Between Darkness and Light Trilogy (54 page)

He looks surprised, distrusting, “How did
you learn of that?”

“We saw her during our travels to Chaos.
Fortunately Cas Darius thought we were simply awestruck by the
beauty of the twin suns, and explained the legend. We acted to
re-enforce his misinterpretation of our awe whenever the skies were
fascinating.

“Ever the deceiver, and a thief as
well.”

“Thief?” What's with this man?

“Shiral was my world until you corrupted
her. She no longer responds to me.” He looks quite angry over
that.

Annoyed but not willing to discuss Gaea, I
realize we're off track. “How many children of Nebulaea do you know
of?”

“Of record, four. There may have been
others, no one knows for sure. It is unknown if Solaria or
Cassiopeia bore offspring, they have never cared for court life.
Nebulaea may also have given life to non-flesh beings, who in turn
could have taken on form later – we simply don't know.”

“So the only thing that is certain is that I
am descended from one of these lesser known individuals.”

“That much is quite obvious. Now are you
done wasting my time?”

“No! I want to know about my mother. Who was
she, and why did you lead William and I to believe we were brother
and sister?”

He sighs in annoyance. “I needed to find a
safe place for my grandson, I needed to leave him with someone who
was highly knowledgeable and powerful, and who could provide a
perfect hiding place. Someone unknown. I had run into an
interesting woman a while back, with a most interesting child. You
- a descendant of Nebulaea, though I do not know how far removed.
Any woman who could survive bearing one of our children must be
strong indeed, and she had the most amazing view of the universe -
she seemed perfect to care for young Aeolian. I hid her away on
Shiral, which, as I'm sure you understand, is a highly guarded
secret.” His voice turns hard and cold, “She failed me. She let
herself be convinced that she had to leave the two of you, leaving
Aeolian woefully undereducated, while you managed to educate
yourself quite well.”

“I tried my best! I took him to every region
I studied at; he just didn't catch on. He always lost
interest.”

“And you did not force him back on track.
Given his heritage, he should have been far superior to you! You
have to have held him back.”

“I did not! How dare you accuse me of acting
against the best interests of my brother!”

“Haven't you been listening? He is not your
brother.”

“The genetics are meaningless, it's the
heart that matters! He has always been my brother, and he always
shall be!” Novanus’ expression remains cold. “Oh why am I wasting
my time? You're not worth it.” I turn and storm out of the room.
Damn the bastard.

Chapter
29

Battle Renewed

I practically run back to my rooms, but I
find no comfort there. “Cailli? Grandmother, can you hear me?” I'm
engulfed in sparkling light.

“Yes, child, I hear you. What is it that you
need?”

“I need to know who my parents are!”

“Ah, yes. Roots are important, very
important, but right now you need to look to the future, not the
past.”

“How can I properly interpret the future if
I don't understand my past?”

“Another good question. Here, let me show
you something.” She reaches up to a shelf and lifts down an object
with a bell shaped covering that
sounds
similar to the
concealing pouch around my transport crystal. She lifts off the
cover and I am lost; caught up in the most amazingly powerful and
beautiful thing I have ever seen or
heard
. I'm powerless to
look away.

“Behold the Keystone of the Universe. I need
to re-cast it to repair the damage we are sustaining.”

I vaguely hear her words, but I’m so caught
up in the beauty of the thing I notice nothing until she places the
cover over it again. It had looked and
sounded
so
amazing!

“Why does it need recasting – it seems so…
perfect as it is.”

“I want to make everything right again.” She
what? Then she grows younger and very tall, majestic and
astoundingly beautiful. Her voice is rich, it resonates within my
soul, "Child, do you have any idea what it takes to hold all of
this together?" She returns to normal and lifts the cover again.
I’m caught up immediately. She points to a small part of the
artifact and that segment glows brighter than the rest.
“
Listen
, that’s you.” I do
listen
to it, and somehow,
amazingly, it does
sound
like me! It… is me.

I ask in awe, “Is everyone in the
Keystone?”

