EPISODE 24: Who Goes There
Joseph Frost pored over his gathered notes about the Processions. Mapped out in front of him, there were concrete pieces, things remembered from before the fire that destroyed the outline he’d spent careful decades building at their stronghold in Ireland. But member’s of Zayne and Roux’s Light Brigade had laid waste to it all.
Of course there were details he knew by heart, but Processions were not easy to unravel and decode. Like a mountain of paper torn into the tiniest shreds -- putting the pieces back together exactly seemed a monumental task. And even when complete, the picture would still be jumbled, nonsense needing further decrypting.
The Oracle helped, insight from unseen sources with more intimate knowledge. But culling useful information from the whispers from beyond was no easy task either, as the mindless ether could only relay, but not understand context or meaning. And stretches between useful fragments from the reanimated Oracle were long and grueling.
The soothsayer demon currently inhabiting this particular body, liked to sleep for long stretches. The body mostly sat motionless, a hollow vessel. But on a particular afternoon, after having been months since the last tuning with the Abyss, Joseph was closer than ever to putting the pieces of the next Procession together, one regarding a figure known as Ezath...But he needed help. He leaned forward, weary, desperate, unwilling to sit complacent. And if sensing his unrest, the Oracle’s hollow eyes widened. The silence finally broke.
ORACLE: Joseph Frost...so loyal, so patient. Yet what has the chosen given you but promises?
Joseph’s brow furrowed. The voice was strange, not from the host, not the same he’d heard from last...and it was certainly not the voice of his father, reaching from the hereafter.
Joseph talks to a voice from the beyond - © 2025 Headless Horseman Productions, LLC
JOSEPH: Father? Is that you?
ORACLE: Listen to me, Joseph...
Joseph’s breath caught, the voice’s timbre shifted darker, smoother.
ORACLE: You sit like a pet at Orem’s heel. Bound to his desires. Tell me, what has he shared with you? Where are the things you were promised?
JOSEPH: If this isn’t my father, then...who goes there? Is this some sort of test?
ORACLE: No test. Only truth. You remember the moment, don’t you? Cracking the book...tasting what lay between the pages. Your mind filled with possibility. Not only thirst for yourself, but for others.
JOSEPH: Seems all the magic Orem possesses is for one thing only, to serve the Dark.
ORACLE: You seek to serve mankind. Noble aspirations.
JOSEPH: I know we march towards war. A return of balance sought. But with so much suffering in the here and now, why not do something more?
ORACLE: There’s nothing wrong with mercy.
JOSEPH: I just wish Orem could see past himself is all.
ORACLE: Has he ever?
JOSEPH: No. And I can’t imagine he ever will.
ORACLE: Then maybe his power was meant for someone else? Maybe you?
Joseph smiled at the thought...it was what he’d always wanted.
ORACLE: As powerful as Orem has become, maybe he’s forgotten humility...What if I told you, you could save him from himself? Inherit what he has. Power meant to build, not always destroy. To lead, not consume.
JOSEPH: How? How could I, he’s powerful, I’m not.
ORACLE: Not alone. But there are others who can do this for you. I will guide you.
Joseph leaned forward, torn between dread and desire, unable to stop himself. The Oracle’s eyes seemed deeper now, inviting.
ORACLE: Closer...
It was 1951. A new decade...a new age of machines, industry, and boundless hope. Mankind raised its eyes to the future, believing the darkness was finally behind them. But for the Army of Light, not all shadows had lifted. Orem Black still walked the earth and the Dark was winning the war.
Broderick Zayne and Gérard Roux had, for the time being, lost track of him. Somehow, Orem had unraveled their method of pursuit and vanished with his legions…So when an urgent, secretive telegram arrived, its detail set their nerves on edge. It spoke of Orem’s whereabouts and his planning of an imminent strike.
Zayne and Roux receive a strange telegram - © 2025 Headless Horseman Productions, LLC
The message claimed Orem had fixed his sights on an authentic copy of the Book of Amar. Pulled from the hoard of stolen Nazi artifacts uncovered in a salt mine in Eastern Europe. The tome was bound for a shadowed auction in Rome. He and his lot would take it before it ever reached the block...
Veera and Aolani in Hawaii - © 2025 Headless Horseman Productions, LLC
Far across the ocean at their sanctuary in Hawaii, Veera and Aolani were methodically rehearsing their counterstrike. Refining their plan to razor precision. Together they wove and rewove the sequence, determined that when the moment came, nothing, no error, no hesitation would stand between them and their quarry...
Zayne and Roux arrived on the big island with the suspicious dispatch. A meeting of the minds with Veera and Aolani was required...
ZAYNE: The details of Orem’s movements in this cable seem too precise.
ROUX: At first, we thought maybe it came from an ally.
ZAYNE: I’ve been in touch with Ling and her camp with the Order of Wormwood, none of them have knowledge of this. It seems the Dark may be setting a trap.
ROUX: The only question is, why?
But Veera and Aolani had been preparing for an opportunity such as this.
VEERA: Trap or not, the promise of this book drawing Orem out into the open is a chance we must take.
ROUX: It would be foolish to put yourselves in harm’s way.
AOLANI: We have a plan. We’ve been training.
VEERA: We know how to disrupt the Dark’s march towards the Absolution for good.
ZAYNE: But you know not the depths of Satan’s plans or of the details of the Processions.
VEERA: All we need is to remove one important piece and the rest will fail.
AOLANI: What did you call it Veera? A house of cards?
VEERA: Let’s show them what we mean.
Unfolding their plan for Zayne and Roux, the pair watched with a glimmer of hope.
ZAYNE: This might very well work, but it must be a coordinated effort. We’ll need all the help we can get.
This was the Light’s opportunity to change the story, to turn the tide, an inflection point...But if they failed, the world might not live to see another decade.
TO BE CONTINUED…