the Runner

CHAPTER 1

  Afrian Torment

  The sun came up quickly, followed by pink wisps of cloud which hung motionless on the distant horizon. The valley below ran from the foot of the mountain to the verdant jungle then on through the orchards then on to the majestic spires by the sea which rose, gleaming in the morning light.

  Aura opened her eyes and lay for some time, staring at the azure sky and thinking of recent events. She would do as she wished, bowing to no holy one. She would not submit to the demands of lesser ones, for the ground was hers, the rocks and sky and limpid pools of crystal waters, the grassy plains and the snow capped mountains, the sea which stretched from the city of spires to beyond the horizon. They all belonged to her.

  Had she not illustrated her power over them? Had she not called upon the sky to cast its waters upon the city of spires? Had she not caused the earth to shake and the mountains to rumble and the ground waves to run rampant across the plains until they broke on the city's edge, bringing down the holy spire? Had she not caused the sea to rise in great swells, sliding, crashing to the shore, then carrying the holy one to the bottom - never to be seen again?

  She would one day be the keeper and no one would stop her. No one could stop her. She would destroy the priests and all their holy spires. Annihilate those who stood before her, in defiance of her destiny.

  She leaned back against the smooth rock and the blue lights danced about her head, then she rose to stand on the rocky ledge to gaze across the plain. The sun was now a red orb and she raised her face, seeking its warmth.

  Then came the pains and she winced and cried out and fell to her knees, holding her head in cupped palms, and wept. The blue lights began at her feet and rippled down the slope, increasing in brightness until the side of the mountain glowed in the dim morning light. As she wept, sympathetic waves of light shimmered about her fragile body.

  She was eight years old with rust-colored hair which fell straight and long over her shoulders, down her back. Her robe was simple; pale blue, held at her neck with golden pins and falling in haphazard folds to her ankles. She lifted her face when the pains had left and looked fiercely down the slope, her green eyes glowing with anger, her ebony cheeks wet with perspiration now sparkling in the rising sun.

  "My pain shall be shared by all," she whispered.

  She raised her hands and began to sing, a rising and falling song, a wailing which rose in intensity until the ground began to shake and the sea to roll.

  Afria belonged to Aura.

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  Tawna looked up, walked to the door and gazed out at Afriana, the city of spires. The ground began to shake and the spires to sway and she knew that Aura was on the mountain. And she knew that Aura was again in pain.

  Aura had been scolded, her childishness rebuked by the keeper. The holy ones were not to be abused, for they brought serenity of mind to the people of Afria. The holy ones brought meditation and wisdom and, above all, their council determined how deeply science should intrude upon the lives of the Afrians. But Aura rebelled at the honor bestowed upon the holy ones. A temple had been destroyed by her anger. A holy one had been carried by an angry sea to his death. The miracle child was no longer seen as the harbinger of a brighter future, but the demise of an Afrian paradise.

  Yet the keeper did nothing.

  "She is but a child, with the ways of a child," he had said.

  Although both knew of her pain, neither spoke of it, for Afrians are most perfect.

  Runr walked to Tawna and placed his hand on her shoulder and she turned and caressed his cheek.

  "It is time to speak of things ..." she began.

  "Wait," he said softly, and again she waited.

  Without another word Runr left, walking the path to the meeting place. It ran along the bluff by the sea and he stopped and gazed out at the roiling waters and raised his hands and began to sing the song of the crystals - and the sea calmed and the ground grew still.

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  "Keeper?" said the most holy one. "She will destroy us, and Afria. It is time."

  The others murmured their agreement. They sat on the long benches which circled the chair in which Runr sat. Their robes were blue and their hair rust-colored and they all stared with green eyes at the keeper. The most holy one sat among them and they waited. Finally Runr stood and spoke to them.

  "Yes, it is time. Her control over this planet is as great as mine. Her powers are those of Afria itself. Now it must end."

  Runr stopped and they waited for him to continue. He had brought them to Afria, had guided the reconstruction of Afriana, the city of spires. He had directed the energy of the planet and the fields became laden with fruit and berries, the ground fertile and the valley green.

  Then came the insanity of his only daughter. No one spoke of her pain, but all knew. Those who studied the science of genetics considered, to themselves, this pain - but none could explain.

  Now the keeper must decide and they, the holy ones, would agree. They waited for Runr to speak. Finally, he continued.

  "Without Afria, she is but a child, with the ways of a child. Her power comes from the crystals which cover Afria. Without this she is - she is -"

  They waited as Runr sat and held his head in his hands. He looked up, rose and spoke in a loud voice.

  "I will take Aura from Afria, to a place where she may grow to womanhood, a most perfect being - without the power to destroy, without the ground or the sea of Afria to do her bidding, without ..." He stopped, then continued in a whisper. "... without pain."

  The holy ones gasped and looked at each other then rose and bowed and began to sing, a rising and falling song. The keeper had said what all knew. Aura was not perfect, but afflicted with a pain - a torment that none understood.

  The tallest and most holy stepped forward and the others stopped singing and waited for him to speak.

  "Keeper, where will you take Aura?" he asked.

  Runr turned away from the holy ones and stood silent for some time, then he answered.

  "I will take my daughter Home."

