Tobias smiles for the first time. It’s a toothy grin, with too many teeth overcrowding his small mouth. “Immunity to the sphere.”
My eyes flash to Cole’s. “How soon can we be on Mythos?”
20
Mythos
The ride to Mythos is long and uneventful right up until we enter the wormhole that folds space and time and spits us out next to our infamous destination.
The cockpit control panel moves, and I sway back and forth, the vertigo intense.
“I’m going to be sick.” I grab an evacuation tube from the wall next to the co-pilot’s chair and press it to my mouth as the heaving starts.
Wormhole sickness. Every damn time.
“Seriously? I can’t believe you still get sick like this,” Cole says, trying not to look at me.
After what seems like forever with my mouth stuck to a tube, I retract it and wipe my mouth. “Starfire, that evacuation tube and I just got intimate.”
Cole laughs. “You feel better?”
I chug some water and pop a breath saver in my mouth. I’d be lying if I said I was better. My best friend died, and my heart still feels like it’s being ripped out. But at least now the pain has a direction—vengeance. “Yep, fantastic.”
“Tobias, buckle in, we are entering Mythos atmosphere.” Cole eyes me. “Are you ready for this?”
The cockpit panels are filled with the red planet, mysterious and ominous. Half the surface is dark, the other light. In the distance, a red dwarf star.
Mythos. Immunity to the sphere.
If what Tobias said is true, I could get the sphere back from Garren, and I’d like nothing more than to take her head off and serve it to her brother. She won’t be able to use the sphere against me, and I’ve got more than enough payback fueling my fire.
I take a deep breath, easing the ache in my chest, my mind settling on the one person driving me. For you, Emery. “You bet your ass I am.”
“Here we go.” Cole flips some navigation switches and picks up speed as we make our descent to Mythos. The hull of the ship quivers as we penetrate the atmospheric barrier descending into dim light, harsh winds, and swirling clouds of red dust.
I glance at the readout of the atmosphere. “There’s a storm. It’s too unstable to drop next to the city. You’re going to have to land further out.”
“Copy that.” Cole taps a panel. “Computer, switch to instrument navigation.”
The ship’s computer comes over the comm. “Confirmed. Contact with the surface in the habitable band in E-minus two minutes, fifty-nine seconds.”
The ship lowers its landing gear as we hover over a flat terrain surrounded by mountains and red dirt as far as the eye can see. Cole touches down, and I can’t seem to unbuckle fast enough, the urge to reunite Emery with his home so urgent and strong. I sprint to the back of the ship and gather him up in my arms and kiss his forehead, my eyes filled with tears.
“Don’t worry, I brought you home. You can rest now.” I open the cargo door, holding Emery tight, and take my first breath on Mythos.
The air is warm, but a strong, sweet, pungent-smelling wind whips my hair across my face. The dwarf star in the sky is red and hazy, giving off only dim light. It reminds me of dusk on Zeta, but it’s midday here and no doubt it always looks this way because the planet is tidally locked with the star. Ruddy dust covers my boots from the clay surface.
In the distance, swirls of red dust rotate in funnel-shaped clouds no larger than small trees, dancing mirthfully in unison, touching the surface and then lifting off, only to skitter back down again like children’s tops. Beyond that are giant crimson mountain ranges that—I turn in a circle—surround us.
Gently, I lower Emery to the ground, still wrapped in the blanket from the ship. I smooth back his hair. “Welcome home.”
Tobias exits the ship and stands next to us. “I missed you these past months.”
He bends down and scoops up some chalky red clay in his hands. He brings his hands to his face and breathes deeply. Using his finger, he spreads the dusty clay in a pattern on his face—first the length of his nose then a series of lines on both his cheeks. He moves to mark Emery’s face.
I grab his arm, protectively, my eyes wide. “What are you doing?”
“It’s our way of respecting our planet,” Tobias says. “Emery would want this.”
I release him, watching carefully as he makes the same marks on Emery’s face.
