The streets of Miami were ablaze. The explorer Keltik had returned from his travels to the north, his face now bearded from his years in the cold uncivilized lands. His body was covered in scars from battles with the inbred barbarians that roamed what he at least had some hope was once a great civilization. There was a strong belief that had begun in the late 53rd century that before written history had begun in the year 3500, there might have been a more technologically advanced civilization. One that fought wars with weapons that propelled objects faster than any known bow, a civilization that had machines capable of flying to the stars and bringing men to other worlds. Keltik believed in this wholeheartedly, and while he never found an isle of Britannia, a location described in the religion that both the Republic of Florida and the Kingdom of Texas celebrated, Keltik believed that the island was either on the west coast of North America, or the east coast of South America. It could even be somewhere out in the Atlantic, so far away that it might not be available until humanity was capable of making those mysterious flying machines. Though Keltik was disappointed in the lack of a Britannia, he did find what might be the isles of Manˈhattan and Long and, more importantly, what may have been an ancient city. Little of the city was remaining, other than a few white stone buildings. Keltik did find a large statue of a man sitting in a throne, which was damaged by time yet recognizable. There was also a large spike-like tower. Like everything in the abandoned city, it was overgrown with plants. There were some barbarians in the ruins, as well as a strange person in a black hood and cape. He had the anatomy of a doll, and he also had one strange arm made of metal tendrils. Keltik’s men believed that the ruins were simply religious structures built by the contemporary natives, but some of the people in his homeland of the Florida Peninsula thought that he was outright lying.



I was to meet Keltik a few days after his return. Though I was technically a mercenary, I wanted to join Keltik’s crew for what I felt at the time was a greater purpose. I was a firm believer in the gods of the American pantheon, but Keltik had a more cynical interpretation. He believed that Jefferson, Washington, Kennedy, and so forth were not gods that were still alive in the heavens, but real historical figures that had been lost to history, and remained alive in oral tradition until man rediscovered writing. When I finally met Keltik, he was dressed in black robes with a fur coat over them. I had worn my armor, expecting Keltik to do the same, even then my armor was adorned with reliefs of rattlesnakes and eagles. However, Keltik’s was simply undecorated bronze. After a minute or two of awkward silence, Keltik said “I would like to ask you for a cup of tea, but I know that it may not be appropriate for such a meeting…”



I replied that some tea would be nice, so Keltik went to get it. He was young (probably in his twenties) but he had an older look to him. Keltik returned with his two cohorts Portstar and Gale (as well as tea). Gale was a Cuban warrior, she had rebelled against the cuban government after being a part of their military for years. She fought with a crossbow and she wore a green cape and hood as well as plate armor painted black. Portstar was a shade, a monk but also a skilled warrior, he wore orange robes but armor underneath.



I had been accepted onto the ship, Keltik just casually accepted me on, like he wasn’t one of the most important people of our generation. Before we set sail Keltik took me back to his room to talk to me. He explained his theories, he said that Miami was a city in the prehistoric civilization but all the buildings from that era were replaced with the current ones, he also thought all creatures sprung from one creature. I understood none of it. Gale walked in for a second to get something I said hi but she didn’t say anything back. I then asked Keltik why she never speaks, he replied “Gale’s first attempt at escaping the cuban military was far from successful, as a punishment for speaking against cuba’s strange and ancient system of socialism the government ordered Gale’s tongue cut out. Politics can make men do strange or heinous that no other thing could. Vengeance, anger, and personal gain can only take a man to certain extents but if a man has an ideology, if he truly believes what he’s doing is for the greater good he can destroy entire nations.”



After a few more minutes of talking I realized the sun had been down for awhile and that I should be getting to bed. My room was small but better than what I had back in the city. I shared the room with one other guy, his name was Elm, He spent ten minutes talking about his farm back home, I had to sleep in the the same room as him until I got up in the ranks.



In the middle of the night I was awoken by a person identical to the hooded figure Keltik saw in the abandoned city, naked but the anatomy of a doll, he didn’t even have toes on his feet his hood obscured his face. His metal arm was touching my head. He looked down at the bottom bunk, at Elm, he made strange whispers in an unknown tongue, he took his arm down from my face and thrust it opon Elm crushing his head. He lifted his hood of his head, he was hairless as well as eyeless, his eyelids still acted like he had eyes though making it seem like his eyes were black as opposed to gone. Some of the “skin” on the right side of his face was gone revealing metal machinery. He spoke to me in an emotionless voice



“I’m looking for a man named Keltik”



At that moment Keltik ran into the room in his armor and wielding a macuahuitl (obsidian sword) the hooded man ran away disappearing out the window. He jumped into a black boat with lights unlike anything I'd seen. Like fire trapped in glass. The boat roared with a furious sound, a monster in the dark sea. I watched in awe as it sped off with a speed I never thought possible.



