by Ivan Kal
Reisi looked uncomfortable. “Most of us don’t know what to believe in anymore. The Kar Daim showed proof of our history, of what the Elders were in truth. We…our beliefs are compromised, based on lies. But we still believe in strength. And we follow strength.”
“And the Kar Daim is strong?” Adrian asked. “Was the Kar Daim chosen from among you?”
“No, the Kar Daim killed the Elders and took the rule of Shara Daim by the right of blood and death,” Reisi said, and Adrian detected a touch of fear in his voice, the same fear he had heard in Sol. And he understood, this Kar Daim had somehow taken the rule by force, and was formidable enough to terrify the Shara Daim, who were all warriors. People that looked down on all others with no fear.
And he was going to meet and negotiate with this person.
“This might not end well,” Adrian said through his implant.
“You are just now figuring this out?” Iris said.
“I guess that willingness to talk is a big deal, but this Kar Daim might be even worse than their Elders.”
“Well, you can’t change your mind now, so why bother worrying?” Iris said.
“You’re right,” Adrian said. He just hoped that he and the Kar Daim could agree to some kind of deal that didn’t involve ‘blood and death.’
Chapter Thirty-Five
One month later — July; Year 57 of the Empire — Shara Radum
The Veritas moved through the Shara Radum system slowly, following the path given to them by the Shara Daim. The system was a large one—fourteen planets and more than two dozen moons, with two distinct asteroid belts. The space was filled with satellites and stations. Ships moved all over in an organized fashion. Every planet and many of the moons had colonies, or at least some kind of facilities built on them. The asteroid belts were filled with movements, and large stations stood close by as ships from the belts moved back and forth.
And large armed stations stood in seemingly random spaces around the system, but Adrian knew that those were trans-entry points into the system. Defensive platforms stood in orbits of nearly all the planets, and some even close to the stations guarding the trans-points. Thousands of warships patrolled the system; all were of an unfamiliar make, but seemed equivalent to the Shara Daim heavy cruisers. Adrian knew that those were the Shara Daim system guard; they served almost the same function that the Clan guards served in the Empire, policing and protecting the system.
But in high orbit of Shara Radum were the real warships, ten Legions that orbited the planet. Twenty thousand warships, almost double than what the Empire had in total, and it was barely one fifth of their true numbers. And yet the Erasi feared an alliance between the Shara Daim and the Empire. It was laughable. If the Erasi only knew the true numbers of the Empire, they wouldn’t have been so worried. But then again, the Empire did have a slight technological edge in military technologies. Just giving the skim drives to the Shara Daim could be enough for the Erasi to lose.
Adrian watched as Veritas slowly settled in the orbit of Shara Radum, and then he and a group of five warpath Sentinels he had brought back from Sanctuary all trained in use of the Sha, wearing their Sentinel armors, joined the Va Dan Reisi on his courier ship for it to transport them to the ground. He debated taking Akash and Sora, but he decided against it, he didn’t know anything about what was going to happen, and he didn’t want to antagonize anyone.
Once the ship landed they were guided to a large domed building, once inside they first used something like a cart to move faster through the building, until they reached a set of large ornate doors.
“The Hall of Ages,” Reisi said as they walked up to the doors. “No one outside of the Shara Daim had ever walked through it, and even for Shara Daim it is a great honor, one that few have been given.”
Adrian kept silent. His followers were asked to leave their weapons, and they did, as Adrian had warned them beforehand that that might happen. Then they entered the Hall of Ages. Instantly, Adrian was struck with the sense of history and awe. There were paintings and murals over all the walls. Tall pillars rose to the domed ceiling, each with gem-embroidered cloths that stretched around them. Some of the images showed things that were clearly events in the history of the Shara Daim, but Adrian didn’t have the opportunity to take a closer look.
They finally reached the end of the hall and another large door that somehow seemed even more ornate than the one they had used to enter the hall. Two Shara Daim dressed in some antique-looking clothes, and whose obsidian skin was tattooed with white markings, opened the doors as Reisi and Adrian approached.
