by Thomas Fay
Xavier and Jonas stared at each other while Te’Anne looked out at the surface of Vesta through the forward view screen. The little girl stood beside her.
‘No, that’s not going to work for me,’ Jonas said. ‘What about you, Xavier? Are you happy to sit this one out and let these three risk their lives to save us?’
Xavier shook his head as he hefted his gauss rifle.
‘No way. We’re coming with you.’
Izikiel let out a deep breath. Turning towards Te’Anne, he asked, ‘I suppose there’s no way that you’ll stay aboard the Valiant Crusader?’
‘I told you before. I have faith in you. I know you can defeat them. Besides, I have no idea how to fly a star ship.’
The little girl moved to stand between Te’Anne and Xavier. Izikiel stared at her incredulously.
‘You too?’
She nodded, unable to speak. Despite his trepidation, Izikiel smiled. In his darkest, most difficult hour, he was surrounded by those who would stand with him until the end.
‘Alright, let’s get down there and finish this.’
The Valiant Crusader detached itself from the rest of the human fleet and decelerated into the northern polar cap. They touched down between several large rock formations. The four dark citadels, embedded into the remains of the Great City, dominated the horizon.
An external vent released its pent up waste gas and the Valiant Crusader settled onto the soft sand. Cassandra switched the power off and stood up.
‘The ship is secure,’ she said.
‘Right,’ Izikiel said. ‘Everybody ready?’
As one they nodded.
Xavier opened the rear hatch and they filed out through the main compartment onto the soft white sand. The heat beat down upon them as Izikiel remembered the first moment when he had woken up on the northern polar cap of Vesta. That seemed like a life time ago now. He was different. Stronger. Wiser. His command of the Eternal Flame’s abilities was almost complete. And he was not alone.
To his left stood Cassandra, an Elemental. She was dazzling in her human-form but her true appearance was the thing of dreams. On his right, Jenevieve, a Guardian of the Eternal Flame, so powerful that she could manipulate the very fabric of time. Behind them were the three natives of Vesta; Xavier, Jonas and Te’Anne. Resourceful and determined, they were highly skilled at surviving any situation.
And then there was the little girl. Izikiel was almost certain that he knew who she really was. The pieces were all falling into place. Her presence on the surface of Vesta, not far from the geo-planetary elevator. Her inherent ability to call upon the Eternal Flame. Cassandra’s suspicions. Soon, he would be strong enough to undo the temporal flux surrounding her.
Reaching into his pocket, his hand closed around the photograph of the dark haired woman with blue eyes. Soon, I promise.
‘It’s a little hot,’ Te’Anne said as she shielded her face from the sun.
‘Sorry, I forgot,’ Izikiel said. Lifting his arm up, he channelled the heat into himself.
‘Thanks’
Izikiel nodded absently as his attention turned to the four dark citadels. They were embedded into the white sand about two hundred paces in front of them. He could sense the cold and emptiness of the Void permeating through them. He could also feel the dark creatures moving within. One in particular stood out.
‘Caligo Dominus is here,’ he said.
Jenevieve shivered slightly as Cassandra’s eyes glowed with an inner fire. Xavier and Jonas gripped their weapons tighter as Te’Anne moved in front of the little girl.
‘Look!’ Jenevieve called out.
A dark veil had begun to creep out across the white sand expanding around the four citadels. Within its depths, they could just make out a horde of black shapes moving towards them.
Holding his hand up, Izikiel channelled the power of the Eternal Flame. His entire form began to glow as he turned his mind back to the first time that he had heard the ancient language. Images of a spiked red desert wolf impinged on his awareness as he opened his mouth and spoke.
‘Aduro’
Both his arms erupted in blue flame as he turned and sprinted across the sand towards the closest citadel. Behind him, Cassandra shed her human-form and launched herself across the sand with gigantic flowing strides. Jenevieve called upon the Eternal Flame to establish a flaming shield around them as Xavier, Jonas and Te’Anne armed their weapons and opened fire.