Gale took care of what was left of Elm and gave him a burial at sea, Portstar told me that I should just go back to sleep.



The next day I awoke to the sound of arguing on the top deck,the people of Miami were protesting the most recent of Keltik’s writings. While Keltik’s view on the american pantheon was seen as a more scientific view of our religion, Keltik now admitted to believing the cuban god Marx may have been based on a real person. On the top deck Keltik and I were met by 7 soldiers. Four were the first rank in florida’s army, corps fighters, their only armor was a metal skull mask and a breastplate sculpted to look like it was stabbed in the heart. There were two of the elite alligator warriors the third rank, most of their armor was scale and their helmet looked like an alligator face and they had black hooded coats. There was a sole wolf warrior, the fifth and final rank, his armor was plate and his helmet was in the shape of a growling wolf, he wore a coat made of the pelts of black “wolves” (which could have been dogs) with the heads of the pelts on his shoulders. The wolf warrior walked up to Keltik and told him



“The people of Miami have rioted due to someone as respected as you making such statements about the cuban mythos, we ask that you go back on your claims or leave this city.”



Keltik replied “I’m not going to have unpopular claims forcefully redacted in what is meant to be a democracy.”



The wolf warrior said “It’s the people who are rioting, sounds pretty democratic?” He then put his sword to Keltik’s neck, and said “If you don’t want to go back on your sacrilege then leave!”



Reluctantly Keltik obliged. Keltik wanted to go down the the bottom of south america as he had planned to before though he needed to stop in texas and cuba first.



While we were on the voyage demons attacked the ship, these types of demon were flying beasts with most on their body being their bat like wings. Their heads were like that of snakes on their long whip-like neaks. Keltik though believed that demons were simply animals from other worlds that the ancient ones brought to earth.



Keltik brought down to an area of the ship built to store various types of demons. Keltik told me “The truth is that these creatures are but simply beasts maybe from other earths but not demons, most are small and of the large ones many eat only plants. Of the large ones they are tame as long as they are not attacked (and are fed meat if they are carnivorous).” I replied that demons were constantly killing people. Keltik retorted that “but does a wolf not too, demons are simply rare.” The area in the ship we were in was simply a room with a few small cages with small demons in them, Keltik took out a four tentecaled one and held it like a cat. I had seen demons before but never when they weren’t fighting. He gave it to me it’s fluffy boneless body felt nice in my hands, it almost felt like an animal for once, even in a weird way it was nice.



Up on the top deak the crew was still battling the demons. Keltik shouted “You are fighting them like they are men, and not the beasts that they are!" Keltik then tipped his arrow with pork and ordered his men to do the same. When the arrows fired the demons swooped into them, hungry for food. Most were quickly killed off, two that lived but were injured and were taken into Keltik’s care, any other survivors were eaten.



We soon began to near Cuba, Portstar gazed out at the aproching land and recited a prayer cursing the heathens that lived on those shores. Gale was below deck refusing to interact or even move while we were near Cuba. Keltik told them both to stand up, we were just going there for supplies. When we finally got to Cuba a general was there to greet us. He was weak and half blind in his old age, his arms were paralyzed as well as his left leg. It seemed as if he could do little more than speak. The general noticed Gale. He walked up to her with a sadistic grin and spoke “So do you have something to say?” hobaling up to her “You have betrayed our great god Marx. The messiahs Castro and Lenin are frowning upon you from above.” Finally getting to Gale. She was cowering on the ground, The general looked down at her and said “So do you have anything to say.” Gale stood up in a split second and stabbed him in the neck before fleeing back onto the ship.



With both Florida and Cuba out of the picture it was time to take the long journey to Texas. Keltik came out to the deak he looked up at the moon with me, he pointed at the faint spots and lines on the moon mentioning that they could be old colonies that are now unreachable, I questioned why they look so small Keltik replied that the moon must be big.



Portstar came up and exlaimed “The moon has been given to us by the gods, I will not let you say this heresy on my ship!”