They were allowed into a well-lit room already filled with people. Reisi asked Adrian’s escorts to stay at the entrance of the room, and the two of them descended the stairs. It was then that he noticed the large throne-like chair at the end of the room and the person sitting in it.
He almost missed a step when he recognized Anessa. She watched him as he walked down the steps with no expression on her face. She was wearing a Shur At, only this one was white, and somehow molded to fit tightly against her body so as to appear as if it was wrapped around her, showing all her attributes. The clothing widened a bit after her forearms, making something that looked like a loose sleeve. Dark blue strips of cloth seemed to be attached at her hips and fell loosely to about mid-calf length.
As they walked down, Adrian could hear murmurs from the crowd, but it was too low for him to discern what they were talking about.
“I didn’t see this one coming,” Iris commented.
“Neither did I,” Adrian responded.
Reisi and Adrian reached the bottom of the steps and walked to the center of the platform where a podium stood. Reisi had received instructions from the Kar Daim—Anessa—on how Adrian was supposed to greet her. So once they reached the center, Reisi dropped to his knees, and Adrian made a half bow while keeping his eyes fixed on Anessa’s.
“I greet you, Kar Daim. I have done as you have asked and brought an envoy from the Empire. Lord Sentinel Adrian Farkas,” Reisi said as he gestured in Adrian’s direction from his knees.
“I greet you, Kar Daim,” Adrian said.
A shocked silence followed, then several angry shouts that were silenced by Anessa starting to speak. “Thank you, Va Dan Reisi, you have done well,” she said, and dismissed him with a somehow regal gesture of one hand. She then turned and looked at Adrian. “Welcome to Shara Radum, Lord Sentinel,” she said in her melodic voice.
Adrian was about to respond when a voice rang out. “This is what you summoned us here for?” A large man stepped forward from behind Adrian. He had dark red hair cropped short, as most of the Shara Daim that he had seen, wearing his Shur At molded in the same configuration that Anessa had worn when he had first met her.
“First you try to change our customs, and now you invite an alien to Shara Radum, to the Hall of Ages! You let this filth infect our sacred place and insult you by greeting you as an equal!” the man shouted.
“I do as I please, Dai Sha Farran. I am the Kar Daim. Or do you wish to challenge me?” Anessa said calmly, tilting her head in an inquisitive gesture that Adrian knew she had gotten from him.
The Dai Sha’s expression darkened at that, and he didn’t speak for a few moments. But then he glanced at Adrian and back to Anessa.
“You allow this alien here, and not just any alien. I have heard whispers that this Lord Sentinel is the one that fought against yours, the Fourteenth, and the Third Legions. That he is responsible of the death of Dai Sha Narrasak.”
“Uh-oh, this isn’t good,” Iris said, but Adrian remained silent, keeping his eyes on Anessa. Her mannerism looked strange to him. He was missing something.
“You are correct. The Lord Sentinel defeated my Legions, and killed Dai Sha Narrasak,” Anessa said.
“And still you invite him in this hall!” Farran shouted. The people around him had various expressions. Half were terrified, and their fearful eyes went from Anessa to Farran as if they were expecting A
nessa to rip Farran to pieces. And the other half appeared uncomfortable, and as if they wanted to be anywhere but here.
“The Lord Sentinel is our guest here. I have extended to him all the same rights as any of my citizens. It is my prerogative as the Kar Daim to do so, unless you want to sit here and make decisions yourself. But you know that there is only one way for you to gain this throne.” She quirked an eyebrow in another expression that she had gotten from him.
Things suddenly clicked in place. She was playing, goading the Dai Sha into something. However, by the time Adrian figured out what it was, it was already too late.
“Of course, Kar Daim,” Dai Sha said venomously. “But, if this alien has all the same rights as our people, then I challenge him!” Farran pointed at Adrian. “By my right as Dai Sha, I challenge him to a fight to the death, as trial for the death of Dai Sha Narrasak of the Third Legion!”
The moment Dai Sha Farran finished speaking, Adrian saw Anessa’s lip curl in a victorious smile that disappeared almost instantly. She turned to look at Adrian with an expectant look on her face.
