It had been at that moment when the grim reaper was about to seize her, that she felt the light shroud her broken and scarred body. She had opened her eyes to find the now familiar green splendour had encased her, and she soon found herself whisked away from her home to be brought into this war. She had found herself at the centre of a conflict that had raged for over a thousand years. Yet it was here amongst these alien races that she had found the love and protection that her own family, let alone race had failed to offer her.
“Karolina,” a deep, rumbling voice reverberated around the room and caused her mind to focus.
She jolted back into reality and bowed slightly, never quite sure if she was performing the custom correctly, “Leader.”
“How many times do I have to tell you not to do that, you make me feel like my father,” The leader replied quietly, his voice rich, in soft, gentle tones.
She studied the strange little fellow closely, as he waddled over to the table, his thin ebony legs always seemed to her like at any minute that would simply collapse under the weight of his muscular torso.
“One more time at least,” she beamed. Her eyes drawn to the iridescent cobalt scales which covered the leader’s body, they seemed to sparkle as he trundled and for an instant she was almost mesmerized by them.
She allowed herself to take in the rest of his appearance, four powerful arms flapped around seemingly independent to the rest of his body, which gave him a gangly almost floundering look, and yet she knew only too well that was far from the truth. She studied his face, sleek, elongated and proud. It possessed neither a nose nor ears, or at least not any that she could discern, instead two large, yellow, bulbous eyes, with hues of orange were fixed on her. While a small almost delicate mouth broke into a warm and automatically disarming smile, which revealed a set of uneven and jagged teeth.
“Enough formalities,” his arms were gesticulating wildly, which made her think of a policeman attempting to direct traffic. “Please sit down, you know that I am getting too old to be standing up for very long.”
Karolina chuckled with him, how he was still able to keep his humour intact when so much was falling down around them, was indeed a small if substantial miracle.
“Thank you.” She replied effortlessly as she sat down.
“Lessai tells me that you were outside again,” the leader edged his hulking frame into the chair and sighed contently, before continuing. “You know how dangerous that is, even with the shield?”
Karolina glimpsed the small animal clutched in her hand and her memory flickered. Once again she saw the necropolis that the surface had become, covered in the filthy powder, the remains of the billions that had been slain and their spectres forced to haunt the gloom for eternity. “I do leader,” her jaw tense as she fought to stifle her sorrow. “I wanted to see the destruction for myself. I needed to see it.”
The leader viewed her intently, his eyes narrowed as if he was about to admonish her and then instead he leaned back in the chair. “It is alright my child, I understand. It is sad to see such beauty destroyed, do you not agree?”
“It is leader,” Her answer was flat and robotic, as if she was simply repeating some pre-programmed message. Once again she saw the faces under the ocean, the ghouls and dead eyes, fastened on her, not in anger but in a haunted regret.
“Yes we have lost so much, more than I can even put into words,” the leader’s eyelids flickered shut tightly as if he was trying to block out the anguish.
After a few moments it was Karolina who spoke, “Leader?”
“I am sorry my child,” his eyes shot open and she thought she saw tears trickle slowly over the smooth flesh on his cheeks. “You never did see the city before this war and for that I am sorry. It was a magnificent sight to behold, one of the twenty wonders of Council space. Tourists used to journey from hundreds of millions of light years away just to see it for themselves. Many said that it could even heal your soul,” He peered past her and seemed lost, in some half abandoned imagining. “I have lived too long child, and seen too many of our worlds burn. I have watched city after city fall to our enemy and seen whole galaxies set aflame. No one should have to witness such butchery, however that is the way of the universe and we must not let the misery consume us.”
“It has been a long conflict leader,” Karolina selected her next words carefully, knowing the answer already and yet still needing to hear it. “Can there be no victory?”
The leader’s lips curled into a thin smile, and he observed her closely, his head pivoted slightly to one side. “You already know the answer to that my child.” His grin broadened, “But I like that you asked the question, your heart has always been strong and it was one of the things that we first recognized about you and your race.”
“Then this is where it will all end?” Karolina replied, as instinctively her hand gripped the stuffed animal tightly.
“Yes this is where the Council will end child, for over a thousand years we have fought the darkness, however our war is now finished.”
Before he could continue Karolina interjected, her tone harder now and laced with anger, “Then we will die fighting them, make them bleed for every inch of ground that they take, make then remember us.” She felt the now almost familiar tingle, in her fingers as her own primal talents prepared themselves.
The leader didn’t reply at first, he looked upon her, his eyes filled with sorrow and to her it seemed like he was peering directly into her soul. “Some of us will die here, my child, however my hope is that not all of us will,” a large tongue moved casually over his scaled lips, “I would see the Council survive.”
“You have a plan for some of the civilians to escape then?”
