“The hole will open. I will arrive soon, and destroy your world and everything you hold dear. I shall not hold back my immense power. The universe itself will crumble under my strength.”

Raziel came awake with a yell. “ARGH!”

The door to his room slammed open a few moments later, and Cassil poked her head in. “Raz? You OK?”

Raziel sat up in bed and breathed in and out for a few seconds. “…Yeah. I had that dream again.”

Cassil walked over and sat beside him, and with a smile, she hugged him. “It’s alright.”

“Thanks.”

He took his spear, leaning by his bed, and yawned loudly. Cassil stood up and made her way to the door. Satisfied that he was alright, she exited.

Raziel was alright on the outside, but the dreams were concerning him. Mizar had claimed to have the exact same dreams, and many other Zionids and Voidians were having similar dreams. Whoever the monster in the dream was, the powerful figure that called itself Antumbra, it was dangerous. Zion and Void could be in serious danger.

He heard other people moving around in the hub room just outside his door as he dressed himself in the usual white and gold garb, coupled with a breastplate and curved golden helmet. He lived with three other Zionids, as was typical, and they usually woke much earlier than he did.

There was knock on the door just as he was dressing. Cassil never knocked, and Ephra never usually did, so Raziel made an educated guess.

“Come in, Vasa.”

Vasa entered – smaller in stature to most of the other Zionids, wearing glasses and no helmet, letting his short, straight blonde hair hang loose. He wore a gold vest rather than the bulkier breastplate that most wore, and he was carrying a heavy tome under his arm.

“What’s that?” Raziel asked, tossing his spear onto the bed for the time being. He didn’t see the need to have it with him when he wasn’t planning on doing some sparring until the afternoon.

“It’s a new book from the library on the history of Zion.” Vasa said. “I know I usually transcribe this sort of thing onto computer, but this couldn’t wait. I want to read some of it to you and the others; would you mind awfully?”

“Of course not.” Raziel said with a grin. “Come on, let’s all get some drinks and have a listen, then!”

Raziel walked into the hub room and greeted Ephra on his way to the kitchen. Cassil was lying next to Ephra on the sofa; the hub room acted as a place of relaxation and general recreation, with a kitchen, bathroom, entrance and four bedrooms going off from each one of the octagonal walls. The final wall was reserved for a viewport, which was switched off presently: all in all, a perfect living space for four young Zionids with big dreams. The central area of the hub was raised slightly, where there were two sofas and one armchair around a coffee table. It was well-lit by the circular window on the ceiling, which filled the hub room with a warm, natural ambience.

Ephra was the other girl living in the space – she had a rebellious attitude that contrasted with Cassil’s more relaxed nature, and was by far the best spear fighter Raziel knew. The most irksome part of her skills were that she never seemed to do much practise, either; she just had natural talent in spades.

Raziel made some drinks for the four and returned to the hub room, where Vasa had now seated himself on the armchair.

“Ready?” he asked as Raziel walked up.

“Let’s hear it.” Ephra replied.

“OK… so I found this book and it’s all about the history of Zion. The most interesting thing is that it’s just about Zion – it doesn’t mention Void all that much. So, have a listen to this first bit…”

He flicked open to a page with a bookmark in it and began to read.

“Zion and Void are the dimensions that exist outside of the universe. The role is simply to protect the universe from the psychic surges that it commonly has, and the Zionids and Voidians living in these dimensions watch over the universe.

Zion is a land of light. Though there is no star lighting it, for it is a dimension entirely separate from the universe, light still exists, giving the dimension eternal daylight. When the Zionids originally discovered the first planet, Earth, through the first ever viewport, they were so inspired by the night and day cycle of the planet that they engineered a false night, by creating daylight masts; these masts, every twelve hours, absorbed all of the light in the immediate area, plunging Zion into darkness.

