The River of Time (The Shiva XIV Series Book 4)

by Lyra Shanti

  --

  “What do you mean my father isn’t what he seems?” asked Miara, utterly baffled at the young, beautiful king sitting across from her at the restaurant table. They were sitting in a cozy, out of the way spot of the posh, crystal-themed restaurant, which Zin hand-picked for their meeting. He figured that a public outing would lower Vax’s chances of sending assassins after him, especially with Vax’s own daughter at the table.

  “Look,” said Zin cautiously, “there’s no way to say this delicately… but I believe your father poisoned Lod Enra, my father, and then sent my mother far under the Tirlenian Ocean to a place called The Dome, which we think might be where Vax and his 'Family' have been conducting some sort of tests.”

  “What sort of tests?” asked Miara, blinking.

  “Well,” said Zin after a sip of tuneen soup, “I believe he’s testing people to see the effects of Undaniasis, and to hide them from the supposed, perfectly clean world of Ohr. You see, your father doesn’t want people to even know that Ohrians are capable of getting Plasma Sickness, let alone that our last king could have had it. Although, I really doubt my father contracted the illness from natural causes. After the leading scientists of Deius and Kri discovered that King Atlar had been injected with a synthetically manufactured version of Undaniasis, and that he was last seen on Ohr to meet with your father, I have come to conclusion that Vax murdered Atlar, and my father as well.”

  Gulping her soup slowly, Miara looked at Zin with frightened eyes and said, “What makes you think my father is capable of doing such horrible things? Zin, these conclusions you’ve made are so far-fetched! You’ve met my father. He is a wonderful, caring man!”

  “No, Miara, he’s not,” said Zin, putting down his spoon. “The man you’ve known is not at all the man he really is. And I have met him, yes. In fact, I just met with him, and he threatened me without hesitation. He is hiding his true intentions from you, and from the world! He knows about The Dome, Miara, and he’s probably already trying to stop my friends from finding it. Truthfully, I’m in danger even just speaking to you.”

  “Then… why are you here with me?” she asked, tilting her big, dark-purple eyes.

  With her thick, chestnut-brown hair tied tightly in a bun, she looked as pretty as he had ever seen her, but he couldn’t let himself be swayed by her physical beauty. He was on a mission to save his beloved Raven, and his mother, and he couldn’t stop until he found them!

  “I… want you to help me, Miara.”

  “What can I do?” she asked nervously. “If my father is as secretly terrible as you seem to think he is, what in the world can I do to stop him?”

  “Well,” he said as he leaned in toward her, “you can watch him for me and report anything you see. I want to catch him in the act of his criminal activity, and only you can do it, Miara.”

  Shifting in her chair, she sighed and said, “Zin… my Lod… you were always my ideal man, and I loved you dearly once, but… what you’re asking me to do is impossible.” Getting up, she added, “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

  “Miara, please,” he gently begged as he touched her hand. “I’m so sorry that I couldn’t marry you, and I should have been honest with you sooner about all this - about everything - but can’t we start anew? Please, help me, Miara.”

  She looked at him with sad, worried eyes. She then shook her head and abruptly left the restaurant. Zin suddenly felt naked and vulnerable.

  “Miara!” he yelped after her. “Damn it,” he whispered.

  The waiter came over and delivered the check. Zin looked at the total and rolled his eyes.

  Pei, he thought as he paid with his credit disc, I hope you’re having better luck than I!

  --

  I don’t understand it, thought Pei. Sterek’s ship should be here - right here.

  Tracing his steps, he backed up a few feet and watched his communications wristband as the plasma-dial swirled around in the same spot. “This doesn’t make any sense!” he exclaimed, frustrated.

  “What’s the matter, General?” asked Lieutenant Mackenna.

  “Sterek’s ship is showing on my tracking system at these exact coordinates, but there’s absolutely nothing here except sand and rocks. I don’t get it.”

  Lieutenant Maisy Mackenna, or just Maisy, as her fellow soldiers usually called her, looked over Pei’s shoulder, and then glanced at his wristband. “Do you have it set to Ohrian time and topography?”

