With the etheric body of the Tulari in hand, Oonak walked up to the glowing birdlike creature sitting on the floor and knelt down to it.
“Jagrul,” he said, “you gave Zahn and Asha a hint at where the Breath of Life was before. Can you do it again? Please show me where the Kiss of Life is. It is of the same calibre. Please, for the highest good of all, show me.”
As Oonak watched, the creature’s voluminous eyes seemed to grow larger, and within them he saw the desiccated face of a particularly tortured Vakragha. A mess of sludge green skin and muscle shifted around blood red eyes that burned like two fiery vortexes of anger.
The vision shifted, and he saw the figure from behind, standing on the main deck of a vessel, clad in thick black armor, and silhouetted by the orb of a speckled planet far ahead. The surface of the planet was deep charcoal, save for the small dots of bright orange that pulsed every few seconds. Oonak knew at once that these were distant volcanos, and he watched as the streams of scarlet lava flowed in a jagged dance over the tortured surface. The burning world grew nearer and nearer, and he noticed that Durazha was heading for a group of bright volcanos.
The vision faded, and once again Oonak found himself in the central node.
“I saw Durazha’s flagship over Agnira,” Oonak said.
“I saw it, too,” Jyana said, “in that creature’s eyes. But I can’t understand how anyone could survive there.”
Zahn furrowed his eyebrows. “So above Agnira?”
“Which means,” Asha said, “that Durazha isn’t leading the armada against Avani. I wonder who is. And why is she heading to Agnira?”
Oonak’s gaze drifted down to the Tulari he was still holding. “She must be delivering the Kiss of Life to her overlord.”
“What? We’ve got to stop her!” Zahn said, his face filling with a mixture of shock and terror.
“Hold on,” Asha said. “Let’s take this one step at a time. When I spoke to the Kiss of Life, it made two things crystal clear: that we must bring the powers of the three Chintamani to Agnira, and with that power, we could see the hidden pinnacles of their command structure.”
“The Vakragha Overlords,” Oonak nodded.
“So,” Asha said, “Durazha must be heading to one of the overlords on Agnira, right? It makes sense.”
Zahn winced. “And we definitely don’t want one of those to have the Kiss of Life. Who knows how powerful an overlord could become if it possessed a Chintamani stone!”
A heaviness filled Oonak’s heart. “The Confederation has discussed this. All calculations point to one end: the overlord would conquer death itself.”
“But how is that possible?” Zahn’s expression hardened. “What exactly are these overlords, Oon?”
“Zahn,” Oonak said patiently, “when a Service-to-Self entity graduates beyond the physical plane, it enters a higher density level altogether. In the process, an overlord becomes trapped in a gravity pocket that even light cannot escape. Even time flows differently in that realm. And once trapped, the overlord is forced to rely on underlings to do its will, yet it still holds great power and energy, rewarding its followers well.”
Jyana twisted up her expression in confusion. “Hold on. I know I’m new to this conflict and might not have all of the details, but why would this Durazha monster want to give an overlord this stone, anyway? Why not keep it for herself?”
Oonak turned to her. “Wielded by a single Vakragha, the Kiss of Life could only be used to harm on a small scale. Wielded by an overlord within its dark realm?” He shook his head slowly. “By the Confederation’s calculations, if it were allowed to possess the Kiss of Life, an overlord would use its higher density abilities to reverse the death of any Vakragha it wishes, no matter the entity’s location.”
“Which would make them basically invincible,” Zahn said.
“Approximately, yes,” Oonak said, “and for such a service, I have no doubt that an overlord would do everything in its power to help Durazha graduate to become an overlord herself.”
Zahn’s expression fell.
“This is the single most dangerous mission we have ever taken on,” Oonak continued, “and we’re running out of time. Thankfully, I was able to blow a hole in the Mirage barrier, so we won’t have to find a gap to leave this world.”
“He’s right,” Asha said. “And we’ve already seen our destinations. I’ll jump to Durazha’s flagship above Agnira and get the Kiss of Life, or its etheric body at least. Then I’ll meet you all down at the surface, okay? I’ll just picture Zahn’s face and skip to you. Wherever you are on that world, I’ll reach you.”
