D'mok Revival: The Nukari Invasion Anthology

by Michael Zummo

  “They are my guardians,” Cerna said. “The guardians of this temple. They will protect me while—”

  “While what?” he interrupted.

  She hesitated. “While I’m one with the temple.”

  To his look of disapproval she said, “Atry, it’s the only way to save our people!”

  The guardians moved aside to allow them passage, and the massive doors swung open. Inside was a sterile room with the large crystal cylinder; a portal-like opening at one side led to a darkened space inside.

  “Are you ready for this?” the man said, his voice heavy.

  “It’s not a matter of being ready, it’s needed right now. Only the temple’s power can stop Sabereth—and the Dark Lords.”

  “What if the temple doesn’t let you go?”

  “Then I will be no worse off than the rest of our people.”

  They approached the cylinder and moved around to the back. She lifted her glaive high and charged it with a brilliant blue-white energy. With care, she placed it into slots between the device and the stone conduit in the wall. The moment it touched, the very light of the room seemed to be sucked into the cylinder, making it glow intensely. She breathed hard and made her way toward the now-glowing portal opening.

  “Cerna,” he said, his hand on her shoulder.

  Again she hesitated, and placed her hand on his. “If this is the end, thank you for your loyalty and dedication. You’ve always been by my side.”

  “That’s what advisors are for, my Queen.”

  “No, you’ve always been so much more.”

  She stepped through the portal and into the light of the cylinder. Crystal grew over the portal, sealing it. Again the light of the room dimmed as the crystal’s grew. Her body began to glow, absorbing the swirling energies around her. Light began to radiate in patches beneath her skin. She looked nervously at them, then cringed in pain. A burst of light flared within the chamber. She screamed as her skin was torn away, leaving only a momentary outline of her body in radiant energy.

  “Cerna!” Atry cried. The ghost-like outline dissipated into a cloudy energy that filled the cylinder. The conduit against the wall flooded with power, and the entire temple shook.

  An unholy roar of anger filled the room.

  He dashed over to a stone console. There, a projection displayed the temple and great beams of energy that flared from the towers. The light was ensnaring Sabereth.

  The image glitched, then resumed. The beast’s roars were muffled as a shell of ice encased it.

  “So,” Toriko said, scanning the cylinder again. “Wait, that other moon out there—that beast’s inside?”

  Seigie said, “Seems like it—”

  “Maybe we can wake it up!” Naijen said in gleeful anticipation.

  Stealth fighters flew around the tomb of ice, approaching the towers. Atry summoned another control panel and keyed in a sequence. A dome of energy began to wash down over the temple. The fountain of light disappeared, leaving the group momentarily silent.

  “He activated the shield!” Toriko said. “And, wait, she’s still in there?”

  “Looked to me like she didn’t survive,” Seigie said. “Unless …”

  “Unless what?” Mencari said.

  “She wanted to go in there to use the temple’s power,” Seigie contemplated aloud. “What if that’s the Cosmic Link, right here: the ability to merge with this temple?”

  “What did that Atry guy mean by ‘what if the temple doesn’t let you go’?” Toriko scratched her head. “It almost made it sound alive.”

  Seigie stroked the third crystal. Before them a holographic projection of the temple with the great energy barrier appeared, along with a panel that looked like the one Atry used.

  “Here let me, photographic memory—I can redo the sequence he keyed in.”

  Repeating what she saw, Toriko entered the sequence.

  The hologram showed the great dome waver before it dissolved away like a sugar cube in a jet of water.

  The power within the cylinder began to fluctuate. The intensity of the light peaked, then faded. A section of the crystal began to melt away, reopening the portal seen in the recording. As their eyes adjusted to the dim environment, Mencari made out a new shape crumpled on the floor inside the chamber. The crown-like outline revealed the identity of the figure.

  “Cerna,” Mencari gasped.

  Toriko and Mencari hurried to the opening. Her suit beams illuminated the inside as Mencari entered.