  “Yes, of course,” Pei said, shaking his head.

  “Then… I don’t understand either,” said Maisy, scratching her shaggy and short, dark-purple hair.

  Pei sighed, then folded his arms. “Let’s head up the beach a little more… North,” he ordered his troop.

  Maisy agreed and then gave the signal to the rest of their soldiers.

  Heading up the beach, Pei turned to Maisy and said, “Keep an eye out for Ohrian ships.”

  “Understood,” she replied with a quick nod.

  “Hold on,” said Pei as he stopped suddenly, “I think the sensor is picking up something here.”

  “What is it?” asked Maisy.

  Pei wrinkled his brow and said, “I don’t know, but there’s a large amount of plasma coming from under the sand… where we’re standing.”

  “It better not be a bomb,” she replied with a sarcastic, deadpan face.

  “No,” said Pei, half-smiling, “it’s not a bomb. The energy’s circumference is kind of… well, huge. Take a look, Lieutenant.”

  She looked at his wristband and tilted her head, confused. “That’s at least five miles wide! That’s impossible, General.”

  Squatting down, Pei touched the sand and said, “Yeah, it doesn’t make any sense… unless the sensor is picking up something other than Sterek’s ship.”

  “What?” said Maisy. “What else would be here?”

  Pei shook his head, not knowing how to answer her. Just then, his hand felt the crystals of sand shaking underneath them.

  “What the hell is happening?” asked Maisy.

  “Stand back!” yelled Pei. “All of you!”

  His warning came too late, however, as the shaking became so intense that they all fell backwards onto the sand. Pei wondered if Tirlen was on a fault line, though he could have sworn it wasn’t. No, something’s not right, he told himself as he staggered to his knees through the massive shaking.

  Looking straight ahead, Pei wasn’t prepared for what he saw next. About twenty feet from the soldiers, the sand burst open and a giant, mouth-like structure of metal came pushing through. Sand went everywhere as the soldiers spit and closed their eyes.

  Struggling to see, Pei put his arm in front of his forehead and witnessed the metal mouth protruding toward them. “Fall back!” he yelled at his troop.

  Pei and his soldiers tried their best to stand up and run, but they couldn’t catch their footing. Half-blinded by flying sand, Pei quickly rummaged through his backpack and grabbed a plasma-flare. He turned it on and shouted, “Maisy! Everybody, use your flares and get back to the caves!”

  They did as their general told them, though their flares only helped them a little to see as they stumbled and fell when they tried to head back to the caves.

  As hard as walking was, it became even more difficult when they felt a sudden pull toward the giant, metal mouth.

  “What’s going on, General?” shouted Maisy.

  “It’s a magnetic vacuum!” yelled Pei.

  “The Ohrians found us!” said Maisy, grabbing her plasma-gun.

  Pei pointed his gun as well, though he could barely see. Squinting at the metal mouth, he was ready to go down with his Tah by his side.

  Chapter 9: Choices

  Iliya looked at her adoptive mother with rebellious blue eyes. “You heard me, Reese,” she said bitingly, “I’m pregnant and I’m keeping the baby.”

  Reese snarled, yet calmly said, “Listen to me, you pampered, ungrateful little brat, you cannot do this to yourself, or to Baran. You think you
’re ready to be a mother? Are you ready to go through nine months of agony just so you can pray Baran will be any sort of father to your child? And even if he does help you, there goes your education and your freedom! How could you get yourself into this mess?!”

  Iliya shook her head and replied, “I don’t see it that way, Reese.”

  “Stop calling me that!”

  “Why? You’re not my real mother, and you’re definitely not my adoptive mother anymore. My adoptive mother was Lohee, and you’re not her.”

  Trying her hardest not to slap the hell out of Iliya, Reese walked a few steps away, breathed hard, and clenched her fists.

  “And I don’t want freedom as much as I want Baran’s baby,” Iliya continued. “I love him with all my heart… and I don’t see this as some sort of sacrifice. It doesn’t have to be. Besides, I can always go back to school later. You’re just angry because he chose me and not you… but you wouldn’t marry him so that’s your own fault. You made your choice, and I’ve made mine.”

