The Labyrinth of Destiny

by Callie Kanno

  Cha-sak spread his arms again and slowly brought them together, as if gathering something to his chest. At first Adesina couldn’t see anything, but then she realized that was exactly what she was seeing. The demon was gathering the darkness from the air and compressing it in front of him.

  Then, with the motion of a man throwing a discus, the demon hurled the darkness at the Serraf. It formed into a thick beam as it streamed through the air, aimed directly at Adesina’s slender form.

  Adesina’s sword snapped up in a defensive stance, and her vyala flared in front of her as a shield.

  The beam of darkness struck her with the force of a small explosion, and it knocked Adesina off her feet. Her shield was not enough to protect her, and she could feel the icy pain of the darkness burning her flesh.

  She was not able to contain a scream of agony as the tendrils of darkness pierced her and expanded sharply.

  It was her vyala’s independent action that saved her once again. It flowed to the parts of her that were being invaded by the darkness and it isolated them. Then, with a pulse of power, her vyala burned away the darkness and healed the injured parts of her body.

  Somehow, in spite of the healing, the pain lingered in Adesina’s mind. She rose to her feet shakily, and she tried to keep her expression neutral.

  Cha-sak grinned maliciously as he watched the effects of his attack. “Do you see? You are nothing compared to me, even with the help of your little friends.”

  The demon began to form another beam of darkness, and Adesina immediately sprang into action. She extended her feathered wings and threw herself into the air, somehow knowing by instinct how to fly.

  She could feel the attack getting closer to her as Cha-sak hurled it her way. The darkness was anathema to her own nature, and her very being recoiled from its presence. Such a warning allowed her to change the direction of her flight and escape being hit again.

  Adesina flew in a circle around the nothingness of the realm around her, with Cha-sak charging close behind. Her mind raced, trying to formulate a plan that would allow her to win this battle.

  She knew that she was strong—stronger than she had ever imagined possible—and that her strength was connected to the Immortal allies who had pledged themselves to her. She had the support of most of the remaining Children of Light and Children of Night, and she even had the support of some of the Creatures of Darkness.

  It was important that she wasn’t fighting alone, but she was beginning to doubt if it was enough. Cha-sak had tapped directly into the powers of Darkness, and he was fighting just as desperately as she.

  Having the support of allies was not the same as having one of the ultimate forces of the universe at your command.

  Adesina veered on her course in order to dodge another beam of darkness that was shot at her.

  She knew she couldn’t afford to be hit again. The impact would be fatal.

  What am I to do?

  Her thoughts were not specifically to Ravi, nor were they kept to herself. She sent them outward, almost like a silent call for help.

  I cannot win this fight, even with all the gifts that have been given to me. How can I face such a powerful enemy and come out victorious?

  Adesina veered again as another beam of darkness burst forth and consumed several of the feathers on her wings.

  An indescribable sense of peace settled over her mind and a gentle voice spoke directly to her heart.

  You are not alone, my child.

  Adesina felt a jolt of surprise that was discordant with the peace she had been feeling only moments before.

  She recognized that voice.

  It was the voice of the Creator.

  I know I have the support of my Immortal allies, Adesina thought tentatively, but it is not enough.

  She could almost feel the Creator smiling.

  None of you are alone. I have not left my children to fend for themselves.

  Adesina didn’t know the proper etiquette when addressing a deity, so her response was more restrained that it would have been normally.

  Does…that mean you will help us?

  I have always helped you, Ma’eve, even if you did not recognize my hand in your life.

  The familiar use of Adesina’s alternate name should have surprised her, but somehow it didn’t. It seemed the most natural thing in the world.

  Take my hand, my child.

  Ahead of Adesina, a pillar of pure light descended. She forced her wings to beat even faster, and she heard Cha-sak roar in fury behind her. She didn’t need to look to know that he had also increased his speed in an effort to keep her from reaching the light.

  Adesina felt the demon’s claws rake at her trailing feet, and she knew that he was closing the distance. She pushed onward desperately, ignoring the pain that shot up through her legs.

  The young woman extended her hand and she approached the pillar of light, as if she was hoping to be pulled to safety.

  And she was.

  Adesina did not see a physical hand reach out and grab her, but she felt it happen. She was pulled into the pillar, and everything else disappeared.

  When the Creator spoke to her again, it was as if someone was standing right next to her, though Adesina could see nothing but the blinding light that surrounded her.

  “You accepted the role of the Threshold Child, even though you knew it would not be easy. You have done everything in your power to fulfill your responsibilities, and I am proud of you for that.”

  Adesina felt her heart burning within her. “Thank you.”

  Once again, Adesina felt as though the Creator was smiling.

  “It is I that am thanking you, Ma’eve. Your work has been hard, and you know that it is far from over. Yet, you do not balk at what you know must come.”

  There had been a time when Adesina would have felt discouraged at the confirmation that there was still much work to be done, but now she felt only a firm determination to continue onward.

  The Creator’s voice was filled with approval. “Your fighting spirit is what makes you special, my daughter. I chose you for this work because I knew you would not give up.”

