Genesis : Knights of Salvation Series

“Ahhhhh.” I groan out opening my eyes to see large tree branches swaying in the wind. The shimmering sound of the leaves around me confused me. I turn my head and try to register where I’m at.

“Your up.” A sweetly soft female’s voice echoes out to the left of me. I jump suddenly alert to my surroundings only to scream out in sudden pain halfway to sitting up.

“Oh, yeah I really wouldn’t move. You took some damage yesterday.” Small gentle hands try pushing me back down by grabbing my shoulders. I look towards her. The woman is as tall as me with short shoulder-length red auburn hair. Her pale skin contrasted with freckles covering her face. I freeze as my eyes take in her extraordinary ones, her sapphire eyes, just a little different purple coloring than mine.

It’s like I’m frozen, this can’t be, right? How could she have sapphire eyes? Maybe it’s the blood loss, or I’ve finally lost it?

“W-wh-w- What’s going on?” I mutter out. Her violet eyes seem to glisten with hesitation.

“Who are you?” I speak up more confidently. I push myself up from the soft ground. I scream in pain as I stand my body aching with every movement. I look around as I stand ignoring the girl’s protests. I’m in a large tent’s wooden posts holding up what I think are fur pelts expanding out large enough to hold a dozen beds of pelts and blankets placed systematically in lines down the tent. wooden side table lay about with bottles and vials full of medicines. I back up, hitting the wall of the tent.

The young redhead lifts her head to try to calm my heavy breathing and I force my injured arm against my chest. Just then I notice that the wound in bandaged up, perfectly wrapped with bandages all down my forearm.

“Where am I?” I reiterate sternly. Her eyes slide to my right side and I follow her eyes to see the tent door slip open. The man I saw the other day, in my vision?

I stare at him totally bewildered. His shaggy dirty blonde hair meshes perfectly with his tanned skin. He stands tall a little taller than Enyo does, his broad muscles easy to make out from his patched grey flannel shirt. His violet eyes were as confident and interesting as they were in my vision. Unlike the woman, his eyes are the same violet purple as mine.

“You.“I mutter out squinting at him. my head hurts, my body hurts, and now I’m more confused than I have ever been. The man looks young maybe a few years older than me. It’s as if the both of us just stare at one another. I don’t know what’s happening to me but it’s mind-bending to see someone I’ve only had a small vision about yet never met.

I shake my head trying to get control of myself, which means breaking the hold his storm filled have on me.

“Okey! Someone better tell me what the heck is going on here, right now.” I yell out my right hand flying up to point at them accusingly. The man moves from the door his hands raising up as he steps between the redhead and me.

“Just breath was not going to hurt you.” He starts off and squints harder at them.

“I saw you, the other day,” I mutter out furrowing my brow. He breathes in deeply, his hands falling down to his side. His chin slightly rises. Something flew through his eyes.

“Then it was you. I’m pleased to meet you.” He mutter’s out, his deep voice filled with recognition.

“Who are you people and how did you get those eyes?” I yell out on edge. The man seems to bite his cheek and looks behind him at the redhead.

“Please excuse us, Ruby.” He addresses her. She looks between us and slips out of the tent. As soon as she’s gone he continues.

“I can explain but you were injured and need to get some rest, so will you sit back down.” He says calmly his deep melodic voice putting me slightly at ease. I watch him for a second, I wanted to trust him. To have someone like him with the same eyes gave me more comfort than I would have ever expected. Finally deciding that sitting for a moment would help put the pain covering my body at ease. I move, my eyes staying on him as I move around to sit back down on the bedding. I pull my knees close to my chest as the man in front of me turns and sits at the end of the bed.

After a moment when we are both sitting a good few feet away from one another. I keep my injured between my knees and chest and watch him, waiting for him to talk.

“My name is Archer Caspian.” He speaks up watching me intently. For the past week, I’ve been having moments where I was seeing glimpses from another person’s eyes. Yesterday, I finally got a full view of you.” He says. I can’t help but look at him skeptically, yet something in me felt at ease knowing that maybe I wasn’t going insane.

