Balance of the 12

by Ania Bo

  With a loud scream, Shasta jumped into the air and cast her knife. The whole scene seemed to unfold in slow motion, and Amel didn’t even have time to move out of the knife’s path. It struck her dead center in her chest, and blood soiled her white robe. Wounded, Amel’s breath turned ragged. Moving toward her with another blade at the ready, Shasta approached cautiously.

  The leader of Atlantis smiled knowingly. “You think I didn’t see this coming? I’ve already witnessed my death many times over through the visions of all possible futures, and there will be no peace after me. You cannot be that much of a fool to imagine that when I’m gone, I’ll leave you this world fully intact. The worse will come for the rest of the world, and in this version, it was coming from me.”

  As Shasta readied her second knife, Amel moved her hand and placed it on the wall beside her, wincing from the agony of her wound. The pressure of her hand triggered a control panel to appear with a large, white button and a screen that lit up a bright green.

  “Dogilef pagem hap sukabelul, huda tenme sevegul,” Amel recited as she struggled to breathe. Then she pushed the button. The light from the screen pulsed while recording her voice, and the corners of her mouth twitched as she attempted to smile.

  By the time Shasta—who still had no idea what the button triggered—put the blade through Amel’s heart, it was too late. A clock started counting down from five minutes on the small screen. Shasta tried to run Amel’s hand over the scanner again, but it did no good. Desperate and still not fully aware of what was going on, she threw a sword at the ominous clock and broke it, and then she threw another knife at the room’s large window, shattering it into millions of small pieces that rained down onto the city below.

  Knowing time was short, and trusting her instincts, she ran and jumped out of the broken window. She was hundreds of meters above solid ground, but something told her this was not the way she would die. As she neared the streets of Atlantis, a great shadow appeared above her.

  “Need a lift?” said a friendly voice, and Lucidum’s dragon caught her mid-air and continued to Kajleh’s ship. “A friend is waiting for you!”

  ***

  Dwade and Violen entered the basement of the pyramid. All the doors were open, except the Chancellor’s chamber. There were twenty soldiers waiting in front of it. “Good so the Kamas are still there,” Violen said while checking if Dwade still had the helmet.

  “I need arrows.” Dwade stared at a soldier who had a bow and quiver on his shoulder.

  Violen nodded then ran through the soldiers so fast they didn’t notice her until it was too late. She managed to run up on the wall to catch the soldier Dwade pointed out. She grabbed him and broke his neck by the time the others fully understood what was happening. She kicked the bow and quiver of arrows to Dwade and started to fight with another soldier. She had to kill one to have a sword. As the others made ready to charge Dwade, he aimed his first arrow and fired, rapidly followed by a second and third.

  Violen had an eye on him as she fought off the others. Dwade was hunting them one by one while she killed the rest with her sword. The sound of swords and bodies hitting the floor created a song for death, and the Balance protectors were happy to play for the Reader soldiers. As the last soldier fell, Violen searched for the commander. She believed he had a control card to open the door. It was the emergency procedure, and she knew it well. After examining a few corpses, she found what she was looking for.

  Dwade reached her jumping over the bodies. His arrows stood out of the soldiers like flags of victory. Violen put the card in a hole and entered a password on a screen that appeared on the wall. The door unlocked. They carefully stepped inside expecting to come face to face with more guards, but there were none.

  The room was glamorous, full of Kama’s in glass cases. Violen had never been there before. A sudden shake joining an earsplitting explosion had them grabbing for the walls to keep from falling over. They looked at each other in confusion.

  “What’s happening up there?” Dwade asked.

  But Violen had no idea. “We have to hurry.”

  They started to place the Kamas into two bags they swiped on their way there. They were trying to be careful, but random explosions and the shaking of the pyramid told them they were on borrowed time. They grabbed everything and threw them in the bags. As the walls of the pyramid started to crack, Violen looked at Dwade in fear.

  “Quick, we need to get back to the surface.”

