by A A Warren
She gasped, and pulled away. Her eyes sparkled in the dim light. “You saved my life, Talon. Exiled or not, I am a Sorari Battle Sister. We take what we desire. And we always pay our debts.”
They sank to floor, as the trails of light outside grew brighter and brighter. The colors shifted to tints of red and orange, painting their writhing bodies in the hues of a dying star.
UNCLAIMED PLANETARY BODY
No Record in Archive
Frontier Space
The coordinates downloaded from the tablets led the Star Claw through a series of nebulae and asteroid belts, in the vast, dark gulf of frontier space that lay between the Tygon Dominion and its nearest rivals.
The region was vast and unexplored. Most of the stars blinking on the ship’s displays were bloated and blood-red… crimson giants that had burned through their supply of hydrogen. As their cores collapsed, their outer surface burned hotter. They expanded millions of kilometers into space, engulfing the planets that once orbited them. Even as they neared the end of their life cycle, they would still burn for another billion years or more.
After a few days of travel, The Star Claw pierced the atmosphere of a small, lush green world. The planet orbited a binary system of two main sequence stars, and its surface was teeming with life. As they descended through the upper atmosphere, the thick, murky clouds parted, revealing a vast green surface below. Pools of blue, lakes and rivers, broke up the vermilion canvas beneath them. Avra swooped the ship lower, and the foliage became clearer… They streaked over kilometer after kilometer of dense, green jungle. Towering palms rose above clusters of vines and other plants. A carpet of ferns and moss clung to the rocky surface like the arms of a jealous lover.
They dipped lower, skimming just above the treetops.
“We’re coming up on the coordinates,” Avra said. “I don’t see any structures on… Wait. I have something up ahead.”
A series of dots and lines floated on her display. She squinted at the sloped, angled steps of a gigantic pyramid. “Looks like a temple of some kind. Sensors can’t get a read on the building materials. Whatever it is, it seems to be in good shape.”
“There’s a clearing a few clicks to the west, next to a small lagoon,” Zobo said. He tilted his chair down and spun around to get a better view out the windows. “Let’s set her down and take a closer look.”
Talon squinted. He reached up and massaged his temple. He felt something… a sound, a feeling… something he could not describe. Whatever it was, it seemed to grow more intense as they streaked closer to the strange formations on the display. He rested his hand on the back of Salena’s navigation chair. She looked up over her shoulder at him. Her eyes shimmered, and her lips dipped in a concerned frown.
“I feel it too,” she said in a quiet voice.
“Its like… something calling to me. A voice in the distance," he said. “It’s pulling at me.”
She touched his hand. Avra glanced over at her but said nothing. She bit her lip, and returned her gaze to the display.
“This is why we came,” she breathed. “Here, you will face your past. And perhaps you will find your destiny.”
Talon narrowed his eyes, and continued peering out the window at the jungles rushing beneath them.
“I already know my destiny,” he grunted. “It is death. The same fate that befalls all men. Until then… we shall see.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
The hike from the landing site to the structure was brutal. Twin suns beat down on them like a raging inferno, and the hazy clouds above trapped the heat near the planet’s surface. Salena wore only her jeweled harness and silk loincloth as usual. Avra traded her jumpsuit for sleek leather breeches and a tank top. Even Zobo had swapped his battle armor for a khaki vest and cargo trousers.
The wolfish alien fell behind the group. He made a strange, huffing nose as they marched through the dense tangle of plants and vines.
Talon slowed his pace, and joined Zobo at the rear. “Are you alright Zobo? Breathing hard already?”
“My breathing’s fine, boy! Why, I’ve fought in jungles like this since—”
“He’s panting,” Avra called back over her shoulder.
“Well what do you expect in this cursed heat!” Zobo exclaimed. “My fur doesn’t sweat like you smooth-skins, you know!”
Talon snorted with laughter, and slapped the alien on his shoulder. “Apologies, old man. As you were.”
