“I’m sorry,” she said quickly, feeling terrible. “I didn’t mean that. I haven’t eaten in over a day, and I’m having trouble dealing with all this…I don’t even know what to call it.”
Suriel’s expression relaxed. He rolled over on his side to face Kiara as she lay down onto the bed.
“Kiara, I am sorry for all that you have suffered. I know you may feel that I can’t understand it, that I’m some spoiled prince. But I am more than just a prince, and in this dungeon, especially, I am nothing more than a man.”
Kiara gazed into his genuine eyes, and she saw in them exactly what he described. An ordinary man, with a heart and a soul, with love and with hurt.
“And just for the record,” the Prince added. “Despite the many tales the villagers speak of me, I have never actually been with a woman.”
Kiara’s eyebrows rose in surprise, and she blushed.
“You didn’t have to tell me that,” she said, embarrassed.
“I know,” he answered, shifting to lay on his back. “But, I wanted to.”
Kiara laid down on her back as well, staring up at the golden canopy above them. She cleared her throat.
“So, the thing I wanted to show you. I think it should appear when we close our eyes.”
Suriel nodded, and they both did as she said. The lights dimmed automatically, and after a minute or two, the hologram began to play. Suriel sat up in surprise.
“What is it?” he exclaimed.
“You’ll see in a moment, don’t worry.”
The man and the woman took form, and the romantic music began to play. Suriel’s eyes widened, unable to believe what he saw.
“Is that-”
“You?” Kiara finished his sentence. “My thoughts exactly.”
“But how?” Suriel asked as they watched.
“Remember what I asked you, about destiny? Maybe you’re some kind of messiah, Agius reborn.”
“Me? That’s impossible.”
“Is it?” Kiara pushed on. “There are legends that a human would one day lead us to Earth. Maybe your ‘mutation’ wasn’t an accident. Maybe it was destiny.”
Suriel pondered the idea in silence as the hologram played out, then drew to a close.
“Even his clothes fit me perfectly,” Suriel said, shaking his head.
“With all the messed-up things happening lately, I don’t know what to think or believe anymore,” Kiara said. “But I know that there’s no way this is a coincidence.”
Suriel sat another moment in silence, processing everything.
“Thank you,” he said finally. “For not telling Rio and Pete about this.”
“I thought you should see it first,” she shrugged simply.
“That was very thoughtful.”
Kiara nodded. “So, what now?”
“Now, we go to sleep, I guess.”
“That’s it? You don’t want to talk about it?”
“There is nothing to talk about,” Suriel said, laying down. “There is no explanation. If it truly is destiny, then the answers will reveal themselves eventually. Right now, I really need to sleep.”
Suriel closed his eyes.
“Goodnight,” he said.
“Goodnight,” Kiara replied, and the lights turned off completely.
Kiara shifted on to her side, facing away from Suriel. As he moved, her hand struck something hard beside the bed. She felt around and examined it as her eyes adjusted to the dark, finding what seemed to be a metal basket fastened to the bed frame. Curious, she reached inside, finding an old sock at the bottom.
A clothes basket, she thought, remembering her previous question to Pete. Maybe they put their clothes in here to be scanned while they slept in their pajamas.
She removed her shoes and socks and dropped them into the basket, then moved onto her stomach, closing her eyes again. She cleared her thoughts and drifted off to sleep.
The shackles released from her mind, allowing her dreams to run free.
“Mamma, Mamma!” She ran towards her house as it was devoured in flames, her mother crying for help from the window. The Decrepit swarmed the family fields, closing in around her. As her feet raced across the muddy path, she felt something hard beneath her feet. She looked down at the lifeless body of Raiden, a terrified expression imprinted on his stiff face.
“No!” she screamed in anguish, tears pouring down her face. She reached the door of the house and barged inside, making for the staircase. Just before she could reach it, a Decrepit burst in through the wall and blocked her path, shrieking deafeningly inches from her face. Kiara cried out helplessly as the Decrepit lunged its blade through her chest, hissing with pleasure.
“She’s dead!” Kiara shouted as she jolted upright in bed. Tears streamed down her face, all her mental barriers shattered.
