by Izzy Shows
I turned to see what had captured his attention and saw that the alien and Walter were entering the room.
What the fuck? You don't just come into the command center uninvited.
She was wearing a plain white gown, one that came down to about mid-thigh and clung to her body. She looked very calm but determined, and that was a relief considering how volatile she'd been up until now. But there was a paleness to her that worried me. Was she ill?
Fucking Walter was freaking out, though, not giving me any more time to pay attention to the alien woman. He was waving a diagnostic device in the air like a safety flare and rambling about something I couldn't quite catch.
At last they reached us, the alien looking at Walter patiently. Apparently, she knew what he was talking about, which was strange, considering she hadn't understood a word I had said. Walter finally paused, taking in quick pants of air to catch his breath.
"Would you please explain the meaning of this, Walter?" Anders asked evenly.
Walter turned to the alien and handed her the diagnostic device.
"She has to show you this. It’s awful," he said.
"What diagnosis could she have that you had to bring her here?"
"No, no, it's not—that's not what she's using it for. I don't know how she did it, but she got it to play this thing—oh, just watch it," he said, still not completely together.
She was holding the device in both hands, eyebrows raised as she looked from Walter to us and back again, clearly waiting for her opportunity.
Anders sighed, then gestured at her. "Go on."
She stepped forward and held the device out to us, murmuring something in her language under her breath, and then the device fucking glowed. I was so surprised by that that I didn't even notice what was on the screen. How the fuck was she making it glow?
I knew that thing wasn't capable of doing that on its own. She was doing something to it.
This didn't make any sense. How was she doing this? And was it related to how she had thrown those bolts of energy at us in the tunnel?
My eyebrows knit together as I looked from the device to her, trying to figure her out. But she just shook her head and nodded at the device in her hands.
Fine, fine, I'll look at it.
When I turned my attention to it, I saw that it wasn’t displaying any text at all; it was playing what looked like a video. It was footage of a man—a huge fucking man, about the same height as the alien in front of me, if I had to guess, but absolutely massive in muscle mass, bursting out of the ground. Just like she'd been in the ground? He roared, and the sound shook the device in her hands—how the hell did she get it to make noise?—and launched himself into the air. He flew, fucking flew, through the air, until he reached what looked like a settlement. I realized that this must be where she thought she was, because there were a bunch of humans milling about the settlement, not anyone who looked like her or this man. He landed in the middle of the settlement and, with another roar, unleashed an energy blast that decimated more than half the population. He then went on to grab random individuals, rending them in two and…
The destruction was enough to turn a weaker man's stomach. But I'd seen war before, and unfortunately, this wasn't enough to upset me.
Judging by the gagging sound coming from Anders, it was bad enough for him.
"Shut that damn thing off," Anders said, flapping his hand at it and looking away.
"What the fuck is that supposed to be?" I asked.
"I think it's a warning," Walter said breathlessly. "I think she's warning us that something else is coming for us."
"Oh, come the fuck on," I said, snorting. "You can't really think that. What, you think she thought that up? She has to have some kind of device hidden inside her or something she plugged into it."
"Really, Walter, I would expect more from a man of science such as yourself," Anders said. "You know better than this."
"What?" Walter gaped at us, looked at the device in the alien's hands and then back at us. "But you saw it! How can you not believe it? She's warning us!"
"If she believes any part of what she just showed us, she's clearly delusional, but more likely than not, she's a liar," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "And you're delusional for buying into it."
"We're in danger!" Walter cried, taking a step forward.
"Look, kid, I get it. you're bored with the mission," I said. "You want a little excitement. That's to be expected from someone your age, but you gotta let this go. It's not…not logical."
He opened his mouth as if he intended to say something further, but stopped. The woman had put a hand on his shoulder.
He turned to her, and she said something in her language.
It sounded bitter.
And the look in her eyes when she shifted them to me—it fucking hurt.
Xiva
They do not believe me.
I had found a way to warn them of Zvarr, since they had not been able to understand my language, and now they did not believe me. Truly, their arrogance was incredible. But, no, it was not wholly surprising.
I had to admit to myself that, if I had been in their situation, I probably would not believe a strange creature I did not know anything about telling me that my world was going to be destroyed by another creature buried in the ground.
Yes, when I looked at it like that, I could see how it would be difficult to accept.
But it was true.
It pained me that they would not listen to me, when I could spare them such great suffering. How could they not understand that I only cared about what would happen to them, and I wanted to help?
It's not their fault that they do not believe. They're not from here. It can't be helped.
I had to remember that these were aliens with no knowledge of my planet or its ways.
Idly, I played with the device, levitating it and spinning it about in the air while I thought. It was an easy thing to do, something that didn't require much in the way of concentration, and it was something to play with while I focused on other things.
I had to figure out a plan. I needed time.
I made the device pulse with the golden color of my magic, tossed it to one side with my magic and then back again like I was juggling, but I wasn't using my hands.
