The Riddle of the Gods

by Lyra Shanti

  Just then, the rumbling erupted into a magnificent roar. The vibrating sound made Reese look to the sky as she held the spear in her hands, ready to strike at the monster. However, after seeing what was coming at her through the clouds, she hesitated, trying her best to understand what she saw.

  It appeared to be a giant cat creature with large, white wings, surrounded in iridescent flame. It also seemed to be carrying two people on top its back. Reese wondered if this was a true Sarax, and if the Sirini tribe had somehow summoned one to save its people. Better late than never! thought Reese as she watched the golden cat in the sky circle around the monster. It wasn't as big as Raxas, but it definitely had an intimidating roar, which seemed to be thoroughly upsetting the monster.

  Flying down to where Reese stood, Ayn waved at her as he helped Srah to the ground. He then slid off of Axis' back.

  “Well, hello there, Srah-Hana,” said Reese. “I see you brought a sphinx God with you. That's always good. Just in time, really. I've been trying to find the creature's weakness, but I don't know if it even has one.” Reese looked at Ayn, not recognizing his face, and asked, “Who's your friend?”

  Srah shook her head and said, “He's Ayn... The Bodanya. He can help us. So can Axis, but he's not a God really, he's a Sarax.”

  Axis, still in full Sarax form, looked at Srah with a raised brow and tilted his head. What's the difference? he silently asked. Srah merely shrugged with a nervous smile.

  Reese smirked and said, “The Bodanya and a Sarax, huh? That works for me! Alright, Gods, how do we kill this thing?!”

  “We're not going to kill it,” said Ayn, steadfast.

  “Well, sorry to disappoint you, Bodanya,” Reese replied sarcastically, “but I don't think there's any other way of getting rid of this horrible creature.”

  “He's not horrible,” said Ayn, “he's just... in a great deal of pain. We need to reach the part of him that remembers something other than the pain.”

  “That's great,” Reese quipped, “but I don't think we have time to psycho-analyze a monster.”

  Noticing that Raxas was now heading back toward where they stood, Axis let out another giant growl with his thundering voice.

  Raxas flew backwards, looking dazed. However, Ayn knew his friend's growl would only temporarily hurt the monster, and that Reese was right; there wasn't much time.

  “Look, I realize we only have a few minutes before Raxas breaks free of Axis' plasma-voice,” said Ayn, “but I think I can reach him... mentally. I sense a very disturbed soul. He's not just a blind, hungry monster. He is an old soul who has seen much death and pain, and he has been left alone for ages. Something is telling me we should try to heal him.”

  “Well, you better do it fast!” said Srah. “The creature is shaking off the effects of Axis' voice!”

  Ayn jumped on top of his friend's back and said, “Reese! Srah! Go hide inside that cave! Axis and I will lure Raxas up into the heavens! If there are any survivors, get them out and lead them back to the Sirini camp!”

  Reese shook her head, wanting to argue with Ayn's plan, but she was distracted by the monster who was now lunging toward Axis and Ayn. Srah then grabbed Reese's hand and said, “Come on! Ayn knows what he's doing!”

  Together, they ran into the cave as they watched Axis flying with Ayn on top his back. Ayn's plan seemed to be working as Raxas chased them up into the sky. Srah could only pray Ayn would find a way to heal the monster, and more importantly, stay alive.

  Reese immediately activated the plasma-light on her communications band as it glowed bright enough for them to see in the dimly lit cave. Slowly, she led Srah through the darkness.

  They both didn't know what to expect, though Reese imagined they'd find a hundred or so dead bodies and skeletons. She wasn't looking forward to it. Surprisingly, there didn't seem to be any bones or remains anywhere. All they saw as they walked deeper into the cave were varied personable objects, such as jewelry and clothes, most of which seemed Sirini in style. Reese suspected the monster liked to collect valuables from its victims. “Sick,” Reese muttered as she continued on ahead.

  She was only interested in finding one thing though: Atlar... or at least his remains. She didn't see anything to do with him though. Not a personal item of his anywhere.

  “Can you make that wristband of yours brighter?” asked Srah as she squinted, walking ahead of Reese.

