The Last of the Anointed

Chapter 6: Those Without Name

She was their saviour. Their creator, their salvation. They owed their everything to her. Yet she continued to look after them, not seeking reward or compensation. A beneficial protector. The world she'd crafted was perfect...wasn't it?

Yet Bryn stood immobile.

Her world around her, changing ever so slightly. People came and went as fast as the years, people she'd come to care for gone in an instant. Bryn could see it all; she was atop it like the tallest tower. Overlooking her lands, seeing all. She ruled over all. Yet she could do nothing. She was frozen there. Why couldn't she move?

Time passed by her like the wind, leaving her stranded. She could do nothing to stop it. Her state ever constant, ever unchanging. Was she to remain like this until the end of days? Would there even be an end of days?

But...was that not good? Bryn was their leader, their protector. Without her, would they not fall into discord? If she were to change, everything would fall apart. What good would it do if she were to break her way free of her chains? Would it really be worth it to try something different, in exchange for the downfall of everything she'd worked for? In exchange for the lives of billions?

Somehow, Bryn thought it might just be. Was that so wrong? If she was the cause of their being, she ought to be able to decide when they would stop being. They could not stop her. She was above them.

But Bryn knew...she would not be able to go on with it. She was eternal, and so eternally would she suffer the guilt. A fate worse than mortal guilt. At least if she were mortal, she could end herself to escape the guilt. But an interminable being such as she would never be free of guilt's shackles. She wouldn't be able to do it. Ever.

Of course, the choice was not hers in the first place. She could not move. She was locked in this position, by herself, ironically. If only she could be like those she'd once known. Some of them were broken, so far gone that such a choice wouldn't be an issue. She imagined some of them might have already made it. Bryn could not be that sort of person. She was stuck by her own hand, forever atop her creations.

And so Bryn stood, a statue for her people to gaze up at. A remnant of a time long past, a leader of a time long stale.

But...she could be content with this. This world wasn't so bad, after all.

Chaos awakened.

Bryn tried to gasp in shock and horror, but she was unmoving, unchanging. The beast she'd thought long dead awoke inside of her, coming from within her very veins. It poured out of her, devouring all it could reach. Like a starving predator it ate Bryn's creations. All she could do was stand and watch as Renz, Teskon, everyone she knew, her entire world, was swallowed whole.

And Bryn could do nothing about it.

It was over in a flash. Munnolia was gone, and in its place empty darkness. Just like the beast wanted it. Just like he'd tried to do all those years ago. How? How had he returned? He'd been defeated!

It was over.

The darkness dissolved into...well, more darkness. Bryn sat upright quickly in her bed, gasping for air as her head spun wildly about. She could see nothing, but that was only because of the pitch blackness her room provided. Munnolia...it was still here, still present. Chaos had not consumed it.

So why did Bryn have such a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach?

Trying to ignore it, Bryn hit the bell to alert her attendants. They came rushing into the room, bearing the day's reports. As they prattled off, Bryn could barely pay attention. What had that dream been? Surely nothing more than a common dream? But it was so strange. She'd thought she'd banished all thoughts of her old life from her mind, even her subconscious. She hadn't had a dream of that time in over several millennia, after all.