  Cerna’s chest heaved for breath, and her eyes opened, filled with fear and confusion. “You’re the invaders,” she panted. “Why couldn’t I stop you?”

  He spoke gently to her. “We’re not here to harm you. We’re friends.” He gave a nervous chuckle. “Actually we’re friendly strangers.”

  * * * * *

  “What happened to my people?” she asked, wary of the answer.

  Her haunted eyes stared at the interlocking crescents on the wall.

  “It’s been a long time, Cerna.” Mencari knelt beside her. “We came across some Dark Lords in a distortion inside this temple, but you’re the first survivor we’ve found.”

  “How do you know my name?”

  “Qina Satri left a shrine just outside the temple,” Seigie explained.

  A knowing look covered her face. “So he escaped?”

  “His crystals told about the struggle here,” Seigie said. “Many were trapped behind an energy shield around this temple.”

  “A shield?” she said perplexed. “I never raised the shield.”

  “Atry did, after you entered this thing.” Toriko motioned to the cylinder around her.

  “How do you know this?” Cerna said.

  Toriko pointed an awkward finger to Atry’s shriveled body. “Recordings in crystals.”

  Cerna gasped and struggled to her feet.

  “Careful,” Mencari said, attempting to help brace her.

  As she stood, Mencari was forced to look up. Way up. She was at least head-and-shoulders taller than Naijen, their tallest member.

  “Eudora,” Toriko said, stunned by her height.

  Cerna forced her body through the portal and over to Atry. “You stayed with me,” she said in awe. “All this time, you’ve been …”

  Emotion wracked her Amazonian form, large hands over her face. She tried to muffle the sobs escaping her.

  “I’m going to go looking for more of those beasts to play with,” Naijen said and wandered away.

  “No, stop!” Seigie said. “If you run into more of those celestial things, you could get into trouble.”

  He scoffed.

  “Zap-zap, remember?” Seigie chided. “Or was that last brain cell really fried?”

  It was enough to make the warrior stop.

  “Celestial,” Cerna gasped, pulled from her dismay. “Sabereth, did he escape?”

  “There’s a big ice chunk floating outside,” Toriko said. “Atry’s crystal showed you using the temple to capture it. From the readings I had, I think it’s still in there.”

  Cerna’s panic cooled, and she nodded. “What about the planet?”

  Toriko’s head shook.

  “It looked completely dead,” Mencari said.

  A stoic expression came over Cerna. “Then there’s nothing left.”

  “We can take you there,” Toriko said. “We have a ship outside.”

  “Please.”

  She reached over and grabbed her glaive, now darkened and drained of power, and freed it from the device. It towered over her, great crystal blades fused to the top. Leaning close to the shriveled body she said, “Goodbye, Atry. I will never forget your dedication—or your love.”

  * * * * *

  Mencari saw Cerna’s guilty expression as they backtracked toward the exit, when she looked down at the massive D’mar emblem on the ground. “I have some questions, if you’re up for it,” he said.

  She nodded and continued forward.

  “We’re D’mar—or have ance
stry with them.”

  She stopped and turned. “You?”

  “Qina mentioned they would be disappointed with where the Lords ended. What did he mean by that? How are you connected?”

  “Our stories say we were a fledgling race when the D’mar first arrived. They helped us create a system of laws, brought order to the chaos we lived in, helped us to reach the stars and teach others. They’re how we became Lords.”

  “What about your abilities?” Seigie said. “Did your people have them before the D’mar arrived?”

  “No, only a few lines like mine ever developed them. Many became the Lords, which governed our world—and others. The D’mar even built this temple.”

  “Then they left?” Toriko asked.

  “Disappeared.” Cerna shook her head. “We only heard rumors. Some said they completed what they came to do, others said they were destroyed. There was never any proof.”

  She looked over at Mencari. “Do you know what happened to them?”

  “A race called the Nukari.”

