The Smuggler's Ascension

by Christopher Ingersoll

  “I love you.”

  ~*~

  ~40~

  Sabine wailed as the screen erupted in flashes of light and the Wrath of Clovani suddenly collapsed into the heart of a supernova. Her gathered commanders gasped loudly as they watched helplessly as the light reached out and consumed everything in its vicinity even as the black hole erupted and began swallowing everything in sight. The second flaming dreadnaught was succumbing to the supernova’s onslaught when Kristof’s voice filled her head with his final farewell.

  “Nooooooooo!!!!” Sabine wailed again as she felt the last echoes of Kristof’s final farewell in her mind. Falling to her knees, Sabine could only wail in grief at feeling Kristof’s last ‘I love you’ even as she felt the fires consume his spirit and he was gone. Darkness fell around her and she knew no more as she fell to the floor.

  It was a darkness unlike any she had ever known, Sabine realized. There was a silence here, a vast sense of emptiness and weightlessness that defied description. She welcome the nothingness as the pain of her loss threatened to consume her even here. Her heart was shattering into a million pieces again and again with every beat.

  Moments later, a light appeared in the distance, a light that was quickly racing towards her. As it neared, the light took on a familiar form until it was Anasha standing before her in a glowing halo of light. The look on her face was both exultant and yet pained at feeling Sabine’s agony as she embraced the tiny Queen tightly.

  “You knew, didn’t you?” Sabine accused Anasha, her voice cracking from the pain of loss. “You knew what Kristof intended all along!”

  “Yes,” Anasha admitted as she continued to embrace Sabine tightly. “Long before Kristof became the ak’Sun Su’Tani, I also wore that mantle for a short time. I had been named as the ak’Sun Su’Tani by my mother, and given the power by the Phoenix God so that I might find Kristof and bring him into the Su’Tani and fulfill this destiny. It wasn’t like the old legends claim, I wasn’t called to fight the darkness, I had been chosen to bring home the one who would. Instead, I fell in love with him and could not force him to join the path. When I later felt my death approaching, I used the power on Bonibus to save the ship and Kristof’s life so that he would live to fulfill his destiny this day. I also foresaw that it was my own death that would be the means to bring Kristof to the path that would save our people, just as I saw what he must do in the end. And he did it perfectly. He has saved our people through his love for you.”

  Anasha’s voice was filled with love and joy rather than sadness and despair, which Sabine could not understand since surely she had felt Kristof’s violent death by fire and that he was gone now, beyond even death it seemed.

  “Kristof saved you through his love for you and all of us, as was his destiny,” Anasha continued. “Now we must do whatever we must to try and save his life, if we can.”

  Sabine looked up at Anasha suddenly, hope suddenly springing up in her heart, slowing the shattering within her spirit.

  “We can save him?” Sabine asked, her voice breaking between hope and despair.

  “There is a chance, a very slim one, my love,” Anasha admitted, “but we must move quickly. My father and the Su’Vanii will assist us in this, as well.”

  “Tell me how,” Sabine demanded, her determination now overcoming all of her feelings of loss and grief to grasp at this slim hope beyond all hopes.

  “We three are bonded by Akana’San’Tani, our souls married as one, in a way that has never been done before,” Anasha told her joyously. “Never before has there been a joining of three souls like we have done. It is only through your boundless love that welcomed me into the union between Kristof and yourself that has made this chance even possible.”

  Sabine embraced her soul sister and wife fiercely before looking her into her eyes and asking what they must do.

  “You are the living beating heart that is the anchor to the world of the living,” Anasha explained quickly. “Through our bond I will be able to return through the Void to the Underworld while still maintaining a connection with the living realm. As the ak’Sun Su’Tani I could only access the power while I was alive, but through our bond I can now bring that power of life into the lands of death itself. I will challenge Death himself to force him to release Kristof to us, if I must.”

  “How do father and the Su’Vanii come into this?” Sabine asked as she came fully alive with hope now.

