Zahn’s words came crashing back to her, like a wave that had been out to sea, waiting for the perfect time to wash against the shore once again.
“It’s so funny,” he had said. “We can forgive other people, but the pain is still there if we don’t forgive ourselves.”
I never did forgive myself for hurting him that day.
No. I need to stop. I need to focus back on my breath.
For a few more minutes, Asha pulled her complete attention back to her breathing, until the tsunami of an epiphany crashed onto the shores of her mind.
I can only heal myself completely when I forgive myself completely!
At last, she realized that forgiveness was key to being fully healed. The sheer elegance of this truth filled Asha with awe, until she heard a quiet chime ring out around her. She didn’t open her eyes at first. Instead, she spoke within her own mind.
I forgive myself for hurting Zahn. I forgive myself for making stupid mistakes. And I forgive myself for thinking that I am not enough. I am enough. I am enough. I am enough.
A lightness filled Asha’s body, and she felt a warmth run down her leg and into her foot. She flexed it, and found it completely restored. Finally, she opened her eyes.
Zahn’s eyes were already open, and when she saw them, she peered into them softly, basking in how calm both of them now were. Asha couldn’t help but grin with joy, and gratitude filled her heart for this peaceful moment.
“Wow, Asha,” he said. “I feel much better now, and I had a realization, too.”
“Zahn, my foot is healed now!” Asha beamed back at him. “I couldn’t help myself because I hadn’t forgiven myself. Like what you said earlier.”
“Indeed,” Mira said, “this meditation can crystalize and clarify the mind, like removing the clouds from a murky sky.” Mira paused. “And after some reflection, I feel that I’ve been rather brash since this mission began, and I am sorry. I have been shown so much love on this island. People that I don’t even know have shown me such care, and you two are no different. I hope you both can accept my deepest apology.”
“Of course, we accept your apology, Mira,” Asha said. “It’s been a stressful time on all of us.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Zahn said. “I have flaws, too. But I feel like this place brings them to light in a compassionate way.”
“Indeed,” Mira said, “And I now know what we must do to continue onward.”
“What?” Asha asked.
“The gate in the underground chamber is our best chance.”
“But when I found it, the gate wouldn’t respond at all,” Asha said. “Not even a refusal code.”
“Asha, we are on one of the five original wellsprings of life. The gate down there is probably the oldest gate we have yet encountered. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was less advanced than the others, requiring direct DNA contact. Thankfully,” Mira smirked, “that does not interfere with the plan.”
“What do you mean?” Zahn said.
“I mean you.” Mira said. “Zahn, haven’t you figured it out yet? Avani and Sumanas are sibling worlds, and that means you can activate the gate to help us escape with the Kiss of Life. As I said, I wouldn’t be surprised if that ancient gate requires direct contact, and you will do it.”
“If that’s true, either of us could do it,” Zahn said. “Why me and not you, Mira?”
“Because that’s not the role best suited for me, Zahn. I need you by that gate. Do not underestimate your role.”
“And what do you want me to do?” Asha asked.
“Asha, you have the most important job of all. Keep the Kiss of Life safe.”
Asha felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. Something told her that it would cost more than she wanted to give.
CHAPTER 37
THE KISS OF LIFE
As they approached the Rift, Asha noticed that the morning light was already beginning to transform the sky.
By the time they reached the watery gash, the morning light painted the sky in soft orange and magenta hues. And Asha watched in astonishment as the Rift rapidly drained below them, revealing a deep chasm. This change came in perfect timing with the sunrise, cementing her theory that the Rift was tied directly to the daily cycle.
Mira sent them plunging downward, until they were once again hovering over the hideous black mound surrounded by a lake of glowing, seething lava. The familiar sound of the low roar of churning lava sent a chill up Asha’s spine, and she watched as they set down between some of the sharp boulders that littered the space around the black mound.
To protect against noxious gases, they each put on void suits before stepping outside, and Asha was happy to find a new, intact helmet stored away within the ship.
