This is a continuation of a story begun in the post “Chapter 1. Part 1.” If you enjoy it, please like and share it with others!
This is also the final chapter in my story “The Syllogy of the Universe.”
If you’ve made it this far, I hope that means you have enjoyed the story.
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Stay tuned for excerpts from the sequel to this story! They are currently in the works, and I can’t wait to share them with you. Also, check out my other major story “The Gate is Small.” It’s an allegorical tale about the christian life, inspired by John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress.”
Finally, I’d love to hear feedback from you! Leave comments or send me emails at [email protected]
Please enjoy the final chapter of “The Syllogy of the Universe”!
Chapter 29: FOND FAREWELLS
Afterward we went back to the trees we had camped at the night before. There was a clear and present void in the group as we set up camp. It was strange that the void was so tangible, especially considering that Teleon had never spent much time with the group. We had only known him personally for a few days, but his absence was now the defining characteristic of our team.
We all knew there was a chance of death. Our Umbili and Umbra had fully expected some of them to die on this adventure. However, no one thought this about Teleon. He was a Higher-up. He wasn’t supposed to die. That wasn’t according to plan, or at least, not our plan.
Brew prepared a lunch for us and we tried to relax for the rest of the day. There were scattered conversations about nothing in particular, and Fwik and Fwish tried to start a game of “Ouch,” but no one wanted to play. The feel of the entire evening was somber fear. What did it mean for the Syllogy now that Teleon was gone?
I thought for most of the night about ways to explain that he wasn’t actually gone! The tension inside me was nearly unbearable. I had such a marvelous secret. I knew the truth, but I simply couldn’t express it to anyone. How could I explain to them that they didn’t need to be sad? How could I remind the team that we had won? None of our success mattered to anyone. Teleon was dead, and that was all that mattered.
After dinner that night, Chak gathered us together in a close huddle.
“Tomorrow we need to start making our way back home. We must reach a communication spire as quickly as possible to tell the Higher-ups about Teleon’s death,” he said. His voice was lifeless, and it wasn’t just his Umbra transformation making it so. “Everyone get rest tonight. We’ll camp here and start back at first light. Understood?”
There was a murmured agreement. How could I shake these Umbili out of it?
Everyone retired to their hammocks restlessly. I knew none of them would sleep well. Thrump and Shishu stayed up as lookouts for the night. I didn’t understand why, probably out of habit. Wasn’t the danger gone now?
As I slept, I dreamed of the all-white room. It was a dream of feelings. I felt warm and safe and complete. It was a warmth that others simply can’t experience. It was safety created just for me. It was completeness that you can’t get from anywhere else. I loved that dream. I never wanted to leave it, which made me all the angrier when it was rudely interrupted by the rumbling of an earthquake.
I opened my eyes, the tent around me was shaking and Chak was trying to get out of his hammock. I rolled onto the ground and crawled toward the tent flap. As I pulled it open I could see the early morning light, not yet light enough to call it truly morning, but light enough that it was no longer night. Strangely though, the light continued to grow. The light was coming up over the horizon. I watched as the rumbling quieted and the light moved higher and higher over the horizon, and then I realized, it wasn’t going higher above the horizon it was coming toward us away from the horizon. The source of the light was walking toward us. It was filling up the morning sky just as if the sun was rising, but it was walking along the ground. Not walking, strolling.
I finally put two and two together. Thrump and Shishu were huddled together by the fire, taking a timid battle stance. I ran up behind them and shouted, “Don’t worry! It’s him! He’s back!”
They looked around at me incredulous then looked back at the shining man strolling toward the camp. The rest of the group crept over to us from their tents. None of them would let themselves believe it. They were all in shock. I burst through their ranks and ran to meet Teleon. I threw my arms around him in a huge hug, but he whispered to me, “Nicholas you must not cling to me,” in a serious but loving tone. I immediately let go and apologized. I was so excited that I didn’t know whether to walk with him to the group or run back ahead. I decided on the latter, shouting the whole way, “He’s back! He’s back!!”
The group was still dumbstruck and most of them were crying yet again. I wondered how they had the moisture left in their bodies. When Teleon finally reached us, he smiled and said casually, “Why the long faces?”
I was the only one who laughed. Everyone else was still unsure of how to handle themselves.
