Shadow of Okeaous

by W. M. Martin

An explosion of power erupted from the center of Maggie’s flame-imbued armor and it pounded over the two combatants aggressively, swallowing both Maggie and Okeaous inside of a swirling prism of coloration. The blinding eruption of magic forced Lucy to shield her eyes and look away from the heart of the brilliant detonation. Once the core of the illumination subsided enough for Lucy to peer beyond the hand with which she was shielding her face, she saw that both Maggie and Okeaous were gone. All that remained from where they had been, only moments ago, was a large, round scorch mark around an otherwise unmarred nucleus. Before she could go and search for her Clanmate, the pillar behind her began to crumble, followed immediately by every other pillar in the throne room cracking in unison.

  Lucy summoned Maverick to grant her the usage of her wings, and she left the ground, flying as fast as she could toward the opening in the ceiling. Whether it was due to the force of the explosion or to the fact that Okeaous was no longer on that plane of existence, the throne room was quickly collapsing. Lucy was singularly determined to leave the Dark Queen’s castle and the Fallen’s side of the Veil with her life. She managed to dodge multiple pieces of stone, crashing down from overhead, with relative ease before getting hit by a heavy piece of the crumbling ceiling. Lucy winced, but shrugged off the pain as the freshly-forming bruise, caused by the falling debris, grew on her back. She flew faster and faster, gaining momentum with every beat of her large wings which were carrying her to the promise of freedom. Lucy erupted from the hole just before it caved in and crashed down on to the floor far below.

  *

  Nancy and Lieutenant Ara were both bruised and bloodied by their one-on-one battle and were both nursing their injuries. Just as they were about to rejoin their weapons, the castle behind them began to rumble. They both paused to look over at the black fortress just in time to see Lucy explode from a crumbling tower. Nancy and Ara returned their attentions to each other and stood, both of them, in defensive postures.

  “It’s over, Ara. Okeaous has been defeated and you have nowhere to run. Without your Queen, you and your soldiers are lost. Surrender and come to the Spire for judgement,” ordered Nancy.

  Ara spat with contempt, “This isn’t over, Nancy. We’ll be back.”

  Before Nancy could say anything else, Lieutenant Ara sent up a massive black flare into the sky and then disappeared into an omniport at her feet. Nancy turned to find that every other surviving Fallen warrior had followed their Lieutenant’s lead. She dropped her emerald bo staff to the ground and summoned Siril to her side as she bent over to grasp her wobbling legs. Nancy, unburdened by the threat of attack, took the first deep breath in what felt like ages. The battle was mercifully over, but not without casualties on both sides.

  Nancy watched as the four remaining Clan Leaders knelt beside the body of Mr. Akiyama, and her heart stung at the loss. She then looked up into the sky and saw Lucy, soaring down from the clouds, far overhead. Believing that it was Maggie, she felt a twinge of hope for the future. That hope was swiftly muted when she realized that the Legacy flying toward her was not Maggie.

  Lucy landed just in front of Nancy and looked around at the remains of the battle which had just concluded.

  “Are you alright, Ms. Min?” asked Nancy who was still looking around for any signs of Maggie.

  Lucy replied, “Yeah, I got a few bruises, but I’m good. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Where’s Maggie? Did she make it out?” asked Nancy.

  Lucy looked down at her feet and replied uncharacteristically softly, “She’s gone, Ms. Decker. She saved my life.”

  Nancy remained silent for a moment. She needed to be strong in a moment where she was without strength. She then placed her hand on Lucy’s shoulder as a single teardrop rolled down her cheek. Nancy looked out on the barren, lava-coated wasteland beyond Okeaous’ leveled fortress and sadly stated, “Maggie saved all of our lives.”

  EPILOGUE

  An entire month had slowly passed by at the Kindred Academy since the Battle of the Stone, as it had come to be known by all of the Kindred spread out in the galaxy. The academy’s students managed to settle back into a rather steady scholastic routine. Of course, while the days were spent studying magic and honing battle skills, the evenings were almost always filled with tales of the courageous Guardians, young and old alike and their derring-do at Okeaous’ frightening castle. The stories of those who ventured into the Dark Lady’s domain, even though still fresh in many of the young memories, were often times embellished for dramatic effect.

  It was on this day, the one month anniversary of the Battle of the Stone, that each of the Kindred students, along with the faculty and the Praetorians were called to the Macrocosm Chamber by their Head Instructor, Ms. Decker. Once everyone arrived, the massive Chamber was alive with the sounds of excited conversation. No one was sure of why they had all been summoned, but they were to soon find out. Nancy stepped up to the front of the Spire and waited patiently for everybody to quieten down and give her their attention.

  “We have all been called here, today, by the Spire. I myself, like you, am wondering exactly why that is. Let us all learn, together, the purpose for our gathering,” stated Nancy.

  She turned to face the Spire and placed her hand on its surface. The massive obelisk churned and boomed to life. Lightning crashed loudly inside of the enormous auditorium and the echoes reverberated off of the walls and were then sent out into the great expanse of the heavens above the academy. Nancy took a few steps away from the Spire with shock written across her face.

