by Lyra Shanti
“No… you don’t understand,” said Meddhi while memories flooded his mind. “When you left, Pira was crushed. She thought you hated her for losing your child. She trusted only Amya and refused to speak to anyone else. Amya knew how corrupt The Dei had become, so she charged me with changing things. I was scared at first… so I ran off with Atlar, hoping I could find you, and all three of us would conquer The Dei and take back Deius! But I had no idea where you’d gone. You hadn’t joined The Tah yet… and Atlar wanted me to learn how to fight. So I did, and I was able to get out my hidden feelings… about what they’d done to you, and about what I really felt for Amya. You’re so wrong, Yol. I loved Amya the way you loved Pira - maybe even more.”
“Impossible,” said Yol, monotone, yet tearful.
“Well, I loved her just as much. I learned to fight for her! And I became so good at fighting I found myself thirsting for blood. I became everything I never wanted to be: a killer without a heart. And I almost drowned in that sorrow, Yol. Do you know what I mean?”
“Yes… I know all too well.” Loosening his grip on Meddhi’s arms, Yol focused instead on listening to his once best friend.
“And when I was just about to die inside, I found myself at a Dryndi temple. The High Priestess there healed me… loved me… and taught me how to be soul-reborn. She reminded me my true path was to enlighten others and to help them find their way. I then realized the only way I could change The Dei without any bloodshed was to become one of them again. But I would do more than be one of them. I would work my way up to rule them! With Amya’s help, I became High Priest just by speaking about Adin, and about the truth he once gave us.”
Yol gave a small, weathered laugh and said, “And what truth is that, Meddhi?”
Meddhi reached out and gently touched Yol’s face and replied, “Love. We all want and need love. And we all can give and receive it through The Un. Through our own love of the universe, and love for each other, we can find our inner light. It is simple, but it is the holiest of truths.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Yol smirked with a raised brow. “That’s what you told The Dei? That’s what made Amun-Lan retire and give you his position?”
“Well… that, and I seem to remember Amya threatening him with evidence which proved he had inappropriately touched young boys at the temple. But I did speak about love…. and it worked, Yol. It ushered in a new era. And when Ayn was born, it was like a sign from the Gods I had chosen the right path after all. He IS The Bodanya, Yol… and you will see. Ayn will change Deius, and all of The Un for the better! Enlightenment is possible, if only we believe.”
Yol laughed and took Meddhi’s cheek in his hand. “Oh, my dear friend... you’ve not changed. In all these years, with everything we’ve endured, how is it possible you are still as naive and goodhearted as you were on the day we met?”
“I don’t see myself as naive, Yol. I see myself as willful.”
Yol laughed, his face quickly contorting from amused joy to emotional exhaustion. “I loved you, Meddhi… like a brother. I always wanted to protect you, but I couldn’t even protect myself. How pathetic I was… and still am.”
“No, you were not pathetic, Yol. If you recall, every time it seemed Amun might come near me, you would say or do something to upset him, which made him take his aggression out on you and not I. What you did was noble, and I loved you for it. You were strong and brave back then, my friend. I know the pain you endured changed you, but please, don’t see yourself as pathetic. You were a hero to me when we were children. You could be a hero once again. It’s not too late.”
Yol broke down and embraced Meddhi with all his might. The two childhood friends held each other and cried as Meddhi remembered everything about their friendship: how they met as orphans, how they played music in the streets, and how they survived the temple together.
Suddenly, Yol pushed into Meddhi’s body with a look of shocked horror on his face. For a second, Meddhi thought Yol had remembered something else and was about to explain. However, when the blood began to pour down Yol’s mouth, Meddhi realized something had pierced his friend from behind.
Looking in back of Yol, Meddhi saw a Sirini woman with striped brown and black markings down her sides. She was holding a Viha and was growling as she plunged it even deeper into Yol’s back.
Yol grunted in dire pain and fell into Meddhi’s arms.
“That was for Hynfir,” she snarled as she jerked out the Viha from Yol's body.