Mira had suggested that it would be safer if Zahn had someone nearby while he activated the gate, and Asha kept watch as he poured a small vial of his blood onto the familiar ring shape on the upper left corner of the panel.
The gate flared to life, and all of the symbols carved into its control panel glowed a ghostly white. Above her, Asha noticed that the edge of the gate was now covered in glowing geometric patterns, and a humming sound grew all around them.
“I remember the first time I saw one of these gates,” Zahn said. “It seemed so alien at first, but now using them feels easy.”
A deep rumble echoed far above them.
Asha looked up just in time to see several boulders falling from the ceiling.
“Zahn! Run!”
Asha grabbed his hand and darted for an angular boulder that formed a large overhang. As they ran, Navika’s plasma beams sliced the falling rocks into smaller pieces. Yet the ship couldn’t get them all, and dozens more littered the landscape.
Zahn and Asha remained still under the overhang, holding each other’s hands tightly. Asha gazed into his eyes and got lost in their sapphire sea for a moment. All she could hear was the sound of her rapidly beating heart, and she slowly pulled out her resonator and set it to maximum, bracing for anything.
Yet after a tensed silence, they heard something like rain.
Asha tapped her wristcomm and spoke as softly as she could. “Mira, what’s your status? Is it safe for us to come out?”
But there was no response.
“Mira, can you hear me?”
Still, there was nothing.
They waited under the rock for a few more moments, until Asha poked her head out and walked around. The landscape had utterly changed. Entire sections that used to be lava were now covered with slowly sinking islands of rock, and everywhere she looked, rusty boulders littered the small black mound. In a mere instant, the entire chamber had become a deadly labyrinth.
“Come on,” Asha said. “We have to find—”
When Asha turned around, she could hardly believe her eyes. A woman wearing a blackened sash lined with once-white feathers had her arm around Zahn’s neck in a chokehold. Her long, wavy hair was oily now, but her grin hadn’t changed at all.
“Lovely to see you again, moops.”
“Lalantika.” The name oozed out of Asha’s mouth with unmasked contempt.
She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “So you’ve discovered my true name! Well,” she said mockingly, “I am honored.”
“What are you doing down here, Tiika? What do you want?”
As she said this, she remembered that it was daytime on the surface now. If Tiika was here, then was she really a ghost?
Tiika chuckled. “You never understood, did you? I’m not like the others!” As she said this, a black, leech-like creature squirmed out from under her sash, darted across her arm, and wrapped itself around Zahn’s neck.
“NO!” Asha yelled out. “Don’t hurt him!”
“Of course, shmoopy!” Tiika let go, and Zahn fell to his knees as he held his neck, struggling to breathe. A dark squirming creature was still wrapped around his windpipe.
“Don’t you see?” Tiika continued. “I don’t have to do anything. The Žha are more than willi
ng!”
Her gaze pierced into Asha, and all she could see within her eyes was a dark, chaotic storm.
“So you can control them?” Asha said. “But how is that possible? How can you control the Žha?”
Tiika’s gaze was constant.
“Look,” Asha continued, “if I broke any of your tribe’s rules, I’m sorry. Mira and I are from—”
Tiika shook her head, grinning madly. “I know exactly where you are from, moops.”
“Call me that again and die.” Asha raised her resonator and pointed it directly at her.
Tiika laughed. “You have no idea who you are dealing with.”
“Don’t hurt him!” Asha heaved another breath, her adrenaline surging. “Just tell me what you want.”
“You and your friends brought darkness to our sky, and not the familiar darkness. A new kind of darkness. You have upset the balance, and I only want to restore it.”
Asha narrowed her eyes. “How?”
“I know what was hidden atop that gate: an artifact with the power over life itself. Give me the artifact, or this one dies.”
Asha’s felt her heart thump in her chest. “We don’t have it.”
“HAH!” Tiika bellowed. “You take me for a fool! And fools watch their friends die.”
