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by Brad Stucki

  The king turned to Sauros and Javin.

  "Do you know? Will this damage our crops?"

  "We do not know," Sauros said. "We do know we must find and stop Nemesis quickly, or there will be damage to your world. He caused great harm on my world before we could drive him out."

  "This is much to take in," the king said. "You two appear here and give confusing explanation of where you come from. Our Keeper tells us you can be trusted, yet you bring tidings of the End Times, and tell of a man who is a threat to our world. Then this happens with our crops, indeed, with all our growing things. I must know everything before I judge."

  "We will tell everything," Javin assured. "We will share all we know in whatever way you desire," Javin turned to Kokos and nodded. She felt what he meant. They would continue to be completely open, even through the crystals.

  "Majesty," Kokos stepped forward to stand beside Kaffen, slightly brushing his arm with hers. Javin and Sauros both noticed and felt something between the two.

  "You know the'Gift'I have," Kokos continued. Javin noted a slight shudder from Kaffen at the mention of the word 'Gift.'

  "It gives one a certain ability to discern meaning and truth. I will use it with these two and will learn everything. Then I will report all faithfully to you. After, you may judge wisely upon this matter." Kokos then bowed, as did all those around them. Sauros and Javin quickly followed suit. They were waiting on the king's pleasure.

  "Learn all," he said, "and report faithfully to me."

  Chapter 11

  The meeting quickly broke up until all who were left were Kokos, Javin, Sauros and Kaffen. The king and two guards left to go back to the enclave. The others moved out into the crops to attend their work.

  "If this has something to do with the crops, I want to be involved. I want to hear what these visitors know." Kaffen said to Kokos with a hint of urgency in his voice. Javin knew Kaffen had other concerns for Kokos than just the crops.

  "I will report all to you also, Kaffen," Kokos said, placing a hand on his arm, "But for what we must do, I need privacy and complete quiet."

  "You will need a guard," Kaffen protested.

  "I will not," Kokos said soothingly. "They are trustworthy. I have felt it."

  Kaffen looked about to protest further, but Kokos' subtle squeeze to his arm kept him silent. Javin could feel through the crystal, which Kokos had evidently decided should go both ways, something deep between her and Kaffen.

  “Come,” she said to Javin and Sauros. “We will go to where you can share ‘all.’”

  Javin and Sauros followed Kokos back through the path to the enclave. Instead of going back the way they’d come to the main entrance, she turned the opposite way and continued on around the stone pillar. After some distance she turned back toward the jungle. She stepped into the foliage onto a trail which was barely visible, and only when they stepped onto it. They had to keep close in order to follow without getting tangled into the dense vegetation.

  “Is the jungle really growing rapidly?” Javin asked.

  “It is,” Kokos answered. “The trail we follow is usually much more visible. Now it is nearly overgrown and I was here not more than 4 cycles ago. It shouldn’t be this thick, yet it is.”

  Javin remained silent the rest of their walk, having to concentrate to make it through several overgrown patches. Sauros struggled with his bulk and a few times had to break branches and fronds to continue on.

  At last they arrived. The trail opened out onto a clearing that was about 50 spans across and deep. At the far end was a small pool of about eight spans across with a trickle of water running in to keep it refreshed. There didn’t seem to be any outlet. The ground was covered in a velvety sward of lush green grass. It was quite thick and hard to walk through.

  “Even the grass is too thick,” Kokos said. “Underneath we have laid stone so it will not grow too thick and we can maintain the water.” Kokos gestured to the pond.

  “It is our water source. It runs underground to where the enclave draws it up with pumps into our various rooms.”

  Near the center of the clearing was a series of rounded rocks. They had been placed there as a meeting area. Kokos went and sat on one, gesturing for Javin and Sauros to take a seat with her.

  They shrugged out of their packs and set them on the ground, watching Kokos. She had folded her hands across her knees. “We will not be disturbed here. We can do what is necessary for me to learn all. I have to admit I’m not sure how to go about this as I’ve never done it before. I have memories of it, though, so it should work.”

