Theo admired the older woman’s faith. She was the kind of person who could find the silver lining in any circumstance. “A minute ago, you said that only Batumah and I know what is in my heart. I must admit that during the demonstration in class, my heart was full of anger and hatred.”
“Hatred? Why in the world would your heart be full of hatred, child? Do you hate your training that much?” She sounded shocked by his admission.
“No, it isn’t that. You see, I recognized Karl. Today was not the first time we had met.” Theo struggled to find a way to explain his anger, without giving everything away. There was a serenity and sense of trustworthiness about Grandmother Yasta that made people open up. He still didn’t trust her completely, however, and he didn’t want to risk putting his teammates in danger. Theo just wanted to get to the bottom of why he had lost his gift. The realization that he was once again just a typically fragile human being did not sit well with him. If there was a way to get back the advantage of having a gift that gave him some control over his own life and death, then he wanted to know about it. For that, he would have to tell her as much of his situation as possible.
“I see. I take it the two of you did not meet under the best circumstances, then?”
That was an understatement. Theo fought against his desire to scoff. “We met a long time ago when Karl was a greedy trader. A deal went wrong. My first love ended up losing her life because of it. When he was taunting me, all I could think about was how much I wanted revenge. I wanted him to pay for what he did. I just wanted to kill him, and I didn’t care what that took. I was prepared to die, if it meant that I would take him out with me. Maybe Batumah decided that if I was so willing to die, then he would let me.” By the end of his story, Theo’s voice had shifted from anger to sadness. The part about his first love dying was real enough. Even if the details were made out of half-truths, the basics were the same.
Grandmother Yasta spoke calmly. “I don’t think that Batumah wanted you to die. The truth is that killing is a hard and horrible act. That does not mean that sometimes it isn’t necessary for the good of the galaxy. However, killing that is done for personal gain or retribution, instead of for the greater good, is reprehensible. All life is precious to Batumah. While he would much rather everyone and everything live in harmony, that is not the universe that we live in. I know that you are new to our faith. Has anyone ever told you the story of how the first wormhole was created?”
“No…” Theo wasn’t sure what a story about a wormhole had to do with him losing his gift, but he was willing to listen if it would help him get it back.
“Long ago, Batumah decided to create life. Being the wise god that he is, he knew that in order for his creatures to flourish, he needed to make a safe place for them to exist. He wasted no time in preparing a place for them. He rounded up all of the malicious forces in the galaxy, and decided to store them on another plane. Batumah hid the evil in a place between space and time, where it couldn’t harm his creation. Then, he took the most beautiful stars, and used them to plug the wormhole, where the evil was locked away. Batumah used the most beautiful ones to serve as a testimony of his love for his creation.
Unfortunately, the goddess Reina became jealous of Batumah’s love for his children. Since she existed before the evil was put away, her heart had already been infected. The darkness inside of her would whisper to her. It became restless and hungry. Why should mortal things be given a gift as lovely as the most beautiful stars in the universe? They did not possess a long enough lifespan to fully enjoy the gift they had been given. Only a goddess was worthy enough of such a gift.
Her jealousy built up inside of her, until one day, she decided that she would take the stars for herself. She was owed them, after all. They were rightly hers. Her head and heart were devoured by the darkness. There was no reasoning with her. When Reina plucked those stars from the sky, she opened the rift between time and space. Once the seal was broken, the evil burst through different sections of the galaxy. It ripped holes in the fabric of time and space in its frantic attempts to escape. All of the evil that Batumah had fought so hard to contain spilled out into the universe. It was too late to try and gather it up again. As soon as it was released, it began to poison the hearts of his children. Some of them gave in easily, and were corrupted. Others resisted.
To those who fought against the darkness, Batumah decided to bestow other gifts. Even if he could not stop the evil that was already spreading, he could help his children in their struggle. Some he blessed with the gift of prophecy, so that they could warn others, and prepare for evil to come. Some he blessed with strength, so that they could battle the evil more effectively. Some he gifted powers of healing, because in all wars there are injuries that need to be healed—some physical and some spiritual.
Batumah left the wormholes in place as a reminder of the good that love can do, and the harm that a corrupt heart can wreak. It only took one goddess’s jealousy to condemn an entire galaxy to eons of heartache and struggle. I’m telling you this story to let you know that Batumah knows there is evil in the world. He knows that sometimes, killing must happen for the greater good. However, killing for the wrong reasons will only make you just as terrible as those you wish to seek revenge on. Don’t let the darkness take over your heart, Theo. You have such a beautiful one.”
He sat motionless for a moment, taking in her words. How was he supposed to let Mari’s killer go free? Even if Karl hadn’t torched the planet with his own bare hands, Theo was certain that he was involved. Killing him had to be for the greater good of the universe. Left unchecked, Karl would kill again, probably en masse. Theo had no doubt of that. “How can Batumah want a murderer to live? Why wouldn’t he want me to kill someone who would take the life of an innocent person?”