Meddhi struggled to keep his once beloved friend in his arms as blood flowed from Yol's back. Meddhi vaguely recognized the woman, but he didn’t understand what she had meant or why she would kill Yol in cold blood.
Having no choice but to lay Yol down onto the stone floor, Meddhi felt whiplashed. His heart had just begun to forgive Yol, and now, he would lose him before there was time to make amends. Meddhi didn't know who the woman was, but he knew the Viha she had used. It was Hynfir’s, and it was now filled with negatively charged plasma, which coursed through Yol’s veins like a poison from a desert asp.
“I’m going to die, aren’t I, Meddhi?” Yol gasped as he spoke.
“It’s alright,” said Meddhi with tears in his eyes, “I’m here. I won’t leave you.”
“Meddhi… please… help Pira.”
“Pira? What do you mean?” asked Meddhi as he held Yol, blood oozing out from under his back and onto Meddhi’s knees.
“Pira… she’s alive, but she won’t wake. Please, Meddhi. You were her friend once. She trusted you. Please help her soul to awaken… and tell her... I love her. Tell her I am so sorry for leaving her. I had no choice. If I had stayed with her longer, I feared my soul would have died. Please explain it to her, Meddhi. Please!”
“Shh, it’s alright, Yol. I’ll tell her everything. She’ll understand, I am certain of it.”
“You know…” whispered Yol with his eyes half-closed, “you are right, Meddhi. Love… love is everything… in the end.”
Fola watched, grimacing as Yol took his last breath. She felt hate and love, and everything in between.
Meddhi cried for his once greatest friend, then asked the Gods to forgive Yol's broken spirit. After a few moments of silence, Fola broke into deep, soulful sobs.
Meddhi wished he could comfort her, but he didn't know her. He also had Yol’s lifeless body in his lap. All Meddhi could do was what he had done most of his life: pray.
Chapter 23: The Vortex
Reese surveyed the area and saw The Tah had either been brought to their knees or were dead. Some were still fighting with their last dying breaths, but nearly all had fallen from injury or were on the ground with their hands up, prepared for imprisonment.
“Pei, go round up those prisoners over there and bring them to the mother ship,” she commanded.
“Yes, First General,” he obeyed with a nod. He was glad the war was over with few casualties. Reese was glad as well, though she wasn’t too thrilled with the extensive damage to her fleet.
“Talk to me, Sterek,” she spoke into her collar’s communicator. “How long before my baby is up and running?”
“If you’re talking about your ship, which, if you recall, I named The Verlo, then she’s halfway there. I’ve managed to reconnect her communications, but her engine is really damaged. I need at least another hour or two to get it all up and running.”
“The Verlo? That's cute.” Reese sighed and murmured, “Baran must be going crazy.”
“Yeah, he is,” said Sterek, “but I’ve reported our current situation to him. Are we officially the victors of this battle, General? Can I report that to him as well?”
Taking a good look at her surroundings through her digi-specs, she saw the palace to her left and the temple to her right. There were ships that made crash-landings all around her, Tah and Krian alike, yet, by the grace of the Gods, none of them had hit directly into either of the two revered buildings. She also saw Pei helping Kren and the other Lirhan with their Tah prisoners.
; “Yes,” she replied, “the situation seems under control. Tell Baran we will be up and running in a couple of hours. In the meantime, I’m going to rendezvous with Meddhi and… wait… what the hell is that?!”
“What is it?” asked Sterek.
“I don’t know!” she barked as a massive, low-pitched vibration drowned out her voice. “Sterek! Can you hear me?! There’s some kind of object in the sky! And it’s huge! Can you detect it and trace its-”
Suddenly, her voice cut out, and Sterek could no longer hear from her side of the com-link. All he heard was the same booming vibration she had described. To him, it sounded similar to a larger class of Ohrian plasma warship, although, this was even more intense. He quickly assessed the plasma needed to create such a sound would be on a much bigger scale than any Krian ship in their fleet.
“Jin,” he said, “are the shields up and running yet?”
“About sixty percent, Lieutenant,” replied Jin.
