Star Chaser- The Traveler

by Reiter

  “Don’t forget your purse,” Dungias repeated, quickly reaching for his satchel. He opened it and a light shone from the bottom of it; a small gem pulsated with a glowing light, and a small roll of parchment had also been added to the normal contents. Dungias fetched the stone and scroll from his bag. He looked briefly at the glowing stone which was much heavier than it looked and opened the note.

  By the way… about those guidelines I mentioned… you don’t get to where the master molds are without knowing when to bend the rules, or when to break them outright. You were right about the raiders not being part of what has to be protected… so there’s really no rule on what I could do with the information. In layman’s terms, you were more than watching the Shadow Corps, young master Z’Gunok, you were becoming one! As for the stone, you can say that in the absence of Arrjeeh, I have made claim to it, which means it’s my property to do with as I please. Gotcha, and have fun!

  P.S. You still need the key to gain control of The Campus. Gift #2 is really good at finding keys! JIC!

  Dungias quickly placed the stone and the note back into his satchel and looked back at Flavicia who was very concerned with what he was looking at.

  “You have one of the Master’s gems,” Flavicia announced. “You may not be a raider, but you are not among the invited. So how did you come by this?”

  “Dungias,” he thought, “please note for future parcels received: curb your curiosity until such time that you may review the contents of a gift without conflicting repercussions. Because there is no simple answer that will keep hostilities at bay. I must remember to thank BJ for his timing on his cheating!

  “In honor of the one who gave me these items,” Dungias started, very slowly sliding his feet apart. “… I must refuse to answer, but ask that you understand that nothing here was purloined.”

  “You lie!” Flavicia yelled as she summoned her war spear.

  “No, you lie!” Dungias roared and even Flavicia took a step back from the power of his voice. “All of you are liars! How dare you claim that I am, given this company of delusional souls?!

  “Look at yourselves. ALL OF YOU!” he barked, turning to look at Sai-Eg and communicate that there were no exceptions to the overview. “You’re wounded… frayed… impaired! You are the defenders of the aperture that leads to The Campus, and you cannot even admit to yourselves that you are not what you once were.”

  “Who are you to speak to us–” Flavicia tried to match Dungias’ passion.

  “The Zeu Rex that I do not even know strikes me as one who did not hide from the truth!” Dungias added, turning and stepping quickly to stare Flavicia in the eyes. He could not allow the wonder he held for her existence to register across his face or anywhere outside his mind. “He embraced the truth, and so did the ones who dared to take up his trek. They were masters because they did not hide from truth. They sought the truth, and where there was none to be found… they instituted truth! Your stand here does not honor their memory or their code.

  “You have befriended me, Sai-Eg,” Dungias stated. “For that I will forever be grateful. But I would be remiss in the truth of friendship if I were to leave you in the state in which you now suffer.”

  “What do I suffer from?” Sai-Eg asked.

  “You do not know your name,” he revealed. “Though I believe Flavicia remembers it.”

  “Of course I know his name,” Flavicia snapped before she started blinking her eyes. She looked at Sai-Eg and then at Dungias, and it was clear that she was quickly becoming frustrated.

  “You raised no question when I called him Sai-Eg,” Dungias explained. “… assuming that had to have been his name I still believe you know it.”

  “But how can I know without being able to speak it?” she asked.

  “That is where you have your flaw,” Dungias pointed out. “Assemble all of your Radients and I will show you.” Flavicia lifted her war spear and took a defensive stance. Dungias was not surprised to see all of her Radients repeat the maneuver. He held his arms out with his palms facing the ceiling. “If I ask you to perform one thing and afterward you still cannot remember, I will allow your attack. I only ask that you have the courage to face this darkness.”

  “I am a Guardian!” Flavicia declared. “There is no lack of courage within me. State your one feat and then prepare your heart for my spear!”

  “Are these all of your Radients?” Dungias inquired.

  “These fifty are all that I have.”