Keltik replied “It’s my ship.”



Calm but annoyed Portstar walked back down the stairs. Keltik had recently found some geometric black edible object in the north, obviously man-made from how he found them. Based on what Keltik had seen from experiments on captured natives warriors, the black edible thing would leave its user unconscious for a few weeks having odd dreams. Keltik had me take it because barbarian prisoners aren’t good test subjects. When I took the stuff, I couldn’t really remember the dreams, I had visions of being in a war and something about a dragon.



When I awoke the ship was gone. Me, Gale, Keltik, and Portstar were the only survivors and I had awoken in the Texan desert. We had docked the ship in Texas for supplies and someone looted and burned it, they had dragged my body into the desert with them so I was lucky to live. Soon after I awoke we met with a guid. He was mexican though we were in Texas, his face was covered in tattoos as well as a eyepatch.



He asked us in Texen “Aks I yawl bek?” (I ask you for money?) After a conversation in Texen with Portstar (the only person who knew Texen), we finally agreed to pay him to take us through the desert for 80 peridot pieces. We rested at the giud’s station and then began the journey on chariot. While everyone else's chariot was pulled by horses (like normal) Keltik’s was pulled by red insectoid demons with six legs and lance like faces.



After a few hours of traveling through the desert we had encountered a Jrednuf, the eagle of demons, It’s huge body was covered in armored plates like an armadillo. It’s head was adorned with a tentacle mane and tusks, its mouth filled with knife like teeth. The horses were frightened ,forcing us out of our chariots. Keltik charged in the, demon's the pulled his chariots thrusting their heads into the horrid body of the Jrednuf but failing to pierce. The Jrednuf retaliated, wiping its tail destroying the chariot as well as what was pulling it. The Jrednuf growled trying to push Keltik away, seeing a way out of the battle chose to retreat causing us to reroute through on foot.



When the sun was going down we stumbled onto some old broken machines, some half buried most with missing pieces. The machines were metal boxes with strange wheels and a long hollow shaft mounted on top like a weapon. The guide found a hatch in the machines and we realized it would be a good idea to sleep in them due to the shelter that metal provides.



As I slept I had a strange dream of a battlefield, it was getting hotter and hotter.



I then awoke to banging on the roof of the machine. It was hotter than anywhere I had been before, I was trapped in this metal box that the heat of the desert sun turned into an oven. Suddenly Gale opened up the hatch, she pulled me out by my arm and then started taking off my armor. Keltik and Portstar were waiting for me outside, the seemingly safe space the machines provided had become a death trap when the sun rose, though thanks to Gale we had survived with only minor burns. After a few minutes of using our water to cool down Portstar pouinted out that the guide was still in his makeshift bed. Gale rushed to free him but is was too late the guide’s burned remains were found, he died without even waking up. So there we were half naked, alone in the desert, without our chariots or guide. Portstar relised that there was a shade temple near where we were and it would be a good place to resupply after the what had happened.



Portstar had us take the guide’s body for a proper burial (even though the guide would most likely insist otherwise.) When we got to the shade temple we were greeted by the monks that inhabited it. Gale would stay in the lower floor being that women weren’t allowed in the shade’s quarters, me and Keltik would stay in the upper floors an honour given to non-shades rarely, Portstar would be treated like any other shade living there. We were given a tour of the upper floors by the shade master Portsmith, he was an old man though he was still strong for his years, he wore the white robes of a shade master over his armor, his hood hid the top half of his face and his beard covered most of the rest of it. He took us through the halls adorned with images of the gods, he seemed to take a liking to me, he told me “I see you are traveling with that Cuban girl, tell me is she still a worshiper of Marx?”



I awkwardly replied that I didn’t know, Keltik interrupted saying that he’s read some of her writings and he’s pretty sure that she is atheistic or agnostic.



Portsmith replied to me “Well better that than a commie. If she was to convert then she may make a good wife for you.” I, a bit taken back by his statements, asked to be taken to our rooms and eventually we were.



When we woke the next day things were only vaguely better than the day before. We were called up on the roof, the wolf general had come to the temple, his army had surrounded us.



He shouted up to Keltik “The people of Miami wish for the fall of democracy, if I strike you down it will be the symbol that rises me to the throne. I will be like a father to our nation I will protect them from evil ideas, from degeneracy, from corruption. Remember when we were kids and Louisiana was a sovereign nation, when the central city states had not been taken by the Panama Empire.”



