Song of a Dead Star

by Zamil Akhtar

  Shar is on that ship. Just get on board. I have to say, you got very lucky today, Kav. Someone certainly smiles upon you.

  Kav smiled. The rain was peaceful as the ship closed in, now a short swim away.

  “It’s Shar,” Kav said. “That’s his ship. We’re free, Saina.”

  Nothing but the sound of rain spattering on metal.

  “Saina?”

  He looked to his left. Not there. Nor to his right. He spun around.

  A man stood in black Elkarian fatigue. One arm wrenched Saina’s neck, hand clamping her mouth. His other arm held a blade, pointed at Kav.

  Kav drew his weapon. “Let her go!”

  The man’s hand muffled Saina’s moaning. Kav inched forward.

  “Stay back! Or I kill her.” A young guy by the sound, nervous, thick Almarian accent.

  “Merv,” Layla whispered. She uttered something in Kalamic.

  “Give me Zauri,” the man said. “I give you girl.”

  Don’t. In a few seconds, a hatch will open on Shar’s ship. Take Layla and get in. Do not show your back to that man, he can still conduct.

  Lightning flared. The man’s face became clear in the brief light. Hair as black as his suit, eyes livid with desperation.

  A hatch clanked open. Kav glanced at the other ship, about twenty yards swim.

  “Kav!” Shar stepped out, his emerald eyes on fire in the dark. “Swim over here!”

  Kav stepped back, fixated with the blacksuit man and his chokehold on Saina.

  “Give me Zauri!” the man said. “Stop!”

  I can’t let him hurt Saina.

  She told him something with her stained glass eyes. That she’s scared, terrified, of being left alone, of being abandoned in this dark sea.

  Kav stood stuck as clocks ticked.

  Saina isn’t important to you. You can’t protect everyone, haven’t you learned that? If you give up Layla now, you’ll be alone again. Your love demands sacrifice.

  Doesn’t Saina matter to me?

  Layla matters more! Time is short! Go!

  Yeah. You’re right. She’s just some girl who happened to get caught in my life.

  Kav took another step back. The edge. He tightened his grip on Layla and braced to jump in the water.

  “You made me do this.” The Elkarian raised the hilt of his blade and hammered Saina’s head. Her eyes shut, her head drooped. He grabbed her right arm, pulled it back and in. Snap.

  “Saina!” Kav watched as the man flung her overboard. Her body splashed in the dark ocean.

  Forget about her. She’s gone. You still have Layla!

  The Elkarian approached. Kav’s wet grip on Layla slipped. The man pulled her off him. Layla screamed.

  Saina! What did I just do?

  Thunder howled. The Elkarian kicked Kav’s ribs; he fell back and crashed in the water.

  He floated in the blackness.

  Saina-Saina. I need to find Saina.

  He grabbed the folds of water and swam down.

  How am I supposed to find her!? I can’t see!

  His lungs cried for air. “Go up and breathe,” they demanded. But his heart wouldn’t let him.

  So Kav swam lower and lower, eyes aching. Saina had fallen off the other side. Too much time passed; she must’ve sunk to the deepest depth, to where the planet whales live.

  I can’t let it happen.

  Deeper and deeper, he submerged, all the while reaching out his hand, hoping to feel hers.

  Saina!

  Pressure. His ears wanted to explode. Water chilled his blood. Black ink immersed him, no colors or sound — a still death.

  Nur...help me.

  Lightning exploded and lit the deep ocean. There! He saw her: a doll falling, hair like straw.

  Kav’s body flared and ached and screamed. He denied it and swam for her. He reached out his hand in the dark, hoping.

  Got her! He grabbed her arm, pulled her to his chest. Water filled his lungs and eye sockets.

  Kav held her close, not knowing if she was a body without a soul, or one barely hanging on. He couldn’t move anymore — body too weak and water too heavy.

  Saina.

  Consciousness seeped out his ears and died.

  Then came alive. In the garden with the otherworldly tree, colored clouds, fireflies, and flowers. This place.

  The dew was pristine and pink, the mud perfectly moist and soft.

  Grand Magus Haytham waited beneath the tree. Kav knew who he was and recognized everything about him; the man’s image had been burned onto his retina long ago.

  Kav stood before him. “Tell me, did Layla and I ever love, or am I a fool on the devil’s strings? Tell me, did Saina suffer for my delusion?”

  “Saina, my daughter, is dead.” A silver lining circled his sockets and the edges of the mask. There was no mouth slit. The eyes were a pair of suns, impossible to stare at. “But perhaps the pain you’ll feel for letting her die will transform you.”

  “How can you be so cold?” Kav said. “If she’s dead, it’s your fault too! If you’re her father, why didn’t you protect her?”

  Haytham glared at him with a pair of suns. “We Magi sacrifice everything we love. You will have to as well, Kav. You’ve only just begun to feel pain, a pain that will change you. You will become like me, detached and annihilated, very soon.”

  The breeze was gentle enough to take his soul. “Never. I’ll never be like you.”

