The Quest for the Heart Orb (The Orbs of Rathira)

by Laura Jo Phillips

The pyramid had returned.

  They all climbed to their feet, staring in awed silence at the golden pyramid before them, the front wall of it just a few feet from the balcony. It was much smaller than Karma had expected it to be, about twenty feet on each side, and twenty feet tall.

  “Now what, Nikura?” she asked the Sphin who was, once again, standing on the balcony railing. “How do we open it?”

  “Do you see the markings carved along the front?” Nikura asked.

  “Yes, I do,” she said, moving to the open gateway so that she could see them more clearly. “Ah,” she said a moment later. “I get it.” She removed the Ti-Ank from the staff, then reached out to place it inside a deep carving that matched its outline. Then she turned it, like a key in a lock. A narrow rectangular section of the golden wall began to move, lowering slowly like a drawbridge until it rested on the balcony floor, revealing the pitch dark of the interior.

  Karma removed the Ti-Ank and slipped it into her pocket. “What do we do next?”

  “I’ll go inside,” Nikura said, leaping down from the railing onto the golden bridge. “Alone, please.”

  “We’ll wait here,” Karma said out loud so everyone would hear.

  Nikura crossed the bridge, then paused. For the first time since knowing him, Karma felt Nikura’s nervousness. As much as she wished she could stand at his side and help him, she knew that he needed to do this alone. After a moment, Nikura entered the pyramid, disappearing into the darkness.

  They waited in absolute silence, the tension building minute by minute until, finally, Nikura reappeared in the doorway. Beside him stood a cream colored Sphin with chocolate paws, a chocolate tail, chocolate ears, and chocolate eyes. She was a little smaller than Nikura, with a slender, more feminine appearance. Her cream colored face appeared almost pointed to eyes accustomed to looking at Nikura’s flat face for so long, and her eyes were almond shaped rather than round. She was, Karma thought, very beautiful.

  “Greetings, Ankiru,” Zakiel said. “It is an honor to meet you at last.”

  Ankiru tore her attention from Nikura to look at the Prince. She lowered her head in a deep nod.

  “Thank you, Highness,” she said, surprising Karma. “I am very happy to be home.”

  “Did you think you wouldn’t hear her?” Nikura asked, a certain smugness to his tone that Karma decided to ignore.

  “I wasn’t sure, but I suppose I doubted it more than I thought since it surprised me,” she said. She repeated what Ankiru had said to Zakiel, then turned back to Ankiru with a smile. “I’m so happy that you and Nikura are together again, Ankiru. Welcome home.”

  “I thank you, Lady Techu,” she said. Her dark brown eyes grew sad when she turned back toward Nikura. “How much time will we have together before Nikura must leave?”

  “Nikura,” Karma said, “why don’t you and Ankiru go somewhere alone where you can catch up.”

  “Catchup?” Ankiru asked, confused.

  “Come,” Nikura said, rubbing his chin against the top of his mate’s head. “Let’s go talk.”

  “Very well,” Ankiru said. “Please excuse us, Lady Techu, Highness.”

  “Of course,” Karma said, watching as the Sphins made their way off the balcony and into the palace, their bodies touching as they walked. When they were gone she turned to Bredon. “I suppose it’s time to summon Marene.”

  “Yes,” he said. “I’ll do that now.”

  Without warning Marene appeared in her Myrkur form above the pyramid. She flew around it, her leathery bat-like wings flapping slowly, her mouth open in a wide grin. They stepped back as she approached the balcony, watching carefully as she transformed back to her humanoid form before floating slowly to stand before the doorway of the pyramid. She glanced at Zakiel, then Bredon, before turning around and entering the pyramid without a word, casting a bright light ahead of herself.

  A few minutes later Zakiel sighed, capturing everyone’s attention. “It’s done,” he said. “I can feel it. Or Vatra can feel it. Either way, it’s done. The tear no longer exists.”

  “Yes, it’s done,” Marene said, appearing in the doorway once more, the enormous smile on her face revealing teeth that were a bit too long, and a bit too sharp to be human. “And now…,”

  A harsh, deafeningly loud screeching sound tore through the air, causing all of them to clap their hands to their ears. After a few seconds silence fell, and they all looked up and around, searching for the source of the noise.