  With his careful listening as well as trying to ‘feel’ her meaning, Javin was starting to get an inkling of what she was contemplating. He wasn’t too sure, especially when he had the memory surging in him of how Chahzuu had been stripped and left for dead. He glanced at Sauros who only stared back solemnly. Still, it made sense. They would be able to share ‘everything’. It was dangerous.

  “I sense you both understand.”

  Javin nodded. Sauros said nothing, still no expression. Javin could sense a slight reluctance, though not out of fear. Then, out of the blue, he said. “I will go first. Javin must stand watch in case Nemesis is waiting for an opening.”

  Javin then understood the reluctance. Sauros was remembering the mental pulse that had nearly killed them both when they had tried searching for Nemesis. It was clear Nemesis had enough power to reach through a bond such as what they were contemplating.

  “I will stand guard, though I’m not sure how.” He thought a moment and then said, “Perhaps if I just keep my senses open and then try to block out anything that isn’t moving between you two?”

  Sauros looked at Kokos. “You have more experience with the . . . ‘Gift'.” Do you know how to block others from interfering?”

  “I don’t,” Kokos said. She thought a moment like Javin had. “What he said seems right though. If you and I ‘touch’ then he will have to be outside of that, watching for us and trying to sense if anyone is trying to intrude. As to how to block such a thing . . .”

  “I’ll do my best,” Javin said. Sauros nodded, evidently satisfied. It seemed he was a bit more relieved than he should have been, though. Javin put it out of his mind. He had more important things to focus on.

  “I believe it would be best of we touched. I remember this having been done once in our history. It was between all of the various Keepers of each enclave. Our king required it as part of establishing that first peace between all the enclaves. Our Keeper was the only one with the ‘Gift’. No others knew of it. To this day, our Enclave is the only one with a ‘Gift’ that I know of. The other Keepers thought it just a ritual of sharing, to prove good intentions. But our Keeper, with the ‘Gift’ had been able to delve a little further without the others knowing. The ‘sharing’ insured there were no ulterior motives on the part of any enclave against another. This peace has rarely been broken except by renegades who have been cast out.

  Javin now understood the defenses. It wasn’t necessarily to protect from other enclaves, but from this world’s version of highwaymen. Javin cringed at the reference. He knew the name and what it meant, but not where it came from. Focus! He told himself. I have to stand guard here.

  "I can recall – through the ‘Gift’ – how this was done, but only vaguely. If it worked for my ancient ancestor, it should work for us. It is much deeper than the initial 'delving' I did when we first met. Then I could only sense intent and primary motivations which are always on the surface. With each of you having a ‘Gift’ for yourselves, you will need to be completely open to me. You must hold nothing back. You understand?”

  Sauros nodded and moved over to kneel before Kokos. She put her hands gently to his temples and closed her eyes. Javin ‘sensed’ out, not interfering; standing guard, as it were. Even at that, he could feel their touching, and Sauros opening. He could discern how it was being done.

  Javin kept his senses alert. So far nothing was interfering. He wat
ched Kokos intently. Her brow furrowed in concentration, and then pain. Javin hesitated then realized what she must be sensing. If nothing were to be held back, then of course she would sense what Sauros carried within. He wondered if when she ‘searched’ his memories if she would be able to unlock what was hidden. He continued to watch and stand guard.

  After a time, not long, not short, Sauros sat back and Kokos breathed out a sigh. Tears were in her eyes and the expression on her face one of great compassion. Then she looked at Javin in a curious way, like she knew something about him but didn’t want to say. Sauros stumbled a bit then stood, turning to Javin.

  “That was a bit unique,” he said, his teething bared in his form of grin. “Still, I seem to have all my faculties, such as they are.”

  Javin smiled back. “No one tried to intrude that I could sense. Did you sense anything during?”

  “I was too focused on opening,” Sauros said. “It is more difficult than I supposed. I wanted to fight, to not render control to another, but you have to,” he looked at Javin.

  Javin nodded and ‘felt’ what Sauros was meaning.