“Do you accept, Lord Sentinel?” Anessa asked.
“Well, fuck,” Adrian said in his head.
“She set you up,” Iris said angrily.
Adrian looked at her for a moment. He understood that she had somehow orchestrated this. She wanted him to fight the Dai Sha. He debated his answer for only a moment. He could refuse, and perhaps manage to leave with his life, but that would be cowardly, and the image of the Empire in the eyes of the Shara Daim would be damaged beyond repair. There was really only one choice. He used his imp to tell his people not interfere. Then, he took a deep breath and answered.
“I accept, Kar Daim,” Adrian said.
Chapter Thirty-Six
“I accept, Kar Daim.”
Anessa looked at Adrian, satisfied that he had done exactly what she’d needed him to do. Farran had been one of the more vocal parts of the opposition against her, questioning every change she had done to their laws and customs. No one was really doing anything, but she couldn’t allow them to get any ideas. She could’ve killed him herself, but that would’ve only made his voice stronger, making others that thought like him more eager. She needed a way to silence him and any opposition that spoke against Anessa’s plans to increase interactions with other races. And he had played right into her plans; the moment he had issued the challenge, he was dead.
She had learned a lot from Adrian from the way he had manipulated information about his system, and goaded the Shara Daim into attacking when they thought his system defenses were weak. It hadn’t taken much to manipulate Farran, and that disappointed her a bit. It had only taken a few choice words in his presence, a leak of the knowledge that Adrian—the person that was responsible for Narrasak’s death—was also the envoy from the Empire, and an instruction for Adrian to give her a bow of an equal. And Farran had acted exactly how she had expected him to act: he had loudly protested, and she had only had to remind him of the challenge, say that Adrian had the same rights as a Shara Daim, and he had jumped.
Moreover, Adrian was a perfect tool for removing Farran. He was an alien, yet she knew that he was strong enough to silence all those who still believed that every other race was inferior and weak. She needed him to kill Farran right here in front of all, so that the rest of the Shara Daim could hear of it from people other than her supporters.
And she had no doubt that he would win. She knew him. Farran was not as strong as Anessa, but he was still a Dai Sha, a powerful one. But Adrian had experience fighting a Dai Sha, and he would see through Farran’s weakness.
“Very well. You will fight without any weapons or armor, unarmed and with the Sha. Lord Sentinel, remove your over-garments,” she said, and Adrian removed them, leaving him only in his skin-suit, which Anessa knew was nothing like the Shur At and couldn’t make itself hard for protection. Farran had removed parts of his Shur At, leaving his chest and legs bare, and only his groin covered.
“The fight is to the death. Don’t spare your opponent,” Anessa said, mostly for Adrian’s benefit, as her honor guard moved them to opposite sides of the podium, and had the people around make a half circle around them.
Adrian stood and watched his opponent, seemingly hesitant, his posture unsure. Anessa knew that it was a farce. Adrian didn’t outwardly show anything that he didn’t want to show. She grinned as she looked at him. Excitement bubbled up inside of her, as she knew she would see something incredible. Adrian might not have been her equal in raw power, but he was amazing and terrifying in his own way. She remembered the dream she had had about him, and her blood heated up. She leaned forward intently.
A few of the people closest to her noticed her expression, and she saw their confusion. She didn’t care; she kept her predatory grin still focused on Adrian. The honor guard spoke out that both Adrian and Farran were ready. Anessa gave one pitying look to Farran, then spoke in a clear, loud voice.
“Begin.”
***
The Shara Daim with strange white markings escorted Adrian to the edge of the podium, which was some ten meters across. He turned and looked at his opponent. The Dai Sha was of course taller than him; not as tall as Anessa, but it didn’t really mater. With Adrian’s new upgrades, he knew that he was close to Anessa’s strength, and even if he wasn’t, he knew that he could keep up in a physical fight. The problem was that this wasn’t going to be a physical fight. His opponent would use Sha.
Adrian glanced at Anessa. She was looking at him with an intensity that made his blood heat up, but he forced himself to look back at his opponent.