Keltik shouted back “You will do the same to north america?”



The general replied “I will protect my nation.”



Keltik in a saddened tone said “One dictator is not better than a foreign one. Do not give up democracy for dogma”



The general rose his blade and said “The people want me as king, is that not democracy? If you do not turn yourself in I shall take you by the sword !”



The general and his army rushed toward the temple, the shades (armed with spears with a crescent shaped head) retaliated, some rushed out the temple gates to defend their home, others stayed on the roof and balcony throwing their spears. A bloody and horrific battle raged on, the shades had higher ground but the warriors had better weapons and numbers. Every second the fighting continued men of each side would lose hands, feet, eyes, and lives. Surrounded by blood, wood, and metal Keltik and the general fought. The obsidian of Keltik’s sword shined in the desert sun. He couldn't parry well with his blade, as it could destroy part of his sword forcing him to pull out a replacement, however it could better deal with armor than a fully metal weapon. From the roof me and Gale were fighting from a far, Gale’s hands were a bit burned from before but she was still I master at the crossbow, I (with less success than Gale or the shades) threw the same crescent spears that the shades did.



Out of nowhere a shade with bandages covering his arm, eyes, and much of his pale face walked up to the roof, he in a breathy calm voice touched my shoulder with his good hand and asked me “May I try to throw a spear?” I handed him one, thinking the loss of one spear would not matter. To my surprise after he slowly picked up, he did a sort of winding motion with his arm and then threw it faster and more accurately than a human could, than even a bow or crossbow could do with an arrow. The spear flew, in a split second it had hit its target of the wolf general, one of the points of the crescent had slid perfectly into the eyehole of his helmet, going all the way into the back of his head. The army fled, their leader had died in such odd and painful way.



After the battle we were given new chariots and horses. Though we had one, the shade monks weren’t celebrating, they were whispering to each other and acting melancholy. We had won?... Portstar walked downstairs qietly sliping into the abiss. Keltik followed him down, then Portstar finaly explained “Portsmith, my master had died in the battle, it is my duty to take my own life and follow him into heaven.”



Keltik became angry explaining “What if our gods are not the true gods? What if Marx is the true god, or the gods of the far south are true, or even if there are no gods‽”



Portstar simply said “If I do not do this I’m not the shade Portstar, I will be another spear fighter and my name will be that of the commoner again…”



Keltik shifted into a fighting pose, causing Portstar to say “This isn’t a problem you can solve with your macuahuitl. It’s not even one to solve…”



Outside, what was left of us were met by the shade that threw the spear that won the battle. He moved like clockwork as an equally stilted crow (with something metal sticking out from its head) landed on him, remaining there motionless. He then rose from his hobled pose and removed his robes and bandages, he revealed himself to be the same figure that killed Elm. Taken aback by seeing his unusual form without it being hidden in shadow Gale attempted to shoot him but the arrows bounced off him. He then began to speak “My name is Azimov. I am not a creature of flesh and blood but a mechanical man. I am a follower by creation of the three laws of robotics, there is no need to fear.” I asked what the laws of robotics were and he replied “Number one is that no machine may disobey a human, number two is that a machine must protect itself, the final and most important one is that a machine must not harm humanity. These are not the only rules governing me but they are the most important, they are older than the first mechanical men,they were first written down by my namesake hundreds of years before my creation and they have governed me for over a thousand years.”



Keltik asked “Then why were you able to kill those men?”



Asimov replied “Simpler machines then me took this law the same way you do, I however have humanitarian purposes that require sacrifice, these goals were decided after many years wandering a destroyed world, so I still need to obey my goles given when created. I have gotten good at thinking my way into taking lives but I can’t just kill someone without justifying it.”



Keltik then slashed at Asimov’s chest revealing a bit of the advanced clockwork skeleton inside but making no mark on the metal. Asimov then stood there as more crows (also with metal coming from their heads) landed on him. One crow gave him a strange mask, it had a wire frame the rested on his ears and nose and two semi-opaque disks that covered his eyes (or at least where his eyes should be). Soon the crows began to cover his head and back until they formed a cloak of birds. Behind Azimov a machine pulled up, it had two wheels but it had no horses and the wheels were placed one before the other instead of side by side, the machine had handles but it wasn’t a weapon or at least not that I think. Odder the machine had glowing red and white spots, a seat on top, and tubes in the back.



