A CHILLING OMEN

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One day I had a vision so vivid that, when I reflect upon it now, it feels more like a memory. The vision had been propagated through space and time, presumably in the hope that someone might sense its energy and heed the warning within.

The vision depicted a great inter-dimensional cataclysm where a God-like amount of energy was unleashed. After the dispersion of the energy, it created a vacuum which collapsed thousands of dimensions into one, causing an unforeseeable phenomenon. Any person that existed in more than one dimension was eradicated with only their energy remaining.

The consequences of the cataclysm were catastrophic to the earth. Thousands of histories echoed across its surface. The latent energy which lingered after the cataclysm became unstable, binding itself equally to seventeen survivors, the last living things in this single, post-cataclysmic amalgamated dimension.

This energy empowered each survivor beyond belief, granting them new and astonishing abilities while also enhancing existing ones. The amount of energy was almost enough to sustain eternal life, never requiring sustenance or respite. The survivors could sense each other’s energy but only some survivors were attuned to controlling it. One survivor that was extremely attuned to controlling energy was Callan, a king in his time and a true legend and hero of his people. He used his knowledge of magic and harnessed this power to travel at great speeds and gather the survivors.

Initially, the survivors had no means of communicating with one another. Fortunately, however, the eldest among the group was a 94-year-old woman by the name of Freya who was a tribal leader and a master of languages. She had been the impetus that united over one hundred tribes. This required learning each tribe’s intricate way of communicating. She knew how to start a conversation without even speaking and build from there. With Freya’s help, the survivors soon developed their own language and, together, they dubbed their group “The Prime”.

These survivors were truly unique from one another, originating from different dimensions which existed on different timelines. Each member of The Prime was given a role within the new society based on their abilities and experience. The characters with the most notable abilities were:

· Vixo Kalryss - A Psion who could use his abilities to telekinetically move objects and communicate telepathically.

· Amadeus Cyde - An archaeologist. He used this knowledge to find otherworldly artifacts and identify unique and mystifying resources.

· Delta8549307 - An elite soldier known as delta and heavily imbued with cybernetic implant technology.

· Isla Totra - Sorceress and key advisor to an ancient emperor from a dragon dynasty. They practiced a unique form of martial arts and fire magic.

· Aurelia Jinn – An Empath with psychic abilities who could sense emotions in others.

Initially, other members of The Prime had not realised the full potential of their abilities or learned to harness them. They had no significant skills and therefore helped wherever they could but their primary task was labour. One such member was a boy, barely fourteen. His name was Titus and he had been a slave. Callan thought it justified to leave the labour for the others and instead took the boy under his wing and trained him in the ways of magic.

For years The Prime prospered while they shared their skills, wisdom, knowledge, and experiences with one another. Understanding that their past lives were gone forever, each member participated unequivocally. All but one, Isla. Without her leader and secret paramour, the dragon emperor, her world fell apart. She fell deep in melancholy and alienated herself.

The Prime were building the first city when Amadeus found Aurelia unconscious and brutally beaten. He screamed out for help while he examined the body. It appeared that magic had been used to cause such damage. Amadeus was extremely suspicious of the girl’s wounds as each Prime member was impervious to harm from earthly weapons. Vixo arrived first and used his psychic abilities to communicate with Aurelia. He knelt down beside her and held his hand to her forehead. He reached into Aurelia’s mind and called out. He could hear his voice echoing in the sprawling void of her mind. It was like nothing he had ever experienced. Usually someone’s mind is full of memories, thoughts, processes and dreams.

Suddenly Vixo heard a voice in response, barely audible. He plunged deeper into Aurelia’s mind, his eyes rolling into the back of his head, forcing his consciousness fully out his mind and into Aurelia’s. Barely audible, he could hear Aurelia repeating the same sentence again and again but couldn’t make out the words. Within the vast abyss of nothingness he finally located Aurelia. She was facing away from him, knelt down with her arms wrapped around her knees, rocking back and forth. The Psion conjured his bodily image in her mind and approached her on foot. As he approached he started to comprehend the repeating phrase - “There’s a demon inside”.

Vixo hesitated a moment at the thought but remained steadfast in his approach. He reached for Aurelia’s shoulder when suddenly she sensed Vixo’s presence and turned around. The top half of her face was torn off, revealing her mangled brain matter. Blood oozed down the folds of her ruptured nose and cheeks. Aurelia leapt to her feet chanting the words louder. In pure horror, Vixo rushed away with Aurelia chasing him repeatedly screaming.

"There's a demon inside!"

Vixo dissipated his bodily image and purged himself from Aurelia’s mind. He regained consciousness and leapt away from Aurelia’s body, scurrying on his back to get away, breathing heavily and eyes aghast.

