D'Mok Revival 1: Awakening (9 page)

They passed through the new opening into a polished corridor of crystal. Lady Weun looked about in amazement. “Smoky quartz. Thousands of tons of it. And . . . it seems so
familiar
.”

Mencari looked around, realizing they were at the end of a long hallway. “Let’s see where this goes.”

They ventured on, cautious glances reviewing every inch. A dramatic incline in the floor led to a flood of light, and a way to the outside. They shielded their eyes as they stepped out on a sort of small balcony into the sunshine. As his eyes adjusted, Mencari gazed over the edge of a rock-strewn terrace above a deep gorge.

“That’s a long way down,” Ine muttered.

Mencari stepped back and looked across the gorge to see a massive structure. His eye traced along the ornate curves and lavish flourishes of crystal. “What
is
that?”

Lady Weun stared at it, frozen in place. Finally, she said, “Bertoli Fortress. It’s a place from an old legend. Home.” Her tone was awkward, forced. “Oh, it’s been so long since I’ve called it that, or have been here. And I can’t believe I ever forgot such a place.” She shook her head. “Almost as though I was . . .
forced
to forget. But why?”

She waved comically, dismissing her lapse in memory with, “Old age . . .”

Tapping sounds echoed from the hallway behind them. Alarmed, they returned to it and found a hoard of tiny creatures standing shoulder-to-shoulder, blocking the tunnel in both directions. The miniature beings seemed of little threat, outside of their numbers. The tallest wasn’t quite a quarter of Lady Weun’s diminutive height. Their bushy red hair looked like flames shooting from their heads and accounted for half their height.

“Adorable, aren’t they?” she said.

“As long as they stay friendly,” Mencari muttered.

One creature dashed in front of them, then disappeared down the hallway. Ine said, “They’re nothing like what we saw in the mines. Could
these guys
have made those horrible creatures?”

Emboldened by the lack of response, Mencari edged forward, waving slowly. The creatures scattered into the darkness.

Ine rubbed his chin. “Scared of us?”

“No, fear wasn’t what I saw in their eyes,” Mencari said ominously.

A sound echoed down the hall, this time a heavy, distant clopping.

“Rhysus?” Lady Weun said faintly.

Looking back, Mencari saw Lady Weun swaying back and forth. Rushing to her side, he tried to brace her and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Something . . . strange.” She looked down the darkened hall, her face twisting between intrigue and fear. Mencari and Ine followed her gaze. A purple glimmering had appeared in the darkness. It wobbled slowly as it approached.

Mencari gasped, lowered her gently to the floor and waved a hand at Ine. “Be ready.”

A second glow appeared, and Mencari held his breath. But instead of an attack, this radiance exposed a robed figure holding something that resembled a lantern. Advancing toward them, each step created a thudding echo down the hall, a sound disproportionate to the figure’s size.

“Intruders! Why are you here?” The voice was deep, threatening and definitely female.

Mencari tensed, hand-phaser charged, and Ine held his pick at the ready. Lady Weun could only utter a weak moan.

Scurrying feet echoed behind them. The plodding figure was still twenty yards or so away, so Mencari risked a glance behind him. The tiny creatures had returned to block any thoughts of escape.

“Who are you?” Ine yelled.

The plodding continued, and occasionally, they could see glowing red eyes where the face should have been. A voice boomed from deep within the robe, “Who are you to ask me questions?”

Ine’s mouth gaped slightly, and his face flushed.

“Steady, friend,” Mencari whispered.

Ine shook his head and hollered at the figure, “Who are we? Men died from crystal creatures back in the mines. Was this your doing?”

Her pace didn’t change, but now the strident voice asked, “Crystal creatures?”

As she spoke, the figure reached up with a hand and pushed down the hood of the robe, exposing a lock of unnaturally thick, dark-amethyst hair. The face was nearly human, and perhaps even beautiful once. The left side, however, sported a sickly-looking blue-green skin that sparkled like the spots the creatures left on the cavern walls. Her hunched posture gave the impression that she was in her twilight years, in contradiction to the better half of her youthful complexion.

“Yes, creatures,” Ine said, boldly. “Crystal spiders, beetles, and . . . and some beastly behemoth.”

The reply was cool. “If these men unleashed such creatures in the first place, they very well earned their fate.”

Mencari’s calming hand was useless to stop Ine’s rage. “Earned? We were simply tunneling, doing our jobs. And these
things
came out and attacked us in the mines!”

She gave a dismissive wave. “Were they not kept locked up in a room deep inside
my
cave? I believe
your
men let them loose!”

Mencari said, his voice quiet, “Calm down, Ine.”

“Calm down? Did you hear? They were her monsters—”

“Monsters?” The woman spat the word. “This is why I avoid people! Do I not live in a cave? Who’s trespassing here? It’s not my fault you came tunneling into my domain. I’ve been here for hundreds of years.
You
are the ones who should be asking for forgiveness!”