“Don’t be afraid. I’m here,” said Teleon, calmingly. His voice had the effect of a warm drink. It flooded through everyone and relaxed them instantly.
“How did this… I mean of course… how did you…” It was the first time I had seen Dr. Lee at a loss for words.
“The Higher-up has brought me back. But there is no need to fret over those sorts of worries. For now, let’s celebrate. Let’s spend time together before I have to leave again!”
We did exactly that. For the next few days we simply enjoyed the time we had. I got to introduce Teleon to the Courageous Danes, and when he petted Jobin he looked exactly like a dog for the first time. His leg started pumping and his tongue lolled out of the side of his mouth. He apologized for this later.
As we made our way back to the river and trekked up stream, the going was easy. We shared stories and reminisced about the adventure we had all shared. I remember one conversation in particular I had with Pathena as we were setting up camp back at the spire on the river. Only a week and a half earlier, Brew and Plink had been captured on this spot, the Agnoscian Orb had been stolen, I hadn’t known Pathena was even alive, or who Teleon was. It was on this very spot that Teleon had first given us those words of encouragement from the Higher-up. So much had changed in so short a time, but it seemed like a lifetime ago.
“What do you think that tree was for?” I asked out of the blue.
‘What tree?” she asked.
“That golden tree back in Mendrax’s garden. What do you think it was for?”
“I don’t know. What do you think?”
“Well, all those plants were supposed to be time plants right? Cyclical, stagnant, and linear, or whatever they were, those were the three colors of plant. The red was cyclical, the blue was stagnant and the purple was linear. But that tree wasn’t any of those colors or any mix of those colors. I really wanted to eat that fruit. I still do. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.”
“I know what you mean. I feel the same way. It was mesmerizing. Everything in me wants to taste that fruit. I’m still a little upset you made us leave. We’ll never get that opportunity again, you know. Why did you stop me?” Pathena said.
“I couldn’t help it. My body just kind of took over. I think it was Teleon,” I said. I was actually quite sure it was Teleon. Now I wished I had asked him about this when we were in the white room.
“Well, it probably doesn’t help to dwell on that now. It’s too late and we have to put it behind us,” she said.
“I guess you’re right, but I don’t know if I can,” I said distantly. I was imagining biting into the skin of that golden fruit.
Teleon broke my thoughts as he called the group together to speak. Evidently the camp was set-up for the night. He spoke in a tone that I now thought was foreign to him. It was more formal and authoritative than our past few conversations had been. It reminded me of the messages he gave to us at the river when we had first met him face to face.
“Dear, dear Umbili and Umbra,” he started. Doctor Lee cleared his throat. “And beetle,” Teleon added. “You have done well. You are much loved. I know that this experience has changed you all, and all for the better I’m sure. I want you to think back on a rousing speech that Dr. Lee once gave you, trying to inspire you to action. He said that you would be remembered. He was right. You have completed the journey and you will be remembered for it. Not as the eight great warriors of the Syllogy, as the good Doctor suggested, but instead as The Host of the Higher-up, the assembly of beings, Umbili, Umbra, Beetle, and Humans, who fought bravely for what was right. The host that was willing to give their lives to restore the balance of time to the Syllogy, and who were unflinchingly devoted to the truth. And Doctor Lee was right about one other thing: your story will be told until the end of time itself.”
Teleon finished his little speech and gave us the salute we had all learned, covering first his eye, then his ear, and then tapping his chest twice. We all reciprocated. Just as we finished, a bright flash came from the top of the spire. It blinded us all for a moment and we were all left blinking the beach back into view. There was a stunned silence as we realized that Teleon was gone. It was hard to believe. He came and left so quickly, but none of us were yet used to it. There was a bittersweet feeling amongst us, but different than when the group was mourning. Now there was hope mixed in with it. We were no longer in despair at having lost our leader, merely sad at having to say goodbye to a good friend, but knowing that we would see each other again.
Fwik was the first one to speak up, “So does anyone else think our group name is kinda lame?” We all laughed and talked about other possible names, but in the end we agreed that the name Teleon had given us should stay. The Host of the Higher-up. It grew on us over time.