  “Just as you are my anchor to the world of the living,” Anasha went on, “So too will they be your anchors. Even now they have surrounded your body and have begun to infuse their strength into your spirit, to bind you tighter to the living world.”

  At Anasha’s words, Sabine realized she could indeed feel Subat and the Su’Vanii with her. “I feel them too,” Anasha said. “The Su’Vanii also know much of Death through the nature of their own powers, and they will help guide me through the coming conflict.”

  Sabine began to feel powerful, much like Kristof had as he released the power of the Phoenix God a short time ago.

  “Death will fight us most fiercely,” Anasha went on, “and seek to drag us both into the abyss rather than release Kristof. What we attempt has never been done before. I do not know if we will succeed, or what the consequences could be. Neither I nor Kristof have had any visions of this, nor have the Su’Vanii.”

  “I will fight even Death himself to be by your side for all time, my love,” Sabine whispered to herself. “Kristof saw this, I know it, only it is you who will fight for him!”

  “We are all one, my love,” Anasha reminded her with a smile.

  Anasha turned to go, but before she could move away, Sabine took her arm and turned her back. With a deep look into her eyes, Sabine pulled her close and kissed her as passionately as she had kissed Kristof before he had left.

  “Hurry quickly, my love,” Sabine whispered urgently. “Bring him back to us, I beg you. I am incomplete without you both.”

  “I will, my love,” Anasha whispered back, her hand caressing Sabine’s cheek as she gazed upon her in wonder. “Never in all my life or death could I have imagined this. I will not fail you.”

  Anasha turned and sped away before Sabine could say more. Instead she sat in this bleak emptiness and focused on her sense of Anasha speeding away as well as the sense of Subat and the Su’Vanii. Though she was totally out of her understanding about what was happening, she knew in her heart that her strength and love was all that mattered now, and she wrapped both around herself now like armor for the coming battle.

  ~*~

  ~41~

  Anasha felt herself rushing though the great emptiness of the Void as she had once before when she had saved Kristof’s soul from the brink of death. Kristof had already touched the edge of oblivion once before and returned to the land of the living, making him unique. No other person had touched death in the way he had and returned. And now she would attempt to steal away him from Death himself.

  She had no illusions that what she was about to attempt bordered on insanity. Only Sabine and her boundless love had made even a glimpse of hope possible. Anasha could still feel Sabine’s kiss upon her lips. That had been as unexpected as the love the woman bore her, as equally as she bore Kristof though different in its ways of expression. Anasha had never suspected such a thing might be possible, and even had she seen it in a vision when she had been alive, she would not have understood what it meant and would have dismissed it.

  In her mind, Anasha had always feared the summoning ritual that would bring her before Sabine and Kristof. She knew that at one time, Sabine had hated her fiercely after learning of her and how much alike they were. What happened to change that hate to the love she had felt Anasha could not say, and she decided it was a question that did not need answering, though she suspected Kristof’s influence somehow. The young woman’s love had healed Kristof’s heart, and it had healed Anasha’s heart as well with its unbridled acceptance in welcoming her into her union with Kristof. Anasha knew
that no such union had ever happened before.

  It was that union that was now their only hope of saving Kristof. Death, she knew, was a petty and jealous God. He would fight Anasha tooth and nail when he realized that what Anasha wanted was actually possible. Anasha only hoped that she could still channel enough of the Phoenix God’s power to accomplish the task, or else she would burn here and Sabine, her father, and the Su’Vanii would likely be dragged down to the Underworld as well.

  Anasha had known her father would help when the idea had been proposed to him the night before. She had appeared to him in his dreams to tell him of Kristof’s plans, but also of the possibility to save him afterwards thanks to the bond. Subat had come to love Kristof as a son once he had accepted Anasha’s visions and will, and had agreed to help quickly. The help of the Su’Vanii Elders was an unexpected boon, however. The Su’Vanii knew as much about Death as any living being could possibly know. Anasha hoped it would be enough as she felt that knowledge begin to pass to her.