Ine brandished the pick. “Twisted old witch!”

“Perhaps. But not mistaken!”

Ine said, through gritted teeth, “Who
are
you?”

She gazed coldly at him. Her voice was deadpan and forceful. “I am Seigie . . . Seigie Weun.”

The name stopped the miner cold. He glanced at Lady Weun, then back at her. “You lie. This is . . .” His eyes squinted. “The fortress . . . Those creatures. Your age . . . You must be the legend. But . . .” He looked back to Lady Weun. “I saw . . . her skills . . .”

Mencari glanced at Lady Weun. Her breathing had become erratic. Ine also turned his eyes on her. “Then who are
you
?” he hissed at his companion.

“I . . . I am Lady Elle Weun.”

Seigie’s head tilted to the side. “Lady Elle
Weun
?”

There was a long pause as the others waited for more of an explanation, but none came. Seigie’s curiosity faded. “I have work to do. However you came, leave and don’t come back. I might not be as cordial next time.”

As she turned away, the tiny creatures behind her scurried to the sides of the cave passage, opening a path for her to leave. She took a few heavy steps, then hesitated and made a lumbering turn back. “I wonder . . . what became of the creatures you encountered?”

“When we killed them, they became piles of gems,” Mencari said.

She gave a thoughtful nod. “Interesting, but not surprising. They were . . . early creations.”

“We’re not done yet!” Ine blurted.

She sighed as though disenchanted and turned back to walk away. “What is there to do? Your men are gone. My creatures are gone. Now go away.”

“We’re not done yet, WITCH!”

Mencari saw her fist flood with blue light, and the scurry of little feet ran away from them down the hallway. Seigie began to shout, “Oh…”

His body beginning to glow with golden light.

“YES…”

Mencari ran toward Ine.

“WE . . .”

Mencari yanked Ine backward, sending the pick flying from his hands. Instinctively, he extended his hand forward, recalling what his mentor had done in the caves with him. Seigie turned towards them.

“ARE!” she screamed hurling four deep-blue gems at them.

The gems collided midair and exploded into a torrent of water. As the wave approached, Mencari’s radiant aura extended, erecting a barrier like Osuto had. A cry rose from his companions as the water crashed against it. The protective light held against the incredible pressure, rerouting the flood harmlessly around the three of them. Ine’s pick was swept away in the torrent, washing through the opening to the outside, where it was tossed in the torrent over the ledge to disappear into the deep chasm beyond.

In moments, the violent flow became a harmless mist. Mencari lowered his hand and saw the perplexity on Seigie’s haggard face, its ancient lines deepened with disbelief.

He glanced back at his companions. Lady Weun seemed okay, but Ine cried out in anguish, “What the hell is going on?” and put his hands to his face. As the last of his adrenaline faded, he succumbed to his wounds and collapsed. Lady Weun broke his fall and checked him hurriedly, kneeling and reaching into her bag to search for a healing crystal.

“You have my attention,” Seigie said from behind him. “Make the most of it.”

Mencari turned back to continue the facedown with Seigie.

“Who are you?” she boomed.

“My name is Rhysus Men—”

“I don’t want your name.
What
are you?”

“I’m a human.”

“I think not. Since I arrived on this forsaken planet,
no one
has been able to oppose me. It is unlikely that a human could do so.”

Mencari motioned to Lady Weun. “You two also have the same skills. . .”

Lady Weun looked awkwardly toward Seigie, who said, her voice guarded, “Lady Weun? I have seen no such evidence!”

Mencari motioned again, coaxing Lady Weun to step forward. She lowered Ine’s head to the floor, then, keeping her eyes on Seigie, rose and took a deep-blue gem from her pouch and gripped it tightly. As light poured from her hands, Mencari glanced back at Seigie.

Lady Weun turned toward the cave opening and tossed the gem. Like Seigie’s, it broke, creating a much smaller wave of water that gushed into the chasm.

Seigie’s smugness had disappeared. The strange being was silent for a moment, then said in wonder, “Nothing for all these years. And now two with powers like mine . . . in one day?” Her glowing scarlet gaze bored into Lady Weun’s. “And where are
you
from?”

“From here,” Lady Weun replied. “My mother and father were from the Alenir province. My father’s name was Weun.”

Seigie nodded. “I remember Alenir well. I lived there with my last husband.”

Lady Weun gasped. “How long ago?”

A cold, pained laugh escaped her ancient form. “Hundreds of years ago. You could be my great-to-the-infinite-power granddaughter. Except that . . . I thought my spawn had all died.”

Seigie edged toward Lady Weun, looking her over. As she neared, a strange feeling filled Mencari. Seigie kept walking, but suddenly swiveled her head toward him. Her eyes held knowing.

“I feel it,” she said.

“The warmth?”