Dimly, I was aware of the amazed and horrified expressions on the creatures’ faces, but I put that aside for the moment. They hadn't reacted well to my warning, so I assumed that was why they were looking at me this way.
I needed time. Time I didn't have yet, but there might be a way to get it.
With that time, I could learn their language so I could communicate the threat to them properly. Perhaps the vision I had displayed hadn't been enough for them, hadn't driven the point home properly. If I could learn their language, I could argue with them myself, rather than relying on the younger creature to do it for me.
He was truly not as awful as the rest of them. He was very eager, I could see, and he wanted to speak to me. But I could sense that the others weren't in the habit of listening to him, so it did me no good. I had to be able to communicate on my own, because no one had ever bested me in a debate, and I didn't intend to let these creatures be the first.
I just had to be able to debate in the first place.
I need time.
What I didn't want to admit was the other use of that time. There was a possibility that I might not be able to convince the creatures, and if I couldn't do that, then I needed to train with the powers Vivoth had given me. The last time I had fought Zvarr, I'd had them for a single night, and I hadn't been able to practice with them at all. Zvarr had had years of experience, training in the wilds while he was gone.
That had to be why I had failed the first time, and I did not intend to repeat the experience.
That's not why you failed. You were weak, and your heart was not in the fight. You couldn't deal the final blow.
I shook the thought away, refusing to grant it the audience
it had requested. No, I wasn't going to think about that. That wasn't the reason I had lost. I had lost because I hadn't been ready for the battle.
I would be ready this time.
Decision made, I placed a hand on the young creature's arm and pulled him gently to the side.
He raised his eyebrows and said something.
I held the device out to him so he could see it and pushed my magic into it so it would display an image of the High Temple, which used to be my home. It was a beautiful building. The architects had put their all into its creation, and it shone with the might of both the gods. It was truly a holy place, and I took great pride in it.
I gestured to the image, then replaced it with one of me walking up to the temple, hoping he would understand that I needed to go there.
If I was going to get the time I so dearly needed, there were things at the High Temple that I would need.
He nodded briskly and turned back to the warrior and the older man who must be their leader, talking rapidly to them in that harsh language of theirs.
I couldn't understand any of it, but it was clear to me that they were getting into something of an argument. I bit my lip, worrying at it. I hoped he would be able to convince the others of this at least, but I was beginning to doubt that it was possible for him to convince them of anything.
Who was he to them, that they could dismiss him so easily?
An initiate, perhaps, or their equivalent of that. I knew if I had been speaking with an initiate and they tried to tell me that this strange creature they'd found needed to go do something in a strange place… Yes, I could see how that would be a difficult conversation.
But he was my only hope at that moment. If he couldn't get this done, there was no hope whatsoever. I wouldn't be able to do anything about Zvarr. He would rise soon, if he hadn't already, and he would destroy these creatures.
I didn't particularly like them at the moment—except for the younger one; he was nice—but I wouldn't wish Zvarr on my worst enemy. He was a brutal man, and the destruction he was capable of…
A shudder ran down my spine at the thought of it.
No, that was a pain no one should ever experience.
The leader was shaking his head emphatically, and then he threw his hands up in the air. The young man turned to me with a brilliant smile on his face and nodded vigorously.
Oh. Oh, good.
He had convinced them.
Xiva
This was not what I had in mind.
I was trying to be open-minded, but in my heart, I was displeased with the situation. I had thought that I'd be allowed to go to the High Temple alone—this was my world, after all. It was my home; I should be allowed to come and go throughout it as I pleased. They had no right to tell me what I could or couldn't do, yet that was exactly the situation I had found myself in.
Even if I hadn't been allowed to go alone, I had thought that perhaps just the young, exuberant creature would come with me. He believed in me, and he was kind. I might even have enjoyed his company if I had spoken his language and had been able to get to know him.
But, no, the warrior had to come as well. And some strange woman who had made a big fuss when she came bursting into the room right after the young creature had convinced the leader that I needed to go to the temple.
At least she seemed nice enough, and at least the young one was here as well. She talked to the young one quite a lot, and she smiled at me frequently, staying with me no matter what.
But the warrior—he was so confusing. Why was he here? He didn't seem particularly happy to be here. His features were dark each time I looked at him, and his eyes were unreadable, but the words he spoke did not sound kind. He barked at the young creature every time he spoke to him, clearly unhappy with the situation.
It was going to be a very long trip indeed.
By my estimations—and it was difficult to estimate, because, Vivoth above, the world had changed while I was underground—it would take us three days to reach the temple.
All around me, I saw endless desert. It wasn't that desert was strange to me—we had always had deserts, although the High Temple had been settled at the top of a mountain with many forests, and our capital had been not far from it, near a great ocean.
But by the sight of the suns above, I was certain we were on the other side of the High Temple than the capital had been, though it was difficult to tell with the way the world was now.
