The glow of his Star slowly dulled, taking that enticing awakening sensation with it.
Strange. The call ebbed, yet he had reaped no Soul.
Auren stared at where he was. One of Solar City’s many satellite towers. The grated metal of it was unwavering even against the wind from such a height. It groaned and swayed, built to withstand anything. The top was hexagonal, a small walkway with a thin barrier overlooking the drop below. Auren peered over the edge, not holding on. It did not frighten him. The ground was so far it was shrouded in fog. In the distance, high-reaching skyscrapers pierced through the fog, looking like lonesome beasts crawling up from a cavernous pit of nothing. Atthe very top of the tower, a needle stretched high into the sky, a red light blinking steadily.
Why had he been called here?
His scythe had never failed him. What changed?
Auren prepared to portal away, but something kept his boots stuck to the ground—a sense of knowing. Something deeper than himself.
A preternatural thrum made him still. Slowly, he turned his head, one hand still holding his hood.
Shadows dripped from the top of the needle, pooling down the metal and coiling on the ground. He felt their chill through his boots, yet remained steady—like the tower. With a low hum, the shadows swept up, forming the wavering shape of a man.
Aurenknew.
He bowed his head. "Celestial."
Auren wanted tosee, yet felt as if he looked upon such an ancient, all-knowing entity, his eyes would pop in his skull and turn to liquid, dribbling down his cheeks, unable to remain whole from bearing witness. He stared at the grates below him. Fog slithered over the tips of his boots and disappeared far, far below.
"Soul Searcher." The words filled the windy air. Deep. Masculine.
Auren’s jaw worked. Dare he speak?
"Auren Neris," the Celestial continued, "I have been watching you. Look upon me."
As though a thread lifted his head, he looked up at the shadowed being. It was a dark mass, ripples of glimmering lights nestled inside. The shadow held a man’s shape, but Auren knew this was no man.
"I was called here by you," Auren began. He feared his voice would fail him, but was pleased when it was strong, if quiet withawe. "Celestial, I am here at your bidding. Do with me as you wish."
Atlas lethimself look at the one called Auren Neris—the one fated to Vesperin. He was a strong male. In Soul and body. He was a good fit for her. He would protect her, this Atlas knew well.
Just as Atlas knew, one day he would grow close to the Soul Searcher—though by the time that bond deepened into something like family, he would no longer bear the mantle of a Soul Searcher—he also knew Auren loved Vesperin.
He was saddened that he could not reveal himself fully to Auren, but he had made a vow to himself long ago that the first to truly see him again would be Vesperin.
He held her, felt her in his arms. She had seen his shadow, been nudged by his hand. But he wanted her eyes on his. To be filled with knowing and longing, to slake this ancient ache within him that could only be quelled by her touch, her voice—directed at him.
Atlas felt grief at what was to come.
He pushed the words past his shadowed lips. "I have called you here this night, Auren Neris, because Earth is dying."
Auren resistedthe urge to stagger back. "What? That is not possible. That cannot be—Earth is…" He shook his head. His hand fell from his hood, and the wind succeeded in pushing it back from his face. His blonde hair whipped around him violently, getting in his eyes.
"Dying," the Celestial finished. "The Celestials are angered by the path Earth has taken—the path forced upon it by scheming Souls. The Rogues that have infected Earth since its creation were not planned, but an aberration. A consequence of evil. Earth will die, and every Soul upon it. Soon."
Auren could not take a deep breath. Earth was his planet of charge. It was his. And—Vesperin. He felt faint. She would die. Again. He could not bear the thought. He had to leave with her—with the others. They could take a ship. Now. As soon as he returned. Flee the galaxy. Find a home on a distant planet, one uncharted. They could be voyagers of a new empire.
Unable to stand straight, Auren’s back pressed into the weak, thin railing behind him. It groaned from his weight, the drop looming. He would welcome it to awaken from this nightmare.
"Why tell me this?"
"So you will know and have hope. You will feel the call, greater than ever. You have felt it before, have you not?"
Auren remembered that stirring of unease inside him. It had been transpiring for some time. "Earth has been dying for a while?"
"Yes, and its end draws nearer."
