by Aeon Solo
“They will join us or die my lord,” Anu-Krai responded bluntly as he bowed his head. He returned to his chambers.
Now he felt revitalised and strong again, he anticipated the victory over Kinana. The Archon placed the Sword of Anu in a vault for safekeeping. This vault was only accessible by his hand and Monstah.
Chapter 11
Anu-Krai spent the following two weeks isolated in his chambers, occasionally visiting his spot in the forest at midnight whilst he continued to grieve for his parents and Sonje. He came to terms with recent events. He avoided the post-battle celebrations in the kingdom, people were ecstatic with another victory. He cried every night, and his screams bounced through the pyramid. A pampering whimper, it echoed off the walls. The Archon occasionally listened to his distress in the night, leaning against a wall nearby. More and more the Archon felt a form of guilt, but he knew he shouldn’t. Thought he couldn’t.
Anu-Krai did not spend any time with his Knights who were milking the fruits of their fame. Despite him being their leader, he wasn’t well-known to his brethren. They barely saw him, and when they did, they didn’t engage in any meaningful discussion. His only friend had been Anu-Zvest who perished in the battle for Ragmana. He was taken at a similar time to Viden. They defended one-another, becoming friends during the initiation. He was so devastated when he died.
Flashback: A 14-year-old boy cried, the sound muffled by his arms, he was curled into a ball.
“Shut that human up, or I will,” Monstah retorted maliciously. Monstah strolled deeper into the Mothership Ibu.
The Archon analysed the boy in the corridor and approached him. The cries reverberated through the chamber. “Why do you sit here, child?” he pondered gently. The boy continued to cry, ignoring his enquiry. The Archon sat beside him in the corridor, gargantuan in comparison.
“You have something, a gift that makes you unique, it will be the source of your greatest strength and weakness. I will teach you how to master it,” he said kindly.
Eventually he would recuperate from his blue. He waited atop the staircase at the entrance of the pyramid, onlooking the prosperous market below. His masked equipped once more, and in his battle garments, he distanced himself from the people. Using it as emotional armour as much as physical. He would so effortlessly hide in the innermost corner of the universe, run away from everything. Just disappear into nonexistence. Finally, he could hide behind the mask, no one knew him, truly, except for Mara.
He scanned the area, analysing the people’s interactions, intrigued by the concept of small talk. Something he had never understood. People were talking about their pets, their families, their work, the weather, it’s all pointless to him, he couldn’t comprehend its meaning. He continued to scan the horizon when he noticed Mara, who glanced in his direction. She waved to him slightly to get his attention, but he turned away instantly. She was puzzled by his sudden, and apparent rejection, so she continued with her duties for the next ten minutes.
Without him noticing, she snuck to the bottom of the staircase. “New mask?” She asked with a glint in her eye. He was still upset about her interacting with this Nediv character a few weeks earlier. He was in no mood to talk, so he ignored her.
“Why are you ignoring me?” she asked, irritated with his rudeness.
“Go and be with that other guy” he remarked bluntly. She was puzzled.
“What do you mean?” she enquired.
“I saw you in the saloon with that guy, all over him,” he answered, pivoting his head behind, to ensure the entrance was shut and no one could hear him. She recalled the evening.
“Who Nediv? Oh, he’s a dick,” she responded with an elevated tone
“Didn’t look like it from my perspective,” he snapped back.
“Are you jealous?” she retorted. He flustered for a moment, “That was you by the tree in the distance, wasn’t it?” she said softly.
“I’m not jealous at all, I don’t need people, I don’t need you,” he retorted, still looking over her, unwilling to give her eye contact.
“Oh yes, you’re not jealous,” she retorted in a funny tone. “You can hide all you want behind that mask, tell yourself all you want, you don’t need anyone, but you know it’s a lie,” she said, she picked up a basket to leave. He looked away.
“Besides, you left me remember, for those Knights, implying I’m a distraction, standing me up when I went to kiss you,” she explained, she turned away.