Zvarr had destroyed everything, taking all the life from my beloved Eyrus, sucking it dry. Now, there was only sand.
Sand that threatened to suck the creatures up with every step they took.
I might not have lived in the desert, but just like any other Eyrusian, I had been created with the planet’s needs in mind. My body was lightweight; I could practically skate across the sand. The creatures had strapped odd devices to their feet, that seemed to enable them to stay on top of the sand. The woman had almost sunk to her knees in it when we first started out, and then the young one said something in a very apologetic tone, and we'd had to go back so she could get a pair of the devices for herself.
The warrior had been ready with them. It was clear to me that he had become accustomed to going about my planet as he pleased.
This disturbed me. It was not fair that he should be allowed to roam free across my home while I was caged inside, watched over by jailers and my movements dictated by them.
But I couldn't say any of that. In fact, I couldn't say anything. They couldn't understand me, as infuriating as that was. I didn't know where they were from, but it was clear to me that we had no common ground.
It was going to be a long, hard battle to learn their language, but I was as determined as ever. I would learn it, and then I would warn them properly.
We set out from the base at a brisk speed. The young one, the woman, and I walking together, while the warrior followed. I didn't know why he chose to stay behind us; he was clearly at ease in this environment and could likely have gone much faster, but he seemed content to follow rather than lead.
No matter. It was I who had to lead, anyway. They didn't know the way to the temple.
I only hoped we would be able to reach it in time. I didn't know how long Zvarr would remain underground; by now, he could have surfaced. But I was sure I would have felt it if he had. I didn't know why he hadn't surfaced yet. He should have as soon as I had tasted the open air. We were tied together.
But I shouldn't question blessings. Perhaps Vivoth had seen fit to keep him caged a little longer, to buy time for me. If he had done so, I could be nothing but grateful.
The young one nudged me, bringing me out of my thoughts. I arched an eyebrow at him.
"What?" I asked.
He pointed at himself. "Waaaaall-tuh."
I frowned. "What?"
He shook his head. "Waaaall-tuh," he said again.
"Walteh?" I repeated, frowning.
He nodded exuberantly, clapping his hands.
I realized, belatedly, that he was trying to tell me his name.
He calmed himself, setting his features into a more serious line. "Er."
"Eeeer?" I tried to repeat it, but the syllables were so strange.
"Wal-ter."
"Tur…" I frowned. "Walter."
He exclaimed something loudly, then calmed again, nodding vigorously. "Walter!"
"Walter," I said, pointing at him. He nodded again, then he pointed at the woman. "Merrrrrr-seeee."
"Meer-say?" I tried.
He shook his head but smiled encouragingly. "Merrr-see."
"Merssssssee," I repeated, but even I knew that I had over-pronounced the 's' sound in the name. It was difficult—there were many such sounds in my language, and it was instinct to drag it out.
"Mer-see," he said again, looking at me with hopeful eyes.
I gritted my teeth. I could do this. "Mer. See." I had to break it into two different syllables.
He exclaimed the same thing he had before, whe
n I'd gotten his name right.
"What is 'yesssssss'?" I asked.
His eyes widened. He was clearly surprised that I had grasped the sound.
Ah. It must not be something he could point to.
This was encouraging, though. I tapped him on the shoulder, drawing his attention to me. I pointed to my lips, which I currently had turned down in a frown. "Yesssss?" I asked, stretching my lips into a smile.
He laughed, then said something I couldn't understand and nodded.
So, 'yesssss' was a good thing, then. It meant I was doing something right. I could take that.
"Walter," I said, touching him, then looked at the woman. "Mer. See."
"Yes!"
I placed a hand on my chest. "Xiva."
He nodded, looking quite serious now. "Cheeevuh."
I frowned, shaking my head, and opened my mouth to correct him.
The warrior interrupted me, reminding me that he was there; he had been so quiet. I couldn't quite catch what he had said—but he had said my name correctly. He'd drawn out the 'sssss' sound at the beginning of my name perfectly, as if he'd spoken my language all his life.
I whirled around, surprised that he'd gotten it.
He stared at me, his eyes—eyes I'd thought were brown, but now seemed amber—boring into mine. His gaze was so intense…
"Xiva," he said again.
I tried to hide my surprise. His voice was deep and husky, and the sound of my name…it melted my bones.
What's gotten into you? You cannot possibly respond to a male in such a fashion. You are the High Priestess. This is forbidden.
"Shivah?" Walter tried again.
The warrior shook his head, starting to smile now. "Xiva."
He kept saying my name, and it was doing funny things to my stomach. I couldn't handle this.
"Stop. Just stop talking," I snapped, glaring at him.
His eyes widened, and it was as if I'd snatched a treat from a small child. Immediately, I regretted snapping at him and wanted to take it back. It was as if shutters had closed on a window—the light in his eyes was gone, and he was staring at me with that stony expression again.