[8] Methuselah Codex: Quest Assignment & Log

Clements' Quest Assignment & Part One of Ignatius' Quest Log

Quest Assignment:

To Ignatius, Chief Exorcist. To be accompanied by apprentice, Jerome, and bodyguard, Matthias.

Mission Objectives: Discover source of fourth and greatest celestial light to descend. Determine nature of light: Fallen Star? Designed? Friend, Foe, Malignant, Benign?

Briefing Synopsis: Now a total of four lights have descended to the surface of the earth from the heavens. The events pertaining to the first three are recorded.
As to the fourth, in the first watch of the night a brilliant light akin to a star made its descent slowly until it fell behind the desert ridges in the north.

Brother Silas, the official witness, has recorded the sighting in the Night Watch Log. However, being as the event unfolded during the first watch, the event was witnessed by Chief Exorcist Ignatius, Chief Magi Anselm, Chief Architect Ambrose, and others from the Abbey to the village, and likely every shepherd in-between from the hills to the mountains to the plains. In short, everyone saw it.

Additional Notes: Being as the exact location is unknown, three days are allotted for traveling and searching. If party has not returned by the following morning of the fourth day, a recovery crew will be dispatched, but must return before nightfall.
Do not travel by night.
Ignatius to defer to Matthias at dusk.
Matthias charged with securing safe shelter.
Matthias, take two swords, for the road is dangerous.

Brother Ignatius, Chief Exorcist’s Quest Log:

Our first encounter with anything noteworthy began when we came across a deep arroyo.

“Ignite the lamp, Jerome,” I instructed.

From our pack-donkey, Jerome fetched the lamp and lit it.

“Stay here,” I said, and I myself went first into the valley, but not before slinging a rebreather over my shoulder.

I kept a close eye on the flame of the lamp, nearly invisible in the daylight. I paid close attention to my breathing. Once at the bottom I waited what seemed a good drink from the clepsydra. The flame did not dwindle, and I was not light in the head.

“Come!” I called to them. And my voice was not greatly lowered. I signaled for them to advance.

“The air is good here,” Jerome said, pleased. “But you appear unhappy.”

“I nearly wished it to be choked by the devil; perhaps it would create a natural barrier between us and whatever lies ahead,” I explained.

“Only nearly?” Matthias asked.

“I cannot truly wish the devil’s dominion over anything.” I looked around the valley. In the wet season a steady stream passed through, but all was dry at present. “It is a lovely valley. Let us rest momentarily.” I said this for compassion’s sake, for I saw our donkey had found some of the only vegetation it was likely to encounter in our desert wanderings and had begun helping itself to prodigious mouthfuls of the pitiful plants.

“Scruffy’s taken a liking to the valley as well,” Jerome observed.

“When did you begin calling him that?” Matthias asked.

“There’s an ancient proverb: ‘you are what you eat.’ His diet is made of scruffy plants; so, he’s Scruffy.”

“He’ll always be the ass in my codex,” Matthias said and walked on.

I mention this only because Jerome’s growing fondness for the beast and what happened afterwards.

As we advanced further, the way became more debated.

“Anselm made the case to navigate by the light of stars,” Jerome said. “What did you make of that?”¹

I eyed Jerome and then Matthias. “Matthias can speak to that.”

“Anselm is not wrong,” Matthias said, “but navigating by the stars while the dogs of hell are on your heels is another matter entirely. I hope by sundown to be well secured in the cleft of some rock.”

“I could not have said it better. Let us search by the light of one star,” I said, pointing at the sun. “For, ‘the way of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter to full day,’”² I encouraged.

Thus, only slightly encouraged, for I was indeed trying to keep my own spirits cool, we began cresting any high ground and surveying for evidence of this celestial object. Our tactics were not fruitless, but we found something we did not expect. What first looked like massive buzzards strewn out on the desert ground became clear as we drew near.

Jerome gasped and went his classic pale self. “Then the tales are true,” he whispered and covered his face.