  From Violen’s frantic gaze, Dwade knew she was right. They ran down the corridors and up the stairs while lugging the bags of Kamas on their backs. The pyramid groaned harshly and just when they were about to reach ground level, it collapsed.

  Violen tried to stop the falling shards of glass with her telekinetic powers as much as she could, but once an entire side of the pyramid cracked open, there was not much she could do. They ran toward the light coming in from the large crack. There Violen saw Zeorgan and his dragon coming for them.

  She turned back to look at Dwade. “There’s Zeorgan! We’ve almost made it.”

  But what she saw behind her filled her with grief. Dwade had been struck by a large cement block, trapping his leg to the floor. Violen immediately ran back and foolishly tried to free him, but the large block was much too heavy for her. She tried digging underneath Dwade to slide him out, and her fingers started to bleed from the effort.

  “Please, stop. Violen, stop,” he said in a weak voice. “Take this bag and run. Leave with Zeorgan.” His voice was filled with a sorrowful farewell.

  “I won’t leave you here! I can lift it!” Violen argued frantically.

  “No, it’s not only about me. My race is dying. I can feel the energy consuming me.” He held out his bracelet to her as he said it, his Kama.

  A bitter fire surged through Violen’s heart, and its smoke burnt her throat. Tears fell from her eyes like rain. She couldn’t find anything to say. She nodded and took Dwade’s bag, then grabbed his Kama. She ran toward the crack in the glass without even saying a word. She called for Zeorgan who was looking for them from the back of his dragon.

  “I’m here!” she called as she squeezed through the crack in the thick glass. Atlantis was on fire, and there was more to come. The nuclear centers had red lights on them that flashed in warning. They were about to explode, and there were twenty of them on Atlantis. That would be the end of the world as they knew it. Giant waves slapped the city. Someone had destroyed the security systems of the fault lines. Now Mother Nature was getting the form she had always wanted by reshaping the lands. She was free from the Readers and their stupid technology.

  Seeing only Violen, Zeorgan looked beyond her, brow furrowed with concern. He opened his mouth to ask her about Dwade, but she shook her head hard.

  “Take the Kamas. They will be your guide in the new world you will build. Fly away Zeorgan, fly as fast as you can! All of Atlantis is about to go up in flames!”

  Zeorgan looked at the red lights on the tall buildings, he opened his mouth to speak, realizing what she was implying.

  “The baby is about to born and may the Balance save you all in the world you will construct!” she said, pleading with him to fly away before it was too late.

  With a bitter smile on his face and pride in his eyes, Zeorgan answered, “May the Balance help you, Commander,” and left her alone to her fate.

  Running back to Dwade, Violen took his head in her lap. “What are you doing?” he shouted, though it came out weak. “Leave while there is time. I’ve fulfilled my destiny, and I’m ready to leave this earth along with my race. I don’t want you to die.”

  Tears in her eyes, Violen placed a finger on Dwade’s lips. “Quiet. The time is not yet up.” She rested her lips on Dwade’s in a light kiss.

  As her lips touched his, his mind became muddled and he saw his father before him and heard the words he had relayed to Violen. Warmth radiating from his heart filled his body.

  Violen hid the images of his burning villag
e and the death of his mother and sister. She would not let this man of honor leave this world with such sorrow weighing him down. His body was dying, she saw death walking through him from his toes to head and knew he felt it.

  After seeing his father and hearing his words, Dwade tried to laugh, but it came out as an agonized cry as his body screamed in pain. “Shasta was right.”

  “About what?”

  “I do feel the glory of dying for the Balance. And I am comfortable now knowing the Regenerator is safe.”

  Dwade placed his hands on Violen’s as she held her hands near his heart. She watched him struggle with the pain until his breathing slowed and his skin paled. His body was about to crack and explode from the building energy humming inside him. Death was at her door too, but she refused to leave his side. She made a promise and she would keep it. She stared into Dwade’s eyes and him trying to smile until the universe sucked his energy and the flow created an explosion that had never seen before.

