Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:59:40 -0500 From: Jon Lappin Subject: Ludan: Prologue **Disclaimer: All characters and writing within this story belong to Jon T. Lappin. If you do not approve of gay characters or gay sex, please read no further.** " This is all a little fuckin' much... I mean, what the Hell Abraham? The Taj can't be trusted. You know that," Alexander spoke softly, hoping the lightness of his words will still make an impact on Abraham. He knew the Taj were Apostates, enemies of the Zalphera, thus enemies of the One True Creator, Zalpher. It was a truth that had been beaten, sometimes with chains, into him and Abraham since they were mere children. The sky opened and the rain started pounding down, little crystal droplets fell on Abraham's brown, spiky hair, catching the faint moonlight. The precipitation seemingly highlighted the part of Abraham that first attracted Alexander to him, causing Alexander's penis to stir. He pushed the sinful thought out of his head by turning away. Self control... he needed to show self control. With those first few drops, Ludan's rainy season began. " For once Alex, will you just listen to me? Freakin' trust what I'm telling you... please." Alexander glared at Abraham, but quickly softened as his eyes settled on the other's beautiful blue irises- seas of strength and knowledge that always seemed out of place on the 17 year old. " This shit's nothing but trouble, Abe. The Taj's worship of the Old Ones brought Original Sin into this..." " Fuck that, it's all a lie. I've seen the truth," Abraham cut in, pulling the large brown hood over his head to keep the rain from chilling his body. " I hate these stupid clothes, it makes us all look the same, like we're all just one big mass of screw ups," Alexander said, softening his tone and deciding to at least think about the incredible story he had just been told. He had no choice, his love for the boy taking over his brain, pushing all reason out, as it always did. He pulled his brown, Zalphera issued hood up as well, and moved closer to him, placing his forehead against Abraham's, their lips brushing against each other. Abraham spoke softly, " Trust me with this... please, for once, you have to trust me." Alexander opened his mouth to protest, but was then muffled as Abraham kissed the boy instead. Alexander opened his mouth slightly, letting the familiar tongue enter him, messaging his soft insides, slightly. The two had first met each other when they were both five. Over the next 12 years, they had spent every moment together, growing up, and into each other, intensely. The rain continued beating down, as it would, nonstop, for the next six months. Abraham broke the kiss and lightly tugged on Alexander's arm, signalling for him to follow through the large wooden doors, and into the main foyer of the Zalpheranial. Alexander had always viewed it as a silly room. Its 60 foot high domed ceiling was adorned with glass, edged by pure silver and supported by six walls covered in the epic story of Zalpher's defeat of Tajan, painted in brilliant colors. Despite its beauty, Alexander viewed it as simply a room with the sole purpose of being a room - a wasted space that could be used to store more of the building's inhabitants, clearing out the clutter of the cramped sleeping quarters. " Pack a bag, only shit that you can comfortably carry. We have to leave before the morning, " Abraham said. He walked briskly towards the closed doors blocking the way to the inner rooms of the great building. " There's no way I'm going, Abe, and I'm not going to let you, either. Our calling is here, we must wait for our Ascensions." Alexander stool in the center of the nearly 700 foot diameter room and pushed the hood off of his head. He ran his fingers through his medium length blond hair, its slight dampness held his bangs out of his eyes, and he felt he could see more clearly, in more ways than one. For once, he was going to hold his own. For once, he was going to stand his ground and keep Abraham from veering off the path and onto one of the dead ends that his life often brought him to. This time, he was going to stand firm. " It's not up to you this time. You have no choice, and none of your self-centered bullshit is going to stop this. I'm going, and that's it. If you want to come, then come, but you aren't stopping me." The look on Abraham's face was twisted, otherworldly, and Alexander was taken aback for a moment. For all his faults, Abraham had never been anything but loving toward Alexander. It sort of turned him on, causing him to once again push the thoughts from his brain. " If what you say is true, if we are fated to die by the hands of the Zalphera, then why you? Why did they show you? You're just another one of us, another person ravaged by Original Sin. Why you?" It was a question that had been creeping into Alexander's brain, taking over his thought process, reaching into his sin riddled soul and grasping tight. It was the part of the situation that didn't make sense, the one thing holding Alexander firm to his skepticism of the whole story he had been told. " I'm special. My blood. It's special." It was just like Abraham to think that he was something that he was not. From the time they were taken from their respective parents and brought to the Zalpheranial to be taught and await their ascension, Abraham had believed that he was more. A crusader in his own mind, although all Alexander ever saw was trouble. Yet he loved him. " That's just like you." The words weren't meant to sting, but the sudden shift on Abraham's face told Alexander that they did. Abraham turned from Alexander and continued toward the inner-sanctum of the gigantic building. " I've got to leave soon. The Fathers will be up within an hour, and then there will be questions. If I'm going to succeed, there can be no questions." There was hurt in his voice, causing Alexander to shiver and relent- his resolve eroding as fast as it always did, when confronted by the boy. " Let's hurry and get our shit packed, then. We're going to have to bring quite a few outfits. It's going to be wet for awhile." *** The Zalpheranial sleeping quarters was just one large and dreary room. There were 537 boys, 200 sets of bunk beds organized around the outer walls, and 137 cots in the center of the room. No matter what, there were always 537 boys housed within the walls of the Zalpheranial. It was one of the mysteries of the Ludan world... whenever a boy turned 18 and was ascended, another boy would be found carrying Original Sin, and brought to the Zalpheranial. To Alexander, it signaled that Original Sin could never be killed, simply moved from one boy, to another. For there were always 537. When a new boy was brought in, he was given a cot in the center of the room. While they weren't as comfortable as the outer-beds regulated to the older boys, they were sufficient, and no boy ever complained. No boy ever complained about anything. From the first day, the boys were taught that complaining was just part of their Original Sin, and that in order to successfully ascend, they needed to conquer this affliction. As a sort of behavioral reinforcement, when a boy complained, they were brought to solitary and left there for a week's time. No human contact, no entertainment, no toilet. Nothing but one cup of water and two pieces of bread per day. Not that Alexander had any firsthand knowledge of solitary, for he had mastered Original Sin from day one, and understood how to control himself, How to conform to the rules of Ludan. Abraham, though, had described the ordeal to him in full detail, with pained face and hushed voice. He had disobeyed, and though Alexander felt for Abraham at that moment, tears welling up in his own green eyes, he knew that what Abraham had faced was of his own doing. At that moment, Alexander had made a pact with himself to watch over Abraham. To keep him on the right path. Abraham was two months older than him, and even with all his strength and wisdom, he was riddled with faults that he needed to be saved from. With their bags packed, and 535 boys surrounding them in apparent slumber, the boys sat on Abraham's bed. Alexander watched as Abraham absently played with the blue crystal that always hung from his neck- a pretty little trinket that his mother had given him on his third birthday. It was all that remained of his former life. Abraham looked up from the brown blanket and met Alexander's eyes, staring intently, the look slightly unnerving Alexander. " When I die, you have to go forward. You can never come back here. When I die, you continue what we set out to do. Finish it." The words flew out of Abraham's mouth and into Alexander's perplexed and slightly terrified brain. " What the hell, dude? You're not -" Abraham jumped off the bed and grabbed his bag, the unexpected movement interrupting Alexander in mid-sentence. " When I die, continue on. Nothing is ever as it seems." ** This is just the prologue for the fantasy series. Starting with chapter one, we'll be getting into the good stuff ;-). I would love to hear from you guys, please send any and all comments to jontlappin@gmail.com