The Eye

5|A Miraculous Feat

The crystal caves were nothing short of a wonder despite the fact that he had been there countless times. The cave, which was located countless miles due east of the fortress, with it's glittering walls filled with particles of crystals, and the numerous chambers filled with shiny stalagmites and stalactites always left Gerald breathless in astonishment.

It was hard to find anything tangible in the emptiness that formed the Northern society. And harder to find anything along the Red desert which according to history had once been one great ocean. Now, it was empty barren land stretching for miles and miles obstructed by the occasional rock or desert plant that had somehow come to thrive there. But somehow, on one of their expeditions when they first escaped to the Northern society, they stumbled across the cave buried beneath the baked sand. And there they discovered the largest deposit of crystals known to mankind. At least that was how his parents narrated it. And that in itself was a miracle.

Many decades later, and these crystals were one of the most important resources the Outcasts used for survival. After being cut off from most of the technology that made the world digital, the Outcasts were lucky to find such a multipurpose resource.

Only few of the Outcasts knew that it wasn't luck and there were fewer who cared to share the source of their deliverance.

And Gerald wished he was one of those fewer people who had the confidence to share it but he knew that it was just a wish. He cared too much about what the Outcasts would say to him if he told them. It embarrassed him, but for all the knowledge of how shameful it was, he couldn't bear to speak a word of it.

"We have to leave soon". Cassano observed. His deep gravelly voice made it hard to discern what he said most times but Gerald managed to hear him above his thoughts.

"Yes". Gerald hummed half-hertedly.

"What's the matter?" Cassano asked softly, if his coarse whisper could count as being soft.

"Have you ever forgotten Yahweh". Gerald murmured quietly.

The older man was taken aback. When was the last time he heard someone acknowledge the existence of Yahweh? Heck, he didn't even know the last time that he  himself acknowledged Him. 

"A lot". Cassano finally said with a sad smile. "But that is the beauty of it. We forget about him yet he remembers us and keeps sustaining us".

"It makes me feel like a fraud".

Cassano didn't know what to say. He wasn't used to seeing Gerald so heartbroken and sad and he definitely wasn't used to preaching to people. That was usually up to Brandon. But he realized how much Gerald needed encouragement and he was determined to give it to him.

please give me utterance. Cassano prayed.

Honesty.

That word rand in his mind and he smiled. He was going to be honest to Gerald.

"I also feel like a fraud whenever I forget him. I feel like I'm ungrateful". Cassano turned to Gerald.

"Do you know what I always do whenever I feel that way?".

"What do you do?".

"I ask Him for forgiveness and try to be better".

"And the process of trying isn't easy. We are human and we tend to be selfish and greedy and ungrateful, so it's hard to discipline ourselves. But when we ask Him for help to be able to always be grateful, we would realize that we'll be able to accomplish it".

Gerald was mulling over Cassano's words when the head of the miners ran out frantically from the tunnel to the left.

"It's almost dusk". The man said coarsely flashing his pocket watch at the two men.

As he said it, Gerald suddenly realized that the temperature had dropped drastically. The entrance to the cave was still far back so he couldn't see how dark it was out, but he could feel it. And if the head miner's watch was anything to go by, they had just few hours worth of daylight to make it back to the fortress.

"Let's call it a day". Cassano said to the man who hurried back to the men in the inner chambers of the cave.

The first thing that Gerald noticed as he emerged at one of the inner chambers of the cave was the darkness. The darkness was very severe that he stumbled in the dark for a while before he managed to turn on his headlights. The chamber stretched high and wide coating everything beyond a few few feet in darkness. The darkness was disturbed here and there by the headlights of the miners and the iridescent glowing of some of the crystals. But aside that, it was a large room of dancing shadows.

As he progressed further, the air became dense. He could not only smell it but could also taste it. The air tasted like sweat, rocks and must making him choke on his breath. If he thought that the outer chamber smelled horrible, the inner chambers smelled worse.

Noise vibrated all around him as miners chatted in gruff tones, pick axes shattered more rocks and cogs turned. By the times he got to where they placed the crystals in the carts, he was overwhelmed. But it didn't surprise him, this always happened everytime he ventured to the cave.

He helped the men sort through the crystals manually, setting apart the purer crystals from the ones that were coated with rocks. The crystals were then placed in the carts where a rail system voyaged them to the entrance of the cave. By the time they successfully got the crystals to the entrance of the cave alongside themselves, it was already too late to escape the climate.

Beyond the mouth of the cave, darkness encroached despite the fact that it was barely evening. That's how the winters in the north were. And in wastelands such as the Red desert, they had to deal with the fierce winds and biting cold alongside the darkness.

Gerald glanced miserably at their bikes which safeguarded them against none of the elements. The trip to the fortress would take 4 hours if they sped at 120 miles per hour. And that speed was definitely unattainable with the wind blowing directly against them.

"You worry too much". Cassano said with a warm smile crinkling the corners of his eyes.

"How can I not worry".

"The execution is for Yahweh, all you have to do is have faith".

Gerald didn't understand how he could have faith when their lives were being actively threatened by brutal climate. As they spoke, his hands were starting to turn cold and he hadn't even started the journey. He felt like he was leading the people to their death.

"You're worrying again".

Gerald mounted one of the bikes and started it. The engine hummed softly, rumbling beneath him.  He checked the battery life and chocked on his breath, the crystal reserve was almost depleted. He turned to the other miners and from their grim faces concluded that they also knew.

Would they make it across the Red desert with the level of crystal power left or would they be stranded in the middle of the brutal climate?. Gerald realized that he was worrying again. He slightly shook his head as if to shake off the thoughts rampaging his mind.

A little faith.