  The explosion Dwade created triggered the nuclear centers, and Atlantis shattered. It cracked and fell apart, sinking into the ocean. In a few minutes, the glorious civilization of a great race vanished from the earth forever.

  ***

  Taking the Kamas, Zeorgan made for Kajleh’s ship as arrows pierced his dragon’s side. He tried to keep his head flush with his dragon’s body, but an arrow managed to slice the side of his ear, and he cursed as blood flowed down the side of his head. Bloody Readers, they are about to die but still fighting. As the airship’s ramp opened to allow them entrance, the dragon roared in pain and landed clumsily while Zeorgan slid off its back, holding a hand to his bloodied ear. Kajleh’s soldiers waited for him, though they kept their distance from the battle enraged dragon.

  “Zeorgan.” One of Kajleh’s soldiers approached him tentatively. “Lucidum and the Visionary Reader are aboard. We’re preparing for a nuclear fallout.”

  Zeorgan’s eyes grew wide. “A what?”

  The soldier only motioned for him to follow, not wishing to explain it himself.

  Zeorgan obeyed, and they walked quickly through the airship, passing several rescued civilians who sat curled up on the ship’s floor. Zeorgan held his bleeding ear and was in pain, but his mind was distracted with the idea of the fallout.

  They found Kajleh leaning over the control panel as he spoke to the commanders of the other airships while Lucidum and Shasta stood close by with the Regenerator.

  “What has that crazy woman done?” Zeorgan asked, knowing this was Amel’s doing.

  “She released the mechanisms holding the tectonic plates along the fault lines and has triggered the detonation of Atlantis’ atomic bombs. We have only seconds left before our world is destroyed.”

  Zeorgan looked dumbfounded, while Lucidum laughed. “She was one step ahead of us, I told you.” There was a joy in his voice, joy of having the Regenerator back safe and sound, though it was underlaid with the bitterness of what was to come. “You are bleeding my friend,” he said to Zeorgan. The old man just nodded and rolled his eyes to mean such incidents may happen in war. Lucidum patted his shoulder. “You are getting old.”

  Zeorgan smiled at his words. “Yes, and you aren’t getting any younger.”

  Their fun was interrupted by an explosion, a very strong one. The glass pyramid went up in smoke and Atlantis imploded right in front of their eyes. Everyone stood in silence, transfixed. “May the Balance keep us alive,” Lucidum whispered.

  The entire crew went on full alert and raced around the ship preparing for the nuclear explosion while the civilians engaged in nervous chatter after they heard the news.

  Kajleh remained stone-faced even with the immense pressure he was under. With a couple more keystrokes, he called out orders. “All ships to the Zaend lands, full speed ahead. The Ulhak is ready for defense shield activation.” His airship made a sharp turn toward the icy north. “Contact the other commanders and confirm that all defense shields are act”

  The ship shook violently as a nuclear wave engulfed them, and they were thrown off their feet. The lights went out, and inside the ship, red and yellow bulbs flashed while a siren screeched a warning.

  Following a short bout of unconsciousness, they rose from the floor of the ship, the civilians surprised to be alive. Kajleh stood and ran to the control panel, pressing buttons frantically.

  Shasta stared out the window and saw nothing but debris. It was as if something had snapped inside her, and she found she could cry again. The Visionary Reader, the messenger of the Balance, was no longer needed. Shasta was filled with the cold despair that had once enveloped her slowly slip away.

  “Atlantis is gone,” she said with tears in her eyes, but no trembling in her voice.

  The survivors crowded around her upon hearing her words and peered out the window as well, but they only saw the same as Shasta, a land obscured by clouds of dust.

  What they would have seen was the earth in a state of chaos. Giant waves rose from the sea to cover Atlantis, drowning what was left of the splendid city. The unknowing Readers who had fled to their homes to wait out the raging battle had no idea an atomic bomb was hidden beneath their very noses—the Chancellor had made sure of that—and now they were gone.