  From the center of the storm a lone figure came into focus. The figure walked slowly up to the surface from the Nexus’ side of the Spire which was separating the great Macrocosm Chamber from a furious maelstrom. Two hands pressed hard against the surface of the Spire and pushed through, into the academy. The entirety of all who were gathered gave a collective gasp at the person who had just exited from the heart of the gargantuan Spire. Maggie Bennett stepped out in front of her fellow Kindred, covered entirely, with the exception of her head, in her ancestor’s resplendent sapphire armor.

  Maggie did not address anyone in the Macrocosm Chamber. Instead she walked through the crowd and made her way out into the main hall. Nancy ran off to catch up with her, along with everyone else who was in attendance. Maggie only stopped once to admire a newly erected marble statue, which had been peppered with innumerable emeralds all over its surface. The light in the hallway glanced off of the protruding emeralds and the magnitude of the brilliance was glorious to behold.

  The monument had been magically sculpted in the likenesses of the erstwhile, but fondly and often thought of, Terran Clan Leader and his truest friend. The beautifully crafted monument read in stylish letters of the purest gold, In Honor of Hiroyuki Akiyama and His Faithful Totem, Kiyoko. May the Kindred of the Veil Never Forget Their Ultimate Sacrifice at the Battle of the Stone. Maggie placed her hand on the statue of Mr. Akiyama and looked over to Ms. Holiday, who was flanked by a recovered Oliver Wells, Thomas Baker and Jax Cooper. She was visibly sad and was still understandably upset over the passing of her longtime friend and mentor. Maggie walked up to Ms. Holiday and leaned in to whisper something in her ear.

  “He’s at peace and he’s happy, Ms. Holiday. He wanted me to tell you that,” whispered Maggie, speaking for the first time since her return, before making her way down to the entrance of the artifacts antechamber.

  Everyone continued on, following Maggie deep, down into the antechamber that would eventually lead to the gem-filled, gilded pedestal, the pedestal which had housed the Pentagem for thousands of years unmolested. Nancy stopped just short of Maggie and held out both of her arms as a sign for everyone who was gathering in the massive antechamber with her, to cease all movement. A billowing, sapphire stream of mystical fog came from the blazing, totem tattoo under Maggie’s armor-plated forearm and settled on her shoulder. Elliot took on his falcon form and looked on, silently, as Maggie lifted the glass housing off of the pedes
tal.

  Maggie, seemingly oblivious to all those who were in attendance around her, placed her hand through the radiant, blue plating of her chestpiece. When she removed her hand, in her gauntlet-covered grasp, she held the single, most revered Kindred artifact of all time, the Pentagem. Maggie silently placed the Pentagem on the pillow, in the center of the stand, which was surrounded by thousands of opulent gemstones. She then gently placed the unbreakable, glass housing back over it, sealing it away forever.

  Once the display case clicked back into place, Maggie placed her hand over the pedestal and conjured a flaming, sapphire chain. The magical chain wrapped itself tightly around the home of the Pentagem and came to rest when it had sufficiently locked the display in place. Maggie turned around to face an awestruck Nancy, while Elliot returned to the mark on her armor-covered forearm. The Pentagem gave a single, bright and audible pulse of light and then returned to its ages-long slumber. Maggie left the Pentagem to its rest, hoping to never touch it again and allowed her armor to melt away from her body.

  She walked over to Nancy and gave her a big smile, which Nancy happily reciprocated. They hugged each other at the same time amid a rising chorus of cheers and applause.

  Nancy pulled away slightly, so as to look at Maggie and said, “I thought you were dead, Maggie,” before wiping away a few tears of joy.

  Maggie replied, “I was. Sort of,” before walking out of the artifacts antechamber alone with her Head Instructor.

  “Is Okeaous gone for good or can she return again too?” Nancy asked fearfully while leading Maggie towards the Courtyard of Clovers.

  Maggie reassuringly answered, “She’s gone, Nancy. I don’t believe that even her most powerful acolytes can bring her back. The Nexus has reclaimed Leviathan and returned him to the Source, and Okeaous has been banished to a place far worse than death beyond the Stream of Time. The shadow of Okeaous has been lifted from the Veil.”

  Nancy breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Thank goodness for that!” as she pushed through the large wooden door to the courtyard.

  Stepping outside into the warm sunlight, Maggie agreed with Nancy’s understandably anxious response and asked, “Do you remember when we went to see Kylie and she gave me a strange scroll before telling me how she had a dream? And how in that very dream she saw me die when I confronted Okeaous?”

  Nancy shook her head and answered, “Of course I remember that. How did she know?” before taking a seat on one of the many gem-encrusted benches around them.

