Chapter 1 - The Ring?
Chapter 1
-Dmitri
The Ring
It Begins....
The band of gold sat deep inside of the dirt. The ring had been sitting there for a very very long time. How long the ring could never be sure, for time mattered little to an inanimate object, but this object was different. It was aware. Time still mattered little to the babel as it sat nestled in the earth for what was now edging a hefty three thousand years.
The ring had fallen here and here it had remained past the fall of nations and the wars that never should have been, but nothing about its pristine appearance changed. The gold did not degrade, because the dirt did not stain it, and the movement of the earth never crushed it. It was as if the golden ring were protected. Uncorrupt-able.
In some unexplained way even the ring knew that this was how it was meant to be and that this was where it was meant to stay, at least, until the time of His arrival. Soon enough “that time” came upon the world. The golden ring awakened, a deep glow emitting from its shinny depths as layer and layer of dirt, that the ring had sensed pressing down on it for century’s, began to disappear. Then piercing light invaded and the ring knew that it had been found at last. A true Ascended had found it at last..
Minutes earlier....
Dmitri Welsh sat backing alive in his sweaty hazelnut skin. His strong, but small hands ached, his deep black eyes filled with exhaustion and determination in dual parts stung as drops of sweat poured into them, dripping from his stylish black braids knotted into a thick braid at his nape, pulled tight at the sides of his temples to keep his medium length dreads from swaying in his face. The boy was two seconds from flinging away his tools as more of his own essence dripped into his eyes ignoring all of his attempts to swipe the burning liquid aside before it could burn his gaze.
But despite his discomfort he continued to dig, he slammed the shovel down and lifted sand up. Over and over. Rhythmic...and somewhat obsessive in his tireless dedication to the task at hand.
Each shovel of sand seemed to weigh a ton. The chalky wood of the shovel bit into his palms deeply as he wearily tilted the sand out. He watched it cascade down, like the sands in an hourglass to rest atop the large hill that pretty much resembled every other hill in the area around him at the dig site..
Swiping water from his eyes once more with a irritated hiss Dmitri sighed.
Thats it! He thought tossing down the shovel. I give up! What are we out here looking for anyway? And why do I even care this much!?
Rubbing sand littered heels into his burning eyes, which far from fixed the situation, Dmitri glared across the landscape that he currently was considering naming Hell instead of Chihuahuan. Chihuahuan or Hell was the largest desert in the Central Mexican Highlands. How did Dmitri know this?
Well, because Dmitri and his parents had been digging around in that very desert for the past four weeks and he was darn near salivating sand now. At first Dmitri had been happy about the trip, he had always wanted to travel to Mexico. It had always seemed strange to him that his parents had traveled all over the world, seen so many things and yet they never visited Mexico. What a waste! Or so Dmitri had thought, but now after days of never ending heat, spicy exotic foods, and the sand, god he couldn’t forget the sand, Dmitri wanted to strangle himself and his parents for even wasting the money for the trip.
Dmitri sighed. What were we thinking?
A moment later Dmitri decided that he wasn’t really being fair to his parents.
I was the one who practically begged them for this trip and now all I want is to be back home in California sitting under some palm trees in the shade.
Dmitri took a moment to drool over that delicious dream for a moment until a stiff wind suddenly flung a handful of sand into his face. Daydreaming over. Dmitri shook sand out of his hair, took up his shovel and went back to work, but his mind was miles away.
Why did I want to come to this stupid place so badly anyway? Dmitri tried to think of an answer to this as he slammed the shovel down and lifted more sand away, but surprisingly realized that he didn’t have an answer. Dmitri didnt know why he had wanted to come to Mexico so badly, but he remembers begging for it. Looking back on it now he realized that he had been obsessed with the trip.
The moment I heard about the discovery of the tombs out here I just.... had to be here, I wouldn’t take no for an answer...
Dmitri thought with a shake of his head
But why? Why did I need to come to this hell hole so badly!?
