Deathstalker 08 - Deathstalker Coda

of worlds, for millions of years, and were content. Other species arose, but they were never any threat because we could reshape reality, so that any enemy immediately became our friend.”
    “Isn’t that rather . . . unethical?” said Owen.
    “More so than killing them?” said Lucifer, and Owen had no answer.
    “We did not interfere in their destiny,” said Lucifer. “All new intelligent species were left to go their own way, as long as they did not seek to war upon us. They also built civilizations, that rose and fell and rose again while the Illuminati went on, bright and glorious. I saw in your memories, Deathstalker, images of humans with mental powers, called espers. We were what they might someday evolve into. But we had our limitations. We never developed technologies, because we never needed them. So when something came to us, from out of the outer dark, something our reality-changing powers could not affect, we were helpless.
    “After millions of years of peace and civilization, the Terror came upon us, an unstoppable destructive force that swept our civilization away like a raging wind. Our cities dissolved, our people went mad and died, and our worlds burned.”
    “Hold it,” said Owen. “If your people had the power to change reality by will alone, why didn’t you just stop or change the Terror, the way you dealt with your other enemies?”
    “Because the Terror had made itself so real it could not be changed,” said Lucifer. “It was of such a singular nature and purpose, and so very huge and powerful, that even the massed thoughts of our entire race could not slow or stop it. And we had no weapons with which to attack it. The very concept of violence was alien to us. All we could do was abandon our homes and flee from world to world. But wherever we went, the Terror followed, until there were no worlds left to run to. Our whole civilization was gone, with no trace left to show it had ever existed. We turned to other species for help. Some did, some did not. The Terror came for them all anyway. And in the end, all that was left to us was a last, desperate gesture. All the remaining members of our race gathered together on the last remaining world, at the edge of our galaxy, and pooled their power to send some of us out into the void between galaxies, using our knowledge of the hidden ways to travel further and faster than the Terror could match. All those left behind died, so that we might escape, to carry our terrible warning.”
    Lucifer stopped talking, and after a moment Owen realized that was all there was. “You few Light People are all that remain of your species?”
    “Yes. The last pitiful remnants of a once proud race.”
    “Where will you go, when you leave here? Do you have some eventual destination in mind?”
    Lucifer shrugged, his great wings rippling slowly. “We always hoped that one day we would reach some safe haven, but . . . even after all the distance we’ve crossed, all the worlds and wondrous species we’ve seen, we’ve never found anywhere that would be safe from the coming of the Terror. So we just keep going, running from the fury that follows us, spreading our warning to all who will listen. Even now, we are only resting here on Hearth, gathering our strength before resuming our flight. We have traveled a very long time, Deathstalker, so long even we no longer remember just how long, and we grow old and tired, our powers depleted. But as soon as we feel strong enough, we will leave here. Because the Terror will come, eventually.
    “We did try to warn your people, but Humanity are proud and arrogant, and put their faith in the technology and weapons we lacked.” Lucifer sighed heavily. “You people live such short lives, with such a limited perception of time. You simply cannot conceive of the scale and power of what is coming to destroy you. Our fear is that all the details of our warning will be forgotten by Humanity, in the thousands of years to come.”
    “If Humanity won’t listen, why don’t you make them listen?” said Owen. “Change their minds, as you once changed the minds of your enemies. Even just a demonstration of power would be enough to make them take you and your warning more seriously.”
    “The Illuminati have fallen far from what they once were,” said Lucifer. “But even so, we would never use force against another species. Such a thought is intolerable to us. What is the point of survival, if to do it you have to give up