The Yanti (26 page)

The woman was more beautiful than a goddess. Her long red hair burned, and her smooth skin was as cool as a blue moon. She wore no crown, but anklets and bracelets made of green vines, yellow petals, and silver and gold thread, and she had on a white silk robe. Her legs were long and shapely, as though sketched by an artist, and her face was a mystery. Even with closed eyes and silent ears, it was as if she saw and heard everything around her—in the chamber, on the far side of the green world, maybe on Anglar itself. Her kindness was a large portion of her beauty, for she did not need to speak for Ali to know the words she would say. Because her words would be about love
. . .

Ra realized he was staring at the goal of all his quests.

He had not merely found his love, but his queen.

Three colors shone from the fairy, blending in soft bands of light like the colors of a clear prism: yellow, green, and blue. Ra suspected the yellow was there because Ali was a human being. The green was present because she was also an elemental. But to Ra, he might have been prejudiced, the blue light meant she was an angel . . .

Ali reached down and touched her hand. “She’s alive!” Ali whispered, awe in her voice. Yet Geea’s eyes did not open, and she made no sound.

“How alive is she?” Ra asked. In response, Ali pointed to
the mirror that shone with the green light of the outside sun.

“As a rule, life after life, the ice maidens used to wake us near dawn. I always remember seeing the light of the sun—before I saw or did anything else. Buried deep inside here, I don’t know how they managed that, but I thought I would try to copy their style. What do you think? Will it work?”

“Won’t she simply awaken if she wants to be awakened?” Ra asked.

“Not necessarily. She might still need help from us.” Ali gave him a shrewd look. “Sleeping Beauty,” she said.

“Never read the book. Never saw the Disney cartoon,” Ra quickly lied.

“How do you know Disney made it?”

“Ali . . .”

“What do we have to lose?”

Ra would have blushed had he any blood left in his freezing face. “I’m not going to open that case and . . . that would be sacrilege!”

Ali sighed. “So melodramatic. You used to kiss her all the time.”

“Jira used to kiss her!”

“So you don’t feel comfortable kissing her?”

“I certainly do not. She’s . . . she’s . . .”

“What?”

“A goddess!”

Ali smiled. “Kiss me first, then, as a warm-up. Then try kissing her.”

“We have come to this dangerous place on a very important mission. Two worlds are about to collide, possibly be destroyed. How can you talk about me kissing anyone?”

Ali came around the case, stood beside him, put her right
palm on his shivering chest, and instantly he felt healing warmth flow into his heart. His trembling stopped, and feeling returned to his frozen fingers. She had only one eye left, true, but it was a good eye, bright as any nighttime star. It pierced his fears, his phobias, and he saw what she was asking for was the most amazing miracle of all, because it was such a gentle request—humble, too. Like she had earlier in the day, at the lake, she put her head close, and again he heard her words in his head, not with his ears. However, with what was left of her lips, he felt her touch his ears . . .

“I know I’m hideous, and she’s beautiful, and you remember that beauty, and want it, and I want it, too, more than you can imagine. But I’m human now, and I’m a mess, but I still need love as much as she does. We both need it, more than the green light of the sun, or any special incantation I might conjure. We need it even more than the power of the Yanti. The talisman has immense magic, it was created in the violet world. Even so, you are my love, you are
both
our loves, and we need that love more than any other power in the galaxy. If it’s there, if we’re allowed to feel it, if only for a short while, then we’ll feel hope, and there will be hope, for love is the only chance either world has left anymore.”

Ali’s stream of thought fell silent, as she reached her arms around him and spoke in his ear. “Kiss me, Jira,” she whispered.

Ra kissed her, as best he could, without, he hoped, hurting her, and he felt himself melting, but not as her skin had melted. To him her burnt lips were red jewels of joy.

Then he turned and, not opening his eyes, lifted the case and kissed his goddess as well. The decision was not his, he realized. Ages ago, it seemed, the kiss had been set in stone—that the flesh of a mortal and an immortal should touch in such an intimate way.