  “I will stand guard now so Kokos can glean from you. She must know from us both to be sure.”

  Javin looked at Kokos. “You up for another now, or do you need to rest?”

  “Give me a little time to rest. There is much to assimilate. I’m struggling to let it settle in. It’s much like when I first got my ‘Gift'.”

  “Why don’t you tell us about that while you let things settle? Can you do that?” Javin asked.

  “I think so,” Kokos said, rubbing her own temples. “It actually may help, thinking back over what I went through last time.”

  Chapter 12

  Kokos took a deep breath, closed her eyes, leaned her head back, and rubbed her temples. “My brother was supposed to get the ‘Gift’ from my father. He had been trained by my father for it. Often I would sit at their feet and listen, drinking in the history of my people and the purpose of the 'Gift'—which is actually to keep a record of our history and to provide the key necessary for when the ‘End Times’ come. It’s funny, my father never mentioned what that key was. As I’ve delved through the history I can ‘see’ through the ‘Gift’, none of my forefathers knew it either. It was something which was originally spoken to them and so they remembered and passed it on.

  Kokos opened her eyes and looked at Javin. “I sense that you and he,” she gestured to Sauros, “have seen and used that key.” Her brows furrowed a bit in thought, assimilating the memories she’d just received from Sauros.

  She shook her head. “Through the years I can’t say I wasn’t envious of my brother. I was fascinated by the ‘Gift’ and what it meant for my people.” She held her hands wide indicating the whole inner world she was a part of. “My father by now was old and very sick. He was near death and my brother was preparing for the ceremony in which the ‘Gift’ would be passed.

  “This was not very long ago . . . no more than 30 cycles and on the day my brother was appointed to receive the ‘Gift’ he turned up missing. My father seemed oddly serene. I was anxious, frantic. My brother wouldn’t have left voluntarily. I knew he was excited to receive the ‘Gift’ and fulfill his calling to his people.

  “The king wondered also. He sent out search parties and found nothing. We waited for over 10 cycles and during that time Father was growing ever closer to death. Finally, one day Father summoned me along with the king. On my Father’s dying bed he said the ‘Gift’ needed to be passed now before he died. There were things in his conscious memory that would be locked into the ‘Gift’ only if it was passed before his dying. Otherwise it would be lost.

  “Now I have the ‘Gift’ I know to which he was referring.” Kokos took a deep breath and continued. “The king was frantic. He was expecting that a male heir was the one who should receive the ‘Gift’. My father responded, ‘It cannot be. Kokos has learned. She is worthy and she can, and will, carry the ‘Gift’. I don’t know what has happened to my son, but the ‘Gift’ needs to be passed now. My life is fleeing and it cannot wait.’

  “Then without asking any further permission, my father struggled to sit upright, cupped his hands near his breast, closed his eyes and ‘willed’ the ‘Gift’ to come forth. And it did.”

  Javin could imagine the sight. He’d experienced receiving the crystal himself. He thought he could imagine what it would be like to have the ‘Gift’ or the crystal embedded in his own breast, coming back out. He pictured the old man holding his hands to his breast, then seeing the pulsing, scintillating light of the crystal as it moved from the depth of his chest and depositing itself into waiting, cupped hands.

  “Once he had the ‘Gift’ in his hands,” Kokos continued, “he reverently handed it to me. There was no need of explanation. I had learned what I must do.” Kokos pantomimed as she spoke. “I held the ‘Gift’ to my breast. Again, it began to glow, the light growing brighter from within until it nearly blinded us all. When it ‘touched’ I could feel its warmth, its burning, as it accepted me, became one with me, and I knew this was meant to be. I don’t know how, but I knew the ‘Gift’ was mine, and was always meant to be.

  “I still don’t know what happened to my brother. I’m still worried for him. But I ‘know’ I was the one who was to receive the ‘Gift’. She paused a moment, gathering her thoughts.

  “My father laid back down on his pad and life gently slipped away from him.” Tears formed in Kokos’ eyes and ran in light rivulets down her cheeks.

