The Entity

The Entity
By T.B. Ward

Somewhere in the Eastern Himalayas, During the Stone Age...

A tall, cloaked figure trekked silently through the snow, up the thin, winding mountain path. The cold blizzard did not faze him, only his lantern as it continuously blew out. All he did was touch his finger to the candle wick to create fire again. His hood, pulled over his head, shadowed his face entirely.

Probably for the better.

The figure was slowly moving towards a dim light, streaming from the mouth of a cave. He knew, this was when the human race first discovered fire.

At the entrance to the cavern, he walked in, his jet black cloak ceasing its monstrous billowing. He saw three hunchbacked men, all bending over two rocks that the largest human held in hand. They were striking the stones together, creating sparks. The glow came from somewhere behind the rocks at the back of the cave, as if they were alive. The tall figure knew what that meant, and he needed to take control of the situation.

The hunched men finally looked up at the mysterious entity in the entrance. His hood made his head look massive; they could not see his face. One of the humans grabbed a primitive spear and held it out in front of him as he slowly and curiously crept towards the cloaked figure. He made a grunting sound, toting his head. The other two men watched frightfully. 

The hooded being whispered a few words of a lost language, sounding like the wind itself. He raised out his gloved hand and whispered again, sending a beam of dark energy into the heart of the Neanderthal, sending him slumping to the floor. 

The other two men grabbed their weapons and did some unintelligent chanting, coming towards the cloaked figure to attack. This time, the mysterious entity revealed a black sword, about five feet in length. He took his massive weapon and swung it at one of the two men, decapitating him. The other charged, and the cloaked figure grabbed the man by the shoulder and tossed him out of the cave's opening and off the cliff. Having cleansed the cavern of life, he stepped towards the wall and imprinted an image of a skull into the cave drawing wall. He then turned to face the blizzard outside and held the sword at ease, waiting for what was going to be a very long time.


The Construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza, Ancient Egypt

A Messenger ran up to the Head Architect with a big piece of papyrus in hand. The Architect unraveled it, tuning out the sounds of the slave driver and the screams as people drank the bloody water from a stream nearby. 

"Set is upon us," said the Messenger, turning and running back to his boat. As the Architect stared at the scroll, he could hear dark, indecipherable whispers echoing through his head. The graphic of a skull was far from anything a human could have drawn.


The Forbidden City, Ancient China

Emperor Qin Shi Huang sat, his legs crossed, in a morning robe as he sipped his hot tea. He looked out through the circular doorway to view the Hall of Supreme Harmony, almost completely finished. Stroking his fu manchu, he stood up and stretched, walking out into the garden. He thought of many things, but one thing kept crossing his mind: the Mongolian invaders. Ever since he had council with their leader's manipulator, he had been shaken in mind. That hooded being would never leave his nightmares. But one thing the figure kept saying was this: 

"Only death can bring the life."


The Round Table, Camelot

King Arthur stroked his sword, resting quietly in its scabbard. Guinevere sat next to him, sitting on another throne. The king tried to listen to the reports of Malagant ravaging the nearby villages, but he couldn't take is eye off of the image in the stained glass windows before him. He noticed something that in all the years of his rule he had never seen before:

All the windows were shaped like skulls.


The Santa Maria, 1492

Christopher Columbus extended his telescope, looking out over the sea towards the oncoming land. Today was the day he would reach India. Today was the day that he would be famous in all of Europe. Tales had been told of golden cities and riches beyond measure; he was nothing short of anxious.

Then he saw something: a hooded figure on the shore.

The soon-to-be-famous explorer blinked and the entity was gone. He shook off the vision but one thought remained in his head:

Someone else was here first.


The Allies Air Platoon, 1920

The Red Baron locked his targeting system on the plane in front of him. This time, he wasn't going to miss. He fired once, the twice, hitting the enemy's wings and sending him spiraling into the London streets below. 

But before the flying ace could fire at another Nazi, he saw someone on his own wing.

Someone? How could anyone be on his wing? He couldn't make out a face, only a big black cloak. Frightened, he pitched the plane.

He was never seen again.


The Moon, 1969

As Neil Armstrong's foot made contact with the pallid white dust below, the whole world watched. 

"That's one small step for man..."

No one noticed the outline of a figure in the background of the image.

"...One giant leap for mankind."


New York City, 9/11

One photo was recovered from the two towers.

Someone had captured the image of a winged, cloaked figure soaring through the air with bodies in his arms. 

Of course, the photo was thrown away, but nevertheless, it was still taken.


The University of Mars, 2146

The Earth, as a student noted, is right next to another planet.

The professor shunned the idea, looking through the telescope and seeing nothing.

That student, believing he had discovered a twin planet of Earth, spread the idea around the planet of Mars.

He was expelled the next day for frightening other students to the brink of insanity and claiming that planets can, in fact, be shaped like skulls. 

Ha was never seen again.


The Eightieth Great and Devastating Ice Age, 5289

A cloaked, hooded figure walked quietly along the remains of a frozen Earth, looking up at one of the cities on clouds; humans would never stop cheating him. His whispers were lonely ones, as he found no more Earthly beings to take with him. Feeling empty and lifeless, as he always had been, he slowly removed his hood. The skull that stared across the icy glaciers was tattered and ready to be laid to rest. Then Death himself slowly outstretched his wings and flew up into the heavens, to be seen no more.



c. Taylor Ward 2012. All rights reserved.