Her voice becomes gentle. “Everyone and
everything. It is a representation of the entire Universe – and
helps bind existence together.”

She remains silent for a while, letting me
sink into the immensity of the keystone. Then she whispers,

“Listen
, Shi'ahn…
listen
very
carefully to it. What do you
hear
?”

I do as she says, stretching my senses as
far as I can. It is very difficult to
listen
to such beauty
without allowing myself to be caught up in its magnificence.
Finally, I
hear
something that is not beautiful, it is
instead terrible. A jagged, horrible
sound
, accompanied by
shattering. “It is being destroyed!” The concept strikes me like a
blow… blasphemy!

Cailli continues, “Yes, it is, and with it,
the Universe. I need to recast the Keystone to fix it, to stop the
destruction… and you must continue to grow in your understanding of
the Universe, so that you may properly play your part. You must not
let little issues like missing parents keep you from fulfilling
your destiny.”

“So what do I need to do?”

“Continue learning, explore the limits of
your abilities, and try to become as powerful in them as you can.”
These last words echo with dismissal, it is time for me to leave
her presence,

“All right, I'll try. Fare well,
Grandmother.”

She turns toward me, “What you
hear
,
Shi'ahn… Harmony, it is the greatest power of all. It is the core
of our being; the song of the Universe.”

