Ghosts of Lyarra (29 page)

It had annoyed her slightly, that young Sara Foster had taken a week to recover from the crash, and a few times Lyxia had nearly left to come here on her own to confront the killer. But patience and friendship had won out; they were in this together and she would not want it any other way. It had been hard to convince the Ifierin charged by Axyn to protect her to stay behind, but being the commanding officer had its advantages and Lyxia had proudly used the orders card to trump the stubbornness they had. It was only the two of them here now, and the reality of what they faced clawed at the back of her
mind.

The thud of the ship’s landing shook her from her thoughts as she looked over at Sara. Lyxia had utilized her own transport’s armor fitting machine and adorned her friend with a version of the Ifierin suit of protection. Now Sara Foster looked the part of the strong Council of Terra Sol; if only Iana could see her now. One last check of the fitting of the armor plates and the two took the safeties off their plasma rifles before lowering the ramp and carefully exiting the shuttle. Once on the ground, they quickly noticed a path melted into the deep piled snow that covered nearly everything here; a path that led to some
answers.

Lyxia nodded to her friend, and the two slowly began to trek down the path through the village and to the lip of the crater. Once on the edge, they could peer down and see the roof of the temple barely visible through the snow that shrouded it. Smoke rolled from the chimney signifying there was someone inside stoking the fire, and it was then that Lyxia became aware of the mountain wind that bit at her exposed flesh. She felt it sting her cheeks, and began to look for shelter as they would not last in the elements long before succumbing to the cold. Her eyes fell upon a nearby cabin when she felt her shoulder
tapped.

“Looks like we go this way.” Sara said as she motioned towards a tunnel of ice that revealed the stone steps leading downwards. “Could be a
trap.”

“Maybe.” Lyxia agreed. “But I think he wants answers from us as much as we want them from him; and I’m pretty sure he wants us alive and well to do
it.”

Each took a deep breath and Lyxia led the way down the stone steps towards the temple entrance below. Utilizing every bit of her training, she pushed back the fear and anticipation to what lay at the bottom of the cavernous tunnel; but even with such skills it still remained just below the surface. Her emotions roiled beneath her calm exterior and each step brought her ever closer to losing control causing her to stop now and then to catch her breath. Axyn would be ashamed of her, a warrior did not let their emotions rule them; Lyxia was embarrassed that she was so close to the
edge.

“It should be dark down here.” Sara’s words brought her distraction from her
struggles.

The observation was correct; as they had been descending for the last few minutes and the entrance at the surface was now out of sight, there should be no natural light down here. Yet it was not the case, and a strange sense of familiarity came from the bluish glow within the ice itself. It was calming and alarming all at the same time, but remained constant the whole way
down.

As her foot found the basin floor, once again Lyxia felt stone, not ice, beneath her boot. The tunnel widened from here and led right up to the great golden temple doors as she wondered what it took to create such a cavern without tool marks. She waited for Sara to join her at the bottom and both took a moment to gather themselves before finishing the trek to the inner sanctum beyond the doors. Weapons raised and adrenaline amped up, the two moved as one until they crossed the fifty foot span from the stairs to the doors. Lyxia glanced at Sara, and with a nod she pushed the left gate open and slowly crept inside with her friend in her hip
pocket.

Inside was not doom and gloom as one would expect; instead they were greeted by light and warmth. A fire roared in the grand fireplace on the right wall and the entire room was lit by candles that adorned the walls as well as the altar. Backs pressed to one another, the two women turned slowly to survey the environment to try and find the one that invited them only to discover they were quite alone. Lyxia let out a sigh and lowered her weapon, though her guard remained up in anticipation of the unknown. In the brief instant she relaxed, the massive door swung shut with an echoing bang; both of them dropped to one knee and rifles poised to
fire.

“You will not need those here.” Their quarry’s voice called out from nowhere. “You are here to exchange words, not rounds. Relax; no harm will come to
you.”

Lyxia spun around to face the altar and saw the source of the voice. Standing in chromed Ifierin armor with a horned helmet out of a human history book was the one she wanted dead more than anything; yet she need answers from him more than
blood.

—

Aen was transfixed at the sight of Lyxia standing a mere few feet from him. After all the agony, all the days and all the time dreaming of her, he was here with her at last. The only problem with that was the fact she didn’t have a clue it was him behind the mask. Soon he would get what he desired, but first he had to finish what he started and prepare them for what would be upon them before
long.

“I know you.” He said without thinking to Lyxia. “Your face; your eyes haunt my
dreams.”

“And your voice is what fuels my rage monster.” She spat. “Now stop the sentiment and start giving answers; first being, why would you call us here of all
places?”

Aen could feel the hatred in her words, and wondered if that would fade or magnify once he revealed himself. Sticking to the plan and his character, he decided to ham it up a bit and play up to the bad guy they all thought he was and turned to face the giant statue of Iana and stretch his arms out
wide.

“Rather fitting, isn’t it?” he asked them. “Almost poetic that it all should happen here.” Aen heard the click of the rifles once more, and knew without turning that they were raised and aimed at his back; he had hit a
nerve.

“It’s bad enough that you killed her without reason,” Sara scowled. “But to stand at the foot of her tribute and mock her is too
much!”

“She has a name, yet you both struggle to use it.” He was almost smiling behind his mask. “And you don’t need those; in the long run I think they should not be a part of
this.”

The two women felt the guns take on excessive weight and struggled to hold them at the ready, before the force of gravity levied upon them, pulled them from Sara and Lyxia’s grasp and sent them to the floor with a metallic thud. Lyxia noted they didn’t bounce or rattle once they fell; they simply hit the floor and stayed put. Aen had disarmed them effortlessly; far better the guns were down seeing as emotions were about to get pretty
high.