  “Then command them to return to you,” Dungias directed, thinking it best not to mention that she had possessed more the last time he was here. Flavicia looked confused and Dungias took a step forward.

  “Don’t think about it, Flavicia, just give the command. I beg of you.”

  “Tell me why,” Flavicia demanded.

  “It is an old lesson of Physical Science,” Dungias stated. He extended his hand toward Flavicia. “Black is the absence of the chromatic shades of light.” He then pointed at Sai-Eg. “White is the absorption of all the colors of light. You can change color, but your base is black. There are only male Radients, and I have it on good authority that there should be both male and female. You have no female Radients with you. I believe they are in Sai-Eg.” Flavicia looked at Sai-Eg as he looked at himself. When his white eyes came up to meet Flavicia’s, hers closed.

  “Radients, return to me!” she commanded.

  Despite the color of the Radient, their eyes flashed with white light at the utterance of the command. Each male Radient flew up into the air before circling three times. With each orbit, every Radient started glowing with even more power, becoming almost blindingly bright.

  “Return to me,” Flavicia repeated, but her voice now echoed and its tone was softer. She no longer needed to sound loud or forceful – the reaction she was now expecting was a part of her nature, and it did not need enforcement. The first Radient dove down toward Flavicia and into her body. Her eyes opened as she gasped from the sensation of the power flowing into her form. She released the war spear, but it faded before it reached the ground. Flavicia’s feet came away from the floor as the light from her body became brighter. As the last of the Radients filed into her body, Flavicia opened her eyes and while they were still yellow, they were much brighter, and her hair now reached her waist and floated around her head as if each strand had its own life-force.

  “Well done, Malgovi youth,” Flavicia said softly as she looked down on an amazed Dungias. “It would seem that your hypothesis has been proven correct. I am whole once more and fully restored, thanks to you and your understanding of Physical Science properties.

  “But I am not the only one in need of restoration,” Flavicia said as she floated down to land directly in front of Sai-Eg.

  “Flavicia… you are… beautiful!”

  “And you are almost my handsome mate… almost.” Flavicia touched her hand to Sai-Eg’s forehead and a spark of light left her fingertips and traveled inside his body. “You must purge and reclaim,” she directed.

  “Children of my Light, I summon thee!” Sai-Eg cried as his voice now echoed as well. His chest burst open in a chromatic light that took the form of one hundred female Radients, dressed in flowing cloaks that trailed with various colors of light. They flew out of Sai-Eg, streaking at greater speed than the male Radients could attain. Sai-Eg dropped to his knees; his form was entirely black with the exception of his hair and eyes which had turned blue.

  The female Radients started to form their circle, but it was perpendicular to the one the male Radients had formed. The hoop of light quickly became solid and inside the hoop Dungias could see stars in a formation he did not recognize. It was not anything he had seen in all the maps of the two systems the Malgovi and Vinthur called home.

  “My Radients are our soldiers,” Flavicia said as she put her hand on Dungias’ shoulder. Her hand felt more like flesh than iro-form. “His serve as our casters and their light can affect Time and Space. You have healed us both, Dungias. Th
is will not be forgotten.”

  “Then we are both very grateful,” Dungias said. “Because that last attack approach surpassed anything I could have managed in the way of a defense.” Flavicia chuckled as she massaged the shoulder she was holding.

  “You say that only because you didn’t have to try,” Flavicia retorted as she examined Dungias. After a brief review, she smiled and nodded. “You are somewhat like the ones who created our master. And be comforted, young one, the means to restore the Beta Forms is about to reveal itself.” Dungias’ head and shoulders dropped as he sighed in deep relief. “But you should know that the crimes of the Malgovi and Vinthur will be restored to memory as well. It is against our law to bring about pain or destruction to either race unless we are defending what is ours. But we cannot trust them. I doubt there will be any allowed to even approach The Campus.”

  “You trust me,” Dungias said softly. “And you should know I trust Nugar with every facet of my life.”

  “And that means?”

