Kalon

Chapter One-Hundred-Nineteen: Yul - Part Three

Galactic Quadrant: Darna Quadrant

Ruling Government: Talum Merchant Federation

Solar System: D-447

Planet: Ora

Location: Naro City

The softest of melodies often has the most inspiring tempo, one which becomes greater as the volume of it rises. I am reminded of this as my heart beats faster. Thoughts of worry trying to strip the calm I have spent a lifetime building. In the moment that I was to triumph… yet again they try to take from me.

The room is filled with the chaos from the holo of Adonius. Now is our chance, in the confusion.

"We move," I say to Arrum and Korra.

"Do they move with us?" Arrum asks, his jaw tight, part of him wants to leave them. But they are his blood. It burns me that he does not discard them for what they did to me. A deep breath restores the calm.

"If you wish it."

His eyes fall from mine, but he nods. There is no time to ask why he wishes to save them. But something tells me it is more than just because they are family.

My stride is swift, but not as swift as it could have been if I were not so withered still.

"Arrum where are you going?" the clan chief asks over the loud noises of panic in the Clan Hall.

"Seeing our guest out, my chief."

The chief nods, but there is wariness in his eyes, he is not a foolish man. As we turn to leave, Yuri pushes Nekam and his children forward behind us.

"Where do they go?" the chief adds.

Sekat.

How do I play this? There are more than a thousand warriors that the chief can call with a single word. Not to mention the energy weapons some of his guards hold. My guard will abandon me, there is no courage in their bones, not for an Arasha merchant. Besides that, they are afraid of the announcement much like everyone else. In the corner of my vision, I see Isola moves at the edge of the room, in pace with Arrum's signals. The chief sees her too, his expression becoming more wary. Why is he focusing on this and not the matter at hand? Is Arrum this important to him?

"Arrum?" the Clan Chief asks.

Arrum curses quietly, "Do you have the money to buy them?"

"No," I admit, giving him my purse of Deca coins. The remnants of what is left after paying my guard.

The leader of my guard approaches me, "Lord, we ask to take leave and return to our own Clan."

I nod, but as he turns, I grab his shoulder, in a low growl, "You will return what was paid then."

"My Lord, I cannot, we gave the funds to a runner earlier to give to our Chief."

My hand tightens, I could break his neck with a single move, yet where would that leave me?

"Then purchase those three with your Clan's honor as credit."

He looks back and forth in confusion.

"My Lord, I can make no such promise," he shifts his shoulder uncomfortably, "I beg your leave, when this situation is settled, my Clan will surely repay you. I must return to them, I have children, Lord."

Releasing him, I turn to Arrum, "We will need to find another way."

He curses again, his Clan Chief now upon us.

"What is…" he begins, but is interrupted by another announcement from the system voice.

"Attention former citizens of Naro city, the interim Governor has another message for you."

Stolen novel; please report.

The room falls eerily silent as the holos erupt with light again.

"Ah, it appears I have made an error," Adonius sighs.

There is relief flowing from the crowd as people offer prayers to their gods in thanks.

"It would appear that we are not going to be able to house all of you for this year's… event. Therefore, as a countermeasure, everyone will gather outside the city. Anyone who remains automatically forfeits… their life."

The holo disappears.

The relief is gone. Panic sets in again, more fervent this time. Even the Chief loses interest in what we are doing. My guards flee immediately toward the door, to find their own families no doubt. No matter.

"Come, we move."

Arrum, Isola, Korra, Yuri, and Nekam with his poisonous children follow behind me. Only Arrum and Korra seem to know that it is me. I keep my eyes and my face from the rest, it does not take us long to pass the entry gate which is open still from my guard leaving. They don't even think twice. Some people are already leaving anyway.

My heart catches in my chest when I step past the doorway though. Soldiers in thick metal armor are moving through the city now. Coming from the shuttle area. Hundreds of Bipki sentry drones float above the walkways and the high ceilings of the large streetways.

"Kada… what do we do?" Arrum asks. The others are pressed close behind.

Whether through violence or guile, we must leave this place. I'm about to speak, to tell them we move forward when I feel it… the horned woman, Zarae, she steps into my perception, halting me in my tracks as time ebbs slower.

Her face is not curious or placid as it normally is… something worries her. Time does not stop though, so I press forward, albeit slowly. She walks in front of me, shaking her head.

"Do not take this from me," I whisper.

