Balance of the 12

by Ania Bo

  Dwade was surprised to hear Lucidum didn’t want the Readers in his land anymore. Suspicions took over his soul one more time. “Thank you, Lucidum. I will pass your message to them.”

  Lucidum just nodded and without saying goodbye or starting any further conversation, walked off toward the temple.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The sun was beginning to set, and Han and Shasta found themselves on a still busy street corner where Zaends continued to share their wares and produce. Shasta observed the Zaend people and wondered if this was what the world would look like if all the races could live in peace.

  “You know what?” Han said quietly. “If I’m to have a baby two years from now, I would have liked to have it with you. I have felt since childhood that our energies have always been drawn to each other.”

  He turned to look into Shasta’s eyes, and her heart fluttered as though it had wings. This unexpected confession shocked her so much she didn’t know what to say. She never believed he would choose her as his mate. Since they left Atlantis, she sensed his interest in her, but she just thought it was because she was the Visionary Reader. Now after the main goal of their journey was over, he admitted his feelings, and she believed they were true. What more could Shasta ask from the existence? They had not behaved like Readers since they left Atlantis, so why should she punish herself because she was thinking about kissing Han? She wanted to do what she imagined a number of times before, but Han turned his head in shame.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I know you’ve chosen Dwade, and I respect your decision.”

  Shasta shook her head vigorously. “No, Han. I never chose Dwade. You’re not wrong in thinking that Dwade and I have something special. What we have…well, I’m not sure what it is, but it has something to do with the connection between the Protector and Visionary Reader. We are one in a sense. I can hear his thoughts, and he can hear mine, and he is the only other person who shoulders the burden of my visions. It’s not a romantic relationship…Han, I’ve always wanted to choose you. Always.”

  Han was certainly surprised at Shasta’s admission, and they walked together quietly for a moment as Shasta reached for his hand. They were just two Readers who were in Zaend lands and didn’t care if they broke the rules of their homeland. They had already learnt that the existence was offering more than they had been told in Atlantis. The innocent smiles on their faces were warm and full of a life filled with possibilities, their hearts beating as one. They wanted to forget the rest of the world for a short time.

  Leaving the crowded streets, they turned toward the water canals and the hot springs. “I’ve left Atlantis many times,” Han said, “but I have never truly felt or learnt anything. This journey has taught me many things. Living is not just about decoding or rules, and there is more to existence than just Atlantis. How nice would it be to have a world where everyone got along and worked together for the Balance? I think we could really be happy then. When I compare my past with my future, I see that contentedness is not the same as happiness. To be happy, one also needs to be sad at times. But in Atlantis we are so stable we can’t really feel anything.”

  “Yes,” Shasta agreed, “our leaders have pushed us in a single direction so we would stay a solid unit. Look at Dwade, look at the others here. They’re full of emotions, both highs, and lows. They have joy. Can you believe I danced? We’ve always emitted energy along a single line.” She paused for a moment, thinking. “Maybe Dwade is right to keep the Regenerator here. She will grow as she should. We may not be able to give her a happy life in Atlantis. Humans are not like us.”

  Han gave her a pensive stare. “So he doesn’t wish to bring the Regenerator to the Chancellor? Is that his final decision?”

  “Yes,” Shasta sighed. “He agrees with Zeorgan. He doesn’t think Atlantis is safe.” She said the last part with a cringe. Feelings of mistrust for one’s leader were strongly looked down upon in Atlantis, and she wondered how Han would take her statement.

  To her relief, he gave a dismissive shrug. “Dwade is the Protector. It is his task ordained by the Balance to choose the best way to protect the Regenerator.” He pulled Shasta down toward a grassy slope. “Let’s lie down and look at the stars,” he suggested eagerly. “Here, it’s even more beautiful than in Atlantis.”

  Han was right. The night sky here was different than anything they saw at home. There were different colored lights that spilled over the sky as if someone had dropped a bucket of paint. A mixture of green, blue, and white hues swirled together like a river of intertwining colors. They stared in amazement at the lights, and Shasta put her head on Han’s shoulder.