  “Yeah, a little,” said Reese. “Why? Do you see something?”

  “I think I can make out someone lying down on a bed of some sort,” replied Srah, “down there, by that waterfall.”

  “What waterfall?” asked Reesed. “How do you see all that?”

  “Sirini can see in the dark much better than Krians can. It's still hard to make out, but I believe it's a man lying there. We should inspect it further.”

  Reese smirked as she illuminated Srah's way and said, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  Srah frowned. “Stop that. I'm not a queen... yet. The people would first have to hold a ceremony for it, and I'd have to accept my position in front of the unified tribe, and well... none of that has happened. I don't even know if I want to be their Hana. I'm very flattered, but I'm just not ready for such a high position. I wasn't even raised here. What do I know about leading anyone on this planet?”

  Reese smiled and said, “You don't have to know what you're doing. I never do. Just pretend like you know, and others will believe you.”

  “That's ridiculous,” Srah replied.

  “Yes, maybe, but that's my method. I'm all about instinct. I mean, all the training in the world won't help if you don't follow your gut first and foremost. From what I've seen, you're doing that pretty well already, so that's half the battle. Plus, you don't seem to have a problem making quick decisions and giving orders. For what it's worth, I think you'll make an excellent queen.”

  Srah stopped walking for a moment and turned to Reese, genuinely touched. “Thank you,” she said with a slight smile, “but... I really don't want to be Hana. I just want Sirin to be free, and I want to do what I can to help.”

  Reese nodded and said, “That's what I want as well. Let's hope we can help achieve freedom for all our planets... and without too much bloodshed in the process.”

  Srah nodded, then slowly walked ahead toward the waterfall, which was now coming into view for Reese as well.

  Out of nowhere, they heard what sounded like a man's voice.

  “Ona... please be careful,” the man moaned.

  “He just said Ona!” said Reese excitedly. “Atlar? Atlar, is that you?!” she yelled as she raced forward.

  Reese and Srah approached the waterfall, which they could now see was in the center of a large section of the cave. Surrounding the waterfall in a circle were beds made out of moss and vine. On one of the beds, Atlar lay with his eyes closed. He looked worse for wear with ripped clothing, crusty lips, and sweat drenching his pale forehead.

  Reese immediately ran to him and knelt by his side.

  “I'm here, Atlar,” she said with a shaky, worried voice as she held his weak, cold hand. Srah could tell how much Reese cared for her king, and that she was devoted to him in a way surpassing mere duty. Srah could also sense he wasn't doing very well. He was extremely sick and needed emergency care.

  “We have to get him to a doctor as soon as possible,” whispered Srah.

  “I know,” said Reese, fighting back tears. “Atlar... honey, can you hear me?”

  Atlar tried to open his eyes, but it wasn't easy. When he managed to open them, he didn't know where he was. He thought he had died, but the pain was still raging inside his body, which told him he was still alive.

  “Reese?” he muttered in a raspy voice. “Is that you?”

  “Yes, my dearest king, it's me. I've come to save you.”

  He smiled, then quietly said, “That's sweet, my love... but you're a little late. I'm going to die.”

  “Shut up,” snapped Reese as she pulled Atlar's arm up, wrapping it around he
r neck. “We're going to get you out of here, and you're going to live. I swear to the heavens that I will save you! Now get up, Your Majesty! That's an order!”

  Atlar moaned in pain and said, “Reese... I love you. You know that, don't you?”

  “Shut up,” she replied. “I don't want to hear that right now. Just get up, and help me save you!”

  “I don't think he can walk, Reese,” said Srah. “He seems very ill. I hate to say this, but in my limited medical opinion, he has the signs of late stage Undaniasis. I don't think he will be able to move. We're going to need to get a stretcher or something.”

  “What?!” Reese sputtered. “Undaniasis? You mean he has Plasma Poisoning? How is that possible? He was fine before he left for Ohr! Can it come on that quickly?”

  “Well,” said Srah as she helped Reese to gently lay Atlar back down on his bed, “sometimes it can come on quickly, but... his condition seems so much worse than someone who's only just contracted it six months ago. I don't know how long he was carrying the illness, but it usually it takes years before someone becomes this sick.”

