“We're all inside, come on.” Nike said cheerfully as he led Mwene through the crowded tavern with people of all races and all shapes and sizes enjoying themselves and living in the moment whilst being shoulder to shoulder to one another. Mwene followed Nike to the back of the earthy, sweaty tavern where three people are sitting next to each other on one side of a picnic table with their backs against the wall. A huge man sat in between two women and stood up when he noticed Mwene coming.
"Mwwweeeeeeennnnnnnnnnneeeeee!” shouted the man with a sharp jawline, a buzzcut and electric blue hair.
'' IIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNYYYYAAAAAANNNNNNGGGGGGAAAAAA" shouted Mwene even louder.
The shouting match continued until eventually they were inches apart from one another at the table. They shook hands, their muscles tense. They didn’t even blink notice until they both burst into laughter.
‘Good to have you back Inyanga’
‘Great to be back on our soil.”
Mwene and Nike sat on the other side of the table where beer glasses filled to the brim with brown beer awaited them. Inyanga sat down and his side of the table abruptly sunk into the ground a bit, much to the surprise of Mwene but not to anyone else at the table.
"Before your tardy appearance, Inyanga was filling us in with how his training went” said Ayla flatly just before taking a sip. Her lime green bowl cut, and banana yellow eyes belied her subdued demeanor. “T’was bull. Mostly ‘em telling ya that we're tools for Ardians. Nothing bout servin’ the greater good or touching the stars and all that polony’’ Inyanga grunted before downing his glass in a single gulp.
“Welcome to the club.” Ayla said dismissively. "So, what happened?” Mwene leaned in. “Nothin much. Kept me head down and impressed the right folk. Now I’m a junior engineer. Just another cog in the machine I suppose” he said while looking away disappointed in himself for a moment. “Enuff bout me though. It’s been two years since I shipped. Surely one of ya is working on a mixtape that will make us quit our silly jobs.” The light in Inyanga’s eyes returned as he and everyone else turned their attention to Anan, who's slender hand shielded her face from the group while using her other hand to take a sip of her beer. Her pale skin made it easy for everyone to notice that she was blushing.
“Come on Anan, tell them what you told me last time.” encouraged Nike. Anan slowly moved her golden hair behind her ear and turned around to reveal her striking violet eyes. “Um... I’ve written songs but work and reading has robbed me of any free time I’ve had.” she said softly.
"Well when you have free time me and Mwene will help you record.” Offered Nike.
“I'll be ya bouncer.” burped Inyanga.
‘I’ll be your stylist because you'll definitely need one, ' smirked Ayla.
A smile gradually grew wider on Anan's face. It felt like the first smile she's worn in weeks. Her face glowed and some other men from nearby tables began to turn and stare. Inyanga and Ayla noticed and gave the men death stares and they promptly turned around. Nike then took out an illustration of a larger than life being seemingly holding up a universe with both of its arms. Its body was toned and very athletic. It had long white hair, but its face was female. It was both masculine but feminine, both beautiful but assertive. It was naked though there were no genitalia.
"The old priest gave me this today. God or so he claimed it was.” said Nike curiously.
“Good to put a face to a name I suppose.” Ayla flatly said as she grabbed the picture.
“Yeah, I nearly hit him while on my way here. He had a look in his eye. He definitely saw something that shook him to his very core” Mwene said sternly
“Bollocks. He's a mad man. Simples.” Dismissed Inyanga.
“I believe Mwene, something was off about him. Some folks even mentioned that as well’ added Nike.
“I wish he's right about doomsday and all that. It'll break the monotony of our lives.” said Ayla dryly.
“Amen to that” blurted Inyanga.
“Mwene, I heard you annoyed some farmers today, what happened now?" Inquired Ayla.
He took a long sip of his beer and a deep breath afterwards.
“Alright, Inyanga. Remember that ship we found, the one we've been rebuilding?”
"Yup.”
“Well, when you left, I found some blueprints about the engine it used. Highly experimental and virtually never ever mentioned in official scientific texts except for in my dad's journals?