I could go on to recount our return journey to the Syllogy, but there is little point. The only remotely exciting thing that occurred as we made our way back to the City of the Syllogy was the encounter we had with a few stray Felavis that had to be put down.
We stopped back off at the City of Falling Water to celebrate the successful completion of our mission and we convinced Flye to go bungee jumping while we were there. We also had a lot of fun educating Pathena on some of the things she hadn’t seen or heard about since she lived inside The Settlement. I got to be on the instructing side about the quirks of the Syllogy for a change.
Eventually, I think it took about two weeks, we made it back to the archway of blue goo. That’s when Chak sprang the last of his surprises on me.
“This is where we part ways,” he said solemnly.
I was a bit taken aback. “What do you mean? We’re all going back to Brew’s house to unpack aren’t we?”
“We are, but you and Pathena aren’t,” he said.
“What? What do you mean?”
“You’re going back to earth,” he said. I could hear him getting choked up as he did. “That’s always been the plan. When you go back through this doorway, you’ll be back on earth. I think you’re going back to your own time period.”
“But… but we can’t! We can’t possibly go back to earth, not after what we’ve done here! That’s where Mendrax is!”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
My mind was buzzing already. “Nothing” I said quickly.
He laughed quietly and looked down at his feet spindly.
“You wanna say your goodbyes?” he asked softly.
“I guess I don’t have a choice about this do I?” I said.
He shook his head.
“Then of course I want to say my goodbyes,” I said.
I looked around and realized that the whole group was lined up just as they had been when I had first met them on this very ledge a month before.
“Shishu,” I started, but he cut me off.
“There is no need for emotional goodbyes Nicholas. We’ll meet again if the Higher-ups so deem it,” he said. He was speaking in the driest monotone I had yet heard from him, and I could tell he was putting the voice on to disguise his real feelings. I smiled at him and nodded, not wanting to make him feel more uncomfortable.
“Plink,” I said, giving her a hug, “thanks for the talks, and for saving my life and all. You take care of Shishu okay? I think he’s a little more emotional than he lets on.” She nodded and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I blushed.
“Hey, cut that mushy gushy stuff out when you get over here!” shouted Fwish.
“Yeah we don’t want a kiss Nicky boy,” said Fwik.
“I suppose you don’t do you. Any last advice for me?” I asked.
“Yeah. When you get back to earth, you gotta try the cling wrap on the door frame bit. It’s hilarious.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.
I moved down the line to Flye.
“Listen,” I started.
“He told me that I was the worthless part of the group. He told me the others didn’t care about me and that I’d be the first one they’d sacrifice if they had to,” she said.
I was slightly stunned.
She continued, “You were going to ask me what Skreech whispered to me before I killed him. Foresight, remember? Anyway, that’s what he said.”
“You know that’s not true, right? You know, I couldn’t have done any of it without you?” I asked.
She smiled at me. “I think you could’ve, it just would have taken a lot longer.”
I gave her a hug and kissed her on the cheek, then stepped down the line to Thrump.
“Thanks for grabbing me before we fell off the waterfall, and at The Settlement and for fighting that first Felavis, and—”
“I get the point Nicholas. Of course you’re welcome,” he said in his deep comforting voice.
I leaned in, “keep an eye on the twins. They’re gonna get each other killed if you don’t.”
He laughed and gave me another bone-crushing hug.
“Brew,” I said. She looked at me. I squinted at her. She laughed and bowed her head toward me knowingly.
Dr. Lee was buzzing next to her.
“Doc, I think I learned the most from you on this trip,” I said.
“Was there ever any doubt that you would?” he said.
“I think you had the most dramatic change out of anyone here,” I said. “Dark to light’s a pretty serious switch.
He did a little loop-the-loop of approval then buzzed in my ear, “You stay safe and take good care of Pathena. Settle down and start a family for goodness sake! Someone needs to carry on the family line.”
“I think I’ll do that. You know, I bet you could come back with me if you wanted. You’d have to watch how much you talked though. Beetles on earth don’t normally do that.”
“Alas Nicholas, a world where I can neither read nor speak is world I’d rather not inhabit,” he said.
“Well, if you get another opportunity, the offer’s always there on my end,” I said.
“Noted,” he buzzed.
Finally it was Chak’s turn.
“You know this was all your fault,” I said.