  Reese exhaled in a fury – frustrated and worried beyond words.

  “Atlar,” said Reese, fighting back tears, “hang on tight, honey. I'm gonna get you some help. You just stay alive and wait for me. You got that? Ona is waiting for you, so you can't die! Is that understood, soldier?”

  Atlar moaned.

  Reese looked at Srah and said, “Stay with him. I'll go get help.”

  Srah shook her head and replied, “No, I should go and you stay. He needs you, and I know who can heal him... or at least try.”

  Reese nodded, not having the patience to argue. “Fine, but hurry!”

  “You have my word,” Srah replied. She then ran out of the cave.

  Reese knelt down by Atlar and silently prayed. Dear gods, do not let my beloved king die here in this hellish cave!

  –

  Kren's nerves were already shot when he heard the loud rumbling in the sky. His sister's life was all he cared about at the moment, but he had a feeling the sound was from something other than thunder. He wondered if the Gods were angry at them for disturbing the monster of the mountain. If so, he could only silently pray to them for understanding.

  He also prayed to them for his sister's health. Granjie was mending Kuva's wounds, giving her a broth of healing herbs. All Kren could do was wait with the rest of the tribe.

  As he sat down next to his grandfather on a rounded rock, he hoped Vuntu and Reese would be alright, though he had a terrifying feeling they were most likely dead. No one ever faced the monster and lived to tell the tale.

  Just then, both he and Joh saw the strangest sight zipping up into the sky. It looked like Raxas, and he was chasing after a smaller, golden-colored Sarax.

  “Do you see that?!” shouted Kren as he stood up with wild eyes.

  “I do!” replied Joh. “I can't believe it, but I see it!”

  “It's Axis, Granja!”

  “What?!” Joh sputtered. “Your friend with the gold hair?”

  “Yes! His true form is Sarax, and he's making the monster chase him into the sky! Can you believe his insane bravery?!”

  Joh shook his head, dumbfounded. Not only did he find it nearly impossible to believe that a real Sarax lived and breathed, but that it was fighting for the Sirini, like in the legends of old. It made Joh smile wide. Granjie too had noticed the spectacle in the sky and had come over to her husband. He wrapped his arms around his wife and said, “The moment we've waited for has finally come, my love. We are witnessing history in the making.”

  “Praise the Gods!” she replied as she held him tight.

  Kren's heart filled with love as he watched them hug and kiss. He then turned to see his entire camp of about thirty Sirini, all looking up in wonder. They had seen the Sarax in the sky as well. It made Kren nearly cry from joy.

  None of them, however, had any idea that Ayn was with the two ancient creatures in the sky as well. Just barely balancing on Axis' back, Ayn held onto his golden fur for dear life.

  “Axis!” he yelled. “You're going too fast! I can't breathe!”

  “I'm sorry, Ayn, but I don't have a choice! That insane thing behind me is too close on my tail! I have to keep moving!”

  Just as Axis said that, they heard Raxas scream a blood -curdling roar. It was so loud and filled with plasma it made Axis want to vomit. He swerved a little, which made Ayn yelp, though he somehow kept his balance.

  “Woah! Axis, are you alright?!”

  “Yeah... no. Sort of?!”

  “Come on, keep it together! We just need to get him to a pocket in space, away from Sirin! Can you make him follow you to somewhere calm and safe?”

  “What?!” Axis barked. “Where the hell in space is calm and safe?”

  “I don't know! Do that thing you do!”

  “What thing?!”

  “That thing! The thing where you just KNOW where to go! It's a Sarax thing, isn't it? Just follow your instincts, and then go there!”

  “Ayn, no offense, but that's crazy! You're crazy!”

  Ayn shook his head and said, “Just do it!”

  Axis didn't actually know what Ayn meant, but he also didn't like racing around randomly in the sky with a scary monster behind him.

  Suddenly, Axis felt something hot twinge his tail and legs.

  “What the hell?!” he yelled. “Ayn! I think that monster is breathing fire at me!”

  Ayn looked behind him and saw that Axis was right. The red-winged creature was indeed breathing fire at them. “Not good!” yelled Ayn. “Axis, hurry up and jump somewhere else! Next time he does that, I'm going to burn up! Hurry!”