The group's faces lit up when they realized just what he hinted at accomplished. Their facial expressions didn't go unnoticed by Mwene, who hit the table with both hands imitating a drum roll.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, the stars are just a bit closer” he said triumphantly
“Ya a mad man, I love it!” bellowed Inyanga.
“Great, I can quit my day job” sighed Anan.
Anan and Nike both smiled at Mwene who smiled back for a while, but his smile gradually died down. They all shared the same sentiment, their smiles slowly died down as well. Mwene suddenly gets an idea and his face lit up with a newfound optimism. He raised his half empty glass of beer and proudly proclaimed
“If the opportunity comes, let's drop everything and find a new place amongst the heavens. Let's go on an adventure and live our lives to the fullest.”
Nike stood up with his glass still full, Inyanga with his glass nearly empty, Ayla with her glass two thirds full and lastly Anan with almost full glass. They all shouted, “Aye!” and drank. Mwene looked around and smiled. All seemed right in his world.
Suddenly a loud crash boomed through the tavern and all its patrons went silent. For a moment nothing happened until a powerful shockwave rocked the entire area. Windows shattered, people flew backwards, the lights went off. Mwene blacked out but only briefly. He woke up to his heart pumping in a dark room filled with smoke and dust. A large figure formed from all the dust and lifted a couple of wooden panels that had Mwene pinned down. Another hand emerged and offered to help him up, which Mwene graciously accepted. He inspected everyone else. They were dusty, shaken but okay. A man rushed into the bar bleeding profusely from his head, “The sky has fallen!”
The crowd rushed and the gang rushed out and looked up about 10 km away. There was a giant gaping hole is in the ceiling with small pieces hanging off around it here and there. Then Mwene realised that the hole is directly over his mother’s home. He rushed to his motorcycle and started it. Nike jumped in front of the bike. “I’m coming with you,” Nike insisted. “No, go to your clinic and get your first aid kit and anything else that will help then head to my home.” instructed Mwene. Nike nodded and ran the opposite direction into the darkness of the town.
Mwene raced home. He tried not to think although it was impossible not to. The landscape was a blur all around him. He tried not to cry. As he got closer to home, he noticed the orange glow of fire. He tried to be focused. Trees were uprooted and scattered across the ground like twigs after a storm. He was almost home and all he could smell was smoke and burning flesh. He tried to keep himself together. He arrived at a hill where his village was at the bottom of and saw something as haunting as it was extraordinary.
A headless being had crashed on his village, completely crushing it underneath its scarred body. He estimated the body was at least 500m in length and must have weighed several hundred tons. He stood there frozen, he recognized the being. Flashes of the picture of God that Nike had shown him early that night. It's tanned skin tone and musculature was identical to the picture. Mwene's head was racing with questions, but one stood out more than others
“Is God dead?” continued to race through his mind.
Then he remembered his mother was home, probably sleeping. He jumped off his motorcycle and raced down the hill. He ran along the leg of the being calling out to his mom and being greeted by silence. He kept running, ignoring the pain in his feet from stepping on broken glass and random bits of bone littered around God's corpse. Eventually he came across something that confirmed his worst fears. He finds his mother's arm sticking out from under the being, completely lifeless. He rushed to it and noticed a wedding ring on the fourth finger of the hand. He went down on his knees and with shaky hands delicately grabbed the arm and stared closely at the ring and saw a name inscribed on it,” Ranulph”.
Mwene completely broke down and hugged his mom's hand and cried softly. He's broken. His mind isn't racing anymore. Nothing mattered except for his mother. He felt helpless. Nothing could have prevented this. Who has the power to stop the death of God? He certainly couldn't. No man could. As the tears flowed from his eyes Mwene felt something push against his shirt from the inside. He opened his eyes and his medallion started to float, his tears as well floated before he did. He tried to grab his mother's hand to keep him grounded but he couldn't get a proper grip and she slipped out of his hands. He noticed a black aura with a subtle white outline surround him. He looked to God’s body and it's on fire. A black smokeless flame consumed it. His medallion is also on fire. Mwene started to panic. Then he caught fire. His eyes turned completely white. He is completely consumed by the black fire. His screams rang out into the quiet, indifferent night.
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