by Zamil Akhtar
And he was not alone here.
In this place, fireflies sat on the walls. They flickered out of unison, giving light to the stomach of the otherworldly tree.
“Layla?”
She wasn’t here. Just an endless dark path. Kav closed his eyes to look at spectrum.
And there she was.
A blue dot hovered over the rainbow of colors. Her blue dot wasn’t far: maybe fifty yards down the path. Kav ran for her.
It was hard to breathe, but he ran. Twenty or so yards later, he checked spectrum.
She was still fifty yards away. Was she running from him?
So Kav sprinted till his legs couldn’t go faster. Hope pushed him on. He ran and ran. And ran. But saw nothing.
He must have gone a hundred yards. But spectrum still showed her fifty yards away.
What the?
“Layla!”
The only response was his own echo.
“Layla! Say something!”
You want her, yet you’re not strong enough to save her.
That wasn’t his own thought. It came from somewhere. A whisper.
You need help. Will you accept my help?
So Kav replied. Who’re you? How could you possibly help me?
The ground moved, Kav moved with it. It surged through the tunnel. A blink, and he found himself elsewhere. A bedroom in a wooden cottage — utterly familiar.
Layla sat on the carpet, all wet. As if she’d come from a skinny dip in a river of honey. He could smell her sweat mixed with the honey. A bittersweet sweetness.
She shivered as she looked at him, her eyes an overwhelmed sapphire. “Kav!”
He yearned to go to her, but his body wouldn’t move. He yearned to say it would be okay, but his tongue numbed and froze.
The whispers continued.
She’s waiting for you.
“I’m here, Kav!” she said. “At the Garden of Promise, the place we dreamed about. You have to find me!”
You failed to protect her. But I’m going to give you a second chance.
Kav managed to free his tongue. “Is it really you, Layla?”
Layla stood and put her arms around him. Her touch was cold. “We don’t have much time, so listen! The Key to the Garden is inside you. You can use it to—”
She dissolved into pieces and so did the entire world. The pieces whirled together to make a soup. And even Kav was a thing dissolved, broken apart, in this soup.
Beneath every sweet face lies the true self, the source of power. You possess it as well, Kav. Let it become you at those moments when the path splits between happiness and despair.
Stop talking in mysteries — bring her back! And what did she mean, what key?
Things started to combine. Trees and lakes and rivers and sky and sun and clouds and grass and flowers — that garden. But now he was in a different part of the garden, where there was a single mountain, its tip kissing the sky. As if the sky bent down and held out its hand for the mountain to kiss.
What will you sacrifice to reach this garden? To be here with her?
Anything. Everything. There’s nothing I won’t do.
This garden — it is a pleasure that can only be attained by a single soul. And for this was all competition created in man. For this did man force the stars to bow before him, and for this did he shape miracles by his hand. But behind all such achievements, man was just another predator, clashing with the beasts in the jungle of existence, only to protect what he loved.
Get to the fucking point!
The wind stopped. The garden froze. Leaves stilled in the air, blades of grass forever bent.
Will you take my promise, Kav? You will have it all, if you will but take my hand, take my rope. You’ve seen her, heard her, felt her, and if you listen to me, you will soon hold her in your arms. Will you take my promise?
If you can bring her back to me, then I do.
Metal shook around Kav. He was back in that bed, his aperture connected by wire to the wall. Sunshine flowed through him, and his twicrys was filled to the max. The color of the waves were blue — the blue of Layla’s frequency.
That was her. Finally, after all these years, after so many attempts, it worked! But what was that other voice?
You mean me? The words appeared on Kav’s consciousness.
Kav jolted up, kicked his blanket off.
It’s me, the Promiser, here to guide you back to her. No frequency. As if the words came from nowhere.
I’m losing it. All these blackouts are taking their toll. Kav got up to stretch. Maybe if he found a window, allowed the sky to relax him, it would go away.
Listen Kav, your blade is in a sash, in the drawer next to the bed. Arm yourself.
