by N. I. Snow
Salianos's hot breath spread over Zaharak as the High Elder bent down over his body. The Seeker felt the tip of the High Elder's blade press down on the base of his throat and heard the High Elder's thin, raspy voice, filled with arrogance, “Time to end this little game.”
As Salianos was about to sink the blade into the Seeker's neck, Zaharak freed his right hand from underneath Salianos’s foot and quickly grabbed the High Elder's arm with both hands and twisted the High Elder's own hand forcing him to thrust his own dagger into his own faded-blue chest. Salianos let out a gurgled gasp and fell.
Zaharak slowly rose to his knees and reached forward to feel that Salianos knelt in front of him. The High Elder breathed heavily as he tried to pull the blade from his chest. Zaharak beat him to it. The Seeker grabbed the dagger handle and ripped it loose. The High Elder's breath came in labored gasps. Zaharak reached for the top of the High Elder's head, feeling for the patch of green hair. Grabbing a handful of the soft fibers, Zaharak jerked the High Elder's head back. He felt Salianos weakly trying to push his arm away and he imagined fear shining in the High Elder’s violet eyes as he watched the Seeker raise the dagger above him. His struggle ended as the dagger plunged between those violet orbs.
Zaharak felt the High Elder's body grow limp under his claws. He let go of Salianos's hair and listened as the faded-blue Tazalian's body fell with a loud thud. The reign of Salianos had ended. The High Elder and his quest were dead.
Twenty-Two
Emma couldn't believe her eyes. Even as the stoic gray Seeker stood up and stepped away from the High Elder, she still could not believe what she saw. Salianos was dead! The nightmare was over!
The girl ran over to Zaharak as he stumbled and fell to one knee. She pressed one of her shoulders against his to help support his weight, which was not easy for her. He was a lot heavier than her brother. The Seeker raised his shaking hands and cupped them around her face. His ruined yellow eyes looked from left to right trying to find her. Emma's lip quivered at the sight. The strong impassive Zaharak looked helpless.
Emma was about to speak when the room was suddenly illuminated by a blinding but misty white light. Emma looked around the room to find that Jonah and the body of Salianos had vanished! Where was Jonah! Voices whispered around her and Zaharak. Zaharak tilted his head from side to side trying to pinpoint where the sounds were coming from. Emma felt a familiarity within this radiant void. It felt like she was home.
Then Emma's song filled the air around them. The soft tune seemed to fill both Emma and Zaharak with energy. The Seeker placed his hands on the ground and pushed himself up. Standing with his back straight he continued to turn his head from side to side. Sorrow flowed through Emma as she watched him.
The Seeker coughed heavily into an arm. Emma noted with horror that there was fresh blood on the sleeve of his jacket. Zaharak listened for a moment, then he whispered, “The Galaxy's song.”
“Zaharak?” Emma looked up at the Tazalian with worry.
He coughed once more before looking at her, only he wasn't looking at her. His ruined eyes looked in her general direction to an area somewhere behind her. The Seeker waved a claw in the air, “I am fine, only,” he paused as if trying to decide what to say, “the Ancient showed me what would happen had I failed to save you.” His husky voice wavered, “Salianos would have used the Gaia's power to kill your brother in front of your eyes. You would have spent the rest of eternity on hands and knees watching as he used that the Light’s power to control the universe as he saw fit. Countless innocent lives would have perished before you, and you would not be able to stop it.”
“Couldn't someone have killed him?” Emma asked.
Zaharak shook his head, and he closed his eyes as if fighting back a bad memory. “If one of you died, so would the other, and Salianos’s soul would have been bound to the Gaia. His corruption would have poisoned it and destroyed the entire galaxy.”
Emma's face paled. “It doesn't matter now, though. Right? Salianos is dead. We have nothing to fear.” She looked back into the foggy light, the feeling of familiarity returning. Suddenly a rush of memories filled her head, most she wasn't sure were even hers. She moaned and clapped her hands over the sides of her head as if that would ward them off. Zaharak must have sensed her distress because he placed both of his hands on her shoulders. The light faded away and they were back in the station. She heard her brother call her name and saw him try to stand only to fall back onto the floor.
