A Sign

Archon traveled on his own this time. The North chill sunk to the bone, but he knew it was necessary. He had to be broken in order to reform to God's will and image. It was a journey he had to take before taking the final steps to make his band. He needed a sign- a final nod of God's approval before he made his band. This was something he needed to do without his family's help- without Malleus' watchful eye over him. This needed to be between him and God.

The frozen winds blew up tufts of fresh snow in the distance, illuminated as the last rays of sun vanished behind the horizon. It was time. Archon could feel it. He closed his eyes and turned his head skyward, the winds whipping wildly around him. He waited still, despite the discomfort. Finally, when he felt the time was right, he opened his eyes.

At first he didn't see anything, just the infinite darkness of the sky above him, spanning out for eons on end. Slowly, though- and slowly enough that Archon was almost sure he was hallucinating from staring too long- ribbons of color began to bloom across the sky. At first, they were small, dim. But all at once- or maybe not all at once, but perhaps Archon's perspective was skewed by the sheer awe that possessed him- they flooded the sky.

An innumerable amount of colors spanned the sky, twinkling and rippling along with the dancing flecks of snow that drifted slowly towards the ground. Was this what God wanted to show him, Archon wondered. He watched the bands twist and flow, their colors shifting from one hue to another seamlessly. As far as he could see, the colors lasted, just like the reach of God. His light would douse everything, illuminating the one true path for The Fallen to follow.

He realized in that moment just how vast everything was compared to him. He was suddenly very, very small. He was humbled and for that, he thanked God. Although God may have not crafted every element of the world, but what did exist still was something he must have encountered, must have approved of, and must have left for his followers to be able to experience.

In the glory of it all, Archon felt reassured that he was on the right path: the path towards cleansing righteousness. There was no coincidence that he came here and that he experienced such a spectacle. Only by God's guidance could he have ever been here at a time like this. This had to be the sign of approval Archon so desperately sought after. He felt a light smile coming to his maw as he watched the lights above.

Though the lights illuminated and swelled in the sky, the ground remained its grey-blue night time color, untouched by any of the phenomena above. It was a reflection of just how separate the godly world was from his own. He lived in the darkened world, yet to be brightened by God's ways. It was still filled with looming darkness while the gods above lived in a world of light and splendor.

Slowly, the lights began to fade back. Archon wanted to chase them, to grasp them and pull them back into the sky if for even just a second longer. The man knew better, though. He knew any such efforts would be in vain. He knew that, at last, this moment of closeness with God was coming to a close, despite his strongest wishes were for it to continue.

No, had had his approval. He had to make the band now. The Fallen Band would glorify God- it would bring them closer to him. These lights- these fading, glimmering lights were all the sign he needed. Even as they wiled and dimmed into the predawn horizon, Archon knew their meaning and had their memory seared into his mind and his heart. As the sharp winds once more became apparent to his mortal body, Archon realized it was his time to leave.

As the sun began to drown out the darkness of the sky above, turning it into a grey that matched the midnight snows, Archon turned to leave. The snow stretched out before the large man, glittering, but not at all in the same splendor as the lights that had existed above just a few moments ago. It reminded him that while God was like the lights in the heavens, he was like the snow here. He, too, was glittering and shining with light, but he was nothing in comparison to God.

He wasn't sure if he would ever tell those around him- other than Obi- about the lights he saw. He wasn't sure if they would ever even believe him. But that didn't matter to him. He knew what he saw and he knew in his heart what it meant.