Dmitri growled, his foul temper making his normally calm and respectful disposition shift aside like the sands around him. His temper flaring making him desire to pound something, so he slammed the shovel down, harder then any time before and yelped as his hands bounced around the handle. A strange vibration, like electricity danced up his toes to his crown and back down again making him flinch back in surprise. Confused he glared down into the turned earth, aggravation giving way to a cool sense of disbelief.
I dont believe it...
Dmitri tossed the shovel up and away as he crouched down to pier at what he’d struck.
Its probably just a dumb rock.
He thought but as Dmitri shook the sting from his palms he knew that no rock had ever felt that hard and Dmitri had dung a lot of holes. Submerging his hands in the warm soil Dmitri felt around and as one minute melted away fruitlessly he was ready to give up when he felt it. Something warm. No, hot. Dmitri closed his hands around the item and bought it up to find a ring. A glowing gold ring. Dmitri brought the small item close and eyed it suspiciously.
“Great...What an ugly useless ring.” He said sighing.
He tilted his hand so that the item would slide back into the dirt.
“Freaking A! Four weeks of digging and all I find is a worthless piece of trash. Figures I guess. Dad told me not to get my hopes up too. I should have listened.”
Then it happened. An event that would change Dmitri’s life forever. Just as Dmitri was about to let the ring fall something hit him in the head, but not on the outside. On the inside. Instinctively Dmitri brought his hands up and screamed in pain. It felt like someone had sucker punched him in the brain.
Not Trash!
Screamed ...Growled something inside of Dmitri. Something that wasn’t him at all.
“Wha...What?” Dmitri stammered out loud in confusion.
Whats going on? He thought, he glared up at the sun then around himself sensing eyes upon him. eyes...inside of him. There was a small pinch in the base of his skull, like a hook in the tissue in his nerves at the base of his spine...it wasn’t pleasant and Demitri would have went into a full blown panic thinking that he had been stung by a scorpion or bitten by a snake...if more strange words hadn’t began to assault him. Boulders of sound in his mind scrambling his senses into the wind and driving him to his knees.
IM Not Trash!
Not Trash!
Not Trash!
Not Trash!
Not Tra....
“Okay! Okay! I got it! Your not trash! Please stop hurting me!” Dmitri screamed not really caring what he had to say as long as the throbbing in his head would cease.
IM Not Ugly either, say it!
Growled the voice softer this time, but no less painfully. Dmitri winced.
“I didn’t mean that! You’re not ugly..” Dmitri said to the voice out loud, feeling silly and frightened but he tried to stay calm. Honestly he was just wanting the pain to disappear so he could think straight. “Please stop! You’re not ugly...whatever you are.”
Whatever I am!? But...can you not see me? I am here Ascended....
“See you? Ascended?” Dmitri opened his eyes, that had been clamped in pain and looked around. “You’re here?” he asked seeing no one but the tops of his parent’s heads a few feet away as they dug away in their own holes.
Of course I’m here
“Where?” Dmitri thought feeling something swallowing up the pain, something he couldn’t identify. The he realized it was fear.
With you. Always with you...now
The voice sounded even softer, perhaps weaker then before to Dimitri making his frown and squint as he tried to decipher just all that was happening and when he could make it stop.
.There was no real way to discern sex or species from the voice and as far as he could tell...the words were coming from the depths of his own mind. The voice was just a growling rumble of words trembling inside of him like the shifting of singing boulders, but there was a hint of something female about the voice, still there was also a hint of something snarling and hissing as well. It was disturbing.
“With me?” Dmitri opened his hand and looked down at the ring as something clicked instinctively and he started to rise up from his knees staring at his open palm like it was wrapped around a live cobra and not an inanimate ring. “W...ww..ith me?” he asked again
Yes..yes...
“But you’re a ring, rings don’t...I mean they don’t think, they can’t talk either. You’re an inanimate object and...and you have no mouth!”
Dmitri incredulously stated to the item, feeling like he was levitating in a parallel universe all the while thinking to himself.
