Kyah took a long stare at her nephew, before transitioning her sight back and forth between the two young children. She nodded begrudgingly. “Please be careful. You’re all I have left.” She said, cupping his face in her hand.
Jesh kissed the inside of her palm, before backing away. “I’ll be fine. I’m a better warrior than you.” He giggled. “You’re not even the best fighter in the crew and my skills are beyond all of theirs.” She joked back. “Go, we’re right behind you.” Jesh said.
Kyah backed into the ship as the rear door shut. Gala and Kyah sped off toward the city. “Take me to your Traveler.” Jesh requested, returning his position to meet Dara. “How will you get the ship running?” She asked him blankly. Jesh held Dara’s hands. He showed her palms to her own face. “You’re going to power it. I still need to recover my strength from my escape from Pratham. I suspect I’ll need all the energy I can muster if we’re gonna escape.” Jesh said.
Dara scrunched up her nose, moving her hands aside to expose her disbelief. “I can’t power a ship without the bracelets of the owner.” She said. “I’m impressed by your knowledge of our old tech. Fortunately for us, this is even older technology than the kind you’re familiar with.” He responded. “First let’s reach the traveler. Then I will walk you through it.”
Dara took Jesh’s hand and the two flew off toward their destination. “Do you draw your power from the Sun too?” Dara called out. “I do. The bigger the star, the better. The stronger I get, the less energy I need. Eventually, I won’t need any source of fuel. I’ll become my own power source.” Jesh answered confidently.
Dara didn’t completely understand or could even extrapolate what she heard. What she did know, was how much she wanted to learn from this new network of information. The sound of their speed was not unlike the sound of a small tempest. Dara pushing herself to fly at his speed. It was clear to her, Jesh was soaring with much more ease.
“This place. It’s so much like Earth from what I hear. There aren’t many planets like this in the galaxies I’ve been to.” Jesh said. “Galaxies?” Dara repeated. Jesh examined her confusion. “Are you unacquainted with the term?” Jesh asked. Dara shook her head.
“Don’t worry. I’ll teach you everything I know. And the rest we’ll learn together.” He offered, gently squeezing her hand. Dara tried hard to contain her grin, to no avail. She didn’t want to reveal how interesting he was to her. The calm and poise.
His control, all while feeling the simmering fire that had the potential to blow at any time. She wanted to learn Jesh. Understand as much as he could share with her. However, Dara could feel a slight darkness in him, not near the depth of his father, but still, it was there. She would tread lightly for now, refusing to be caught off guard by the son of the Beast.
After a few more moments, they reached the traveler. Dara guided Jesh to the top of the ship. “I sealed the door, when I left.” Dara encompassed her hand in her red energy ready to remove the makeshift weld she created. “What are you doing?” Jesh asked.
Dara looked up at her counterpart. It was unclear if he misunderstood her. “I melted the lock, then welded the door back together.” Jesh nodded in agreement.
“Right, which means you pretty much compromised this very old metallic alloy. If you cause any further damage to the seal, interstellar travel will be very………. turbulent. And quite cold.” He informed her. Dara extinguished her power, waiting for a response. “So how do we get inside? I searched the ship, there weren’t any doors.” Dara assured her companion.
“Wow………you really, are from this planet.” Jesh giggled. He waved for Dara to accompany him. They stopped at the uppermost right side of the traveler. Dara sat, with her feet dangling off the edge. Jesh levitated a few feet beside her.
He looked closely, rubbing up and down the side of the ancient transport. “I told you. There isn’t…” Dara began. Jesh pulled on a small incision like handle. The large door creaked deafeningly as it opened.
“Once we restore power, the ladder should deploy itself.” Jesh said, as if he were unphased by her lack of knowledge. Dara looked on in amazement. Jesh catching her eyes. “Don’t worry. I accept your apology.” He said laughing. Dara joined him as they entered the ship.