“Hey, what happened!?” Suriel asked with concern, woken up by her uproar.
“They’re dead, they’re all dead!” Kiara cried hysterically.
“Kiara, please try to relax,” he said, wrapping his arm comfortingly around her shoulders. “Who’s dead?”
“My Mamma,” Kiara sobbed, her voice dropping to a deep moan. She dug her grief-stricken face into Suriel’s broad shoulder. “I saw her in my dream. I saw her dying.”
“It was just a dream,” Suriel assured her, squeezing her hand.
“It was more than that,” Kiara sniffled. “I saw Sable too, and Raiden. But when I saw my Mamma, I just knew…she’s really gone.”
“I’m so sorry, Kiara,” Suriel said with a gentle, somber voice. He wrapped both arms around her and embraced her as she cried into his chest, her tears soaking his shirt.
“I’m alone now,” Kiara croaked, her voice broken. “I have no one.”
“You have me,” Suriel assured her, his voice firm and protective.
“You don’t even know me.”
“I journeyed through hell with you, and I fought beside you,” Suriel replied. “That was enough for me to learn to respect and admire you. To see that you are intelligent and kind, beautiful and loyal. And I promise you, when we escape from this terrible place, there will always be a home for you in the Capital.”
Kiara looked up at his eyes, finding in them a sliver of comfort amidst an ocean of despair.
“She would’ve liked you, you know,” Kiara sniveled. “She had a way of seeing straight into people, knowing if they were good or bad.”
“She must have been a remarkable woman, to have raised a daughter such as yourself,” Suriel smiled, brushing his hand through her hair. “I wish I could have met her.”
Kiara nodded gratefully, her eyes gleaming with emotion. She clasped her fingers tightly around Suriel’s arm and rested her head against his chest, desperate for his warmth and companionship.
“You can rest now,” Suriel said affectionately, stroking her hair. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Kiara closed her eyes, continuing to cry until exhaustion overcame her, and her tears slowly subsided.
Suriel gazed at the girl in his arms, continuing to caress her despite that she’d fallen asleep.
She is unlike any woman I have ever met, he thought to himself, gazing at her beautiful, peaceful face. No aristocratic woman I’ve courted has ever displayed such strength, resilience, and beauty all at once. Perhaps I’ve been searching in the wrong place for my future wife. Perhaps I just needed to be sent to Hell to find my angel.
His heart fluttered at the thought, and his lips curled into a warm, blissful smile. The amulet glowed brightly upon his chest.
I only hope she could fall in love with me. I have definitely fallen for her.
And then, from the depths of his consciousness, an unfamiliar voice seeped out to the surface. It was a cold voice, tainted with vanity and lust.
“Then take her.
Chapter Eleven
The King of Angels
6 days before planet’s destruction
The abandoned roads of Stebes came alive again as the displaced v
illagers of Ankar wandered through the town, searching for an adequate place to sleep. Raiden pushed through droves of crying, tired children and hungry pygmies. Skarai was perched upon his shoulder, cleaning his feathers with his beak.
He turned down an empty street and slipped through the broken door of the house they’d investigated earlier. Mara, Ferrus, and Kaiyu were waiting for him inside, sitting in a circle on wooden chairs they’d gathered from the floor. Kaiyu held the map out in front of him, analyzing it intently.
“Thanks for joining us, Kaiyu,” Raiden greeted him. He nodded at Mara and Ferrus.
“Of course,” Kaiyu replied.
“Sable is helping the people get situated while you’re busy with us, but she’s no Reader, so let’s try to make this quick.”
Kaiyu nodded, and Raiden sat in an empty seat beside him. He leaned forward, resting his arms against his lap, then yawned in exhaustion.
“So, what did you find?” Raiden asked.
“As I was telling Mara and Ferrus,” Kaiyu explained, “my father told me stories about a family of priests which were tasked with passing down the secrets of our religion and past. They lived hidden among the people, in case something were to happen to the priesthood headquarters in the Gatapo Islands. Each generation, the first-born son in the family was named the Caretaker, sworn to live a simple life in solitude, guarding the secrets.”
