The Riddle of the Gods

by Lyra Shanti

  On his way to help, Pei found Reese lying on the ground in pain. “It’s going to be alright,” he said as he knelt down.

  She looked at him, then tilted her head and sneered.

  It wasn’t exactly the reaction he was hoping for. “Look I…” he continued.

  Suddenly pushing him aside, she threw her Viha into The Tah soldier who had been approaching Pei from behind.

  “Damn it, Pei! You almost got us both killed. Now help me to my feet. My brother is badly injured!”

  Despite feeling thankful she saved his life, he was utterly annoyed at her ever-present cockiness. However, he still loved her, and wanted to help reach her brother.

  After he pulled her up, she hobbled over to the man she had slain and pulled her Viha out of his chest. She then leaned on Pei's arm as they both headed for her fallen ship.

  Kren, who was holding his own with the other Lirhan, spotted them. He instantly decided to leave his position in order to protect Reese and Pei as they made their way through the fight.

  “Go, I’ve got you covered,” he said to Pei.

  “Thanks, Kren,” Pei replied as he and Reese made their way to the ship.

  When they entered, they saw Fola shaking, watching in terror as Jin tried his best to stop Hynfir’s excessive bleeding as he lay on the floor of the cockpit.

  Reese still could barely feel her legs, but she forced them to run to her brother’s side.

  “Come on, Hynfir! Hold on!” she pleaded.

  “I… I’m trying, Sister,” he murmured in pain.

  “Can’t you do something?!” she snapped at Jin.

  “I tried wrapping him with salve-linen, but he was shot clean through his stomach! He’s lost so much blood. I don’t know what to do!”

  “Where’s the ship’s medic?!” she yelled, panicked.

  “I’m the designated healer,” Jin replied, slightly embarrassed. “I have healing experience, but this is far beyond my skills. He needs someone with knowledge of surgery... or magic.”

  “I need to get him to Dr. Hessen!” she sharply stated. “Where’s Sterek? Tell him he needs to ready the plasma-rover so we can transport my brother to the palace, and then we can-”

  “No… Reese… no,” Hynfir muttered as he gently put his hand on Reese’s forearm. “Don’t leave me.”

  “I’m here, Hynfir,” she cried quietly next to him. “I’m right here. You’re going to be fine. I swear it.”

  “No… no, I’m not, Reese.”

  “Shh, be still,” she said, shaking her head.

  “Reese…” whispered Hynfir, wincing, “I need you to carry my spirit with you now. I am too far gone. I can feel my body leaving me…”

  “No!!” she cried.

  Fola, realizing how bad Hynfir had been hit, grabbed onto Jin’s collar and snarled, “If you don’t stop his bleeding right this second, I’m going to bleed you with my fists!”

  “That’s enough,” said Sterek, who had come from the engine room with a few broken ribs. Holding his side with one hand, he grabbed Fola’s arm with his other hand and added, “Jin’s a good guy. I’m sure he tried his best. Let him be, Sister.”

  Still snarling, she let go of Jin’s collar and said, “You better have tried your best, boy.”

  “I did!” Jin blurted out. “I’m not an experienced doctor though. That blast made a huge hole in him, and I don’t know surgery!”

  “Dear Gods...” said Sterek, looking at Hynfir. “Who would do such a thing to a person?”

  “Yol would,” said Fola with a fierce look of hatred.

  “Fola… Sterek…” said Hynfir as he cringed in pain.

  “We’re here,” said Sterek as they both raced to their beloved father-figure.

  “Fola…” whispered Hynfir, “take my Viha. It’s been in my family for generations… and I want you to have it.”

  Fola didn’t want to take it, for it would mean acceptance of Hynfir’s grave condition.

  Hynfir, however, insisted. “Take it…” he said firmly.

  Nodding, she unhinged his Viha from his belt and held it with tears in her eyes.

  “Thank you, my guardian… my father,” she said as she kissed his cheek.

  Smiling for a moment, Hynfir whispered to Sterek next. “I want you to have the necklace I wear, my son. It was given to me by Leif, my beloved. He told me if ever we were blessed with children, this necklace, which symbolizes our love, would be theirs. I want you to have it, and give it to your children one day.”

