Chapter Seventy-Eight: Shuma Duka Vekka

  Galactic Quadrant: Darna Quadrant

  Ruling Government: Talum Merchant Federation

  Solar System: D-447

  Planet: Ora

  Location: Above the planet's surface

  ***

  Realm of Dreams

  ***

  My eyes flit open, there is a thick and ominous presence in the air of the realm of dreams. Light dances in the periphery and stones float strangely in the air, crimson in color, like Netherium. The waters of the endless sea spray water over a bubble of air. My head turns weakly upon the ground. I see her now, the demon, Krotha. She paces back and forth, and the air trembles in her wake. Sitting up, I look around and see that there are more islands of stone in the endless seas, strange. The one I am upon is larger than it was before. Many times larger in fact. The stone even hums differently as I run my hand across it. As though it is not hewn from the same as the rest.

  “I threw away your box of malice, demon.” I say, rising slowly to my feet “You are not welcome here.”

  She does not respond to me with words, instead just a flick of her wrist. The ground sings me a lullaby of pain as I slam into it. She speaks to herself now, angrily so.

  “Is it my sister? Is it Leora? It must be, it’s always her. I knew I still smelled her filth upon his soul, why does she cling so desperately? Vile false god, how dare she try to take what is mine. It is bad enough that he travels with one of her disciples. Now I must…” Krotha seethes, her face twisting as her hair spins on her finger.

  Leora? I know the name, one of the three mothers that the Sage worshiped. Krotha’s head turns toward me, eyes ablaze with anger. Leora is her sister? One of her disciples… does she mean Luna? Why would Luna worship one of the same goddesses as the Sage though? Is that how she knows him?

  “She already tried to fight me for him though, and she lost miserably. It could not be her, she is not strong enough to hide from me, then who guides him? Who dares defy my will? Surely not Amara. It could not be one of the Nine either, they are all under my control. Who then…” Krotha mutters to herself still, her face is riddled with frustration, I cannot help but be gladdened by it.

  She said she already fought her. Does that mean… The being swathed in darkness was Krotha, perhaps the being swathed in light is Leora. The one who guided me to the box which Luna held. The one who fought Krotha before. Was it all so that I would save Luna from the wreckage? But if she knew it would happen, why didn’t she prevent it? My head spins. There is something bigger at play here, I cannot help but feel that everything is being manipulated, pulled on long strings that I cannot see the end of. When did it begin? My mind wanders as Krotha paces. If the being swathed in light is Leora, then who is the horned woman? Why couldn’t Krotha see her? Who are the Nine that she spoke of?

  “No, this will not do. You will kill the woman you travel with, harvest her soul, and begin my work, blade. Do this and I will show you true power, strength unrivaled by any mortal. You will never kneel before anyone… except me.” Krotha declares.

  My jaw flexes at her words. I am not her blade. I am not her puppet to be pulled. My legs defy her will as they press me upright. My eyes narrow at her now. I want the strength that she offers, I have felt a taste of it already. However… I will carve a path to it, unshackled by this Vekka.

  “Do not make me say it again, you are not welcome here.” I say, tilting my head back and looking down upon her “Leave.”

  From my words, ripples strike the realm of dreams, quaking the bubble of air she has formed around us. Sending small stones to hover above.

  “You presume much, mortal.” She says lazily.

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  The air cracks as she appears next to me now, grasping my face and forcing my head to look at her eye level.

  “I give you orders, you do not give them to me.” She says.

  Pain ricochets inside me, but I do not kneel to her, my hand moves to strike her, and she rolls her eyes and flicks her wrist again. Sending me up and down against the stone. It does not crack this time.

  “You will not be the first I have broken, nor will you be the last.” She says, musing her hair in her other hand.

  My body slams again and again, becoming numb to her torments after a time. Her face grows annoyed by this. Somehow her torments do not hurt as much as when I first met them. Was it the boundaries? If she will not leave then I will make use of her. I am not sure I can actually make her leave, she seems confident that I cannot.

  “Demon, what are the boundaries?” I ask after rising to my feet once more.

  Her eyes burn brighter, her expression becoming more annoyed.

  “I ask the questions, you give the answers.” She says, closing the gap in a flash, grabbing my face. The stone erupts around me, tightening around my wrists before I can strike her, “Unless it is to answer my questions, or to give thanks to your Goddess, you shall not speak in my presence.”