  Consciousness died.

  Kav awoke, numb and swarmed by pain, in a bed — an unfamiliar metal ceiling above.

  “Shar! He’s awake!” The first words he heard. Around him were uniformed men and women and other beds.

  Where is Saina!?

  In the bed to his left, Saina lay cold.

  “Saina!” Kav jolted up. Nausea simmered in his throat. Nothing to throw up though.

  Shar grabbed him. “Lie down! You almost died!” He pushed Kav back into the bed. “We were barely able to resuscitate you!”

  “Saina!” Kav said. “Is she okay?”

  Pity gleamed in Shar’s eyes. “We tried. She was too far gone.”

  “No!”

  Kav pushed Shar out the way. His sense of balance wasn’t working; he fell at the base of her bed.

  “Stop it!” Shar said. “Get back in your bed!”

  “I can’t let her go!”

  Shar helped him up. “She’s already gone!”

  If only I’d given Layla back. If only...

  Kav sat on his bed. He stared at the floor, glanced at Saina, then looked back at the floor.

  “She was the only one who believed in me,” Kav said. “The only one.”

  Nothing gained, everything lost. Right, Kav?

  Kav ignored the whisper. “The Magus was right, and yet she defended me. Despite all the things I did, she prayed for me. She refused to abandon me, and yet I abandoned her.”

  Kav, you have only one heart, you can’t love two women. Had you listened to me and sought my assistance, you would have gotten Layla back, and this would not have ended so tragically.

  “I will get her back. Saina...”

  Some white coat came over to check Kav’s breathing. He poked Kav’s chest with his fingers.

  You won’t get her back now. Are you going to follow them into Haem? You really think you can survive there? You have failed, Kav. You have lost. Layla will not be yours. Paradise will not be yours. I’m done with you. I believed it would be you. I had faith that you would win. A misplaced faith. This is farewell.

  Kav lay on his side and stared at the wall. Something caught his eye: a clothes hanger. On it were his soaking shirt and pants.

  He got up, walked over to his pants, reached into the pocket, and took out Layla’s bond.

  “This is my offering. But it’s just a stone, okay? It can’t hold all my fondness for you,” he said, repeating what Layla told him when she put it in his hand.

  Kav walked to Saina’s bed.

  Kav? What are you doing?


  He grabbed Saina’s wrist, revealing her aperture slot.

  You can’t! You’ll really mess things up if you do what you’re about to. You have no idea what I mean when I say that!

  Slowly, he lowered the twicrys into her aperture...

  “It will bring her back. Because I died, and it brought me back. It will repair her organs, get her lungs working. It will.”

  Kav, stop! Her red eyes. Have you ever wondered why she has red eyes? Why she’s such a bad conductor? Don’t, Kav!

  Into the slot. Her old twicrys burned, melted as a star devoured it. Supernova.

  “Saina...open your eyes.” He kissed her forehead and prayed.

  Glossary

  A’ab disorder

  People born with this mysterious disease require a twicrys and sunshine to stay alive. Blue hair is also a symptom.

  Abistra

  A coastal region of Devshirme that faces the eastern ocean.

  Agreement of Bond

  A marriage ceremony between two people presided over by a sheikh.

  Almaria

  A nation in the south of Eden known for its saints and scholars. It is governed on behalf of the Shah of Devshirme by an Emir or prince from the Barzamid House.

  Angra Mainyu

  A dark and wicked god from ancient folklore.

  Aperture

  A small hole in the wrist that houses a twicrys and connects it to a person’s nervous system and brain.

  Barzamid House

  The royal family of Almaria, said to number in the hundreds.

  Barrier of Iskander (Whirling Wall)

  A mysterious and massive storm formation that surrounds Eden and prevents the Haemians from invading. A hole appeared in the north part of the barrier sixty-four years ago.

  Black absorber

  A rudimentary device usually sewed into a vest, used to prevent a person from being mapped on spectrum.

  Bond

  An old Keldanese practice to sow a jewel into one’s chest upon getting married, in order to symbolize that one’s spouse is close to one’s heart.

  Bukhair

  A small city in northern Almaria known for its beautiful royal palaces.

  Buktansir

  A conqueror from history remembered for having had 300 concubines and 1000 children.

  Camphor

  A bitter herb that grows in the east of Devshirme known for its medicinal properties.

  Conduction

  The use of sunshine by persons with a twicrys for communication, spectrum mapping, powering machines, and fighting.

  Conductor

  One who uses a twicrys to channel sunshine and use it as energy to fight, communicate, and power machines.

  Continental Army (CA)

  The army of the Continental Empire of Devshirme.

  Continental Empire of Devshirme

  The empire that controls all of Eden, including the nations of Devshirme, Almaria, Keldan, and Necia.

  Darya River

  A large river that runs through Almaria and forms part of the official border between Devshirme and Almaria.

  Deep Blue

  A massive lake bordering Keldan and Necia that is the source of all Eden’s twicrys, and said to bless those who drink from it with strong conductive powers.