  The edges of the Void were quickly approaching. This was, Anasha remembered, where she had found Kristof the last time. He had actually touched the Veil of the Underworld, the boundary that contained and held back the Underworld, before she pulled him back to the living world. Anasha paused at the edge of the Veil and drew in the sense of love she felt from Sabine and her father, centered herself in the love they all bore for Kristof, and then passed through the Veil.

  While the Void was a black nothingness, the Underworld beyond the Veil was a bleak landscape. Anasha knew that there were great halls set aside for the souls of those who had done tremendous deeds in the service of life, but most souls that came here either burned in torment or joined the Great Maelstrom; a swirling vortex of souls that went on for eternity and echoed the screams of countless souls. She’d always felt that this was wrong somehow, yet she’d never found the courage to question it. One did not question Death in his own home, though that was what she was about to do she realized.

  Her own time here had been spent in the Hall of Heroes, Anasha recalled, until she had been drawn back to the living world by her father through the Ritual of Tu’Laria, the Summoning. The Hall of Heroes was normally the home of the past ak’Sun Su’Tani, and Anasha hoped to find Kristof there even though she’d felt him pass somewhere beyond. She also had to hurry before Death discovered her presence here.

  Death, it seemed, was faster than she had feared, and he appeared before her even as she took her first step away from the Veil.

  “Anashaaaaaa” Death whispered, “You return at last to resume your place in the Hall of Heroesssss.”

  Anasha looked upon the face of Death and found she was not afraid. The God had chosen a form of swirling darkness while bolts of lightning flickered randomly in the depths of that blackness. His face was veiled and hidden, while his voice was dry and brittle like an icy wind blowing through trees filled with dead leaves in the fall. She knew this was not his true form, only one he used to frighten the helpless souls here. She was neither helpless nor afraid, however.

  “I have returned for something that is mine,” Anasha declared. “I have not returned to stay. Give it to me and I will be gone.”

  “THIS is your home, Anashaaaaaa,” Death whispered, “You are one of us now, after all. And there is nothing here that is yours.”

  “I have been summoned through Tu’Laria, Lord Death,” Anasha reminded him. “Until I have been released by those who summoned me, my place is there with them.”

  “Then go!” Death ordered petulantly. “Go back to your summoners, but there is nothing here that is yours to take.”

  “Again, you are mistaken, Lord Death,” Anasha went on. “One that I am bound to through Akana’San’Tani is here, and I have come to claim him.”

  Death laughed at her pronouncement before responding.

  “If your bond mate is here, then your place is here,” Death declared. “I declare Tu’Laria to now be void.”

  Death reached out his hand to seize her, but Anasha quickly eluded his grasp.

  “We are bonded to one still in life, Lord Death, and you will not have us yet,” Anasha said angrily. “I will call upon the power of the ak’Sun Su’Tani if I must, to oppose you and claim what is mine.”

  Death laughed again, his laugh like nails on a blackboard. “Silly mortal, you can only call upon that power when you are alive. You are here, your bond mate is here. Your silly idea of being bonded to a third is not possible. You have no power here now, Anashaaaaaa.”

  Death reached for her once more, and Anasha reached inside her and sought out the power of the ak’Sun Su’Tani as she had before in the past. The power eluded her, and she began to fear she had made a huge mistake as Death’s fingers brushed her arm. His touch was like ice and her arm went immediately numb where he had touched her, causing her to cry out in pain.

  Suddenly, Anasha felt Sabine’s presence there with her, filling her with the love and warmth she bore for her and Kristof, and the power of the Phoenix God awoke in response to that love and pushed Death away from her. The Dark God hissed in amazement and backed away a step, clearly experiencing something new for the first time in eternity.

  “How did you do that, Anashaaaaaa?” Death demand, anger and heat creeping into his cold voice now. “How dare you bring that foul presence here?”

  “I have told you, I am the ak’Sun Su’Tani, and I have come for what is ours!” Anasha shouted, her voice overlaid by Sabine’s, as she unleased the Phoenix God’s fire upon Death. The Dark God howled in pain, for the Phoenix God’s power was the power of life and creation. This pain was another new thing since the beginning of eternity that Death experienced.