He marched towards the front, and fell into step between Avra and Salena. Like the two women, his skin shimmered with a film of sweat. The sounds of the jungle surrounded them. A piercing cry wailed through the dense trees, and shadowy wings fluttered overhead.
Glittering insects buzzed around them, like tiny jewels humming through the air. Salena held out her hand. A butterfly with neon green wings landed on her outstretched fingers. Its glowing wings flapped gently in the humid air. Then it rose up and fluttered off into the distance.
She smiled. “Say what you like about the heat. It’s beautiful here. After months hiding with the prince, it’s wonderful to see so much green… So much life.
Talon thought about the vision she had shown him of her home world… black and barren, devoid of even a single blade of grass. He tried to imagine what had happened there, how a planet like this lush paradise could be reduced to a lifeless rock.
As they walked, Salena took a deep breath of the air. She glanced over at Talon and Avra, and smiled.
“You know, I had the most vivid dream the other night.” She stretched her arms above her head and yawned, then gave them a mischievous glance. “You two were both in it. It was quite… stimulating.”
“Salena!” Avra hissed. She shot Talon a dirty look and punched his arm. “What did you tell her?”
“It’s not my fault!” Talon protested. “We share a dark energy bond, she can sense my thoughts. How was I to know she—” He was silenced by Salena’s gasp, as they pushed through another wall of leaves and hanging moss.
Beyond the foliage lay a clearing. The twin suns above glared off a structure several yards away. A massive ziggurat stood nestled in the clearing, surrounded by a perimeter of plants and trees. Whatever the structure was, it appeared to be built from the same strange material as the tablets Aroyas had shown them.
“I take it this is what we’re looking for,” Zobo growled between panting breaths.
They stepped into the clearing. As they hiked closer to the massive structure, the walls of the sloped, metallic base loomed over them. Its surfaces were pitted, and streaked with mud. Vines crawled up the sides, disappearing into the upper levels.
Again Talon felt the strange pull… not a sound, not a vision, just a nagging sensation, buzzing in his skull. He glanced up at the twin suns, and paced left, circling around the base.
“It’s huge,” Salena called to him as she followed in his steps.
Avra consulted her wrist display. “Some of the trees and vegetation here are centuries old. But I can’t get any reading on the structure itself. It’s like our sensors just go right through it.”
Zobo brushed aside some vegetation, and set his paw down on the metal surface.
“It’s cool to the touch… No heat build-up at all.”
He shielded his yellow eyes, and glanced up at the higher levels of the structure. “Don’t see any way in though. Maybe it’s just solid metal?”
Talon ignored them as he circled the metal slabs. On the opposite side of the structure, he paced forward in a straight line. A stone statue stood at the perimeter, facing away from the metal walls. Talon pointed to it, and continued walking.
“Look, there. This feeling in my head… it’s pulling me there.”
Salena said nothing as she followed him. Together, they circled the statue… it stood five meters tall, and was smothered in a thick covering of vines and moss. Talon pulled at the vegetation, ripping it away from the figure beneath.
Finally, he took a step back and examined his handiwork.
Unlike the building, the rock statue had worn and crumbled with age. But he could make out a pattern carved in the gray, pitted stone… triangular scales, overlapping like plates of armor. Long, curved claws, muscular limbs, and a pair of triangular eyes, gazing down at them from a serpentine head.
“R’Kur…” Salena whispered. “The great dragon of earth and sky. And the enemy of Daizon.”
Talon turned to her. “How do you know all this?”
She shook her head, but could not tear her eyes away from the statue.
“These legends are very old. Older than my people, even. I heard them many times as a child, but I never dreamt they could be real."
She turned to him, and her lips parted in surprise. “Talon, your eye… it’s glowing!”
He stepped closer to the statue, and yanked off more vines. A blood-red crystal was revealed behind the foliage, set in the figure's chest. As the sun's rays hit the gem, it began to pulse and glow, matching the light from Talon’s crimson eye.