“Kaiyu believes the undead we found was the Caretaker,” Mara said. “Only a man of great mind and discipline could have fought against the curse the way he did.”
“That could explain the map,” Raiden said. “But, where is everything else he would’ve been guarding?”
“Much of it was oral history, stored in his memory,” Kaiyu said sadly. “I guess all that is lost now. But I am sure he has more hidden away. It could be in the Shrine of Gavriel even.”
“What else do you know about this shrine?” Raiden asked.
“Not much, regrettably,” Kaiyu said with a deep breath. “According to legend, when Agius destroyed the Nexus Mirror and detonated the explosion that killed Azarai, Gavriel used what was left of his energy to rescue the Enlai who stayed behind to fight. He delivered them to what is now the Kingdom, the only part of the planet which wasn’t affected. Perhaps the Shrine is where our ancestors buried him.”
“Could there be anything useful to us there?” Ferrus asked.
“Answers, perhaps,” Mara replied. “To everything that has been happening.”
“Should we check it out?” Raiden asked.
“Perhaps, after we drop off the villagers in Balron. According to the map, it does not seem too far out of our way.”
“It may not stray far from our path, but it is located in a perilous section of the Wildlands,” Ferrus warned, pointing a stout finger on the map. “That is tyrannosaurus-rex territory.”
“Did you just say T-rex?” Raiden asked in surprise. “I knew this place had dinosaurs, but I never imagined a T-rex! That’s insane!”
“A small group of three or four could make it through undetected if we move stealthily and conceal our scent.”
“Easy for a Shadow to say,” Raiden said nervously. “You can just jump into 2-D while the rest of us become T-rex steak.”
Mara glared at him, her neck muscles tensed, feeling like her honor had been questioned. “I would never abandon a friend.”
Raiden’s lips curled to a half-grin. “I was joking, but thanks.”
Mara relaxed, then drew back into focus.
“I do not believe our new information changes anything at the moment. We should continue our present course to Balron, and then we can decide the rest from there.”
Raiden nodded in agreement.
“What are my orders?” Kaiyu asked loyally, standing erect from his seat.
“First of all, thank you for your help, with both the map and morale. It is greatly appreciated,” Mara said.
“Yeah, without you, the people would’ve fallen apart the moment we brought the bad news about Stebes,” Raiden added. “Just continue with that for now. Help the different families find homes to sleep in, and ask all the villagers with animal experience to gather the stray pygmies and add them to our herd. I think they can double, or even triple, our traveling speed.”
Kaiyu bowed respectfully, then hurried out the doorway.
“He’s a good kid,” Raiden said to Mara as he left.
“He is coping well, given what his father put him through,” Mara agreed. “It is curious, though, all the stray pygmies. It is as though the entire village simply picked up and left.”
“We’re also assuming they were turned into leeches, given the state of that priest and the mess around town,” Raiden said. “The Decrepit must have taken them somewhere after being transformed. They kidnapped some villagers in Ankar also, after their attack.”
“I fear they may be culminating an army of undead,” Mara said darkly.
“Yeah…” Raiden shuddered at the thought. “That’s messed up, though.”
“I have been on this planet long enough to know that everything here is…‘messed up’.”
Raiden sounded a second, heavy yawn.
“You should get some rest,” Mara said.
“I think I should help Kaiyu and Sable first.”
“They will manage. The Coder can morph into a sheepdog and herd them to their beds, and the Reader can lull them to sleep.”
Raiden laughed. “You know, I don’t think I ever heard Yuran make a joke before.”
As they spoke, a violent thump resonated from the wooden floor, grabbing their attention. They turned to see that Ferrus had collapsed forward onto the ground, her eyes open, yet seemingly unconscious.
“Ferrus!” Raiden exclaimed, jumping from his seat to her aid. Mara seemed surprised at first, startled by the noise, but then quickly relaxed.
“She is fine,” Mara said calmly as Raiden checked her pulse.
“Her heart’s not beating!” Raiden panicked.
“That’s because she doesn’t have one.”
Raiden hesitated for a moment, reassured by the calm in Mara’s voice.