  “On the roof,” Marene hissed, then leapt up, shifting back into the Myrkur form with a high pitched screech of fury.

  Zakiel turned and raced from the balcony, across the room, and into the hall. He turned toward the staircase leading upward, everyone else following. A call went up as they raced past, and before long there were dozens of Hunters behind them.

  By the time they reached the roof, Zakiel was displaying both the Tigren and Vatra markings and held both swords in his clawed hands. Karma stood beside him with her staff and the others, Knights and Orb Maidens, spread out on either side of them in a wide arc. The rest of the men who’d followed them up the stairs, perhaps fifty Hunters, took up position behind them, everyone facing the narrow black hole that hung in thin air a few feet off the ground. The sight of it explained to any who might have wondered why such things were called tears, for that is exactly what it looked like. A tear in the very fabric of the world.

  As they watched, the narrow gash began to slowly widen. The blackness at its center began to shift and roil ominously.

  “Can you close that, Marene?” Zakiel shouted over to where the Myrkur sat perched on the edge of the battlement wall.

  “No, I cannot,” Marene replied. “Only the scepter that created it can unmake it. ShaiTyan will not be so foolish as to bring it to Rathira until he’s sent through enough demons and Djinn to clear the area for him.”

  The surface of the black area grew wider, then began to bulge slightly. A moment later a cloud of harpies boiled out of it. These harpies were red, and initially tiny, but with each passing second they expanded in the air above them until they were larger than any they’d battled before, and more vicious. The moment they reached their full size they attacked the group of humans below them. Karma and Zakiel fought side by side, he with his swords, and she with her staff. The Ti-Ank was still in her skirt pocket and she didn’t have time to reach for it.

  “How long before he begins to send Djinn?” Zakiel shouted at Marene.

  “Not until the tear is large enough for them,” Marene replied, making no move to join in the battle.

  “Will you not help us destroy them?”

  “Harpies,” she said contemptuously. “I will not lower myself to fight with insects. If you wish my aid, give Bredon the power of the Vatra and I’ll create the shield. Otherwise, I will save my energy for fighting the Djinn.”

  Zakiel growled furiously as he continued to fight. He might have considered doing as Marene suggested if he had any idea how to accomplish it. He would not leave the fight to the others unless he had a clear plan in mind. It was a relief to see that the harpies ceased coming through the tear, though he had no doubt that would soon change. Either there would be more harpies, or something worse.

  “Zakiel,” Karma said in a low voice, gaining his immediate attention. “It occurs to me that Bredon and Marene are not the only ones who are connected to each other.”

  “You are correct, Valia,” Zakiel replied, watching as she sent a harpy to the ground with a swift jab of her staff. He stepped forward to finish it off with a sword. “Our souls have been joined together for many weeks now.”

  “And our souls have already fought together, too, so we have experience,” Karma said. Zakiel nodded while she stepped sideways and swung her staff at a harpy that was screaming loudly as it flew toward them. Her first blow silenced it, her second crushed its head. She stepped back and took a breath as she looked for her next target. “It also occurs to me that if there can be both a female
and male Techu, there can probably be both female and male Vatra. What do you think?”

  “I think your reasoning is sound,” Zakiel said, reaching up and out with both swords before slicing sideways, decapitating two of the nasty creatures as they attempted to divide his attention by attacking from opposite directions. “What is it, exactly, that you propose?”

  “I can use the Ti-Ank to create the shield, but I am not strong enough to handle the energy of the tear.”

  “Will Vatra make you strong enough?”

  “If we remain connected,” Karma said with far more confidence than she felt.

  “Are you sure?”

  “That depends. Can you see how to share the power of Vatra with me?”

  Zakiel beheaded another harpy while Karma hit one so hard it slammed into the wall surrounding the roof. Zakiel smiled down at her, his blue eyes alight with pride, then he glanced to his right where Bredon fought side by side with Kapia. “Cover us.”