Jesh would take the lead. Lighting his entire body in red energy, the traveler was lit in his power’s hue. Navigating his way through the ship. “How do you know where you’re going?” Dara asked trying to keep pace.
“Pratham has huge libraries of information on the past. Some more classified than others. But everyone in the military must learn from an early age about the old technology. The travelers were our first model of transportation through the stars. I’ve spent too many hours dissecting these ships.” Jesh said, spewing out his experience.
Finally, they stopped. Jesh opened a door to a large room. Holding his hand out he formed a small red orb. He released it into the air, controlling it to reach the highest point of the rooms ceiling. Holding his hand as if the orb was in his possession, Jesh quickly exposed his palm. The orb responded, becoming brighter, illuminating the entire room.
Dara laid her eyes on a massive engine nearly the size of the protector. “Ok, this is where it gets delicate.” Jesh said looking over at Dara. “I need you to get in there and provide the fire.” Dara was taken aback by his words.
“We can’t spark the engine without there being a stream of energy inside.” Jesh informed her. “Sounds easy enough.” Dara agreed. “Good, next you have to give it a jolt of electricity to prevent the current from dying out. Then the difficult part is flying this jumble of parts to your city and off this planet.” Jesh explained.
“Wait. How do I give it a jolt?” Dara asked. Jesh frowned at the question. His disappointment in her growing with her complete ignorance.
“I told Kyah we could start this ship.” Jesh stated slightly annoyed. “Well, since I’ve had these powers, I’ve been mostly winging it.” Dara responded. “You sure you fought off my dad?” Jesh questioned, a smirk on his face.
Dara squinting her eyes at his detour. “Why?” She asked rhetorically, not finding his joke funny. “Never mind. So, you haven’t learned how to create lightning? All that power and you have no idea how to use it.” Jesh smirked again. “Ugh! We really don’t have time for this. Just teach me!” Dara exclaimed.
“Concentrate. Sense. Generate.” Jesh said. “What?” Dara questioned, puzzled at the very simple instructions. She had grown accustomed to Tumakako’s more parable type teaching methods. She expected a more thought-provoking method of training than simple instructions. “Close your eyes.” He coached.
“Concentrate. Focus on what you want.” Dara obliged. Picturing the frightening flashes of light that were on display from the Aella storm. The lightning that cascaded through the sky and down to the ground. “Now……Sense your surroundings. The emotions you felt, where you were, the smell, the power it possesses.” Jesh continued.
Dara tried her best to become in tune with his words. She was beginning to lose focus. Her frustration manifesting in her face and tensing of her hands.
“Ugggh!!! I can’t. You might have to do this part.” She demanded, opening her eyes and abandoning his training. Jesh smiled, apathetic to her tantrum. “I know……. it’s tough.” He said.
“I can tell you’ve been through a lot. I’m asking a great deal of you right now. You’ve fought off my father twice. Been away from home. Trained under extreme circumstances. I get it. The anxiety of the burden that was thrusted on you. Trust me I know.” Jesh said.
“You never asked to be a part of this. None of it ever involved you. This isn’t your war. Never has been.” Dara slowly unclenched her fists. Hearing his words were soothing and familiar.
She remembered the story of his perceived death, Lale shared with her. Of course, he would understand. They weren’t so different. He was being patient and she could assume from his parents; patience was most likely not his strongest personality trait. Dar
a felt like she owed him another chance.
“It’s the uncertainty. The rage. The worry, that you can’t go back. Do you even want to go back? Could you run? If you did, where would you go? I get it.” Dara wasn’t sure anymore if he was speaking about her or his own experience. “You miss your mom……. I bet you’ve never had time to process it. You just had to move on. You couldn’t feel. Never had time to feel. It’s like you closed yourself off. Now you don’t know if you know how to find her again.” Dara’s eyes welling up with tears unbeknownst to her.
