Hex Cycle I: Tertiary Scenes

Highest Zone of Ketheroz

Vortexyuh — Daughter of Nuyth — needed no introduction to the High Court of Ketheroz. Vortexyuh's urgent request for an audience with the powerful Amoun-Rah preceded her so Bez, the protector troll, escorted her into a stately loft.

Here a female Neterh named Maath — Mater of Matter — sat at a table taking crumpets and tea. She welcomed Vortexyuh:

“Have a seat my darling niece. Mister Rah is just fussing about in his wardrobe. He’s terribly vain you know.”

“That’s master Rah to you, mother.” Amoun-Rah corrected her from behind a folded screen. “And if it pleases thee, forgive me for dressing up my mastery!”

Vortexyuh partook of tea with Mistress Maath, reporting to the preceptor:

“There has been a trespass through quasi-space committed by a huge host of fiends whom call themselves Dæmon & Druuj. They appear to be on their way to the solar system of Orz.”

Amoun-Rah came out from behind the triptych panels, wearing gaudy livery, consisting of various blues accented with silvery pinstripes. He disclosed:

“Ah yes, we have in fact been expecting this for some time now. It was all written about in a Codex authored by our own Theuth — Scribe of Neterz.”

Vortexyuh stifled a laugh yet derided:

“I have heard of this book. The Homz on planet Tellz abhor it! Reviewers rail on it as an amateur attempt at learned cleverness. It pains me to say it uncle but Ketheroz did a deuce on the high thread count linens with that piece of work.”

The Mater of Matter couldn’t help but to gasp due to Vortexyuh’s impertinence. Maath reprimanded her:

“Daughter of Nuyth — show some respect! Of course we here cannot expect those barely sentient apes we call Homz to be able to grasp the arcane Metametaphysics of these immaterial zones. Mired in misery, their planet is but a pebble passing across the sun’s indelible sphere.”

“Mother makes a compelling point,” Amoun-Rah acclaimed. “Most of those whom dwell in the lowest zone of Malkuth have not the wherewithal to comprehend what occurs outside the purview of their quite limited existence. Our Ethereal & Ideal realms are no more than an abstract fantasy for them. To make matters worse, they often become too comfortable having familiar tropes spoon-fed to them through bestselling fiction and thus eschew anything that does not conform to mundane norms.”

“Well,” Vortexyuh verified, “if Theuth has indeed predicted these happenings then you ought to be aware that the Dæmon & Druuj were dispersed across three modes of time, yet are also disseminated inside a Mythic dimension.”

“The present is the past to the future,” Maath mumbled to herself.

“Although the tidings are troubling,” Amoun-Rah assured them, “preplanned contingencies will now come into effect. I shall dispatch mine Archangels along with Fravahz & Yazadz from zones Bynah & Zhokmah.”

Amoun-Rah made a gesture for their ceremonial guard (the troll, Bez) to strike a brass bell with a wooden mallet. Its resounding copper tone summoned the sacred scribe Theuth, wearing the Crest of Ibis upon brow. Theuth entered the room and theorized:

“Let me guess; all hell has broken loose once again down below. Yet everybody here should know, ’twas Mistress Maath’s mistake that caused this overflow.”

“Steady on storming steed,” Maath moaned. “How do you figure that?”

“Oh ‘twas all writ in the preceding epilogue — in riddles of course —because coddling mortal readers is unbecoming of us Neterz. We have no need to worry though. What was codified there cannot be caught by the slow.”

“Be that as it may,” Amoun-Rah amended, “I must commission you to edit and rewrite the aforesaid Codex. We should not stand by idly while Homz continue insulting us openly. Furthermore, much remains to be extrapolated in this proceeding work as well.”

“True.” Theuth thumbed the ink on a papyrus leaf, smudging a few glyphs. “Trust that I have already entrusted mine own counterpart among the Homz to produce just such an epic Tome. Literati need not apply themselves.”

“Excellent,” Amoun-Rah approved. “Vortexyuh, prepare to open the paths leading toward Malkuth and the solar system of Orz. The Amezhah Zpentaz and the vanguard of Ketheroz will voyage once again via your gateways.”

Vortexyuh agreed with a nod and made her exit in short order. However, before she departed, motherly Maath metered out a caveat:

“Beware, even within the whole immeasurable Multiverse, only two timelines and one higher dimension pose a serious threat to our overarching order. These tangents are exceptions to the general rules that govern globular worlds everywhere. That is why they are so pivotal to us here. When wave function collapses in an untoward fashion, then we ourselves run the risk of lawlessness encompassing the Megalocosmos. This opens wide the possibility of countless lives descending into an inverted Tritocosmos, which cannot be allowed to occur under any circumstances!”

Vortexyuh reflected on those words as she stepped over her portal’s threshold. As always it would take time to process precisely what was meant by them…

Solar System of Orz

Reddest Orkh — The Anti-Angel — dripped blood constantly from exposed musculature that hugged all except his jagged rib cage. Among the Dæmon none ranked higher than Orkh and two pointy metallic antennæ protruding from his bony skull attested to that fact. He also bore the toughened antler of a heavenly stag as his weapon.

Orkh’s grinning maw showed several rows of serrated shark teeth (Megalodon no doubt). He was shod with the cloven hooves of ancient bison but the claws on his hands were rather like those of a marsupial lion. Domed wings resembled translucent jellyfish.

Orkh was seething at the sight of a vast field of debris stretching out for as far as he could see. He’d been told that this is where Tellz would be. So since he possessed the ability, he sent for his captains using ESP: Gargantuah, Pantagryuh, Ryntrah — rally to me!