  Bredon nodded and began calling out orders. There were still a couple of dozen harpies hovering above them, attacking and retreating, but Zakiel and Karma withdrew from that battle and faced each other while the others surrounded them in a protective circle. Karma swept her gaze around the roof and saw dozens of Hunters spread out, all battling the dozens of red harpies that still remained. Kapia and Bredon moved to cover the tear, ready to strike at anything that started to come through. Tiari and Tomas fought back to back and, on their other side, Marl and Ren shot beams of light from the Trident and the Wand at the harpies that hovered too high for the others to reach. Satisfied that their friends were unharmed as yet, she returned her attention to Zakiel.

  “Did it come to you?”

  “Indeed, it did,” Zakiel replied. “I’ll need that feather.”

  Karma’s eyes widened in surprise, but she slipped the Vatra feather from her pocket and held it out to Zakiel without wasting time with questions. He took it from her, gazing deeply into her eyes. She returned his gaze steadily, without fear or doubt. Then he closed his eyes, cleared his mind, and clenched his fist around the feather.

  Kama watched closely while she removed the Ti-Ank from her pocket. She didn’t think she should put it on the staff, though she wasn’t sure why. Trusting her instincts, she retracted her staff and slipped it into the loop on her belt, and held the winged Ankh firmly in her hand, still keeping a close eye on Zakiel. She smiled when the markings of the Tigren faded, and the feather markings of Vatra changed.

  When he opened his eyes they were the deep blood red of the Vatra, and in place of hair, he wore the proud crest of red and blue feathers on his head. There were more feathers on his shoulders and arms as well. He smiled a little, then opened his fist. In place of the red and blue feather she’d carried in her pocket for weeks, there was now a small pile of tiny red and blue crystals. Zakiel leaned down and blew gently. The crystals drifted over her and settled, somehow covering her so completely that she glittered in the sunlight. She wondered about that for a moment, then forgot it as unimaginable strength filled her body in a rush that momentarily took her breath away. She looked down to see that she now bore the same red and blue markings and feathers that Zakiel wore. She reached up with one hand, smiling when she felt feathers instead of hair. Zakiel waited patiently while she oriented herself, then held his hand out to her.

  “It will not last long, valia,” he said. Karma nodded and took his hand.

  “Do you feel our connection?” Zakiel asked.

  “I’ve always felt it,” Karma replied, “but never this strongly. Whatever happens, do not let go of my hand, Zakiel.”

  “Never,” Zakiel said. “I will send you the power of my Vatra through our connection. You will have the power of two, but again, it will not last long. Work fast.”

  “I will,” Karma said. She looked up and smiled. “I love you, Zakiel, until the end of forever.”

  “As I love you, Karma, light of my heart,” he replied. She smiled, her eyes filled with happy tears as she stretched up to kiss him gently on the lips. She wanted more, but the sounds of battle surrounded them, reminding her that time was passing. She took a deep breath.

  “Let’s do this.” Zakiel’s hand squeezed hers gently and, together, they walked hand in hand toward the tear which had already doubled in size.

  Karma held the Ti-Ank in front of her, all of her senses now focused on it. Just as Nikura had warned, the moment the Ti-Ank got close to the energy of the tear, it began to absorb it at a rapid rate. Before she knew it Karma felt as though she were caught in the grip of a tornado. She was tossed and turned at high speed in utter darkness, grasping frantically for something, anything that would help her to slow down and gain control. She sensed she had but moments before she was irrevocably lost. Then, suddenly, Zakiel was there, reaching for her. His soul joined with hers and everything…inside and out…stilled. She opened her eyes, unsure when she’d closed them.

  The Ti-Ank was glowing with so much power that it was hard to look at directly. Karma took control of the energy, using every scrap of strength Zakiel offered. The tear was much smaller now, but she ignored it. Handling the energy of the tear now housed within the Ti-Ank in the same way she handled her own energy, she used it to reach for the power of Rathira. The Ti-Ank grew warm in her hand as it grew even brighter, and Karma’s heart leapt. It was working.

  She tamped down her excitement and drew more power, and then still more until she absolutely could not hold one scintilla more. Then she imagined an enormous shield surrounding Rathira. A shield so strong that it would easily withstand the efforts of ten Djinn scepters. No, twenty. A hundred! A shield with the power to reject any and all magic for tens of thousands of years. A shield that would last until the sun itself burned to a cinder, and the moon cracked into frozen shards.