“Don’t you understand, if the Archon finds out about this…thing, you are dead and so am I. For all I know they could have told him. I was trying to protect you, you stupid …” he responded quickly. “Wait, wait, you were going to kiss me?” he asked inquisitively, stuttering over his words.
She twisted back and nodded.
“Really?” he asked again, the joy coming through the voice modifier.
“Yes, you fool!” she giggled, her abrasion diminishing.
He pondered for a moment. Maybe she did like him. He stood. “Well then, I…err,” he fumbled his words, “I have to go and do my work, or something,” he said awkwardly. Then, unable to think of what to say, he entered the pyramid.
She found his quirks cute. “You’re quite something aren’t you,” she muttered under her breath.
He leant on the door inside, head tipped up, he breathed deep.
“Krai!” a bellowing voice shouted from far into the corridor, “Arena, Now!” Monstah yelled.
He inhaled deeply again, this one tainted with disappointment. He followed the Anuai warrior to the Arena. Mara returned to her stall to continue selling produce to the locals.
A few days later Anu-Krai was marching through the pyramid on patrol. Some of the Anuai guards and warriors were unmasked now he knew their identity. He was the only human permitted to enter the pyramid, so they could be freely unmasked without a problem. He was deep within the pyramid and heard a faint cry in the atmosphere, he stopped and examined his surroundings, homing in on the noise. He followed it. It leached in a doorway deep within the pyramid, it had a sign prohibiting any human from entering, even him. He ignored the sign, sneaking in the door, poking his head around the corner of the wall immediately in front of him. He noticed far-off in the chamber, cages with people in them, including children. A guard patrolled by the cages in the corridor, so he hid beside the wall, unseen. He stuck his head around once more to see what was happening, a woman was being dragged away screaming by an unmasked Anuai. Two more guards passed and began to walk in his direction, he quickly escaped the area and continued his patrol unnoticed.
He was very unsettled at what he saw and planned to investigate further.
He finished the patrol after an hour. He departed the pyramid and embarked on a journey within the forested regions of the kingdom. He loved to venture deep, he gained a mental map of the areas he investigated. Going further with each journey.
He spent a couple hours walking and found an unchartered edifice, he explored the area intrigued. It was ancient, very ancient, created by the original settlers from Bamphia. It had withstood the perils of time, remaining strong despite its neglected state. There was, what looked to be advanced technologies scattered about the place. He found a drawing of a young girl holding a balloon, he inspected it. He returned it to its place, on the table. There was lots of dust present, overgrown vegetation seeped into the building. He entered another room after travelling up a flight of stairs. There was a large book on the floor in a specialised case to protect it from the environment. It appeared to have fallen from a slot on the wall. After a few moments of fiddling, it opened. It was simple enough to open. The book was very thick and written in English, so he could understand. He sifted through, glancing at different pages. There were words and phrases that were alien to him, but he could, for the most part, understand the general narrative. His people write books and scripts too, therefore he could read effectively. He took it for safe keeping and to learn from its wisdom.
It illustrated
the galactic history, including the great war that ceased in the year 7812 on Earth. He planned to study this book when he returned home. On his departure from the structure he noticed a firearm on the ground, he took it in his hand and pressed the trigger, expecting it to be broken or disarmed. A pulse of energy was released from the weapon, creating a large hole in the wooden flooring. It caused the Knight to almost fall from the recoil and mere shock of the blast. He gasped in amazement.
“What is this?” he said quietly. He examined the firearm more closely, it was completely black in colour, with text inscribed into the side in red font, it said ‘Ragnos’. He assumed it must the name of its owner or named in honour of an important individual. He acquired the weapon and book and left the building for the return journey home. As he started his departure, a young woman emerged from the makeshift path.
“Why is the universe crossing our paths?” he asked inquisitively. Mara awaited him.
“I’ve heard whispers about you, you’re Viden Asile from Artsul aren’t you?” she enquired harshly. He was uncomfortable with her question.