“You were sitting in a small empty house, alone. You seemed angry.” He recounts. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, he can’t have seen me yet he told me exactly where I had been yesterday morning. I blink a few times trying to think of any reasonable way to explain it away.

“You had it too, didn’t you?” He asks me yet by the way his eyes played with a knowing glisten he knows I did. I swallow and look away. taking in a deep breath I slightly shrug.

“You were walking through a camp or something like that and.. looked into a water, I saw your reflection.” I fill in for him hesitantly. Archer nods the edge of his mouth tilting in a slight smile.

“Your eyes, they’re like mine?” I speak up, I want to get right to the point. I especially want to know what’s going on. Archer nods and licks his slightly plump lips.

“Our outpost, DimHollow, was attacked over two years ago. Some fled, like most of the town was attacked and infected. Half of the town died of the virus while the other half, woke a week later healthy and alive.” He explains and I all but flash back to my own attack and survival.

“How can you still be alive? You would need the primordial virus to keep from dying.” I interject unable to stop myself. Archer squints at me. Something about his eyes played with a kind knowledge and interest playing in them.

“Just before we took in a group of survivors from Solaris, later we found they were infected with the primordial strain. We had all been affected before we had known.” He explains. something in me spark knowing that if I could find the primordial strain I could actually live a natural life as they do.

“So, then it works,” I mutter out and he nods.

“We were at DimHollow, why did you abandon it?” I inquire.

Archer takes in a deep breath. “Some people found out about our new immunities. We were willing to give them blood to find a cure for the viruses but they didn’t care about all the people we could save. They wanted the cure to give to those of their choosing, we found out they were going to open the gates and let in the forsaken. Everyone they deemed not worthy of the cure would have been killed. So before the government could get their teams out to the outpost to get out blood, as survivors we decided to vanish.” He says looking away as he recounts their terrible predicament. Suddenly Greta’s words hit me like a brick. She was right? I can’t trust everyone but who can I trust?

“You like us?” He says nodding to me. I nod and bite my lip. I pull the collar of my shirt down to reveal my scar.

“I was attacked as a child, I was sick for a week. But unlike you and your people, I don’t have the primordial. That’s why I’m out here. The director has sent me and my team to ground zero.” I explain. I know I shouldn’t but I trust him, the way he speaks or maybe the way he’s answered my questions I can’t help but feel like I can trust him. But what about my team?

“We know.” He speaks up.

“What?“I furrow my brow confused.

“We’ve been watching since you entered the old city. We know they must want you to become a Genesis.” He says.

“Genesis?” I ask confused. Archer tilts his head for a moment thinking of a way to explain.

“It’s what we’ve come to call what we are. You must know, we are barely human. The government called the mission to get out blood Genesis. It means to start or emerge. I guess it makes the most sense for what we are.” He shrugs a simple smile kissing his face.

“Genesis... I like it.” I mutter shrugging. Archer furrows his brow at me as if surprised by my words but continues.

“Our new kind has been named genesis, but the government used that as his mission because they believe it’s the beginning to create their new world.. one most will not be allowed to see.” He continues. I nod understanding.

“So, they want me to become a Genesis, so they are sending me to ground zero. If I don’t go I die, if I do everyone will die. This sucks.” I simplify it.

Suddenly archer’s large hand is on mine making me look up at him, he’s sitting closer than before a sort of mischievous plan dancing in his eyes.

“Don’t worry, my father has a plan.” He shrugs in a gallant voice. Archer obviously has to be a ladies’ man by the way he spews a kind of relaxed confident cockiness. It’s actually refreshing from the team that is either serious or overbearing silliness.

“I’ll take you to him, we don’t really have a lot of time.” He extends his hand politely to help me stand and I place my right hand in his rough palm. I stand and follow him as we slip out of the tent.