The Mirage on the Brink of Oblivion (The Epic of Aravinda Book 3)

by Andrew M. Crusoe

  Zahn looked back down to the door. “Come on, we have an interdimensional being to talk to. And it’s practically on fire.”

  Before she could reply, he melted back through the closed door that led to the command bay.

  “Does that man have any patience at all?” She shook her head and followed him.

  Inside, nothing much had changed. The curving passenger bench was the same. The command chair was the same. Everything was entirely normal, except for a blindingly bright birdlike creature perched in the middle of the room.

  “Yikes!” Asha said. “You were right.”

  Zahn looked up to her with disappointment. “You forgot the Tulari. We’re showing the jagrul the first stone to see if it can find something similar, remember?”

  “Oh, right. Sorry.” Asha zipped back through the door and gently took the energy body of the Tulari once more, returning with it in her hands.

  “Hey, jagrul,” Zahn said, leaning close to the creature. “I know you can’t speak, but last time you listened well. We need your help again. Can you help us find an object like this one?” He pointed to the Tulari in Asha’s hands. “As you can probably detect, it’s quite powerful and rare. Is there anything else like that in this system?”

  The birdlike creature locked eyes with Asha, and a cool feeling washed over her. The jagrul blinked and tilted its head slightly. As it peered into her, Asha gazed ever deeper into its voluminous pupils, consumed by the void within.

  As she watched, its huge pupils seemed to grow even larger, and within them, Asha saw a glimpse of a deep trench, bleached white by some unknown process. She got the distinct feeling that the jagrul was telling her to go there, that going there was the first step. The glimpse grew darker and darker until she found herself back in the command bay.

  Once again, Asha found herself staring at the luminous birdlike creature, still perched on the floor ahead of her.

  “Zahn,” Asha whispered, “it just gave me a glimpse of a huge rocky trench. I think we’re supposed to go there.”

  “So it did show you something! Where’s this trench?”

  Asha bit her lip. “Well, that’s the problem. I have no idea. That’s all it showed me.”

  Zahn turned to the creature. “Come on, jagrul! That’s all you have for us?”

  “Don’t scold it, Zahn! We aren’t giving it what it needs. If we had something the third stone had touched, I’m sure it would show us with a guiding light, just like it did with your mom. But in this situation, this glimpse is all it can give us. I think we should be grateful we got anything.”

  Zahn sighed, turning to her with a look of dejection. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. So, what’s next?”

  “Well, I need some time to work this out.” She glanced around the confines of the command bay. “And frankly, I’m tired of being inside cabins and tunnels. I’m going outside. I need some space to think.”

  Asha released the Tulari and watched it for a moment to make sure it floated back in the right direction before she zipped through the ship’s hull.

  Outside, the sky had grown darker, and it wasn’t long before Zahn joined her. The valley below was almost too dark to make out any detail, but there was no shortage of stars in the night sky. And among them, the largest moon loomed brightly.

  “Hey,” Zahn said, “I hope I didn’t stress you out back there. I guess I’m just frustrated with the situation. I’m sorry.”

  She turned to him. “It’s okay, Zahn. You’re not the reason I’m out here. I’m frustrated, too. Perhaps if we’d learned something useful at the meeting, it would be different. But we can only work with what we have, what’s in front of us.”

  “Yeah. And at least we have a gorgeous sky above us. Look!” He said, pointing to the full, white moon above. “Rundikha looks brilliant tonight. That’s what Jyana called it, right?”

  “Yep.” She nodded. “When I was a child, it was even brighter. I used to love watching its phases change. Still, even with its new scars, it’s still brilliant, isn’t it?”

  A slow realization dawned on her.

  “That’s it!” She turned to him, excitement filling her heart. “That’s what the Empress said. She said, technically, the stone was also far above! Zahn, I think I know where the stone is.”

  His eyes mirrored her excitement. “The moon? Is that what you think it showed you?”

  “It fits. We haven’t seen anything on Tavisi like the trenches I saw in that glimpse. And think about it, what else is above the Mirage? Only that moon lines up with all the clues.”