“Yes a plan has been in motion for some time, we have known for years that eventually this day would come. We fought against it, did everything we could to turn the tide, however, as my father used to say, hope for the best and yet plan for the worst.” He paused and drew in a slight gasp of air. “You have learnt much since you came to us child, you were so broken, so damaged by all that had happened,” he clenched his teeth and she could almost feel his ire, yet it dissipated quickly. “I have been fortunate to witness you blossom into a young women, proud, strong, kind, compassionate and with power that you have yet to fully realize.”
The figure of the old man, projected within her mind and caused Karolina’s soul to stir. “Something happened while I was on the surface,” She said cautiously. She had so much that she wanted to tell him, yet still the words to fully articulate what had happened escaped her.
“I don’t know if I can fully explain it.”
The leader interjected, “You don’t have to child,” his smile lessened. “I am all too aware of your power and what you are capable of. The spell weavers could sense your dormant gifts, which is why we took you from your world.”
She wanted to tell him about the wizened bard, the bleakness of the ocean and the spirits that besieged it. “I don’t understand it Leader,” she spluttered.
“I know my child and I wish that we had more time,” he sighed. “However that is something that we have finally run out of. The one thing that you must believe is that you must not fear this gift that you possess, in time I am sure that you will learn to control it and channel it. Eventually I hope that you will even be a match for our enemy.” He fastened his gaze upon her again, “I wish more than anything that this burden was not for you to carry child, you have already been through so much and suffered more than any soul should have to.”
Karolina felt tears well in her eyes, and sought to bring her feelings under control,
“We have all suffered Leader.”
“That is true child, however your pain is almost beyond imagination and it is troubling to us.” He frowned and his features puckered. “Humans are indeed a puzzle to us, you’re capable of acts of beauty, kindness, compassion, heroism and love. You can create stunning pieces of music, art and literature, which can lift your souls. Howev
er then you are capable of the most extreme acts of violence and barbarity, you torture and rape each other and even kill millions of your own people because they practice a different religion or have different colour skin or choose someone of the same sex to love.”
There was a slight pause and Karolina realised it was to facilitate a response, “I don’t believe I am the right person to ask about my race Leader.”
“Why?”
“Because now I would consider myself to be part of the Council, the human race gave me nothing, after giving me life, except pain and suffering. While here I have been cared for, nurtured in a way that I never thought existed.”
The leader beamed, “You are very much human my child and that is something I would never want you to forget. Everything that I admire in your race I see in you. I have always believed that all sentient beings are basically the same, in that we all have only this thin sheen of civilisation that covers up the primal animal which lurks just below the surface. Do not think for one minute my child that the races that made up the council were in some way perfect or pure. They too were always just one step away from that primitive beast. We built societies, created laws and rules on how we should live and treat others and we attempted to give every living soul the same rights and freedoms. We discovered the origins of our various species, and even the origins of the very universe itself. However I have seen how quickly all that can be thrown away, seen the will to survive, drive people to do appalling things,” he hesitated and brought two of his hands up clumsily and rubbed his eyes. “There is so much that you do not yet know and that is our fault. That is my fault. We always thought that we would have more time, perhaps its hubris, that now our time has run out. The war that you have found yourself dragged into has been raging for longer than you know, for longer than I know, perhaps even back to the very creation of this universe. However our war against the darkness has raged now for over a thousand years. Each year we lost more, our enemies possess powers which even we do not fully understand. They have weapons and technology which seems to exist outside of space and time. Our tactic for so long has been strategic retreat, we keep fighting until we can’t and then we fall back. From planet to planet, system to system, galaxy to galaxy, losing more planets and soldiers to this endless cycle of conflict and finally we had no more places to full back to. I have watched children grow to fight alongside a mother or father and then grandchildren to join all of them in the fray. This is the end of the line though, the shield which has been our only defence against a full scale invasion, grows weaker by the hour and soon the dark ones will breach this subterranean fortress, and the Council will finally fall.”
Karolina couldn’t keep quiet any longer, “Then we will fight them until they do, death will take us and I am not afraid of that.”
His gaze turned to her, compassion glistered within it. “I know you do not child, however I fear it for you and I would see you live a long and happy life. Far from this dead place and this war. Do you remember your home before you were brought here?”
“Yes I remember Earth.”
“How long do you believe that you have been here Karolina?”
“Is this a trick question leader?” she asked hesitantly.
“No my child, it is not.”
“I have been here for five years.”
“Indeed my child you have been awake for five years. However you have been with us for far longer. When we first came to your planet, this war was in its infancy, we thought that we might be able to find something that could help us. Yet when we saw that you had yet to master faster than light travel, we realized that you would be of little help against the Dark Ones. Nevertheless some our spell weavers discovered that the minds of some of your race, possessed abilities that appeared to be lying dormant. It was power that we had never seen before and the closest thing to rival our enemies’ strength. So some of your race, including you, were brought here.” As he spoke he managed to drag himself up, massaging his legs to get the blood flowing as he manoeuvred himself around the table to stand next to her and his hand drifted to her shoulder. “That was over a thousand years ago, a great deal of that time was spent on the long and dangerous journey back here.”
