------
Kiyan stood looking at the images that were displayed on the holographic screens before him. “You are unable to get any clearer scans of the surface?”
“Sadly the location of the location of the portal in unclear. Only that it is somewhere on the northern hemisphere. I believe that it is on this continent from the records detail the resulting disaster when it opened.” Alec called up an image that was fuzzy but one could make out the outlines of the grey continent against the red ocean.
“Then there are the fleets in orbit.” Kiyan scowled at the clearer images of the ships that guarded the planet. It was clear that the task would be more difficult that Kiyan had initially anticipated.
“I wish there was some way to simply slip in and get you close enough but I’m not the smallest ship if you haven’t noticed.” Alec sounded apologetic.
“A drop ship won’t work either. Too much discordant energy. The cloaks would fail and we would be sitting ducks.” Theo weighed in.
“If only there was a way to make the fleet leave or to distract them.” Fred stared gloomily at the images.
“That might be an idea, except that I used the vast majority of my fighters in our entrance display unless....” Alec trailed off as he began running calculations and scenarios.
“No, there has to be another way! There always is.” Kiyan was connected enough with the ship to know what Alec was thinking about.
“If there is I am glad to hear it. If I sacrifice the Avenger in an assault they won’t notice if you get sent to the planet.” Alec was determined. “It’s not like I would die, I was backed up before we left our universe.”
“There is no other way apparent to me son.” Theo didn’t sound like he liked the idea any better than Kiyan.
Kiyan balked. Several ideas flew through his head but deep down he knew that Alec was right. Only by slight hand would they ever be able to reach the planet surface. He was loath to sacrifice the Avenger but knew that it was the only way. His parents couldn’t ascend in this proximity to the portal let alone descend to the surface. Kiyan was sure that he could free fall but he also knew that he needed all the help he could get.
“Are you sure?” Kiyan controlled the quiver in his voice and hated himself for it. Now was no time to cling to childish emotions. War demanded sacrifice yet Kiyan was loath to consign the ship that had carried him thus far to so ignoble fate. To be destroyed by the drakken as a distraction burned at Kiyan.
Alec seemed to sense some of Kiyan’s conflicting emotions. “I can assure you that the Avenger will be worthy of her name. Many drakken ships will merge with the void by my cannons. Besides, I will be waiting for you with a new ship when you get back. My temporal dampers will protect me from any time shift.”
“Like the Assurian high command would entrust me with another battleship.” Kiyan tried to shake off his feelings and accept the inevitable.
“You are Prime. Nothing less than the crown of Assurian technology is worthy of you.” Alec was all seriousness with his promise.
“Then we will meet again my friend?” Kiyan received Alec’s confirmation before he agreed to the plan.
Chapter Twenty-Four: Revenge's End
Everything was set into motion and Kiyan assembled with his parents and the crew that had managed to remain on the Avenger on its last voyage. They all knew what has planned but none of them made an effort to speak. There was a holographic screen visible that showed the surrounding drakken fleets in orbit of the drakken world. They were silent blissfully unaware of the battleship moving into position among them.
Kiyan flinched when sensed Alec give the order that meant there was no turning back from the chosen path. The drakken responded remarkably fast to the sudden appearance of the Avenger. Already several of them had been smashed under the torrent of fire that Alec poured forth. The others that managed to raise shields lasted a moment longer before succumbing to a similar fate. Kiyan had the impression that Alec might yet survive the opposition.
In an instant the bright interior of his ship was replaced by a rocky outcropping on the planet surface. The hand was played and now Alec battled ferociously by himself in the sky. They could see the ship in the sky above them. The avenger was trading fiery shot for shot with the encircling ships. Sky was lit with the weapon fire and the exploding drakken ships.
Suddenly the sky was not the only thing on fire. The ground around the group seemed to explode. Theo was the first to respond to the unexpected threat. Rock slabs shot out of the ground on all sides of them blocking the weapon fire.