“And have you done your homework child?” he asked Sara, turning back to them to see a slight look of discomforting fear at what had just happened. “Have you begun to see the big picture
yet?”

He watched as she shifted slightly and looked nervously to
Lyxia.

“She is too blinded by revenge to see it; that’s why I only asked it of you.” He
added.

“It’s all about the throne.” Sara began slowly. “And your quest to sit upon
it.”

“Right and wrong, my dear.” He corrected. “It is about the throne, and what it controls as well as keeping those with the intentions of using that control for the wrong
purposes.”

“I don’t understand.” Sara muttered. “You don’t want the
crown?”

“No, I am not fit to lead the Empire to where it must go. For all my sins and mistakes I am not worthy of such honors; despite my pedigree and the power I
possess.”

“Yet you chose to use that power to kill the Empress and vacate the throne?” Lyxia hissed. “She was not worthy of leading us against whatever crap you think is
coming?”

“All is not as it seems, Lyxia.” He answered quietly; her words of hatred hit him harder each time. “The Empress had become weak and frail; a Goddess no one loves or fears cannot lead your people into battle. Her enemies had worn her down and were moving in for the kill; I just robbed them of their
victory.”

“Victory?” Lyxia was pacing like a caged animal ready to strike. “You murdered Iana in cold
blood!”

“I destroyed the Empress.” He replied. “I killed the Goddess of Light to save
Iana.”

This stopped Lyxia in her tracks and caused her to look over to Sara for clarification who simply returned a confused shrug as an answer. In a short moment, he had deflected their hatred and replaced it with curiosity; it was almost time to show them the
truth.

“I don’t get it.” Sara spoke first. “How do you kill the Empress and save Iana? Who the fuck are
you?”

“Are you sure you want this?” Aen asked. “I warned you what the truth may do to you; to both of
you.”

“Take off the damn helmet before I do it for you!” hissed
Lyxia.

“As you wish,
Council.”

Aen bowed, and his fingers found their way up to the pressure release of the helmet and threw the catch. Once released, he slowly pulled it free of his head and let the ornate reproduction of medieval history fall to the marble floor. His dark hair shrouded his face as he straightened upright and with his right hand he brushed it back and away to reveal his face. Aen took a deep breath and opened his
eyes.

He watched their faces as the comprehension of who was behind all this dawned on them. He watched as confusion turned to wonder than to sadness. Aen watched the tears pour from his daughter’s eyes and a look of betrayal take over those of
Lyxia.

“You were dead.” Sara sobbed. “How can this be you? How could you do such a thing?” Her hands covered her mouth as she shrunk
backwards.

Aen almost reached out for her, but was distracted by the sensation of a knife sinking to its hilt in his abdomen. It was a perfect strike; fit between the layers of armor panels and into the one spot that could be vulnerable. His eyes were drawn to the blade; Aen felt the pain yet knew it had done nothing to damage him. His eyes slowly looked up to Lyxia who pulled away from him as anger washed away with regret; she had struck out at him in the culmination of years of pent up emotion and now wished she hadn’t. Aen’s gaze never left hers as he pulled the blade from his body and let it fall
blindly.

“Why?” Lyxia demanded as tears stained her bronze cheeks. “How could you kill her after all she did for you? How could you kill
Iana?”

“Your rage has interfered with your ability to listen child” another voice came from behind the statue as an armored figure joined
them.

From the shadows she emerged, and though her features and hair had been altered, both Lyxia and Sara recognized the voice instantly. Sara stumbled backwards, tripped and fell as her butt skidded on the hard floor. Lyxia fell to her knees sobbing. The woman walked up to Aen and her hand rubbed his cheek
lovingly.

“He said he killed the Empress my dears, but he said nothing about killing
me.”

—

“I watched you die.” Lyxia cried out from her knees. “I watched as he burned the Lyarra’s Fire with you in
it.”

“Obviously I was not.” Iana smiled as she almost floated towards Sara first and helped her to her feet once more. “Are you all right my
dear?”

Sara reached out and touched her face; her fingers tracing over each new curve and line as she struggled to understand that this was not a ghost before her. She felt Iana’s warm skin radiate through her fingertips. Iana felt the wonder in her touch as she steadied Sara and led her back towards the
altar.

“I watched you die.” Lyxia repeated in a
stupor.

“I am afraid what you saw was a clone.” Iana reassured her young pupil as she held out her hands to help bring Lyxia back to her feet but was met with a confused and dumbfounded
look.

“We used a little known security protocol to pull a ruse on the entire galaxy.” Aen offered in clarification. “We stole it from storage and flashed Iana’s memories to it to make it real enough to fool everyone. By the reactions I see here, it was more than
effective.”

Lyxia’s jaw dropped open as she looked back and forth between what should be two ghosts. Sara, who was less emotionally invested in the Empress, was beginning to make sense of it all and piece it together
somewhat.

“How long?” she
muttered

“A few months before the Council meeting.” Iana answered. “We were all the way out here before Aen triggered the message and the device. I was shocked that no one noticed the little things with it; I guess being a bit of a shut in has its advantages that people don’t get too close to notice your
subtleties.”

“And your face?” Sara reached out and touched her cheek again to be sure that this was all
real.

“This was my idea.” Iana said proudly. “Can’t walk around unnoticed when there are statues like this everywhere. Hard to hide when you stick out like a sore
thumb.”