I pause in wonderment as her words strike a
cord within me that seems to reverberate throughout existence, then
I begin to concentrate on my crystal, thinking of the seclusion of
my rooms, but before I initiate it I find myself engulfed in
sparkling color, and appear on the observation balcony.

~~~

Lucian looks concerned, “I was beginning to
wonder if I should go searching for you.”

“What? Why am I here?”

His look of concern deepens, “The battle,
Shi'ahn? You can't have forgotten what your own… brother just
did.”

“Oh, right! That was very recent, wasn't
it?” His expression insists that I continue. “I've been with
Cailli.” It dawns on me then, I'd gone to her for answers regarding
my parents, and she had thoroughly, absolutely and completely
distracted me from my quest.

He shakes his head, then reaches out and
takes my arm. We appear before the vault that holds the crown,
retrieve it quickly and return to the balcony.

This battle is quite different, as we now
have the advantage of surprise, and the Chaosian forces are in
utter disarray. Llywelyn's forces reach them first, and find little
resistance. From our vantage point we can see that some are acting
rationally, but instead of fighting, those individuals immediately
head toward their original point of entry to our realm, casting
astoundingly powerful spells at the shielding we had placed around
it. The shields fall unusually easily; I suspect Cailli intends to
let them escape.

Maximus' forces continue to batter at those
who have not fled, while Llywelyn and his men disappear from the
battlefield. I hear echoes of the
harmony
of Llywelyn's
ring. Transportation must be yet another of it's abilities that I
had not discovered. Ships begin to launch from the harbor, to
pursue the fleeing Chaosians!

Lucian looks questioningly at me. “Shi'ahn,
much of our electronics still do not function – we will not be able
to track the battle through the tactical displays. It's almost a
miracle that our ships are functional.”

“That would likely be Cailli's doing.”

He looks surprised, but then his mind jumps
to an obvious conclusion, “Then she can enable the tactical
equipment here!”

“No, if she wanted it working, it already
would be, I suspect she wants me to practice.”

“Practice what?”

I ignore him and concentrate on both
Croi'Solas and my miniature crystal ball. I scry with the crystal,
and with the help of the crystal and my Harmony I project what I
scry.

“You have a spy crystal!” His voice sounds
almost delighted. “A good one!”

We settle into what is similar to our old
routine – though this time we concentrate on the image I project
for us both to see. Lucian also has means of scrying into space, he
sometimes points out things I haven't noticed, primarily tactical
situations. Some Chaosian ships are too damaged to flee, others
have formed a defensive line against Llywelyn’s attack, and yet
others are moving to outflank Llywelyn’s pursuit. Our ships seem
stronger, more ordered, but still are under threat. Then Lucian
begins giving me intriguing advice.

“Shi'ahn, see if you can affect the flanking
ships.”

Can Croi'Solas control reality outside
Lumina? I concentrate on a ship, on its weapons fire, asking
Croi'Solas to explode a missile before it reaches one of our ships
– it explodes harmlessly. It works!

“Good – Very good! Now, direct it to destroy
an enemy ship.”

I can't bring myself to do it – I don't take
life, not like that. Instead I ask Croi'Solas to disable them.
Permanently. It is as though she not only listens to my requests,
but understands my heart as well. Their existence this near to
Lumina is tenuous, they are no match for her control over reality;
engines and weapons vaporize. Only those things they truly need for
survival continue to function on each ship I turn our attention to.
We focus primarily on the ships near Llywelyn, but as I become
accustomed to working with Croi'Solas on this level, we broaden our
focus.

I hear Lucian speaking to someone. “Yes,
that's Shi'ahn's doing.” A pause, then, “They no longer have
weapons or engines – she is leaving only life support and
communications.” “No, they can't repair themselves, she's
vaporizing the equipment.” “No, no casualties.” A longer pause, “I
will inform her.”

“Shi'ahn, Llywelyn advises that if you
insist on leaving the crews alive, they may find other means of
attacking.”

I concentrate on the area surrounding one of
the first ships I had disabled and notice beings leaving it. They
have no weapons, but their forms look as though they will not need
any – they fly toward our ships! Llywelyn must notice, weapons fire
sweeps through space, destroying the would-be attackers. I ask
Croi'Solas to place shields around each disabled ship, shields that
will not allow entry or exit of either physical mass or energies,
nor are they to allow the ships to be maneuvered by other means

In scanning the ships to assure myself that
my efforts are working as I wish, I recognize a familiar Harmony.
It takes a great deal of effort, but I manage to project my voice
to the bone behind his ear, an excellent sounding board.

“Darius! Please don't be angry with me, but
I cannot allow this battle to continue as you would wish it. You
will not be harmed – none aboard the ships that I disable will come
to harm. I know you can't pass on my message, so I shall make an
announcement through another. Fare thee well, my friend.”

I reach out to other ships, listening for
another familiar harmony. I find it in yet another disabled
ship.

“Ishme, it is Shi'ahn. I am responsible for
disabling your ships; you cannot break free. I wish to make an
announcement through your ship. Do I have your permission? If you
respond, no matter how quietly, I will hear you.”

After a lengthy pause I hear, “Shi'ahn. What
kind of announcement?”

“Merely a statement that all disabled ships
will remain protected until released. I would not want panic or
frustration to cause the loss of any more lives.”

“Why do you care?”

“All life is sacred, Ishme. There is a time
for each life to end, but this is not that day. I want this war to
end with as many survivors as possible, on both sides.”

“You are unique, Shi'ahn, on more levels
than I had previously realized. You may make your announcement.”
His voice has an unusual tone to it, it isn't threatening at all,
and yet… it is.

I reach out through both Harmony and
Croi'Solas, and access his communications system.

“Dominar Ra Ab Ishme et Akkad.”

He pauses, as though taken by surprise, and
then manages to sound mildly disapproving. “Ishme, Shi'ahn.”

I let my voice warm, “Yes, Ishme. I wish to
inform you that your ship has been disabled, just as will any other
ship that attempts to approach our forces. None of you shall come
to harm, but neither will you be able to cause any.”

“Why are you doing this, Shi'ahn?”

“Your initial cause in this war was just,
but the traitor is dead now, as well as Emperor Augustus. Further
hostilities serve no purpose.”

“What I meant was, why are you not simply
destroying us? Given what you are doing, I feel certain that you
could.”

“There have been too many lives lost
already. To the best of my ability, I will not allow any more.”

“You have grown strong since your loss of
Shiral.”

“As I told you before, that battle would
have been quite different if I hadn't been detained by Cailliach.
Fortunately I now understand how to break free of her prisons.” By
doing everything she tells me to do first, no need to mention that
though.