“Where did that come from!?” Corban had managed to absorb or neutralize anything that had come near enough to him and was unharmed.
Before anyone had a chance to respond explosions shook the ground as a wing of the Avenger’s dropships swept overhead with guns blazing. Being outside of a ship during a firefight was rather disconcerting. The guns that had been blasting at Theo’s walls turned to the new threat. Kiyan watched as the dropships blasted at the embattlements without much success. Alec must have detected their plight and was trying his best to neutralize the threat.
Finding their assaults to be fairly ineffective the dropships switched tactics. They split away from one another and powered down at their respective targets. The first two reached the embattlements that poked fire at them from the rugged hillside. The resulting explosions were enough to shake group off their feet. There was another explosion as the third ship disintegrated in the air before reaching the target. Immediately fire was retrained on the rock walls that protected the group.
Kiyan looked back up at the Avenger and noticed that the giant ship suddenly seemed to shrink out of existence. Following this sudden disappearance the ship reappeared only looking twisted like what one sees through a drop of water. The realization of what Kiyan was seeing dawned on him an instant later.
“Brace yourselves!” The quantum singularity picked everyone up a moment later before smashing them to the ground. The sideways gravity indicated the direction where the singularity struck. The group was only crushed against the wall for a moment before the singularity destabilized. The sky flashed white hot for a second before the shock wave engulfed them. Corban was able to deflect the heat while Kendra managed the air pressures. Theo was busy maintaining the rock walls that deflected most of blast. The fire storm only lasted a moment. However long it felt the ordeal was over as fast as it started.
Again their vision was drawn to the sky. The Avenger was fighting valiantly but now the odds were stacked against the ship. She was drifting now having paid for the lapse in defense that had annihilated the planet side embattlements. The Avenger’s shields were flashing with the strain but Alec was still keeping her employed dealing death on any ships that surrounded him. There were more drakken ships on the scene now. Each was intent on vaporizing the invader. Finally unable to withstand any more punishment the shields collapsed leaving the ship vulnerable. They could see the failed shield emitters explode from where they were on the planet surface.
Remarkably the Avenger withstood a period of sustained fire against her armored sides. The effects were telling in the fewer shots that were fired. Soon the Avenger was a defenseless hulk with her last guns destroyed. Glowing with the energy imparted by the drakken rounds Alec only had a few more moments at the most. Suddenly the ship disappeared as it collapsed in on itself. The Avenger’s death dealt as much damage to the encircling drakken fleet as her final fight had. The drakken were not prepared for the blast that followed the Avenger’s demise. Radiating out in a disk the wave of raw energy disintegrated any drakken ships that were in its path. Finally fading into the brilliantly glowing colors of a supernova the Avenger died. Only a fragment of the drakken fleet escaped her death throes.
Kiyan rubbed a tear from his eye. It was as much from seeing his ship destroyed as from the overwhelming realization that he had to succeed or all their lives were forfeit. Theo closed the rock dome and they began sinking into the earth.
br /> “Is everyone alright?” Kiyan heard Kendra call in the darkness. He held up his hand a blue flames illuminated the domed ceiling and cast everyone in a blue light. Jeremy answered with blue flames of his own and together they illuminated the whole cave. It was only a few paces across and maybe four times Kiyan’s height tall. Everyone seemed accounted for. Ray was dusting himself off over to one side and Sapphire was brushing her hair into place on the other. Kronos joined with some blue flames of his own. Theo and Kendra never seemed touched by the chaos. Fred was with Addy and Jeremy was playing with his ice fire. Terra however...
“Terra!” Kiyan found her slumped against the wall where she had been thrown. Hearing her name her eyes flicked open and flashed around the cave in confusion.
“Did Alec die?” Kiyan was busy trying to see what was wrong with her and almost didn’t hear the faint question.