Zion is a small dimension, it must be remembered. It has a population of 36,000, including Zionid King Malak. The entirety of it can be walked across in fourteen hours, but the majority of the population live directly in the centre, in the city. Of course, with so much space and so few Zionids, the houses and apartments are expansive and for generations, Zionids have lived in relative comfort.

The city grew from two buildings – the palace and the Citadel. There is a palace and Citadel much like it in Void. The palace is the home of Zionid King Malak, where he spends most of his time. The Citadel is hallowed ground, guarded day and night by the soldiers of the King. It is said that the Citadel can repel psychic energy, meaning that Zionids who go inside would be immune to the power of the King. The city is viewed to be a highly beautiful location, even at night. There are soft lamps hanging from many of the buildings, leaving the city to glow even in the darkness. Rivers run through the city, providing fresh water to every home; the golden trees that grow on every street keep the air fresh.

Crime is governed and controlled by the Zionid Officials. Through extensive training with spears and many trials, a Zionid may become an Official of the King, and serve him in whichever way is required. Officials are skilful and strong both in combat, like the King’s soldiers, but where they differ is that they are allowed to act without direct permission from the King so long as their acts are not treasonous. For them, treason is the worst, and most unforgivable, crime.

Travelling to the boundaries of Zion, though it is many hours’ walk away, leads to the Reaches. For convenience, there is a portal in the Official Outpost that leads to the outer edge of Zion, where it connects to the Reaches.

How this all began starts with one scholar: Metatron.”

Vasa finished reading and looked up at his audience, who were staring with interest at him.

“That is absolutely unbelievable.” Ephra said. “We used to live in eternal daylight?”

“Yeah.” Vasa said. “I’ll read you guys some more tomorrow, if you want?”

“Of course!” Cassil replied. She took a sip of her drink. “Raz, you really do make it perfectly.”

“Thanks.” Raziel said, grinning. He stretched and stood up. “Right, what are we doing today?”

“I was going to head to Samae’s and help him with spear making. The competition is, what, two weeks away now?” replied Ephra.

“Something like that.” Raziel said. “Speaking of, I really need to practise for that. Can I spar with you later?”

“Sure.” Ephra replied with a wink. “I won’t trash you too hard, don’t worry.”

“I’m going to do some further reading on this at the library.” Vasa said. “Cassil, weren’t you going to see your sister today?”

“Shit! You’re right – I have to go, I’m going to be late. Thanks, Vasa!” Cassil replied, leaping up and heading to her room. She came out seconds later with a brown messenger bag, her spear and a form-fitting breastplate – a present from Raziel several years prior. She said a hurried goodbye as she left. “See you later, guys!”

“I’m going to get a shower.” Ephra said. “See you two later as well.”

“Want me to get food on the way back?” Vasa asked.

“If you wouldn’t mind.” Raziel replied, walking to the centre of the room and lying down on one of the sofas. He reached over to the coffee table and got the remote for the viewport. “Right, I’m going to stay here this morning, don’t really have much to do. Might watch Earth and see what’s happening with them.”

“Earth? If you’re going to watch something, watch Pollus.” Vasa said. “Come on.”

“Pollus is kind of overrated, in my opinion. Too much political stuff, not enough warfare.” said Raziel, shrugging.

“Well, whatever you want.” Vasa replied, picking up his book and holding it to his chest. “Right, I have to go. See you later, man.”

“Bye.” Raziel said. He watched Vasa head out and switched on the viewport. As he did so, he heard the shower in the bathroom switch on; it wasn’t too loud, however.

Earth was a planet on his ‘Recent’ searches. With a grin, Raziel selected it and typed in the co-ordinates for his favourite group of humans to watch. He lived for the young teen drama, though he never really told anyone else this and pretended he watched the earlier periods of warfare instead. He’d hit gold today; the girl who had stolen her friend’s promotion had finally been discovered, and things were getting heated.

With a relaxed sigh, Raziel sat back with his drink and began to watch.