She had been so focused on his words and his face she felt numb to her own body. Gradually, she relaxed, her face drenched. Dara wiped her eyes. Jesh held out his hands. He nodded, signaling to repeat the gesture. Dara slowly placed her palms on his. Jesh closed his eyes. “I can feel it. I can feel her. You look like her.” Jesh whispered.
Dara heard his voice, yet his lips weren’t moving. She closed her eyes as well. Focusing on the lightning again. “Concentrate.” Jesh encouraged. Sparks gently surged from the bottom of Jesh’s hands upward into Dara’s. Small pops and crackling escorted the flow between the two individuals.
“Sense it. Feel the energy. The smell, the feelings it gave you as it streamed across the night sky.” Dara listened so closely to his words, she felt as if she were falling into a trance.
Suddenly, her eyes opened, but she wasn’t in front of Jesh anymore. She felt constrained, being held by someone bigger. There was a smell of damp air and mud. Very humid.
Her line of sight distorted. She wiggled her hands through to separate what would be revealed as arms. “You’re so brave.” A voice spoke gently. Her voice.
Dara looked up to see a beautiful slender white skinned face with flowing blond hair. “Mom?” The gaping smile that accompanied her words was swiftly met by a long embrace. “Is this real?” Dara cried to her mother. “I don’t know.
I’ve missed you so much.” Her mother sobbed. “I’m sorry mom. I wish I could have saved you. I didn’t have the powers I have now, or I would have saved us both.” Dara said unable to control her emotions.
“Shhhhh…. It’s ok’s It’s ok. Everything is more complicated than you know.” The mother attempted to console her daughter. “I met Tumakako, she saved me and said she knew you.” Dara’s mother nodded to confirm.
“She trained me as well, told me a lot about our history. She saved me too.” Dara’s mother explained to her daughter. “They tried to exterminate us. Tumakako fought for us to be separate from the rest of the wars. She fought for us to become different.” She continued. Dara felt a sense of pride hearing her mentors’ valiant efforts.
“Now that you’ve met. There is something I need to tell you.” Dara sat up. “Tumakako is more to you than you realize. She’s….” Dara’s mother paused, smiling at the thought of her. “She’s a genius. Beautiful and the most courageous woman I’ve ever met.” Dara explained to her daughter.
“I love her, and she loved me. It’s because of her that you are here…. She’s your mother just as much as I am. Before, Vanakan and Tumakako were enemies they helped each other with research. Tumakako discovered a way to genetically splice two individuals to create life from their share DNA. When we fell in love, she chose me, and you were born. It’s our love and your birth that drew her away from her own dark past. Our people didn’t understand, so we lied and kept the truth of your birth a secret.” Dara shared with her daughter.
“She’s your mother too. The Iku has flowed in you sense you were born.” Dara’s eyes welling up, hearing about her mentor’s true relation to her. She felt excited and terrified at the same time.
The danger they had faced together. Tuma’s harsh training methods. It made sense why Tumakako was risking everything for her. She had so many questions now, but she wasn’t sure how much time she would have with her mother.
“They found us mom. I’m trying to save our people. Maybe there is a way I can save you too.” Dara pleaded. The mother wiping her child’s eyes. “I’m not in danger Dara………I’m safe. If you can save our people, great. If you can save Tumakako, that would be amazing. But promise me, you will save yourself.” She implored her daughter.
Dara nodded before placing her head on her mother’s chest sobbing more. Her mother gently stroking her hair. “I don’t want to leave you.” Dara whimpered against the safety her mother’s arms provided. “I know. But you’re needed. You can do nothing for anyone here. Not even me. Go back and save who you can. But save yourself. Understood?” She asked.
Dara raised her head to behold her mother’s beautiful face again. “Now. Who’s your friend?” Dara turned around to see Jesh standing quietly a few feet away.
“So, you legitimately survived the blending?” Jesh questioned. “That’s going to complicate things more with my family.” Jesh sighed thinking about how everyone may react to the confirmation. “Did you do this?” Dara asked, confused as to what was happening.