“Yes, it is over. He took out most of the drakken fleet in the process.” Sadness flickered through her deep brown eyes at Kiyan’s words. Pain twisted her face as he rolled her onto her back exposing her side. Blood soaked the clothes around the wound. He realized that she had been caught in the first volley of shots that they had come under on finding themselves planet side. He cursed himself for not having noticed earlier and set about trying to heal her. On opening himself he was assaulted with the discordant energies that surrounded him. Focus proved elusive.
“Kendra, she’s slipping away and I can’t heal her.” Kiyan’s mother was at his side an instant after his desperate cry for help. Kendra only paused long enough to find the injury. She held her hands over the wound that fresh blood still seeped out of. Kendra’s hands glowed with the effort but the wound didn’t recede like expected.
“I can’t.” Kendra gathered her strength to again.
“You have to! I never meant for this to happen. Not to her.” Kiyan felt as if the weight of his decisions were going to crush him if he lost Terra.
“Get ahold of yourself. No one ever plans for something like this to happen.” Kendra had failed a second try at healing Terra. She placed a hand over the wound and a white light flared for a moment. When she removed her hand there was no longer any fresh blood seeping out. Kendra had managed to cauterize the injury. “I don’t know if it is the proximity to the portal or her body that is preventing me from healing her.”
“She can’t die.” Kiyan sank to his knees with a haunted expression. “I never wanted her here, I knew I could be lost here but I didn’t want her to get hurt.” His throat felt like someone has strangling him. Vision blurred with tears.
“The bleeding is stopped but I can’t do anything more. I’m sorry.” Kendra’s words barely penetrated the haze that surrounded Kiyan’s mind. Slowly the only thing that meant anything in the universe was the feelings that he had never told her about. How he had felt since he had first seen her. Kiyan could sense her pulse fading. No matter how much he willed it he couldn’t stop her life from flickering out. In an instant it was too late. Terra’s lifeless body lay in front of him. Grief and rage flooded his mind blocking all else from existence. Suddenly it was all gone replaced by a burning hatred of the one responsible for all the pain and hurt that he had ever experienced. In the moment of clarity he tested his abilities to travel back in time to save Terra and found that option blocked. Giving in to the desire to destroy the dark one he looked for other options. The temporal fragment was in a pouch at his waist and the portal was nearby. Luke knew when it had all started. There was only one way to undo the damage.
--------
Kendra sensed that there was nothing that she could do to help Kiyan. She stepped back to let him work through the emotions that had rendered his mind immune to her attempts at comforting him. Kendra ached with every mother’s desire to keep anything from hurting her son. Blue flames began to play over Kiyan’s features indicating the chaos that consumed him. Suddenly all was still. He rose to his feet and looked around at the assembly. His gaze returned to Terra’s body and in a flash he was gone.
Jeremy’s blue flames flickered for a moment in the stunned silence before going out like they always did when Kiyan was too far away. Corban’s golden glow replaced the lost light but still Kiyan was gone.
“Where did he go?” It was Ray that posed the question. No one knew the answer so all remained silent. Suddenly it seemed as if gravity had been switched off. No longer was everyone held to the floor. It was chaos for a few seconds with Corban’s flames swirling madly around him. There was no way to tell what was up or down until impact shattered the stone that encased them.
Fred shoved the slab of rock off of himself and dusted his cloths. Addy had been fortunate enough to avoid any of the debris not that it would have damaged her thick plates. Jeremy poured out from under a pile of the rubble and reformed himself. The swirling flames coalesced into Corban and Sapphire. Ray snorted and shook a few loose pieces off of himself. He had managed to mostly shift into his dragon form before the impact. He limped a little but was hardly bruised. Theo and Kendra were likewise uninjured.
“The portal prevented me from knowing that I had dropped us through the ceiling of the cavern.” Theo apologized for the failing.
“Terra is dead and Kiyan is gone with the temporal fragment. What are we supposed to do now?” Sapphire’s hair still glowed hotly as she brushed it back over her pointed ears.
“I’m not sure but something feels different here.” Kendra closed her eyes and held up a hand like she was feeling invisible barriers. There was a shimmer and she disappeared. The shimmer appeared again a minute later followed by Kendra’s appearance.
