“Leave now,” Cogeni said, disgusted.
“Do you so hate your faith you would disrespect it by taking this … this heathen as your beloved? Or is it just out of spite for your mother?”
“Mother? You wouldn’t know the first thing about being one.” His eyes flooded with venom. “You hide behind a twisted version of our faith, so carefully controlling the world around you. You forget what Demas has given you—the life you were supposed to live, and the family you were blessed with.”
“And that would make you the perfect son, I’d imagine? Selfishly running from your preordained duty to Demas and our people.” She threw her hands in the air. “Round and round we go. You know, you haven’t changed either.” She shook her head in disapproval. “This conversation is tiring. You are coming back and taking your rightful place.”
“Never listening, as always. The answer remains—no.”
Allia and a bristling Ichini moved between Cogeni and De’Genico.
“Nikko and Cogeni aren’t going anywhere they don’t want to go!” Allia blurted. As she spoke, Mencari and Naijen flanked Cogeni while Seigie moved in front of Nikko.
Another derisive laugh bellowed from the High Priestess. “Oh, you are very correct, little one. They aren’t going. She is staying down here. He is returning to Demassen.”
Mencari tensed. Arguing with the leader of their faith while in the presence of Nukari wasn’t exactly keeping a low profile.
Naijen growled, “Hey, High Pruneface, take a hike—right off that pier there.”
A faint aura appeared around the woman’s neck and shoulders. Naijen and Mencari felt a tap on their shoulders from Cogeni, and weren’t so much pushed as launched out of the way. Allia ducked and squealed when bolts of energy streaked from the woman’s hands and stuck Cogeni.
He cried out as he was propelled backward.
“Cogi!” Nikko screamed.
Naijen shook his head, a befuddled expression on his face, while Mencari looked back, wide-eyed. Did De’Genico have D’mar lineage? He noticed the same question swimming in Seigie’s eyes.
Nikko ran to Cogeni, but he motioned her back. “I’m all right. Stay back.”
He pushed himself to his feet and addressed the High Priestess in a voice that sounded more like a growl. “You dare come here! Tracking me like an animal, flaunting your power, attacking my friends, and then demanding my return?”
“Must you be so dramatic? You must get that from your father.”
“I left because you’re a hypocrite! You call yourself High Priestess—you aren’t worthy of the title. You spout glorious ideals of how things should be, then pick and choose what you actually do—all the while holding others to a higher standard. When something isn’t convenient, it’s simply forgotten until it is again. Ideals, morals, people … it’s all the same for you, and all the rest up there in Demassen. I’d rather be here in the slums of Selsamed with sinners than in a gilded delusion. I’ll take real people—who know me and trust me—and love me! Me, Cogeni, not some avatar of the gods, heir to your blighted throne.”
His eyes closed as he forced his body into an unnatural stillness. After a moment, a priestly composure returned.
“No,” he said. “I will never go back. I won’t live your lie.”
“Cogeni, enough of this nonsense,” De’Genico said. “You will return—to the people who want to know you, and trust and love you—the people who need you. And if you think I’m so bad … here’s your chance to change all the wrongs I’ve done.”
An ornately dressed apparition emerged from her angry radiance. “You must take your place as the High Priest!”
Commander Whemel took a nervous step back.
“Even if I have to force you,” she said in rising desperation as the apparition unleashed larger bolts of energy at Cogeni.
“Cogi!” Nikko screamed.
He closed his eyes and an ornate crest of energy appeared before him, shattering the bolts as they hit.
“You would wield your faith as a sword?” he said. “Demas is the great harbinger of life, protector of the innocent, conquering through love, not deceit and submission. How far you have fallen.”
Through gritted teeth he added, “And you will not take me, or harm anyone else!”
He pulled back his sleeve to reveal a strand of ornate beads around his forearm. As he gripped the strand, jagged rays of light radiated from it. “I found them, Mother. All of them.”
The woman squinted at the beads. “What new nonsense do you have there, Cogeni?”
“Behold the legacy!”