  A smile spread across Zahn’s face. “Have I ever told you just how smart you are?”

  She smiled back to him. “It never hurts to hear it again. Come on. Let’s go directly to Manu’s secure chamber. Ready?”

  Zahn nodded. “Yeah. I just hope he’s there.”

  “He will be. I can feel it.”

  CHAPTER 31

  CREATING CHAOS

  Below the Empress Monument, Torin waited patiently, feeling rather awkward as he floated alone in the exact center of the city. From here, he could see the circular promenade that encircled the monument, and just below, the dark sea undulated.

  He’d been there for what felt like an hour, so when a hooded royal guard finally approached him, he felt relieved. Waiting directly under the monument was strange, leaving him feeling oddly vulnerable.

  “The Empress will see you now,” the guard said flatly.

  Like an iris adapting to the light, the microscopic opening slid open above him, and they flew up.

  After they’d passed through, the opening contracted down to near invisibility once more, and the guard led Torin through a familiar hall with symbols and passages covering nearly every surface. Clearly, the concept of ‘down’ was forgotten here, and it wasn’t until they made several apparently contradictory turns that Torin found himself at an entrance at the end of a long hall.

  Torin gestured toward the entrance marker, which was a spiral that curved inward before curving outward again in a loop, the traditional symbol of ambrosia.

  “So, can I go in?”

  Silence.

  “Yes? No?” Torin asked.

  “Now.” The guard finally nodded. “You may enter.”

  Torin zoomed inside noticing that it was indeed the same room they’d had their meeting in, except that several things had changed. The table had been cleared, and at the far end of the room was an oval window that hadn’t been there before. In front of it, the Empress stood, peering out onto the hundreds of people walking along the promenade or flying over the city’s glowing domes.

  He glanced back to the guard, feeling as if he were interrupting something, but the guard urged him onward.

  Gradually, he moved inside, and the guard disappeared behind him.

  The Empress spoke first, her back still facing him. “I don’t usually take appointments on such short notice, but considering your new rank, I made an exception.”

  She turned slightly, revealing herself to be just as radiant and composed as the moment he’d first seen her at the ceremony.

  She waved him over to the window. “Come.”

  Reflexively he obeyed, gliding up beside her. “Of course.”

  She shot him a sidelong glance and gestured to the vibrant city ahead. In the distance, small figures were sculpting new domes on the outermost ring.

  “Do you ever just look at it?” she asked. “Revel at its ever-growing complexity? Its beauty? Its freedom?”

  Torin bit his lip and tried to steady himself.

  “Yes,” he finally said, “and it humbles me.”

  “Mmm. Good answer,” she nodded. “They are quite happy, wouldn’t you say?”

  “Yes. I think so.”

  “Satisfied, would you say? In harmony with each other?”

  “Unquestionably.”

  “We must keep it that way, Torin. It is up to us. Only a handful of my top officers know the secret of ambrosia. If that secret were to become commo
n knowledge, chaos would ensue. Sources of ambrosia would be at the mercy of whoever could find it first. It would pit citizen against citizen, creating chaos. Do you understand?”

  He nodded. “Yes, Empress.”

  They stared out of the window for a while longer, and Torin watched as a child and her mother walked along the promenade to a tall dome on the corner.

  “You are wise to understand,” the Empress finally said. “Now, what haunts your mind, dear Torin? I can only presume by your presence that the 5th supply channel is once again flowing?”

  “Yes, Empress. It was a challenge, but I’ve secured a small ambrosia harvest on the northern coast for the time being.”

  “Excellent. Then what is on your mind?”

  Torin inhaled slowly. If he mentioned that Jyana had deduced what was causing the habitat destruction, the Empress might have her interrogated, perhaps even stripping her of her position. He had to find a way to ask about the effect of the crab harvest without implicating Jyana.

  “I’ve been thinking about the Suvarnak crabs.”

  “Yes?” The Empress raised her perfect eyebrows.