  Then she sent all of that power from the brightly glowing Ti-Ank straight up into the bright afternoon sky in a beam of red, white, and yellow light that went on and on. The black tear began to shrink, slowly at first, then more rapidly as the energy it was made of was depleted. Finally, first the tear and then the tri-colored beams vanished. Silence fell.

  The remaining harpies turned to flee, but Marl and Ren burned them to ash before they made their escape. Karma and Zakiel stared at each other for a moment, the markings of the Vatra no longer showing on either of them. They fell to their knees, side by side, too weak to remain standing any longer. Zakiel tried to catch Karma, but Kapia reached her first and gently lowered her to a sitting position while Bredon helped Zakiel.

  “Move away, Bredon,” Marene said. Everyone turned to see the Myrkur drop from the wall onto the roof top.

  “What?” Bredon asked, barely glancing at her as he hovered protectively over Zakiel

  “I said, move away from them,” Marene repeated sharply.

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t like how powerful they are,” Marene said, stepping closer, the snakes on her grotesque head writhing and hissing with every step she took. “They are quite weak now, so it’s the best time to dispose of them. Now move away.”

  “No, Marene, I will not move away,” Bredon said, moving to stand directly between Marene and Kapia, Karma and Zakiel.

  “Rathira and all who live here belong to me now!” she hissed. “You will obey me, or you will suffer my wrath.”

  “You can’t kill me, Marene,” Bredon said. “I know what will happen if you do.”

  Marene’s head reared back on her long, serpentine neck in surprise. “I do not have to kill you to make you suffer, Bredon.”

  Bredon’s eyes narrowed as Marene’s gaze shifted from him to somewhere over his shoulder. She raised Zatroa and he leapt in front of Kapia just in time. Something hit him so hard that he shot high into the air, then fell, his leg breaking with a sharp crack that filled the air.

  Bredon heard Kapia’s scream and leapt to his feet, his leg already healed. He saw Kapia running toward him, her eyes wide with anguish, then caught movement out of the c
orner of his eye. He leapt in front of Kapia again, just in time to take the strike of the snake at the end of Marene’s tail on his shoulder.

  “Fool!” Marene screamed as Bredon’s vision blurred and he fell to his knees. He toppled over backward, his breath already coming in harsh shallow gasps.

  “Will he die?” Kapia demanded as she fell to her knees beside him.

  “No, but he will suffer for his interference,” Marene replied. “That poison is of my own making Bredon. It will not wear off soon, not even for you.”

  Karma watched Kapia run to Bredon’s side, relieved that Marene seemed inclined to let Kapia live for the moment. Her strength was slowly returning, but so far she could barely raise the Ti-Ank from her lap. She felt Zakiel struggling beside her, and knew that neither of them had enough strength left to save themselves.

  Then Marene turned her attention to them. She raised Zatroa, and Karma turned her head to look at Zakiel, wanting her last sight to be of the man she loved. When she saw his eyes widen, she turned back to see Nikura running across the rooftop toward them, growing larger and larger with every step. His mouth opened and he roared loud enough that the stone beneath them shook with it. Nikura stopped halfway between Marene, and Karma and Zakiel, but this was a Nikura that Karma had never seen nor imagined.

  He was even bigger than Marene, his face still flat, his eyes still blue and round, his ears still pointed, but his blue gray and silver fur now appeared to be made of metal. A row of long, thin, shining metallic spikes ran from the top of his head to the tip of his tail, and even his claws were long, silver scimitars that flashed in the sun.

  “Nikura?” she asked doubtfully.

  “Lady Techu,” he said. “It appears that, once again, you’ve done more than your share. Do you mind if I have a bit of fun, too?”

  “Not at all,” Karma replied tiredly.

  “If I destroy this abomination of darkness, it will cost Sir Bredon his life,” Nikura said, not even flinching when Marene shot something out of Zatroa at him. The metallic fur on his body instantly flattened into a shining metallic surface, reflecting whatever spell Marene had used straight back at her. Karma was surprised and impressed to see Marene stumble backward a step with the force of it.