The Seventh Sun Rises

The New God's Lust

The sun began its descent into the barren earth. After their dreadful experience, Dismas, Ashmit, and Rose fled to their camp without collecting any data from the forest. Frightened by the planet's savagery and disappointed by the exploration's failure, no one spoke during the long trip back. Finally, they approached the camp after hours of walking, hesitant to share the terrible news. Marie, sitting by the unlit fire pit, noticed the their arrival first.

"How did the exploration go?" Marie asked. "Where's Boris?"

"We discovered a forest containing aggressive wildlife. We tried to be careful, but a monstrous beast killed Boris." Ashmit said.

"He walked up to it and it ate him." Rose added, still frightened.

"No, that's awful." Marie said unemotionally.

"We need to hold a crew meeting. Where is everyone?" Ashmit asked Marie.

"Vincent and Thomas've tried to establish communications the whole day and haven't left the ship. Harold's probably there too."

Ashmit lit the fire pit, then walked to the ship to retrieve the rest of the crew. Everyone prepared their dinners and assembled around the fire pit. Everyone sat on the edge of their chairs, tensely waiting for Ashmit to speak. No one noticed the return of the orange light, trespassing over the camp's borders.

"You all know about the crisis in our exploration today. Although we weren't able to obtain any information about the planet's life, we know that the creatures are much larger than those on Earth, more aggressive as well. Soon, we will need to conduct another exploration of the planet in order to make some form of scientific progress. For now, we must avoid the forest in the west and explore elsewhere. Rose, we will need your botanical expertise to collect data about the planet's plantlife. Tomorrow, you will play a vital role in our overall success."

Rose blushed, but remained frightened. "Alright, I won't let you down. I'm still scared from today, but tomorrow will be a better, I hope."

Harold grew angry at Rose and Ashmit. "You fools, look at what happened to Boris! Why should we follow Ashmit when he got Boris killed!"

Near her home structure, Rose saw the orange light, pulsing slowly.

"Harold! How dare you accuse me!" Ashmit retorted angrily. "Boris' death isn't my fault!"

    "You said you trusted us to make decisions on our own, but I bet you commanded Boris to study the creature! You sent him to die!"

    "Boris acted foolishly, trying to approach the beast. I never wanted him to approach it, stop blaming his death on me."

    Rose knew that was a lie, but didn't say anything. Like Boris, the light placed her in a trance. No one except Rose noticed the orange light, moving towards the fire pit. Harold rose from his chair and spat on Ashmit's feet. "Your leadership is worthless. Get out of this camp."

    Before Ashmit could stand to fight Harold, Vincent rose from his chair and stood between the two. "Stop! Harold, it is foolish to solve problems through violent means."

    "I agree." Thomas said. "Ashmit's leadership and his ideals aren't worthless. It's true that humans can make mistakes, yet that doesn't mean we are bad judges of right and wrong."

    Shocked by Vincent and Thomas' agreement with Ashmit, Harold turned to Dismas, his last hope. "Dismas, you have to agree with me. Don't you think Ashmit is wrong?"

    Dismas, who had been thinking about Ashmit's proposal from last night, shared his thoughts. "I don't think Ashmit is totally wrong. I think Boris made a serious mistake, but from now on we will be much more careful when exploring."

    "Well done." Ashmit applauded. "You finally realize that I'm right. You don't need anything or anyone to tell you what to do, you can instead rely upon yourself."

Silenced by Dismas' disapproval, Harold stormed away from the fire pit without a word. Rose saw Harold walk into the light and lost sight of him.

"Rose, are you on board?" Ashmit asked. "We will need your expertise tomorrow."

Rose, normally eager to follow Ashmit's commands, did not respond. She clearly heard Ashmit's question but did not feel obligated to reply. Blankly, she kept staring at the orange light, which pulsed brightly and rapidly by Harold's empty chair. No one could see the light. Few are aware of the heart's inner desires.

"I don't know what happened, but you should probably leave her alone." Marie suggested, finally contributing to the discussion.

"That's actually a good idea." Ashmit said, surprised. "We should rest, the sun has set."

Everyone except Rose stood from their chairs and went to their home structures. Rose extinguished the fire and sat alone, still staring at the light.

Why was the light here? Why couldn't anyone see the light? Why was she scared? Rose posed these simple questions and found no simple answers. The light grew closer to Rose. She leapt from her chair and backed away from the light, yet it continued to grow closer. To her, the light had just consumed Harold. The light would consume the rest of the crew, as it had consumed Boris. She continued to back away from the light, moving further away from the camp.

She remembered Ashmit's advice, to rely upon herself. If she relied upon herself, she would make good decisions about right and wrong. Of course! She could defeat the light by relying on herself, by listening to Ashmit. What did she want? To avoid being consumed by the light. Yes, she would defeat the light and follow Ashmit's commands.

Suddenly, the light appeared to stop following Rose. For now, Rose felt she was safe. Yet why would she stop now, when she could escape to safety? Rose wanted to stay safe and she knew she would be safe outside the camp. Ashmit would want her to rely upon herself. Rose had walked far away from the camp now. Rose thought she was smarter than the light. She thought it could never catch her. She thought if she just went a little further from the camp, she would be safe and the light would go away.

But the light never went away. Slowly and persistently, the light followed her. For hours and hours. Maybe even days. Just a little more, and the light will go away. Just a little more, and safety will come. Just a little more.