Vixo explained to The Prime what he saw, convincing Callan and the group that a demon caused Aurelia’s injuries. With no other option, they locked Aurelia away in a tomb, unconscious but alive, hoping to never uncover it again.

Years later, some of the Prime fell in love and soon after, there were children in the community. The children didn’t share the same gift as their parents, experiencing a normal life cycle. Four centuries passed and the civilisation had flourished into a thriving metropolis with The Prime members heralded as gods among their people.

One fateful morning however, Freya died. The invisible energy within her exploded out, binding itself equally to the remaining sixteen Prime members much like it did in the beginning. Each member could sense Freya’s absence, her energy now part of themselves. All of The Prime members felt comfort in the fact that the much-loved Freya was now a part of them. Callan however, felt apprehensive.

Days later, the same discharge of energy occurred as had befallen after Freya’s death and was again absorbed by the remaining Prime. Someone else had died, but not of natural causes, he had been murdered. The Prime found him with his head ripped off with no other signs of struggle in the surrounding area. Some members of The Prime started to think it could be Aurelia, despite her being locked up in the tomb. Callan dismissed the allegations but secretly checked the exit seal and it was still securely fastened.

Weeks later another Prime member died, then another . . . then another. The Prime members started to fear for their lives. Desperation and fear drove allegations against other members. Isla came under scrutiny as she had not made contact for several hundred years. The members charged into her home expecting the worst but instead found her depressed and wallowing in her own jaded existence. Time had not waned the pain she felt following the loss of the emperor.

The group questioned Isla about the death of the other Primes however she refused to answer their questions. Living a solitary life, it was not as if she could have any real alibi for the time of the murders but Isla did not protest against the allegations. Callan pleaded for Isla to answer for he knew she couldn’t be the killer but she just stared sadly into the distance and would not speak.
The group, led by Delta, were scared and desperate. They seized upon Isla’s apparent weakness and lack of alibi, demanding blood. Callan tried to reason with the group but with no success. Ultimately, with Isla failing to defend herself and refusing to speak to him, he handed Isla over to Delta to execute and imbued his ballistic knife with magic.

Pitifully, Isla dropped to her knees and, without speaking, peacefully accepted her fate, as if welcoming her impending execution to bring an end to her sadness. Delta plunged his knife deep into Isla’s chest, penetrating her heart.

The lifeforce within Isla was strong and as she knelt there mortally wounded and bleeding profusely, she suddenly became shocked and confused. She spoke just two words before dying:

“Your name . . .”

Over the next few weeks more members of The Prime were found murdered in the most gruesome ways. Callan ordered all members to stay in their chambers while he and Vixo investigated. The desperation intensified and soon there was a strong opinion among the group that Aurelia was the cause of the killings. The Prime forced Callan to uncover the tomb of Aurelia only to find her still alive but unconscious laying on the same slab of stone.

Her wounds had not healed, even after all that time. After much deliberation, Callan found himself outnumbered and took it upon himself to end Aurelia’s life. Callan prepared an execution block with Aurelia’s lifeless head hanging over the edge, the six living Prime members standing around him. He imbued his claymore with magic, preparing for the execution. Callan raised his weapon above his head head when suddenly a vision entered his mind - he could see Aurelia’s face and the hideous wounds afflicted to it. She screamed at him:

"There's a demon inside!"

Callan collapsed, dropping his weapon. Concerned for Callan’s well-being, the Psion stepped in, wielding his sword, and decapitated Aurelia. The vision faded from Callan’s mind. In private Callan confided in Vixo what he saw, providing to Vixo every gruesome detail. It lined up perfectly with what Vixo had seen in Aurelia’s mind.

Believing they were now safe, The Prime let their guard down. During the night three Prime members were slain in quick succession. It seems whoever or whatever was killing The Prime was getting more powerful. Delta demanded that the members group together - one of them was surely the killer.

They looked at each other, none of them showing any signs of dishevelment or had any blood on their hands. Delta then demanded that the Psion enter each person’s mind to try and find proof that they were the killer. None of the remaining Prime disagreed. The Psion entered each member’s mind and looked through their memories, thoughts and processes, yet he couldn’t find anything incriminating.

Vixo paced the courtyard for hours, deep into the night, reflecting upon each member’s mind when suddenly there was another dispersion of energy. The ferocity of the dispersions became more intense as fewer members shared the energy. Each remaining member of the prime gained exponential amounts of power.

Vixo ran to the source of the dispersion to find a concerned Callan standing over the now slain Delta, with Titus behind him. Amadeus arrives soon after, the final four Prime members now sharing the same space, the killer among them. They looked around the room, eyeing each other off, hoping to identify an iota of guilt.

Vixo thought back to the minds of The Prime, the first kill, the warning to Callan before Aurelia was executed and finally, the dying words uttered by Isla…
An expression of horror passed across Vixo’s face as he had a chilling realisation…

The Demon, is in Cyde.