  Sterek was honored, but also shaken. Hynfir couldn’t get the flame-shaped, emerald necklace off his neck, so Sterek helped. Holding it in his hands, he said, “I will wear it with pride, my true father.”

  Hynfir nodded, relieved, then coughed a little blood. He squeezed Reese’s hand and said, “There’s nothing I can give you, my dearest sister, you don’t already have… other than my undying love, though you've had that from the beginning.”

  “That’s more than enough!” Reese replied with tears streaming down her face.

  “I’m so very proud of you, my sister. When you were young, I didn’t realize the strength you possessed, but I will never doubt it again - not in this life, or the next.”

  Coughing blood once more, Hynfir’s eyes went hazy and far away. Panicked, Reese began calling for help. “Attention! Any available rovers, report directly to the mother ship! That’s a code red command! I repeat, a rover to the mother! NOW!”

  “Reese…” Hynfir said in a soft, dreamy voice.

  “I’m here, brother!”

  “Reese… I see my beloved. I see my Leif… and he looks exactly the way he did when we last saw each other. I see his gentle green eyes and sweet golden hair. He is calling me to be in his arms again. Oh, Gods bless me… this is what heaven is! I will finally be with him again, and I will be at rest.”

  Smiling, though in severe pain, Hynfir cried tears of joy, then took one last, final breath before collapsing on Reese’s lap.

  At first, Reese went into shock and disbelief. She couldn’t even cry. All she could do was inwardly scream. Reese had expected Hynfir might die in battle one day, but not yet… not so soon. She wasn’t ready to let him go and couldn’t believe he was truly gone. It didn’t help that his eyes were still open with a faint smile caressing his mouth. It was clear, though, his spirit had left his body and nothing more could be done.

  Fola’s reaction was even more inward than Reese’s. She quietly stood up and turned to leave, dragging Hynfir’s Viha behind her.

  “Where are you going?” asked Sterek?

  She turned to him and coldly said, “I’m going to end this… all of this.”

  Not knowing what his grieving sister meant, Sterek replied, “Then I’m going with you!”

  “No,” she said with her hand in front of her, stopping him. “Your ribs need mending. You will stay here and help Jin with the wounded. Protect Hynfir’s body as well… and when this is over, we’ll bury our father with a glorious funeral.”

  Sterek wasn’t the younger twin, but he usually did as Fola commanded. He nodded and stayed with Jin.

  “Wait!” yelled Reese, wiping her eyes and running after Fola, “I’m coming with you. We’ll finish this fight together!”

  Fola sneered and said, “Sorry, Auntie, but I fight alone.” Walking out of the ship, she disappeared into the thick of the battle.

  Reese shook her head, took a deep breath, and then turned to Pei who had been crying against the wall of the ship. He too valued Hynfir as a dear friend, and was deeply hurt by his loss.

  “Come on, General,” she said, grabbing his sleeve, “we’ve got some Tah to kill!”

  Pei was sick of death, but he nodded and followed her. He could tell she was bloodthirsty, and he couldn’t blame her. At this point, though, all Pei wanted was to protect Reese and survive.

  Just surviving was also the goal of Meddhi as he finally cracked the security code into the temple. The plasma shots and bombs were crashing all around them.
It was too close for comfort. Axis had been able to keep some of it at bay with his own shielding, but he was running out of energy.

  “Finally!” Axis yelled as he and Ayn rushed into the secret passageway behind Meddhi. “It took you long enough!”

  “Yol changed the code,” Meddhi dryly replied.

  “Don’t argue!” Ayn ordered. “Let’s just get to the tomb and focus on the task at hand."

  “Agreed,” said Meddhi. “The catacombs are to the left. Follow me.”

  It was dark and cold, and made Axis uncomfortable. He didn’t mean to be rude to Meddhi, but he hated the feeling of plasma being used against him. It made his head pound in pain, and felt unbearable. He was happy to be inside the temple, though the tomb wasn’t exactly warm and inviting.

  Ayn wasn’t too thrilled to be there either, but he knew it had to be done. There was something pulling him to Adin’s tomb. He realized now it had always been pulling him, even when he was a child. With the red medallion glowing around his neck, Ayn could feel the power emanating from the tomb. What that power was, Ayn wasn’t sure, but he knew it was his destiny to understand, and perhaps, control it.