  Maggie smiled and replied, “She knew because she had been informed by the Nexus, through a vision in her sleep, prior to our arrival in her room that day. Kylie was having a hard time making heads or tails of the scroll that the Nexus had sent to her though. That’s because she’s not an heir of one of the First Five. The runes on the scroll are actually the written language of the Wise Ones and, according to them, only heirs of the First Five are born with what the Nexus called ‘sight beyond the prism.’ That’s why I could read it and both of you couldn’t. The Nexus crafted the scroll for me to receive from Kylie, before I left to confront Okeaous, because they knew that I had planned on stopping by to speak with her.”

  Nancy, looking puzzled, asked with unabashed curiosity, “What did the scroll say?”

  Maggie summoned Elliot to allow him to fly around and glide along the gentle breeze outside. This was, in fact, the first time in a month that Elliot had gotten the chance to spread his mystical wings.

  After watching her precious totem soar for a moment, Maggie turned and answered Nancy’s question, “The scroll explained how, with the help of your diversion at the castle gates, I had a greater chance of reaching Okeaous unguarded. It also said that there were going to be Guardians that wouldn’t be returning to the academy, but that that wasn’t my fault and to focus on my bond with Elliot because he would help to protect me. The words on the scroll gave me confidence, and I believed with every fiber of my being that I would be coming back to the academy alive. I just didn’t think that it would take this long to get back. On a side note, now that I am back, I have to find Ara and the rest of the Fallen. I know that they’ve scattered around the galaxy, but Ara will bring them back together and that means that a war is coming. I was given a vision in the Nexus. The Fallen will gather under Ara’s banner, and they’ll attack our Havens and enslave the humans if she isn’t stopped. Ara is determined to carry out Okeaous’ plans for a galaxy held hostage by the Fallen. The only difference now is that Ara will lead them, and not Okeaous. My task is to find Ara and her troops and stop them. I have to try and redeem as many of them as I possibly can though, through the power that the Wise Ones placed inside of my medallion. It’s nowhere near as powerful as the Pentagem, but it should be powerful enough.”

  “Well, handling Ara shouldn’t be a problem for you, Maggie. You fought Okeaous and sent her back to the Nexus for judgement and survived,” Nancy bragged, her pride in Maggie’s successes clearly evident.

  Maggie looked askance at Nancy who was still confident in her appraisal and replied, “Ara may be even more difficult for me to beat than Okeaous was. She shares Avior’s blood too, Fallen or not. In my vision, Ara unearthed the Dark Spire. It was created by Okeaous’ acolytes to bring the Dark Lady back from the dead. Over time and after countless horrors inflicted on the innocent, the Dark Spire actually became sentient, and eventually it granted Okeaous even more power when she had the Pentagem in her possession. The Dark Spire was kept hidden inside of Okeaous’ fortress, but when the castle was destroyed the Dark Spire disappeared to save itself. Ara can’t call on Avior’s power like I can, but when she finds the Dark Spire and she will, it’ll curse her with a cracked-mirror version of the power that I can control, because whether we like it or not, she does carry the blood of the Ancients.”

  Nancy leaned in close to Maggie, and whispered, “Can't you use the Pentagem again and stop Ara like you stopped the Dark Queen?”

  Maggie looked down slightly and replied with shame in her voice, “I can’t use it again, Nancy. The power of the Pentagem is too intoxicating. I know that no one could tell, but I was fighting with myself the whole time that I was walking down to the artifacts antechamber to return it. It’s hard to resist the Stone when I’m in physical contact with it. Really hard. When I’d used it to rescue my mom and everybody else, the Pentagem latched onto my spirit and slowly made me crave it. I didn’t say anything about it before because my mom was dying, and I really couldn’t handle your concern, with my having lost the Stone to Okeaous, at that particular time. The Pentagem wanted to stay with me, Nancy. It hungered for me, and I really wanted to keep it. I made a promise to Avior that I would do the right thing though and bring the Stone back here. It’s just way too dangerous to use again. It also has to stay here, because the Pentagem is kind of like the magical foundation of the academy. Avior used it to build this place as a school for our kind, but also as a home for the Spire; at least that’s what the Nexus told me. At any rate, I couldn’t touch the Stone again even if I wanted to. The spell that I used to form those chains and lock them around the pedestal came from the Nexus’ power, not mine.”

  “Okay, so let’s get back to the scroll. Why didn’t the Wise Ones just hand you the scroll while you were in the Nexus? Why send it through Kylie of all people? Better yet, why not just tell you what they had to say outright?” Nancy inquired, not even trying to hide her confusion over the oftentimes roundabout ways of the Nexus.

  Maggie, perking up, answered with a wink, “I asked the Wise Ones that very same question. They told me that they could sense that I would want to have proof of my parents’ visit with me in the Nexus, that it wasn’t all some sort of a strange dream, and that the scroll was sent by way of Kylie to give me that proof. At the bottom of the scroll were the last words that my dad said to me, before I left the Spire.”

  “What did he say?” asked Nancy, breathlessly in awe of Maggie’s recounting of her time inside of the Spire.

  Maggie
placed her hand around her medallion, which gently pulsed with a faint, blue glow at her touch and replied, “A single light can pierce the deepest darkness. Be the light.”

  THE END