“You are allowed to use only your natural abilities, including the Sha. You do have the Sha, don’t you?” the guard asked.
“Yes, I have the Sha,” Adrian responded. The guard gave him a dismissive look, one he had seen before on Anessa when he had met her on Tarabat. Now her eyes told him that she was confident that he would win. He didn’t know why she had orchestrated this battle, why she needed that man dead; he was still trying to grasp the fact that she now ruled all of the Shara Daim.
He analyzed his opponent. There was no fear in his eyes, but that wasn’t a surprise. Adrian made his movements unsure, hesitant, creating a persona that was afraid of the coming battle as he tried to come up with a strategy.
He could see that this Dai Sha was like how Anessa had been when he had first encountered her. Arrogant, believing in his own superiority, he was looking down on Adrian. And Adrian could use that. He was probably the better fighter, but his opponent was definitely stronger with the Sha. The Dai Sha was also afraid of Anessa, he didn’t want to challenge her to a battle; that meant that he was weaker than her. But Adrian didn’t know by how much. He couldn’t risk getting drawn into a full Sha battle. During his upgrades on Sanctuary, Adrian had spent a long time inside his mind-space devising tricks and moves that would be useful against a Sha user stronger than himself. He knew that he needed to end the battle fast, in the opening few seconds.
“Are you ready?” the guard asked.
“Yes,” Adrian responded as he decided on what to do.
The guard spoke something, but Adrian barely heard him. The people around the podium disappeared as his mind stopped processing their images; color left his vision and his opponent sharpened. Adrian took a deep breath, feeling the oxygen pumping through his veins, adrenaline surging.
“Begin!” Adrian heard in the distance, and his stance changed. He bent his knees as his opponent looked at him furiously and walked towards him. The Dai Sha still hadn’t drawn on the Sha, and that arrogance was his first and last mistake.
Adrian’s mind knew and had complete control of his body. The limits on his muscles faded away as his legs extended and he jumped forward so fast that he could barely be tracked by the eye, drawing on the Sha mid-flight. In a moment, he was in front of the Dai Sha, who was surprised by Adrian’s sudden movement and started to draw the Sha, building up to an attack. Adrian’s arm m
oved in an arc in front of him, hot orange plasma spewing forth in a stream in front of him, as he didn’t contain it in a ball.
The Dai Sha realized what was happening, and a Sha ability Adrian was unfamiliar with blew most of the stream back, but a few ‘drops’ passed through and stuck across his chest, making him shout out in pain and anger. He fired of a kinetic attack at Adrian in front of him, but Adrian was long gone.
Adrian swiped the Dai Sha’s legs from the side, dropping the larger man to the floor with a loud thump. Adrian jumped at him, drawing on the Sha as his hand moved towards the Dai Sha’s heart. Adrian felt and saw the Dai Sha’s fear and horror, his arms moving to block sluggishly compared to Adrian’s speed. The Dai Sha tried to draw on the Sha, and a shimmering started appearing in front of him, but Adrian threw open his mind and smashed through his opponent’s defenses easily. The Dai Sha’s mind talents were no match for those of a Sowir, and Adrian had learned from the strongest Sowir in memory.
The field disappeared as Adrian wrecked his opponent’s mind with a powerful mental attack, and his arm stopped just above his opponent’s chest. An orange stream instantly exploded from his palm, burning the Dai Sha’s skin and liquidizing his insides. There were no screams from his opponent; he was too lost in his own mind to realize that he was dead.
Adrian stood and watched the blood leaking out of the Dai Sha’s eyes, nose, and mouth. The fist-sized hole in his chest was smoking, a red mist rising from it and the edges of the wound cauterized by the heat of the plasma.
He turned his eyes to the people around him. All watched him in disbelief. The room was completely silent. Adrian turned around and looked at Anessa. She had a pleased expression on her face, an expression that told him that she had known all along that he would prevail. A part of him rejoiced at the fact that she trusted in his abilities so much. But another part of him, the colder one, knew that he had also been used to remove someone that was in her way. And used to remove him in a very ruthless way. And Adrian was bothered to realize that that ruthlessness only made him want her more.