  “This way,” Meddhi said as he pointed.

  Everything was beginning to look familiar to Ayn as they walked down winding stairs. Just then, Ayn had a flash of Zin in his mind. It was the day they had escaped on his fourteenth birthday - the day when Meddhi-Lan had died to save his life. He could see Zin’s smiling face telling him it was fate that brought them together and how he had a ship waiting to take them to freedom. Ayn couldn’t help but smile, though it brought him sadness as well. He had no idea where Fate had taken Zin. Ayn could only hope wherever Zin was - in the physical world or the spiritual one - he was now happy and at peace.

  “I know the way now,” said Ayn. “I came down here when I escaped the bombing.”

  Meddhi turned with pained eyes and said, “I’m so sorry, Ayn. I wasn’t able to protect you that horrible day. It’s still vague to me, but I remember vowing to protect you as long as I drew breath. I should have saved you from the pain you’ve endured that day onward.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Meddhi… Father. You gave your very life to protect me. There was no way to shelter me from everything that happened. And sometimes I wonder if I was meant to suffer in the way that I did. Not to say I'm glad I became a slave, or that I took such abuse in those years, but… I feel as though it made me strong somehow. I also know what it is to be grateful now, much more than I ever understood when I was the spoiled child you once sheltered from the world. I may not be a full man yet either - especially not physically - but I think I’ve grown up nonetheless.”

  “Oh, Ayn… my glorious son,” said Meddhi with a slight shake of his head, “you’ve grown wiser in those few difficult years than most ever grow in their whole lives. I am so proud of you… and I am honored to be your father. Thank you for calling me such when I know you’ve been angry with me.”

  “I was angry with you for not telling me the truth before, yes, but… you are my father and I cannot deny it. I think I’ve always known in my heart you were, I just had to come to grips with your secrecy. There’s still so much you haven’t told me about your past.”

  “I will, I promise,” said Meddhi with a gentle grip on Ayn’s shoulder. “As soon as I myself remember the details of my past, I will share everything I can with you. You have my word.”

  Ayn smiled and said, “Good. I will hold you to those words. And if you disappoint me, I will sic Axis on you.”

  “What?!” said Axis. “What does that even mean? Don’t involve me in this!”

  Ayn laughed and put his arm around Axis. It tickled Ayn how seriously Axis always took things.

  Meddhi smirked, amused as well, but he couldn’t let his guard down. He had a strange feeling about the tomb, and the whole day. He couldn’t shake the feeling they were being watched, whether by the Gods or by living beings, he didn’t know. Either way, the feeling made him uneasy.

  He also felt mixed about bringing Ayn to Adin’s tomb. Meddhi had only read about the things Adin was capable of long ago, but if the stories were true, then he knew once Ayn had been energized by the artifact in Adin’s coffin, there would be no one in the universe who could ever destroy him. In essence, Ayn would become immortal. He and Axis would be truly one and the same.

  It would be a blessing, yet a curse. Meddhi felt as if he were somehow leading his son to a slaughter. Not a physical one by any means, but a spiritual one. Meddhi didn’t know what would happen. Would Ayn become a God right before his eyes? Would Adin take over Ayn's consciousness? Would the power be too great and accidentally kill him?

  Meddhi told himself Axis would never allow Ayn to die, but the fears remained nonetheless.

  “Ayn…” said Meddhi, quietly, “when you reach Adin’s coffin, I want you to be very careful. His soul is within you, but his body may hold great pain. You may experience deep regrets, or even worse, the torture he received before death… so I want you to-”

  “Father, don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Honestly, I’m not even sure it’s Adin’s body down there.”

  “What?” asked Meddhi with confused, squinted eyes.

  “Look, it’s hard to explain, but I think Adin may have survived his death. Much like you were brought back through advanced science, I think he was brought back by Sri Unda.”

  “Then... whose body is buried down there?! That makes no sense, Ayn. The Dei protected that tomb for hundreds of years.”

  “Yes, I know they did, and I’m not saying I’m completely certain, but… I think they made a mistake.”