“It’s going to have to be enough. Whatever happens, I want you to focus on those shields. We’re taking Hynfir back to his mother for his funeral no matter what. Is that understood?”
“Completely,” said Jin with a serious, focused face.
As the enormous object broke through the Deiusian clouds, everything went dark. Pei and Kren immediately stopped rounding up The Tah prisoners as they looked above them, in awe at the spectacle before their eyes.
“What the devil is that?” asked Pei.
“I don’t know, but it’s Ohrian… I can tell,” replied Kren with an alarmed expression.
As the object lowered toward them, they realized it was no mere ship. With an almost skin-like texture, its smooth, dark purple covering appeared to be wet and somehow organic. Its shape was circular, but much to everyone’s surprise, out came enormous tentacles from the object’s sides!
“Run!” yelled Pei as he grabbed Kren’s shoulder. Running, they barely missed the gigantic tentacles which slammed down onto the ground right next to them. The sound of it was deafening.
“Is that thing alive?!” Pei shouted, watching in horror as the tentacles grabbed up soldiers randomly, then slammed them down again, breaking every bone in their bodies.
Kren had never seen such a monster, though he had heard from his grandfather about Ohrian creatures that could travel through space. Kren had never believed it until now.
“It’s killing at will, Lirhan and Tah alike!” yelled Kren.
Sliding her way onto her knees next to them, Reese handed them both plasma-bombs. “On my count, let’s blow this over-sized squid to the Deiusian moon!”
Pei and Kren nodded, then aimed their bombs at the creature. Reese aimed hers as well and set off all three of their timers. The bombs were set to follow a trajectory, which would propel them much further than they could throw.
“Three… two… one!” Reese yelled as they threw the bombs straight at the creature’s huge, black eyes.
After a few seconds, the plasma bombs exploded in the air, causing the gigantic monster to slightly sway.
“A direct hit!” exclaimed Kren.
They briefly smiled, but when the smoke cleared, they saw no damage had occurred. The only change was the creature now hovered motionless, as if confused by what happened.
“Not even a dent!” said Pei. “What is this thing, and why is it here?”
“I don’t know,” said Reese, “but I’m going to guess the Ohrians sent it to claim Deius for their own. They probably thought they could take the planet while we were busy fighting each other.”
“But that thing is killing Tah soldiers too!” shouted Pei.
“It doesn’t matter,” Reese replied stoically. “Ohr wants Deius’ plasma... they always have. They’ll kill their own allies if they think there’s a chance for domination.”
“No disrespect, but be quiet, both of you,” said Kren, grabbing at their shoulders. “Look! It’s doing something with its mouth. I think it’s a mouth anyway.”
As they watched in horror, the creature opened a large hole in its center, underneath its eyes. It was pitch black inside of the hole, and when it was at its full extension, it created what appeared to be a vortex of swirling energy. The sound was as loud as the first time the creature arrived and made everyone cover their ears.
“What the hell is it doing now?” yelled Pei.
“I don’t know,” said Reese, “but we need to get out of here!”
Without anyone expecting what was about to happen, the creature began aiming its vortex at the soldiers on the ground, most of them being Tah prisoners who were unable to move because of their bound hands and feet.
They screamed in soul-piercing agony, but no one could hear them since the creature’s plasmic sound was too immense. Everyone could see the horror, however, and that was enough.
As Reese, Pei, and Kren watched from behind a broken piece of Krian war-ship, they saw the soldiers stare at the black vortex, and in a matter of seconds, their bodies were consumed into the dark nothingness.
“Oh my Gods…” Kren thought as he trembled, remembering the legend told to him as a child. “It is the Soul-Eater!” he yelled. “We are not just going to die! We are going to be erased from all existence!”
Unable to comprehend their doom, Kren grabbed onto Pei and Reese with all his might, saying a silent goodbye.
--
The red light emanating from Ayn’s medallion led their way as he and Axis came to Adin’s sarcophagus.
“Wait…” said Ayn, “this is wrong. Someone has been here recently. I can feel it.”