  “The soul of Kristof Anders is MINE!” Death declared, his voice filled with rage. The lightning within the Dark God began to rage, and moments later lightning erupted from Death’s fingers and sought out Anasha.

  Anasha had expected it, however, and a bright glow surrounded her and absorbed the lightning blasts from the Dark God. She responded in kind, surrounding Death in a halo of phoenix fire that seemed to crush the dark God down momentarily before he burst it apart with a wave of his hand.

  “Give him to us,” Anasha demanded angrily.

  “He is gone,” Death said, his voice dripping with malice now. “Kristof Anders languishes in the Halls of Eternal Damnation deep within the Abyss. Even now his torment worsens at my command because of your insolence!” Death smiled with spite in his voice as he watched Anasha’s face crumble at the thought of Kristof’s worsening torment because of her actions. Even in this hell that Death had created, the Abyss was rumored to be the worst of all possible hells.

  “WHY?!” Anasha demanded angrily. “Kristof should have gone to the Hall of Heroes as was his right!”

  “I decide what souls deserve here, Anashaaaaaa,” Death taunted. “And I will no long honor those who once wielded the foul power you dare to bring here now.”

  Death suddenly lashed out and surrounded her in a cloak of shadows, and Anasha lost her sense of Sabine and her father, as well as her connection to the Phoenix God’s might. The sounds of Kristof’s screams of pain and anguish suddenly filled her ears, and visions of his torment filled her mind as Death’s shadow crushed down upon her.

  Anasha screamed in horror at the sights and sounds assailing her. She fell to her knees and wept as she witnessed Kristof being torn apart again and again, all the while cursing her name. Death laughed as his shadow crushed her further and all hope began to fade in her.

  Lips trembling with pleas for mercy upon the tip of her tongue, Anasha suddenly felt a light inside her. She grasped it desperately as it grew in brightness and began to drive the shadows back. Death snarled in anger as Anasha struggled to one knee.

  “We are with you still, my love,” Anasha heard Sabine’s voice whispering through her mind and soul. “I will stand with you always,” Sabine declared, and in a blaze of light, Sabine’s soul appeared there next to Anasha’s.

  Sab
ine’s light shattered Death’s shadows and illusions and drove the Dark God to his knees. For the first time ever the light of a true living soul still bound by life to the living world appeared in the Underworld, and that light shined like a newborn star in the darkness of space. Anasha rose and joined her hand with Sabine’s, and suddenly they were not two separate souls standing against Death, but one soul joined. Phoenix fire lashed out and drove Death mercilessly across the Underworld, the Dark God howling in pain and fear. Death attempted to lash out one last time with shadows and lightning, but Sabine and Anasha struck him down so forcefully that the Underworld cracked beneath Death as he fell.

  “Release him!” Anasha and Sabine demanded in one voice. “Release him NOW!”

  “It is done,” Death cried weakly as he crumbled and wept.

  Sabine and Anasha felt Kristof’s soul pass through them and out through the Veil. Joyously, they turned and followed as fast as they could. The darkness of the Void glowed with their flaming passage until soon they reached the Veil again and passed back into the living world.

  ~*~

  ~42~

  Sabine awoke with a start as her soul returned to her body abruptly. She pushed Subat and the Su’Vanii Elders, who were leaning over her with their hands upon her, away and sat up and looked around desperately. Anasha’s spirit floated nearby, looking down at her lovingly.

  From the next room Sabine saw flashing and flickering light as if from a fire. She pushed everyone out of the way and struggled to her feet weakly, exhausted from her exertion moments before. She would never have imagined a spiritual battle would be so physically exhausting. It was all she could do to even catch her breath as she stumbled briefly as her equilibrium returned slowly.

  As they all made their way into a large conference room just off from the bunker’s command center, they found a blazing fire upon the conference table. The flames were unlike any they had ever seen, and neither the table nor anything else the flames touched showed any signs of burning. The flames soon took on the shape of a bird made of fire, the Phoenix God.