The peace was broken when Derren walked across and lifted B’ran into a chair, where he slumped, groaning in pain. Derren pulled another over and turned it around, sitting backwards across it looking directly at B’ran.
“So,” said Derren, grinning his crooked smile, “where were we?”
B’ran sat bleeding but defiant, as if the appearance of Derren had given him a sudden boost of hatred.
“You are all going to die,” he gasped, wincing as the effort of speaking caused fresh waves of pain to flow through him.
“Hmm.” Derren was still smiling. “You first I reckon, B’ran. In fact, I’m sure Laren there will be only too happy to assist, though you may not enjoy the experience as much as we all will.”
Laren leaned in, licking her lips. The blood from his ear was still on her face, and her cruel grin wiped any defiance from him.
“What do you want?” he squeaked, trembling. “You’re going to kill me, I know that, but tell me what you want.” He looked over at Laren with terror in his eyes, a fleeting glance, as if any more would provoke another attack. “Just keep her away from me.”
Laren chuckled, increasing his discomfort.
“Now…what do I want?” Derren asked rhetorically. “You, dead, but you already know that. So I suppose I’ll have to ask some hard questions B’ran.”
The grin continued to bore into B’ran and he wilted, any attempt at resistance gone.
“You can start by answering the question I asked you from my cell,” Derren said. “Why? Why did you betray your own people, people who trusted you and your friends to protect them? You have everything. Position, power.” Derren looked around at the luxurious surroundings. “You have all this so tell me, why?”
B’ran shifted in his seat before realising how painful that was.
“This was never enough,” he said with bitterness in his voice, “This is...was...a stepping stone to more. You have no idea how much power is out there for the taking.” His face had a vacant look as he imagined what he would never have.
“The master would have rewarded me with much,” he cried, “I have done so many things to assist his return, and he would have gifted me with power unimaginable.” B’ran was wandering now, madness seeming to take him as he started to ramble.
Katheryne stood beside Derren, and he sensed her essence even without physical contact. He realized her attention was directed towards B’ran.
She placed her hand on Derren’s shoulder, using his knowledge of this man she had never met to search out the chinks in the armour he might have erected against a lesser attack.
His defence was swept aside effortlessly as Katheryne emptied his mind, taking all his knowledge, all the plans and plots and deeds he had done in Tenybris’s name, and instantly she knew. And with the knowledge came the revulsion and disgust as the one act of utter evil came to the fore of his mind.
Derren felt a shudder ripple through her as the hand on his shoulder tightened to the point of pain.
He reached out with his own awareness, seeming to stand above his own body, and perceived a torrent of conflict as his soul mate stood at the centre of a storm.
Two beings battled in the confusion, identical in all respects except for their ultimate goals. In one aspect Katheryne restrained her rage to allow B’ran to exist, knowing what he had done. Derren still didn’t know what this was.
The other one, however, terrified him. It was still Katheryne, but she was frightening in her aspect and determination to destroy. As it dawned on him the target of her rage was not only B’ran, but something else unknown to him, he knew he had to act. For if the chaos inside the other being triumphed, the Katheryne he knew would be lost forever; and he couldn’t let that happen.
He summoned what power he had, so insignificant when compared to hers. The love at his core, the pool of hurt he would become if she was lost, called out to her. She answered, gladly, and Derren sensed her relief as the madness faded from her features and she looked at B’ran in disgust.
That even B’ran’s mind refused to rebel against what had been done, was proof of the depth of depravity to which he had fallen. She desperately wanted to reach out with her mind and burn his brain, slowly as it stewed in its own fluid.
But she had travelled the path of madness and rage, so she withdrew, using the love provided by Derren to force the monster which threatened to consume her back into its cage. It would be there when she needed it, but for now she had to try and deal with the revelation she had discovered.
“They killed her,” Katheryne breathed and she stood, fists clenched so tight her nails bit into her palms. Derren sensed her fury hiding beneath the veneer she was being forced to maintain.
He embraced her, and she fell weeping into his arms.
“They gave my mother’s soul to Tenybris, Derren,” she whispered, “They reached back through time and offered her up to him.”
Derren rounded on his old teacher. What he felt now was beyond hate. He wanted to end him but couldn’t. There was more they needed to know, but Derren vowed that every moment of Bran’s remaining life would be utterly miserable. And he would not die easily. Derren would see to that.
Then he looked at his lover’s face and saw the dread in her eyes. Through the link, but more so through the bond of their souls, the tragic certainty of what she had to do unfolded. He realized the truth, and his heart turned to ice.
The fate of untold realities rested in the decisions about to take place in the next few minutes. They met each other’s gaze with despair etched onto both faces; they knew there was only one choice.
None of the Liberi could do it. Their genetic coding prevented it, but Katheryne was so much more than they were. Katheryne had to go back. Go back and correct the aberration in time before the universe was utterly destroyed. She needed to return to the moment of her father’s experiment, and prevent Tenybris from reaping her mother’s soul. This would prevent him from creating the beast who would torture her dreams.