  “Well.” Torin paused. He suddenly wished he knew more, feeling that he didn’t quite have the background to ask intelligent questions about them. Common curiosity would have to be enough.

  “Your majesty, may I speak freely?”

  “Granted,” she said, still gazing out onto the rivers of people far below.

  “Thank you.” Torin pursed his lips. “I’ve been thinking about the new project you started me on. You know, to survey the distant coasts for more crab populations. And, well—”

  “What is it?”

  “Let’s say I find a new population tomorrow, and we’re no longer at risk for an ambrosia shortage. Won’t this all just happen again? If we ran out last time, what’s stopping that from happening repeatedly? I’m curious.”

  “My dear Torin, you must have faith. My scientists assure me that we shall never run out of supply, as long as we periodically relocate our harvesting operations to give the populations a chance to rebound.”

  “Okay, but even if it does, doesn’t Mirage City continue to grow? New structures are being created all the time. That means our demand for ambrosia will grow, too. How can we reconcile that? Aren’t we in danger of outstripping our supply? Destroying a limited, interconnected system?”

  The Empress chuckled. “You have so little faith. This world is vast. We couldn’t destroy it if we wanted.”

  Not vast enough.

  He kept the thought to himself. As much as he wanted to believe her, it didn’t feel right. If Jyana had been there, she would have reminded him to trust his feelings.

  His fight with Jyana came to mind and how terrible he’d felt when she left. She felt like he didn’t take her seriously, and he had to admit that the attitude did creep into him from time to time. He wondered if his prestigious apprenticeship had made him more than confident. Had he become conceited? His unwillingness to listen had driven Jyana away, leaving him feeling dull and dirty.

  He never wanted that to happen again.

  “Torin,” the Empress addressed him more seriously than before. “I would suggest that you exercise caution in this area. You do not have the experience that I have.” She turned, her gaze burning into him. “And if I decide that you are not the man for this job, I can assure you that your debriefing from your new position would be quite unpleasant.” She flashed him a saccharine smile. “Do you understand?”

  Torin nodded, and a tightness formed in his stomach.

  “Completely.”

  CHAPTER 32

  THE ETHERIC WORMS

  In a blink, they were back in front of Manu’s hidden door, and this time Asha knocked with great conviction.

  They both stared at the lifeless door for a few moments before frustration grew within Zahn’s heart. They didn’t have time for this. Every passing minute the Vakragha grew closer to his world, closer to his family.

  “Vark!” Zahn cried out in frustration. “When is he getting back? We’re on the brink here!”

  “Calm down, Zahn!” Asha said. “He’s doing the best he can, just like us. Let’s wait here a bit. He has to return eventually.”

  They waited, and Zahn’s eyes narrowed at where the door should have been.

  To their shock, Manu’s white, hooded form materialized out of nowhere, just beside them.

  “How the—” Zahn blurted but stopped short.

  “I’m glad you’ve both returned! What have you learned?”

  “Well,” Asha began, “we have a lot to—”

  “Wait,” Manu said. “I misspoke. We should go inside first.”

  As before, Manu tapped his fingers onto the wall in a complex sequence of finger strokes, and the door dissolved away. Inside everything was as they remembered it, and once the door had closed behind him Manu sat down at the round table in the center of the room.

  “Tell me everything,” he said.

  Zahn and Asha sat down beside him and shared memory nuggets of all that had happened with the royal meeting, the jagrul, and what it had shown them. When they had finished, Manu closed his eyes and sat in silence.

  After a while, the silence grew uncomfortable to Zahn, and he spoke up.

  “Well? What do you think?”

  “You both have done well.” Manu paused. “Now, we begin the final phase of the mission.”

  Asha tilted her head in the way she usually did when she suspected something was wrong. “I sense doubt in you, Manu. What is it?”

  “A jump up to the moon is exceedingly dangerous. Mirage City has a barrier, and we’ll only be able to detect its tiny openings at close range. We’ll have to avoid detection until we get close to the barrier, otherwise every perimeter guard in the city will be headed directly to our position. And the moon may be even more hazardous.”