When he finishes, he drops the dirt from his hands, rubbing his hands together to get the excess off. “We are home.”
I want to feel close to him so I reach down and scoop some red clay up in my own hand. I look up at Tobias. “I don’t know the pattern.”
Tobias smiles. Using his hand to guide my own, he helps me mark my face.
When we finish, I release the dust from my other hand, watching it scatter. “Smells like—”
“Sweets.”
“I was going to say cookies. Why is that?”
“Resin from the bushes mixes in with the clay. The winds carry the scent.”
“What are those little cyclones? Do they zip around like that all the time?”
“The winds are often unstable, causing up and down drafts. Those small clusters aren’t dangerous. But there are some big ones that you don’t want to go anywhere near.”
I turn back to the ramp of the ship. Cole stands inside the door. “Are you coming?”
“No, this is your journey, Raven. Tobias will guide you.” His expression is unreadable.
“That’s so typical of you. So you’re just going to leave us here?”
Cole moves down the ramp onto the red dirt to face me. “I’ll be back in a week.”
“A week? Will it take that long?” I ask Tobias.
“That depends on you,” he replies.
I stare up at Cole. “And what will you be doing, exactly?”
Cole brushes my hair off my forehead as his eyes travel the length of my freshly painted face. His eyes are tired yet determined. Stubble has formed on his cheeks and chin. “Earning back your trust.”
His words settle in my mind like a warm blanket. A part of me wants him to, wants to believe in him again. I open my mouth to respond, but for once, I don’t know what to say.
He turns back to the ship, retracts the ramp and seals the door. A few minutes later, the ship lifts off, hovers for a few seconds, and shoots back up into the atmosphere.
I look around again at my surroundings. So this is my new home, at least for the next week. “He’s coming back, right?”
Tobias shrugs. “Probably.”
Probably? Damn it, Cole. You better be back here in one week. And then, and only then, I’ll think about trusting you again.
“We should get going to the city. It’s due east. I’ll carry Emery. He would want to be with his caste. I should warn you though—I don’t know what we’ll find when we enter the buildings. Cole recounted that the Cadmarians are ruthless. I’d not be surprised if they left my brothers and sisters where they fell.”
Vile Cadmarians. He’s probably right. But something about being here, being on Emery’s planet, gives me strength. “I’m going to avenge Emery’s death, and I’ll walk through hell to do it. So you get me immunity to the sphere, and I’ll help you bury every Mythosian we come across.”
“We don’t bury our dead. We send them into the next world through fire.”
“I see. I guess that makes sense.” I take a few steps across the dusty red plains toward the eastern mountains. The ground does feel rock-solid, probably difficult to bury anything.
Tobias lifts Emery and cradles him in his arms as we start on our trek to the Mythosian city.
“Tell me about your eyes and hair,” I say. “Why are they silver, and will the same happen to me?”
Tobias looks thoughtful. “Ah, I was waiting for you to ask. The infamous reason that no one dares set foot on Mythos. Are you having second thoughts? You do have beautiful blue-green eyes.”
“To be honest, a few weeks ago, I’d say yes. But now, I don’t care if my whole body turns silver.”
“Well, the radiation from our star causes the pigment changes in our eyes and hair. It does not cause any impairment in vision as some have suggested. I have perfect vision, if not better than most. I’m also happy to report that I’ve never seen a Mythosian’s entire body turn silver.”
Okay, good to know.
“As far as when you will be affected, well, I can’t be sure. Could be a day or could be a week, maybe longer.”
“But we are only going to be here a week. So maybe my eyes won’t change at all.”
Tobias smiles. “Perhaps. Time will tell.”
“Tell me more about Mythos.” I’m genuinely curious.
“My people live, um—” His voice catches as anguish spreads across his face but recedes quickly. “I guess I should say that my people lived in what’s called the Ring. Our star system works differently than others. Our star is always in the same place on the horizon, our light always the same. The northern hemisphere is in perpetual daylight, and the southern hemisphere is in perpetual darkness. We live in the middle.”