The grip tightened around Zahn’s neck. Somehow, the creature knew Tiika’s wishes without her speaking a word.
Without warning, Asha fired at Tiika’s chest. But when the resonator’s wave reached her, Tiika’s body split apart, forming a hideous hole in her chest which opened and then closed again, allowing the shot to pass through without ever touching her.
“Vile woman! What are you?”
Tiika only cackled, and Zahn clawed at his neck, wheezing. He reached out to Asha in silence, and she realized that his breathing was completely cut off.
“Tiika, STOP!”
“If you care, then bring me the artifact!” she barked back.
“Fine!” Asha said. “But if you kill him, your fate is sealed.”
“Hurry,” she said. “Your friend is experiencing great difficulty in using his windpipe.”
Zahn couldn’t make a sound.
“Hold on, Zahn!” Asha turned and dashed through the fresh labyrinth of boulders. She ran around in a mad frenzy, but eventually she was able to find Navika. The ship was covered in rubble and had sustained significant damage.
Asha pressed her hand to Navika’s surface and stepped in. She didn’t even bother to remove her suit, making some black marks on the floor as she stepped into the central node.
A door on the far end slid apart in three pieces, and Mira stepped out. “Asha! Navika’s entire defense array got overloaded. Are you all right?”
“No,” she replied. “Someone I love is about to die unless I do something about it.”
Asha removed the Kiss of Life from its spot within the braided cables and darted back outside.
“Hey!” Mira said, scrambling to put on a void suit and follow her. “What are you doing? Come back here!”
When she reached the base of the hill, Tiika was waiting for her, and Asha could tell that Zahn’s void suit was starting to tear along the neck. Above, she could hear the gate rumbling louder than it had before, but before she could think much about it, Tiika spoke.
“Give me the Kiss of Death or Zahn will face his.”
“What do you mean death?” Asha shook her head. “Let him go first.”
Tiika laughed. “That’s not how this deal works, moops. Give me the artifact. Only then will I hand him over.”
“Fine. You remove the leech thing. Then I’ll throw the artifact at the same instant you give him over to me. Understand?”
“Of course, your majesty.” Tiika bowed and put her arm around Zahn’s neck. Then she snapped her fingers, and the small leech-like creature jumped onto her arm and crawled back under her sash. Zahn gasped for air before Tiika tightened her grip once again and held out her other hand toward Asha.
“The artifact. Now.”
Asha threw it, and Tiika leapt up into the air to catch it, letting Zahn go.
She caught it easily and gazed into its pearlescent surface.
“At last,” she whispered in awe.
Zahn coughed violently, and Asha ran over to him.
To their surprise, Tiika climbed up to the gate.
“NO!” Mira screamed. “Freeze, you vacuous leech!”
Asha turned and saw Mira clad in a silvery-violet void suit, wielding a plasma rifle glowing deep magenta. She fired at the mad woman without hesitation, but Tiika ran along the edge of the gate in a wild, manic dance.
“The gate is open, Asha!” Mira called out. “Close it before she escapes us!”
Asha ran up to the controls. “Mira, the gate currently leads to the vacuum of space. No one would jump in, unless—”
To Asha’s horror, she watched as Tiika threw the Kiss of Life into the vortex. In a panic, Asha struggled to deactivate the gate in time, but it was too late. The aperture slid together, and she heard no impact.
“It’s gone,” Mira whispered.
“AT LAST!” Tiika bellowed. “I have earned what I deserve!”
Still standing on the edge of the gate’s ring, Tiika beamed a twisted smile down to them.
“You really have no idea, do you?” Tiika jumped down onto the controls with a thud, and Asha backed away. “Did you honestly think it was a coincidence that both the Žha and the Vakragha thrive in utter darkness?”
Mira’s eyes burned into Tiika. “I do not want to kill you.” She pressed a button on the side of her plasma rifle. “But I will if I have to.”