“Ayn, look! The coffin is open!”
“What?!”
Rushing to see more closely, Ayn saw Axis was right. The mummified, blonde-haired body still lay undisturbed and intact, but they could tell it had been disturbed.
“Who would come here besides us, Ayn?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t like the feelings they left behind. It’s full of fear and resentment.”
Axis bit his lip and said, “Do you think Adin feels… molested?”
“No. I don’t think a corpse feels anything, Axis. Don’t be silly. I don’t even think this is Adin.”
“Well, who is it then?” said Axis, leaning over the body to get a better look.
Ayn inspected the face of the mummified man and saw his perfectly preserved skin and hair. The man looked the way Adin had been described in legends, but something told Ayn it wasn’t him.
“I don’t know, Axis, but we don’t really have the time to ponder that right now. We need to focus on what we came here to do.”
“Right,” Axis said with a nod. “So… where’s this relic, or whatever it is that will supposedly energize your medallion? I don’t see anything here.”
“Neither do I, which bothers me.”
“Do you think someone stole it?”
“It’s possible,” Ayn replied as he noticed the ancient book tucked in the corpse’s arms, “but… there is this, which is promising.”
“Ooh! Is that The Book of Adin?”
“How do you know of this, Axis?”
“Just… a guess.”
Ayn half-smirked. Opening the fragile and very old book, Ayn first noticed the beautiful, archaic drawings on the front pages. Soon, he realized the writing was in ancient Deiusian. “These are old hieroglyphics. How fascinating!”
“Do you understand them?” questioned Axis as he looked over Ayn’s shoulder.
“Barely… though I can somewhat tell it’s explaining the beginning of time and how plasma was always here inside the universe. I think it’s talking about the light and dark of time and space and how it is really one thing.”
“Wow, really? Hey! Is that a picture of me?!”
Ayn looked and saw a drawing of a giant, golden Sarax. It carried what Ayn presumed to be Adin. “No, I’ve seen the same type of picture in a book at Hessen’s. I think it’s supposed to be Adin's bonded Sarax.”
“Oh…” replied Axis, disappointed.
“Is that a weapon?” Axis said with wide eyes.
“No, I don’t think so. Maybe… I’m not sure.”
Axis raised his eyebrow and looked at Ayn curiously. “Well, I personally think it’s a weapon.”
“No, it’s not supposed to be one. Look at these symbols here next to the drawing. It says the Siri-Star blesses the one who bonds with the sphinx and that-”
“Oh, that’s you and me! We’re blessed!”
“Yes…” said Ayn, wishing Axis would pay attention, “and if energized with a holy object, such as a stone from the sky…”
“Like your medallion!”
“Yes, Axis, I suppose so. Anyway, it says their bond creates a… um… ugh, I can’t place that symbol.”
“It creates a storm of plasma called The Eye of Osha,” came a voice out of nowhere, “which only The Bodanya is said to be capable of controlling.”
Whirling around, Ayn and Axis saw Thotwa standing on the other side of the coffin, holding the very trident the book described.
“I don’t know if I believe that though,” Thotwa added with a snarling grin. “What do you think, boy? Are you The Bodanya? Are you here to lead us with your infinite power - a power which no one could possibly challenge? Are you a God in living form? Or perhaps you haven’t truly become a God just yet. Perhaps you need the Eye of Osha first. What say you, supposed reincarnation of Adin?”
Ayn sensed Thotwa’s anger, just like he had felt during their first encounter, except now, there was even more confusion and fear tied to it.
Axis sensed it too, and was already twitching his fingers, waiting for a signal from Ayn which would allow him to change into his Sarax form so he could rip into Thotwa’s jugular.
“Thotwa…” said Ayn, “since when do you believe in Gods? Why do you even care?”
“Oh, I didn’t used to believe, that is true. But I recently experienced your power first hand, if you recall, and it changed my mind. You could even say it changed my very soul. And now, I feel anointed by the Gods who stand against you, against what you may become if no one stops you. They know your ego, boy. They know what you did when you were Adin, and they will not let you do it again.”