He stared at the drawer. Nah, his blade was with the squad’s requisition officer. No way it could be in there.
Kav opened it. Shit. A standard CA scimitar lay inside, the gain-medium casing worn. He picked it up. There was paint chaffing off the handle, from when he tried to squash that cockroach but instead sent his blade flying into Kyars’s swimming trophy. He put it back and shut the drawer.
Now, above the bed, there is a vent. That’s right, you go inside the vent, and on your spectrum you will see a marker. Follow the vent to that marker.
Hell, there was a vent, big enough for him to go through. The nails holding it in place had rattled loose.
Whoever you are, what’re you trying to make me do?
Remember? I made a promise to you, to bring you back to Layla. We are making good on that promise.
Just feeling the word “Layla” tingled his nerves. And they continued to tingle as he stared at the vent, like they begged him to go inside.
“’Ey Kav? What you looking at?”
It was Kyars, peeking through the doorway.
“Brought you some grub.” He held out a CA ration packet. “I think it’s fish kabab.”
“Oh yeah?” Kav said. “You still gotta pay up that steamed salmon, don’t think this’ll cut it.”
He shook the packet. “Just be grateful and eat.”
They went to the break room, the only place free of wires and bodies and spinning sunsinks, and sat at a table. Kav ripped open the ration packet; inside were crumbs of something...something...what was it?
“Oh Nur...”
“Just eat it. Eat it Kav, don’t ask questions.” Kyars grabbed his shoulder, looked him in the eye. “Listen, don’t. Don’t question the ration. It is what it is. Like all things in the eternal circle of life, accept it for what it is — unique, its own being, unlike anything else.”
“Mostly, it’s unlike food.”
Kav took out a crumb, examined it, put it against the light, squeezed it. Hard as a pellet. Was it even meant for human beings? “Into my mouth, this will become one with my body. Am I really okay with that?”
“Do it. You must. It is your destiny.”
He took the bag, held it over his mouth, opened wide, and let all the crumbs fall inside. With one big gulp he swallowed them.
“It’s like heaven rained on my mouth,” Kav said, “like an angel breathed on my insides.”
It actually wasn’t bad. With all its fat content and the sea of salt at the bottom of the packet, it was quite a crunchy morsel.
“That’s beautiful, Kavy. You’re a poet.” Kyars’s expression tensed. “Oh damn. Don’t look behind you.”
Tusir strode in, a steaming mug in his hand. He pulled up a chair. “I had to carry your ass to that bed, Kav.”
“What the...” Kyars said. “You two friends now?”
“Nah, I’ve no worse enemy in the world.” Kav leaned back and smirked.
“Can’t believe it.” Kyars shook his head. “If you two can sit together, maybe there is hope for this world. But truly, it’s good to see you’ve both realized how pointless the whole tournament was.”
Tusir nodded and sipped his drink.
“Pointless indeed. Hey, I got a question,” Kav said. “You ever get...random messages
from time to time? From someone you don’t know?”
A nodding Kyars seemed intrigued. “Yeah, yeah. Happens once in a while. Sometimes your frequency is close to someone else’s, and people make mistakes. Or sometimes it’s a deliberate prank.”
“Okay, okay. You ever get a random message from someone...without a frequency?”
Tusir choked; coffee gushed from his mouth back into the mug. He coughed and cleared his throat. “No frequency? You know what they say about messages with no frequency?”
“Tell me,” Kav said.
“Really? You don’t know this? No frequency messages are from ghosts! Or jinns! What else could send with no frequency?”
“You getting no frequency messages, Kavy?” Kyars asked.
“Nah, I heard about it happening is all. Probably some made up nonsense.”
Tusir stared with stern eyes. “It’s not made up. Happened to my uncle. And he...after getting all those messages...oh Nur, he...”
“What?” Kyars and Kav said in unison.