Emma did not respond to her brother. Instead she looked up into Zaharak’s blind yellow eyes. Her voice shook as she spoke, “I understand now.”
“What?” Zaharak asked still holding onto her shoulders even as she lowered her hands.
“I understand why the Gaia chose to take a physical form, and I know that it is time for it to return.”
Zaharak heard the scrape of metal as Emma picked up something that lay to his left. When the girl returned to him, she pressed the handle of a dagger into his claws while saying, “It's the only way.”
Zaharak recognized the weight of the blade. It was the one he had given Emma, the one he had scarred her with. His hands shook as he held the weapon and his voice was weak as he spoke, understanding well what Emma wanted him to do, “I can't.”
He imagined that Emma was frowning at him. “Can't? You are a Seeker, are you not? It should be easy for you to do.”
Zaharak fell to his knees, shaking his head, “Do not ask this from me. You are,” he paused, “you are the only being that I can call a friend.”
He could tell by her hesitation that his words had an effect on her. Then the girl spoke softly to him, “Then as a friend, you must do this for me.”
Zaharak only slackened his hold on the dagger handle. “No.”
A rush of air was followed by a sharp pain across Zaharak's snout. He heard Jonah let out a cry of shock. Emma's glowing hand had disappeared back into the darkness after her painful stroke connected with his muzzle. The Seeker didn't care. The girl could hit him as much as she wanted. He would not, could not, hurt her.
“Emma, don't,” Jonah's weak voice traveled through the darkness.
Another blow from her hand landed on the Seeker's blood-coated snout. He could hear her breath break with sobs; she was crying. The sound filled him with a dread he had never felt before, but he held strong to his conviction. He felt her take the dagger from his hand. Had she given up?
His heart sank when she spoke with a wavering voice, “Then if you can't, I will.”
Zaharak heard Jonah jump to his feet to stop his sister, but the gray Tazalian was faster. Reaching up with a clawed hand, he grabbed a hold of her dagger hand. He took the blade into his own hand and placed his free hand on her face. His husky voice could only ask, “Why?”
“Others like Salianos will discover who I am and you cannot always be there to protect me. You are the only one capable of freeing me. All life has a beginning and ending.”
Zaharak rested his forehead against the girl's shoulder. She had spoken the words with such a powerful serenity that it took all his willpower to fight back the deepening sorrow, sorrow new to him. He threw his arms around her body in an embrace that threatened to crush her. He could hear Jonah crying heavily behind him.
Zaharak kept his head pressed against Emma's body as he spoke to the boy, “Jonah, turn away.”
Zaharak did not know why it mattered to him that the boy not watch what he was about to do. The Seeker had killed many mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and children in front of their loved ones. Why did it bother him if the boy watched his younger sibling’s last moments? Why was it so different now?
Beneath his hold, Emma began humming her song. Zaharak inhaled a deep breath to suppress his grief. With his dagger, he traced along her back to a point he knew would kill her instantly and without pain. Emma's humming grew louder in his ears as he pressed the tip of the knife against her spine. His brow twitched as sorrow boiled in his soul. Emma kept humming as Zaharak fought to hol
d back tears that filled his eyes. He couldn't do it.
Control yourself, Tazalian. He told himself. You are a Seeker. You complete your tasks without fail.
Without warning, the dagger struck Emma’s spine with the speed and precision of a snake. Zaharak felt her body fall limp in his arms, her song cut off at mid note. The soul-shattering silence struck the Seeker hard. The dagger fell from his hand crashing thunderously on the metal floor. A small trickle of Emma’s warm blood spread onto his scales. He cradled her still form in his arms; bluish, blood-tinted tears rolled freely from his damaged eyes. His body shook violently. What had he done?
A part of him did not believe that it had been his hand that killed her, that it had been someone else. Another part of him did not want to believe that she was dead, wanted to believe that she would start singing to him again. He had promised to keep her safe. He had vowed that no harm would come to her.
“Oh, Emma,” his husky voice could barely form the words, “I am sorry.”
