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Chapter 86: Vadula

  Kalon

  Chapter Eighty-Six: Vadula

  Galactic Quadrant: Darna Quadrant

  Ruling Government: Talum Merchant Federation

  Solar System: D-447

  Planet: Ora

  Location: The planet's surface

  My breath is heavy, the water is rising past my waist. I hold Luna up to my chest as firmly as I can. Looking around for anything I can use, my heart begins to thump slower as the cold water saps the warmth from my bones. My thoughts are becoming sluggish. Krotha crawls in my mind now.

  You will call… They always call…

  My eyes focus, look. Find. Anything. Please.

  A block of foam hits my back as it slides off the wall. The water is up to my shoulders, I struggle to hold on to Luna as my fingers go numb. I have no choice but to reach out to the block and hope it holds us. I release my fingers from their grasp on the ship’s hull, reaching for the block of foam. To my surprise it holds us up, I must not lose focus. I kick at the water unevenly trying to move towards one of the larger holes in the ship. Almost there. There is a gurgle of air as the hole I move towards floods with water pushing us downwards into the churn, I squeeze Luna as hard as I can, whilst clinging desperately to the foam block.

  I can help you save her… Or is your pride worth more than her life?

  I don’t believe she will help me save her. She lies. Yet looking around, is there no other choice? Am I so weak that I must ask this demon to save me? Can I not save myself… can I not at least save her? The water swirls us in the churn, slamming us against the hull, dazing me, almost making me lose my grip on her.

  My entire body is becoming numb, water leaks into my helmet as we spin. I cannot let go of her, I will not, even though she may be the enemy, even though she may lie or withhold… my heart holds her in its grasp.

  Sacrifice your pride for her… Call my name, my blade…

  Krotha whispers in my ear now. I can feel her claws sinking into my soul. I think of the words of the woman whose lover and child were taken by the actions of nobles. Why do I protect her, why do I clutch her tightly to my side? Why do I defy the teachings of my people and let this master into the most sacred space of my heart… why am I so weak that I cannot grasp my own fate?

  My heart sinks as my arm hits my side, the foam block now disintegrated in the water. There is no other choice now. No other escape. I must change. I must adapt as I have always done… it is the way of the Ulima.

  I yell and scream in frustration at the gods, at the universe, my mask is filling with water to my eyes now. The eyes my mother gave me, the eyes of my people. My Kuwathi eyes begin to swirl with bioluminescence, light pouring from them, shining back at me in the mask’s reflection. Seeing them fills me with the strength I need to release my pride and become something more.

  Yes… Call me forth… Yes… Feel the power

  My hand opens about to call for the darkness’s help to reach towards the light. Before I can, time slows around me as a shadow begins to emerge from the edge of my vision. Moving towards Luna, it looks just like Krotha before I could see her true form. Another demon… yet, there is something strange about this one’s eyes, purple sparks on the edges of their deep crimson eyes. A familiar shade. Krotha’s foul voice rips into my mind and drags against the hollows of it.

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  Amon, you dare to defy my will…

  The purple spark demon holds its hands outward like Krotha does when she warps Maka to her will. Time slams back into natural flow. The water begins to swell around Luna and me. A deep red light erupts from Luna’s waist pouch as the Cursed Edict burns through it and her suit, moving toward my hand. The runic lines that Krotha wrote upon my flesh begin to flicker fiercely. Wounded pride etches across my being.

  The Cursed Edict changes into a deep black hand of metal, darker than the abyss of space, red lines upon it glow with words in the old tongue… Hail Thy Gods. The hand grasps mine pulling me upwards. I feel power radiating from the hand, there is pain, but I do not let go. The power radiating from it is different from when Krotha gave it, I feel the sharpness of regret, deeper than anything I have ever felt before. In my vision I see the black box-turned hand that holds my grasp and pulls us upward, it is the demon with the purple sparks. The darkness around it billows as the edges of it catch fire from the exertion.

  Do not interfere with what is mine…

  Krotha yells, the sound slamming inside my head, I see her in my vision now, she strikes the demon, clawing at it, but its grip remains firm. The flicker of purple growing brighter in its eyes. We push through the water rapidly rising. Luna is still in my grasp. Heat swells from the metal hand as we approach the ceiling of ice which traps us. A hole from where the craft crashed is already filled with snow and broken chunks of ice. The fresh snow melts away leaving a wall of thin ice as we push even higher. Steam cascades around us on our ascent. My hand feels the searing heat, yet somehow it does not burn away. This purple-eyed demon is somehow shielding me from the Cursed Edict and the heat around it.