“Went crazy! Lost his mind, started doing weird shit. Like pulling his hair out, killing animals and digging mass graves, and eating sand, because he thought the messages were from Nur Himself, and...”
Yeah, by now, Tusir was smiling. His acting had reached its limit. He finally released the laughter. “I shoulda continued that longer. But the look on your face, just too much, couldn’t help it. Damn, what a waste.”
“What can I say,” Kyars said, “I get taken by a good ghost story.”
Kav, though, didn’t know what to think. The three of them talked for a bit, then Kyars decided it was time to resume his sleep, and so he left.
“So tell me.” Tusir pushed his empty mug away. “What’d that Mask do with you?”
“I woke up real sore,” Kav said. “Could’ve had its way with me, for all I know.”
“This isn’t a joke. A single Magus can conduct equal to a thousand of us. They’re the greatest conductors in all of Eden, and the only reason Haem hasn’t turned our continent into a pit of blood and skulls. First, one of them saves you from my boys, and then one of them saves you from me. Why?”
“I was about to wreck you, you’re the one that got saved. And just why are you so fascinated? What’s your deal? Give a little to get a little.”
“And people call me over-confident.” Tusir stared into Kav. “Fine. Don’t tell anyone what I’m about to say, okay?”
“Not yesterday, you wanted to break my bones. Now we’re trading secrets like school girls? Aright, I won’t tell.”
“You better not.” Tusir leaned close. “Truth is, someone I cared a lot about went missing, during the Uprising in fact, and I think the Magi may know—” Tusir stilled, eyes closed, as if receiving a message. “Shit. They want me back. Look, let’s talk later. I owe you some, and you owe me some.” He got up, patted Kav’s shoulder, and walked out.
Lots of people went missing that day.
So Kav had nothing to do but to return to the room with the bed and the vent.
It was still there, the vent, rattling. Screws loosened every time the ship shook. As Kav stared, he desired more and more to feel its insides.
He fingered the bond in his chest.
This is a joke. What inside that vent could possibly bring Layla back to me?
A message emerged — no frequency.
Why don’t you go inside and find out? Check your spectrum.
A blue marker blinked somewhere on it. Kav’s nerves yearned for that blue dot.
Why won’t you tell me who you are, and what you want?
Because you have to see it with your own eyes.
This is stupid. But a look inside couldn’t hurt...
Balanced on the bed, Kav removed the vent cover. Nothing but darkness and dust lay inside.
Go in, trust me.
I’ve no reason to trust you.
Oh, but you do.
A breeze of honey-scented sweat blew through the vent.
Layla?
Don’t forget your weapon, you may need it.
Kav took his scimitar from the drawer and slid it in his sash. Then he climbed into the vent.
Metal surrounded him — cold and dusty. Crawling forward, he approached the blue dot.
After a few paces, the floor became hot. A sunsink must’ve spun below, he could hear it sputter. Heat flared on his hands. Kav crawled through, until he was back on cool metal. The blue dot blinked beneath. All that separated them was a vent grate. Through it was an open room, where another sunsink spun.
Down there awaits the path to her.
He pulled out his blade. Bang. He hit the vent grate at its center. Bang. Bang. Bang. The grate gave way, tearing at one side. Bang. It fell and clattered on the floor.
What am I doing? Why am I listening to some voice in my head? But he needed to find that blue dot, so he jumped out.
Kav landed in the darkest chamber of the ship. Fat wires coiled out the ceiling, toward something monstrous swirling in the center. Where a sunsink, the largest he’d ever seen, rotated counter clock-wise. Wires projected from it and snaked to the floor.
This is the prime conductor’s chamber.
A figure stood wrapped in the wires. It had slits for eyes on smooth gold. There were gold rings in its neck, clinging to its skin. Feathers grew out of one ear like a wing. A robe of red shrouded its body.
As it breathed, the whole contraption inhaled, exhaled. The sunsink above spun and spun.
Kill it.
Kill what?
That thing. The Magus who took your world from you.
That’s...the Magus?