Her eyes fall into mine, and she places her hand on my face, almost affectionately. Who is she really? My eyes dilate as I feel the force of her power streaming into my mind. Time stops. Visions appear in my thoughts. Death… so much death.

In the vision within a hundred paces of us heading to the shuttle area, we will meet a force of more than one hundred metal soldiers from the Talum Merchant Federation. Nekam will die first. Sacrificing himself to save… me. Less than one hundred paces after that, Neeba and Nevari will fall. Arrum's spirit will break before we ever even get close to reaching the shuttle. Flashes of Isola dying in his arms. Next falls Yuri protecting Korra in vain…, and then Arrum dies. All of them die. The visions distort. Waves of unnatural Maka arc and turn people to dust as the ground is ripped asunder. A call from the depths of the Abyss is met with an answer.

Eyes that burn golden in the darkness, stepping into reality at the call of my pain for losing Arrum, for losing them all. For taking so much from me. It is my breaking point. The golden eyes… it consumes them all, thousands of soldiers… and even my people in ethereal black flames. Everything burns… the world cracks and trembles as boundaries are shattered into oblivion. The skies fill with blackened ash. Everything falls in the path of the golden eyes, even reality itself. The Cursed Edict answers the call and is consumed, releasing a force of energy that destroys the entire solar system.

Time rips back to full swing. I grasp my chest and fall to my knees. My Kuwathi eyes ablaze in fear for what I have witnessed. What I carry… the golden eyes… it is that which will be the end of all things. It resonated with the wrath I felt from Arrum's death and brought existence to its knees. The fire of its wrath fueled with each innocent life it took. The oceans of souls it burned haunt me. Breath finds my lungs as I draw it deep. What do I do? I cannot let such a future pass. Even death did not stop the golden eyes once it was released… it rose again and again, it was unstoppable. I was powerless to stop it once I broke. The horned woman, Zarae, her face strained as she looks at me, she shakes her head, pleading me with her eyes before she disappears.

"Kada?" Arrum asks, his hand grips my shoulder trying to move, "If we are to leave, we must do so now."

Korra comes and grips my face, her eyes searching mine, "What have you seen?"

"We cannot leave," I breathe, my eyes still ablaze, even as I drag for breath. The golden eyes flash in my mind. As though it hungers for the future which I have seen, the wrath which I felt.

"What?" Arrum asks, grabbing my shoulder tighter, confusion gripping his brow.

The cloth that covered my face no longer hides it. Nekam falls to his knees before me, his eyes wide as they glow and glisten in the same breath.

All of this is because I am not strong enough to save them all. Not strong enough to control the power of the golden eyes. Because I am weak. My hands clench. People are shuffling and speaking around me, but I don't care. I am furious at my own weakness. Then the fear creeps back, as I remember where the path of wrath leads. Destruction. Death. Misery.

"Kada, we must go now."

"No," I say, my head hung low, "We will only find death if we try to leave."

"Then we must stay," Korra says, nodding to me, "My Goddess tells me as much too. She says our future lies in the blood-soaked sands," Korra leans closer, "It is there that you will be made anew."

I look at her, what sand does she speak of? Our world is barren ice. Does she truly speak with Amara? Why does she get to hear her, but my ears cannot find her voice?

There is arguing amongst the growing panic. But blood does not find blade even amongst the confusion. This inner clan is tempered, yet most are fleeing as instructed. The chief has even told them to leave.

"Kalon…" Nevari says barely in a whisper at my side.

Her voice is like a dagger in my back, I do not turn, even if the horror was not still fresh in my mind from the vision, I would not look upon her. The star that once burned between us is long dead, more withered than my body is.

"You live," Yuri says, grasping my shoulder, his face despite the panic seems gladdened by me. Even as it traces the gauntness of my face.

I look upon him and grasp his arm. He is among the few that I care about here. It gladdens me to see him alive as well. Yet still, the vision of him dying is hard to shake.

Zarae must think that this path will lead to a better future. She has never given me a reason to distrust her. Whoever she really is, I think it is somehow connected to the golden eyes. She has warned me before about breaking boundaries too fast.

"I am sorry."

My eyes blink at the words, and the voice that said them. Neeba. I turn, his eyes do not meet mine, and his head is bowed. It is strange, his words, felt genuine. I turn back, looking at Arrum who still questions with his eyes why we do not leave. He does not know what comes. How could he.

"We will follow the order of the Governor, for now," I say.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.