Rilestone's Reach

Author's Note: This is another excerpt from the Rilestone stories, one that is a "Part 2" of the "Rilestone: Fullfillment" short story.

It has been over a week since the vision came unto Rilestone, one that raised more questions than answers even from those that were older and wiser than him. His parents could not answer for this alleged prophecy, nor his uncles or aunts, nor his cousins or friends. Even the people working at S.U.I.T (Super Uniform Individual Tactician) could only speculate; his friend, Jist, had an idea that it had to relate to rumors preluding events that led to World War Three, from genetic manipulation to supernatural dealings. Perhaps this was also connected to the end of the world via the Book of Revelations? "But these are rumors," she stated, "and whatever evidence that might shed light upon them was either hidden, taken, or destroyed by the former politicians. Right now, we can only monitor their hidden locations as we deal with the consequences of their actions."

There was only one other person who could shed light on these allegations, that being Simon Delano Raxis. Rilestone remembered that Simon's father, a doctor of extreme immoralities, was involved with those politicians as well as with biological practices now considered war crimes. Since his betrayal of S.U.I.T, Simon was last seen dragging away fresh corpses upon a barge before disappearing into the night.

Rilestone was his witness.

He shook his head; there was no reason to dwell on whether or not he should have stopped Simon there and then, as that ship had sailed (no pun intended). Now was the time to find out if this vision, this wording about the kin of Four, had something to do with events that happened not even that long ago. But if the answers couldn't be found amongst his peers and elders, where could he look?

The day had passed by again, a reminder of the mortality of Creation. As with so many before him, he turned his head away from the ground and looked to the sky. If he couldn't find an answer below, perhaps from above?

The sky darkened.

Just then, lights erupted before his eyes. He shielded his face, an involuntary reaction. When nothing else happened, he lowered his hands to perceive the glowing eminence glaring back at him. It was a sea of red and orange, with great yellow domes piercing the fiery veils with only small dark holes puncturing their centers.

Eyes! They were gargantuan eyes!

Turning away from the sky, Rilestone looked to the trees but saw none; instead, a great population of tubes loomed before him, the glass reflecting the red light of the current sky. Surging lines of electric currents were running underneath the tubes as bubbles formed inside the liquid solution. Something was moving within...

A great bell sounded. The toll shook the very landscape, nearly causing Rilestone to fall. As he regained his footing, he heard the distinct sound of cracking, like ice being broken under pressure. He beheld the tubes, now sporting the breakage upon the glass like black lightning, moving slowly but with the similar purpose as its natural comparison. Within seconds...

SNAP.

There was no individual popping of the tubes; the glass across each one broke open simultaneously. The rain of sharp crystal that stood as the barrier between the world and whatever monstrosities hid inside the containers were flying in all directions before being swallowed up by the wave of the liquid solution, pushing out with power and speed towards the home where Rilestone stood. An inordinate wind was pushed forward by the tsunami, ripping the grass off of the ground and straining the house as Rilestone braced himself against the maelstrom.

The eyes in the sky seemed to grow larger. It took a moment for Rilestone to realize that such wasn't the case; the eyes had moved closer. What's more was that they no longer focused on him, but upon the moving wall of the solution heading his way.

A red splotch appeared in the solution, exploding into a diseased blotch discoloring the front of the wave. From this splotched canvas, tiny forms appeared. With the liquid closing in on his position, Rilestone was granted one more discernment.

Infants. Or, at least, what appeared to be blood-colored infants.

The eyes closed, but the orange-red veil still covered the sky. Before the liquid hit him, Rilestone saw the infants rear up within the solution, screaming into the sky in a chorus of a haunting note that pierced his mind. As they sand their shrill note, the infants opened their eyes, revealing those same yellow orbs that were previously hovering in the sky, staring into Rilestone's soul.

A pair of powerful hands reached out and grabbed him before there was an impact from the tsunami from Hell.

"Rilestone?"

He blinked several times. The sky was dark, but it was the stars now peering down upon him and not giant eyes. He struggled to look behind him, anticipating that dirge of damnation coming upon the surge of devastation. The hands shook him.

"Rilestone!"

He finally looked up into the familiar eye of the man holding him. There was the trademark hairstyle of the Silver family before him, with a dark-blue eye leering over him with concern as a pale orb next to it stared off into the surroundings.

Rilestone finally found his voice. "U...Un...Uncle...B...B-Ben?"

The man relaxed his grip. "Man, kiddo, you spun and almost fell backwards! Are you dizzy? Do you need to lie down?" The man's face came closer to Rilestone's, both of their dark-blue eyes being both another trademark of the Silver family as well as trying to read each other in that moment. "Rilestone, it's me, your Uncle Benjamin. Your dad called me over, where is he? More importantly, are you okay right now?"

Rilestone closed his eyes, allowing his heart to slow down before he could speak. "I-it happened again. Uncle, I had another vision!"

This revelation left a quizzical expression upon the uncle's face. "Another vision? I've yet to hear about a first. Listen, get your thoughts together; we'll find your mom and dad, and you tell them everything. Deal?"

Rilestone nodded, a nauseous feeling rising within him before, too, settling alongside his heartbeat. He took Benjamin's hand, both walking to the house. Before crossing the threshold, Rilestone looked behind himself one more time, seeing only the trees and the stars in the night sky.

As he and his Uncle Ben entered through the door, a wind blew between the forest and the house. He could have sworn that he heard the sound of screaming.