“Were you just listening in on our private conversation?” Kiya stammered, as she pulled free from his hold and marched over to Aarik like a defiant child throwing a fit.
“You didn’t make it private. Think of it this way, the two of you were speaking like you were in a crowded room. If you want a private conversation you take it to a different room. I can see you have a lot to learn,” explained Thad'gar with a chuckle. Kiya searched her mind for a good comeback and on the rare circumstance came up empty-handed. She growled in frustration, which turned Thad'gar’s chuckle to a full blown laugh.
He bent over gasping for air and when he finally stood up there were tears streaming from his eyes. Taking a large breath he let it out slowly and said, “I look forward to your sharp wit when your senses return. I’m sure it’s just the shock of the situation. You remind me of Zoya when we first met. So damn cute; just like a warrior kitten. She ended up being the fiercest lioness you’ve ever seen.” A look of sadness crossed his face before he blinked slowly and it was replaced with a tender expression as he looked fondly at Kiya and said, “I have faith you’ll be even better.”
Kiya quickly put up a mental block with the Lazy Daisy song her Grams taught her as a child and stewed over her lack of privacy. She decided she couldn’t stay mad at Thad'gar for long with those puppy dog eyes beseeching her and threw out an olive branch, “Answer Aarik’s questions and I’ll agree to call you family if you promise to teach us how to speak in private.”
“We have a deal, but I plan on teaching you much more than that, granddaughter. Alright, let’s get back to your questions. The mind parse ritual, when done properly, does not hurt and is perfectly safe, but only if the person enters the ritual in full agreement to participate. We don’t see everything you’ve ever done, so your embarrassing moments are safe, but we do see your true identity and a flash of your life. Since you say you’ve only been around a couple decades it should go rather fast. In regards to how it works, you only need to sit in the chair behind you and enter the Realm of Enlightenment. Which I believe you refer to as the AZOK. Not sure why? We’ll do the rest,” Thad'gar said as he addressed Aarik directly.
“What chair?” Kiya asked, having studied the room and possible weapons available when they arrived. She would have noticed a chair, she thought.
“That one,” insisted Thad'gar, as he pointed behind her.
Kiya and Aarik turned around at the same time to see a chair phasing through the stone floor. It looked like an egg-shaped hammock, made of metal and not very comfortable. It hovered in the air without any supports as it waited for its next victim. Aarik started to pull away from Kiya as he walked toward the chair cautiously. Kiya held on tight and yanked a little to get his attention before she said, “Are you sure you’re entering this of your own free will?”
“I promise. I know who I am and would prefer to not be labeled as a murderous bastard,” promised Aarik, before he pulled Kiya towards him and placed a loving kiss to her forehead and then said, “Be right back.”
Chapter Eight
Aarik
Aarik approached the mind parse chair with perturbation. He knew who he was, or at least he used to before a month ago. He had no idea who he was related to on the Ah’naki side of his DNA and hoped it was someone to be proud of. One thing he knew for certain was he wasn’t Th’ael. His heart raced with anticipation as he sat down. Clearing his throat he said, “I’m ready when you are,”
Thad'gar held up a hand to quiet any murmurs in the room and said in a booming voice, “Aarik Landon do you enter the mind parse ritual of your own free will?”
“Let the ceremonies begin,” Aarik announced in his best circus performing voice and when the room remained silent he added, “Sorry, I’ve always wanted to do that. It means...yes, I enter this ritual of my own free will.”
“This is not a matter to take lightly, Aarik Landon. Consider this your first lesson. Center yourself and when you feel calm enough enter the Realm of Enlightenment with your intent on the forefront of your thoughts. The answers you seek will be available instantly. Make sure you stay focused on the ritual or you’ll end up showing us the things you wanted to forget about from your youth. We don’t want a trip down memory lane just the facts. Get to the point and be specific,” explained Thad'gar sharply.
“Wait!” Kiya cried out, as she ran toward Aarik. Climbing onto his lap she cradled his face and said, “I needed to give you a kiss for good luck first.” Hoots and hollers could be heard faintly in the background as he concentrated on the way Kiya tasted and smelled as she ravished him, stealing his breath away in the process.
She withdrew slowly and studied his face like she needed to memorize it. Almost as if she felt like she’d never see him again. Aarik pulled her in for another quick peck and whispered against her lips, “Don’t be afraid. I promise this isn’t the end to our story. Remember, I still have to make you mine.”
Kiya sighed and closed her eyes, “I believe it’s a two-way street, you’ll be mine as well. Can you handle that?” She opened her eyes on the last statement and smiled down at him mischievously.
“Truth be told, I can’t wait...which means you need to get off my lap so I can concentrate and get this parse thing over with,” Aarik teased with a soft kiss to her brow when she scrunched her face at him from being dismissed so easily. The frown melted from her face instantly and she huffed out, “Fine. Have it your way.” She took her time wiggling off him and by the end Aarik had to grit his teeth to keep from pulling her back onto him and finishing what she started.
“You little minx,” Aarik growled out under his breath as he tried to calm himself while he watched her walk back to Thad'gar. Before he attempted to enter his internal Google, Aarik centered himself by concentrating on each inhale and exhale. He closed his eyes with mind parse as his only desire and accessed the realm of wisdom on his next breath.