She gave him a slow nod, and looked at Lady Weun.

“Rhysus said we might be descendants of a race destroyed long ago,” Lady Weun said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Perhaps you . . .”

As much as a face made mostly of crystal could, Seigie’s expression crumpled, became wary.

Mencari said, “I was told those of that ancient race were called the D’mar. And those with abilities like ours were called D’mok warriors.”

Ine moaned from where he lay at Lady Weun’s feet. She knelt and broke a green crystal, placed it on his forehead.

Seigie stopped walking and looked away.

“D’mar? D’mok? I never thought I would hear those names again.”

She turned and took a few steps toward the opening to the chasm, hesitated. Confused, she turned back toward the three. Then she stared at Mencari. “Human man, what do you know of these D’mar?”

“Only what has been told me so far,” Mencari replied. “They were explorers, and wiped out by another race, the—”

“Nukari.”

Seigie’s simple word brought a gasp from Lady Weun, as the pain of hearing it ripped through Mencari. He nodded, adding, “On our way to the crystal caves we ran into two. And their pod. But we destroyed them.”

Seigie whirled to face him, her crystalline eyes glowing. “That’s impossible, they’re long gone!”

He shook his head. “They attacked my people a few years ago. And we discovered today that they
are
here, on this world, right now.”

Lady Weun nodded. “It’s the truth.”

Seigie lowered her eyes. “They left long ago. They were gone!”

Mencari said, gently in the face of her unease, “Perhaps. But they’ve returned.”

There was nothing more he could say. She paced, each thud of her heavy feet a shout that echoed from every wall of the cave. Eventually she looked back at them.

“How do you know the Nukari?” Mencari asked.

After a long moment, she replied, “Because I am D’mar.”

Mencari believed he had found a D’mok warrior with Lady Weun. But, considering her claimed age, Seigie was an original, a native to D’mar itself.

“My mentor, Osuto, is also D’mar,” he said. “He was a D’mok warrior.”

Seigie thought a moment. “D’mok . . . D’mar. Our race . . . whatever it once was . . . is no more. Does any of this matter anymore?”

“It may to the Nukari,” he replied. “What can you tell me of your past? Your history. Osuto has told me about the first Defenders, about the invasion of the original colonies. But that’s all.”

Seigie’s ruby-red eyes hollowed as she gazed into memories burned into her mind. “Some details you already know. The Great Council, which led our world, knew the Nukari were coming. Defenders, all D’mok warriors, were gathering, but we needed more.”

She gave a bitter laugh. “What a plan that was. And what a name.
Defenders.
Anyone with
any
type of so-called ‘ability manifestation’ was called upon to help defend our world. I was sixteen, and a fool. The epitome of youthful arrogance. I volunteered. I was Pre-Sutrite.”

“Pre-Sutrite?” Mencari said.

She nodded. “Don’t you remember how your abilities began? Being Pre-Sutrite means one hasn’t blown anything up yet.”

Visions of Anaka’s death, and the great light surrounding him, filled his mind. He said, “I might have D’mok abilities, but I have a lot to learn. Please, continue.”

“I was told of a way to . . . speed up the emergence of my abilities. Maybe they didn’t know about the long-term effects. Or they didn’t expect me to survive long enough that it mattered.”

She paused again, torment reflecting in her eyes. Mencari waited a while in silence, then asked, “What did they do?”

She pointed to her face. “This. Constant pain, and this damned eternal life. The curse to watch all those you love die before you. To behold new life born, to love and care for them. To see them grow up, then weaken and become gray, then old. To bury them.”

“How many have I loved? And not one survived? I have nothing. Everything dies. Except me. I’ve been made a god. I can’t even cut my own hair. It wears down and breaks off!”

Mencari said, “Do you know how they did it?”

She laughed as if he’d told her a joke, but without the punchline. “They called it ‘infusion.’ Of what? I have no idea. Mineral, alien, animal, engineered? Who knows? I was placed on a table, loaded into a tube, slid into some machine. I fell asleep. When I woke up, my shrieks of pain were nothing compared to the inferno beneath my skin. Like molten metal had been poured on me.
Into
me.”

Her eyes flashed. “My mind eventually returned to me. The pain didn’t subside, but my body became used to it. I was bedridden. Every morning I’d wake up, and my skin had lost more of its color. I was told I’d get better, that I could
train
soon. That kept me alive.”

“Then I noticed what they were feeding me. It started with specks of crystal, ground to dust, like a spice. I was told it was necessary after the infusion. Within days, I came to crave the crystals over food. Weeks after being infused, I began what they called rehabilitation. Then they handed me my first crystal, a brilliant blue tourmaline. Such brilliance!”

She reached for a blue stone embedded in the skin just below her neckline, and tenderly stroked it. Her ancient fingers made grinding sounds as they flexed. The act caused a bit of crystal dust to sift down and collect on her robe.