Floating castles and sprawling palaces .

Golden-capped pyramids as far as the eye could see, similar to Skycloud’s own . They floated like dandelion seeds through the air off into the horizon . No words could fully describe the miraculous scene .

Cloadhawk floated over part of the city . He figured each one of these hanging structures represented a G.o.d and what they contained were the divine creature’s memories . It was no wonder, then, that he did not see anyone else around the city . They expressed themselves instead as buildings to Cloudhawk’s subconscious .

Every one of their species, no matter their station, were represented here . Their will, their memories, coalesced into great Temples – tens of thousands of them . Was this how many G.o.ds existed? Cloudhawk continued to make his way around a towering, snow-capped mountain, moving freely with the eddies like a lone fish .  

Here was a collection of thousands of years of experience . G.o.dly power stemmed from this wondrous and expansive ability to share everything . Cloudhawk would never have imagined that one day he would be here to glimpse it for himself .

It was… incredible!

He journeyed on, pa.s.sing one magnificent palace after another before one area in particular caught his eye . Cloudhawk stopped before a beautiful structure . Ma.s.sive and breathtaking, he wandered this section of the matrix . Herein would be stored all the knowledge of the G.o.ds, publicly available .

Inside he found rows upon rows of bookcases, hundreds of them stretching a thousand meters high . From where he stood their peaks were lost in the clouds . Countless books occupied their shelves, vast as the open sea . The whole history of humanity would only comprise a fraction of what he saw . Shocking was the only way to describe it .

So many…! It was hard for him to wrap his head around . It was everything the G.o.ds had seen stretching back for millennia . All manner of secrets were hidden here, maybe even the origins of the G.o.ds – but with so many books how was he supposed to find anything?

Certainly there was no lack of information contained in the matrix . This was just one building of many, It would be impossible to know everything that was recorded .

Flying among the bookcases, Cloudhawk searched for any secrets that might help him against the G.o.ds . With luck maybe he could uncover something, like methods of creating relics .

He fumbled among the stacks for a long time . Here in the matrix was everything he needed to know to become a master artisan . That knowledge would help his cause greatly . The problem was finding it! 

After all, Cloudhawk was no G.o.d . He’d slipped into the matrix with the help of the Cloud G.o.d and lacked whatever methods the divine had to find specific information . He had to rely on pure luck .

“Eh? This is it!”

Luck appeared to be on his side, for before him on the bookcases was a ma.s.sive tome all about relics . Within were the secrets to all kinds of G.o.dly structures, from energy towers to other kinds of war machines . All of great interest to Cloudhawk . In fact, these were likely more helpful than learning more about standard relics . Strong relics were useful, of course, but didn’t help the Alliance on a larger scale all that much . His Miracle Towers were more helpful in that regard, and this book contained all sorts of knowledge about things like that .

Now the question was, how was he supposed to bring it back with him? It wasn’t like he could just carry a collection of memories into the real world . Just as impossible was sitting down to read it all . The book was huge, it would take days to read it . That was time he didn’t have .

Wait! This was a psychic world! He wasn’t chained by physical laws . The book was just the way his mind chose to interpret information .

He held the tome with both hands, closed his eyes and reached out with his mind . A few moments later, words and diagrams floated out from the pages and into Cloudhawk’s body . In a few short minutes the collected knowledge took root in his mind .

Excellent! That sure made things easier .

What a ma.s.sive trove of information . Cloudhawk didn’t know all of what he’d absorbed, he just copied it and resolved to sort it out later . He grabbed one book after another, hungrily devouring their contents until suddenly an ominous sense came over him .

He’d caught something’s attention…

Cloudhawk lifted his head and in what had been an empty sky he saw several glowing figures . The humanoid silhouettes blazed with light had no discernible features but Cloudhawk felt their attention fixed on him .

“You’ve been discovered . What you see is how the matrix protects itself against apostates . ” The Cloud G.o.d’s voice rang in his head . “You must leave . If you are destroyed here your mind will never return . ”

He wasn’t expecting this [1] . He remembered what he was told, that the matrix was a system of information that saw him as a kind of virus . The beings of light were here to erase him .  

He was starting to understand what the Cloud G.o.d had explained to him . He still had access to the matrix but the protections for this section had activated . G.o.ds would have no trouble accessing what they wished, but the Cloud G.o.d was a betrayer and thus a threat .

He had to remember that the master of the matrix was none other than the G.o.d King .  

“d.a.m.nit . How do I get out of here?”

More figures blinked into being all around him . Once they locked on their target, they began to close in .

“You leave as you came . You must be quick . If they surround you, you will be eliminated . ”

Cloudhawk shook off his pursuers and dashed from the palace . All the while their numbers swelled until hundreds floated after him . A h.o.a.rd of them were right on his heels and gaining .

Woos.h.!.+ Shhhhrrk! The sound of ripping air preceded a rain of light . Glowing arrows tumbled toward him and Cloudhawk knew that if even one struck, he’d be done for .

He dodged and maneuvered around the threads, racing as fast as he could toward the gate . He reached it just before the figures closed in, vanis.h.i.+ng from the heavenly place . All of a sudden he felt like he was falling, tumbling like one of his meteors, faster and faster as that feeling of exhaustion once again came over him .

The Cloud G.o.d’s mental fort.i.tude was almost used up . The blue light that constantly flared in his mask was now dull gla.s.s . Even the s.h.i.+mmering runes that lined his armor gradually vanished . Evidently, disguising Cloudhawk to enter the matrix was not an easy feat, even for a Supreme .

It was also his first time ever doing such a thing .  

G.o.dly society was highly efficient . Their innate interconnected network helped them maximize resources and information . Of course, there were two sides to everything as this excursion revealed . While G.o.dly powers were unique, they were also dangerous .

Cloudhawk was a virus, whose infection could lead to unforeseen consequences . To this end the matrix was determined to eradicate him . Yet he had escaped, and with a fine harvest for his efforts . Without a doubt, the information he’d come back with would help the Green Alliance tremendously .

Wolfblade greeted Cloudhawk upon his return with great interest . “What do you think? An experience too wonderful for words, yes?”

He was still surprised that he’d been there, in the world of the G.o.ds . But for all its grandeur and magnificence, Cloudhawk couldn’t help but feel that the divine matrix felt somehow… sterile .

The G.o.ds were a peculiar race whose thoughts were caged . They didn’t know anything of their own past . They didn’t know the purpose for anything they did . Bluntly put, they were all just p.a.w.ns to a higher intelligence .

“I didn’t have enough time . ” Cloudhawk was impatient to learn more, but there was nothing that could be done . He had to escape or be lost forever .

Now he needed time to digest everything he’d learned . But before he could even begin, someone came to see him . It was Selene, out of bed at last . When he saw her Cloudhawl felt like he could breathe a little easier .

1 .  Except they told you this exact thing would happen! Grrr! 

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