Three other humongous Dæmon flocked to the side of their sovereign, who interrogated these three:

“What is the meaning of this mystery? I wast promised a planet with plenty of land and sea. Somebody had better account for that missing bounty!”

Gargantuah, Pantagryuh, and Ryntrah huddled together to figure out what’d gone wonky. Rapidly Orkh realized that they were just as perplexed as he. Fortunately, Pantagryuh’s pal Panurgeh arrived with war-paint on his face to enlighten their unmerry company:

“Milord Orkh, I bring bad tidings from Bakbukh — lead Sciencer of the Druuj. She informed me something wast amiss whilst we passed through the tunnel from the shadow zone of Daath to the material zone of Malkuth.”

By this point, Orkh was visibly bristling, but he calmly ordered:

“Panurgeh — All-Wanting — our many Druuj Sciencers answer directly to thee. Give me one good reason why I shouldst not pummel thy painted face into a bloody effigy?”

“My liege, I shalt give thee two. First know that our forces hath been divided throughout more than a single temporal span. Bakbukh and her whole division art presently missing, which leads me to believe that they art responsible for the destruction we here behold. Secondly, I took the liberty to send several scouts ahead to assess our situation. These told me that there lies another globe not far from us known as Marz — whereupon dwelleth those descended from Tellz!”

Hearing this, Orkh chewed on his octopus-tentacle tongue prior to touting:

“Commendable work Panurgeh!”

Orkh put an arm around Panurgeh’s shoulders in a candid display of praise and pointed at the other captains while taunting:

“It is good to have someone else with a capable cerebrum on their shoulders. These other brutes are brawny to be sure, but cannot brag of being brainy. So tell me, how dost thou think we ought to proceed on our journey?”

“Simple milord. Despite diminishment, millions of Druuj abound in our ranks. We need merely send a sixth of them forth to flush out the Homz and gauge their collective strength.”

“Didst ye hear that? A splendid plan! Panurgeh wilt pick which subdivision goes to Marz and serves as bait for those hapless Homz...”

Barring further discussion, that demonic deed would be done. A detachment of Druuj skirmishers was soon sent off to descend on the denizens of the red planet.

Marz

ßeroß was the ninth Imperator on Marz in a line of succession that went back to when Omnoz had emigrated from Lunah along with his Lunatyx. ßeroß was currently heading a summit atop the tallest mountain in the entire solar system: Olympyuh Monz. There were thousands within the walls of Kornuh-Kopyuh (the royal palace) including Pageh — Regent of Amazonyuh, Zadokh — Mayor of Labyrynthyuh, as well as a few distinguished students; Falderalh, Qualyuh, and Zeudh.

The spherical conference hall also housed enough seats for magistrates and representatives from all twelve of Marz’ Dodeca-Districts to participate during these proceedings. Of course, the whole event was being telecast live planet-wide. It was already well known that the Imperator’s people had intercepted some strange signals coming from where Earth formerly orbited. Hence, Regent Pageh prepped a projector then addressed the assembly:

“By now, everybody has heard about the anomalies that have been detected in the vicinity of Olde Earth’s scattered remnants. As you can all see, our nanobots continue to sense irregular movements in among the debris field. It’s hard to tell at this range what exactly is going on over there, but necessary precautions are already being taken. Here to tell us a little more regarding those contingencies is Zeudh — a star student from Akademyuh Zydonyuh.”

Zeudh thanked the regent and took the podium, professing:

“Throughout the Dodeca-Districts it’s common knowledge that less than twenty years ago, a highly unusual incident occurred. The population of Labyrynthyuh was all but obliterated by enemies who identified themselves as Aranyuhz. These arachnid wraiths are known to have come from a dimension adjacent to our own. The eighth Imperator’s administration declassified certain key documents before their fateful mission to Olde Earth, which have since taught us a great deal about an alien science we call Arkhon-Tek. My colleagues Falderalh & Qualyuh will demonstrate new weaponry made possible by the latest advances in this occult branch of technology.”

Cameras focused on Falderalh & Qualyuh, who were then teleported outside by Olympyuh’s built-in transporters. Hover drones followed them as they each mounted a mechanical giant apparently powered by biological means. Both looked like living beings but bore robotic traits such as a bucket jaw or metallic joints. Their eyes glowed brightly just before they leaped thousands of feet into the air!

It took the drones half a minute to catch up, whence it became clear that the mechs could maintain their altitude through an anti-gravity force. Both donned bucklers and ultra-blades. They rushed one another and jousted amid cumulus clouds. The vibrating edges of their short swords clanged against the shields, sending off sparks as a welding torch would! Either mech could also fire beams or projectiles of surprising variety and could raise defensive force-fields too. This exhibition continued for a few exhilarating minutes, after which they backed off and went down for a landing.

The performance met with acclaim as well as awe. It took Imperator ßeroß rising to the fore for the crowd to quieten again. He said unto them:

“We currently have hundreds of thousands of these Konautz, as I like to call them, at our disposal. If there is an enemy hiding out in the thin inner rim, rest assured we will teach them that Marz is a warlike planet after all. For we succeeded and supplanted the failed Homo Sapiens — Hybryd-UZ — I salute you!”

There was another round of heartfelt applause, without profane whooping. ßeroß added:

“As Head of the Imperial Konautz, I must promote my fine friend Zadokh — Mayor of Labyrynthyuh — to Major General of the A-Wing.”

Zadokh stepped up once called and was draped with his formal officer’s cape.

Now every piece was on the chessboard; from action none could escape.

To Be Continued...

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