The little girl, the silent one, began to walk slowly towards the largest of the four dark citadels.
NINETY NINE
Izikiel felt the power of the Eternal Flame coursing through him. He remembered Da’Amo’s teachings, his mastery of the elements. Flaming orbs of fire scorched the dark veil as invisible funnels of air flung the void spawn aside. Even the sand was turned into a weapon as the ground shifted and changed beneath the dark horde.
Memories of a frozen world with a lone Guardian caused him to create barriers of ice. Combining that with what he had learned from Da’Amo, he melted the ice and unleashed a torrent of water, crushing the void spawn against the dark citadels.
His connection to the Eternal Flame granted him an acute awareness of those around him. He could feel Cassandra’s burning presence as she lashed out cleaving the dark creatures asunder. The flaming shield created by Jenevieve radiated a familiar heat as it burned through the dark veil.
‘They’re falling back!’ Jonas shouted as he fired energy bolt after bolt. The azure beams of pure energy sizzled as they burned through the dark creatures. Devoid of the protection of the dark veil, they were vulnerable to the advanced Tellusian weaponry.
The dark veil was disintegrating as the void spawn were either destroyed or forced back towards the citadels. Closing his eyes, Izikiel drew the heat of the twin suns into himself. Taking a deep breath, he remained perfectly still.
‘Izikiel, look out!’ Jonas called out.
His eyes snapped open. He brought his arms up in front of him and spoke in a commanding voice.
‘Aduro’
An incredible blast of blue flame erupted from his outstretched hands. It expanded as it travelled across the white sands burning away the remains of the dark veil and disintegrating any void spawn caught in its path. Reaching the citadels, it sizzled and dissipated.
The way was clear.
‘Quickly before they have time to regroup,’ Izikiel said.
They formed up behind him and sprinted towards the largest citadel. The dark construct towered before them, obscuring the light of the twin suns. Izikiel felt cold. He knew it was the closeness of the Void. The black material of the citadel was unlike anything that he had ever seen before. Up close, it appeared to flow like thick tar. It reflected no light. The surface was infinite blackness punctuated only by an impossibly high jagged archway.
‘Let’s finish this,’ he said. Channelling the power of the Eternal Flame, he led the way inside the dark citadel.
The moment he stepped through the archway, everything changed. The world descended into darkness. The entire inside of the citadel was forever cloaked in an impenetrable dark veil sustained by the colossal anti-matter generator at its core. Izikiel realised his mistake as he felt his connection to the Eternal Flame weaken. It was almost as if he were trying to whisper across a crowded room. He could still sense the distant heat but his link to it became tenuous. That’s when he realised that the dark citadels carried inside of them a part of the Void. Da’Amo’s words echoed inside his mind as he realised that was how the Void Lords were able to survive on Vesta.
(‘Izikiel, I can’t maintain the shield,’) Jenevieve’s voice resounded in his mind. The flaming shield surrounding Jenevieve and the others dimmed to the point where it was barely visible. Izikiel sensed the creatures of the Void all around them. Void spawn and something else. Darker. Colder. More powerful.
With a sinking feeling, he realised that they had made a fatal mistake by entering the dark citadel. They were not only fighting in a co
mpletely hostile environment but they were also surrounded by void spawn and worse; Void Lords. Each of the four citadels was commanded by a Void Lord and they were all inside this one.
‘Cassandra, hold them back, we need to get out of here!’ he shouted. Spinning around, he drew on the faint connection to the Eternal Flame. The flaming plasma expanded in his mind as his body began to glow.
‘By the light of Serafine,’ Te’Anne whispered as the horde of void spawn and towering translucent figures of the Void Lords where revealed.
They were surrounded. As if by an unseen command, the void spawn parted and an incredibly tall, ethereal form drifted forward.
‘Disciple,’ Caligo Dominus breathed. ‘Your arrogance has led you right into our trap. With your death, the Void will take this Galaxy.’
‘Never!’ Izikiel shouted as he brought his arms up.