Quietly he began humming her song as he rocked her still form, his blood-tinted tears falling onto her pale face. Hard sobs coming from Jonah made Zaharak feel even worse. The young man had sacrificed much to rescue his sister only to have her die here in his arms and at his hand. Kahluna and Lutianist had given up their own lives for her, all in vain.
Zaharak combed his claws through Emma’s silky black hair. He started singing in Tazalian, Koto qa hele mahk. Lefm sho fluem fe clur. Ku za blen te julade, meken lofo blüre. Pa ahl lume etehki tor. Tek Pa ahl lume felta tor. Rest, my little cub. Fear no longer the night. May the dark be undone, faded into light. I was lost before you. Now I am lost without you.
Zaharak sucked in a deep breath, trying to hold back a torrent of tears. He had loved the girl that much was true. He may not have in the beginning; but over time, as he began changing, the feeling grew. It didn't matter now, though. Emma was dead and he had been the one to kill her.
A warmth began to fill Zaharak's arms. His breath caught in his throat. Was it possible? A radiant white light shone from Emma's body, filling Zaharak's dark sight. The light flowed away from her still form to a space in front of him. Zaharak choked back his tears as, captivated, he stared in awe at a glowing light. The Gaia, the Light of the Galaxy!
Jonah gazed wide-eyed and opened-jawed at the vibrant being floating before the gray Tazalian, who still clung to his dead sister. Despite the overwhelming grief that gripped his heart, he couldn't help but feel awestruck at the sight of her. The Gaia's entire form was made of different colors of light. A mixture of golden and silver hues formed her expressionless face, and her blank eyes emitted a soft pure white light. Her hair was a golden wave that flowed behind her above her long flowing dress of golden and white light. Sleeves and hem covered her hands and feet, though Jonah began to think that perhaps she did not have any hands or feet at all.
When she spoke, it was not Emma's voice he heard from her unmoving lips. Instead he heard a warm, soothing, motherly voice, “Thank you, Seeker, for freeing me.”
Jonah frowned. This being of light was speaking to the murdering scum that killed Emma. Why should the Seeker have the Gaia's attention when it was he, Jonah, who lost his sister? The young man felt rage build up in the pit of his stomach only to have it washed away as the Light turned her entire body to look at him. With her warm gaze on him, he felt ashamed for having been angry even for a brief moment.
“Do not hate him, Jonah Sholtal. Killing my physical form has hurt him more than you realize,” she spoke softly to the boy.
Jonah shook his head. “Your physical form? You mean my sister Emma?”
The Gaia let out a hum as she turned to face Zaharak and the motionless form of Emma. She seemed to have ignored Jonah's remark as she spoke, “It is done now, and I must return.”
“Why?” Jonah heard Zaharak's husky voice croak out.
The Light went quiet as though she were pondering Zaharak's simple question. Jonah looked at the blood-coated Seeker, taking note that his damaged eyes were staring directly at the Gaia. Was he able to see her?
When the Gaia spoke, her voice was even more soothing than before, “When your Ancients came before me and asked that all suffering be purged from the galaxy, I nearly granted that wish. However, I could not. I did not truly know how the life I created thrived. Had I granted what Alekia had asked, I would have destroyed a delicate balance that I did not understand.”
A radiant glow enveloped Jonah, “Good.” The glow moved to the lifeless form of Salianos. “Evil.” Then it moved to Zaharak. “Life.” The Gaia reached a handless arm and brushed it against Emma's still form. “Death. It all has a meaning, a purpose. One that I could never have known unless I had lived and breathed it. I now know and understand it all.”
“Why now? Why did this all happen now?” Jonah blurted out, cringing inwardly for being so abrupt with this overwhelming being.
She did not seem to have noticed his bluntness. Her gaze returned to fix on Zaharak. “Because of him. For thousands of years I have waited, watching for a life that could overcome any challenge, most critically that could carry out the final task that I assigned.”
“From the day that you were born, Zaharak, I knew that you were the one. I watched as you trained like any other Seeker, but you were different. You knew the importance of self-worth and no matter how hard the Elders tried, they could never take that from you. It was that self-worth that left you free to be changed. It was risky. Even after employing the Ancients to be spirit guides for my physical form, there was still danger. So many variables could have worked against me. My Seeker could have ignored his calling, or Salianos could have very well have fused his spirit to mine.