“Yes,” he replied.
“Why did you hate your cousin?” she asked, her face contorted with various emotions. The Knight turned away in response and walked away. “He couldn’t have saved you; you know that right!” she yelled toward him.
He halted in his tracks, he faced her once more to explain his perspective. “I didn’t hate him,” he remarked, the anguish of that day beginning to fill his mind. Sonje was his best friend, the only person Viden could connect with in Artsul.
“Then why did you kill him, and your kingdom. I don’t understand!” she snapped back with haste. He paused, shaking his head slightly.
“You never could!” he yelled, unable to quite fathom his own emotions and feelings.
“I’ve seen this before!” she yelled, “I know what they do to those who serve them,” she continued sadly. He was somewhat bewildered by her statement but disregarded his confusion.
“I had to, if I was to become the most powerful human in Agarta, I had to destroy the Imperials, especially Sonje!” he slammed his blade into the ground with anger, she flinched slightly.
“But you didn’t,” she said, so disappointed by his fall to their manipulation.
“He represents my past, I had to kill my past to move forward,” his anger diminished slightly. “My mother died in my arms that day. I lost everything in a single moment.” The anger diminished to pure sadness. She did empathise with him, but she was terribly frustrated still.
“You wish to be equal to them, don’t you?” she enquired, he raised his head from the ground and nodded slightly.
“You already are one of them!” she scowled, she returned to the path. He fired an arrow at the tree beside her catching her attention, she faced him disillusioned.
“You’re wrong,” he barked. She continued her journey home, so disappointed in him. Anu-Krai remained at the structure, glaring intently at her silhouette which faded in the distance. Infuriated with her characterisation of him, any positive feeling he had for her was gone. He hoped. But there’s something about her, he couldn’t characterise it, as if the universe itself had paired them.
He examined the book whilst sitting on a rock nearby. It showed the warlord Anu in his intimidating attire with the Sword of Anu in hand. It was a realistic artistic rendition of him. He smiled in awe of the being that his Knighthood worshiped. The book described him as the greatest evil the galaxy had ever faced. It explored the great galactic war and explained the reasons for it. The Draco had enslaved countless worlds and began enslaving and farming sentient beings. The Draco are the Anuai he serves, their true name and identity. The Knight observed in shock and disgust as the book depicted the horrors that the Draco committed.
He felt awful, the tragedy that befell the galaxy, his knighthood worshipped that, he was aiding that. Further on it shown the beacon, its blueprints and how to operate it, it explained that all worlds colonised by humans will have this beacon for emergencies. When it was activated an instant message was sent to its quantum entangled counterpart, which will advise the Alliance headquarters of its location. This message was sent if the device was destroyed. In such an event, twenty-two alliance ships will travel through hyperspace to its location immediately to offer military or extraction support. He scanned the book further and came across a page describing an individual known as, ‘Hathor the Draco Slayer.’ He appeared to be human, strong in stature. He was the only being who could defeat a Draco in one-on-one combat. The book idolised this man. The book described that Hathor had the ability to manipulate reality itself, increasing his biological capabilities to defeat the Draco. Fabricating matter, transporting himself across distances at will. Like a god. He kept it hidden from the Alliance though, manipulating in the shadows. Only a few, including the author of this book, were privy to this information. Despite the entity being alien to Viden, he felt a deep connection of sorts with him. Unexplained feeling, again, like with Mara.
The Knight returned home with the two artefacts and with his new-found knowledge. He was torn now more than ever. He had only the Archon, but he had been deceived greatly by him. He could not continue to justify servitude to the Archon, but he did not know how to defeat him. He must find this mysterious beacon first if there was to be any chance of stopping the Draco.
Upon returning to the pyramid, the Knight hid the relics in his chambers. He continued a patrol during the night, staying near to the doorway he entered earlier that day, determining when the guards left it unattended. During the two hours he was patrolling, he noticed there were no times it was left unguarded. Over the coming days he analysed the shift patterns for multiple hours whilst on the patrol throughout the day and night. He noticed between the hours of 01:00 – 01:30 the guards consistently left the entrance unattended.