  My eyes look upward as the snow becomes illuminated by the light from the surface. Krotha thrashes against the other demon desperately, clawing at them. There is hope rising against the despair as we burst forth into the fading light of day. Krotha finally overpowers the other demon, throwing them from the metal hand, which shifts back into the black box as we begin to fall toward the snow. The Cursed Edict slides from my grasp.

  We land in the snow’s embrace, much softer than I expected. My body steams against the cold, the warmth slowly leaving as the winds blow snow onto me.

  You will suffer for this Amon…

  Krotha strikes the demon over and over until its eyes submit back to crimson like hers. A grin peels across her mouth as the demon fades from my vision. Krotha disappears and I feel her hand slide across my throat gently, the feeling so real it causes me to gulp as she laughs into my ear. My eyes search for her, but there is nothing in my vision.

  Turning now to look at Luna, I see she does not wake still. My hand moves the hair from her face, as the feeling of dread spreads in my chest, looking upon her keeps it from my heart a few moments longer. Her face is warm, and steam rises from her, like her body does not fear the cold as mine. So much about her is different than other people I have seen.

  There is so much about her I would have liked to know, so much I wish I could share with her, if only the fates were kinder and hadn’t sentenced me to death. If only I could grasp destiny. My mask is fogging and soaking wet, so I tear it off, the frigid air nipping my cheeks, crystals of ice forming with each gust of wind. I find myself wondering what could have been if we were not born under different stars. If there were no masters and those beneath the boot… if we stood as equals.

  My head turns slowly to look behind me for a moment. The suns mercilessly begin their descent towards the horizon. I can already hear the hungry cries of the creatures that lurk in the shadows that are forming. My head hangs low as I turn from Luna. Looking at the Cursed Edict that lies some distance away in the snow.

  Cold determination rises in me. I can feel the pride that dangles by a thread in me. The last defiant thread that has never truly surrendered no matter how bad the odds are. It tells me that if this is my end, dying amongst endless waves of Shulka, I should meet it with my head held high. My body shivers relentlessly as the crystals of ice become thicker, cracking as I move my body.

  Kill her, blade.

  My neck twitches as it fights commands for my arm to turn on Luna… is this the madness the woman spoke of? Stopped again, by the single thread of pride… defiant, unyielding, and unbreaking. It flares once more inside me, it is no more than an ember against the hopeless onslaught of a storm, yet it endures, wishing to become an inferno even in the grips of despair. Krotha appears in my vision again with a twisted scowl on her face.

  Why are you always so defiant? I told you what will happen when you defy me.

  My eyes narrow at her as my head pulls back to look down upon her with disdain. My body no longer shivers, a sign that the end approaches if I do not find warmth soon. A smile flickers irreverently over her cruel lips as she turns her head to the side, her mouth slowly opening. The words falling from her mouth and burning into my mind.

  Two things you hold precious, I am owed now. Two things that I will make you take with your own hands.

  She disappears now, leaving only her solemn promise and the bitter cold. I am not afraid of her hollow words… she does not control me. The air here is thick with Netheric Maka, feelings of power whip against my cold skin, the blade of my will hums a violent melody of destruction that increases its tempo as the last of the suns’ rays descend beyond and the light of day is no more. Red eyes like a false sea of stars illuminate across the land as they begin their march toward us. There is no fear as I draw a line in the snow, daring them to cross it. Behind me, Luna lies still, tucked away from the wind's terror behind a few chunks of ice. A short distance away, I see a small cave. I can funnel their numbers there. I don’t know where the energy to drag her body towards the cave comes from, but it does.

  I feel Netheric Maka swimming through the cold air, twisting and turning up my limbs, the beating of my heart beginning to rise as my eyes start to see Maka. The first signs of strength, raw strength, but not nearly as much as when I have Netherium. My hand grips tighter as the first two come to find absolution as I stand at the mouth of the cave. A pair of carvers stare at me with deep crimson eyes, just like Krotha’s.

  “Give me… Vadula.” I say in the old tongue.

  A worthy death.

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