“But how did your people get here? There’s no record of any human every traveling this far in the galaxy.”
“There are digital scrolls that document our beginning, and like the sphere of light, they remained in the monastery with the clerics. We also have legends and stories that each generation passes down to the next. When I was a boy, my overseer told my brother and me a story about how our people came from the dark side of the planet. He said, ‘Out of the dark and into the dim light, the first Mythosians emerged.’”
“Are you serious? People appearing right out of nowhere?”
Tobias smirks. “Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? But, yes, that’s the children’s version of how Mythosians came to be.” He shifts Emery in his arms. “In the early days of my people, food and water were scarce. But as survivors will often do, they found a way. The terrain only appears difficult. It’s quite fertile, albeit solid. There are underground rivers that meander through the mountain ranges in the Ring. It’s the freshest spring water you will ever taste. There are also beasts that live in the mountains. My people wrangled and herded the beasts for their milk and meat.
“Also, for as long as I can remember, a droid-operated trade freighter came to Mythos once a month. We called it Renewal Day. On this day, all Mythosians gathered at the gates of our community to take part in the trading. Most often, we traded beasts and luxury bedding items made from the beasts’ fur. Perhaps you’re aware of such Mythosian commodities?”
The term beast conjures thoughts of the four-legged, seemingly harmless kayuchin on Zeta, with their light-colored pelt and silky appearance. Kayuchin fur is deceiving. Each strand is as sharp as a needle and poisonous too. I shiver at the thought of lying on a bed of prickly spines. “No, I can’t say that I have.”
“Oh, well, you will soon find out.”
Awesome. Can’t wait for bedtime.
“Anyway, this is how we would gather technology and supplies we could not obtain from our land. Then, in the evening of Renewal Day, we’d celebrate with our newly acquired exotic foods from the far reaches of the galaxy.”
“Snarp,” I say, mostly to myself as memories of Emery gobbling the stuff up pass through my mind.
“What was that?”
Tears fill my eyes again, and I can barely get the words out. “I said snarp.”
“Oh no. Does snarp make you sad? It was very popular among my people.”
I shake my head and wipe away the tears. Of course it was. Well, I hope there’s something here besides that to eat.
“Do you ever go to the light or dark side?” I ask, changing the subject.
“We have in the past, mostly to the light side. But they have to be short trips to avoid the intense UV rays. We have had more than one expedition not return.”
“And the dark side?”
“There have been some expeditions to the dark side but with much less success. The conditions are brutal, gusts up to one hundred kilometers an hour and continuous darkness. The temperature fluctuates radically. Not to mention some predators are said to wander over there. It’s a dangerous journey to take on.”
“Then why would anyone do it?”
“Well, the light side has some interesting plants that we bring back to cultivate here under artificial light. As for the dark side, my people have long been fascinated with the story of our origin as I’ve told you. I assume Cole spoke to you of the Degrees of Oneness?”
Degrees of what? “No, he never mentioned it.”
“But—” Tobias’s eyes dart around nervously.
I stop. The hair on the back of my neck stands on end. He’s hiding something.
“Ah, well, all in good time,” he says, pushing past me.
“No pun intended, but you aren’t going to leave me in the dark, are you?”
“I think that would be best for now. Come on, we need to keep moving.”
Not having much of a choice, I follow him. Something about this stinks bad. Degrees of Oneness? This smells more like Cole Mason’s degrees of spaceshit.
We continue for the better part of the afternoon, the red star never moving past the horizon, providing just enough light for us to see our way forward. Until finally, we arrive. Tall structures the same color as the red clay on the ground jut out from the smooth curves of the mountain range before us. A city forged by mountain.
