An introductory note from Carda:

It’s been said that lives are like threads, woven together by our interactions with each other to create the massive tapestry of history that is life. Each thread in the tapestry tells its own part of the story. The thread you’re about to follow is mine.

My name is James Carda, but I prefer being called by my last name. When all of this started, I was a fairly normal college student. Since then, my life has moved far beyond classes and studies—quite literally, beyond the world as I knew it.

But I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. Every story has a beginning, and this one is no exception. In actuality, it started years before I discovered my place in the Creator’s grand scheme. It started with the end of the world…

1.Prologue – The End of the World

Arthur Heartlight glanced at the approaching storm. Yes, there was lightning, and there was thunder, but this was no natural phenomenon. It was a black disk in the sky, sucking in light, air, time, space, and gravity. Thunderclouds gathered on its edges where the atmosphere was being torn apart, as if the sky were bleeding in torment. After a while, the thunderclouds spiraled into the nothingness in the hole’s center, to be replaced by others. But not for much longer. “So this is what oblivion looks like.”

“If you don’t hurry you’re going to find out what it feels like,” Joseph warned. Joseph Planarre had been Arthur’s good friend for a long time. The two of them were spearheading the evacuation currently in progress.

“You don’t have to remind me, Joseph. Just let me find Erius and his family. We’ll be back here in no time.”

“I’d offer to help ensure it’d be no time, but…” Joseph shrugged.

Arthur nodded. “I know. With time and space unraveling like this there’s nothing either of us can do to hurry the process. Is the portal stable?”

“As stable as it’s going to be. Just hurry. We don’t know how much time we have left before THAT thing tears this entire world apart.”

As Arthur drove through town toward his son’s house, he noticed that the local population seemed evenly divided between those who were frantically driving the other way and those who merely stood in their front yards, staring at the approaching storm.

“The Guide has been busy in this world, I see…” Arthur muttered. He turned his gaze to the house where his son’s family lived.

Arthur slammed on the brakes. His son and daughter-in-law were among those standing and watching the storm. He threw the transmission into park and practically leaped from the driver’s seat of his SUV. “Erius, we need to get going. NOW,” Arthur announced, stepping in front of his son.

Erius blinked. “What are you talking about, Dad?”

“Are you blind and deaf? That massive black hole is headed straight towards this World and you’re wondering what I’m talking about?”

“It’s the Great Blessing, Dad. Elise and I have been expecting this for years.”

Arthur turned away, muttered something about “bloody religious cult,” and turned back to face his son, eyes full of fire. “So you’re just going to give up on your lives, is that it?”

“This is the way it has to be, Dad. This is the Great Blessing, where everyone in the world will be given—”

“I’ve heard the speech before, Erius, and you’re not going to convince me. It’s ridiculous! Where were the signs of the End Times? There WEREN’T any because this Oblivion headed our way isn’t natural. The Creator didn’t send this; man did.”

Erius shook his head and looked at his father with amusement, the way one would look at a child who asked you why the sky was blue. “You’re mistaken, Dad.”

Arthur wondered where he had gone wrong in raising his son, but there was no time to mull it over. “I wish I could change your mind, son, I really do. Just realize that there’s no second chance, no turning back. If you find that you’ve been wrong all this time, you don’t get a do-over.”

“Elise and I have followed the Multiversal Guide as best we can. The Great Blessing—”

“Your blasted GUIDE is a book of LIES, Erius! There is only one Mediator between the Creator and man! How many times did I try to teach you that when you were young?”

“I lost count,” Erius replied darkly.

Arthur could only sigh. “All right, fine. You do what you want. Where’s your daughter?”

“Xironi is in her room, and she won’t come out. I’m afraid she won’t be granted the Great Blessing.”

“I want to take her with me.”

Erius suddenly became enraged. “She’s made her choice, Dad! This ridiculous evacuation of yours is only drawing people away from the truth!”

“Whose truth, Erius? Just whose truth are you following?”

“The Church of the Multiversal Guide is the sole keeper of truth.”

Arthur was having a very hard time controlling his temper at this point. “Erius, with the Creator as my witness, I wash my hands of you. You’ve made your choice, you’ve hardened your heart, and I refuse to take any more responsibility for your actions and choices. Heaven knows I’ve tried. But I WILL be taking your daughter with me. And if you want to stop me, you’ll just have to kill me, if you can.”

Erius’ eyes blazed, but he remained where he stood.

“Smart choice,” Arthur said as he stepped away from his son and entered the house. He approached his granddaughter’s room and knocked softly. “Xironi? It’s me.”

The door cracked open tentatively, and an eye peeked through the gap. Recognition lit the eye, and the door sprang open. “Grandpa! You’re here!” Xironi grinned, her tail twitching happily.

Arthur had always wondered why neither he nor his son had ever displayed any of the overt Felician traits, while six-year-old Xironi sported the race’s well-known feline ears and tail. He supposed it was a matter of genetics—not one of his strong subjects.

“Hi, cupcake!” Arthur swept Xironi up into a big hug, then lowered his voice conspiratorially. “Did you pack your things?”

“Uh huh. All my clothes and my favorite things, just like you said.”

“Your plushie too?”

“The one that looks like me? Yeah, and the gyroscope.”

“Good girl. Where’s your suitcase?”

“In the back of the closet, where Daddy wouldn’t find it.”

“Good…” Arthur reached into the closet and pulled the suitcase out. “Now you’re sure you’ve got everything?”