“Whether or not someone deserves to die is not up to us. He does not support those who seek blind rage or revenge. Even in battle, it is Batumah’s knowing hand that guides the sword. In my time, I have seen a man die from a scratch because it became infected, through no fault of his own. I have also seen a man who came to me, in much worse shape than you were earlier, and I saw him make a full recovery. We are merely an extension of Batumah’s will. He is the one who makes the decisions over life and death.”
A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. An aide walked in with a bowed head. “Madame, Karl is waiting for you in your chambers. He wishes to discuss this afternoon’s events with you.”
“Thank you. I’ll be right there.” The aide left the room. Grandmother Yasta smiled sadly at Theo. “Try to rest some more. You can return to your typical chambers, if you choose. I’m sure your wife will be worried about you.”
Theo watched as the older woman stood, and started to leave the room. “Grandmother Yasta?”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you. For everything.”
She offered him a sweet smile, and bowed slightly. After she was gone, Theo went about standing up, and trying to get ready to leave for the room that he shared with Cierra. He wondered if anyone had bothered to tell her what had happened, or if she had simply been in the dark on his whereabouts for the last few hours, while he was resting and being healed. If the later was the case, he was not looking forward to her chewing him out about it.
Seven
Cherish found herself wrapped in an iridescent cocoon of light. She felt lighter, fresher. When she tried to reach out and touch the strange light that was wrapped around her, it morphed to allow her to move forward. The rainbow lights still shimmered around her like an aura, but she could move freely. There were four other cocoons close by. Cherish could tell there were people inside of them, but she couldn’t see any distinguishing features.
She was in some sort of cave. Part of her thought that it looked similar to the cave they had spent the night in during the beginning of their climb up Kinyah mountain. The rock wasn’t as smooth, but she was almost certain it was the same cave. It was almost as if she was seeing the cave
hundreds, if not thousands, of years in the past.
Cherish walked to the mouth of the cave. Mithuna was covered in wild foliage. She couldn’t make out the villages they had seen previously. The whole planet seemed to be wilder, more untouched by civilization. Even the stars in the sky seemed brighter and bolder. Cherish took in a deep breath. The world around her wasn’t the only thing that was different.
At first, she couldn’t put her finger on it. She tried to run a self-diagnostic test, and that was when she realized what was different. She was human! Fully human! Without her augmentations, she felt vulnerable—almost naked. Cherish gazed up into the sky with her natural eyes. It was odd not having everything enhanced. Above her, something moved in the sky.
A large star was jerked quickly to the side. Black ooze—a much darker shade than the night sky—seemed to leak from the spot where the star had once been. Cherish felt an uneasy knot clench in her stomach. She tried to back pedal into the cave, but the ooze was around her before she could even blink. What could possibly move so quickly? There wasn’t even time to scream.
As soon as the blackness touched her, her cocoon of light disintegrated. Cherish felt anger—no anger wasn’t a strong enough word—she felt insatiable rage and insecurity. Her voice cried out, but it wasn’t hers. Cherish didn’t recognize whose voice it was. It was almost like she was a passenger in someone else’s body. “Batumah, what is happening? What is this feeling?”
The star that had been jerked to the side in the sky began to fall. It was on a direct course for Cherish. She wanted to run and hide. The person who was in control of her body stood firm. The falling star halted a few feet away from the ledge where the mountain’s edge dropped off. A partially transparent being appeared in the air behind the star. It was so large that the star rested in its hand like a pebble. Cherish could see Aphaian wings sticking out into the air, two Josti arms extended so that its bottom hands could cup the star gently, and a tangle of roots where its legs should have been. Cherish’s eyes widened in surprise. Was she witnessing Batumah?
“I’m sorry, my child. A great misfortune has befallen the universe. I was unable to stop it. What you are feeling is the work of evil. It has already infected you. That is why your light is gone now.”
“Can you heal me? Please, I don’t want to feel like this.”
Batumah lowered his face closer to Cherish. In the reflection of his eyes, she could see her reflection. She was right. It wasn’t her body. The woman in the reflection looked similar to Cherish. They had the same red hair, and the same eye shape. She could see such deep sadness in Batumah’s eyes, that it made her ache.
“I cannot heal you. This is how it will be until the end of time now. However, if you want to help fight against the evil that has been unleashed, I can empower you.” Batumah crushed the star that was in his hands. It became a fine powder of glowing stardust. Batumah lifted his hands to his lips and gently blew on the dust. Some of it blew into Cherish’s face. She breathed it in, and was filled with a warmth that reminded her of how she felt after talking to Grandmother Yasta. “Now, you and all of your descendants that are pure of heart will be given the gift of prophecy. Use it wisely to help those around you. They will need it. I will also bless others who share your goodness of heart. Their gifts will be different than yours. You will all need to work together to keep evil in check.” Batumah blew again, and more dust swirled through the air, looking for new hosts.
The black ooze slid around the corner of the mountain. Cherish screamed, and pointed at it. “Watch out!”
Using the last of the stardust, Batumah filled his lungs, and blew the dust into the air. “You may be free of your prison, but you will not have free reign. There will always be a place of safety for my followers. I confine you to the crags of the mountains. You may have any lost, unworthy souls that manage to wander through, but the virtuous are mine!”