“So time travel is possible.” Theo observed.
“It feels like the eye of the storm. The portal energies are disrupting everything around us accept for here in this cave.” Kendra frowned and looked around them.
“It couldn’t have been that easy.” Theo bent a ball of fire and launched it up at the cave ceiling high above them. The orb of light climbed higher until it had reached the top before arching back down. Briefly the lit cave ceiling outlined an object suspended in the center. It didn’t reflect light but seemed to drink it in and remain the epitome of darkness.
“No no, this is wrong.” Theo remained staring at the spot above them until it was lost from sight. “It isn’t possible”
“I don’t understand. What is it?” Corban was confused by Theo’s reaction.
“The portal didn’t come from the dark universe did it?” Kendra asked.
“He used the energy in this universe to open the portal.” Theo responded.
“What are you talking about and what does this have to do with finding Kiyan?” Jeremy was tired of the cryptic exchange.
Finally seeming to remember the others Theo looked down. “The dark one opened the portal using the energy from this universe. Opposites attract. He was able to manipulate the energy in this universe to create the portal. There is no limit to the number of portals that he could open. Closing this one would do no good. He would just open another one. There is no way we could ever track down and close every single one. There is only one way to stop it for good.”
“We have to go into the portal and defeat Reigns. There is no other way to stop him.” Kendra finished where Theo left off.
“What about Kiyan?” Jeremy pressed his earlier inquiry.
“There is nothing we can do for him if he went through the portal now but if he went to the past when the portal first opened...” Kendra trailed off and began focusing. Theo joined her and soon the group was encased in shimmering bubble. In what seemed like only a moment the surroundings outside the bubble changed. The bubble was gone an instant later. The cave was no longer cloaked in darkness. Above their heads the portal blazed like a star. It was spherical in shape and pulsed with light.
“He is already in there!” Theo shouted to Kendra as he shifted.
“Take care of yourselves. I know not what will result from our battle.” Kendra finished speaking as she dissolved into ener
gy. Together she and Theo streaked into the portal leaving the rest of the group standing in astonishment. Theo was the first to pass through the portal. What met his eyes was a landscape that he had long since wanted to forget. The dark world was a place where the laws that govern the physics of light universes don’t exist. Matter or the dark equivalent contorted in waves around the portal. On this landscape Theo saw Kiyan. The young ascended was shining like a star. Rays of light reached out and slashed at the dark world around him leaving gashes in the very fabric of the universe. With Kendra at his side they joined Kiyan in the fray.
“You were waiting for me to open the portal?” Reigns sounded incredulous.
“You should have known that we would find you.” Theo combined his attacks with Kiyan’s.
“Would it have been so hard to accept me as one of you?” Reigns taunted.
“NEVER. You are a monster.” Kiyan unleashed a wave of light that destroyed a huge stretch of the planet surface.
“Prometheus, your dog has a bite. You let a mongrel like that ascend but you refuse me the same privilege. The anger that had been concealed before simmered in Reign’s words.
“Never. You stole everything we took from you.” Theo sensed an accumulation of dark energy and struck at it with a vengeance. He sensed it melted away under the onslaught.
“Conceited foolish ascended, Always thinking that you could control everything. When you banished me here I was forced to become one with this universe to survive. You made me more powerful than you could ever hope to be and now you try to destroy me. I will crush you with my power starting with your mongrel.” Reigns threatened ominously.
“Just try. Our son was known as the Star Killer by your drakken. As for you, I will destroy this entire universe if I have to be rid of you.” Theo lanced out with beams of light at every concentration of dark energy that neared them.
“Enough! You I will kill last. After you there is none to oppose my conquest of the core universes.” Reigns began the battle in earnest. The group of energy beings were soon surrounded by darkness as deep as the deepest night. Reigns no longer had a body to strike at. Only a cloud of energy that was trying to suffocate them. Light flashed and burnt holes in the cloud only to have the lost energy replaced with endless reserves.