The Riddle of the Gods

by Lyra Shanti

  “Come on!” yelled Pei as they ran. “We don't have time to play with these pathetic slave-traders! Let's go find Reese and pray to the Gods she's alive!'”

  Hynfir agreed with a nod, then took out a plasma-compass, using it to track Reese's movement.

  “Her coordinates are strange,” said Hynfir while running. “It looks like she's somewhere at the top of the mountain.”

  “Then that's where we're going!” Pei replied, a little out of breath as he ran alongside Hynfir. “Is she alive? Can you tell with that thing?”

  “Yes, her life-sign reads normal, but I think she's inside the mountain somewhere. It's difficult to read.”

  “We'll find her!” said Pei, filled with hope, knowing Reese was alive.

  However, just as they reached the base of the mountain, they were bombarded with Ohrians.

  “Where are they all coming from?!” yelled Hynfir as he slashed, aiming at their gun-carrying arms.

  “I don't know!” Pei shouted back, deflecting a plasma blast with his Viha. As soon as he had the chance, Pei ran up the mountain far enough to stand on a boulder. Overlooking the area, he saw two other Ohrian ships had landed by the mountain's base near the Hahsree River.

  “Damn it!”

  “What is it?!” asked Hynfir as he reached Pei on the rock.

  “Look!” he replied, pointing. “The first ship must have called for back up before we even got here.”

  “Well, I'm sure our backup will arrive soon too. All I know is we can't stay here! We're too visible!”

  Pei nodded in agreement, then jumped off of the boulder. He knew he'd have to make a split-second decision to either fight on the ground with his Lirhan troops or to go with Hynfir to find Reese.

  “Come on, Hynfir!” he shouted. “Reese is alive and probably doesn't need us... but they do! Let's help our brethren warriors fight those Ohrian bastards!”

  Hynfir grinned, then nodded. In unison, they ran down the mountain and jumped back into the thick of battle. It was bloody and horrible, but somehow, they both felt validated.

  Hynfir had turned his back on The Lirhan when his true love, Leif, had died in the Xen War. He had once hoped Yol would light the way for freedom throughout the galaxy, but Hynfir was now painfully aware how foolish and naive he'd been... about Yol, and even The Tah. All he wanted at this point was to make amends and be at peace with Leif who was waiting for him in the Jornah.

  For Pei, he had much to prove – to Ona, Reese, Ayn, and even Yol. Most of all, he wanted to prove to himself he was a strong warrior, someone quite capable of fighting for the things he believed in. On this day, Pei finally felt his true calling, and with every stroke of his sword, it made his heart beat with pride.

  Unfortunately, despite how proudly he and Hynfir fought – as well as the rest of the Lirhan troops – more and more Ohrians came at them. With hundreds of ground troops, as well as two ships hovering in the sky, randomly blasting plasma at The Lirhan below, it was overpowering.

  “We're not going to live through this!” yelled Pei as he fought off three Ohrian men at once.

  “Nonsense!” shouted Hynfir as he hacked away at the silver-colored and seemingly impenetrable Ohrian armor of the man in front of him. “We might live yet!” he added. Finally hacking through the armor, Hynfir cut off the man's arm and wildly smiled. “See? The Gods are mysterious bastards! You just never know!”

  Pei laughed as he sliced through the limbs of his opponents. He was about to give Hynfir a pat on the shoulder when he felt an unexpected pain in his side.

  He looked down and realized he'd been shot. The feeling seared and burned, but for some reason, it only made Pei angry. He wanted to throw his Viha into the brain of whoever shot him, but his wound made him stumble backward uncontrollably.

  “Pei?!” screamed Hynfir as he fought the men surrounding him. He tried pushing through the enemy so he could protect Pei, but as he defeated the soldiers ahead, more appeared to take their place, blocking him from getting to where Pei had fallen.

  Next to where Pei knelt, the man who had shot him stood directly in front of his victim, smiling as if gloating with a gun aimed at Pei's head.

  Pei half-smiled at the man and said, “You will never win. The Bodanya lives, and you will die.”

  To that, the Ohrian cocked his head and said, “Sorry, but I don't believe in your stupid Gods.”

  A few seconds later, the Ohrian's face contorted as Pei saw a familiar Viha poke through the soldier's chest. At first he thought it was Reese who had saved him, but as soon as the Ohrian fell to the ground, Pei looked and saw it was a young Sirini man with wild red-brown hair.