Ok yeah this is sus. Im cracked. The sun must have done it right!? This cant be happening. Nope. This isn’t happening. Ughhh Did the natives feed me cactus juice, am I hallucinating? Crap maybe I should drink some water before I start howling at the sun and trying to eat sand or something?
The voice of the...ring intruded on his thoughts as if to answer the previous statement.
Stop panicking. I talk. I also think, but that is because I am this ring, but I am not this ring Ascended One...
“Ok. Right...Uh that makes no sense... This all makes no sense.” Dmitri thought and said back in frustration.
He wanted to stop talking but didn’t know what to do about the ring. He wanted to drop it but didnt want his brain to explode if he did try to put it down. Dmitri was so caught up with his deli-ma that he didnt realize that as he spoke that both his parents had noticed his weird behavior and were making their way toward him...thier sweat glistened faces painted with worried frowns and curiosity.
No it does not make perfect sense, but that will not change the facts. I speak and I think, I am more than a ring. I do not lie you must trust me.
Replied the mysterious voice with a silken snarl that made Dimitris skin crawl.
Unable to grasp the reality of the situation Dmitri did something that when looked back upon he would realize was not the smartest thing. “Okay then prove it. Prove that you are more then a ring...voice in my head. Do something!?”
Silence. Dmitri stared at the ring triumphantly. Then he sighed and dropped his hand in relief. “Ok...good. Good. It was all just a hallucination after all!” he spat at himself.
Seriously what is wrong with me...of course it’s just a ring...
Dimitri paused, shook his head and just laughed at his own stupidity, lifted his fist cocked back and went to fling ugly ring off into the distance. It was useless to him and would bring them no profit...and besides Dimitri and his parents had come in search of more precious artifacts from the located tombs beneath the sands. Jewels and statues of uncommon wealth and origins, a simple band of battered gold was nothing compared to jackpot they had no doubt managed to score.
A moment before he released the ring back to the oblivion of the burning sands, light exploded out of the ring, light too golden, too real, it engulfed him and in the light Dmitri saw something. A growl ripped though the air, paws reached for him and tapped him gently but firmly on the chest from within the ring! Furry, thick arms, tipped with scythes like claws, the color and density of crystals danced along his frail feeling clothing and flesh. Dmitri screamed and dropped the ring to the floor. Once it hit the sands the light cut away. Seemingly just as fast as the paws and light had appeared they were gone and Dmitri was left staring down at a harmless golden band.
The voice came again. Faintly and weak it hissed at him.
I told you so...Now I must rest...
Thank you for finding me Ascended One...
It is good to be home...
Then it was gone taking Dmitri’s slight headache with it.
Ascended One? Home!? What the...forking hell was that!?....
Dmitri didnt move, he had to admit to himself that he was in shock. It didn’t feel good either. Demetri tried not to let much of anything faze him or slow him down if it could be dealt with in a logical matter...but...logic evaded him. He was so in shock in fact that he didnt notice his parents until his mothers slim hand closed around the ring and lifted it up. Dmitri eyes followed it up then he blinked and looked up into his mother and fathers faces.
His fathers mouth set in a grim frown and his mothers eyes were heavy with tears that Dmitri couldn’t have know the cause for.
Coming back to himself Dmitri jumped up and down, and his voice poured from him in a mess of excitement and confused fear. “Mom Dad! Oh man, you’re not going to believe what just happened to me! You...the ring had legs and it....it...!”
Mr Welsh sighed deeply and he wiped at his sweaty tan face as Mrs Welsh came over and gently put her arm across Dmitri’s shoulders, looking him deep in the eyes as she hugged him close...and started to cry loud and hard into his braids.
“Mom? Dad?” Demetri whispered more shaken then before as he held his mother close and looked to his dad. The man just shook his head in a dire way.
“Dmitri....I think it’s time your mother and I had a talk with you...it seems you have unfortunately Ascended.”