Cherish watched the darkness slither into the cracks of the mountain. It hissed, and seemed to screech as it retreated. Five halos of light circled above the present-day mountain peaks where the main Yasta monasteries were stationed. She was still in shock at seeing Batumah. Never in all of her years did she think she would see a god.
The world shifted around her. Suddenly, she was small. Cherish recognized her childhood home. She was playing with some blocks made out of dried clay. Her young mind was focused on building things with her blocks. Adult Cherish caught a snippet of conversation that made her listen harder. Her mother and father were speaking to a stranger.
“The dreams have already started. We don’t know what to do. I don’t want her to have to grow up with this. It drove my sister mad. Cherish is too young to know what it all means.” Her mother wrung her hands nervously.
“I think I can help with that.” The stranger’s voice sounded familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it.
“How?” Cherish’s father wrapped one worried arm around her mother’s shoulders. The stranger placed a briefcase on the rickety table in front of them. He unsnapped the latch and opened it so that her parents could see the contents.
“Oh, no!” Her mother began to cry.
“You can’t be serious. How can you think we would do that to our daughter? You know how cyborgs are treated in today’s society!”
“Look, either you make her impure with implants, or you condemn her to a life of prophecy. The choice is yours, but I know what I would do, if it were my daughter.”
Cherish was finding it hard to breathe. She had been told there had been an accident, and that she had been augmented in order to save her life. It made growing difficult, and required many upgrades over the years, but it was a small price to pay to be alive. At least, that’s what she used to think. Had her parents really augmented her to try and stop a gift that Batumah had bestowed on her family? That would explain why she hadn’t dreamt since she was a fully-human child, but it made her question her whole life. Without the augmentation, could she have foreseen the mission failures and deaths of her teammates in time to stop them? Maybe being so close to the actual site where the gift was first bestowed had overpowered her augmentation, allowing the prophecy dreams to surface again.
“Do it.” Her father swallowed nervously. Her mother was weeping into his shoulder.
“I think you have made the right decision.” The stranger with the briefcase turned around to face Cherish for the first time. What she saw made her want to throw up. The person who had convinced her parents to augment her and take away her gift as a child was Karl. He was much younger, and he wasn’t quite as portly as he was in present time, but she recognized him.
Cherish woke up in the Yasta monastery. Sweat dripped down her face. The sheets were soaked. The dream was still so real she could taste it. She turned to find comfort with Makram, but he wasn’t there. She vaguely remembered him mentioning something earlier in the courtyard about discussing Cierra’s hairbrained idea to attack the monastery before the scheduled time. Her heart thundered in her throat. What if the two of them had decided to go ahead and go through with the attack? What if the reason Makram hadn’t woken her up was because he thought she would disagree with their decision? She had to stop them. Karl had been planning whatever was going on for much longer than any of them had ever realized.
Bolting from their room, Cherish ran down the corridors to Theo and Cierra’s room. Empty. The anxious knot in the stomach clenched tighter. Where could they be? Would Theo still be in the recovery ward? A sickly panic gnawed at Cherish. She spun on her heel. Just as she was about to turn a corner, Cherish bumped into someone. Her augmented frame made her stouter than she looked. She heard a muffled curse, but the voice made her heart sing.
“Theo! Do you know where Cierra and Makram are? It’s an emergency! We have to find them. I had another prophecy dream.” Cherish suddenly remembered that Grandmother Yasta had asked her to come find her if she had anymore unusual dreams. “I’m supposed to tell Grandmother Yasta about my dreams, too. Maybe we should split
up. I’ll go see her, and you can try to find Cierra and Makram.”
Theo grabbed her elbow before she could charge off. “Wait, I don’t think splitting up is a good idea.”
“Huh? Why not?”
“Because Karl is with Grandmother Yasta right now.”
Cherish sucked in her breath. “Then we better hurry.”
Eight
“Ready?” Makram whispered to Cierra. They were almost to Grandmother Yasta’s room.
Cierra nodded and tightened her grip on her gun. They had decided to start with the matriarch. She was the least likely to put up a fight, and with her room out of the way, it was unlikely that anyone would hear them. They rounded the final corner. What they saw made them freeze. The guard outside of her room was dead. Someone had beaten them to it.
Makram gave the signal. On the count of three, the two of them charged into the matriarch’s room. A pool of blood was already spreading across the floor. Karl stood over Grandmother Yasta’s dead body. A sick, satisfied smile was spread thickly across his face. When the two Carbonari operatives burst through the door, Karl yelled. The two fired their laser weapons at him, but he deflected them with his lasana blade easily.
Karl charged towards them. Cierra barely had enough time to draw her lasana short sword and brace against his sweeping blow. Her gun dropped to the floor. He managed to lock blades with her. Pulling out a second sword, Karl hit Makram in the face with the flat of his blade. Makram dropped to the ground with a hard thud. He was out cold, before he hit the ground. Blood dripped from his nose.
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