  Adesina nodded slowly. “That does not mean that I always know how to succeed. A stubborn refusal to give up is not helpful unless I can find a way to win.”

  Her thoughts were on the battle with Cha-sak, and the Creator seemed to understand.

  “I have told you that I have not forsaken you, and I always speak the truth. Up until now you have relied on the strength of your fellow Immortals. Now, I grant you the power of wielding the Light.”

  The words of the Creator left Adesina feeling stunned. She immediately felt a change in her being, as if the authority she had been given was a tangible thing placed upon her shoulders.

  “With this power comes a burden,” cautioned the Creator.

  Adesina’s brow furrowed gently. “What burden?”

  “I am giving you the power to make a decision—one that could change the entire universe. You alone must make that decision, and I cannot do more than give you a single piece of advice.”

  The L’avan queen felt her heart pounding in her chest. If this decision was as important as the Creator said, why would it be entrusted to someone like her? How would she know if the choice she made would be right?

  “Peace,” soothed the Creator. “You need only remember one thing: I know you perfectly, and I chose you to make this decision. Trust yourself, and your decision will be right.”

  “Was that your single piece of advice?” Adesina asked uncertainly.

  “Yes.”

  She had feared that would be the case. While it was encouraging to be told to trust herself, it didn’t really help her to know what was expected of her.

  “I do not even know what is to be decided. When will I have to make this decision?”

  “It will happen soon. You will understand everything when the time comes.”

  Adesina nodded. She could feel herself being sent out of t
he pillar of light, and she knew that she would be faced with Cha-sak once more.

  This time, she knew she was ready to face him.

  As predicted, the demon was waiting for her. He immediately sent a beam of darkness, aimed directly at her heart.

  Adesina lifted her hand, and the deadly beam simply disappeared.

  Cha-sak’s ruby eyes widened in disbelief.

  He raised his arms as he gathered more shadows to him, and he sent an even larger beam of darkness hurtling toward the young Serraf.

  She lifted her hand again and the beam disappeared.

  “What have you done?” he demanded. “How is this possible?”

  Adesina had a flash of insight as she answered. “It is possible because I have been entrusted with the power of Light, whereas you are merely a tool of the Darkness.”

  Cha-sak openly sneered at her. “I am the embodiment of Darkness, I receive all of its powers.”

  The young woman shook her head. “No, you are nothing more than a pawn.”

  The demon hissed with rage.

  “How could you be anything more?” Adesina went on. “The Darkness is selfish and would never trust itself fully to the hands of any creature. The Darkness knows only how to manipulate and to consume.”

  “You speak as though Darkness and Light are sentient,” Cha-sak said, “but that is not true.”

  Adesina inclined her head. “You are right, but they have innate qualities that never change. You can grasp at as much Darkness as your being can hold, but it will never be yours. You will never truly master it.”

  “You think you have become the master of Light?” scoffed the Shimat.

  “No,” answered Adesina truthfully. “I am not the master of Light, but I have been accepted by it. I have become a part of it, and therefore it is a part of me.”

  Cha-sak spoke with hate dripping from his words. “Does that mean you now have the power to defeat me?”

  “I do.”

  Suddenly, Adesina knew what the decision was.

  She did have the power to defeat Cha-sak. She could burn him from existence, if she so chose.

  The question was: would she?

  There was no doubt that Adesina hated the demon. He had ordered the murder of her father, and Rajan, and countless others. He was drenched in the blood of her people, and she knew he was glad to have killed each and every one of them. Cha-sak reveled in his alliance with Darkness, and he would never return to the Light.

  Would it not be better to destroy him?

  If Adesina destroyed Cha-sak, the Darkness within him would be destroyed as well. The loss of so much Darkness would cause an imbalance in the universe. Under normal circumstances, something would happen to bring balance back to Light and Dark. However, Adesina knew instinctively that they had entered the brief span of time when the balance of the universe could be permanently changed.

  Two choices were before her. She could destroy Cha-sak—along with the Darkness within him—and the balance of the universe would shift in favor of Light. Or she could allow Cha-sak to live, which would mean allowing him to continue to fight until Darkness prevailed.

  She knew she could not allow Cha-sak to win, but Ruon’s words haunted her mind. The Laithur had warned her that it was a heavy matter to bring an Immortal to an end, and Adesina knew that he was right.

  Could she live with herself, knowing that she had made that decision? Was the fate of the universe more important than a single life?

  Her Shimat training had taught her that the ends justify the means, but the L’avan believed otherwise. She was inclined to follow L’avan teachings, but what if this choice was simply too important?

  She could not allow Darkness to win, but would Light truly prevail if she had to destroy a life to accomplish it?

  There is a third choice.

  Ravi’s voice was calm, and it brought her back from the edge of frantic indecision.

  The import of his words slowly penetrated Adesina’s mind, and she felt a weight lift from her heart.

  There was a third choice.

  She raised Falcon and pointed the blade at Cha-sak. “I will not destroy you, Lord of the Shimat. It is not worth risking my soul to destroy yours.”

  “What will you do?” asked Cha-sak quietly.