  The holy ones looked about, began to whisper among themselves. The tallest and most holy spoke again.

  "Keeper, where is Home?"

  Runr turned to face them and whispered so quietly that they all leaned forward to hear.

  "To Home planet where once I lived. To the only parents I ever knew."

  Then Runr stepped down and left and they all stared at him, then at each other, then began again to sing the song of the crystals.

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  "But she will not go. She will not leave her Afria. And should the ground become angry at her leaving? What then? Will Afriana long survive?"

  Tawna sat at the feet of the keeper , looking into his solemn face, her hand upon his knee, pleading with her eyes. Runr gazed out the window at the sea, now quiet, and the sky, now flecked with cloud.

  "She will go, and Afria will assist," he said, "and Afriana will survive and flourish."

  Tawna remained quiet for she knew that her husband would keep this promise. She must not ask how this was to be, for the keeper worked in mysterious ways, but she was content. He had at last spoken of the affliction and she had listened without speaking while he explained.

  It was a torment that came not from Aura, not from Afria - but from beyond the skies. The affliction was not of imperfection, but of an awareness that no other possessed. Aura spoke not only to Afria, but to the sister planets: Afria-beta and Afria-gamma. The planets spoke, through Aura, of some impending doom - and in the speaking was pain.

  Tawna worried for her daughter, for the keeper, for Afria. "What disaster will befall Afria should Aura leave? Do you know the nature of this thing that will come?"

  Runr answered that he did not know, and that Aura did not know - but the thing was evil
and he would know of it when it came. Yet he did know; could he be wrong?

  "Can you protect Afria from the thing which comes?" Tawna had asked.

  "No. I cannot," he had answered. Then, after a long pause, "... but Aura, she will protect us - or destroy us."

  Tawna had not understood, but waited and the keeper had continued.

  "Should Aura remain on Afria, she will destroy us all, for the torment is real but she does not understand it. Yet she must be ready when this thing comes, and she will be ready."

  Tawna still did not understand, but the keeper turned and left.

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  The space vessel Africana was rarely used for there was little need to leave the planet Afria, but now, as Runr watched, the science officers inspected the command room and life-support facilities and subspace drive and all were functional. Tomorrow the keeper would leave to visit Home planet.

  Runr stared out the port, across the plains of fruit trees, over the spires glinting in the sun, to the mountains capped in snow. Today he must convince Aura to accompany him, and to that end he needed the help of Afria. He walked slowly to the stairs and climbed down, walked along the bluffs and sat, watching the tranquil sea. He began to sing softly and the ground flashed blue about him. He closed his eyes and the ground quivered and the waves grew and began to crash against the bluffs. Behind him came another song, an echo of his own, rising and falling, and Aura appeared in a blue robe, her hair rising in the wind which now swept up from the sea. She sat beside him and together they sang and the sea rose in a fury and the sky darkened and the ground shook beneath them and the rain came, first softly then in a torrent until their robes clung to them and their hair ran in streams over their shoulders.

  Then the keeper stopped singing and the sky cleared and the sea became still. Aura smiled and began to sing more loudly and the sky darkened once more, then she turned to look at her father and she stopped her song and the sky cleared.

  "I will go to Home planet, tomorrow," said Runr quietly, still looking out to sea.

  There was silence, and he waited, then spoke again.

  "Tawna will come ..." he began.

  "But I will not," Aura said in a determined voice. "Afria remains here."

  "You must stay," Runr whispered.

  Aura frowned, the smile now gone, and shook her head.

  "I go as I wish, where I please ... but I will remain."

  Runr rose and looked across the sea which extended to beyond the horizon.

  "Afria will protect you. You must stay."

  The girl rose and stood beside the keeper, her robe clinging to her slim body, her eyes flashing green.

  "I go as I wish, where I please," she repeated, then, "I need no protection. I am Afria."

  She turned to go, then raised her hands and began to sing and the ground shook and the spires of the city trembled and the sky grew dark.

  Runr sang and the ground became still and the sky grew bright once more.

  "I go where I please!" she shouted. "I am Afria! I will be the keeper and you will bow to me and all will honor me!" She began to sing but the sky remained clear and the ground remained still and she shouted again, "I am Afria!"

  Then she fell to her knees and clasped her head and Runr stopped singing, knowing that she felt the torment. He placed his hand on her head and blue lights danced across the damp ground. And Aura began to cry.

  Runr spoke softly. "Home planet is not for children, but for the keeper. I go to see my parents and Tawna will come ... but you must stay. That is my wish."

  "I go where I please," Aura whispered in a voice which told of the pain, still holding her head in her hands.

  Runr raised his hands and began to speak, to sing: "Afria, planet of crystal, you must keep and protect this child for I go where she cannot go."

  The blue lights danced wildly about his feet and the waters moaned and the wind whistled through the spires and out to sea. Aura opened her eyes and rose up and shouted.

  "I go where I please - and I will go to this planet!"

  Runr turned and walked away, along the bluff then toward the city and soon he was lost among the spires. Aura watched him, then shouted.

  "I will see this planet that only the keeper may see, for I go as I please - and I shall become the keeper."

  And the ground shivered, and she knew that Afria approved.