  Helping Pei to stand, Kren asked, “Are you alright? Do you need medical attention? My grandmother can heal you. She's in the cave of the mountain.”

  “No,” said Pei, “I'm alright. I just need to catch my breath. Thank you for saving my life.”

  “Of course,” Kren replied. “I think I may have to do it again very soon though,” he added as he pushed Pei to the side, “like right now!”

  Pei turned around and saw the brave Sirini with wild hair fighting with Reese's Viha almost as well as Reese herself could. It made Pei briefly think about trying to recruit the man, if they both survived the battle at hand.

  “Pei!” shouted Hynfir. “You're alive! Great! Now use your plasma-gun and don't die!”

  “Yes, sir!” Pei sarcastically replied as he fired against the Ohrians with his gun, protecting Kren and Hynfir as best as he could. He had stopped his bleeding, but he wasn't sure how long his injury would hold. Even still, he knew he had to keep fighting.

  The three of them unintentionally formed a pyramid as they found themselves completely surrounded by Ohrians. Pei didn't know how long they could keep up the fight. It seemed to him as though most of his Lirhan had either been badly injured or perished in the battle.

  Fighting with every last breath, Pei, Hynfir, and Kren all began to silently pray. Their prayers didn't seem to work, however, for there came a loud vibration from the sky, which sounded like one of the Ohrian ship's plasma-gun. All three looked up and saw the ship hovering right above them.

  “Pei...” said Hynfir, “it was an honor serving with you, however briefly.”

  Embracing their fate, all three of them closed their eyes, ready to meet their Gods.

  Just then, the sound stopped and was replaced with a loud, crashing boom. In a matter of seconds, the ship above them unexpectedly exploded.

  As shrapnel flew this way and that, everyone – including the Ohrians – took cover as fast as they could.

  “What the hell?!” yelled Kren as he, Pei and Hynfir hid behind a large rock.

  “Look!” yelled Hynfir. “There's something flying up there! It's not a ship. It's... I don't know what it is, actually... but it looks like it's breathing fire!”

  “It's Axis!” yelled Kren.

  “Who?” asked Hynfir.

  “It's a Sarax! And I can't believe it, but the Raxas monster is fighting for us too! It's a miracle! The Gods of my people have returned!”

  Pei looked into the night-sky and saw the winged creatures of legend. He couldn't believe his eyes. Then, he saw something even more amazing. It was Ayn, and he looked like he was riding on top of one of the creatures. Suddenly, it all seemed too familiar.

  “I dreamt this... I saw it in a vision,” he said in a state of shock. Overwhelmed by the magnitude of what he saw before him, Pei's eyes leaked tears of joy.

  Kren smiled wide and firmly gripped his Viha. “We will win this battle after all!” he yelled as he jumped on the rock they had been hiding behind.

  To his scattered tribe, he shouted, “Look up, my people! The Gods are with us! Pick up your spears and arrow-whips and let us fight with their bravery inside our hearts!”

  Some of the Sirini men cheered fiercely in reply, but many were still in awe of what they saw in the sky.

  Pei and Hynfir, however, were all too keen to fight and immediately joined Kre
n. The three of them charged at the disoriented Ohrians nearby. Soon after, the rest of the Sirini joined the battle, even without plasma guns and armor. The Ohrians had no idea what was happening, and their distraction weakened them.

  Meanwhile, up in the sky, Raxas was breathing fire at an Ohrian ship, attempting to take it down like he'd done with the previous ship. However, Ayn didn't want more lives destroyed, so he shouted to Axis, “Tell your crazy grandfather to stop blowing up ships! I just want him to force the ship to land so we can attempt a truce!”

  “I don't know, Ayn,” said Axis, “I don't think he'll listen to me. I mean, look at him! He's really angry, and if I think about what those Ohrians have done to Sirin and my people, I'm not sure I blame him.”

  Ayn shook his head in frustration. He hated senseless violence. It's what he feared about Adin's past and he didn't want to become known as a vengeful, terrifying Bodanya.

  “Just tell him to stop!” yelled Ayn.

  Axis sighed. He then tried his best to mentally tell Raxas to go easier on the ship, but his wrathful ancestor wouldn't listen. In fact, it seemed to make him blow plasma-fire even harder!