Tiika smiled. “I’d like to see you try, little captain.”
Without hesitation, Mira fired off two plasma bolts toward her, but when they reached her, her body once again split open, allowing the shots to pass through without ever touching her.
Zahn raised his eyebrows. “That didn’t work the first time!”
“What the blazes are you?” Mira yelled in frustration.
Tiika chuckled. “Isn’t it obvious? I am kin to darkness itself, and I have been waiting so long for someone to find the Kiss of Death. Hysterical to think it was here all along, hiding right under my nose.” She pushed her nose up for a second and grinned, looking even more freakish than usual. “And now that I’ve given it to them, they will take me from this cyclical world to a place utterly under my control, a home where I will reign free!”
“You are insane,” Asha said. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with. The Vakragha are pure evil, Tiika! And it’s not called the Kiss of Death. I used it to heal Mira. You have it completely backwards.”
“Shmoopy, shmoopy, shmoopy, shmoopy,” Tiika repeated as she shook her head. “What do you think kept the ghosts here for so long?”
At first, Asha wanted to lash out when she heard Tiika calling her that again, but Tiika’s question sent her mind racing.
“So, that’s why they never—”
“Moved on?” Tiika interrupted. “The Kiss of Death has many side-effects, one of them being its immense power that anchors them to this planet. They feel it, and they do not want to leave. You see, long ago there was a cataclysm on this island. Most of my people died in their sleep, and now they have been here for so long that they have created elaborate illusions in their minds, all to convince themselves that they are still alive.”
“Whoa, so Vayuna was right,” Zahn said, but then realized a gap in her explanation. “But what about you? It’s daytime now, and Asha told me that everyone disappears during the day. What makes you so special?”
“I think I know, Zahn,” Asha said. “And if her mother were here, she could tell us, couldn’t she?” Asha nodded. “That’s right, Tiika. I know about Lakshmi. She took you in and treated you as a daughter. What would she think of what you’re doing now? What you’ve become?”
“Ha! Ha! HA!” Tiika exploded into a terrible, cackling laugh. “And you believed her? That old woma
n will take care of anyone who lets her. But she is special, one of the few that knew she was not entirely solid, not alive. I used her because she allowed herself to be used. And from her, I learned to change things, to reshape this world in small ways. But it wasn’t enough.”
“But what about all the cave hunting talk?” Asha said. “You said you hunted the Žha, but now you’ve become the vermin you once sought. What could you possibly want now?”
Tiika grinned. “You are all such aliens to this world; your thinking is so narrow. Binding my essence to the Žha gives me many advantages. I can change shape at will, become nearly invisible, and, most importantly, the sunlight cannot hurt me!”
“But that still wasn’t enough. It didn’t help you leave this world,” Zahn said. “Otherwise, you’d be gone. But just like the others, your essence never moves on naturally, does it?”
“NEVER!” Tiika screamed, throwing her hands high above her head. “All are trapped in the endless cycles of Vaari, and I have grown exceedingly maddened by it. It’s unlike anything we have ever known. Its power even draws in life from outside this world, sometimes placating it and sometimes enraging it. I’m sure you’ve seen what the jellies can do, but you couldn’t even begin to imagine the artifact’s full power!”
“Zahn!” Mira switched to a comm channel, whispering. “She is delaying us. The Vakragha must have detected the artifact by now. We must use the gate immediately! What destination was the gate set to?”
Zahn responded in kind. “I didn’t get a chance to program in a destination, but I think I remember seeing it set to just one level up in the hierarchy, so that would be the nearest star.”
“Good, and rest assured help is on the way. Just remain calm when it arrives, all right?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Such a strange phenomenon,” Tiika said as she looked down to them. “I see your lips moving, but I hear nothing.” Tiika paced back and forth along the edge of the ring. “You should know that if you lay one finger on those controls, I will most definitely kill you all. Does that make this simpler?”
The Island on the Edge of Forever (The Epic of Aravinda Book 2) Page 23