  Out of nowhere, there came a slow, clapping sound.

  “Now, can you imagine that? The Dei making mistakes? Impossible.”

  From the darkness emerged Yol, slightly limping, with a sarcastic sneer on his face.

  Meddhi immediately drew his Viha which made Yol draw his gun in return.

  “Ayn,” Meddhi said firmly, “go now… and become what you were destined to be. I will stand guard and keep you safe.”

  Ayn hesitated for a moment, not sure if he should leave Meddhi’s side. However, Meddhi’s face looked adamant. Axis then pulled Ayn’s sleeve, and they raced down the broken spiral stairs which led to Adin’s sarcophagus.

  “You’re going to keep him safe, are you?” laughed Yol. “And who is going to keep the rest of us safe, Meddhi? Hmm? If that boy becomes The Great Adin, and all you believe in actually comes to fruition, who will protect the people from his unyielding power?”

  “No one will need protection. His heart is pure. He will reign with love.”

  “You naive idiot!” Yol spit.

  Meddhi curled his lip and circled slowly around Yol, blocking him from going after Ayn.

  “I am not naive for having faith. You did not know him as a child as I did. Ayn is the true Bodanya. I’ve always known this, and I know he will become a great king. If only you could have had faith…”

  “Then I would have become a spineless fool like you. No, thank you.”

  “I see,” said Meddhi with a slight smirk, “so it was much wiser to become a bitter warlord who stops at nothing for revenge - even killing an innocent boy?!”

  “Spare me,” said Yol with a curled lip. “What the hell do you know about innocence?! I’m not one of your naive little Neys! I don’t fall for the idea you did everything for the love of that boy. I know the true you Medhhi. I know how scheming you can be. I hadn’t realized it at first, but I now see you are that boy’s true father. You made him by accident in a night of lust with your weak little queen, didn’t you?! Yet, you had the audacity back when we were young to scold me for loving her sister! And you even played the angel with Amun-Lan, doing everything that disgusting pedophile wanted! You hypocrite! You two-faced liar! How can you dare talk about my broken innocence when you didn’t lift a finger, not even once, back when I needed you? Your hypocrisy makes me sick!”

  Yol raised his gun at Meddhi, though he
had done so with a shaky hand. It was easy enough for Meddhi to block with his Viha, though it was Yol’s words causing Meddhi pain.

  “Yol… stop... please! We don't have to fight. I don’t even remember much of what you’re talking about.”

  “Liar!” Yol spit. “I know you remember! Somewhere in your subconscious, you know what you did. You turned a blind eye to all the whippings… and the… horrible things Amun did to me! Yet you had no courage to stand up to him. Even worse, you became his right hand! How many more boys did Amun rape in the secret of night, Meddhi? Did you clean up his messes? Did you lie for him? Did you ever tell your naive queen what your High Priest was doing? Or did you become a rapist as well when you took his place? How did you make it to High Priest?! What did you do to impress that twisted bastard?! Tell me! How?!”

  Again, Yol cocked his gun at Meddhi. With tears sliding down his face, Yol could barely hold his gun. Meddhi, trying desperately to remember the past, began to feel nauseous. He couldn’t imagine what Yol claimed was actually true.

  “Yol, I… I’m sorry, but I just don’t remember.”

  “LIAR!” Yol screamed as he rammed against Meddhi, throwing his own gun as well as Meddhi’s Viha to the floor.

  Wrestling with their fists, Yol slammed Meddhi up against the temple’s wall.

  “You knew what he was doing to me! I told you in confidence! And what did you do? You became Amun’s little pet! I could forgive you when we were children for being too scared to act, but… how could you let yourself become the very evil we hated as kids?! Do you have no conscience? How could you raise a child in this… evil place?!”

  Meddhi could take it no longer. Between listening to Yol’s accusations and being pinned against the wall, his memories suddenly slammed him as hard as Yol had.

  He remembered Yol’s wounds… and his tears. He remembered seeing Amun as he took Yol from his bed in the middle of the night. Worst of all, he remembered feeling horribly relieved Amun only seemed interested in “punishing” Yol and not himself.

  “I’m so sorry, Yol. I was selfish. I was scared. I’m so sorry…”

  “It's too late!”