Alegro clicked his beak a few times. “Young lady, even if all that you have showed us is true, what do you expect us to do? Do you want us to organize a huge Yasta force, take over the Relissarium mine, and stage a political takeover of the entire galaxy?”
Nial’s face was saddened by the destruction he had seen in the images overhead. “We are a peace-loving people who believe in having the capability to protect ourselves. We lost a great many lives in the massacre. We are not as strong as we once were.”
Jiyeon crossed both sets of arms over her chest. “Even if we wanted to go into battle, it would be foolish to do so alone. To do battle with Carristoux and the Carbonari, we would have to align with the emperor. And yet to do battle against the emperor is a foolish notion in our current condition. There would be no hope of success, only more meaningless death.”
Frustration gripped Cherish. “We were sent by Hulaki. We are on a chosen mission to overthrow the evil regime that is plaguing our galaxy. Why do you place more faith in an evil ruler than you put in Batumah’s chosen disciple?”
The Josti female placed her hands on her hips. “The emperor has thousands of soldiers! If you three are the best that Hulaki can send to muster up allies, then he is already scraping the barrel.”
Cherish bit back a hateful reply. Her patience was growing thin. “You say he is scraping the barrel by sending us here. Have you forgotten the scripture about the butterfly and the storm? ‘A butterfly on its own, may not be able create enough wind to move a single leaf, but if enough butterflies join together, they can turn back even the most fearsome of storms.’ By ourselves, we cannot defeat the emperor, just like you cannot defeat him on your own. However, if enough of us join together, we can defeat the evil that is poisoning our worlds. When Batumah calls his followers to stand up for what they believe in, will you tell him that you choose to pass because you lost your faith? Or will you tell him that you are willing to give your all, no matter the odds? The emperor’s reign of evil has already brought about the destruction of Relisse and the massacres of the monasteries. How many more tragedies have to happen before it is worth your while to stand up against him?”
The representatives avoided her eye contact. Most of them looked afraid. It was so easy to send young soldiers out to fight battles, but when they were asked to support the cause directly, they shied away from it, Cherish thought. They needed something real, something to show them that they personally had been affected by the emperor’s evil. Losing religious superiors was a sad blow, but it was still removed. It wasn’t personal enough. The people before her in the parliament probably never even met the Brothers Superior that were murdered. As terrible as it was, they needed something closer to home.
Cherish started walking towards the pool where they were seated. The guards exchanged nervous glances, and stepped aside. Slipping down into the water, she waded over to the center podium. Alegro leaned away from her. No one dared to say anything. Their eyes were fixed on her. A few more steps, and she was close enough to reach out and touch him.
Gently, Cherish reached out and touched Alegro’s hand. Visions flooded her mind. She spoke softly so that only he could hear what she was saying. “When you were young, you were raised by the village elder, but he was not your father. Your real parents were killed when you were only a few years old, by one of the emperor’s sons. The twenty-second prince had snuck off to practice with his new blaster. Unaccompanied, he fired into the bushes. The shots killed your father. Your mother screamed over her husband’s dead body. The prince panicked and shot her, too. When the emperor found out, he had the bodies destroyed. Soldiers came to your village to tell the elder your parents had been killed by an escaped convict. They said they had captured him, but were too late to save your mother and father.”
Alegro’s eyes widened. “How do you know that? I never told a soul about that.”
Cherish continued. “That’s not all I see. Your wife is pregnant. She hasn’t told you yet, because you’ve been in a bad mood lately. The duties of Prime Minister are taking their toll on you. Your choices will not only affect you and your wife. They will also affect your unborn child. Today, you can help decide what kind of world your child will come into.”
The Aphaian’s feathers flattened close to his head. “How can you speak of such things?”
She released his hand. “I have the gift of prophecy.”
One of the representatives gasped. “There hasn’t been a prophet in over a century!”
“Please,” Nial reached out his hand towards her. “Will you read me next?”
Surprised by the sudden change in their attitudes, Cherish waded over to where Nial was sitting. She took his long, green fingers in hers. She saw his birth—if you could call it that. Both he and Naia were grown to be fully formed, and humanoid in shape. “Naia was sent to join the Carbonari, and you were sent to take a seat in parliament. You have been struggling to find your place in the world. You don’t feel like you fit in back on Verbash because you’ve lived most of your sentient life here with the other representatives. You also don’t feel like you fit in here because you are the only one of your kind. When the imperials killed Naia, you felt alone in the world. You should know that Batumah has never abandoned you. You have a place in his heart and in his light. Your journey is only just beginning.”
Nial wiped away a tear from his eye. “Thank you. I really needed to hear that.”
Cherish smiled and patted his hand, before moving on to the next person. Jiyeon squinted at her uncertainly, but she stretched out on of her four hands, anyway. Cherish touched her, and then jerked away. The visions she saw were heartbreaking. Taking a deep breath, she reached out again. “When you were young, you saw your sisters being taken away. Your mother managed to hide you underneath a bed, but she didn’t have enough time to hide your sisters. When you asked where they had gone later, your mother told you that they had been chosen to join a select few in special combat training. As you grew up, you started to doubt that, but you never asked her again. The truth was that soldiers had come to take away some of the young girls to become concubines for the emperor. It was deal your town elders had arranged in order to have protection from bandits.”