  As a pink light started emerging from among the other lights, Han kissed Shasta. He caressed her lustfully and said, “Perhaps we don’t have two years to wait. We don’t know what this war will bring.”

  Shasta’s body shook all over, and both felt for the first time the excitement of touching and kissing another person. The adventure had stripped them bare from all their conditioning and returned them to their untouched nature. But as Han touched her body, Shasta felt a strange sensation, like something or someone, was tugging at her conscience or desperately trying to whisper something in her ear. Was this mistrust? But as Han’s kisses intensified and they rid themselves of their clothes, Shasta pushed away the little voice inside her head and embraced the feeling of skin on skin. Far away from all the rules of Atlantis, they made passionate love and fell asleep in each other’s arms, hoping their feelings for each other would be enough to bring them happiness.

  ***

  Dwade was walking back to the cabin to deliver Lucidum’s message. His steps were too slow. His mind was full of questions and worries. Everything happened so fast and easier than anyone ever expected. Some parts of their journey had been trying, but the Regenerator was safe and sound here. She didn’t need him, he wasn’t even sure she had to be determined by a Visionary Reader. Maybe to get prepared for labor she had to be found. Oh my Balance, save my mind, he thought, holding his head between his hands. He desperately sat and took deep breathes. There was something wrong, he could sense it in his very bones. There must be more he was meant to do, right? Why was he there if the Regenerator was safe? How would he protect her if he would eventually die? Why did the Chancellor want the Regenerator in Atlantis? What did Lucidum know but didn’t say? Why did he want the Readers to leave his lands?

  To figure out all those questions he had to stay calm, so he tried to clear his mind. He and the Visionary Reader were doing something wrong but what? Then Lucidum was keeping something from them. Maybe just because he thought the Balance would decide how and what would happen next. After an hour of thinking and trying to complete the puzzle, Dwade had to return to his cabin. The only thing he could decide was to stay with the Regenerator as he couldn’t trust anyone or anything. He had to leave his race to its destiny. Now he had to find the right way of saying the Readers had to leave. He could do that the next morning. Sleeping might ease his confusion.

  ***

  It was nearly morning when someone nudged Shasta awake. She was surprised to see it was Violen. “Where have you been? We’ve been looking for you for hours! Where is Han?” She threw Shasta’s clothes onto her lap, while Dwade, his cheeks rosy, stood off a few feet off looking away to give Shasta some privacy.

  Shasta didn’t immediately put on her clothes, more concerned with where Han was rather than her naked body. Neither Han nor his things were anywhere in sight. “He was here. Han...I don’t know where he went,” she muttered.

  “Great. As though we didn’t have enough on our plate,” Violen complained.

  “Maybe he went back to the guesthouse?” Dwade suggested.

  “And left Shasta here alone? That doesn’t make sense,” Violen argued.

  While getting dressed and attempting to sort through her confused thoughts, Shasta felt her Kama calling to her. “Violen!” she cried urgently while holding up her Kama.

  Violen instan
tly understood her meaning, and she touched Shasta’s medallion with hers to see what happened to Han. They found a message from him, whispered to Shasta’s Kama.

  I must do this, they heard Han say, his voice echoing loud and clear in their heads. Nothing is as it seems. If I don’t take the Regenerator to the Chancellor, she will destroy the whole human race. She said she would end the war if she got the Regenerator. Please understand I’m doing what’s best for all of us. We can go back to how our lives used to be, even Dwade can survive. All she wants is the Regenerator, Shasta. Giving her what she wants will ensure we get our own lives back. I will have left by the time you wake. See you in Atlantis. I will be waiting for you.”

  Shasta dropped her Kama. Violen might as well have had dragons spewing fire from her eyes, while Shasta fell to the ground in utter shock right after her Kama.

  “What’s going on? Is Han okay?” Dwade asked, hardly understanding what was going on.

  “He’s kidnapped the Regenerator to take her to the Chancellor,” Violen snarled.