The next night he entered the doorway and peaked around the wall, one child was sitting in the cage at the bottom, there was one guard resting in a seat beside it. He crept further in the chamber and equipped his dagger, gesturing for the child to stay quiet as he approached. The guard unmasked and still sleeping, was vulnerable to attack. He checked either side to see if any other guards were present, there were none. Taking advantage of this he slit the throat of the guard covering his monstrous mouth to ensure its quiet demise. He tried to quickly open the cage, but was unsuccessful.
“His hand,” the child whispered, anxious for his saviour to hurry. Anu-Krai with difficultly, picked up the guard and dragged him to a position where he could manipulate the hand over a biosensor. It opened the cage. He could hear the muffled voices and noises of other Draco deep within the caverns. He grabbed the frail child and placed him over his torso. The child held on to his neck and back as he rushed out of the chamber. He travelled to a secluded exit of the pyramid, avoiding the sight of the various guards knocking about the perimeter. He rushed into the trees nearby for cover and placed the child on his feet.
“Where do you live little one” he asked quickly, checking his surroundings for Draco.
“Over there, house 108 in Market Street,” the child mumbled, gaunt and weak from the lack of nutrition and sunlight.
“Come on, I’m getting you home little one,” he responded, returning the child over his torso again. He darted out of sight and toward the child’s home. He waited for some civilians nearby to move, then he guided the child to the home. He knocked on the door, a woman answered. Incredibly shocked and joyous to see her child once more, she squeezed the child so tight, almost suffocating him. They shared tears as they embraced, saying how they have missed each other greatly. During the reunion the Knight escaped, unnoticed.
After a few moments the woman stood to thank the person who returned her child. She was confused by their disappearance. She glanced outside and saw no one. She continued to interact with her child, jubilant at his return, she vowed to never let him out of her sight again.
On his return to the pyramid he was stop
ped by an arrow that impacted by his feet.
“Where have you been?” Anu-Scherzo questioned sternly. Anu-Krai raised his head from the arrow on the ground to the Knight in-front. Anu-Scherzo was patrolling the perimeter of the pyramid, some distance away from him.
“I was getting some fresh air, what does it matter to you?” he responded bluntly. Anu-Scherzo approached him.
“You weren’t with that woman, were you?” he enquired, assuming Anu-Krai was sneaking around with Mara.
“No! She means nothing to me,” he responded frankly, displeased at the intrusive questioning of his brethren. “Good, it’s just…you’re acting suspicious lately. You don’t come to celebrations, you’re sneaking around in the night, seen unmasked in public with a woman!’ he said, judging his king for his recent actions.
“What did you say?” Anu-Krai snarled, “You presume to judge my actions? I do not answer to you. I am your king! the last I saw,” he roared, severely agitated by the invasive questioning. Anu-Scherzo stepped back with slight anxiety in his posture.
“Now I am returning to my quarters, is that ok with you?” Anu-Krai remarked, mocking Anu-Scherzo.
“Yes, my lord, forgive my intrusion,” he answered, bowing his head to his king. Anu-Krai stormed into the pyramid and returned to his quarters, his movements surveyed by Anu-Scherzo.
Chapter 12
Flashback: Years earlier; a scream echoed through the chamber. He knew that voice, it was terrified. He rushed out of his room, armed and ready to fight to the death. It’s awfully quiet through the corridors, he followed the screams to the Archon’s throne room. There, a woman lay on the ground before the Archon, contorted in pain.
“Mum,” Viden whispered with dread. He glanced toward the Archon who stood boldly before him. In a fit of rage, he stormed toward the Archon lashing at him with fury. A fiery blade in his grasp. Within moments he defeated the Archon, he was shocked, the blade blasted through his torso. The Archon slumped to the ground, Viden fell beside his mother, cradling her in his grasp.