  Reese was livid. However, Iliya wasn’t completely wrong, and it cut through Reese’s crushed heart. Almost on the verge of tears, Reese took a deep breath and swallowed back her pain.

  “You may think you know what you’re doing, Iliya,” she said calmly, “but you have no idea what you’re up against. I’m just worried for you. Don’t you understand that?”

  Iliya sighed and folded her arms. “You’re worried or jealous?”

  “Both,” replied Reese dryly.

  They stared at each other: mother and daughter, scorned woman and her young competition.

  Interrupting their uncomfortable silence came a beeping sound from Reese’s communications wristband. “I… have to go,” said Reese as she turned to leave Iliya’s bedroom. “We’ll talk about this later.”

  “No,” said Iliya, “we won’t. I have nothing more to say to you, and after I finish packing, I’m going to live with Baran.”

  Reese laughed and rolled her eyes. “Well, it’s Baran who’s calling me, so I’ll mention that idea to him. Let’s see how favorably he takes to it.”

  “Don’t tell him, Mother!” blurted Iliya.

  Smiling at Iliya’s primal return to calling her ‘Mother,’ Reese replied, “Why? Don’t you want him to hear the good news?”

  “No, I want to tell him about this myself. Please, don’t tell him anything yet. I’ll do it.”

  Reese nodded and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t say a word. But Iliya, you’ll have to inform Baran that he is going to be a father. He has the right to know.”

  Iliya looked down and sadly nodded. Reese felt pity for her spirited adopted daughter, but she also felt utterly betrayed, though mostly by Baran. How could he do this? she asked herself as she turned to leave the room.

  “Reese?” said Iliya.

  “Yes, Iliya?” replied Reese in the doorway.

  “Thank you.”

  Reese smirked and said, “You’re welcome, my little fireball. I’ll see you later.” With that, Reese left the room and closed the door. Iliya then broke down and cried on her bed, terrified of losing everyone she loved.

  --

  Three quiet knocks tapped at his laboratory door.

  “Come in,” said Lius as he studied the mutated cells once again. His brain hurt, but he didn’t want to take a break. He was so close to understanding why and how the good, healthy cell transformed into the plasma-poisoned cell. Ona was busy spending time with her mother, so she was no longer able to help him; he was on his own. There were other promising scientists on his team, but they didn’t grasp genetics and biotechnology like his protégé, the queen.

  Ayn peeked inside and softly said, “Am I disturbing you, Lius?”

  Looking up from his magnifier machine, the over-worked doctor said, “No, of course not, Ayn. Come in.”

  The young king shyly walked in and closed the door behind him. Lius knew by Ayn’s mannerisms that privacy was needed. He turned off his machine and any sensors that may pick up their conversation.

  “What is it, my king?

  “Lius…” sighed Ayn as he sat down by the concerned doctor on a nearby stool, “I need your help.”

  “I’m always here,” replied Lius, “you know that.”

  Ayn nodded and took a deep breath. “It’s Ona,” he explained, “she’s better these days now that her mother has come back to us, but… I really want to give her children, Lius. I want to know if I can even do it. I need you to test me for, well, fertility. You can do that, right?”

  “Yes, Ayn, of course I can. But… does Ona know you want this test? Is she aware that you’re doing this? Not to intrude, but I know your wife well, and she would want to be included.”

  “I know,” said Ayn, “but I would really like to wait before I tell her. I guess I want to know the results first. I don’t want her to get her hopes up. Is that understandable?”

  Lius nodded, though he knew the queen would disagree. “I will keep this between us… for now.”

  “Good,” said Ayn. “So… what’s needed? Do I have to give… samples?”

  Lius could see Ayn’s embarrassed expression and said, “Yes, but don’t worry, I will be discreet, and it will be quick.”

  Ayn took a deep breath and then exhaled. “I trust you, Lius. Should I... get undressed?”

  “Well, yes, but before you do that, Ayn, I think I should take a current blood sample and give you a quick physical. It’s been about a year since your last check-up.”

