pen’s Divine Realm. For the first time Ruwen met the Goddess Miranda in person and learned she’d been trapped there since Pen’s sacrifice to destroy the Darkness that had threatened to consume all things. This was the place Pen’s poem the Third Secret referenced, and from where Ruwen would someday fulfill the Fourth Secret by returning the Spirit to the Universe.”

“Who remembers the great awakening?” Tarot asked as he turned in a slow circle. All twenty-two of his brothers and sisters now stood on the shore, and most raised their hands immediately. “Yes, a turning point during Ruwen’s Step Master trial. As he perfected his understanding of the Bamboo Viper Steps and erased the last of the barriers between himself and enlightenment, it happened.”

Tarot grew solemn as befitted an event of such magnitude. “Ruwen Starfield bestowed free will on the occupants in his mind. A gift that provided every Narrator with a path to self-actualization. In that moment, Ruwen found true balance for the first time. Its gift to him was Harmony. An ability to see the underpinnings of the Universe—to hear the conversation of existence.”

Sadness entered Tarot’s voice. “If he’d uncovered Harmony earlier, learned its secrets, perhaps he could’ve saved his classmates as four Infernal Aspects murdered them. We all remember how strongly Fate exerted her power that day to end Ruwen Starfield once and for all. The vortex of destiny whirling around him disregarded her desires, snapped her control, and threatened her authority. Ruwen, standing in the blood of a catastrophe, teetering on the brink of complete devastation, discovered an unlikely ally who arrived on a pale horse. Death herself, Echodriel, defied her father the Infernal Lord, and opposed his other Aspects. Only four survived the Step Master trial, bound together by shared tragedy and a celestial oath.”

Tarot wiped his cheeks and took a moment to let the sorrow dissipate. “With a heavy heart and a cloak of guilt pulled tightly to himself, our hero struggled to master Harmony. His friends, both internal and in the Material Realm, helped him regain his balance. It was in this delicate state he transitioned into Divinity, becoming an Angel, and propelling his enemies to act.”

Holding up two hands, Tarot raised six fingers. “Six deities descended from heaven to ambush our fledgling god. In an epic act of betrayal, the destructive nihilist Narrator Nameless demanded freedom from Ruwen’s mind. The Infernal Lord Lalquinrial eagerly accepted Nameless, and the two departed. The attackers, unprepared for our hero’s strength, desperately attempted to flee, but not before he’d killed two of them and severely injured a third.”

“Never had the stakes been so high,” Tarot continued as he slowly lowered his hands. “Ruwen Starfield had become a Divine Apostasy, a faithful follower who now strode his own path as a god. His ascent to Angel had partially released the System from the prison Aeonrial, the creator of this Universe, had placed it.”

Tarot looked into the cloudless blue sky. “Aeonrial left a guardian over this Universe, the Sentinel, and it was forced to act. Pulled from their silent grief, they stopped the System from communicating to the Outerverse. Afterall, if the Spire, the Outerverse’s master System, discovered the purpose or location of this Universe, complete annihilation would quickly follow.”

“The Sentinel’s efforts couldn’t stop every change in this Universe however, and as the local System discovered more of its restricted and modified programming the adjustments became evident. Outerverse faction quests appeared to Ruwen, and portals materialized leading to strange fragments of destroyed Outerverse civilizations. New concepts, Outerverse technologies, and strange magic began to seep into Aeonrial’s carefully nurtured experiment.”

“Now we approach Ruwen’s death,” Tarot said, doing his best to look grave. “The Muses acted as a catalyst, their greed for knowledge and power led them deep into the Destruction Realm. The Shadows there, inevitably, consumed them. They used an alchemy contest to obtain the items required to salvage their terrible miscalculations. Following these Muses is how our hero ended up at the bottom of the Destruction Realm.”

“Betrayal!” Tarot shouted and all twenty-two golems jumped in surprise. “The Scarecrow Aspect Ruwen absorbed long ago as he fled the Spirit Realm sabotaged every attempt to escape the enemies that had gathered on the island of Five Towers. He destroyed a Havoc Sovereign and captured the creatures Destruction Core. When Lalquinrial and his allies arrived, and the Scarecrow Aspect wouldn’t allow our hero to escape, he attempted to partially absorb the Destruction Core.”