Ra stood back and waited. Both of them waited for a miracle.

Geea’s eyes fluttered open. She looked up at him and smiled.

“Why did you stop?” she asked.

Q
ueen Geea did not speak again, until she slowly stood from the glass case, and systematically stretched each of her limbs, as if waking from a long sleep. She was not shy—she even stretched the muscles of her face, her jaw, and the skin around her mouth. All the while she drew in extraordinarily deep breaths. Each inhalation lasted a minute; and each exhalation was twice that in length.

She shook her head and ran her fingers through her long red hair. It blazed with its own light. All of her did—she was a living flame. Her robe could hardly contain her magnificence. Ra had thought Ali powerful, but Geea radiated ten times her strength.

Finally she glanced at Ra, and with a wave of her hand a black hatch slid down over the entrance. The room began to fill with rich warm
oxygenated
air.

“Better?” she said to him, with a voice that only slightly matched Ali’s. It was more resonant—filled with harmony and peace. Ironically, although it was deeper than a normal human voice, it was very feminine. The Hollywood agents would have
clamored for her. Besides her overwhelming beauty, Geea sounded sexy.

“Thank you, yes,” Ra said as he began to stop shaking. Color returned to his skin. The first thing he did with it was blush. He couldn’t believe he’d kissed such a being! He felt shame. Geea, however, was anxious to put him at ease. Coming near, she hugged the two of them close.

“It’s you two I must thank,” she said, with a sigh that was as joyous as it was profound. That was the mystery of her voice—with its rich tones, it conveyed so many things at once. She hardly needed words to communicate. Geea added, “I’ve dreamed of this day for thirteen years.”

Ali stared at her in awe. “You were conscious all that time?”

Geea nodded. “Conscious of you, all those around you, and of many things in this world as well.” She paused, added, “I never lost sight of Doren.”

“On the Isle of Greesh, I saw what became of her,” Ali said softly.

Ra did not understand the remark.
When
had she seen this?

“Doren was a fool to listen . . .” Then she added quietly, “I was a coward not to.”

“Had you gone in with Jira, you would have been trapped,” Ali replied. “Back then, I doubt Father was in a position to help you.”

Geea nodded. “Perhaps. It doesn’t take away from the fact that you dared what I feared to do. For that alone, I admire you more than you know.”

“But she is you,” Ra said, confused.

Geea nodded. “And her own person as well.” She patted Ra on the back, a head taller than he. “For keeping my better half safe, I owe you many lifetimes of allegiance.”

He kept wanting to bow to her. “I’m just grateful for the day
I met Ali.” Which had only been fours days ago, hard to believe . . .

Ali’s clear eye burned. “I also dreamed about this day.”

Geea gently wiped away her tears. “You went through so much to get here . . . the fire . . . the Entity.”

Ali forced a smile. “Hard to say which was worse.”

Again, Geea hugged her. “I know, I was there. At each step, I felt what you felt. I’m so sorry.”

“I’m sorry I was such a fool to use the Yanti as a weapon.”

Geea let her go. “It was never intended to destroy, only to heal.”

Ali nodded. “Try telling that to Sheri.”

“She wants it to shoot down missiles? She’d just end up shooting herself!”

They laughed together, and shared another hug, and Ra felt more confused than ever about who was who. He wondered if Geea would always have to know
everything
he did with Ali. That could make their relationship kind of . . . sticky.

“Do you know what she has planned on the Earth side?” Ali asked.

Geea shrugged. “Only what you know. You must return, dig deeper into her past, discover her plan. But I agree that Hector is her Achilles’ heel.”

Ra was not following any of this. Who was Hector?

“Hector is Tulas, right?” Ali asked.

“Yes. The greatest lies the Entity uses are usually the ones that are the most truthful. The Entity had Lucy born beside him, both to keep its word to her, and to use him as a lever over her.” Geea glanced at Ra. “Don’t worry, Ra, I’ll explain all of this to you later, after Ali leaves.”