‘Aduro’
The blue sheets of flame lashed out, setting the void spawn closest to him on fire. As they flailed around in agony, the Void Lords manipulated the dark veil inside the citadel making it denser and darker. Even Cassandra’s flaming form began to dim as the darkness intensified. The temperature dropped further. It became cold. Very cold.
‘Get out of here!’ Izikiel shouted.
He swung his flaming arms around trying to clear a path back to the outside. Cassandra joined him, lashing out at any void spawn that got too close. They channelled the power of the Eternal Flame, holding at bay the darkness and the cold. Beside them, Jenevieve fought to maintain the diminished shield. As the void spawn leapt forward and the dark veil pressed down upon her, she dropped to her knees. One of the Void Lords advanced on her.
‘I can’t hold it any longer!’ she cried out.
With a final gasp, she collapsed to the ground, unconscious. The flaming shield wavered and then vanished completely, leaving Te’Anne, Xavier and Jonas exposed. Seeing their chance, the void spawn leapt forward.
‘Full auto!’ Jonas shouted.
Bringing his weapon up, he unleashed a steady beam of azure energy. His weapon began to glow a deep vermilion from the extreme heat of generating so much firepower. Beside him, Xavier and Te’Anne’s weapons did the same. They had perhaps thirty seconds of sustained fire left.
Izikiel brought down two more void spawn. Channelling the blue flame, he burned them into the ground until they disintegrated, their hollow screams lost in the din of battle. Seeing the prone figure of Jenevieve on the ground and the superheated weapons of his companions, he interposed himself between them and the dark creatures. Unleashing blast after blast of heat, he kept them at bay.
With a savage hiss, Jonas’ weapon overheated and shut down. A second later, Te’Anne’s did the same. Xavier managed to disintegrate one more void spawn before he had to drop his to the ground. Unarmed, they could only watch as Izikiel and Cassandra fought for their lives.
(‘It has been an honour to stand with you, disciple,’) Cassandra’s voice echoed in Izikiel’s mind.
Turning to look at her, Izikiel was momentarily distracted by the sight of three Void Lords attacking the flaming being. A void spawn lunged at him, locking onto his legs. Two rows of razor sharp teeth bit through the cybernetic-mesh on his legs. Izikiel screamed and dropped to his knees. Another void spawn leapt forward. Raising his left arm up in a defensive gesture, he felt pain explode all along his arm. Lashing out blindly with his other arm, he managed to blast the void spawn into the darkness.
‘Finish them,’ Caligo Dominus’ hollow voice commanded.
His cybernetic-mesh severed, Izikiel collapsed onto the cold, dark ground. He could only watch as the void spawn surged forward. Xavier was brought to the ground, bleeding profusely from savage cuts. Jonas fought bravely but his reflective armour was useless in the dark and his weapon was spent. He fell forward, blood pooling around his chest. Izikiel watched in horror as a void spawn locked onto Te’Anne’s neck. She took a faltering step towards him. Then she collapsed.
‘No!’
Izikiel raised himself up on his elbow. His left arm hung uselessly at his side as his paralysed legs dragged behind him. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth as he tried to focus his vision on Caligo Dominus. He tried to move forward but with the cybernetic-mesh destroyed, he was helpless. The Void Lord glided closer to him.
‘Your friends are dead. There is no reason to fight anymore. Accept us. Accept the Void as your master and we may allow you to live for a moment longer,’ the dark creature hissed in a voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.
‘Never. I will force you back to the Void and you will pay for what you have done here. This I swear by the Eternal Flame!’
‘Where is your beloved deity now, disciple?’
With that the Void Lord lifted its ethereal arms summoning the remaining void spawn and the three Void Lords to its side. The dark creatures obeyed its command. As they formed up around it, Cassandra dropped to the ground. Her flame extinguished as she returned to her human-form. Izikiel could no longer feel her presence. He was alone. Crippled and surrounded by the creatures of the Void. The moment he had been dreading for so long was finally here.
‘It seems that you have succumbed to the power of the Void at last, disciple,’ Caligo Dominus said. His red eyes suddenly narrowed as he stared at something behind Izikiel.