  Devshirme

  A nation in the north of Eden that has military control over all of Eden’s other nations.

  Diejel River

  A small tributary of the Darya River.

  Eden

  A lush, garden-like continent protected by the Barrier of Iskander and home to the nations of Devshirme, Almaria, Keldan, and Necia.

  Ekrah Academy

  An army training facility home to the Continental Empire’s best and brightest young conductors.

  Elkaria

  An industrial city in Almaria destroyed by the Magi during the War of the Poets eighty years ago.

  Emir

  A prince or ruler of a province.

  Emrils

  The currency used in Keldan.

  Fanaa

  An esoteric Kalamic term that refers to the annihilation of one’s own identity and desires in order to become the perfect conductor.

  Firebulb

  A small crystal incased in glass that is used for interior lighting.

  Fish

  An offensive term used to refer to Necians and the Keldanese.

  Flashbang

  A flash of bright light emitted from the weapon of a conductor used to temporarily blind enemies during a fight.

  Frequency

  A string of information that is unique for each individual, used to contact him or her.

  Gain Medium

  A crystal inside various items, from swords to stoves to conveyer belts, used to channel sunlight for power.

  Haemians

  A mysterious, destructive race bent on the conquest and annihilation of Eden.

  Hayat House

  A noble Shirmian clan that supported the old Shah during the Uprising.

  HEX

  A leading corporation that makes weapons, machines, and conducts experimental research, headquartered in Hyseria, Keldan.

  Hyseria

  A major city in Keldan and home to a large Shirmian settlement population.

  Islanders

  People from the islands of Keldan and Necia.

  Kalamic

  The language of the Almarian people and the original language of many religious texts.

  Jinn

  A demonic spirit from ancient folklore, said to be made from smoke.

  Kaysr

  A resort island in the nation of Necia.

  Keldan Alive

  A rebel group fighting for Keldanese independence from the Continental Empire.

  Keldan

  A war-torn, poverty-stricken island nation in the west of Eden that borders the Deep Blue.

  Kerb

  A city in Keldan that was destroyed by the Magi during the Second Keldanese Uprising four years ago.

  Kostany

  The capital city of the Continental Empire of Devshirme and the seat of the Shah.

  Levship

  A flying ship that can ascend to great altitudes, but can only travel along a special magnetized track called a levtrack.

  Levtrack

  A special magnetized track by which levships fly.

  Lightning artillery

  An artillery shell with a gain-medium inside that strikes a target as lightning would.

  Lucent Winds

  A phenomenon observed on the shores of Kerb in which the wind becomes the color of the sand. Because Kerb’s beaches have sands of varying colors, the wind changes color often.

  Magus (pl. Magi)

  A mysterious order that are responsible for defending Eden from the Haemians. Their conduction ability is unreal.

  Mask

  A term often used to refer to a Magus, due to the masks they wear.

  Mindwriting

  A process by which someone’s memories are erased or manipulated. New memories can also be created.

  Mother Shah

  The wife of the Shah and symbolic mother to all the people of Eden.

  Necia

  A peaceful and prosperous island nation in the west of Eden that borders the Deep Blue.

  Nirwan

  A province in the north of Almaria near the Devshirme border.

  Nur

  The name of the God worshipped by the people of Eden.

  Oneness

  The state of controlling a ship or craft as if it was your own body.

  Ouroborus

  An energy pattern used by massive ships as a weapon of mass destruction.

  Plane of Haem

  The mysterious, dark land beyond the Barrier of Iskander and home of the Haemians.

  Planet Whale

  A mythical creature from islander folklore that lives in the deepest depths of the ocean, said to be hundreds of feet long.

  Prime Conductor


  The pilot of a levship. Prime conductors lose sensory control over their own bodies and become one with their ship.

  Qandari Tariqa

  An ancient religious order affiliated with the Magi who teach esoteric and monastic forms of conduction.

  Qindsmar

  The largest city in the nation of Almaria, known for its beautiful domes.

  Razh

  A city in the north of Devshirme destroyed by the Haemians sixty-four years ago.

  Recital of Iskander

  An important religious text, said to be an inspiration from Nur to the Saint Iskander.

  Recitals

  Religious and sacred texts for the people of Eden, written in a poetic form.

  Riau Island

  An island of Necia known for its delicious fish pancakes.

  Rubiyya

  The currency used in Almaria.

  Saint Ad’deen

  A Keldanese saint whose tomb was housed in Kerb.

  Saint Iskander

  One of the greatest saints, a conqueror who two-thousand years ago united Eden and built the Whirling Wall that protects all of Eden from Haem.

  Saint Issam

  A Keldanese saint whose tomb is housed in Hyseria.

  Saqara Tree Oil

  An addictive drug used throughout Eden. It is said to boost conductive ability.

  Sayoon River

  A lage river that forms part of the official border between Devshirme and Almaria.

  Scimitar

  A curved sword used throughout Eden and weapon of choice for most Continental Army soldiers.