“You’re sending her back to Earth?” he asked.

“Yes. And I would like you to stay here with me.”

“Couldn’t I help Ali more on Earth?” he asked.

“To dishearten Ali, Sheri Smith would find a way to kill you the instant you returned to the yellow world,” Geea explained. “Here, I can protect you.”

“You just want him for yourself because he’s cute,” Ali said.

“I hate it when I can read my own mind,” Geea replied.

“But I cannot really read yours,” Ali said seriously.

Geea waved a hand. “The human brain cannot absorb the experiences stored inside me. They go back a million years. Why, I remember every birth you’ve taken as a human being. You do not know this, Ali, but history knows you.”

“Was I Cleopatra?” Ali asked hopefully.

Geea laughed, such a sweet sound. “No! Ali, you have always been—
we
have always been—against those who crave power for power’s sake. You spoke to the Entity. You must know it would have immediately recruited a Cleopatra.”

“I just always liked her,” Ali muttered.

“You mean, you liked the fun she had. Trust me, that didn’t last long.”

“What is this Entity?” Ra asked.

“The force behind the Shaktra,” Ali said, before turning back to Geea. “Was it something in the Internet that caused Hector to drive off the road and into that tree?”

Geea nodded. “The accident that burned Lucy Pillar was planned.”

“It was like Tulas, just another lever to force her to move in a certain direction,” Ali said.

Geea tapped Ali on the top of the head. “My human half is perceptive. Yes, the Entity has stored a portion of its consciousness in the most complex neural network Earth possesses—the Internet. Sheri Smith serves the Entity by creating software that has a subliminal effect on those who play her games. In a
sense, the Entity had been preparing your youth for years about this invasion. Not just your youth—all humans subconsciously feel the end is near. It’s because a monster has invaded Earth that can’t even be seen.” Geea added, “It was Father who first recognized this.”

“Is Nemi in the future? Or the past?” Ali asked.

“Clearly, if he wanted you to know, he would tell you,” Geea said.

“Do you know?” Ali asked.

Geea just laughed. “He swore me to secrecy.”

“Back to Doren and Tulas,” Ali said. “The Entity used Tulas’s death to leverage Doren to turn evil in this world.”

“True. But the Entity saw that Doren already craved power. They just played on her weakness.”

“I remember. But when Lucy Pillar was a teenager on Earth, she seemed like such a nice girl. And she had Hector with her. She had her love back.”

Geea nodded. “But when you’re burned over the majority of your body, and
someone
approaches you and says they can make you beautiful again . . . Well, that’s an awfully big temptation right there. What young girl could turn that down?”

“Who approached Lucy?” Ali asked.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. It was an agent of the Entity.”

“Whoever it was, they demanded a sacrifice in return,” Ali said grimly. “A year later she burned down half the town.”

Geea nodded. “You forced the Entity to reveal more about itself than it wanted to when you confronted it about the opposite of love being fear. It doesn’t merely feed off power and control. It feeds off of fear and pain. That gives it the deepest satisfaction.”

“Yet it sounded so reasonable when it spoke of how the
Earth was destroying itself. And how it could prevent its destruction,” Ali said.

“From its perspective, it
is
reasonable,” Geea said.

Ali was confused, but not half as much as Ra.

“But it’s evil,” Ali countered.

Geea explained. “
We
consider it evil. We want nothing to do with it. The path the Entity has chosen—it has no love, no laughter, no joy. But from its side, it feels it’s highly successful. It survives, it expands, it grows in power. Remember what I said—the truths it tells—those are its most damaging weapons. The Earth is in serious trouble, and when Father, Tulas, and Doren first contacted the Entity, they were overjoyed. Here was an intelligence that understood all of Earth’s problems. The green world’s problems as well. And it offered insightful solutions to each and every problem.”