The last thing she remembered was them being in the engine room. “Is this even real?” Dar questioned again. Jesh shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I’ve never experienced this before. I’m telepathic if I touch someone, but I’ve never done…” He paused. Looking around. “Whatever this is. Only with you.”
Dara approached Jesh cautiously before touching him. “It feels real.” Dara said as they poked and prodded each other. “Hello, I’m Dara’s mother, also named Dara.” She said with a smile. She stood to greet the child before recognizing a similar face. Jesh took notice of her alertness.
“I get that a lot. My parents have a reputation that precedes me.” He said. “Don’t worry mom, he’s not like them. He’s different, like me.” Dara assured her mother. “Apparently more different than I thought. But we have more demanding matters to figure out. I too would like to figure out how this happened, however we’re really pressed for time.” Jesh stressed.
Dara’s mother was visibly uncomfortable. “Maybe you can help?........Where are we exactly?” He asked sincerely.
“You’re in the protector. My people and I built it to protect us from the harsh Aella and Eira storms. From the looks and sounds of it, this moment is a capture of the Aella.” Dara’s mother explained. “I remember, always being so afraid. Always afraid, the protector wouldn’t hold. But…….it always did.” The younger Dara compiled.
“Well it behooves me to inform you both, once the Pratham army arrives, it won’t hold against them.” Jesh guaranteed. “So why are you here?” Her mother questioned. “We need to reignite the engine of your traveler. Then we can save your clan. In order to do that, Dara has to learn how to produce lightning.” Dara’s mother full of a puzzled look.
“I can’t do it mom. I just can’t.” Dara began. Her mother held her hand up. She dropped to her knees to become eye level again. She took her daughter by the shoulders. “Dara. You can. You will. The fact that you’re seeing me as clear as I see you confirms you can do anything. You’re stronger than either of us ever thought was possible.” She said.
“Now, first things first, you probably need a little space.” She said as she turned her daughter toward the door. Dara kissed her daughter on the top of her head and nudged her toward the protector’s entrance. The younger Dara remembered staring at that entrance during the stormy nights. Afraid of it being torn off and the winds whisking her away. She inched closer and closer. Not sure if she would actually open the door.
Finally, she reached the entrance. Looking back, she saw her mother nodding, as if she knew something she didn’t. Dara placed her hand on the stone door. She pushed as hard as she could, the wind trying to prevent her exit.
She made a small crease in the door before slipping through it. On the outside the wind howled and blew. Taking her off her feet immediately.
She swiped and swung for the walls of the protector as the vicious gusts flung her into the side of a large rock. Unable to brace herself Dara smashed into its unforgiving hide with a thud. Her nose bleeding, hands and arms
scratched. The lightning surging across the sky.
So bright, it was as if daylight had come. The thunder accompanying the flashes shortly after, the ground strikes, like explosions right next to her. She tried to activate her armor, but nothing happened. She didn’t have her shards or bracelets with her. No fiery form would ignite either.
The fear set in as she held on to the large rock for dear life. She couldn’t tell if she was crying, screaming or expressing any emotion, due to the violent nature of the storm. The wind so loud she thought her ears might pop permanently. “Mom! Jesh!” She thought she screamed.
The Aella was as scary as she feared all along. “Please! Someone help me!” She tried to scream again. Dara felt her grip slipping. The certainty of darkness and death awaited. In a few seconds, she would be whisked away forever.
Dara was on the cusp of the void. Knowing it to be inevitable she closed her eyes and simply, let go. As her last finger released, everything stopped. No sound. No wind. No rain and no thunder.
Dara opened her eyes. She was suspended in midair. Nothing had stopped, only slowed down. She moved her leg to meet the ground, one before the other and walked over to the rock. Reaching out, she placed her hand on it gently.
Beast of Xeriel Page 17