The feeling he got from entering the zone was like welcoming an old friend he hadn’t seen in a while. He wanted to catch up and learn all he could since their last visit, but knew how important his focus was on establishing a rapport with the watchers and escaping the mind parse unharmed. Hunkering down, he let the truth reveal itself as he followed the instruction of the AZOK and opened his soul to the conglomerate’s purview. At first he felt like his soul was being pulled apart from all sides as each of the members in the room established a connection. He wanted to sever the link immediately, but a small incessant voice reminded Aarik that his life depended on it.
The statement was a welcome reminder to stay the course. Gritting his teeth as the last person in the room took up space inside his mind; he heaved a sigh of relief when the pulling ceased and his soul settled into place around him. He could feel the conglomerate beckon for him to start and hurried to move on to the next step. Aarik felt like a projectionist at his own motion picture when he metaphorically turned on the movie of his life and watched from a window above as his patrons settled in to enjoy the show.
The opening scene of his bibliography was of his father and mother bringing him home from the hospital. Seeing them alive nearly brought him to tears. He had pictures of them on his uncle’s mantel, but their mannerisms were lost to him in the still pictures. The gift of seeing them filled with life was precious to him, but as the ritual lead him forward to the day of their funeral, he felt the sting of their deaths all over again. The memory of when he found the medallion played out in slow motion, almost as if the conglomerate had a remote control and were able to change the speed of the scene.
The parse methodical split the major milestones of his life into mini acts on the projector screen. His awkward childhood years played on fast forward until his high school graduation. Aarik snickered at his lanky teenage body and was happy Kiya never had to see him go through the gawky stage. It didn’t help that he graduated two years early, which made making friends hard for Aarik. That was until he entered college a couple years later and all of his muscles filled in and he found
out he was a bit of a ladies’ man. Women were drawn to a shirtless man just coming into his muscles, especially a sweaty one from working in the afternoon heat. He had never considered himself a player, but as the stream of women flickered across the screen he was doubly glad Kiya wasn’t taking up space in his brain to observe his manwhore-like behavior.
When his most recent graduation revealed itself, Aarik felt like he was participating in his own version of the ten year photo challenge that was floating around social media for awhile and the difference was astonishing. If he hadn’t been there himself, he would have sworn he took steroids to gain his muscle mass. The trip down memory lane was brief and uneventful for the most part until the parse started revealing the past month’s activities in perfect detail. It ended when Aarik sat down on the mind ritual chair and instead of credits rolling at the end of the movie, the projector kept running a black screen. Just as Aarik was about to ask everyone to leave, a blurry scene began to take shape on the screen. A few in the audience gasped lightly and watched with trepidation.
Their reaction gave Aarik cause for concern, making him think it was uncommon to have special scenes at the end of a parse ritual. With so many movies nowadays playing hidden scenes that gave you a sneak peek into the next movie, it made sense to see a snippet of what the future might hold in the story of his life. His unease turned to one of resolve and anticipation as the images in question came into focus. A standoff with Th’ael on a spaceship played out on the screen. Aarik waited with baited breath to see who would be the victor and was sorely disappointed when the preview cut off abruptly leaving everyone on their seats from the unexpected cliffhanger.
Aarik tried to make the parse show him more and when it refused, he forced it to rewind to the ending scene. He needed to memorize every detail and look for any clues that might help him pinpoint when and where the standoff would occur. Paying no attention to the bystanders in his mind, he studied the details carefully. The crowd in his mind became restless and voiced their frustration as Aarik replayed the scene over and over. They were stuck inside his replay and could damage his mind irreparably if they left before Aarik completed the ritual. Realizing he could come back to study it in depth later he let the movie end abruptly. Instead of waiting for everyone to leave one by one which was the normal progression at the end of a mind parse, Aarik pushed them out forcefully and said, “Now that I’ve proved my innocence and you’ve seen the confrontation to come. I ask once again, will you join us? Because if you won’t, this is a waste of our time and I demand the conglomerate release us so we can go home to prepare for the coming war!”
Looking around the room he was surprised by their look of respect and was about to ask why when Thad'gar beat him to it and said, “My kind has only ever had one sightseer and he was the founder of this rebel force. Upon his death, it was told he would be born again and I believe that I speak for everyone when I say this, but I believe we are looking at him. None of us are capable of seeing the future. It is why we covet people with the vision so much and when we find one, we tend to bind them to us in some way as quickly as possible and by any means necessary. Usually through marriage, but on the rare occasion our opponents have been known to use force. In fact, I believe Ben’ath is a product of the latter method.”
“What the hell happened in there?! I thought the ritual showed your past not your future?” demanded Kiya, with her hands on her hips in anger as she looked at Aarik incredulously. Like it was his fault she wasn’t included in the mind parse or perhaps she was mad for being left out of the loop.
“It does and it did, but at the end of mine it had an extra scene and that tidbit held quite the revelation. It showed Th’ael facing off against us on a Spaceship, after we defeated some of their army. I believe they are insinuating I am their dead friend reincarnated because of this vision, but there is no time to delve into such nonsense. We need to get back and warn the others,” explained Aarik apologetically, hoping to appease Kiya’s anger with a quick synopsis.