  “My homeworld, D’mar, was destroyed—and allegedly all our colonies,” Seigie said.

  Cerna turned her gaze on Seigie. “Then you’re an original D’mar?”

  “Yes, one of two survivors left—that we know of.”

  A hollowness returned to the Amazon’s eyes. “I understand how you must feel. Except it wasn’t an alien race that destroyed us. We did this to ourselves.”

  She stood a moment in silence, but then a question rose in her expression. “Why did you come here? If my world is dead and everything gone, and if there are no more D’mar, what brought you here?”

  Mencari answered. “We found a crystal that talked about this place. It said there could be a powerful weapon.”

  “A weapon?”

  “The Cosmic Link,” Toriko explained.

  “The Cosmic …” Cerna guffawed. “And why are you in need of this weapon?”

  “The Nukari have returned, and we need to stop them,” Toriko said.

  “Returned?”

  “We don’t know why they stopped after they destroyed the D’mar, but they’re back,” Seigie said. “We’ll take anything that can help.”

  “Is that my destiny? To be a weapon—again?”

  “What do you mean?” Mencari said.

  “The queens of my line—and the ability to wield cosmic power—are dubbed the Cosmic Link. We channel the energies around us, become a part of it. Sometimes we’re called linkers.”

  “Is that how your survived that chamber?” Mencari asked.

  “And how I stopped Sabereth.”

  “We could use your help.”

  She looked into his eyes, and her answer held warmth. “From the moment you freed me, I could feel something from each of you. A sense of familiarity. Sameness. Now I know why.”

  Her grip tightened on her glaive and she stood steadfast. “I might be the last of my kind, but I will help in whatever way I can.”

  “Thank you, Cerna,” Mencari said as they continued.

  * * * * *

  Mencari noticed Naijen’s slight aversion to the Amazonian woman. He appeared to be keeping his distance, with occasional, subtle checks every so often to make sure he was never too close.

  As they approached the exit, their golden shields began to appear. He looked to see if Cerna would also form a natural defensive shield. To his surprise, not only did she produce one, hers possessed an extra sparkle, as if small bursts of silvered light were popping from the edges.

  “So who were the Amber Lords?” Seigie asked.

  “The policymakers of our people—and for our fledgling worlds,” Cerna said.

  “And the Dark Lords?” Mencari quickly followed up.

  “They made sure policies were followed.”

  “Enforcers?” Seigie said.

  She looked back at the temple as they floated along the path toward the ship. The large ice moon drew her attention. Her eyes locked onto the sight.

  “Are you okay?” Toriko asked.

  “As okay as I will be for now,” she said, which was all she could offer. Though, she appreciated Toriko’s concern.

  A coldness came over her. “As long as that thing is encased for all eternity. After everything I did, every attempt to reach out to the Dark Lords, they would summon the very harbinger of death to our doorstep. I still can’t believe it.”

  “To those that want power, no sacrifice is too great,” Seigie said.

  “But to destroy the very thing you wanted power over?”

  “No one said it was the smart thing,” Seigie gave Naijen a playful look back. The warrior was too busy looking for creatures to attack to catch the taunt.

  * * * * *

  Cerna’s mind waged war on itself. She tried to distract it, refocus it, anything that could lead it astray. Torturous images violated her every waking moment.

  While bound to the energies of the temple, she saw how each person died. But worse yet, it was her mistake that left her planet barren before Sabereth was captured.

  The beast was rabid; the fiery plasma of its breath was something not even the vacuum of space could snuff out. She wanted to protect the planet, and the billions living there. Commanding the power of the temple, she channeled it toward the planet. In this way, she connected her world and the temple with a great umbilical-like cord of energy, which then wrapped around the planet and sealed it away.

  A furious Sabereth attacked, trying to sever the link. But when its breath snaked along the chord, it wrapped around her world. Before she realized the damage the superheating was doing to her world, it was too late. The imbalance of the atmosphere caused torrential storms that ravaged the surface. The shrieks of billions filled her mind.