Zahn met her gaze. “Be careful.”
“I will,” she said and arced upward through the ship’s hull like a bolt of lightning.
Zahn shook his head. “Somehow, I never get tired of watching her do that.”
Jyana nodded, smiling to herself.
“Each of you must lock onto my ident,” Oonak said. “We shall jump to the cluster of volcanos Durazha was headed toward. I’ll bring the Breath of Life and Zahn will bring the Tulari. Are you each ready?”
“Yes,” Zahn said, taking the etheric body of the Tulari which was drifting just above its physical form.
“Jyana,” Oonak said, “this mission is the greatest risk we have ever taken on, but it also offers the greatest reward. I want to be clear that we don’t expect you to join us.”
“I know,” she said, “but I want to be there when these monsters fall. I want to help in any way I can.”
“Thank you, Jyana,” Oonak nodded. “All right. I am stretching out to Agnira now. Lock on and hold tight!”
Oonak shut his eyes tightly and focused on where the volcano cluster was, feeling his awareness stretch far into the distance, through the mountainside, out above the atmosphere and through the untold vastness of space. He felt the familiar lurching in his stomach followed by a great stretching, as if he were being pulled thin. He let go, and a tingling feeling washed over him.
When Oonak opened his eyes, he found himself standing within a truly tortured landscape, littered with smoldering mountains, lava pools, and a strange black tower reaching into the sky.
Nearby was the base of a grey rocky hill, and above was a sky of stars marked with streaks of brown, sickly clouds. Oonak’s gaze followed a narrow path ahead as it wove between blackened boulders into the distance, up to several volcanic plumes that skirted the edge of the horizon. There weren’t any signs of life except for a shadowy vessel in the far distance, covered in spines like a massive sea urchin, slowly sailing down through the sickly brown clouds toward an obsidian tower.
Oonak turned to Zahn and Jyana who were engrossed in the hellish landscape before them. “Look!” he said, pointing out the vessel. “Durazha’s flagship is on an intercept course with that obsidian tower.”
Jyana turned and gasped. “You’re right.”
“So the gravity pocket is over there?” Zahn said.
“Indeed,” Oonak said, “that tower is an ideal spot to reach an overlord’s gravity pocket. Lock on. We’re jumping up there.”
“You three aren’t going anywhere!”
They spun around and were stunned to see the Empress, once again clad in fine white silks, with Torin standing next to her.
Empress Amaraloka considered them in order, her gaze burning into each of them. “I never thought I’d see you here, Jyana. By helping these traitors, you’re throwing away an exceptionally bright future.”
“Wow,” Zahn whispered. “They must have locked onto our ident in the middle of our jump out of Tavisi. Impressive…”
“Empress,” Oonak said, tightening his grip around the stone under his arm, “please stand down. We are on the brink of stopping the scourge once and for all.”
“Silence!” Amaraloka screamed. “My citizens do not get involved in the skirmishes between foreign worlds, and I don’t even care what this place is. All I care about is the Breath of Life.” She glanced down to the stone he was holdi
ng. “Oonak, return it to me, and I will let you leave the Mirage alive. If you do not, I will kill each of you where you stand.”
“And how do you expect to do that?” Jyana snapped.
“Silly girl,” the Empress cackled, “beyond the Mirage barrier the Dagger of Kirin becomes much more dangerous. This far from Tavisi, even your silver cord won’t be able to guide you back.” Her bronze eyes flashed like fire. “With one strike to your neck, you’ll wander the galaxy, without a body, forever!”
“What do you mean?” Jyana said. “All of our teachings tell us that the silver cord is unbreakable! At least, within the Mirage.” Her expression fell. “But we aren’t in the Mirage anymore.”
She turned to Jyana, shaking her head. “When will you learn, Jyana? In the Mirage, the tenets of the Empress are sacred. My subjects trust my judgment, and they seldom test something so dangerous. The Mirage barrier was created for good reasons. Without it, my subjects would surely lose their way, not to mention be contacted by certain entities that claim to be guides. How prideful they are.”