“Alright I understand your concern, but isn’t the war something we were already expecting? Why the urgency now? We should at least give them a chance to respond to your latest question and maybe let them explain what they meant by being their leader reincarnated,” Kiya answered softly before adding, “Plus I wouldn’t mind getting to know my grandfather and learning more about my heritage. It could help us in the upcoming battle.”
Aarik cringed a little at the firsthand knowledge he had of her in the next fight and it scared him to let her go into battle. It made him feel vulnerable. Scrambling to say something encouraging that didn’t show how much he hated the idea, he looked at Thad'gar and said in a calmer voice, “I highly doubt I am your old leader reincarnated, but I’m willing to listen to what you have to say in exchange for the conglomerates answer. The origin is scheduled to be on tonight and if we miss it we’ll be stuck here for another day. We would love your assistance in the coming war, but I was only willing to stay here when I thought it would take longer to find you. Now that we’ve found you and done what we set out to do, I see no reason to stay after we’ve had a chance to talk.”
“I’m afraid it’s not as simple as that. A decision to go to war would require a vote by the people, not just those gathered here in this room. The everyday mundane decisions are not set to vote or we would never get anything accomplished, but big votes like this still require the people’s agreement. Especially considering this decision could put their sons and daughters in harm's way. Not something anyone should jump into without thought,” Thad'gar explained sympathetically.
“Your response makes me believe it would be too late because the war will be over by the time your people even vote,” responded Aarik in annoyance as he looked about the room trying to gauge everyone’s reaction.
“It matters not how long you are here. We could keep you here for a year or more. The battle will still happen. You have seen it. There is no changing it. You saw a snippet of time, but not when that time was. If your people were already preparing for battle and sent you here to ask for our help, I’m sure they’ll understand when you’re not back right away as you make your plea,” Morri interjected matter-of-factly.
“Well it couldn’t have been too long in the future. I was still young, without any additional wrinkles,” Aarik replied with a smile, feeling like he had one on the stoic elf.
Morri grinned slightly and said, “Age doesn’t matter once you’re immortal.”
Chapter Nine
Kiya
Kiya recognized the oncoming signs of a hangry and annoyed Aarik, and as a distraction snuggled into the crook of his arm suggestively until she had his attention. Looking up into his eyes she said in a raised voice, “Why don’t we discuss this over dinner? I’m sure our hosts would be gracious enough to feed us while we discuss the likelihood of their engagement in the coming war. I believe we’d all think more clearly on a full stomach.”
Rubbing her belly for emphasis, Kiya waited for Aarik to answer. He looked to be on the verge of either blowing up or bolting and Kiya wasn’t ready to leave. An early departure would mean giving up on learning more about her heritage and rescuing her grandmother. Pulling on his arm a little she tilted her head toward her grandfather and whispered, “Humor me please. Just for a little while.”
Aarik blinked a couple times before his faced relaxed and he replied, “I think you know me better than I know you.” He caressed her check tenderly before he faced the conglomerate and said, “Feels weird inviting ourselves to dinner, but as Kiya just pointed out, I think more clearly when I’m full...So...”
“Say no more. Let us move to the dining hall and we’ll have a working meal. Follow me, please,” Thad'gar interjected before Aarik could finish his sentence. A low chatter of disapproval could be heard among a few in the audience. Thad'gar threw his hands up in the air and said, “No secrets. Are there any here that want to challenge who this man says he is? Or my granddaughter’s word?” When no one stepped f
orward or made another sound, Thad'gar turned around and motioned Kiya to follow.
Kiya grabbed Aarik’s hand and pulled him along with her as she followed her ancestor out of the auditorium into a stone-carved hallway. Kiya couldn’t help but notice the similarities with the temple of Vos’rok in Washington and asked, “Are we underground, Thad'gar? This facility reminds me of some chambers on Earth that started us on this crazy journey.”
“Excellent observation, Kiya. We are indeed underground, in the city of Shea’dale. Which chambers did you uncover? There are over thirty underground facilities spattered across your globe,” Thad'gar replied over his shoulder, as they passed many doors on both sides of the corridor on their way to the dining hall.
“Vos’rok. It’s close to where I live,” answered Kiya in deep thought as she started guessing where the other chambers were located.
“Makes sense. That was where I last saw Zoya…” Thad'gar responded in a far off voice before he cleared his throat and added, “Vos’rok was designed in the same manner as all Ah’naki safe havens, carved into stone. Only, the ones on Earth were built on a much smaller scale, of course. This city can house up to a hundred thousand families at one time during times of need. My people built them in defense of natural disasters as no planet is safe from Gaia. They come in handy during times of war, too.”
“I’m sorry and maybe this is a stupid question, but if everyone on this planet is aware of Shea’dale’s existence, how is this a good choice for your headquarters or hidden base if that’s what you call it? I mean hiding in the center of your enemies territory is risky, isn’t it?” asked Kiya, in a skeptical tone as she looked ahead and behind her for any obvious signs of an exit.
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