On the fields of Hurona’s holy ring, I felt life drift through me. From above and below, I was beyond the dimensions of mortal man. In those fields, I could see my life stretched out into a single golden path along the curve of the metal.
-The Journal of the Bannerman
Rebecca Warner gazed upon her newborn son and smiled weakly. Her gown was blood-stained, and nurses rushed to supply her.
Her husband watched his watch and waited in the cold Cordillian air. He took a long drag from a cigarette and buttoned up his overcoat. His body burned as it sweated. A dozen half-smoked cigarettes lay smoldering around the ground at his feet. I won’t have enough time, he thought, before I go. A nurse peered out from a propped door and gazed with an appraising eye. Maybe they could move to Shaxia, he thought before tarnishing the notion and rubbing his forehead.
“The mother will see you in just a moment,” she said flatly. James Warner fumbled with his cigarette and tried to snatch it as it fell. It landed next to a pile of discarded transfer paperwork.
“Ow…” He grabbed his finger, “they’re ok?” His hands shook nervously, and he looked as though sleep had eluded him for months. She nodded softly, and James let out a long sigh of relief.
The Spector of Death stepped into the void as they ushered the soul of a freshly dead man. Heavy beeping rang from inside the hospital as they caught a glimpse of James, who stamped out his last smoldering cigarette. Carelessly, they let their mind wander and paused as they watched the elder James Warner’s face.
“That is the face of a man I will one day know well… No, wait…” Gasped Death, “That is his father,” they looked around the empty parking lot, then back to the sweaty, racked officer, “is it time?” Asked Death. The soul they ushered looked up in silent confusion.
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“Indeed…” Whispered Hurona, startling Death, “my Bannerman returns… He shall raise my holy banner of my armies against the Shadows. He shall set the wheel of fate into motion,” she smiled weakly as Death slowly passed, “his soul has returned in this mortal form… As it has… As it will forever.”
“Your golden path brings nothing but more suffering… To those who have suffered enough. Do you not remember your Migmagod? Locked away, the poor thing,” Death scowled with their placid, unmoving face, “but what would one such as I do in the face of your work?” they continued as they walked along a path towards the void, “try not to interrupt me.”
Hurona spat, “You need not pretend to understand our plans measured in ages. My Father’s Migamgod will serve us yet,” she said before returning to the empty parking lot as Death disappeared into the underworld. She walked the cold halls of the Cordillian hospital and entered the operating theater with trepidation. There lay the Bannerman and her mortal mother. Hurona smiled and wiped away a tear from her eye.
“My last, at last…” She whispered in the dark. Rebecca looked up in confusion, for she could hear a dark whisper in the air, “you are the spark that will light this cursed galaxy aflame,” Hurona whispered as the child began to wail and thrash. Rebecca Warner clasped the Bannerman to her chest and looked into the darkness, where she could see the gathering of Shadows.
“My son!” Cried Rebecca, “what have you done to him?” She begged the visages in the dark, who quickly receded as Hurona stepped forth into the light.
“He is no longer just your son,” Hurona rasped in reply as Rebecca recoiled, trying to shield the baby in her arms. The Bannerman continued to wail as though an intense pain overtook his flesh.
“My lady!” Rebecca cried, and tears streamed down her cheeks, “what have you done to my son?” The infant continued to wail until Rebecca held him closely, rocking his swaddled form until his cries of pain subsided.
Hurona approached slowly and placed her hand upon the boy’s head. Rebecca glanced up, but said nothing as the Goddess spoke, “he is blessed this day, as are you… For this boy shall stand before my armies… He shall carry my holy banner into war,” a glimmer filled the hospital room. The Goddess's eyes narrowed coldly. My Bannerman, at last, her soul coiled around old memories. I know you, already, she thought.
Rebecca’s eyes widened, and her mouth hung open, “no…” She gasped as the Goddess and her brilliant light faded from the chamber and the long fingers of darkened Shadows crept across the floor. “What have you done?” Rebecca sobbed as the baby boy glanced up with hopeful little eyes.
