Interlude From the Writings of Anton Rota

581 Pages·2017·1.55 MB·English

Foreword
I dedicate this to my family. This book will always hold a special significance to me, because it is the
beginning of a universe – ever expanding, growing ever deeper.
I also dedicate it to everyone who believes that words should spread freely.
Because we lose too much from silence.
Share this book with those who might enjoy it
and help this universe grow more quickly.
Originally published on
www.wolfofnull.com
You are free to share and adapt this work, as long as you mention the source, keep it non-commercial,
under the same conditions as the original publication:
Creative Commons-BY-NC-SA
Table of Contents
Part 1 – The Game.............................................................................................................................................................4
Commodore.................................................................................................................................................................30
Maya............................................................................................................................................................................35
Madness.......................................................................................................................................................................53
Sin................................................................................................................................................................................88
Part 2 – The Shadow of Anton........................................................................................................................................98
Interlude – The Boy Who Ran...................................................................................................................................103
Bluebird.....................................................................................................................................................................113
Interlude – My Gift to You........................................................................................................................................126
The Consultant...........................................................................................................................................................128
Interlude – The First Settlers.....................................................................................................................................161
The Fool.....................................................................................................................................................................165
The Lord and the Servant..........................................................................................................................................207
Dirty Blood................................................................................................................................................................221
Claire.........................................................................................................................................................................239
Interlude – The New Great Owner............................................................................................................................268
Revenge.....................................................................................................................................................................273
Disgrace.....................................................................................................................................................................300
The Citadel................................................................................................................................................................330
The Snake..................................................................................................................................................................365
Interlude – The Apprentice........................................................................................................................................420
The Black Wolf..........................................................................................................................................................441
Interlude – Salvation..................................................................................................................................................467
Part 3 – The Children of Aurora....................................................................................................................................473
Interlude – From the Writings of Anton Rota............................................................................................................525
Ants............................................................................................................................................................................532
Epilogue – Three Monsters...........................................................................................................................................560
The Wolf of Null
Look at yourselves! Why do you still stare at the sky?
I will not die before I have wiped away every trace of
you from this world. Remember this! There is no world
beyond the Mountain! There is only black ocean that
thirsts for your blood. Only turbid skies and the
endless screams of those who dare to run away.
Come, my children! Hear my whisper! The world is
here and nowhere else! Hide in the mines, under my
wings of stone! Hide in the cities where your life has
purpose! Because if you abandon your children, your
loved ones, your debts, then in the eyes of God, you will
be sinners!

- The Immortal
Part 1
The Game

“I am afraid of only one thing, Sei. I am afraid that
once you've seen the false sky, once you know its true
image, you will go after it without a second thought.
You will embrace death and she will embrace you. You
will face her without a trace of fear.”