  “One Malgovi and one Vinthur,” Dungias replied. “It is a beginning.”

  “Perhaps what I said earlier might have been an understatement,” Flavicia said before walking away from Dungias and toward Sai-Eg. The hoop of light broke down into the one hundred female Radients that returned to Sai-Eg, and like Flavicia, he closed his eyes as he came away from the floor. As his form started to glow, it was returned to its white skin, but the hair remained blue. When his eyes opened, they were glowing with a blue light.

  “My darling, Berylon!” Flavicia said as she looked up at her mate. He looked up at the orbiting spheres and waved his hand across them.

  “Portals return and fortify the Beta Forms!” he commanded before he floated down to the floor. The twin portals continued their orbit, but drew closer and closer to the main aperture until they were consumed by it. A soft flash of light and the aperture became black crystal. Dungias lost his smile, looking at it; marveling in both its apparent power and its unspoken message. The meaning the formation was clear: no one was permitted to visit The Campus.

  Berylon looked at Flavicia and wasted no time in embracing her. Dungias looked away, not to give them privacy, but because when they touched, a brilliant light was created and it burned at his eyes. In the wake of the aperture closing, seeing what little he could stand to watch of their reunion added some sweet to the sour. The light finally died down and Dungias felt a hand softly urging him to turn around.

  “So, it is Berylon,” Dungias smiled. “An improvement over Sai-Eg, I can say.”

  “And yet I will hear of no other name coming from my friend,” Berylon said as he brought Dungias into a strong embrace. When they parted, Berylon slapped Dungias’ shoulder. “So Beta-JoBe gave you one of Arrjeeh’s stones. That should prove to be interesting.”

  “Was the MaGem restored?”

  “All of the Beta Forms now tend to The Campus as they were intended to when their eyes first opened,” Berylon proudly stated. “And no, Arrjeeh does not have a problem with you possessing one of his ‘appropriated’ stones. He says it will give him a good opportunity to see how things have changed in the time they have been hampered and less than themselves.”

  “Then I am glad to be of some service,” Dungias said.

  “You mean ‘further’ service, my friend. I and all of the Beta Forms are in your debt! Now that Zeu Rex can speak again, I am sure he will lift the ban on admission in your case. All you need to do is ask.”

  Dungias looked at the closed aperture and his eyes squinted. In the stillness of the moment, he had an opportunity to think about a number of things, the offer just made to him being chief among them. He shook his head and turned back to look at his friend.

  “Somehow the sentiment of that lock being lifted just for me seems… strangely insubstantial. It was put up for a reason, and, from what I’ve witnessed, a very good reason. I think we will need an equally good reason to lift the gate. I greatly appreciate the offer, but there are things to which I must tend; a quest, if you will. And while it has something to do with the Founders, I think it has more to do with their students that have broken the trust. I cannot say why it was broken just yet, so I cannot judge the act. But I must be about the answers to this quest for knowledge. I am sure my skills would be taken to incredible heights were I to study here.”

  “Then why not study so that you can be better prepared for your quest?” Flavicia asked.

  “I do not mean to be insulting,” Dungias started. He was relieved to see neither of their faces change with the statement. “… but with all this place was meant to be and meant to deliver, it had to be hidden to protect it. If I enter into its halls, then the Malgovi reenter its halls, and the Vinthur cannot be far behind. This is a very old secret, but it would be foolish for any of us to assume it is a forgotten one.

  “To my kind I am incomplete,” he explained. “They call it shay-spawn, unable to generate iro-forms. Nothing could be further from the truth. But that truth should remain hidden for the moment, for a shay-spawn can pass without notice. A Master graduating from The Campus would not be given that opportunity… and I cannot fight two nations… at least, not if they see me coming.”

  “But that is what you are about to do,” Flavicia stressed.

  “No,” Dungias countered as he turned to leave. “No, I’m not. As it stands, I just have to fool two nations. The way things look at the moment, my task is an easy one… they have had so much time learning how to fool themselves!” Flavicia wanted to press the issue, but Berylon took quick hold of her.