The light spread from the beads backward, swathing his body in a robe of light. She took a half step back, but when she spoke, her unsteady voice still held defiance. “No! They’re … They’re just a myth!”
“They’re no myth.” The brightness began to form a blinding aura around him. “The sacred beads Demas prayed upon are very real.”
As he lifted his hand above his head, rays of light burned away the darkness around them. The toxic clouds dissolved. She stepped back farther as he cried out, “Walk with me in my hour of need, and smite those that shadow your holy light—DIVINE SEAL!”
A shower of colored radiance poured over her, and the angry glow and apparition disappeared. As if gravity had magnified, she was shoved to her knees. Commander Whemel ran to her side, calling for reinforcements and brandishing his gun.
“Stop!” she commanded. “Do not touch him!”
Allia looked out over the water, eyes wide with fear. “Rhysus … I hear them.”
Mencari looked down at her, not understanding. Following her gaze, he realized what she meant. A shrieked roar resonated near the end of the pier, capturing everyone’s attention. Tubular bodies rose from the water.
“Yetari!” Whemel shouted to the soldiers. “Fall back!”
De’Genico peered toward the huge tentacles waving from the water.
“What—what are those?” she said to the soldiers, panicked.
Ignoring her question, the rest of the soldiers fled into the darkness, leaving De’Genico and Whemel behind.
“Ask your friends what they are,” Cogeni said. “They seem to know.”
As he spoke, he glowed with greater brilliance. “No sense in hiding anymore. Nikko, I’m sorry!”
He ran toward the water.
“Wait!” she cried, and chased after him as the Demas Beads glowed in rainbow colors. The energy leaped toward the water, enveloped the creatures and lifted them in the air. Drifting toward land, the creatures were brought into striking distance.
“That will hold them,” Cogeni said, looking back to Nikko. He gasped as her body radiated light.
“Nikko no!” he begged.
“No more hiding—we’ll do this together!”
With a quick tug, her protective garb ripped off. Her dreadlocks unfurled, revealing its length well past her hips. Moving as if to music, her body throbbed and waved. With each snap of her hands and swipe of her powerful legs, blades of energy were slung through the air. The beasts passed through the rainbow light, and wailed and thrashed as their bodies were ripped apart.
Mencari stood there, stunned. Not only had they found one with D’mok abilities, they found three. If there were three, how many more were there?
“Not gonna sit here—wanna play!” Naijen ran toward the helpless beasts. Whemel also ran toward the water, firing at the creatures. Mencari activated his hand-phaser and charged for a high-powered blast.
Cogeni grabbed his head and staggered. The beads’ glimmering faded a bit, allowing one of the creatures to slip from the rainbow light and drop to land.
While he fought to gather his senses, the creature floundered angrily toward Cogeni.
“Awww yeah!” Naijen gripped the Skar and raged forward. Allia bared the Flower Blade and attacked with him. With deadly precision, the two slashed deep into the beast, severed the arms, then impaled their blades through its spinal column. An agonized shriek escaped the be
ast before it fell dead.
Mencari saw Cogeni’s face twist in pain.
“You have to consolidate your power, Cogeni!” De’Genico cried. “Channel it against the real enemy!”
He looked to her, eyes conflicted, filled with doubt.
“Please,” she entreated. “Let me help.”
Shaking on unsteady legs, he lifted the beads high and cried out, “Demas, grant me your strength.”
A golden glow washed over him and the beads beamed with rainbow-hued light.
She shouted, “Mighty one, forgive those that bring us pain—Divinity Release!”
In a gentle burst of light, the seal that had formed around her vanished. Her fitful glow returned as she pushed to her feet, and ran toward her son. Energy crackled in her hands and she reached forward, sending a flurry of energy bolts at the remaining creatures.
Dropping to his knees, Cogeni lowered the Demas Beads. As the rainbow light faded, the burnt carcass fell, its cooked skin hissing, onto the beach.
* * * * *
“Are you okay?” Nikko said at Cogeni’s side.