  “Why?” Zahn said.

  “If I know the Empress,” he continued, “the royal guards surrounding the Chintamani will be special. If the stone is the source of this place’s power, then she will have only her most gifted guardians surrounding it. They will make the perimeter guards look slow in comparison.”

  “We can do it,” Zahn said. “Each of us has a skill set. By working together, we can do it. We have to.”

  Manu said nothing and pulled out two large energy packets. He studied them for a moment before handing them to Zahn and Asha.

  “You’ll need to be in top form for this final phase of our mission. We cannot afford to lose anyone during this operation.”

  They both nodded, and as Asha drank her energy packet, she glowed brighter, almost as bright as Manu.

  He squinted his eyes at her. “Asha, your radiance is remarkable. How many energy packets have you had recently?”

  “Not too many. I only—Oh!” Her eyes lit up. “It must be the ambrosial soup I had! We rushed out of there so quickly that I didn’t even think to try and create something, but I could do that now, couldn’t I?”

  “Yes,” Manu said calmly, “but in the memory you shared with me, you only sampled a fraction of what was in that bowl. I would advise you to save that energy until it is most needed. Up there, we may need you to create an energetic barrier to fend them off. Wait until we need it most.”

  Zahn smiled over to Asha. “First a healer, and now a true creator. Is there anything you can’t do, Asha?”

  She smiled back. “Thanks.”

  “We must set out,” Manu said. “If conditions were ideal, I would have a Dagger of Kirin for each of you, but I only have my own. However, I will create another negative energy bubble for each of us to disguise our approach.”

  Manu pointed one hand to Asha and one to Zahn, inhaling slowly. Gradually, two greyish spheres grew from his palms, their edges undefined and fuzzy like shadows.

  As the bubbles grew, he stretched out his fingers more, and soon one of the bubbles detached and surrounded Zahn completely, slightly dimming the view of his surroundings.
Zahn watched as the same happened to Asha.

  “Follow me.” Manu turned around, phasing the door out of existence and leading them down the long hall to the right that they hadn’t explored before.

  While Asha zoomed up ahead, Zahn slowed down and shot a glance back. For some reason, he was worried that they were being followed, but all he saw was the door materialize once again, its glow fading away until no trace of the door remained. He shook his head and zoomed ahead to catch up.

  This part of the tunnel system was more unpredictable than the others, and he had to anchor himself to Asha’s ident just to keep up with the chaotic series of turns that left him completely at a loss as to what direction they were pointing.

  At last, they reached a corkscrew ramp which led upward until Manu abruptly stopped at a section of the rocky tunnel that had collapsed.

  “We are near the pinnacle,” Manu said. “Beyond here, you must not speak. If you must communicate, use a narrowband exchange of thoughts as before. Otherwise, the perimeter guards will detect us.”

  “The pinnacle?” Zahn said. “The pinnacle of what?”

  “Of the mountain range, of course. It’s the closest jumping off point to the shield barrier. Quite an excellent view, as well. Anyway, remember to be silent.” Manu turned to Asha. “I’ll handle the perimeter guards. It’ll be best if you save your manifesting energy for the battle at Rundikha, for there will surely be one.”

  Asha furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “But Manu, don’t they let you drink the ambrosia too?”

  “Yes,” he said, “but I’ve already depleted that power in service to the Empress. And there won’t be a replenishment until tomorrow. Asha, as strange as it may seem, you are the only one among us with ambrosial power. Wield that power wisely.”

  “I will,” Asha said, her expression stiffening.

  “And you, Avanian,” Manu said, “without your spirit and determination, I doubt we would be here now. Both of you have been priceless in this mission. I knew I made the right choice when I requested your help.” His white robe pulsed in brightness for a moment. “Now, listen carefully. Beyond this rocky debris is a lookout point. From there, we shall move upward as one. Once we reach the barrier, which you’ll feel as a springy wall, we must spread out and search for any irregularities. When one of us finds one, we shall signal the others and shrink down to pass through. Any questions?”