“Like, spirit guides?” Jyana asked.
“Empress,” Zahn said, “forgive me for saying, but I don’t think you’d actually sever any of our cords. You wouldn’t be able to get us all at once, and one of us would send a memory back to the Mirage. The truth has a habit of getting out in the open, and your people would find out just how twisted you’ve become.”
“Oh, I would do anything necessary for justice, Zahn. The barrier is already being repaired. Your nuggets would never make it inside the Mirage.” She smirked. “And when I tell them about how the visitors and a deluded scientist blew a hole in our cherished barrier, never to be heard from again, I expect that it will serve as a powerful morality tale for them. Such a terrible tragedy, it was! In fact, I should probably thank you.” She turned to Torin and gestured to him with her open palm. “Torin, your Empress is growing tired.”
Torin searched through his white robe, finding a packet of golden liquid that Oonak had come to know so well, and handed it to the Empress. She downed the ambrosia in seconds, a golden glow filling her face.
“Empress,” Oonak said, “please understand. What we are doing here is more important than even the Mirage. We are on Agnira, the birthplace of the scourge itself. And with this stone, we’ll finally be able to destroy them, like cutting the head off of an immense beast.” Oonak shook his head. “I realize that I violated your trust, and for that I am sorry, but I came to Tavisi and spent a great deal of time to earn my position in the Royal Guard because the safety of the galaxy is much more important than anything else. Dear Empress, can’t you understand the scope of what’s happening?”
“Of course, I understand.” The edge of Empress Amaraloka’s mouth twitched in pure anger. “I understand that you are a twisted traitor!”
The Empress charged toward Oonak.
With only a fraction of a second to respond, he tapped into its power once again, directing a torrent of energy through his heart, down his arm, and out of his hand. The energy became a huge cone of light that threatened to swallow her whole.
In a blink, she materialized a large, golden disc which sliced it in two, deflecting the pieces off to either side.
He pointed both palms to her, sending two more light cones right at her, but she sliced through them just as easily.
An instant later, a bolt of light zoomed down from the sky to stop beside Zahn, materializing into the familiar outline of Asha who was holding a shimmering, bluish orb under her arm: the Kiss of Life.
With only moments to spare, Oonak threw the Breath of Life to Asha in a long arc, and she caught it easily.
“Asha!” he called out. “You and Zahn must go to the tower. Use the stone against the overlord. It may be our only chance. I’ll hold them off!”
With a wave of her hand, the Empress shot several light cones toward Asha while Jyana watched in stunned silence.
“NO!” Asha screamed, throwing both stones she was holding over to Oonak. “You know more about these stones than we do. Take ours; we’ll hold them off! Zahn, throw him your stone!”
Zahn did, and Oonak caught all three, attracting a new wave of fire from the Empress. Oonak shot up into the sky, and the Empress and Torin bolted upward after him.
“Asha!” Zahn yelled. “We’ve got to distract them!”
From a great height, Oonak saw Zahn dart upward after the Empress while Asha smashed into Torin.
Oonak saw his chance and set his sights for the obsidian tower in the distance. And with reluctance, he stretched out to the tower alone, leaving Zahn and Asha far behind.
CHAPTER 39
AIRBORNE BALLET
In a strange airborne ballet, all four of them wrestled in the sky, fighting to break free, striving to reach the obsidian tower in time. All the while, Jyana watched in horror from the ground as Asha and Torin wrestled with each other in a gruesome display.
“You never trusted us for a moment, did you?” Asha said, grabbing Torin by the neck.
“How could I?” He stretched his arms twice their normal length, struggling to pull her hands off his neck. “You hid your mission from the beginning. I had to do whatever necessary to learn of your true purpose.”
“You sent that shadowed spy after us, didn’t you?” She squirmed around, trying to pull back his fingers. “The one who nearly stabbed Zahn in the mountains!”
“And what if I did?” he snapped back. “I sensed something wrong with you from the beginning, and everything I suspected was true! The Empress may be flawed, but as the Ambrosia Director, I must serve her. I have no choice!”
