H.E. The Ortus (A Prologue) by Frank Carentz

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It was not long before the Leader of the Ortus Brotherhood, Mannious Black, discovered that the presence he had once felt in the stone was now ever present within his mind attempting to commune with him.

It referred to him as 'son', and instructed him to concoct a serum with the extracts that were originally taken from the depths of the stone and share it with the whole of the brotherhood. And so he did and it was the beginnings of the end.

Shortly after drinking the concoction, Mannious and his followers had become completely seduced by the presence within the Everstone and found themselves instructed to bring about the glorious time of the rebirth. A time when mankind would be given its first glimpse at the true reason for their existence, a true first vision of the creator, for as Mannious had come to find, it was not some big bang that created this world. It was not some omnipotent divine creature, perched in the clouds, judging souls to be good or evil. No, life itself was given to this meager world by the divine presence housed within the Everstone that was only now awaking from its long slumber.

It was the final day of the World Stone museum tour when the Ortus Brotherhood gathered at the final museum exhibition. Some hundred men and women from their folds gathered for the salvation of the Everstone, to release the presence from its tomb. As the museum flooded with citizens of the Free World, hundreds of innocents and onlookers, the Brotherhood began to act.

With a wave of his hand the museum doors were sealed and Mannious began to read aloud from the Book of Flesh in the ancient tongue in which it was written. Upon completion of the incantation the gem exploded hurling thousands of shards into the unsuspecting masses. From tiny shards to massive chunks the bits of the Everstone flew, embedding themselves into the gathered masses, piercing flesh and even bone. The building filled with screams and panic as everyone harried to leave the confines of the enclosed museum.

At once, all cries ended and silence befell the throngs as the presence that once was bound within the Everstone was now felt by all. Born now unto the Earth was the last evil that the world would ever know, an evil that had planted life and slumbered until its fruition.

From the empty bottom husk of what remained of the Everstone flowed a thick, black smoke, which rose and fell to the ground slowly stretching out through the masses like an early morning mist. Startled the people attempted to stay out of the flowing darkness until a deep voice filled the minds of all assembled in a language uttered before the creation of languages.

All whom had received a shard from the gem were now transformed. A pale green glow now filled their eyes and their howls lifted forth, as they were reborn as the evil one's army. Before the broadcast transmissions from the site were ended, the presence only spoke three words in a language that humans could understand.
"I AM HOME"

With its new unleashed power the presence began its conquest of the earth.