The gem was set in the center of a carved symbol… the shape was familiar to him. A triangle, with three lines pointing to the sparkling starburst in the center.
Moving without thought, he reached out and touched the gem. His eye blazed even brighter, and the crystal blazed with inner fire. The air around them seemed to ripple and shimmer, like a mirage.
“Salena, Talon…” It was Avra, calling from the other side of the ziggurat. They rushed around the structure towards the sound of her voice. Glowing mystic symbols shimmered in the air, just above the grass and foliage. They spun in a circle, as an object materialized into view… it was another statue, identical to the one they had just seen. But this one was untouched by vines or decay… its lines looked sharp, and pristine, as if it had just been carved.
“By the Gods,” Zobo gasped. “Star-paths… Check your wrist units.”
Salena held her display up and tapped some keys. “Look! There’re two more statues appearing at opposite ends of the structure. They form a perfect cross, with the center of the building in the middle.
The clouds overhead parted, and a beam of sunlight struck one of the statues. A deep hum emitted from the carved rock. Crystals mounted in the heads of each dragon reflected the light towards the top of the structure in an intense beam. The four beams met at the small square, protruding from the top of the building.
Panels slid down, revealing a fifth identical crystal housed inside the tiny square chamber. The beams of light struck it, and the humming grew into a high-pitched wail.
With a metallic groan, the building shuddered. Dirt and foliage fell away from its vibrating walls. The metal surfaces began to shift and move. An inverted pyramid rose up from the center, dragging the beams of sunlight with it as they reflected off the crystal at its peak.
Deep channels retracted from the centers of the building’s walls. With a loud cracking sound, stairs snapped into place, leading up into the darkened inner chamber.
The high-pitched whine died down, replaced by a soft, pulsing hum.
“Well, I suppose that’s our way in,” Zobo growled.
Salena looked over at Talon and smiled. “You were the key, Talon. You were meant to find this place." She ascended the stairs.
Talon hefted his axe, and followed. “I feel like cattle being led into a slaughter pen,” he muttered as he advanced up the steps.
Avra and Zobo fell in behind them. “How about a little optimism?” Avra muttered under her breath. “We made it this far.”
They advanced up the nearest flight of steps. It was a steep climb, and Zobo’s panting increased as they neared the top. The vast canopy of jungle spread out beneath them, a hazy green expanse that stretched as far as the eye could see. The stairs finished halfway up the structure. They emerged onto a short, flat landing. A steep, narrow corridor sloped down before them, descending into the center of the ziggurat.
As they made their way down the incline, Salena swept a light from her wrist display across the walls. Silver tablets, like the ones Aroyas had smuggled, were set into the angled walls. Behind them, the corridor’s entrance had faded to a tiny square of light, as they descended lower and lower into the structure. Identical openings penetrated the other three walls, and the sloped corridors all met at a circular chamber in the center of the ziggurat.
“We’re beneath ground level now,” Avra said quietly, her low voice echoing off the walls. “The chamber up ahead is even deeper.”
“Well at least it’s cooler down here” Zobo grunted. “No sign of any threat so far. Still…” He drew his pistol, and held it by his side as another set of glow spheres flickered to life above them.
Finally, they stepped into the circular chamber at the bottom of the corridor. The ceiling was open, and the inverted pyramid hovered above their heads, its narrow tip pointing down at them. The strange, pulsing hum echoed off the curved walls, and there was no obvious sign of what was supporting the massive floating object in the air.
A ring of stone statues circled around the walls of the room. They were human sized and arranged in pairs, flanking the archways that led back to the surface. Each statue depicted an athletic man or woman, their arms wielding a variety of weapons. The sculptures wore helmets and battles harnesses, and a familiar mark was etched into their chests.
Avra ran her fingers over one of the carved warriors and whistled. “Remind you of anyone we know?”