  Give thanks to her… no, Vek that. Vek her. Vek all of this. The realm of dreams rumbles as I begin to spin the maka to my will. I know how to leave now. I have done it before.

  “Shuma Duka Vekka.” I curse at her, a small grin curling on my lip now.

  The sphere of air that she created ruptures as the maka swirls faster around me, becoming torrents across the realm of dreams. The stone that she shaped to bind my wrists cracks and falls away.

  “You’re really starting to annoy me, mortal.” She says, a false grin upon her lips.

  The realm of dreams quakes as I draw the torrents higher. She does not try to fight me. I don’t think that she believes I can leave… I don’t need her belief, I have my own.

  The waves rise higher as the stars grow brighter in the firmament. I can leave here. I do not require her permission. Black flames trace the edges of my body slowly at first, then become a roar of swelling intent. Causing Krotha to take a few steps back. Her eyes dancing with curiosity now.

  Darkness envelops my vision as the realm trembles.

  ***

  Realm of Reality

  ***

  Pain meets my mind before the light finds my eyes once more. My whole body feels terrible. Like I was pressed beneath a mountain and pounded out upon a massive anvil. I do not think I have ever felt so ill before. Looking down, I see the sludge I had been throwing up all around me on the ground in various piles. Apparently, sleep did not stop its relentless throws inside me.

  “Kalon.” A soft voice says weakly near me.

  My eyes turn to see her. Luna.

  “I told him you would survive.” She says, a small smile finding her lips.

  Looking down at my wrists, I see they are bound still, as are my legs, with some kind of cloth straps. My hands pull upwards, and the cloth frays and splits, I don’t think he realizes that I could break these restraints. Perhaps I shouldn’t yet. Lest Fennec will become wary.

  “Where is Fennec?” I ask her.

  Before she can answer, I hear him cough from further up the shuttle, sitting at a large chair encrusted with glittering fabric. The entire shuttle is colorful now I realize. Much like the whimsical ones that I saw in his hobby room.

  “Is there anything you want to say to him?” Luna asks me.

  “No?”

  “How can you expect to mend the rift between you? A simple thank you would go a long way.” She says.

  My eyes stare at her for long enough that she becomes embarrassed and looks away. Is she really this na?ve? Mend the rift? He tried to have me killed, he almost left me. He has me tied up. There is no cause for thank you yet. Nothing that tells me his intention is not to sell me. That certainly makes the most sense. After seeing I was not a Shulka, he must have realized something was off with me.

  “Our people are not like yours,” Fennec says from up front.

  “One of the few things he has said that I agree with,” I say, leaning back, checking that my feet can also break the bindings, should I need to. The feeling of illness in me surges once more.

  Luna comes toward me now, slowly at first, there is some timidness in her, perhaps from seeing me before under the cursed edict’s control. She gives me a weak smile as she delicately unties the restraints on me. Fennec shoots an anxious eye backward but says nothing against it, though his hand does move to rest near his holstered weapon. Cautious, a good trait.

  Giving her a nod after the last falls off, I try to stand and stretch my legs, but a feeling deep within the well of my body bids my backside stay planted to the seat. My mouth salivates from it still. I don’t think there is anything left to hurl though. Trying to distract myself, I think about the boundaries again, wondering what they mean.

  “Luna,” I say, trying to sit up more, “The boundaries, what are they?”

  She turns from me after I ask, Fennec giving a glance. She lets out a sigh and sits across from me, moving her hand towards a bag that is shaped like…

  “Luna, what is in your hand?” I ask, my eyes squinting toward it.

  She gives me a concerned glance, perhaps owing to my expression.

  “The cursed edict.” She says, pulling it closer to herself, looking at me strangely, as though wary I may try to take it.

  “How?” I ask her, trying to stand.

  “What do you mean?” she asks me, shifting uncomfortably.

  “Do not play games Luna, I threw it from the shuttle landing pad, out into the city. How did you find it?” I ask, my legs barely holding me up.

  “Told you that you can’t trust an Ulima.” Fennec scoffs.

  “I don’t understand.” She says, giving me a confused expression, “Kalon, I found it in your pocket.”

  In my pocket. No, that’s not possible. I am sure that I threw it. Positive that I did.

  “Give me the box,” I say reaching Luna now.

  “Why?” she asks, pulling further away, her face looks conflicted.

  “Do you trust me?” I ask her, reaching out a hand to take it.

  She hesitates for a moment. Giving me a strange look.

  “The irony is not lost on me.”

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