- Anton

With a nervous smile, Sei read the final lines in the
small crumpled notebook of his father. He put it back in
his pocket and dusted off his hair, saturated with the
soot from the underground mine. His hands were
trembling and his eyes were exhausted. He could think
of nothing else but the crime he was about to commit.
The sin of all sins. Sei lifted the heavy machine and the
muscles in his arms became taut like strings. He started
piercing the wall of brown stone, keeping his thoughts
hidden. The other side of the mine was brimming with
life. The workers were cheerful, competing on who
would extract the most nullite sand before the Game.
They smiled as they found a new vein in the tough
stone. And they glared angrily at the small tattered
satchel tied to Sei's belt.
“They've all gone mad,” he thought. “They'll break the
windows of my room tonight for sure. It doesn't matter.
After tomorrow, none of it will matter.”
Sei took a breath and continued to attack the hard
stone. He breathed in more dust than he collected, but
soon a smile appeared on his face. There was large grain
of blue nullite glimmering through the semi-transparent
stone. It was in deep, but it probably weighed more than
a hundred grams. Finally he could buy something
better, to have dinner like a human being! He concealed
his smile and thrust the end of the machine into the
jagged rock.
“Whoa, whoa, hold on there!” a sly voice shouted
behind him. “What have we got here?”
Тwo large men were walking menacingly towards Sei.
They were the Markelis brothers – heirs of the failed
enterprise of their father, who had left them to rot in the
Sinlands in his place. Their life of leisure had made
them amusingly arrogant, before the world had
crumbled around them. The younger one, Choban, who
had a huge body and a head the size of a small
cantaloupe, lorded over Sei and grinned.
“It's a big one, Sam! Good thing we found it first,
huh?!”
Sei looked to the other people in the mine. The
workers turned their heads downwards. They had all
seen who had made the discovery, but no one dared to
speak up.
“Get lost! This is mine!”
The older brother, Samban, looked at Sei's bounty and
said:
“When was the last time you made a contribution to
the team, Sei? We haven't won a game in years!”
“I said, get lost! I'll call the overseers!”
“Well,” the younger brother smiled and leaned an
elbow on Sei's shoulder. “We might call them first.
You're tryin' to steal our catch! But we'll forgive you, if
you made your contabution.”
He wasn't good with big words. He didn't have to be.
Choban pushed Sei aside and began to mark the wall.
He drew a large M, which meant the gang of the
Markelis brothers owned this spot. Marking walls was
frowned upon by the overseers, but they closed their
eyes for certain people.
Sei frowned when he saw the sign.
“You got something to say, dog?”
Sei looked at them. For a moment, Samban thought he
had noticed something long forgotten which sent
shivers down his spine. Something that had chilled the
blood of many men in the mine. But it faded away and
disappeared without a trace. Sei picked up his machine,
a child's pendant with a plastic flower attached to it.
Then he said:
“It's nothing, Sam. It's just funny how things change.”
The faces of the Markelis brothers darkened, as they
remembered the time when they first entered the mine.
When they first joined the band of the Wolf, they
respected and feared him. Even the overseers were
afraid to cross his path. They feared he would be
summoned, that he would rise above them soon. But
just ten months ago, on the anniversary of the May
rebellion, it all went away. All his ambition had
disappeared, as if something more important had taken
hold of his mind. In less than a year he had alienated
himself from everyone he had hurt those closest to him.
The old members of the gang had scattered throughout
the mine, but some of them still remembered the days
of the Wolf.
“Let him rot in this place,” Samban Markelis muttered.
“He's been here all his life. He'll die here as well.”
An overseer's voice suddenly rose above the crowd:
“Listen up, scum! Get your asses in line! The work
day's over early. Tomorrow's an important day, so don't
waste it! Get your coins and get ready for the game!”
Sei smiled, tapped Choban on the shoulder and
headed for the exit. The other workers sighed with
relief. There would be no fight. They put their machines
down and the tension soon turned to banter. The river
of people flowed to the payment line to measure the
day's harvest.
“140!” Choban laughed in Samban's ear.
The big brother frowned and poured blue sand onto
the scale. The screen lit up: “120 grams–12 coins”.
Choban had grown bigger than his brother over the
years and was already collecting more nullite than him.
“Hey, Thamban! Your brother getting' better n'you!” a
large miner chuckled from the next row. It was Deaf
Kannon–another former member of the band of the
Wolf.
Samban made an angry gesture at Kannon, as he took
his coins and walked off. The large blue screens glowed
brightly, displaying the miners' achievements over the
years. 340 g.–Choban Markelis. 390 g.–Sei of Null. 440
g.–Sei of Null. 560 g.–Sei of Null.
“Choban, get Locust and the others! I want everyone to
be ready for the game!”
At the far end of the line, Sei took off the small bag and
carefully poured its contents onto the scales. When the
number reached 10 grams, he closed the satchel and put
it back into his pocket. He looked around to make sure
no one had seen him, took a single coin from the
machine and hurried outside. This was enough to buy
him some food and energy stimulant, enough to last
him until tomorrow. The nullite was far more important
now.
That evening Sei had arranged a meeting with Mad
Rank at the far end of the mine. The agreement was
“half a box of nullite sand in return for two chrome
achievements. No sane person would make a deal with
someone named Mad Rank, but as the rumors went, the
old man was saving his nullite instead of exchanging it
for coins. This was madness, it was a sin against the