Before I created my physical form, I held council with my brothers and sisters and pointed out all the risks, all the different events that could happen. We all agreed that despite all the possible negative outcomes, now was indeed the best time for me to walk amongst the life I had created.”
“Brothers and sisters?” Jonah asked with a bemused look on his face “There are more of you out there?”
The Gaia turned to face the young man. “Of course. Many other galaxies exist besides your own, Jonah Sholtal. Just as my creations have families, I do as well; and despite the many mortal years I have watched, I am still the youngest of the Creators.”
The Gaia turned away from the boy, so that he could think over her words. She turned her blank features to the dead form of the faded-blue High Elder. “Such a pitiful creature,” she hummed. “Had he not been so blinded by his ambition, he would have seen the folly of his envisioned universe. One cannot simply rid the universe of the weak or simple minded. Doing so would have caused a catastrophic imbalance. He would have found everything he strived for collapse violently before his eyes. Rebellions would have become normal until the day he ended face down in the dirt.”
“He could have done it, then?” Jonah asked quietly.
The Gaia turned to face the boy. “Indeed, he could have. Had he succeeded, the universe would have fallen under his control only for a few hundred years; then he would have been killed.”
“What would have happened then?”
“His soul and my own would have become a single corrupt entity. My brothers and sisters would have us destroyed,” The Light let out a sad hum. “My creations would have been destroyed alongside us. Countless lives lost forever along with their peaceful afterlife all because of the selfishness of one.”
“What happens now?” Zaharak's husky voice spoke.
The Gaia turned to the Seeker, who still clung to the lifeless form of Emma. She contemplated his question for a moment before replying, “Not long ago the Ancients asked my physical form what she would do with my power. That makes me ask, what would any of my creations do with my power? I believe that it is for the good of my creations that my presence become forgotten. That way, no more will others suffer because of one who wants my power. So…the galaxy must never know about Emma or the Light of t
he Galaxy.”
Zaharak's head jerked forward. “You will erase Emma?”
“Emma is my physical form; and since I must not exist in the realm of my creations, she too will cease to exist.”
Zaharak shook his head violently and Jonah found himself agreeing with the Seeker. The boy spoke with a degree of wisdom he had never known before, “You said you understand now the balance of the life you created, but you fail to realize just how much Emma mattered to the balance of our lives. She was my sister, we grew up together, and I did everything within my power for her. Look at what her life has done for him,” Jonah jutted a finger towards Zaharak, who still had blood-stained tears flowing from his eyes. “He changed from being a self-centered, cold hearted monster to something that actually cares about others—all because of her.”
Zaharak bobbed his head softly. “The boy is right. Take away Emma, you take away the very reason for me to rise up against Salianos and the Elders. You strip me of the reason I have changed.” The Seeker ran a clawed hand along the girl's cold face smudging blue and red blood together on her pale cheeks, “I can't lose her.”
Jonah grudgingly gave the gray Tazalian a look of pity. Emma's death seemed to have hit the Seeker even harder than it had hit him. Jonah had lived his entire life with Emma. For her he had given up a chance to start his own family; for her he had suffered at the claws of Tarline. Jonah had loved Emma as any brother would his younger sibling. Zaharak, however, had betrayed his leaders and the order of the Seekers for her; he had risked his life and lost his eyesight to save her from Salianos. Jonah frowned, thinking, the Seeker had also saved him from the Elders. Zaharak and Emma could have easily abandoned him and gone into hiding. Jonah had a feeling that it was because of Emma that Zaharak had rescued him, but even then Seeker could have refused.
The Gaia hummed Emma's song as she contemplated Jonah's and Zaharak's words. After a while she finally spoke softly to the pair, “I see I have failed to come to understand how much my physical form has impacted the lives of those around it. Indeed, Emma cannot simply be erased with me.” A glow began to radiate from the Gaia's body engulfing the entire room and its inhabitants. “Instead, she shall be carefully rewritten. I thank you both for all the sacrifices you have made. I shall never forget either of you.”