  “Alright!” shouted Axis, now in total panic. He had no idea where to go, but he figured he hadn't known where to go any of the times he traveled, not even when he went back in time to get Ayn's help. “Here goes nothing!” he yelled with his eyes closed as he lunged himself forward... somewhere.

  In a blink of an eye, it was dark and still.

  “Where are we?” asked Ayn, unable to see anything.

  “I don't know,” said Axis. “You're the one who told me to just go anywhere, so don't ask me!”

  Ayn smirked and shook his head. “I can't see, but at least I can breathe, so that's good.”

  “Of course you can breathe,” said Axis as he nudged for Ayn to get off his back. “You think I'd bring you somewhere and not make sure we can breathe?”

  “True,” said Ayn as he stood to his feet, unsure what he was stepping on, “but how are we breathing exactly? Are we somewhere in space, and what am I standing on?”

  “So many questions, young Bodanya...” growled a deep, throaty voice in the darkness, “but so few answers.”

  Ayn stood still, confused and blind.

  “Who's there?!” Axis blurted as he whirled around in a circle, trying his best to see.

  “Don't you recognize my voice?”

  “No...” said Axis, trying his best to adjust his eyes. “Should I?”

  The voice muttered a laugh and said, “Well, I suppose it was a very long time ago. It would be nice if you remembered though.”

  Just then, both Ayn and Axis saw the face that came with the voice. It was Raxas' big, bright yellow eyes that they saw first. He was different than he'd been before – less monster and more Sarax.

  Adjusting his eyes further, Ayn saw that Raxas was lion-like and rather huge – at least twice the size of Axis – but he had lost the scorpion’s tail and dragon's scales. He looked less frightening now, though Ayn didn't know if he was any less dangerous.

  “Raxas... is that you?” asked Ayn.

  “Ah, so The Bodanya is awake after all,” replied Raxas. “At least you recognize me. Perhaps you could awaken my grandson as well.”

  “Grandson?” Axis repeated, his eyes blinking in the dark.

  “Yes, we are related, Gold Sarax,” said Raxas as he smiled with big, yellow eyes. “I seem to remember you as though you
were my grandson, or something similar. In this pocket of time and space, I can remember a little better. Why can't you, Axis?”

  Just then, the fiery Sarax exhaled onto his right paw and cupped a bright, blue light of fire. “Don't you remember this place, Axis? I believe it's where you were born.”

  “What? Really?” said Axis, utterly intrigued.

  “Yes,” replied Raxas, “you had a different name back then... but this is where you were given life. You had a difficult birth, so you instinctively went to The Bodanya, since he had always been your grounding. However, it was a very risky thing to do, for the last time you two were together, the entire universe almost split apart.”

  “What?!” snapped Axis. “How could that be possible?”

  “You will see, my long-lost descendant,” said Raxas with a wily smile. “In time, you will re-create your past. I'm sure of it. It is the way of the universe to step where you have already walked.”

  “So... Raxas,” Ayn politely interjected, “you remember things now? You remember your true self?”

  “Not entirely,” said Raxas as he sat upright, resting on his back legs.

  At this point, both Ayn, and now Axis too, could see perfectly in the darkness. With the blue light emanating from Raxas' giant paw, they saw being in a pocket of space, which was swirling with unseen plasma. Ayn didn't understand how he was existing there or what he was standing on, but he was beginning to realize when dealing with Sarax, the normal laws of physics didn't seem to apply.

  “I still don't remember one thing,” added Raxas, “the most important thing, really.”

  “What is that?” asked Ayn.

  “The truth of the matter is that it's a riddle, Bodanya,” said Raxas, “and I'm not sure anyone can remember the answer to it.”

  “What is the riddle?” asked Ayn, caught in curiosity.

  “An age-old riddle,” said Raxas, “one that came before time and space. You don't dare imagine yourself great enough to be able to answer such a riddle, do you, boy?”

  “Hey!” yelped Axis. “He's not a boy! He's Ayn, The Great Adin reborn! He's the greatest man who ever lived, and if you think he can't answer some silly riddle, you're wrong!”