  Ayn didn’t like doing such things, and feared needles, but he felt it was necessary. Reluctantly, he sat still while Lius washed his hands, put on gloves, and then took Ayn’s blood pressure. Ayn tried to be calm, but all he could hear in his mind was Meddhi-Lan’s voice saying, “The Bodanya is supposed to be pure, Ayn, in body and soul. That is why your hair cannot be cut or your skin penetrated. However, if you feel you must change yourself or get treatment in any way, I won’t judge you. And if any of The Dei object, I will stand against them for you. You have my word.”

  Swallowing as Lius took a small amount of blood from his arm, Ayn remembered his youth with a sad fondness. He then sighed thinking about how far he and Meddhi had come since those innocently reclusive days at the temple.

  “Ayn...” said the doctor.

  “Yes?”

  “I don’t want to be too blunt, but I was wondering…”

  “Yes, Lius?”

  “I know you were raised with certain beliefs, but… I wanted to remind you that if you ever wished to become fully physically male, I can still do that for you.”

  Sighing, Ayn said, “Thank you, Lius, but… I’m not really sure. I’ve thought about it for years, but…”

  “What is it, Ayn? I promise you that it won’t affect your chances of fertility. If you remember from your last examination, I determined that you mainly have male reproductive organs, and that your female parts are basically dormant. I don’t know how fertile you are yet without conducting certain tests, but I can surmise that getting surgery to sculpt your body won’t change your chances of having children with your wife.”

  Ayn took a deep breath and nodded. “Thank you, Lius, and I trust you, as my doctor, and as my great friend. You’ve been a second father to me, and to Ona as well, but… I just don’t know if I want to go through something like surgery. Not so much because of my religious upbringing, but because Ona accepts me as I am, and… well, if I’m completely honest, I utterly fear going under for surgery. The idea of sleeping while I’m being cut,” Ayn said with a shiver to his shoulders, “scares the hell out of me.”

  Lius smiled, amused at how such a strong, powerful person could still be frightened of a little incision. “It’s alright, Ayn,” he replied, “there’s plenty of time to come to any sort of decision, and if you wish to stay as you are, that is perfectly fine. I only want to help you in any way that I can.”

  “Thank you,” said Ayn, feeling a little stupid for his fears. “I will just be glad to give Ona a child, i
f possible.”

  Lius patted Ayn on the shoulder and said, “I have a good feeling about it. Keep your hope alive, and I will do everything I can to increase your chances.”

  “I would like to refrain from using hormone modifiers though,” said Ayn, adamant.

  “I understand,” replied Lius. “That will be our last resort. Now, if you feel comfortable enough, please go to the bathroom. You can use this cup to put the sample in, and I will wait for your here.”

  Ayn took the cup, and then a deep breath. Heading to the bathroom, he silently prayed for the Gods to bless the bizarre body they bestowed him.

  --

  “Thank you for coming, Em,” said Ona. Hugging the graceful Dryndi high priestess, Ona felt an immediate rush of hope. If anyone can help my mother regain her lost memories, she thought, it’s Emelanthia.

  The dark-haired high priestess looked over Ona’s shoulder and saw Pira sitting on an emerald-green couch. Pira smiled nervously as she caught Em’s eye. “You’re welcome, dear sister,” replied Em.

  “Do you really think you can help me?” asked Pira, fidgeting her fingers.

  “Well,” said Em calmly, “that depends on you.” Sitting down next to Pira, the high priestess took out a round and smooth, clear looking crystal from the pocket of her long, black robe.

  “What is that?” asked Pira.

  “It’s a sacred shar, a meditation crystal,” said Em. “It will help you focus.” Pira nodded, hopeful. Ona then sat down on the adjoining speckled-green chair nearby. “Now,” continued Em, “hold the shar in your hands and focus on something familiar to you, whether that be an object or a person - anything that helps you feel connected to yourself.”

  Pira looked around the room, unsure what to choose. Unable to pick an object that truly spoke to her, she said, “I… will focus on Ona.”

  Em smiled and said, “That works fine. Alright, now look into the shar and focus on your daughter’s face, her eyes… everything that is familiar to you.”