‘Impossible!’ the Void Lord’s hollow voice exclaimed.
Twisting around on the ground, Izikiel beheld an incredible sight. The little girl stood in the jagged archway. Her entire figure was silhouetted in flame.
‘Kill her, kill them all!’ Caligo Dominus commanded.
The void spawn lunged at her. Leaping into the air, they sailed through her, crashing into the wall behind. The three Void Lords and remaining void spawn advanced on Izikiel.
(‘It is time’)
The little girl’s voice spoke directly into Izikiel’s mind. He blinked. All around him were stars and planets shimmering in the darkness of space. He was no longer inside the dark citadel. Instead, he was looking down on the surface of Vesta from space. The twin suns where directly in front of him as the flaming tendril of plasma reached out for him.
(‘I’m ready,’) he formed the thought as he felt the familiar presence engulf him.
(‘You are certain?’) the hollow voice asked.
(‘Yes’)
Intense heat and light exploded within him. As his body burned with the energy of a new found sun, he screamed a silent scream across the stars. He felt his eyes and hair catching fire as his skin melted away. He thought that he would black out as the heat reached a deeper intensity. He knew now what Da’Amo had experienced, the sacrifice he had made. He also finally understood why someone would make such a sacrifice. He would give anything to defeat the minions of the Void and save his friends. His mind filled with thoughts of Te'Anne. He could save her. Save all of them. Da'Amo had told him that much. The true believers could heal. Could even revive those on the brink of death. And he was more than the sum of them. He was a disciple. One chosen by the Eternal Flame to be the champion of light in the Universe. He would survive.
He opened his eyes. The Void Lords had paused in their rush for him. They waited. He stood up, his legs healed. Holding up his hand, Izikiel saw that it was on fire. But his skin remained intact. Then he remembered. That first moment when he had woken up on the planet Vesta, in the full light of the twin suns. It was at that moment that he truly understood what it meant to be a disciple.
Izikiel smiled. Then he laughed.
‘Now I am whole.’
Turning towards the forces of the Void arrayed against him, Izikiel could see that they were hesitating. There was only one thing he needed to defeat them. He also knew with certainty that there was only one person who could help him. He spoke the ancient word that would take him back in time.
‘Antequam’
Izikiel blinked against the harsh white light as the time shift took him back a thousand years. For a moment all was still.
Nothing moved. Then the sounds of the battle for Vesta, the greatest conflict the human colony worlds had ever witnessed, exploded all around him.
The dark veil materialised as the remains of the human colony forces attempted desperately to regroup against the dark horde. The screams of the wounded and the dying filled the air as the white sands ran red with the blood of the human soldiers. Far above, the last of the Juggernauts disintegrated as it dropped out of the sky. Its flaming carcass exploded when it hit the ground, cleaving the dark veil asunder.
The extent of the devastation was revealed. Only small pockets of soldiers remained in a sea of dead bodies. The void spawn’s numbers, in contrast, seemed limitless as they flowed across the white sands.
Izikiel’s flaming form was immune to the void spawns’ onslaught. He was like an oasis in a dark sea. He cast around, waiting for the disciple that he knew would come. Then he felt her.
Lady Serafine appeared next to him. Dressed in a flowing white robe, she was a commanding presence. Her dark hair flowed behind her as her eyes shone with the heat of the Eternal Flame. Reaching out, she placed her hand on his face. He felt incredible strength and love flowing from her.
‘You made it. I knew you would,’ she said.
He felt the tears welling up in his eyes as he stared at her. A part of him refused to accept who she really was.
‘How is this possible?’ he asked.
Lady Serafine smiled.
‘You wouldn’t believe me if I told you how many things had to align for this to happen. But you’re here, that’s all that matters. Now it’s time for you to save the colony worlds.’
‘Me? I came here to watch you unleash the light of creation and destroy the minions of the Void.’
‘No, Izikiel. It was never me. It was always you. You are the only one who is able to draw upon the full power of the Eternal Flame.’