“I will be,” he panted.
De’Genico looked over the slain creatures, then shrieked at Whemel, “These things! Were they property of the Nukari?”
Cogeni shuddered, and looked up at his mother as she spoke the very name Mencari had warned about. Whemel remained silent.
“You actually knew about the Nukari?” Cogeni said in disbelief.
“Knew of the Nukari?” De’Genico replied. “I sent them here to find you.”
“To find me?” His dirt-smeared cheeks flushed. “Do you even know what they’ve been doing down here?”
“Of course—looking for you—for years—quietly. Like I told them to—”
Blupp and Pultch ran out of the Hovel, along with a number of healed dockworkers.
“We saw what happened from inside.” Blupp looked as if he’d seen a specter. “Cogeni … you are one of them?”
“Hey, it’s De’Genico,” a dockworker yelled. “Get her!”
In seconds, people emerged from every direction and encircled them, bearing hastily grabbed-up sticks and rocks, and seemingly anything else they could get their hands on. As the mob descended, Cogeni activated the power of the Demas Beads and erected a protective barrier around the group. De’Genico stood in the middle of the barrier, startled by the reception. The mob began to pound on it, trying to get to her.
She looked at her son with terrified eyes. “What—what is this?”
Cogeni sighed. “The so-called love you’ve fostered, Mother. And now, everyone will loathe me as they do you.”
Blupp and Pultch pushed their way through the mob to the edge of the barrier. “Nikko, Cogi,” Blupp said. The man’s eyes held a mix of confusion and hurt, yet also abiding affection. “You’ve been like children to us.”
“You are not your mother,” Pultch said, breaking his usual silence. “We understand even if they don’t.”
Cogeni shook his head, imploring his fellow workers, “I’m still just me. Nothing’s changed.”
The dockworker, who’d seen the entire exchange, growled, “Liar! Deceiver … just like De’Genico!”
Cogeni looked at the man, desperate to plead his case. “I’ve done nothing but help everyone here!”
“Blupp … Pultch.” Nikko spoke with heavy sadness. “They won’t forgive this, I know it.”
“You know how everyone feels about her,” Blupp spat, looking with hatred at De’Genico. “You won’t be safe here now.”
“No!” Nikko screamed. “You’re all the family we have left! Where would we go?”
De’Genico heard and offered eagerly, “To Demassen!”
The angry mob roared and pounded harder on the shield. Sobbing, Nikko began to dance. Tears flowed over the gentle curves of her face as she moved with an outward grace not felt within.
The mob gradually grew quiet. Mencari felt the same calm, almost happy sense he had the first time he saw her dance.
Is she also an empath?
Blupp and Pultch dispersed the oddly pacified crowd, which allowed Cogeni to bring down the protective barrier and catch his breath. Defeated, he said, “Fine, we’re leaving.”
“Oh, my son, I have prayed … every day for years … for this moment.” De’Genico spoke with breaking grief and a resurrecting love.
“But not without Nikko and my friends,” Cogeni added, expectant.
She looked across the group, her eyes reflecting her revulsion. With a heavy nod, she relented. “Very well.”
“Come with us!” Nikko called to Blupp and Pultch.
“You’ve been like a daughter to me, and Cogeni a son. You know Pultch and I are needed here.” Blupp placed his hand on her shoulder. “Promise me you’ll find a place where the toxins don’t cover your skin—where you’ll be able to breathe without masks. Where you can truly live!”
They embraced. “Staying here will only make this harder,” Pultch added. “We love you both.”
Blupp and Pultch took the last of the bystanders with them back to the B.P. Hovel. Mencari and the group, including Commander Whemel, followed De’Genico to the southern cargo lift, and were soon headed up to the surface.
“This is for the best, my son,” De’Genico purred, placing an arm around Cogeni … an embrace he shook off with enough force to make the lift wobble.
“We’re not staying,” he snapped. “This is all your doing. All of it!”
De’Genico gasped. “What do you mean?”