  Kajleh rechecked the defenses and insured no radiation had seeped through into the ship. “Our defenses went up in time,” he sighed, his hands trembling. “I think we should be safe from the radiation,” he said to his soldiers and passengers. “Someone do a head count. Who do we have on the ship?”

  A soldier was sent to record the names of those who had been rescued from the earth before the explosion, and it was found most of the survivors were from other races. Kajleh was desperate and relieved when news came from the soldier. “Humans are on the ship of Commander Sealder. He managed to save one hundred and twenty-seven of them.”

  Kajleh took a deep breath in relief, but Lucidum was panicked. “Tell him to hurry up and throw them from the ship!” Everyone gazed at him in confusion. “Don’t you understand? He must do—”

  Another strong explosion hit Kajleh’s aircraft, cutting of Lucidum’s ranting. This one was stronger than the last and took longer for them to pull themselves together. Kajleh looked at his passengers and Lucidum with sorrow.

  One of the soldiers reported, “Commander Sealder’s aircraft is no longer with us, commander!”

  Kajleh couldn’t find any words to say. He had failed Dwade and couldn’t save any humans and stop his race’s annihilation. He had no humans aboard his ship, but it was best for them.

  “Dwade,” Shasta screamed. She was on her knees crying for her other half.

  “Humans have been annihilated,” Lucidum announced with a disappointed tone to enlighten the others.

  “What do we do now?” one of the soldiers asked quietly, despair in his words.

  Kajleh shook his head to try to get his emotions under control. “We must head toward the Zaend lands. It is the only place we will be safe. Ready the ships and tell the others to follow.”

  Kajleh looked at Lucidum, then Zeorgan for approval but none of them were really listening. They were watching the world fall apart through the window.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  With the Chancellor and the threat of betrayal gone, the Balance allowed the airships to freely fly into Zaend lands, but what they found there surprised them. The Zaends had not been spared from the earth’s wrath. Their little homes had collapsed, the streets were torn apart as earthquakes ripped them to pieces, and the land was covered in flowing magma as nearby volcanoes erupted.

  Kajleh searched the land for people as he directed the ship.

  “There’s nowhere to land,” his co-pilot said.

  Kajleh didn’t answer. He didn’t know what to do with these people if the Zaends were gone. Then, off in the distance, he saw a temple still standing on top of a high hill. There they spotted the Zaend people, still as colorful as ever. Kajleh steered the ship toward the temple and noticed a slight shimmer surr
ounding the structure as the ship grew closer. He hesitated as he let the ship hover, unsure of what to do.

  “It is a protective charm,” Lucidum answered. “I must let you through.” He advanced and reached out his hands toward the temple, and the shimmering shield parted, allowing Kajleh’s aircraft to pass. Once they had made it inside, and the other aircraft followed them, the hole sealed itself behind them.

  Kajleh was able to land near the hill’s base and did his best to lead the people up the hill and the stairs to the temple. As the people in other aircraft landed, the temple filled with those from all the races. Zeorgan was happy to see the Balance in the home of existence.

  As Shasta climbed the steps, she got a better look at the strange charm that protected the Zaends. It had the same appearance as a bubble, clear at first, but then she saw a shimmer of color at different angles. Past the bubble, the height of the temple gave a magnificent view of the destruction before them. In a morbid way, the scene was almost beautiful as the sky turned a murky grey, the red lava flowed and lit up the land with its fiery light as it met with the flood waters and created a cloud of steam.

  At the top of the stairs, Lucidum helped Shasta climb the final steps. He smiled at her as he held the hand of the Regenerator. “We did it, Visionary Reader. The Regenerator is safe.”

  Shasta bowed her head. “Yes, but I have failed my friends. Dwade and Violen are dead.”

  “All our lives are already predetermined, Shasta. They died as the Balance planned for them to die, and I know Dwade was always content with his fate, no matter where it ended.”

  Shasta smiled. She knew what Dwade would have thought if he had been still alive. Fatalistic people of Zaend, he would have said.

  “The Chancellor,” Shasta said slowly, “she knew all along this would happen.”