This was the easy part, at least to her. She gazed into Derren’s eyes and her soul rebelled. Finally they were together, joined at last, body and soul as one. But now Katheryne had to wipe it all away, everything they had shared and felt and experienced over the last few fleeting days. Days that had lasted an eternity, all of it would be gone.
She cried, as she imagined Derren’s heart breaking all over again as he met her alternate personas. She wondered how much longer he’d have to search for her, once the beast was gone, when he wasn’t drawn to protect her in her dreams.
Then she cursed this Great One they all believed in. If she ever met him, she vowed to kick his pompous, interfering ass.
Sanctuary—Hearts Broken
Derren ran his hand along the curve of her back. He knew she was ticklish, but the sounds she made weren’t laughter. He delighted in it anyway, as if anything escaping her lips was music to his soul.
Katheryne rolled over to face him, and she put her hand up to touch the side of his face, drawing him down to her lips, needing him to kiss her.
Heat exploded as they touched, neither seeming to tire of the other’s embrace, the contact of their bodies, physical and spiritual.
Their first physical coupling had been…intense. The experience in the dream had been the height of rapture, but it was cast into insignificance by the sensation of feeling Katheryne move against him. They had provoked reactions in each other which had driven them to the edge of madness and lust, drawing back only when both were finally spent.
Now the passion reignited, Katheryne’s hunger matched by his own, her need for him overwhelming, as her mouth parted and she invited his tongue to explore her.
Their breath became the others, as they tasted each and every sensation their souls offered. It was exquisite, perfect. What they shared made creation pale into insignificance.
The hollow in Katheryne’s dream, the same one they were both entwined in now, had been the catalyst for the passion, the helpless embrace they we
re in, and they needed to milk every instant, for both of them felt the disaster ahead.
For now, however, it didn’t matter. They soaked each other up. Every emotion, every feeling and memory they shared, as if they too had experienced it.
The thoughts of each other were vague, in fact they didn’t matter. Thought was irrelevant as desire took over, driving concern for anything else away. Katheryne responded as Derren caressed her, her pleasure resounding throughout him, feeding back into her in a loop of never ending ecstasy.
In the end they lay, one soul in two bodies, together for an instant, but damned to be apart forever. Each tried uselessly to draw on a thread of hope they could be forever together.
That they were here now, in each other’s arms, seemed to taunt them, somehow giving them hope they could be with each other for more than a moment.
Agony etched Derren’s face as he drew Katheryne mouth to his in a final passionate kiss. There might be another embrace before the goodbye, but this was their last sharing of souls, and they mingled, merging in mutual union.
Katheryne’s eyes as they parted were devastated, as were his. Their hearts broke as they drew apart, needing but not wanting to accept what had to be.
As they stood, and began to get dressed, it was like a wall formed between them. They both knew it was necessary for their mutual sanity, for if they gave in and defied what they both had to do, then all creation would suffer an eternity in bondage and torment, as Tenybris consumed the universe.
What they had discovered was so profoundly shocking, so ultimately destructive, it must be prevented, and Katheryne was the only one capable of doing so.
B’ran had used the twisted being Dwenn’s power to break the cardinal rule which all Liberi could not.
They realized the rot throughout Sanctuary was unassailable. B’ran, though now dead at Derren’s hand, had confirmed the majority of the leadership had already been turned, and no action by them could prevent the others from succumbing within days.
Except for widespread executions, there was no way to prevent the fall of this world. This was another force guiding Katheryne toward what she had to do.
As they walked towards the camp set up on the beach, she realized she didn’t even know how she was to do it. None of the Liberi could describe the process of time travel, because they were genetically incapable of even attempting it.
The memories she had taken from B’ran were useless, because he’d used Dwenn to carry out the atrocity. Dwenn was gone too, and thankfully Krista had survived intact. She was scarred deeply, but she was still here with her brother and Katheryne.
She thought of Perri now, and how much she missed her. She should be here, and she knew Krista would feel the same happiness.
There was something happening between the two of them. Katheryne wasn’t sure either of them knew it, but as Krista had broken down when Dwenn’s trap almost killed them all, Perri had fallen for her. Her bravado about cute guys, and her feigned shock at Krista’s sexuality had been an act, Katheryne knew now.
She supposed she should have been surprised. Perri had never given any indication of being attracted to anyone other than boys, and she knew what was emerging between her friend and Krista would, probably, surprise her as much as it did Katheryne.
But all she felt now was a reluctant acceptance, only reluctant because it didn’t matter. In a short while all this would be gone, and who would ever know if the moment needed for Perri to fall for Krista would ever come about again.
Oh my god Katheryne thought. The block was gone now that Dwenn was dead. She could go get Perri.
But just as she had this thought she realized, what would be the point? She could bring her here for a few hours, only to wipe them from reality a short time later.
Katheryne felt so alone. She couldn’t reach out to Derren without risking the possibility of both of them rebelling against what had to happen.
She couldn’t bring Perri here to talk, if even for a moment.
And Krista was still so damaged, thinking she was so alone, without realising there was another hope for her soul.
“Hurts doesn’t it?”