Matthias scanned with a sharp eye. “The trail is cold, these dogs have long gone, and the bones of the fallen are bleached by the sun.”

I stooped down over one of the bodies. What was once a strong man now could only be discerned from the bone structure. Tattered remains of brown garments adorned the fallen frame like some tattered tabernacle in this abandoned wilderness.

“Curse…” I caught my tongue and prayed, for—when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”³

“The Lord rebuke the devil and his dreadful dogs!” I shouted.

“We must bury them, Ignatius,” Matthias said.

“Jerome, fetch the shovels,” I said, remaining kneeling there over the body.
I prayed a blessing for the fallen. Four in all… one was only a boy.

The burying took long, and we spared a handful of Abbey dirt for each burial site.

Afterwards Matthias was growing uneasy. The sun was already too far along for his comfort.

“We must cease scouting for celestial objects and begin our search for a safe dwelling. I see crags ahead of us; let us begin there. Do you consent, Ignatius?”

“Yes. Take the lead.” My mind was turning the boy’s bones over in my mind. I was ready for rest.

The place of our search for shelter turned a hellish boon if the contradiction will stand. It was a large berm with plenty of nooks to tuck oneself into for the night. This gave Matthias and all of us great relief, for the sun was already on the other side of the ridge.

“We must crest this ledge and ensure no evil sits on the other side,” Matthias said. “Let us tie our ass here.”

“Shall I stay with the baggage?” Jerome asked, fondly patting his ass.

“No, not after the confirmation of dogs we witnessed behind us. We all stay by one another’s side,” I said. “I’d even take the donkey if he could handle the steep ascent, but the way is not high, and finding a shallow way will take too long. Let us be quick; it is only a small journey to the summit.”

Together then the three of us crested the ridge. It was Jerome who reached the summit first, and upon doing so, threw himself down so prostrate one would have thought he saw a messenger of God standing suddenly before him… and maybe so.

Matthias crouched and hustled to Jerome’s side, assuming he had been hit by an enemy projectile.
Jerome, pale as cream, whispered, “Ezekiel’s heavenly lights have indeed come down.”

(The notion had been held in all our minds, whispered in corridors, Bibles left in the study turned to that book…)

“Revive yourself, Jerome.”

Matthias and I crept to the crest and stole a glance. When we spied the other side there was an object as vast as our Abbey, and cut like a jeweler’s gem, it glinted brilliantly in the fading light. The behemoth structure sat quietly in the midst of the plains. Surely, only from the heavens could such an object have come.

We shuffled to improve our vantage. Just to our right, some shrubbery offered us a discreet location to make a more proper vigil.

Now, has there been any greater discovery in the last century?—Since Abbot Bezalel and the Great Unvaulting—when the very earth brought forth Holy Scripture completely unscathed by the Fire Cleansing?

The heavenly vessel shone like the moon, reflecting the sun’s light (a much-debated matter that had had no rest). This brilliance was immediately diminished as the sun dipped below the berm in the west. In the diffused light of the setting sun, suddenly made visible to us, we saw written on the object’s surface, small but legible in the distance:

məθjuzələ prɒdʒɛkt: prədʒɛnɪtər

“A fallen angel,” Jerome whispered.

I stared at Jerome a moment then said, “Shh. One moment it’s Ezekiel’s vision; the next it’s Azazel and his minions. Still your mind, Jerome. It appears an ill omen, but the Devil’s Script moniker has always been debatably misapplied. What if we are incorrect and cursing what’s from the Lord?”

“There’s been no movement,” Matthias informed us. “Our position is as secure as it could be, I think, and there isn’t time to relocate with this lig—”

A growl snatched the words directly from Matthias’ mouth. Like a whirlwind he spun on his heels and was leaping down the way we had come. His discarded cloak billowed like a cast-off shadow.

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[9] Methuselah Codex: Ignatius' Quest Log (Continued)

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1. Anselm had pleaded for permission to join the quest arguing through star navigation he could certainly pinpoint the exact landing of the celestial object. –Clements

2. Proverbs 4:18

3. Jude 1:9