  “It's not working!” Axis shouted.

  Ayn shook his head, then mentally replied, “Come on, Axis, let's help the people on the ground. We can't do anything here.”

  Nodding, Axis flew down toward where Pei, Kren, and Hynfir were fighting. As Axis reached near the ground, the Sirini all throughout the area saw it and cheered wildly. It was a sight none of them ever thought they'd see in their lifetime: The Bodanya with his bonded Sarax.

  When Axis landed, Ayn jumped off and withdrew his ancient sword. As soon as it came free of its golden sheath, it rang a sound similar to a hawk screaming into the air and awed the Sirini nearby.

  He then ran over to where Pei and the others were fighting and immediately felt the power of his sword running through his entire being. It felt like a part of his own being as he could feel the plasma around him, and in everything, everywhere.

  Suddenly, the remaining Ohrian ship in the sky caught fire and began hurdling to the ground.

  “Move!” shouted Pei as everyone rushed to take cover.

  Making a crash-landing, the Ohrian vessel skidded right in front of where Ayn and Axis stood. Axis instantly created a plasma-shield in front of Ayn as the Ohrians came running out of their burning ship, coughing and catching their breath.

  “That's it?” Axis mentally said to Ayn. “We can easily take 'em!”

  Ayn squinted, noticing there were more soldiers coming from the front opening of the Ohrian ship. Soon after, large, round hover-tanks came rushing out with their massive plasma-guns protruding at the sides. Seconds later, they fired directly at Ayn.

  Axis' shield was able to protect Ayn from the blasts, but it was beginning to wear thin.

  “Drop the shield, Axis,” said Ayn.

  “What? No!”

  “Do it! I'll be fine! Go help Pei and the others instead!”

  In that moment, Axis didn't want to obey his Bodanya, but he felt he had no choice. He slowly released his plasma-shielding from Ayn, then flew to Pei's side. Taking the form of a Sirini in near seconds, Axis held up his hands and blocked the plasma-guns from penetrating the immediate area.

  Free from the shield, Ayn held up his Viha and quickly felt its intense plasma surrounding him. Surging with power, Ayn jumped on top of one of the tanks and slashed his sword through the top of it. The tanks were made of the same impenetrable material as the fighters' armor, which Ayn guessed was made of Linthil, the hardest diamond on Ohr. However, the way Ayn cut right through the top of the tank, one would have thought the skin of the machine was made out of mere wood.

  Ayn closed his eyes and saw in his mind where the engine hid inside the tank. Quickly, he pierced through the crystalline engine, causing the tank to screech to a halt. Before the Ohrians inside the tank could retaliate, Ayn jumped off and ran to the other tanks nearby. Doing much the same for each tank, Ayn ran faster than the Ohrians could could keep up. They fired at him, but missed each and every time.

  Soon, the Ohrians found themselves on the run. Some of them found shelter in the mountains, but most of them cowered before Ayn in hopes he would be merciful, which he was.

  “Round them up,” said Ayn as Pei walked over to him, “and then tie them up tightly. Take them to your ship, and as soon as it's ready to go, we'll take them as prisoners. They can await their trials on Kri.”

  Pei wanted to tell Ayn how proud of him he was, but he kept quiet. He knew he'd have a chance later to tell his once brother-in-soul everything he felt, but now was not the time.

  Instead, he nodded and said, “Yes, Bodanya. The ship will be ready soon. My engineers are working on it. But Reese is on top of the mountain in a cave... and I think Atlar might be with her.”

  “Then what are we waiting for?” asked Ayn. “Take me to them!”

  Pei nodded, then ordered Hynfir and Kren to bring the captured Ohrians to the Lirhan ship. “I'm going with The Bodanya to the mountain,” he added before walking with Ayn.

  “I'm coming too!” shouted Axis, who ran over to them.

  “No,” said a loud, domineering voice from the sky, “you can't go, Axis.”

  Flying down to the ground, Raxas took Sirini form and stood next to Axis, causing everyone's jaw to drop. Kren especially couldn't believe the once evil monster was now standing upright in front of them! However, he was too busy tying up the Ohrians to think about it for long.

  “What? Why can't I?” Axis questioned, pouting.