Katheryne jumped as she realized Chran had sneaked up on her. Sneaked may have been too strong a word, however. His people had developed a genetic ability to camouflage themselves over five hundred years ago. It came naturally to them now, enough so she could barely see him in the twilight under the jungle.
“Leaving someone behind I mean,” he continued in his deep low voice. “Someone you love.”
He sat there, dark as the jungle around him, but his eyes twinkling in sadness.
“Who were they?” Katheryne asked, sensing a kindred spirit.
Chran sat down beside her, and she was shocked to discover she had been sitting here for so long.
Derren had walked to the far side of the fire to spend some time with his sister.
“My wife and daughter,” he said, as his skin turned a shade of blue. “I watched as our home was burned by the dragons. I couldn’t lift a finger.”
Katheryne blanched in empathy as she felt his anger.
“It’s so cruel the way it happens to us you know. We only gain our power in death, they say.” He sat, and bitterness flowed from him.
“The lucky ones don’t remember. Normally the Liberi travel when they’re young, too young to remember clearly what came before their arrival. But some of us have lived a life beforehand, got married and had a family. I had both.”
Katheryne felt Chran’s pain. She felt it and needed to help him, but as she projected her power, he turned to her, palm outstretched.
“Please...don’t. I need to remember. The hurt...it, helps.” She withdrew, understanding his denial.
“You need to keep the memories for both of you Katheryne,” said Chran, now a shade of deep red. Slowly, she began to understand the subtle change in shade as passion.
“You’re about to take away the last two years of everyone’s existence, and after it’s done, there will only be one person left who will have the memories of what has happened. You, Katheryne will remember it all.”
Chran breathed deeply, before raising his head to gaze with piercing eyes into hers. “And if they were mundane, ordinary experiences, well, that would be fine. It would be unfortunate for some, of course, but unimportant to most. But you will retain the hurt and the pain the rest of us don’t remember, because we will have never experienced it.”
He grew intense now. “Your memories are neither mundane nor ordinary Katheryne. They are vital. Hold onto them, because like my memories of my family, they matter. More to you than me perhaps, though mine are precious to me.”
“But with yours, you can create a hope again. Perhaps even rediscover your love with Derren, even though he will be a different Derren from the one you know now.”
Katheryne’s heart convulsed at this. There would only ever be one Derren for her. Any other would be judged by his standard, and she knew no matter how lofty they reigned, they would be as nothing compared to him.
“I’m sorry,” said Chran. “Perhaps I should not have said anything.” He got up to leave, his skin a shade of dark blue again.
Katheryne almost let him go without a word, but she turned to him, and put her hand on his arm. She was shocked by how warm Chran’s skin was.
“Thank you,” she said, feeling bittersweet. “Thank you for opening my eyes.” She smiled warmly as she went on. “I may curse you for it over the years, but I’ll never deny you told me the truth.”
Chran nodded, grief etched on his face as he walked away.
Katheryne sat and watched him, experiencing the same pain he felt, and as she looked around, she wondered if she would have the strength to do this. All these people sat around the fire with her were about to simply cease to exist.
She rose and began a slow walk down to the water’s edge, wondering at the reality of her dream made physical, as the waves began to lap over her bare feet. She looked up at th
e sky, taking in its inky blackness. Sanctuary had no sun, moon, or stars. It existed in a bubble at the heart of the Never, but Katheryne felt the threads of reality flowing through the planet. Millions...billions of realities began here. But where they ended was the problem.
So much uncertainty. Enough doubt to overcome her. Suddenly Derren was there beside her, and as he took her hand she shivered, and almost pulled it away.
Instead she turned and looked up again for what she knew would be the last time in this reality.
“I don’t want you to say goodbye,” he said. “There would be little point, when only you will remember saying it.”
He stood looking down at her with that lopsided grin, and her heart shattered into a billion pieces. Tears flowed freely, dropping to the sand below as she reached up to touch his cheek tenderly.
“I don’t want to lose you Derren,” she cried, “but I know I have to. Damn it, why does everything have to be so cruel.”
She began to feel bitter, but Derren put a finger against her lips. He took her into his arms and she put her head into his chest. She could hear and feel the beat of his heart, and time seemed to stand still.
“You will never lose me, my love,” he said tenderly, tears welling in his eyes also. “I will always be there in your heart, as you have always been in mine. If the universe were to be destroyed a thousand times, it wouldn’t matter, because what we have cannot be wiped away by something as trivial as time.”
Katheryne pushed him away. “You’re wrong. What I’m about to do, to all of this,” she beckoned to the island around them, “all of you will be gone forever.”
Derren smiled and shook his head. “Not forever Katheryne…only for a little while. One day we’ll meet again.” He cupped her head gently, raising it so he could look into the deep pools of emerald light that were her eyes, the eyes which had haunted his every waking moment for decades.
“There are a few things I’m certain of, you know, and that we will meet again is one of them,” he promised, smiling. “Our souls will find the other part of itself across the gulf of the universe, and they will know each other’s essence.” He raised the palm of his hand to cover her heart, and Katheryne saw tears glisten in the moonlight as they flowed down his face.
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