Meanwhile, Zahn struggled to hold his own against the Empress. He darted at her to chop at her head with his hand, but he couldn’t touch her.
“You might be faster than me,” he said, “but you’re still going to lose!”
“Zahn,” the Empress said, whipping around to face him, “you were never worth the trouble.”
Empress Amaraloka darted directly at him, slicing at him with a golden blade in a mad frenzy. He barely darted out of the way in time.
“You are the most intolerable ruler I’ve ever met!” Zahn said. “And I’ve met a few. Don’t you get it? We fight against a common enemy! How have you become so blind?”
He tried darting around to kick her in the side, but she was too fast.
Just as he was beginning to grow tired, Jyana shot up from below and charged at the Empress, firing a volley of light cones in a wide arc.
“Empress, you’ve gone too far!” Jyana called out.
Yet to Zahn’s dismay, the Empress dodged her attack easily and sent a light cone down to her which scooped her up and trapped her in a spherical bubble.
Doubt entered into Zahn’s heart. How could they ever defeat the Vakragha in time if they couldn’t get past the Empress?
The Empress charged at Zahn, and he struggled to dart away in time, barely able to create a small barrier with his hand before the Empress shattered it with the blade. A white hot pain shot into his upper arm and shoulder, and to his terror, he watched his arm separate from his body and drifted away. Reflexively, he held his arm and dashed upward, away from the fighting.
“That was a warning, Zahn! The next cut shall be at your neck!” The Empress called up to him. “It shall be your last!”
“Zahn!” Asha called out.
He looked down to her, and the sight of her dismay was even worse than the pain.
“NO!” Asha screamed and extricated herself from Torin’s grasp, firing a volley of light cones at the Empress. “Get away from him, you hellcat!”
As she zoomed toward him, Zahn noticed Torin’s gaze linger on the bubble Jyana was trapped in, his expression going blank.
Before he could reflect on this further, Asha zoomed up and flew alongside him as they both raced upward with great speed. “You’re going to be okay,” she whispered. “You’ll be okay.”
As they ascended through the planet’s atmosphere, Asha
spun around to see how closely the Empress was following. The Empress was right behind them, and she pushed ahead faster. The stars grew clearer, and the atmosphere grew thin. Still, the Empress accelerated.
“Get away from us!” Asha screamed. “Don’t you want the Breath of Life?”
“Silly child!” The Empress yelled out. “Torin can handle the traitor. What you did to me in the Chintamani chamber is unforgivable, and you must face the consequences.”
She glanced back and noticed that the Empress held a golden Dagger of Kirin in each hand as she raced up to them.
As they raced above the planet’s exosphere, Zahn didn’t know what else to do. There was no escape now. The Empress was just too fast, too powerful.
“Stop!” a voice behind them called out. “Don’t touch them!”
Asha spun around, and to their shock, Torin hovered directly between her and the Empress, throwing up a wide, slightly translucent, golden barrier between them.
“How dare you use your new ambrosial power to challenge me! Move aside, Torin!” The Empress barked, her gaze narrowing at the man as if she were about to cut him into pieces. “The visitors have decided their fate. Move!”
Torin held his ground, keeping his position between them.
“Don’t touch them,” he said, glancing down to the planet. “I’ve tried to honor you Empress, but today you’ve gone too far. I didn’t want to believe it at first, but you have become twisted, putting the needs of our world above everything else, including the wellbeing of this galaxy.”
In the distance, Zahn saw a tiny ball floating below the hazy cloud layer, and within it, he watched Jyana punch at its inner walls in frustration.
“Hah!” The Empress said. “Do you actually believe these people? Torin, don’t be a fool! They were never like us. They could never know what it was like to rebuild our world after all of the pain we endured. If we let them use the Breath of Life, we can’t begin to predict the outcome. Any application of its energy could result in the destabilization of our world. Move aside or I will kill you where you are!”
The Mirage on the Brink of Oblivion (The Epic of Aravinda Book 3) Page 24