  “The king had to accept that I was now the Keeper, though begrudgingly. When he announced my new standing, no one knew why. The king knew, though. Because the ‘Gift’ needed to reside with the Keeper. He knew and respected the reasoning. After all, his instruction had been passed from monarch to monarch as well. His duty was to protect the ‘Gift’ and see it was available for use at the ‘End Times’.

  “That is why he is so nervous now . . . as am I.” Kokos looked at Javin, then to Sauros.

  “This all happened less than 10 cycles ago so this is all still new to me as well. I wish I would have had more time to assimilate all the memories before you two showed up.” She smiled. “Time is a fickle friend. You have abundance when you don’t want it and a dreaded shortage when it is most needed.”

  “How did the people respond?” Javin asked.

  “For the most part, they accepted. It was odd for them to have a woman as Keeper, true, but the King’s support and encouragement stilled all dissent . . . except for one who has not fully embraced what I’ve become.” A winsomeness crossed Koko’s features. Her voice had grown softer.

  “Kaffen,” Sauros said. “You and he were betrothed.”

  Javin looked at Sauros then back at Kokos. Kokos seemed just as startled as Javin.

  "Her memories and knowledge came to me as well as mine to her. I think it was because I was completely open to her delving. When you open up, the transfer goes both ways." Javin 'felt' Sauros was remembering the experience Chahzuu had in resisting while he was being stripped by Nemesis. Chahzuu had fought whereas Sauros was completely open, welcoming of the transfer.

  Javin knew Sauros must be assimilating the memories he’d just received as well, and that particular set of memories would be fresh.

  “I think I’m rested enough,” Kokos said, seeming to change the subject of her personal life. “Come. Kneel.”

  Javin moved to kneel in front of Kokos. Sauros moved to stand behind Kokos, resting his hands on her shoulders as if to protect her – which he was. He would be both their protector and watchman.

  “Remember to see if you can get past my memory block,” Javin said. “As much as anything else, I want to know who I am and where I’m from.”

  Kokos tilted her head a bit, thought about it, then nodded.

  Chapter 13

  Javin closed his eyes and felt Koko’s soft hands touch his temples. He took a deep breath and willed himself to open, to consciously let go and allow the int
rusion. And then he felt them; soft tendrils reaching in, caressing his mind, coaxing his memories forth.

  He saw each memory as they opened and filtered down through those tendrils, being seeped away and copied. It was as if he was experiencing everything all over again, waking up on the planet, the Birta' Fah trying to eat him, the first chameleon man he met -- Chahzuu, and the pyramid gateway. All of it flowed through his mind and he let them go.

  It seemed a relief to let them go, and he hoped Kokos could find more, more than he could access himself. His past rolled out in ever-increasing flashing images. Still, there was nothing he hadn't recently experienced, that he hadn't already remembered.

  Then the memories ceased with the very moment he was in. Javin could feel Kokos hesitating. Her touch though, still gentle, seemed a little harder, then harder still. Javin forced himself to open even more, to lay everything bare. Kokos continued to press.

  There was a barrier there, almost physical. Her tendrils gathered and crawled along the face of the barrier seeking an opening. Javin's head was beginning to throb. Then he sensed the presence of Sauros too, seeking to strengthen, seeking to protect while also enabling.

  Javin wanted them to succeed. He wanted to know. In his mind he tried to open up even more.

  Through grit teeth he said, "Force it open. Bust it down! I need to know!" Javin kept his eyes clenched shut. He kept his mind focused, trying to relax, to open and create a small fissure in the barrier that could be forced open further.

  He could feel Sauros and Kokos seeming to merge and strain together. Javin didn't know how they were doing it, but they were. It was an interesting observation while in the midst of a now burgeoning pain, increasing with the pressure they exerted against the barrier. Still the barrier held like a solid surface, no movement, no cracks or edges apparent.

  "There are no edges,” Javin said. “It's a smooth surface. My memories must be encircled! There are no seams to pry loose. You must force it open. Break through!"