Chapter Nine
As we began to leave the Second World, I turned once more toward the place we had just witnessed. The images, the voices, and the suffering of that world were fading behind me, but they had not left my mind. They remained within me like memories of battles I had never personally fought, yet somehow understood.
The Teacher placed a hand near my shoulder and began leading me away.
I followed him without speaking.
At first, I heard what sounded like distant thunder. It was low and heavy, rolling across the darkness behind us. Then the sound grew closer. It was not merely thunder in the sky. I felt it in the ground beneath my feet. I felt it in my chest, in my bones, and throughout my entire soul.
I stopped.
The Teacher stopped beside me.
Ahead of us, something was approaching.
Lightning flickered through the darkness, revealing a massive figure moving slowly toward us. With every step, the thunder became stronger. The sound seemed to announce not only his arrival, but the weight of the authority he carried.
The figure was enormous.
Dark robes flowed around him, moving like storm clouds in a violent wind. Beneath the robes, armor covered his body. It was not the polished armor of a soldier seeking honor or recognition. It was heavy, worn, and marked by the evidence of judgments already carried out.
In one hand, he carried a massive hammer. It was large enough to crush stone, yet he carried it as easily as a Marine carries his rifle. In his other hand, lightning twisted and flashed. It did not strike him. It obeyed him.
The Teacher said, “This is the Minister of Wrath.”
I looked at the figure approaching us. “Is he coming to destroy?”
“Wrath is never reckless,” the Teacher said. “It is the fulfillment of justice. The Minister does not destroy because he desires destruction. He carries out what has already been judged.”
We stopped before a globe covered by a heavy veil.
The Minister seized the covering and tore it away.
A crack ran across the globe’s surface.
I stared at it. “Why is it cracked?”
“Because what you have seen has already begun to unfold,” he said. “A world can be weakened by the choices made within it. If the pressure continues, it can fracture.”
“Can it still hold together?”
“For now,” he replied.
I looked to the Teacher. “Then this world is vulnerable?”
“Yes,” he said. “But its ending has not yet been decided.”
I studied the crack. I could not see how deep it went or where it would lead.
“What happens next?” I asked.
The Minister turned toward the globe. “That depends on what those within it choose.”
The Teacher motioned me forward.
Together, we approached the third world.