Time's Horizon

Why was he hiding it? All of the Archons had to know how the power came to them, and none of them had ever been this close to breaking, but still there was only mystery. All around the earth smoked, singed by the last throws of the now dying Archon.

Streaming tears flowed down his face; he knew he was about to die. Bruises covered his twisted face, but oddly there was no blood. The Archon tried to pick himself up off the ground, but each time his arms buckled under his own weight and he hit the ground with a soft thud. His breathing was becoming more labored by the moment, and with the sun touching the horizon there couldn't be much time now.

"You can still pay penance. Don't die with this stain of blood on your hands, wash it clean. Tell me what I want to hear and you will be absolved.", said the young man with a slight snarl.

"There is nothing to tell.", the Archon managed to say between coughs.

He could still lie with a straight face, amazing. For years his predecessors had tried and failed to understand the Archons, but they missed the plainly obvious; Science was no place to seek answers when concerning the Archons, only God could bring the power to the world in such a fashion. This fool, this dying fool couldn't see how he was an instrument through which God acted.

With an pronounced effort the Archon roughly pushed himself into an ackward sitting position, staring straight into the setting sun, never blinking. Quietly the Archon sat, and he stood watching the setting sun. Turning his head slowly the Archon managed a strained smile at him.

"I have been hunted by your kind for six long months", the Archon said while slowly turning back toward the sun. "So many died trying to find out some secret I never had. All in the name of science they told me; for the greater good."

Nodding slowly, although not agreeing the young man continued his gaze into the sun.

"You think God gave me this power." he said smiling with all his teeth bared. "God would never have a hand in something so evil; no this power doesn't come from the divine."

"God works his will Archon, not even you can know his plan for us all."

Slowly the Archons eyes began to close, his breathe slowed, and his smile melted away. "I know this hunter, my poor fool. Your fate is to find the answer, but it will destroy you."

Slumping to the ground the Archon exhaled for the last time. Along the horizon the last slivers of light vanished behind the ground. Another Archon had already been chosen. Time was something he was always short of, time needed to find the next Archon, time to stop the world from being destroyed.

Quickly he pulled his cellphone from his pocket and dialed it. When the other end picked up he instinctively typed out a code on the keypad. When the voice came back "Confirmed" he raised the phone to his ear.

"Archon, code Thomas confirmed dead. Initiate search."

After a short pause came a mechanistic "Confirmed" from the cell phone. Soon he would be hunting the next Archon, with each one bringing the end of the world that much closer.