It reminds me of the buildings that lay in ruin in the Eastern hemisphere of Earth from my mining days. Rows and rows of tall skinny towers with curved roofs starting at the base of the mountain continue all the way to the top of the range. The towers are connected by shorter, longer buildings. The roofs shine like mirrors, no doubt energy panels to power the interiors. Vertically, each building connects to the next through carved-out mountain walkways, creating a maze of civilization up the mountain range. At the base of the community, directly in front of us, is a large metal gate, swinging open. An eerie silence floats alongside the howling wind. Such a large city and yet no sound.
Tobias stops short, his shoulders shaking.
I take Emery from his arms. “I need you to be strong.”
He closes his shiny eyes and breathes rhythmically. The gesture reminds me of when I saw Emery doing his meditation thing. A moment passes, and Tobias opens his eyes. “Thank you. I’m one again.”
Right, one. “Let’s keep moving.”
We walk through the open gate leading us to the first building at the base of the mountain. Again, even though there’s sign of life all around us, there’s only silence. No survivors. A part of me hoped that Emery was wrong. That somehow, some of his people had escaped. But that isn’t what happened. The Cadmarians annihilated all of them.
I turn toward Tobias. All except one. “Do the Cadmarians know about you?”
He nods. “Yes, I was to be executed. Cole saved me.”
How convenient. Cole saves an adulterous drunk blabbermouth, but me? No, he betrays me.
“It’s not what you think,” Tobias says, reading my expression accurately. “He saved me because he thought I could be useful to you, which as it turns out, is true.”
I look down at Emery’s peaceful expression. You can rest soon. Then I glance back at Tobias. “I guess we’ll find out how useful you are. Lead the way.”
I take one last look at the vast mountain city before following Tobias inside. Nothing can prepare me for the carnage. The telltale, metallic scent of blood wafts into my nostrils, making my stomach turn. Silver-haired human forms lay at odd angles on the floor, their lifeless bodies covered in blood. Still more are seated in chairs at tables around the room, their lives snuffed out as they enjoyed afternoon drinks, their silver heads resting on tabletops. Tobias stumbles around, his mouth slack, looking at his fallen brothers and sisters. There are dozens of them, and that’s in this room alone.
I
take a steely breath. I’ve seen death before, and I know it well. This is no time to crumble. Tobias will need to process. But not now. These people can’t stay here. I hold Emery close to my chest as if I can shield his unseeing eyes. “Where do you take your dead?”
Slowly, he reaches for support from the wall behind him, and I’m thankful that I took Emery from his arms. Instead of replying, he falls back against the wall and slides down to the floor in a heap, his head in his hands. The sobs are silent at first, but then a guttural cry erupts from his lips. “I did this to them. I killed them all.”
I find a cleared table to lay Emery on and bend down in front of Tobias. “I’m not going to argue with you about that. But now you have a chance to avenge their deaths and save the civilized galaxy as we know it. I promised I’d help you bury the dead, but first I need to take care of Emery. He’s my family.”
Tobias looks up, as tears slip from his silver eyes. “Of course.”
I grab his hand and lift him to his feet.
“Now, where do you take your dead?” I ask for the second time, cradling Emery in my arms.
“We must travel to the top of the mountain to the caste pyres. Each sect of our city has their own pyre. There are clerics, officials, agriculturalists, service, crafters, engineers, and architects to name a few. Emery will be set aflame in the cleric pyre, which is next to the monastery, the highest building on the mountain.”
“Well, then we better get started. We don’t have any time to spare.” I walk around some bodies toward the back of the room, where another door is propped open, leading to an outdoor area and, beyond that, stone steps leading up.
We journey up the stone walkways and through buildings. The architecture, both primitive and yet retrofitted with technology from other worlds, is fascinating, but the lifeless bodies we have to step over are a reminder of our mission. They use artificial light within the buildings and sometimes even in the open areas. The bright spotlights hurt my eyes as we pass them. Finally, we reach an outdoor area at the top of the mountain, next to a large tower—the monastery.
Raven's Sphere Page 16
