Cynetic Wolf

“You do?” Paer croaked. A hint of doubt crept into her always confident voice.

“Of course I do.” Shit.

“Look, Lilia—” Paer began.

“No, I get it. If you ever want to talk about it, let me know.”

“What?”

A pause. “You had a thing for Lyam, didn’t you?” Lilia said. “You always wanted him, and he came back. But then he up and left again.”

“You knew?”

Phew, that was close.

“Your secret’s safe with me,” Lilia said in a conspiratorial whisper. “Did you talk before he left? Did he tell you where they were headed?”

“No!” Paer snapped. “Old geezer disappeared without saying anything. Bastard.”

“I’m so sorry, Agtha. If I can ever help, say the word.”

“Thanks, Lilia.”

“That’s what friends are for. I have to go, big day tomorrow, with the vote and all. See ya.” Lilia’s footsteps echoed in the distance.

A few minutes later, Agtha opened the hidden passage with a furtive glance. “Hurry.”

We snuck through the corridors and were to a room five minutes later. She slid the door open, pushed us through and poked her head in. “Keep this locked, don’t leave. That was a close call earlier. I need to go before anyone sees me. Noon tomorrow, be ten minutes late. Don’t knock.”

She spun, closing the door, and left us standing there, dumbfounded, tired, and amped all at once. Talk about a day.

I meditated for a bit while Lars opted for sleep. How he could sleep at a time like this? My head swirled with thoughts, memories, plans; a sea of adrenaline and danger. Focus, Raek.

After meditating, I still couldn’t sleep. Too much to do, too much to worry about. Procrastinating, I found a history of mythology online. Why not? The whole concept of deities was absurd, but they’d played a critical role in shaping humanity. Why? It made no sense.

Still, I remembered what Lars said about being a charismatic Jesus. Yeah right. It was preposterous, ethically and factually wrong. But what made rational people so susceptible to the supernatural? Why had every culture before the Fall worshipped some strange god or another?

What was it?

I spent thirty minutes trying to figure it out. From the newer Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism, to the older, more exciting Norse legends, Greek gods, and Egyptian pharaohs… there were hundreds, the stories fascinating.

As my eyes closed, I sensed a trend. They were all tales, from half-god Hercules’ heroic feats to Jesus turning water to wine; from rain dances to witch hunts and human sacrifice… they were all the same: bedtime stories, passed down and intentionally—or accidentally—altered for effect.

Storytelling 101: hyperbole, propaganda, iteration. Nothing had changed. That’s how the GDR controlled so many with little to no violence.

The story was everything.

That was big. No idea how... but I couldn’t let it go for some reason.

My dreams were dominated by gods and goddesses, war, violence, fire… Heavens and earth ripped apart, restored, and ripped open again.

Strands of DNA circled the planet, and the world became a sea of numbers and letters. Shaking, it morphed, letters becoming words, a story. I could write that story.

Fear surged as I struggled. Something was holding me down.

“Calm down, kid,” Lars said. “Everything’s okay.”

My eyes blinked open. Lars?

“It’s okay, kid. You’re safe.”

“What? Where am I? What happened?”

“We’re at Initiative headquarters, Raek. In Caen. Remember?”

Maybe... Something like a memory floated, waiting to be rediscovered.

“But the world, the planet, the war… what happened?” My voice was jagged.

“It was a dream, kid, just a dream.”

My SmartCore showed a heart rate of 162 bpm. “It was so real.”

“Just a dream,” Lars repeated. “Want to talk about it?”

“I’m good.” I didn’t want to relive it. “So, two hours until the meeting.” Please change the subject...

He nodded. “You ready?”

I was.

We headed out at noon, silent. Along the way, I was anxious, checking corners and over our shoulder. This was no man’s land.

We reached the Council room at 12:07 without incident and paused, looking at each other.

His face was etched in granite resolve. “Know what you’re going to say?”

“I guess we’ll find out.” I opened the door and stepped in.