The Secondary Saga

[Strazio Rockwell]

Time had not been kind to Isaac. His already aged body looked ancient, weathered from the day-to-day hazards of the Tangled. In his younger years, he would’ve relished such an adventure. Young Isaac would’ve found the challenge nothing more than a worthy crucible to mold him into an ever greater warrior. Now the old man silently despised the dangers threatening him, he had proven his worth time and time again and yet things had never gotten any easier. This quest for Omni truly was a quest fit only for Sisyphus himself. “Nothing is impossible with Omnilium” a phrase uttered at least once by every misbegotten prime looking to bend the world to his will. And yet Isaac knew he was no prime, he was not a chosen child of Omni and as such he held no affinity for the wondrous substance.

Three years, seven days ago Isaac’s wife was murdered for his disobedience against the Empire. Time certainly was not kind to poor Isaac, for in those three years the pain of loss had yet to fade. He loved her not for the way she danced with his angels, but rather for how she could silence his demons. Underneath the guilt of her death the old man could only crumble. And crumble he did, but in that strange silent way that leaves a man hollow. His soul was that of an ancient church, beautiful to those that see the surface, but inside -- hollow and gutted from the ages.

Still he pressed on, clutching tight to that most pernicious of evils -- hope. The sweet bitter lie that everything would be alright if only he could find Omni. Isaac held on for all that he was worth, spending every moment of his life pushing forward in hopes of reuniting with his love. Silently he wondered what the others hoped to request from Omni.

Power, fame, fortune? What would they sacrifice to achieve their goals?

Would Omni even grant their requests? After all they aren’t primes, they weren’t hand-picked by Omni himself. No, they were merely background characters in a stage ruled by primes.

And the most dreaded thought of them all, would they meet the same fate as Sector Eight?

The group had found a moment of respite between the constant battles of the Tangled. Isaac ate his rations slowly, savoring the dull flavor. He had found a downed tree away from the rest of the group. The silence was golden, it gave him time to think and more importantly he did not have to keep up his facade of eternal optimism while he was alone. His golden silence was broken by the soft moan of an animated corpse. Urg came stumbling through the underbrush, no doubt wandering aimlessly as he often did. The zombie froze when he spotted Isaac and the two met eyes for an uncomfortably long time.

Isaac smiled softly to break the awkwardness “you can sit down if you want.”

Urg responded slowly, the rusted gears in his decrepit brain turned sluggishly. With labored movements the zombie obliged Isaac’s offer and sat next to him. What a strange person, Isaac thought he had seen the undead before, but this one was different. Indeed, Urg was almost cognizant of his plight, he held a certain restraint that his kin lacked. Isaac offered the zombie half of his ration, which the creature greedily devoured. The two sat in silence, asides from the occasional groan or gurgle from Urg.

“You can understand me yeah?” Isaac asked, taking a long glance as his new found friend. Urg again responded slowly with a slight nod, it seemed that it took every once of his willpower to even nod his head.

“Well even if you can’t, I’m going to talk anyways. Sides its not like you can tell my secrets” Isaac chuckled. His face turned morose and he began to speak.

“I’m scared Urg. I’m real scared. What if this was all for nothing and we’re on a fool’s errand?”

Urg groaned and leaned forward, almost losing his balance. The zombie scratched at the moss-covered bark of the log and looked around slowly.

Isaac sighed “don’t worry, you don’t gotta say anything buddy. I’m just... I don’t know. I haven’t told anyone but Christa this, but I’m trying to resurrect my wife.”

At the thought of reanimation Urg moved more frantically and let loose a low grumbling moan.

“Oh, no nothing like you... I mean that in the nicest way possible. No I mean, bring her back to how she was before she... Before she was killed. Omni can do anything right? Can he fix a mortal man’s mistakes?”

Isaac looked at Urg, trying to find the answers in the zombie’s pallid face. He was met with a bewildered stare and a half-hearted shrug. A gust of wind howled through the forest and swept over the two. Christa called for Isaac, the group was ready to press forward. Isaac took one last look at Urg before standing up.

“Time to go, hey listen” Isaac paused for a moment to collect his thoughts “you’re the only one I can really talk to, you don’t mind if we eat together again do you?”

Urg shuffled his feet for a moment before making eye contact with the Bloodlance. His face muscles twitched and convulsed for a moment, almost breaking into a smile. The zombie nodded with a jerky spastic movement before shuffling off after the group. Isaac followed shortly behind his new found friend.