Ice Phoenix (46 page)

Terrana, you didn
't deserve to die like this,
the grandmaster thought as he propelled himself towards the tumbling ship, barely protected by his barrier. Despite successfully sealing in the Dream Walker, the world was still doomed to die. A premonition of the future dogged him, and in his mind's eye he saw the Dream Walker emerging from his long sleep, hungry and lusting for power. His desire to complete what he had started would return, and the worlds would be plunged into darkness once more. Grandmaster Deitrux realised that when that time came, the worlds would never see light again; the one person, the only person who could have saved them, had been destroyed.

Even though they had re-sealed the Dream Walker, the grandmaster didn't feel he and the others had won. He had sensed the power beyond the gate when he and the sealing team had been working, and it was nothing
that he or the world could contain. He realised why the Ancients of Olden Kartath had been terrified, even after all these years of peace and progress.  The Dream Walker possessed nothing but lust for destruction. If Dartkala was life, then the Dream Walker was death. Even worse, he could not die. He had transcended beyond mortality and nothing short of another being like him could kill him. The knowledge had stunned him and he had nearly cried out upon realising it, but as the grandmaster, who was responsible for the lives of so many others, he did not lose his composure in front of the sealing team.

Hope had almost died in him until he had seen Terrana in her feiyed form. Although young, a baby in comparison to the Dream Walker, she possessed the same power, the same greatness that he had sensed in the Dream Walker. While she may not have shown any recognition, compassion, or loyalty as the blazing white creature, Grandmaster Deitrux believed she would have, in time, come to learn these things. It was why she had to be protected, and taught to respect life. She was supposed to embrace all things that the Dream Walker hated and, eventually, she would have been his equal. He had tried to protect her, and he had failed.

While the grandmaster and Lakara were tumbling away into the darkness, Nashim had been clinging to the rock. When it finally disintegrated, his eyes glowed with the triumph of victory. He felt invincible, knowing he was shielded by the incredible power of the entity that would soon appear from the remains of the rock. He had killed the young child of Dartkala and ensured the Dream Walker remained sealed, so now the emerging entity would have no equals. Nashim was proud that he had achieved everything he had set out to do.

A glowing orb rose from the dust particles
of the shattered rock, and Nashim gazed at it in wonder. He became so absorbed in the orb, he failed to notice a glimmering cloud of ash behind him. Two large holes appeared in the ash and reduced quickly into a pair of black, shining eyes that glared furiously at the Valpuri's back. Nashim must have sensed its anger; he turned around to stare into the face of a young girl. Terrana.

Her face morphed into white flames and Nashim found himself looking at a creature filled with cold,
infinite rage, cocooned in the protective flaming arms of its guardians. The blood literally drained out of Nashim as he recognised the ice-phoenixes huddled around the girl.

"No," he whispered.

Yes,
said the millions of unrestrained voices in his mind.
Did you not think that we wouldn't protect our own? This is our home and you attacked our child.

"Your, your child?
But she's Dartkala's. You're not the same." He stared at the girl with her dragon wings, flickering in white fire in the centre of the writhing flames. "She, she can't be!"

All trueborns are one and the same.

Nashim looked beseechingly at the glowing orb. "You did not tell me this. Help me, please!" But whatever he thought the orb would do, there was no reaction. It did not even move. It simply remained glowing steadily in the dark.

"
Please, I beg of you! Help me!
" he screamed.

A billion voices flooded
into his head and his brain imploded. Nashim twitched once or twice before going completely still. A dark liquid seeped through his ears and nose. As he drifted lifelessly in the In-Between, a delicate white bird emerged from the writhing flames that cocooned Terrana. It circled the Valpuri once, before perching on his helmet. Nashim splintered into icy fragments, littering the In-Between with fine dust.

Next, the bird turned its attention to the glowing orb.
The orb must have sensed it was in danger because for the first time since its appearance, it moved.

The bird exhaled
, and its breath transformed into a delicate mist that surrounded the orb. The mist hardened and, moments later, a cold lump of velassium floated in the void. The orb had vanished.

Hiding
behind the damaged thrusters of a scouting pod, Lakara and Grandmaster Deitrux, their heads safely cocooned in helmets, peered cautiously past the
Dark Star to
observe what was happening with Terrana and the ice-phoenixes. They had been very lucky indeed. When Nashim had fired at Terrana, the resulting shockwaves had blasted open the doors to the transport bay, and a single scouting pod had wriggled loose. The two weavers had immediately sought shelter behind it.

"Incredible," said Lakara.

"Even more incredible if we survive this," replied Grandmaster Deitrux, floating in what appeared to be a giant plastic bag. "Thank goodness for emergency kits." He had used the last of his qi to shield himself against the blast, and if it hadn't been for Lakara he would have died.

In case
s of accidental exposure to the In-Between, every spacesuit was fitted with a backup suit, and Lakara's was no exception. She had removed a capsule from her own suit, which contained the spare spacesuit. As soon as the grandmaster had drifted into her reach, she activated the capsule, and it expanded and sealed itself around the Imeldor. He could survive in the In-Between for an hour before his air ran out.

"I can
't believe that creature is the same girl who was travelling with us," said Lakara. "Is she an ice-phoenix?"

"Hard to say," muttered Grandmaster Deitrux.
"She looks nothing like them."