Asimov said before riding off on the machine like a horse “When you tell of me, do not think of me as a man. I would tell you to think of me as a demon but your society call aliens demons... Call me a ghost, that works well.”



After resting one last night at the mostly empty temple we were off on our way now with a map out of the desert and high quality beasts of burden. After a long time riding, under a sky red from a setting sun, while we were talking about where to sleep we stumbled upon a bloody and hopeless three way battle between the Texan army, a desert tribe, and the Jrednuf. Suddenly Asimov arrived on his machine, speeding in faster than anything known to man. One of his crows carried a pata to him before reentering his unholy cloak, a second crow then carried him another gauntlet-sword and did the same. He then made the machine jump up in the air, he then dove off of it and onto the Jrednuf, killing it.



Asimov then said (in Texan) “This beast is not the eagle of demons but the vulture, only feeding on corpses and only attacking humans out of fear. You bronze age primitives did not have the brains to not attack it though.”



After everyone else ran or died trying to attack him, Asimov summoned a large box like machine with four wheels. Asimov asked us “This machine is an automobile, It is a safe place to sleep and it moves. I ask if you would wish to enter and make one good decision?” We, seeing no other opinion, obliged.



After we woke Asimov had driven us to a location that was much farther away then we had expected, We were somewhere cold with a lot of wheat. We were in front of a large metal building, or at least its ruins, there were large tube like towers sticking out from the main structure.



As we ventured through the abandoned corridors we met again with Asimov, he began to speak “Istanbul was Constantinople, now it is Istanbul not Constantinople. And now it is ruins in the goddamn desert. Our world was once one of the most advanced known planet before the war. The war had many factions, The democratic forces with their base in Washington, the socialist forces with their base in Beijing, the fascist forces with their base in Riyadh, and most tragically, The Global Rebelion with their base in the city of slabs. Born out of the less ominous sounding Antifa, The Global Rebelion wished for the abolishment of the state as well as the abolishment of all technology, “back to the land” they called it and with the earth torn apart by war they were halfway there. I was once a robotic worker,I was sent out of the city I lived in for supplies during the war. When I returned to the city… I was alone there. The Global Rebellion had won…



Though not forever, their ideology was forgotten like everything is when you destroy written language, the city of slabs is now abandoned, civilization restarted in the gulf of mexico and The Global Rebellion’s golden age of stone ended, it is now the age of iron. Even if their black and green banner still hangs in this factory”



Keltik asked “Then why did you bring us here?”



Asimov replied “I am going to take over humanity, I don’t wish for power, all I want is to protect humans. I will prevent all war, all hunger, and all sadness. You have not seen what I have seen. You do not know of the world wars, of the fall of rome, of the horrors of colonialism, I can make it so none of that happens again. When I take over I will give you technology and security unrivaled by any other.”



Keltik yelled “So you’re part of the same movement as the wolf warrior‽”



Asimov said while caressing Gale’s face “That general was my closest ally I only killed him because he made a better symbol for people to rally behind if he had a tragic death in battle. Oh yes speaking of dying in battle, you’re in my way”



Asimov then jumped up to a higher platform and summoned a flock of condors (with similar metal in their heads as the crows) to fight for him. The condor’s were under Asimov’s full control, they fought as one beast diving, surrounding, and swooping in unison. When one of us managed to kill a condor it would burst into flames trying to kill us in it’s death. Eventually the last condor died and Asimov jumped down wielding a spear, Ketik attempted to sneak up on him. Asimov grabbed Keltik by the neck and began speaking in the forgotten language of the culture that created him. Asimov threw Keltik to the ground and began to cover his face with his hand, covering his mouth and nose until he died. Asimov then took the sword from Keltik’s dead hands and turned to me and Gale. He attacked me first, I pulled out my spear in hope I could fend him off, I could barely fend of his lethal strikes. I crossed my ankle with his, he stuck but ended up tearing apart his own, sparks from the damage flew singeing my feet. Unable to kill him, I pinned him to a wood door with my spear.



Before we left Asimov began to speak “So you choose to leave me. The sunlight shining through the roof may be all the sun I see in years. Soon you will die, I wonder if what I say of the old world will affect the future first contact, or if all I do shall do nothing. It is most likely you will fade into obscurity, and no one will have seen our great battles, and no one will remember our names…"