Jiyeon’s voice cracked as she spoke. “Are…are they still alive?”
The painful hope in her eyes cut though Cherish’s being. “I don’t know. I can’t see that. I can see a potential future with you involved, though. Under your guidance, the people of your town can break free of that arrangement, but not just that. You can stop the practice of forcing young women to be concubines across the entire galaxy. You can fight for those who can’t, and save so many from the fate that your sisters endured. There is greatness ahead of you. You just have to choose it.”
Cherish continued going around the circle. She spoke with all of the representatives. All of them had been hurt in some way or another by the empire. The thing that surprised her most was how much of a strain her gift of prophecy placed on her. Not only did she see their pasts and potential futures, she experienced them, too. Every heartbreak they had, every worry, every hope they held onto, Cherish felt all of it. She took a moment to gather her thoughts and emotions. They were all listening to her. Now, she just had to figure out what to say.
Climbing out of the pool, Cherish held her head high. All eyes were on her. She said a silent prayer to Batumah, hoping that he would help her find the words that they needed to hear now. Looking at them, confidence flowed into her. Her heartbeat slowed to a steady, booming rhythm. In that moment, she felt herself align with the cosmos. When she spoke, her voice resonated with the truth of what was to come. “Hulaki has come. When those who believe in Batumah come together, Castor and Pollus will fall. Batumah’s golden light will be able to shine upon the entire galaxy once more. People of the universe, your time has come. You have the power to free yourselves from this oppression. You just have to be brave enough to seize your destiny.”
Alegro stood in the center of t
he room. He applauded her, slowly but steadily. Following him, the other representatives rose to their feet. Their clapping and cheers filled the cave. One by one, they bowed, and promised to spread the news about her and Hulaki to all that would listen. Cherish felt a shiver run down her spine. She let out a small sigh of relief.
Beside her, Makka took her hand and squeezed it. “That was amazing!”
Fabois leaned over, and whispered in her ear. “I have to say, I was a little worried there for a bit.”
Cherish let out a laugh. She put on a smile, and answered him without moving her lips. “You weren’t the only one.”
Nine
Cierra watched as new ranks of soldiers marched into the room. The previous soldiers stepped to the side to allow the new imperials to lead the charge. The sheen of dark Relissarium across their chests and legs gleamed in the low lighting. “Uh, Theo?”
Theo was standing in front of the refrigerated container. “Cierra, I’m trying to figure out what to do about these very dangerous spheres over here.” His voice was layered with panic even though he was trying to remain calm under pressure.
“Theo!” Cierra barked at him again, making him turn around in agitation.
“What?” Theo yelled back at her. His eyes followed hers to the soldiers pouring into the room.
Cierra held her lasana blade at the ready, but it wouldn’t do much good against Relissarium armor. “Any ideas?”
The soldiers were starting to march down the bridge towards them. Theo glanced from the soldiers back to the metal box on top of the pedestal. “One, but you’re not going to like it.”
Theo shoved his hand into the container and grasped one of the glass marbles. As soon as his skin came into contact with it, it was like dipping his fingers into a container of acid. He fought back the scream that was trying to escape his lips. Grimacing, he watched as his flesh melted off his bones. Theo struggled to heal himself around the damage, but the acceleration of the deterioration was too much. The most he could manage was keeping a withered claw-like structure at the end of his wrist.
Rearing back with his damaged hand, Theo launched the orb of dark matter at the incoming soldiers. Karl and Makram instantly backpedaled further down the hall that led to the laboratory. Judging by the lack of reaction from the soldiers, none of them had been told about what was housed in the center of the lake.
The glass marble shattered against the breastplate of one of the imperials. The soldier’s face was unamused, but that only lasted for a nanosecond. An explosion of white swirled outwards, as if it were testing its limits. The soldier’s eye sockets began to droop, and then tear away from his face, like an inescapable vacuum was sucking him in. The dark matter snapped back in on itself in a swirling cyclone. One second, soldiers were lining up to charge down the bridge, and the next a blinding blip of white light closed in on itself.
Theo looked towards the door. Two-thirds of the soldiers were gone now, along with the center section of the rock bridge. Theo’s ears were ringing, but not from the loud explosion that he had been expecting. It was the void of noise that startled his senses. There had been no sound, no scream or crash to signify the ending of so many lives. They simply were there one second, and the next it was as if they had never existed.
The remaining soldiers quickly backed away, trying to escape before another glass sphere could be lobbed at them. There was a shocked outcry from the imperials. Makram and Karl blocked their path. They were trapped between two undesirable fates. Either they would be sucked into a void of nonexistence by dark matter, or they would be killed by the two princes standing in their way. A few of them seemed to want to try their luck against the princes.
One soldier started to shove his way through the ranks, attempting to make a break for it. Karl held up a control of some sort. He pressed a button, and the soldier dropped where he stood. Blood dripped from his ears. Cierra watched as Karl kicked the soldier’s limp body into the water below. For the first time, she saw the fear in the soldiers’ eyes. Instead of seeing them as cold-blooded killers, she caught a glimpse of their humanity.