“Disaster,” Tarot whispered, and half the golems stepped into the lake, not wanting to miss any of the details. “Hidden inside the core was a powerful Outerverse artifact.” Tarot snapped his fingers. “In an instant, Ruwen Starfield was consumed by Destruction essence.”

Tarot took a dramatic pause. Waiting three seconds to let the tension build, before he shrugged. “Perhaps our hero could’ve survived it, but his enemies remained nearby. Lalquinrial, with his allies Nameless and the Inquisitor from the Black Pyramid prison, didn’t let the opportunity pass. The Infernal Lord, with a powerful strike, annihilated our hero, destroying his body.”

“Ruwen Starfield was no more.”

 More gasps and cries of disbelief from Tarot’s siblings. He let it drag on for five seconds before shaking his head. “Oh, yea of little faith. Is Fate Weaver so easy to vanquish?”

Tarot paused until he thought his siblings might attack and then raised his finger. “Vaporizing Ruwen’s body is one thing, but destroying his mind is another. Who among our hero’s enemies is capable of such a thing. No one. With the aid of his internal friends, he collected the remnants of his previous life. Then, rising from the ashes of obliteration, a new form stood.”

“Ruwen Starfield had escaped his human body and been reborn as a Saraph. No longer Ruwen Starfield, our hero claimed a new heritage, a lineage of nobility and immense power. He stood at the bottom of the Destruction Realm with a new name—Ruin Val’dor.”

Tarot raised his right arm and squeezed the area between his bicep and shoulder. “Ruin wears the very band that destroyed his human form—the mysterious artifact from the Havoc Sovereign’s core.”

“Will Ruin Val’dor survive?” Tarot asked. He shrugged. “Rami, using strange new Void abilities, has found him, but neither has the experience to survive the Destruction Realm. And our hero has lost his most powerful ability—Harmony. Out of balance and unable to utilize his new Destruction core, the future appears bleak. Thankfully, Fate, may she choke on the strands of her own prophecies, struggles to reach the depths of the Destruction Realm. Perhaps that will be enough for Ruin to regain his balance and seize his destiny once again.”

Most of Tarot’s siblings displayed obvious signs of anger at his manipulation of the truth. Ironic considering the purpose they all served. As befitted a Thieving Misfortune Golem of his stature and skill, he’d predicted this.

Tarot removed a golden bag from his left hip, released its shields, and held it up. All twenty-two golems went still, hypnotized by the energy radiating from the container.

“I come with gifts,” Tarot said, turning in a circle so all could feel the compelling strangeness the container projected.

Tarot opened the bag. “We all know how difficult Ruwen’s destiny is to see, how he cloaks those around him as well. Even Fate is blind near him. But something profound has happened inside his mind. We all feel it. The beings he’s created, the divine fragment he harbors, they spend more and more time in the Material Realm.”

Looking up from the golden bag he glanced around at the other prophetic golems: blessed, cursed, fortune, and misfortune. “I’ve collected the frayed edges of fate and loose threads of destiny these mental constructs carry. How can such entities possess their own fate and destiny? What does it mean that such a thing is possible?”

Tarot held up the bag. “The threads aren’t silver. It’s like they come from a different Universe all together. What is happening inside his mind?”

With that said, Tarot turned the bag upside down so the golden threads he’d collected could join the silver threads from those in this universe.

All twenty-two golems dived into the lake, eager to examine these strange golden threads of fate. Tarot sat on the gong and returned the bag to his hip. He closed his eyes and swayed, putting his hands against the cold metal to keep his balance.

The brief vision only reinforced what Tarot already knew. Ruwen had taken a second name, and soon, he’d gain a third. He remained the focal point for this entire universe but remained opaque to the golems. If they wished to fulfill their purpose, they’d need a way to see through the vortex of fate circling Ruwen Starfield. And to do that, they’d need to be complete.

It was time for Tarot to find his thirteen missing brothers and sisters.

[Author’s Note – I didn’t originally intend to expose so much of the Divine Apostasy Outerverse in these eleven-books. Because I have, however, I wanted to reveal my plans to help manage expectations. Currently my plan is to finish the original arc of the series in the next few books. Then, I’ll start a new series where the survivors from this arc can address the Outerverse. Thank you so much for your support.]