“What happened to her?”
“She’s asleep. Her systems go into hibernation every few days to recharge.”
“Just like that?”
“The criminals who programmed her did not take her comfort into consideration.”
Raiden frowned at the massive, half-robotic woman, feeling sorry for her.
“Well, should we move her to a bed, at least?”
“Even with the strength your amulet bestows you, I doubt you could lift her,” Mara said. “Besides, she prefers the floor. It is how she’s slept since she was a child.”
Mara knelt down to the floor beside Ferrus. She moved the woman’s mechanical arms gently to her sides, then planted a kiss on her scarred, bald head.
“Sleep peacefully, my guardian angel,” Mara whispered in her ear.
Raiden’s heart was warmed by the affection Mara showed the disfigured cyborg. It was as if she couldn’t see the scars and the blemishes. All she saw was a person, and she was beautiful.
“Ferrus has been by my side for ten years,” Mara told Raiden as she stroked Ferrus’s head. “I would have died long ago if it weren’t for her, and if I hadn’t, I would’ve lost the will to live.”
“How did you two meet?” Raiden asked.
“As you probably know, the Nexus Mirror connects to this planet on the Peakshire Mountains. I got through injured and barely alive, thanks to that traitor Grith. It was snowing at the time, and I had lost a lot of blood. I walked until I could no longer feel my feet, and then I collapsed into a mound of snow. To my luck, or so I thought at the time, I was pulled from the snow by an organization of Shadows known as the Sicarii. They brought me to their small village in the mountains and nursed me back to health. They treated me like family and gave me a comfortable sense of familiarity. They wanted me to join their business, and I almost did, until I learned what it was
.”
“Cyborg suppliers?” Raiden asked.
“Close,” Mara replied. “They did not make the cyborgs, only traded them, which is legal in this wretched Kingdom. They purchased implanted children from cyborg suppliers and kidnappers, trained them to fight, and shipped them as gladiators to the colosseums in the major cities, which are all run by Shadows.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Raiden scoffed. “Why would the King make it illegal to make cyborgs, but not to trade them?”
“Because he enjoys the sport,” Mara answered spitefully. “He and his men would attend every game.”
Raiden couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Back in the village, nobody ever spoke ill of the King. He was their hero.
It’s because of the PDs, Raiden realized. The King brainwashes his subjects and makes them complacent.
“When I found this out, I tried to escape,” Mara continued. “They caught me and claimed that my ungratefulness had insulted their honor. So they sold me as a slave and shipped me off to the Capital.”
“Is that when you lost the amulet?” Raiden asked.
“Not yet. I managed to keep it hidden in the second dimension, a trick they themselves had taught me.”
Mara took an arrow from her pack to demonstrate. She held the metal shaft in her hand, then used her power to shift the object into the second dimension, becoming a mere shadow upon her arm.
“That’s amazing!” Raiden exclaimed. “I didn’t know Shadows could do that.”
“They can’t,” Mara said. “Not on Earth, at least. Something about this planet boosts our powers. Coders can morph into creatures they do not touch, without the need of the watch. Surgers can induce powerful wave blasts with merely their voices. There are even rumors that before the current rodent of a King, the Kingdom was ruled by Enlai with dual abilities. Ancients, they were called. It is said that the King killed them all off in order to secure his throne.”
“Wow, I never knew how horrible this king was.”
“I learned of his wickedness very quickly. When I arrived at the Capital, I was thrown in a dungeon beneath the colosseum along with the other gladiators. I did not know how to fight very well at the time, and I found myself surrounded by powerful cyborgs and violent criminals. They forced us to sleep in the mud like pigs, and each day we were given only a loaf of bread, a fistful of half-raw brachiosaurus meat, and a small bucket of water to use for drinking, bathing, and relieving ourselves. Every morning, a handful of us would be taken up to the surface for the games. Most would never return, and those who did were bloodied and maimed. But as terrible as the days were, the nights were even worse. The other prisoners would hurt me and steal my food. Sometimes, the King’s knights would take a few of us out for ‘fun’, beating and defiling us.”
The Chamber of Genesis Page 16