It couldn’t be human. It was some kind of demon, a mass of nightmares, piled into a thing that needed to die so he could sleep easy.
That’s right. The Magi are the reason you lost her, are they not? If you want me to show you the way to the Garden, the way to Layla, you have to stop them. You’ve wanted revenge all this time, isn’t that why you fought so hard to win that competition? So now’s your chance. Do it, Kav.
It was true. He should take this chance to rid the world of this terror, for her sake.
Kav channeled the sunlight inside him, through his twicrys, and into the gain-medium of his blade. He pointed at the thing, right at its mask, which had a black wing fluttering off the side.
Then it opened its eyes. White dots on black — no pupils. “Kav.” Its voice was dark and heavy.
Kav trembled, his scimitar unsteady.
Do it, before he speaks. Before he gets a hold of you. Kill him, and I will show you the way to the Garden. To her.
It stared at him. Not even breathing — absolutely still.
To quell the shaking, Kav grabbed his blade with both hands. “It was you all along, you and your kind, who burned Kerb till there was nothing left. Don’t tell me you don’t deserve this!”
“Is that why you came here?” it said. “For justice? Then why is your voice so tinged with desire?”
Now, Kav. He can’t defend himself while piloting the ship, but slowly he will regain control of his body. And when he does, you will have no chance. End it.
Layla’s honey scent poured through Kav’s veins.
“How about you tell me why, why you did it? Maybe I won’t then, maybe.”
It blinked. Somehow, it had real eyes, and they shuttered and opened.
“We did it, for the greater good. That is why we act. The few had to suffer, so the many could prosper. For the continued survival of Eden, this ark upon which humanity lives.”
“The few? Those few were my people, all I knew, all I cared about. The world can go to hell. That was my home.”
“I understand, Kav. But I am the shield of Eden, and should you kill me, who will defend our world from the Haemians? That’s why you must leave the path you’ve chosen. Who knows how many millions may die because a Magus wasn’t there to do his duty? Don’t take this first step to hell.”
“Hell? Just the place I’m going to send you. You
r end has been in the making, ever since...”
Ever since that moment, bleeding and collapsed on the grass of the courtyard at the Palace on the Shore, four years ago, when Kav looked at the sky and saw the mouth of the eight-sided levship open. Inside, a swirl of light rotated infinitely, like a solid ring in the sky, a halo beneath the ship.
Layla was next to him. Kav watched fear fill her eyes as the world became white.
That was the last thing he saw, until he woke up on a boat. But he couldn’t move. It was like complete paralysis. Even his head refused to budge, so he could only stare at the ceiling.
An unfamiliar ceiling.
It rocked back and forth as the boat swayed on water. An entirely featureless, constant, never-changing ceiling.
There was a man here with him. A man who fed him, walked him to the bathroom, and laid him back down. But he never saw the man’s face, because the man wore a gold mask, not even symmetrical, black feathers growing off the side. And gold rings all around his neck, clinging to skin.
Because Kav’s tongue wouldn’t move, nor could he conduct, he was never able to speak to the man. He wanted to ask him what happened to his brother Mezzin, to auntie, to the city, to the world, to Layla.
Nor did the man speak a word.
The boat ride lasted a few days. Then, in the middle of UHR, the man picked Kav up and carried him onto the dock of a city. Separah, Devshirme was a maze of streets, lined with domed buildings of marble and mud. The man left Kav at the doorstep of an out-of-the-way clinic, and disappeared.
The same masked man stood before him now, like something else entirely.
Now. Unleash.
Right at its head. The bluest light flew off Kav’s blade and pierced the mask of the monster. It felt like heaven to get it out.
Blood spewed both ways, the wing on its head faded. It dissolved, as if it never was. And as the mask devoured itself, skin appeared beneath. The rings released their clamp, clattered on the floor. The mask was no more, only a human face remained.
Kav stood there and watched it all deflate. The sunsink whined, wound down, came to a halt.