6. The Man Who Survived
(statement given two months from today)
I couldn’t see anything. My eyes didn’t matter. I existed, though. I never died.
The last thing that I remember is the overwhelming, all consuming red glow that felt tactile like water or sand, something to move through with effort. I remember the man’s eyes, the way they stared like a laser and the way they were sharp and wiley. I can only tell it up to a certain point though, and after that, I was maybe unconscious. Though, not really unconscious. I felt the bounds of my consciousness expand, or dissolve, like I was dreaming in a stirring furry and chaos of energies that were tinted various shades of red. I was completely lost in this chaos, but somehow cogent, though the experience felt unlike any physical experience that I have ever had. I wasn’t my body, just lost in the sea of red.
I don’t know how long that lasted, but one moment I was lost in all that red, and then you all found me here, with the six others. There weren’t originally seven of us? I do remember hearing the man who found me scream several times while I regained my strength, like surprised screams, and I remember seeing flashes of colors and feeling strong winds, and I guess it’s possible the other six of us appeared after I found myself there.
I can’t say that I did see something like the man who saved me described. I didn’t see those people materialize as if from thin air. But I do remember being surprised at hearing new voices. My body was weak and I was pretty cold; my body was covered in liquid and there was a strong enough wind that it made me shiver. I remember it took me some time to remember the world that I found myself in, how to pilot my body, how to speak, but when I stood up and looked around, there were six other people there, and the man who discovered us looked flabbergasted on his cell phone.
The earthquake was the Red Father. [He is known by other names; in the Dark Parallel of existence, his modern-day descendant is known as Silas, and he betrayed the Alia at the start of humanity, effectively dooming all of humanity from that parallel of reality to a hellish realm at the time of death.] He was cursed by the Alia for his dalliances with the dark forces of the Earth, and he was released at the moment when Fomorn freed Mog from the Alia’s curse.
Also released were the three powerful disciples of the Red Father, who he called blue, yellow, and white. They all quickly gave their ethereal bodies to their Red Father who grew strong enough to seek revenge on the Alia, whichever iteration was active on Earth at his emergence.
He was powerful enough to bring the Jinn to his heel when it emerged simultaneously. The Jinn could bend reality and was a powerful giant that the first Alia had banished during her adventures in Arabia and the Caucasus. The Jinn had over indulged on the food and water of the locals for decades, and they praised the Alia for her intervention.
The Ngozi was freed and eagerly pledged allegiance to the Red Father. It wanted revenge against the first Alia who had banished it during her sallies in Southern Africa. The Ngozi was ruled by a fierce and uncompromising witch who could manipulate the weather at her whim.
Finally, the Dyinyinga was freed and it bitterly agreed to serve the Red Father. The first Alia had banished it in Western Africa when she was still relatively young. It was an embarrassment to the Dyinyinga who had existed in its territory for decades and demanded penitence from every inhabitant, but was outsmarted by the young, doe-eyed female.
The first Alia, Mou, had made many enemies over her lifetime. The seven released were among her most fierce.
PRL Serials 