Theo stared at the gap between the platform they stood on and the rest of the walkway leading to the exit. “I knew this stuff was powerful, but I didn’t know it would do that much damage.”
Cierra turned back to face him. Her eyes were wide. “How many of those things did you throw?”
“One.”
She spun back to survey the damage. “That was only one of those little spheres?”
“Yeah.” Theo glanced back into the refrigerator. There were dozens of them still in trays. The damage that could come out of that amount of dark matter would be catastrophic. “One thing is sure though.”
Cierra watched anxiously as one of the soldiers pointed a blaster in their direction. “Oh, yeah? What’s that?”
Theo let out a long, slow breath. “Hubard was right. Dark matter definitely trumps Relissarium. With this much of it, he could build some pretty powerful bombs.”
She watched the remaining soldiers carefully, trying to find a way for her and Theo to escape. Unfortunately, she was coming up blank. “I don’t know if anyone should have that much power, even us.”
He glanced at his hand. It was still pink from new flesh growing over his bones and tendons. “You might be right, but I would rather us have it than the emperor, even if we don’t end up using it. At least we could sleep a little better at night.”
Cierra kept her eyes on the soldier with the blaster. “If they fire at us, I don’t think we’ll ever have to worry about sleeping again.” She raised her voice where Makram could hear her. “Makram, you might want to call your soldiers off. If he fires that blaster, there’s a good chance that the shot will shatter more of the dark matter. You all saw what one of those little orbs can do. Do you really want to see what happens when more than one is shattered at a time?”
The soldier hesitated. He turned to look at Prince Makramis for guidance. Grinding his teeth together, Makram signaled for the guard to put his weapon down. “How considerate of you to think of us, Cierra. Someone, go get me a sniper blaster. I’ll take them out myself.” One of the soldiers not wearing Relissarium armor broke away from the group. He ran back down the hallway towards the lab and the center shaft of the facility.
Theo tore the hem of his shirt off of his uniform. The ripping fabric drew Cierra’s attention. “What are you doing?”
He tied the edges of the fabric together to form a makeshift sack. “I’m improvising.” Taking a deep breath, he moved his hand to grab another one of the marbles.
Cierra reached out to stop him. “Don’t! It’s too dangerous to be messing around with that stuff.” She looked at the pocked skin along his fingers. “You don’t even know if you’ll have enough energy to heal yourself. It’s not worth it, Theo.”
He flexed his fingers, and glanced back over his shoulder where Makram was waiting for the sniper blaster. Theo’s eyes moved back to Cierra’s. “I can’t just stand here and wait for him to pick us off one by one. I brought you down here. I’m going to get you out, okay? Maybe if I can throw these things at the far wall, I can blow us a way out of here.”
“Theo, please…”
His lips narrowed into a taut line. “I have to do this. There were so many people that I couldn’t save, that I couldn’t protect. That isn’t happening to you. I won’t let it. There is no point in me being Hulaki if I can’t save the people I care about.” He brushed her hair away from her face with his good hand. “If I can’t save the person that I—”
Pounding footsteps echoed down the hallway. The soldier that had left to grab the sniper blaster was back. A long-range precision rifle was in his hands. “I got it!”
Makram’s lips curled into a sadistic smile. “Perfect timing. Say your goodbyes, Theo. You know, I’ve been trying to decide which would hurt you more. Should I kill Cierra first, so you can watch her die in your arms, or should I kill you so she can mourn you for, say, five second
s? Choices, choices.”
Theo jerked his hand back from Cierra’s cheek. There wasn’t time for sentimentality. He could tell her what she meant to him later. Right then, he needed to focus on their escape. Theo heard the blaster in Makram’s hands hum to life. They only had seconds left before he pulled the trigger.
Hastily, Theo tossed some orbs into the sack he had fashioned. If he could carry enough of them, it wouldn’t matter how deeply they were underground. Eventually they would be able to blast their way out. As he shoveled more glass marbles into the sack, his wounded hand began to melt again. One of the orbs ate through his hand, and tumbled into the bag before he could catch it. The clink of breaking glass sent chilled terror through his body.
In one swift movement, Theo hurled the sack with the orbs up into the air, as high as he could. Grabbing Cierra around the waist, he dove off of the platform. The two of them plummeted into the icy water of the lake. Theo barely had enough time to suck in a breath before they plunged under the surface. Kicking as hard as he could, he carried himself and Cierra deeper into the lake, trying to escape the pull of the dark matter that was sure to come. He had to put as much distance between them and the shattered orbs as he could, and even then, he didn’t know if it would be enough to save them.
The suction slurped at the water, pulling them back towards the surface of the lake. Theo kicked and struggled. He felt Cierra slipping from his grasp. The precious air in his lungs escaped as he let out a bellow of sheer effort. He wouldn’t let her be taken from him. All of his energy went into holding her next to him, and swimming against the pull of the dark matter’s vortex.
The Relissarium Wars Omnibus Page 52