Salena brought her light closer. A single claw-like tattoo ran across its chest. Tiny emerald crystals glittered in the design, reflecting her light back in a dazzling star-burst.
“Talon… your mark. These must be your people!”
Talon said nothing, but he stepped closer to the nearest statue. He blinked, and his hand rose to the necklace he wore around his neck… the carved triangle… the Eye of R’Kur.
The same design adorned each figure. He reached out to touch the carved stone.
“Only the faithful may enter the temple of the great sky dragon,” a voice echoed through the chamber… Talon spun around, powering up his axe and hefting the weapon before him.
The tip of the pyramid hovering above them glowed with an inner fire. A column of white light beamed down and struck the floor of the chamber. It was nearly blinding in the shadowy chamber. Zobo shielded his eyes and growled, but Talon stared straight ahead, without even squinting. An image flickered with the burning white light.
It was a woman. She wore a battle harness, and a white robe hung over her shoulders. Between the parted panels of silk, Talon saw a tattoo… The same green claw that marked his skin, snaked across her naked chest. The woman turned to look at them, one by one. Her face was pale and eerily beautiful, as perfect as any of the statues that circled the room. One of her eyes glowed red. As her gaze fell upon Talon, his eye pulsed to life as well.
“You are a Claw of R’Kur,” she said. The dust on the floor of the ancient chamber vibrated at the sound of her words. “You are welcome here.”
“Who are you?” Talon shouted back. “What is this place?”
“I am Ikari, emissary of the dragon. This is his temple.”
Zobo growled, then sniffed the air. “I don’t smell anyone else here. We must have triggered some kind of hologram. A digital ghost.”
The woman called Ikari turned to face him. “I am no hologram, Akaelan. I exist in a different plane of reality than your universe. My body lies between quantum states, neither dead, nor alive. My eyes see across the gulf of space-time. Past, present and the future are but one state of being for me. I am eternal.”
She looked back to Talon. His blazing axe cast a flickering orange glow through the room. The statues surrounding them were cast in dark shadow, giving their features a menacing glare.
The woman blinked. “You do not need your weapon here, No’varran. You are a Claw of R’Kur. You are his weapon against the great evil. You were destined to find your way here.”
Talon took a step forward. “I am no one’s weapon. Not anymore.”
> Salena grabbed his arm, and held him back. “The great evil? You speak of Daizon?”
Ikari cocked her head, and regarded Salena with a strange look. “You know of the devourer?”
Salena did not respond. The woman was silent for a moment, then continued. “Before life as you know it existed in this universe, there were the First Ones… Beings of unimaginable power and unknowable desires. Among them was R’Kur the sky dragon, the great creator. And his enemy, Daizon. The devourer who feeds on reality itself.
Ikari narrowed her eyes. Her gleaming arm rose within the column of light, and pointed at Salena. “I sense the destroyer’s taint on you.”
Talon did not lower his axe. “What is she talking about?” he snarled.
Salena stepped forward, and stood before the shimmering column. “What happened to these beings? These ‘First Ones’?”
Ikari lowered her arm. “In time, new life arose. Life such as yourself. But with that life came death. And with each death, Daizon grew in strength. In time, the destroyer grew in power, and threatened to devour the totality of the universe itself. The young races joined with R’Kur, and a great war was fought. Daizon was imprisoned… his essence was fused to another reality. But the cost was great. R’Kur collapsed into a singularity. Daizon’s final blow shattered that singularity, scattering the fragments through space. The No’varran, one of the few races that survived, gathered the pieces they could find. They built temples like this one, to protect the shards of R’Kur.”
Salena stepped closer to the light. “There is a man… a human, named Sartarus. He seeks to free Daizon. To unleash its power on this universe once again. He has acquired artifacts from other temples, like this one.”
The woman in the light stared back at them, her face betraying no sign of emotion. “Why would he do such a thing?”
Salena’s voice quavered. “He is in great pain. He lost something… someone. He believes Daizon can bring him peace.”