  She folded the defensive energies inward on the beast, wrapped it in an icy tomb, but it was too late. What was done could not be undone, and her world as she knew it was lost forever.

  “Did you want to go down to the surface?” Toriko asked her.

  Part of her did, but what did she expect to find there? What of her destroyed world did she wish to see?

  She shook her head and said, “No, this was enough. Thank you.”

  The green, lush, alive world of her youth is what she wanted to recall as how she saw her world last.

  “Should we go then?” Toriko said to Mencari.

  “Take us home, Toriko.”

  Smiling, she pulled up the navigational display. Mini-T and Bob also appeared. “Ready for tunnel travel!” Mini-T said, jubilant.

  “Oh no!” Seigie protested.

  “We’re not going back the way we came in,” Toriko said.

  Seigie started. “That doesn’t mean—”

  “Activating tunnel now!” Mini-T yelled as a beam of energy projected from the front of the ship.

  “No!” Seigie screamed.

  * * * * *

  “I never would have guessed the Cosmic Link was a person.” Osuto gestured with a traditional D’mar greeting. “Welcome.”

  Cerna returned the sideways bow. “Thank you for taking me in.”

  Everyone but Naijen had assembled in the war room. Typically, he’d be in the mines training. Instead, the warrior insisted he work on the tattoo he earned from the last mission. Given what he went through, Mencari thought it best to allow it.

  Despite being awakened and weary with sleep, the others listened, attentive as their newest member was introduced and Seigie and Toriko recounted their experience in the Cosmic Temple. Cerna then shared her connection to the ancient D’mar. Osuto listened, remaining quiet. Mencari noted the odd expression on his mentor’s face, like a schoolboy experiencing a profound insight for the first time.

  When she finished, Osuto shook his head. “Nothing like this was ever spoken of back on D’mar. I have so many questions, perhaps we could talk more some time. But our immediate need would be to understand your abilities and see how we can leverage them.”

  Cerna nodded. “Of course, whatever you think is best.”<
br />
  “We’ll be in the mines,” Osuto said to Mencari as the pair headed out.

  “I’m going to head to Eden,” Toriko announced. “Eyani promised me a few upgrades for my ship in exchange for helping Jika with some more AI enhancements. I would have said yes anyway, but—okay!”

  * * * * *

  “You must be very disappointed with us.”

  Osuto looked confused and amused. “What are you talking about?”

  “What became of my people.”

  “There’s much you do not yet understand about the D’mar. My people also fell long ago.” Osuto sighed. “There’s little to be gained from either of us if we bemoan the history of extinct races. All we can do now is work to prevent it from happening again.”

  “Ojisan!” Allia’s cheerful voice rang down the hall, followed by the patter of little feet. “Let me come!”

  With arms flailing, she and Ichini barreled down the hall. Without reason to deny the child, he moved aside to allow her to leap into the lift as it opened. They headed down to the latest section of mine intended for expansion. As they entered, their protective golden auras formed naturally around them except, as expected, Ichini.

  Osuto started Cerna with tiny creatures that shuddered when struck, then popped like soap bubbles. She felt awkward holding her glaive, as if it were the first time she’d wielded it. Though her grip was sturdy, the swing lacked confidence and power.

  Allia pulled out a bladed weapon that looked menacing, and began to assist. Despite her age, she moved with a deadly grace. One after the other, Osuto lured larger creatures to her. Allia and Ichini were actually fun to train with, Cerna realized. In fact, the sprite brought out a joy she thought she’d never have again.

  Her confidence grew, and with it her attacks. Blow after blow fast turned to deadly strikes.

  “Good, Cerna,” Osuto said. “Now for those linking skills.”

  “I cannot manifest power myself. I require others.”

  Allia bobbed up and down. “Ichini and I can help.”

  “As will I,” Osuto said with a bow of his head. “Just instruct us how.”