Chapter One and Two of: The Archivist
The Archivist By: Frank Tudor Copyright © 2025 Frank Tudor. All rights reserved. Chapter 1: Tavern at the End of the Galaxy A match struck. Sharp teeth gripped a cigarette as the spark burst into life. A quick exhale extinguished the glow, briefly unveiling a face designed for fear, then... sudden darkness. As the smell of sulfur from the match faded, the faint stench of stale liquor rose from every surface—a lingering incense of troubled souls who had passed through and the bad decisions that once seemed like good ideas. The flickering lights of the tavern couldn’t decide whether to keep working or give up. This was a tired place where time lost track of itself. A place where the drunk, the damned, and the desperate found common ground. Tonight was definitely no different. In the tavern’s dimmest corner, smoking his cigarette and hunched over a ceramic cup of steaming tea, sat Belial. He looked like something out of a biblical fever dream: his skin t...