“Everything except Daddy’s silly Guide.”

“Well we’re not taking that with us anyway. Got your Bible?”

“Right on top.”

“That’s my girl. Come on, we have to hurry…”

Xironi looked up at Arthur. “Grandpa?”

“Yes, sweetie?”

“Will I see Daddy and Mommy again?”

Arthur paused. He wanted to reassure the child, but he didn’t want to lie to her either. “I don’t know, honey. I really don’t.”

“I thought you were bringing the whole family,” Joseph commented.

“I couldn’t convince Erius to come with.”

“Don’t blame yourself, Arthur. It’s his choice, not yours.”

“I know, but… I can’t help thinking I drove him to join that cult somehow.”

“The Church of the Multiversal Guide is crafty, man. They tried recruiting me once.”

“I hope you laughed in their faces.”

“As much as I wanted to, no, I didn’t. I did my best to convince them of the truth, but when people have become that deluded no truth can penetrate the veil of lies. It’s a bad situation all around… But at least your son had the sense to let you bring Xironi.”

“He didn’t exactly LET me… I practically had to threaten him.”

“I might have done the same. Are you ready to take over?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be. You’re the one wearing the medallion, Joseph. Take charge. I’m just here to help.”

“Right.” Joseph stepped out into the open, where a huge crowd had gathered. Many looked tense and worried, while others were calm and at peace. All had some sort of luggage with them.

“Attention, everyone!” Joseph’s voice rose over the howling wind. “You may be wondering why the evacuation route led you here. The storm approaching is no ordinary tornado or hurricane. It will very likely devour this entire world. There are similar evacuation points all over the world. We have a portal open that will help you escape from the impending disaster. We would ask that everyone please remain calm and pass through the portal in an orderly fashion so that no one gets hurt. There will be people on the other side who will direct you to a staging area. Once everyone has passed through the portal, we’ll prepare for the second half of the trip. Please stand back and wait until you’re given the signal to begin moving.”

He nodded at Arthur, and the pair stretched forth their hands and concentrated. The large portal, roughly the size of a school bus, opened even wider, and people began filing through. Little Xironi watched in awe as friends, neighbors, and strangers disappeared into the swirling mass of light.

Suddenly, it was as if the approaching oblivion took offense to the fact that people were trying to escape from its deadly embrace. The massive black-hole-like thing that had been leisurely making its way toward the world now accelerated, sealing the fate of anyone caught unprepared. Wind blasted through the crowd, tearing at clothes and snatching at luggage. In the distance, trees and houses dissolved and flew up into the sky, pulled by the incredible suction of the storm.

The refugees saw it happen and while some panicked, others were more resolved to get as many people safely through as possible. A handful of men sent their families on ahead and set themselves to the task of guiding people through, escorting those who needed help, and so forth. As the last stragglers escaped to safety, the World’s imminent destruction began. The sky was slowly turning black as the world’s atmosphere diminished, and it was growing more difficult to draw a full breath. The edge of the black hole had nearly reached them.

Arthur had sent Xironi through long before, so now only he and Joseph stood there, portal still open, world ending about them while they argued over which of them was going to be the last one through.

“For the last time, Joseph, GO!” yelled Arthur over the howling of the wind. “I’m not leaving until you do!”

“You stubborn fool, you’re gonna get us both killed if you don’t get yourself through that gate!”

“I’m not going to let you make your wife a widow!”

“Elena will understand if I don’t make it, Arthur! I’ll see her again someday! Think about your granddaughter! She’s already lost her parents! Are you going to orphan the poor girl and leave her with no one?”

“But—” Arthur was interrupted by a backpack slamming him in the chest. Dangling from a chain attached to one of the straps was a silver medallion engraved with the mark of an hourglass encased within a gyroscope. It waved wildly in the wind.

“I’m entrusting you to give my things to my wife if I don’t make it!” Joseph bellowed over the roar of the storm. He pointed at the portal. “Now GO!”

Arthur gave up arguing and flung himself through the gateway, oblivion nipping at his heels.

As he ran out the other side, Joseph’s wife Elena stood there with Xironi by her side. The little Felician dashed up to him and clung to one leg. “You made it, Grandpa!”

Arthur looked back at the portal… just as it winked out of existence.

The shock took a moment to set in. Arthur slowly turned to face Elena. She stood with a matching expression of stunned disbelief on her face.

Joseph hadn’t made it in time.

“Elena, I’m sorry… I tried to convince him to go first…”

Elena shook her head, fighting tears. “No, you did the right thing. Joseph—” She gulped. “He would never have forgiven himself if… if Xironi had been left alone.”

Xironi looked up at her grandfather. “Mister Joseph isn’t coming?”

Elena walked over and knelt down next to Xironi. “No, honey. He isn’t.”

Xironi blinked, tears coming to her eyes. “Mommy and Daddy aren’t coming either, are they?”

The wave of emotions all hit Arthur at once and threatened to drown him right there where he stood. “No, sweetie,” he replied. “They’re gone…” He dropped to his knees and embraced both Elena and Xironi, allowing the tears to fall at last.

A short distance away, an older Felician blinked back her own tears as she watched this scene unfold. It felt like she had just now lost her parents… and, in a sense, she had.

For the subspace storm which had claimed Xironi’s homeworld held no regard for time and space, and this older Xironi had just lost yet another loved one to the very same tragedy that had taken the lives of her parents all those years ago.