  “Because,” Raxas replied, “as soon as you feel Atlar's illness, your instinct will be to heal him, but you won't be able to. Believe me, I tried... over and over again. Unfortunately, our kind is more vulnerable to plasma than most are, and the plasma inside his body has distorted, becoming an unstoppable sickness. If you try to heal him, you too might become the monster I was. It will infect you and change your very essence. You cannot go near him, Axis. Do you understand?”

  Axis frowned, feeling helpless and confused. “But... aren't we Gods? If we can't heal him, who can?”

  “I don't know... I wish I did,” said Raxas with a stoic, yet sad expression. “All I know is you and I must keep clear of the Krian king. Instead, we need to focus our energy on rebuilding our dying planet. For too long, I have been unable to keep Sirin safe. Now that the Ohrians have been conquered, if only temporarily, we might be able to breathe fresh plasma into this atmosphere. I'm not sure what we can do, but we must at least try.”

  Axis looked over at Ayn who nodded at him in return. “Raxas is right,” said Ayn. “Once you fly us to the mountain, I want you to take Srah and leave. I will try my best to heal Atlar. In the meantime, you help Raxas with what he thinks might help Sirin recover its energy. Sirin needs you, Axis. This is your true home, after all.”

  Still pouting, Axis nodded in agreement, then instantaneously returned to his Sarax form.

  Ayn looked at Pei, then jumped on Axis' back as he reached for Pei's arm. “Alright,” he said as he pulled Pei up to sit behind him, “take us to the cave. Let's pray Atlar is still alive.”

  As Axis flew into the sky, heading toward Raxas' cave on top of the mountain, Kren and Hynfir gathered the Ohrian prisoners with the help of the Sirini tribe. As they herded them into the Lirhan ship, Kren spotted something odd out of the corner of his eye. It was a man in chains, stumbling out of the second Ohrian ship that had crashed.

  “I'll be right back,” said Kren as he headed for the ship. He could tell it wasn't an Ohrian in the chains. The dazed man looked Sirini. Kren thought perhaps it was a slave the Ohrians planned to feed to the monster.

  Upon closer inspection, Kren saw the man was young and muscular, but had been beaten badly, and to Kren's even deeper shock, the man didn't have his wings; they'd been clipped. However, they didn't have any blood on them, nor fresh scars, so it hadn't happened recently.

  “Are you alright?” asked Kren as he came close e
nough to help the man to stand on his feet. “Here... let me get you out of these. Hold your hands apart.”

  Kren used his newly acquired Viha and carefully cut the chains. It wasn't easy, but after a few cuts, the chains broke in two, then fell to the ground.

  The man smiled at Kren and wearily said, “Thank you.”

  Kren nodded and said, “I'm Kren. What's your name?”

  “My name is Sterek. I'm not supposed to be here. I was going to Kri, but...” Tapering off, he seemed too dazed finish his sentence.

  Kren nodded and helped Sterek to walk. “Well, you're in luck,” he said with a hint of a smile, “since Kri is where that Lirhan ship is headed. Don't worry, you're going to be alright.”

  “My sister...” Sterek wearily added.

  “What about her? Is she on the ship? I'll go and get her if-”

  “No... she's on Deius, but she's in trouble. I need to talk to her.”

  “Don't worry,” said Kren, “once you're on Kri, you'll heal up, and then you can talk to your sister. I'm sure she's fine.”

  “I hope you're right,” said Sterek on the verge of passing out. “I just don't trust Notama with...”

  Losing consciousness, Sterek dropped into Kren's arms. Not knowing what else to do, Kren threw the unconscious man over his shoulder. He felt terrible for this clipped prisoner. He could also feel a kinship for him, especially when it came to having a sister to worry about. As Kren walked to the ship with Sterek in tow, he couldn't help but think about his own sister, Kuva, and he hoped she was doing alright in the cave on the mountain.

  –

  Reese was in the middle of weeping when she saw Pei running to her inside the heart of the cave. She ran to him and yelped, “My love!”

  The area was lit by plasma-charged rocks, which encircled the surrounding beds, allowing Pei's eyes light enough to see Reese's flaming red hair.

  He ran to her as if they'd been apart for ages, then they tightly embraced and kissed. Once Pei realized she'd been crying, he turned his head and saw Atlar lying on the bed next to where they were standing. The once vibrant, golden-haired king now looked pale, gray-haired, and very near to death.