  Shasta was frozen in place. It was as though the universe had collapsed on her. “Why? Why did he…” She couldn’t find the strength to complete her question.

  “Don’t you get it!” Violen cried. “Dwade was right. The Chancellor betrayed us. The Regenerator should have stayed here where she belongs. The Chancellor wants her for her own agenda. We need to find Han before he leaves this land; otherwise, it might be too late.”

  Dwade wasted no time guiding them toward the cliffs that would lead them out of the Zaend lands. As Shasta ran after them, she called out, “What about the others? Shouldn’t we warn them?”

  “We don’t have time to warn them! Han’s most likely been gone for hours. We have to intercept him before he reaches the cliffs,” Dwade yelled back.

  “But what if he failed to kidnap the Regenerator?” Shasta asked.

  “Let’s pray to the Balance he did fail, but I’m not taking any chances,” Dwade answered.

  They continued to race to the cliffs. It was still early yet, and the Zaend streets were empty.

  When they reached the gates separating the outskirts of the village from the snowy landscape, they found a Zaend guard lying unconscious on the ground. There was blood at his temple along with a rock lying not too far away from his body. He was breathing, though so they left him be to be found by someone else.

  “Come on!” Violen called as she sprinted ahead. At the bottom of the cliff, the stairs came into view as flameless torches illuminated the way to the top. And there, crawling up the last step, was Han.

  “He’s already made it to the top,” Dwade said furiously as they raced up the stairs.

  Han saw his pursuers and rushed into the darkness, pushing a figure in a grey cloak.

  “Han,” cried Shasta as they neared the top, but he was now out of sight.

  Dwade and Violen kept on running as fast as they could, hoping they would overtake him.

  “I shouldn’t have told anyone!” Shasta kept repeating.

  Violen touched the ground to decode it to locate Han, nowhere in sight. “He’s straight ahead, through the trees. Keep running!”

  They didn’t stop until the sun rose. With the dawn, they had enough light to identify their surroundings, and it didn’t take long to spot Han. He was still far ahead of them. Too far.

  Han stopped for a moment to check behind him, and he gave a tug on the Regenerator’s arm as she attempted to escape. Seeing that his pursuers gained on him, he broke into a run, dragging his captive along with him.

  Violen and Dwade tried their best to catch up with Han while Shasta continued to shout his name. They had left the snowy trees behind and before them was flat land covered in snow. Dwade recognized the place immediately; it was where Zeorgan and his dragon had first landed before the test of intentions.

  “We’ve left Zaend territory,” Dwade called to the others over the howling wind.

  Shasta stopped running, knowing it would be almost impossible for them to catch Han, but they could not let him get away. For the first time in her life, Shasta faced a terrible dilemma. She kept calling out, but Han refused to stop. Shasta dropped her hand and let out a terrifying scream that dislodged snow from the mountainside, and with a cold expression on her face, she produced a double-edged sword of lightning. She had to use the Hikar diamond to kill the man she loved. He betrayed her, betrayed them all. What other choice did she have?

  While Shasta was positioning the sword in her hand, Dwade and Violen stopped running. They watched a man who rode atop a giant deer approach Han. The man, it appeared, had been waiting for him.

  Shasta couldn’t even force herself to look as she threw her Hikar sword toward Han’s heart. It flew like a swift arrow centered on its target. Shasta was on her knees, crying. Just seconds before the sword reached her lover, it lost its momentum, fell to the ground, and vanished.

  Violen couldn’t understand what happened, but everything made sense when she saw Shasta weeping in the snow and Han climbing onto the back of the giant deer along with the Regenerator.

  “Look what you’ve done,” Violen hissed. “You are the Visionary Reader, you have to protect her, not a stupid love story.” She shouted nonstop at Shasta, not willing to believe what was occurring right before her eyes.

  And the Visionary Reader found no need to answer. She knew what she had done. Violen was right. She had just given the most powerful weapon on the planet to the most formidable leader of their time. The Balance was all wrong on assigning her this duty. Shasta was motionless in the snow. Her whole world was falling apart like a shattered mirror. She couldn’t even breathe.