“How is that possible?” Karolina asked as she took hold of the Leaders hand tenderly as a babe reaching up from its cot would.
The leader’s hand gripped hers tightly, “We held your bodies in a form of stasis, slowing time around you, so that to you only a few moments would pass, however here hundreds of years would go by. During that time our scientist and spell weavers studied your minds. We sought to understand and perhaps even harness the latent abilities that you all possess, in the hope that we could use it and perhaps even destroy the dark ones. However we simply ran out of time. When we knew the end was coming we removed you and your companions from stasis.”
“You said companion’s leader, but I have neither seen nor heard of any other humans here?” As she spoke she thought of the old man, could he have like her been brought here, so far from the place they had called home.
The leader took her head in his hands, “I am sorry child I wanted to tell you, however you must trust me that the secret was necessary.” he grinned, “They have been kept separate from all but a chosen few. They have been in training.”
“In training for what leader?” she enquired, keeping his gaze.
“Training for the war that is still to come,” the leader answered calmly as he let go of her face. “The time of the Council is at an end my child, however the Dark Ones will not stop with us, whatever desire or force that drives them, can never be satisfied. They are like a Cimmerian plague that spreads nothing but death and destruction and soon they will seek out Earth and the human race.” There was a break and he looked at her deeply, “You must leave here Karolina, a ship has been prepared for you, Lessai will travel with you, along with the Alas the most ancient and loyal warriors that the Council have. They will all be joined by your human comrades as well as those children who still live.” His smile now broad again, “You see my child, not only can you save your own people but you can also save mine or at least what is left of us. Our only hope that once far from this place, the council will be borne again.”
Next to her a figure appeared, he seemed to move seamlessly through the wall as if he was simply walking through air. She recognised him immediately as Sepital, the Leaders War-Chief. He cut a striking figure, every inch the warrior and a creature bred for battle. Two long reptilian legs rose to meet a drawn out, sleek body, whose mint flesh seemed to be covered in some kind of translucent material. His attenuated head was topped by a scaled fin, which seemed to wave proudly, a badge of his office which was only removed after his death. Two large, dark, oval and lidless eyes glistened like obsidian.
“Leader, the Dark Ones mass outside the shield,” Sepital hissed loudly, as a forked tongue flickered from a mouth which seemed devoid of teeth.
“Thank you my friend.” The leader studied her and said everything with his eyes that he could not articulate himself. “It is time for you to leave my child, Sepital will guide you to your ship.”
“Yes leader,” she replied fleetingly, once again a tempest of sentiment was unleashed inside her body, this alien being had been the closest thing to a father she had ever known. He had shown her only love and compassion and now she knew that she would never see him again.
“I will always love you child,” he croaked, his voice layered with affection. “I never had any kin of my own but in you, I see all I would have wished for, you will carry on the Council and you will live. Perhaps one day I can hope that this war will finally be over and you will be able to find some peace and happiness.” Tears brimmed in his eyes, “You deserve that my child, more than any others I have ever met.”
Her own voice trembled and her throat was abruptly dry, “I love you too leader,” she sighed.
“May you always walk within the light, my child.”
“To us both,” Kar
olina retorted, as she took one last look into the leaders kindly eyes, burning his image into her memory. Before she followed Sepital through the shimmering wall and into the darkened corridor beyond, knowing that she would never see the Leader again.
The leader sat alone in stunned stillness, within his mind images flashed, friends long since lost, planets encompassed in fire, young soldiers begging for someone to save them as they lay dying, and more scenes of carnage and destruction, which he could barely put into words. For the first time in over five hundred years he felt fear stab at his very soul. Above his head the ground began to shake violently, as the Dark Ones finally breached the shield, dirt and dust fell from the ceiling like the first snowflakes of winter.
“ALERT, ALERT, THE SHIELD HAS BEEN BREACHED, ALL PERSONNEL TO DEFENSIVE POSTIONS. FOR THE COUNCIL” A calm computerised voice resonated through the walls.
For some reason he thought about Seraphim, the one female in his whole life that he had truly loved, the story played out before him now, as a slideshow of pictures. The first time he had caught sight of her, in the medical station, her white coat covered in filth and tarnished fluid, hair pulled back tightly and her face soiled, yet her four eyes had gleamed and within them he had seen so much life, so much love. The first night they had spent together, awkward as all such encounters are, but tender, the weeks spent together afterwards, passion and lust, growing into love. The day they had married beneath the cover of an ancient tree. The day she had told him she was pregnant and then finally the last moments of her life. The laser rifle had killed the child that she was carrying and she kept apologising, rivers of tears flowing over her pallid cheeks. He had held her until the last gasp had escaped her body and then he had laid her down gently.
He felt warm liquid trickle down his face, and he allowed the rage and anger to once again rise from his gut. The dark ones had taken everything from him and now he would make them pay, and make them bleed. He would slay as many as he could before death would take him.
The First Dawn (The Sci-Corp War Saga Book 1) Page 4