  “He is young and quite foolish,” she protested. “He is making a young fool’s mistake!”

  “He is young,” Berylon replied in a voice only she could hear. His need to speak softly drew her attention away from wanting to reach Dungias. “That I can give you. But he has made no mistake. The Beta Forms are not all restored, my wife. The three that were lost are being recreated, but that will take time. The offer I gave him was one that Alphexeous demanded I make.”

  “Why would the Soul Fighter ask you to do that?”

  “He wanted to test Dungias… and in the estimation of the Black Assassin Soul Fighter, this one called Dungias has passed!” Berylon smiled. He wrapped his arm around Flavicia’s shoulder as he turned to look at his friend who was exiting the chamber. A wave of Berylon’s hand and a tunnel formed in the wall Dungias was approaching. Without looking back, the so-called shay-spawn waved and entered the tunnel. It closed the moment Dungias reached the corridor of the domicile.

  “What will happen to him?” Flavicia asked, and Berylon was pleased to see her genuine concern for one that the Master Radient had called friend. It was not an acquaintance who was taking his leave of their realm. It was a brother, and Berylon was already anxious to return a very gracious favor.

  “Who can say, my love,” Berylon sighed. “At least with him toting around the Eye of Arrjeeh, we will have a very good view.”

  Dungias walked, but not for long. He allowed his body to lean against the wall as he clenched his hands in tight fists. To move like the Red Dragonne, to wield the power of Elder, the list of possibilities was truly endless and he could see himself doing well at The Campus. But he could not silence that one voice – the quest for knowledge the mysterious Maiden of the Stars had given him pressed Dungias to make the decision he had. The yearning for the knowledge of The Campus still called to him, however, and the drive to solve the riddle did not make him feel any better about saying no to the offer.

  “That must have been a very hard decision you had to make,” Nugar said and Dungias looked down the corridor to see his Teacher standing there. He was in full-body combat armour with a shoulder-mounted cannon of some sort.

  “I have had easier ones,” Dungias said as he dragged his feet, walking toward Nugar.

  “I think what we need here and now is a No-See,” Nugar suggested as he walked toward his student. The visor had already picked up iro-form traces indicative of trans-dimensional
travel. That explained much. Sometime in the very near future he would explain to his student that passage through a dimensional portal that was not properly prepared or anchored could easily twist time and space. From the look of his clothes, Nugar estimated that Dungias could account for possibly a few s’tonki. It had been nearly two orbi-terms since he had last seen his student, but the Stars had told him not to lose hope. It had been a true test of the Traveler’s faith, and he had believed in it so much he had lied to Saru and Laejem on the two occasions he had visited them.

  “And what is that?”

  “Well, it is a time and place where all parties engaging in it promise to not be themselves for just a moment.” Nugar said as he choked. His eyes welled up with tears as he continued his approach. “During that moment all emotions can run unchecked without the parties ever being reminded–”

  “That they acted like scared and very tired little children?” Dungias asked.

  “I feared I had lost you, Dungi!” Nugar cried as he jettisoned his armour and broke into a run.

  “You nearly did, Teacher!” Dungias replied, allowing his emotions to burn through.

  “The Stars have yet to lie to me!” Nugar proclaimed, taking to the Star-Stride and wrapping up his student who clung to him with surprising strength. The augmented body of the Traveler could stand it, and he would say nothing. He knew the embrace would hold for a while as the two fell into the longest No-See in Nugar’s memory. “I might have doubted, but they never did.”

  “It is our place to doubt,” Dungias whispered. “That is why we need the Stars. If we were never lost, they would serve no purpose in the Void!”

  “Even in this, he still has it, doesn’t he?” Nugar thought. “Even in this, he is Dungias! And if what I have been told holds true… he will not be with me much longer… and I will not be with him.” Nugar maintained his hold on his student.

  “That… is a very good point, Dungi.”