"Well, it looks like she
's recovered quickly enough — no doubt from all the qi being fed into her by the other ice-phoenixes. What was that glowing orb we saw earlier?"

A feeling of extreme uneasiness gripped Grandmaster Deitrux.
"Something terrible. Nashim released something terrible." Lakara gave him a puzzled look, but he did not elaborate. "We should get to the ship."

Lakara nodded and grabbed hold of his suit. She pushed off the scouting pod with her legs, sending them shooting straight towards the
Dark Star
. Tiny bursts of jet propulsion from her feet propelled them even faster. They were almost at the ship when Grandmaster Deitrux spotted something floating by.

"Wait!" he cried out sharply.

Lakara slowed down. "What is it?"

He pointed to a dark amber sphere spinning gently in the void. It was quite large, about half his body length in diameter. "We need to take that with us."

"What is it?" Lakara stared at the sphere curiously.

"Not
an it. A who. That's Quempa."

"Grandmaster
Deitrux, that is a ball of amber!"

"Our kind possesses the ability to remove our life energy from our physical bodies and regenerate in a new body. The only drawback is that we can perform this only once in our lifetime and it shortens our lifespan. We also begin our new life as a youngling."

"Wait a minute. Are you saying that when Quempa hatches, he's going to be a child?"

"Yes."

"Dear Dartkala." Lakara wasted no time in securing the amber sphere and they made off towards the
Dark Star
once more. As soon as they reached the ship, she and the grandmaster scrambled into one of the airlocks.

Across the void, Terrana watched them disappear into the ship; their actions meant nothing to her. Although she was looking, she wasn't really seeing them. She was lost in a strange euphoria of overwhelming exhilaration; she could sense life in every corner of the vast universe, and, she had never felt more alive.

Terrana.

Voices.
Billions of them.

Terrana, come back.

Terrana groaned. The voices that called her seemed like a sobering hand pulling her from a drunken euphoria and, like most people who relished that temporary happy state, she did not want to sober up. But the pull of the voices was strong and, reluctantly, she followed them. Her sight was blurry at first, she was lost in a swathe of bright light, but eventually, she made out five ice-phoenixes floating around her.

Welcome back little one. You
've suffered a difficult transformation.

I, I was dying. My body...

She gazed at her hands and blinked in surprise. They were neither solid nor ethereal, appearing to glimmer between the two states.

You lost your
flesh and bone body in Dartkala.

So, am I dead then?

She detected a sense of mirth all around.

Death is but a state of mind. If you are referring to the fact that you no longer exist, then no, you are still very much with us. Your existence
continues.

Why am I
like this? I'm floating in the In-Between, aren't I? How is that possible? I should be dead.

Again, mirth all around.

You are a child of Dartkala — a trueborn. Your home is in the void. However, you are not of pure blood and hence it is not your time to live among the stars. The release of your feiyed form is premature and you must be returned to your natural state.

What is my natural state?

Your human body. You must revert to the organic flesh and blood body that walks on dust.

But why must I? Why can
't I stay here with you? If I'm feiyed, I don't have to return to my world.

You must. You are much too young to contain your form in the void. Your energy will flitter away
, and you will become nothing but dust in darkness.

But I don
't have a human body anymore! Look at me — I'm glowing!

You will stabilise as soon as you re-enter a planet
's atmosphere. The qi in the dusty lands will revive you.

I don
't want to go.

You must. Not only will you cease to exist by remaining here, you will awaken the sleeping one. That must not happen.

Are you talking about the Dream Walker? If I don't wake him, he'll sleep forever?

No, little one. He will awaken. It doesn
't matter when or how. We already sense his restlessness.

But couldn
't you protect me? Couldn't you defeat him?

Sadness.

We cannot, for that would mean the end of existence itself. In time to come, you will understand. Now, little one, you must go out of Dartkala and return to the planets.

Terrana
's heart sank. She didn't wish to leave the ice-phoenixes, to return to her world where she'd be reminded of all her pain. In her feiyed state, she could still recall it, although the heavy feelings of personal attachment were no longer there. She knew that would change once she left the void. Everything human in her would return. But just as she understood that, she also understood there was no way the ice-phoenixes would allow her to remain with them. Resigned to her fate, she sighed.

Are we going to fly there?

You came with others from your world, did you not? You can return with them.

Terrana gasped. She had completely forgotten about the Imeldors and the ship.

Already your human feelings return. You worry for the others.

They were sealing the Dream Walker when Nashim attacked. They succeeded
, right? That's why you said he was still sleeping.

They succeeded
, but not without great cost. Now, you must return with them. They cannot travel through the cloud without you.

Huh?
Why? I can't protect them.

Yes, you can. This belongs to you.

She blinked in surprise as something appeared in her hand. It was her pendant. A flood of emotions rushed through her and she shuddered.

If I return to the ship in this form, won't I hurt them?

No. Your body will become more human when you are on the ship. With your human feelings, it will lose its power and you will be able to contain yourself. In a way, your empathy for the others is your anchor, it prevents you from harming them. The longer you are among others who are caring, the more human you'll become. Once you step foot on a dusty planet, your body will be restored to its natural state and bind you in your Earthly form.

Terrana stared at her beloved pearl. In the fiery light of the ice-phoenixes, it called to her, and memories of a once happy time returned to her. She blinked away the fiery tears that had appeared suddenly.