  The great deer and its passengers had already begun to make their escape, and Dwade and Violen began to lose all hope.

  Suddenly they spotted Zeorgan flying in on his dragon. Feeling relief now that help was on the way, Dwade kept running.

  But the companions would soon find that the man with the deer wasn’t alone.

  As the wind died down and the snow blew with less force, they found an army waiting for them along with one of Atlantis’ airships. Its ramp was extended waiting for Han and the Regenerator. Zeorgan’s dragon bellowed in rage as he bared his teeth at the intruders, and Zeorgan urged his beast forward along with a swarm of Zaend dragons as they flew past the trio to confront the awaiting army.

  The sight of the Dvay and Jatuk soldiers made Dwade stop in his tracks.

  Violen screamed, “Shasta get up! We need help!”

  Shasta heard her but couldn’t find the strength.

  “Hurry up! They are taking her!” Violen repeated.

  The last call made Shasta stand, and she trudged through the snow to catch up.

  “It seems the Chancellor has sent us a greeting party,” replied Violen as she caught up with Dwade, and Shasta’s mouth formed a large “O” as she looked out at the troops. Arrows filled the skies as the enemy archers fired at the incoming dragons, trying to slow them down as they advanced on the airship. Its ramp had already retracted, and its engines roared to life.

  Zeorgan lifted his staff into the air as he neared the front lines. “Fight, Zaends! Procure the Regenerator and force our enemies to lock lips with death!” There were roars and screams as the Zaends dropped into the fray, and they collided with a sea of Dvay and Jatuk soldiers. Zeorgan’s dragon hit the enemy line first with the Rajeeh right behind him atop another massive beast. Zeorgan jumped off his dragon’s back, allowing the dragon to fly to the air to fight from above. He whipped his staff around expertly as it shot out a red light. When the strange light made contact, his assailant exploded into powdery dust.

  Feeling a rage that only betrayal could incite, the three companions joined the Zaends in battle. Dwade reached for his bow and expertly nocked an arrow and sent it flying into the back of a Dvay before a Zaend warrior finished him off.

  Zeorgan fought close to Dwade, keeping a close eye on the Protector as he annihilated another Dvay with his staff. Watching D
wade, he was impressed at his skill with the bow. The former farm boy expertly evaded the strikes of a Jatuk soldier while embedding an arrow right into his skull before searching for another victim.

  Something had taken over Dwade once the Zaends had charged. It was as if a strange spirit had consumed his body, and he fought with the ease of a trained warrior.

  While the Zaends fought on the ground, their dragons continued on to stop the airship. They gnashed their teeth together as fury rose in their chests. Just like the Zaend people, their sole purpose was to protect and guard the Regenerator, and they would kill anything that stood in their way.

  The dragons prepared themselves as they neared the ship, ready to collide with the metal bird to tip it over, but the enemy had already foreseen this. Just when they dragons were close enough to make contact, a blue globe encompassed the airship, snapping with electricity, and those dragons in the lead let out high-pitched screams as their scales and wings sizzled upon contact. The other dragons behind them halted as they watched their wounded comrades plunge to the ground, and all they could do was cry in fury as the airship continued its ascent.

  Knowing they were too late to save the Regenerator, Shasta, Violen, Dwade, and the rest of the Zaends fought with an overwhelming need for vengeance. The Dvays and the Jatuks were no match for this overpowering anger, and their numbers dwindled.

  Violen had joined the battle, and she now fought against a group of Jatuks with a few Zaend soldiers and Lucidum by her side. She watched as Lucidum slaughtered a Jatuk by thrusting his scimitar in the middle of its eyes. She found this to be a very effective tactic and started killing the enemies in front of her one by one.

  Shasta found herself helping Violen a short distance from the battle. She threw her Hikar knives in rapid succession, killing any Jatuk or Dvay who hoped to overtake Violen from behind. The naïve Reader turned into a war machine, taking out her frustration on the Jatuk and Dvay soldiers. Time to time she screamed Han’s name in anger.