[Editing] Spiral of Light is a pulp fiction novel set in a futuristic grimdark world that is beset by magic monsters and evil. This surreal character driven story follows Centurion Moloch as he journeys across the world of Maja in his duty to protec...
From our spilled blood your jungles grew dense. Our anguished cries only aroused the hunger of your denizens, but we survived, burning you back with fire and the force of will given to desperate beings.
We took the pillars. We built sanctuaries and flourished.
But when we at last began to tame you, you called the Lizards from beyond the stars.
There was only death and unimaginable horror to be found at their claws, but that was always your way.
Nothing weak long survives your embrace, but you have made us strong.
We survived.
We will thrive.
Lamentations of Maja
Historian Jubilee Taete, Illuminated
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The central lift was full today. It brimmed with citizens as they traveled on the expansive platform that moved between the levels of the pillar city. Two Centurions of the Legion were among them, wearing black hooded robes pulled up and fastened tight over their armor, capable of concealing their identities from the casual passerby.
The level lift was so large that its sides disappeared from view in all directions and hundreds of thousands of beings could ride it at any given time, and today it looked like they were.
It was kept dimly lit and very cold, verging on too cold, to prevent the passengers from becoming overheated by the constant mass of bodies.
A large hover sled piled with colorful fresh produce just in from some distant settled estate in the jungle rapidly approached them. An exotic scent wafted out from the cart as it moved alongside the Centurions. Its owner was a older man darkly tanned and shriveled from years spent in the sun. He sat perched on the front seat of the sled, directing a laborer bionic with a small control he kept clutched in his weathered hand. The bionic pulled the sled by grasping two front bars to pull the cart.
"Fancy a taste of my juicy fruit?" The farmer said with a chuckle.
"Perfectly ripe heart melons, just in from Wiltenbad on the coast. You won't find them fresher anywhere in the pillar. Ten ducats for two!"
The Farmer directed the bionic to stop, angling its trajectory with his controller so that his hover sled would block the Centurion's path and force a closer inspection of his wares.
He gripped the side of his seat to steady himself for when the bionic abruptly stopped accustomed to often utilizing this method to accost travelers that he found on the lift. The Farmer quickly reached behind himself and took a fruit from the teeming pile and held it out right in the Centurions face for them to see the quality of the produce.
The Centurion in front waved him away.
"Not today, citizen, now get out of our way and move along." Centurion Moloch said sternly, looking up so that the Farmer might peer into his hood. The other hooded Centurion crossed his arms in annoyance.