  Adesina was shocked to realize that the demon accepted that she could do anything she wished to him. He was acknowledging her superiority over him.

  She used her Blood Sword to draw a rectangle in the air, and a new Threshold began to form.

  “You will be banished from all worlds where you might cause harm. All those who have sworn their allegiance to you shall be bound to share your fate.”

  The Threshold was a gateway filled with endless black, and the force of the vacuum on the other side began to pull Cha-sak toward it.

  The demon shrieked in fury and fear. “No! It is not possible!”

  Adesina’s voice thundered with authority, and the words that she spoke came through her as if from another source.

  “You have embraced the Darkness, and now you shall know nothing else. You are cast from this world to the darkest corner of the universe, and there you will stay for all eternity.”

  Cha-sak’s claws scraped at the gateway as he tried to pull himself free. His efforts were futile. The vacuum drew him in, swallowing his final scream.

  Adesina raised Falcon once more and slashed across the newly formed Threshold. Golden lines crisscrossed the black gateway, and it began to shudder. The Threshold collapsed in on itself and exploded, becoming nothing more than a few motes in the air.

  There was no way for Cha-sak and his followers to escape their prison now. The Threshold that had sent them there had been destroyed.

  Cha-sak could cause no more harm, but his soul remained intact.

  And so the balance of the universe remained intact.

  Adesina smiled.

  Chapter Fifty-One: The Boon

  Adesina found herself standing in the Thieves’ Forest once more. She felt disoriented and empty, for she was no longer filled with the power that had flowed through her only moments before.

  She looked down and saw that she was wearing her L’avan armor, and a glance behind her revealed that she no longer possessed the large feathered wings. Anyone who looked at her now would have no idea of the transformation she had gone through.

  Ravi loped up to her, and she could tell by the look in his eyes that he was all too aware of her experience, even if it wasn’t physically apparent.

  “Ma’eve. You saved us all.”

  His voice was filled with emotion, and Adesina felt her own eyes filling with tears.

  “I did not do it alone,” she said with a trembling smile.

  Adesina looked past her guardian and saw L’iam sprinting toward her. All efforts to control her emotion were abandoned as she rushed to his arms. She sobbed openly as she buried her face in his shoulder.

  “I am so proud of you,” L’iam murmured into her hair. “I love you so much.”

  “I love you, too,” she laughed as she wiped away her tears. “What happened to the battle? Is it over?”

  L’iam grinned as his eyes met hers. “We could hear you banish Cha-sak. Your voice rolled over this forest like thunder. The Shimat and the mercenaries made a hasty retreat when they realized what had happened to their leader.”

  Adesina’s relief only lasted a moment. “We have not seen the last of the Shimat,” she said, knowing it to be true. “We will be fighting them for many years yet.”

  “The organization is gone, though,” pointed out Ravi, who was standing at a respectful distance from the couple. “They may cause trouble as individuals or as small groups, but they will never again be what they once were.”

  L’iam nodded in agreement. “Hestia has gained the respect of all those who have fought here. I have no doubt that she will be established as queen of Sehar. She is not likely to let the Shimat regain the power that they used to have.”

  Adesina saw
Ruon, Sitara, and Riel approaching through the trees. Each Immortal’s face was wreathed in smiles and glowing with pride. Ruon looked strange with such unreserved approval in his expression.

  “We felt you call upon us, and so we each stood with you during your battle,” said Sitara. “We could see through your eyes, and we could hear the thoughts of your heart.”

  Adesina’s face warmed. She hadn’t realized that her Immortal allies had been witness to her personal struggle.

  Ruon placed a slender hand on Adesina’s shoulder. “You proved yourself to be everything that we hoped you would be, Threshold Child. I was proud to stand with you against Cha-sak.”

  “We all were,” added Riel.

  “Thank you,” Adesina said sincerely. “Thank you for standing with me.”

  Sitara gave a brilliant smile. “Now we can free our brothers and sisters from their prison.”

  Adesina’s brow furrowed as she thought about the concerns that had been voiced regarding that very issue.

  “Where will the Immortals go?”

  Sitara seemed rather surprised by the question. “Wherever they wish, of course.”

  Ruon appeared to understand Adesina’s reservations, and he spoke up calmly. “This world belongs to humans now. They have been the sole rulers for a long time. They may not take kindly to the Immortals taking that from them.”

  “They cannot stay where they are,” argued Sitara. “This world is our home.”

  There were a few moments of uncomfortable silence, but L’iam was the one to present a solution.

  “The mountains of Pevothem are not inhabited by the L’avan. The Immortals could begin their settlements there and expand as humankind becomes accustomed to their presence.”

  Adesina smiled at her husband. “Yes, that is perfect.”

  Sitara and Ruon seemed to agree, and Riel glanced at Ravi. “It will be a good opportunity for the Rashad to reunite.”

  “Can you create a new Threshold for them to pass through?” asked Sitara.

  Adesina nodded, feeling reasonably confident. “I will do it after the aftermath of this war has been resolved.”

  The Immortals nodded in agreement before walking away. They all had work to do, and their work was just beginning.