Burning eyes bored into hers. “Why was I almost beaten to death when I first entered Selsamed?”
“Because they’re barbarians, living in a world without Demas—”
“Give it a rest, Mother! They hate you! Along with all of that ‘worship Demas for the evil things you’ve done’ nonsense. And you, a High Priestess?” Disgust showed in the angry lines of his face. “You, who didn’t even have faith that the Demas Beads were real!”
“Cogeni, I—” she stammered, eyes pleading.
A bright light broke through the toxin-filled clouds. Allia gasped, “The storm’s over!”
* * * * *
“You!” De’Genico barked at Whemel, eyes ablaze. “Wait in my chambers. I’ll deal with you when I am done. I ordered you to find my son, not to terrorize the entire Smog Sea!”
A wicked satisfaction stirred within Cogeni as he watched the Nukari dog shrink before his mother. All the trouble the Nukari caused—all the death. Perhaps his mother would do something to correct what was done, but she could never fully undo it.
He took vindictive pleasure in watching Whemel slink away, an energy that didn’t feel right. He offered a silent prayer to Demas for serenity.
As if in answer, the melodies and discords of a still bustling Rising Festival sang to him. A flood of childhood memories floated through his mind. His mother was always too busy to go, even when he pleaded. In her stead, his father treated him to their own annual pilgrimage. It was those hectic, rampaging weekends where he learned the most about the man he called Father, and the deeper truths about himself. Their tradition ended when an unexpected illness took his father. Not a year later, he fled into the Smog Sea, to escape the religious order—and his mother.
“Cogi,” De’Genico interrupted his thoughts. “I need you with me. Not just for the people. For us.”
There was a rare desperation in her eyes. It didn’t change what he felt, but it gave him hope for her soul.
“You still don’t understand,” he said, his voice a near-moan. “I won’t. And I can’t stay in Demassen.”
“Come with us, then,” Mencari said. “Fight against the Nukari.”
“There’s so much you don’t know about me yet, Rhysus. So much I need to tell you before you make such an offer.”
Gratefully taking the new topic, De’Genico blurted, “Fight the Nukari? They’re puppets, no real threat!”
Adrenaline shot through Cogeni like a spear; her comment was met wit
h his cold glare. “You don’t even know or understand what they were doing down there!” he said, unable to temper his delivery. “They pretended to be your dogs, but instead played you like a fool.”
“I …” she stopped, confused.
“I don’t want to hear your excuses. It was wrong, and you can’t take back how Nikko’s father was murdered by Nukari creatures, or all the others. And in due course, whatever they’re up to down there will affect Demassen. By then, it will be too late.”
“I … will deal with the matter,” she said with an angry confidence. “But … but you must stay, Cogeni.”
“No,” he said, though their options were few. They couldn’t return to the Smog Sea, or stay in Demassen near his mother.
“We could really use your help,” Mencari said.
He sighed, acquiescing. “We’ll go with Rhysus.”
De’Genico looked down, shamed. He didn’t enjoy seeing his mother like that, but remorse for her sins was another sign there was hope for her—and for his people. She raised her head, her regal façade restored.
“Then … travel safely,” she said. “Please allow me to take you to their ship.”
She paraded them through the streets and corridors. Patrons, partygoers, and the faithful, all parted reverently before them. Those inside the elevator cleared out for the holy entourage. Up in the spacedock their vessel waited, unharmed. As they boarded, a deep swell of emotion filled Cogeni. Not only was he leaving his world, but seeing his mother—even under these circumstances—felt good.
“It’s good to …” He paused to temper the swell of emotion. His mother’s still-desperate and longing eyes bored into him. “I’ve missed you, you know.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “Cogi … I only wanted—”
His arms wrapped around her. He held her tight, and smiled when she reciprocated. Despite their differences, there was something about a mother’s embrace that transcended everything in life. No matter past transgressions, the arguments and differences, being held by his mother brought him peace inside, made him feel whole again.
D'mok Revival: The Nukari Invasion Anthology Page 42