“My fault? You’re the one who was all reason driven and picked death. What kind of sick-o are you?” he said with another slight grin.
“Well, if my name comes up on another roster for saving the Syllogy, I’d rather be passed up, all due respect.”
“I have to ask you something before you go,” said Chak.
“Anything.”
“I remember being controlled by Mendrax. I remember wanting to kill you, because of him, and I remember running toward you, and you were suddenly gone, and Teleon was there. Mendrax tried to stop me, but it was all too fast. Do you know how that happened?”
Finally, the moment I had been waiting for. I looked at him seriously and in as slow yet flippant a tone as I could said, “Don’t worry about it.”
He tried not to, but smiled in spite of himself.
“Are you ready to start this new purpose of yours?” he asked seriously.
I stopped and thought of the first conversation we had had in Troy.
“I suppose, though I don’t really see how anything has changed. I’m still going to die one day. How has my purpose changed?”
His eyes got very wide. “You don’t know what Teleon’s resurrection means do you?” he asked seriously.
I looked at him, confused. “I guess not.”
“It means there’s life after death for humans. The only Umbili hope for life after death is to become an Umbra, and until a few weeks ago, it was an experience I hoped never to have. But humans…” he trailed off regaining his thoughts. “Humans don’t come back to life, or at least they haven’t ever since Mendrax changed their purpose. Teleon was human. He was a Higher-up too, but he was completely human. His returning to life after death means there’s hope for all of you. He began undoing what Mendrax started! There’s a hope for you post-death now. That should definitely change how you live now! You received two new lives from this little adventure: life eternal and life abundant. Oh, and there’s something else. Teleon told me to give it to you.”
He pulled off the backpack and rummaged around extracting the Agnoscian Orb.
“He said it was your orb to begin with, and you get to keep it. It won’t work the same way on earth, but he said it would still be useful.”
He handed the orb to me and I smiled at him.
“I guess that’s something,” I said.
“You bet it is,” he said.
“I’m going to miss this place.”
“I know. But maybe you’ll come back one day, and even if you don’t, the Higher-ups aren’t done with earth yet. Maybe you’ll get to see its purpose fixed too,” he said.
I looked over and saw Pathena finishing up her goodbyes as well.
“I guess it’s time,” I said.
“Yep,” said Chak.
I looked back at everyone and gave them a final farewell salute. They all saluted me back. Then I turned toward the blue archway, grabbed Pathena in my left hand, clutched the Agnoscian Orb in my right, and marched forward into the goo.
The effect of the archway was immediate and I could feel Pathena shiver with joy as she went through it too. The first thing I saw on the other side was my home in Athens. The scene was quite picturesque and I looked at Pathena. She had tears streaming down her face. She said they were sadness and joy, and I understood exactly what she meant.
We settled down that night in Athens and I asked her what she thought would happen if I tried the orb. Curiosity overcame us and I snatched it up and sunk my hands into the sides. Instantly, it split into two perfect halves. The center of the orb was hollow, and contained a handwritten note in a beautiful slanted lettering.
“See you soon and we’ll share a bowl of fruit. Teleon”
Pathena and I looked at each other, mouths watering.
— — —
Of course, there is more to this story than what I’ve told you in these pages, but as I said at the beginning, this is just the account of my first journey outside of this world. There is a really great story involving an old airplane that tells of how I got to your time, and learned your language in the twenty-first century, but that’s not important for the moment. What’s important is that you understand the point.
The point is that there’s more to life than just death if you so choose it. There are people, and beings, and Umbili and Umbra, and creatures that we can’t even begin to fathom outside the bounds of this earth, and I’ve seen some of them. In particular, there’s a man named Teleon, who gave me a gift worth sharing. A man I trust more than any other man in any world. A man who came back from the dead, and the hope of doing the same is what keeps me moving throughout the day. A man who promised me that one day we’d share what I imagine is the tastiest piece of fruit anyone will ever eat. I hope one day to introduce you to him.
The End
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Stay tuned for excerpts from the sequel to this story! They are currently in the works, and I can’t wait to share them with you. Also, check out my other major story “The Gate is Small.” It’s an allegorical tale about the christian life, inspired by John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress.”
Finally, I’d love to hear feedback from you! Leave comments or send me emails at [email protected]