The Temple of Rebirth

By Micah Castle

The burning orb far in the distance ignited the miles upon miles of golden clouds underneath the drones of fluttering creatures. Large, cyclopean towers rose from the billowy underbelly, looming over them like monolithic giants.

Their sinewy bodies shot in-between the crevices of the engraved structures, weaving past the steaming mist erupting from the trenches below the clouds. Their membranous wings shimmered with a rainbow sheen, revealing thin, nearly microscopic blue veins webbing through the transparent layer. The layer upon layer of crisscrossing square lines of their eyes gleamed in the glow of the burning orb.

Some entered the buildings through the long, rectangular holes in their sides, while others continued forth. The Time of Transition was upon them. They left their homeland and ventured to unknown plains, past the floating city, U’tilis, and toward Temg’tion, the Temple of Rebirth.

Only one would enter the chamber of Temg’tion to be given the honor of being reborn, to cut loose the shackles of their race, no longer one of the thousands of the droning creatures moving endlessly from one place to another. Temperatures did not change on their planet, yet they moved as if they did. Their imperative genetic instincts pulled at their physical frames until they moved to higher or lower plains, as if somewhere new was an improvement over the last.

U’tilis was now far behind those that continued. A mountain rose up, eclipsing the sky. Its snowy peak shimmered like shredded crystals in the rays of light. Its black rock structure gleamed metallically, yet dully. A coolness radiated off its body. Some landed onto the peak’s rocks, sucking up the evaporating moisture with their long, darting crimson tongues.

Two veered around the mountain, continuing towards Temg’tion. If more than one reached the Temple of Rebirth, a battle would ensue.

Only one could enter.

Temg’tion appeared before them, as if it hid itself behind the sky and only now chose to reveal itself. An enormous golden stone structure, far larger than the buildings of U’tilis, nearly double the size of the mountain they passed. It glowed with its own light, eclipsing the burning orb in the west and the sky beyond. They landed in front of the large, peaked doorway. Absolute darkness dwelled within.

One turned to the other, their convex eyes illuminating with multi-colored hues as their wings fluttered. The antennas jutting from each of their heads rubbed together, issuing a high-pitched screech. Their pinpointed legs glided, and their heavy, sharp mantis-like arms cut through the air. They circled each other, each emitting sharp cries.

One crossed the space in a blink of an eye and cut through the other. Innards spilled, and violet blood spewed everywhere. The victor gathered the halves and placed them together. It knelt, and its tongue ejected into the deceased. Slowly, it sucked the other’s fluids. Soon, nothing but the papyrus-like flesh remained. When the victor left, the wind pushed the loser’s remains into the clouds.

It flew through the doorway, down an arching corridor, into a giant, nonagon-shaped room. Darkness veiled the colossal walls, and the ceiling was too high to be seen. A hexagonal stone pedestal stood in the center. Something atop it glowed an eerie, soft azure, casting a faint light over the room. The creature flew to the top of the pedestal. An oval floated above two peaked shapes; black, inlaid convex lines ran up its surface. The creature bowed, then knelt before it, ejecting its tongue into the azure oval.

Flashes of images, colors, lights and sounds washed over the creature. It trembled, its brain melted, its wings and eyes and arms shriveled up like its deceased brethren outside. Pinkish liquid slid down the creature’s tongue and into the oval. Its tongue regressed, and its body collapsed onto the ground, an empty husk.

The oval spun rapidly, blurring the black lines, forming an image of a smaller oval.

It slowed and stopped. A silence fell over the room, the Temple, the sky, and the planet. The oval glowed crimson, ebbed to pink, then faded to blue. Each creature among the race heard a chime and knew instinctively that one of their own had been reborn elsewhere. Soon, they returned to their migration, their lives, to the never-ending cycle of their species.

Another would be reborn. Someday.

Epilogue

Blackness surrounded it. The tightening walls around the semblance of the creature felt wet and warm, yet comforting. Something was attached to its mouth, filling it with an acidic liquid. Echoing voices spoke in an unknown language and seemed to come from every direction.

The voices grew louder, clearer. The walls around the creature tightened further, as if they were alive and were about to crush it. The creature tried to move, to escape, but it was imprisoned, shackled to something it could not see.

A beam of light lanced through the darkness. The creature’s eyes were closed, yet they burned. A fury of words came from every direction, reverberating off the chasm. The walls squeezed and forced it towards the direction of the light.

The creature struggled to remain in the warm, wet place, but its strength was lost in the struggle of rebirth.

A giant, far more massive than the buildings of U’tilis grasped its head and pulled it out. The sudden change from wet warmth to frigid nothingness made the creature cry out.

It felt like all it could do was weep. No matter how much its mind told it to fight, to escape, to find solace somewhere else, all its body could do was shiver, wail, and cry.

The strange words that once sounded like a mist could now be understood. It strained its ears, strained its brain to decipher the language. At last, it—he understood.

“It’s a boy!”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Micah Castle is a weird fiction/horror writer. He has been published in various magazines and websites, and has three collections currently out. He enjoys hiking, playing with his animals, and can typically be found reading a book somewhere in his home.

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Author Website