All Light Will Fall (26 page)

What I saw was darkly familiar. It was death. Down the cliff
from where we stood, a black gash, like an opened wound, slithered long across
the land. It was all ash, but not an ash struck by fire. It was a withering
ash, as if the life had been sucked dry out of everything that had once
existed.

“What is this?” I whispered.

“The shadow of your people,” Uway answered.

I shook my head. “I don’t understand.”

“The halos you carry, that substance inside you. Do you not
know what that is?” he questioned.

I didn’t know. “Energy?” I said.

Uway turned towards me. “I assure you it is much more than
that.”

I stared back at the rotted lowlands. “Then what is it?”

“I have answered your questions. And now you must answer
mine. We shall go now, the fleet is not far off.” He turned back towards the
forest. My eyes lingered on the hills for a moment longer. I thought to myself
about how much that gray and hideous scar reminded me so much of Earth.

“We have arrived,” Uway announced. He pushed through the tree
line. The blink of the sun found its way to us.

An assembly of navy and gold patterned tents stretched
through the valley, weaving between tall pillars of water. Not a river or
stream connected these wonders. They flowed by their own unbound power into the
deep below. The Meridian
valdor
crowded around the lagoons, drinking the
crystal waters and cooling their skin. Their intimate chatter was quickly
silenced by Uway’s arrival.

They honored him with a bow. Uway did not speak, his eyes
high above them as he sailed through. I felt their eyes on me, glaring with a
hidden rage, but not one of them was bold enough to speak.

Just then, a cry thundered through the valley, drawing every
gaze to the high of the hills. One of the
valdor
came trampling from the
slope. When he turned our way, his eyes widened in shock.

“
Aieti
! You have come indeed. We are in great need of
you,
Aieti
,” he said in Hedai.

Uway approached the Meridian, gripping the
valdor
by
the shoulders. “What is the trouble?” he asked. “Whose cry did I hear?”

“It is San-Adais,” he sighed, “and I am afraid our Lord has
lost himself,
Aieti
.”

“Lead me to him,” Uway demanded.

“Ay
Aieti
, this way,” he gestured.

The
valdor
rushed after them, and I eagerly followed.

We followed the screams. The cries possessed such a tortured
sadness that I could hardly bear to hear them.

Uway’s glide quickened as we neared the disarray. The howls
went on, echoing from the convoy’s noble tent. They were drawn and fierce and
violent enough to shatter seas.

“At long last,
Aieti
!” Zurel greeted. He bowed before
approaching his lord.

“Zurel!” Uway growled, disregarding his subordinate’s
welcome. “Explain this!”

“Allow me,
Aieti
,” a voice interrupted.

Uway faced the
valdor
who had spoken, a shadow of
urgency lining his face.

“Speak,” he encouraged.

The warrior stepped into the clearing. He spoke in Hedai,
his voice jagged and painful. “It was the battle fought against Lord Centric
that did away with his sanity, your Lordship. I never did fathom such evil.”

With each spoken word, he took a step towards Uway. “The
hovec
blocked our armies against the mountain face. Our land drowned in the blood of
our kin. We could not endure.” The warrior paused on the brink of weeping.
“When we heard the cries of our brothers, the shrieks of our children echoed
within them. We could do nothing,
Aieti
. We forbid San-Adais
to
yield, yet he saw that nothing gave pause to his decision.”

His woe peaked, and we watched the
valdor
shrink into
the gravel beneath him. “We surrendered him to the hands of that
hai’ek
,
Centric, who struck our Lord to his knees and mocked his greatness.” He began
to sob. “Mercy, that sword as it raised,
fai ni landya orinai
, was as
the jaw of a devil as it cut though him!”

Uway was in rage, and I had never imagined the beauty of his
face could look so wretched. He stormed over to the entrance of the tent. Zurel
stepped in front of him, and he nearly threw him aside.

“San-Adais left us without a choice,
Aieti
. We had to
bind him, for on several accounts did he attempt to take his life.”

Uway ripped back the overhangs of the tent then disappeared
inside. The cries were immediately silenced. The world stilled. Livid whispers
were exchanged behind the tent folds, escaping out into the quiet.

A sudden crash killed the calm.

“Do not turn your face from me!” the voice bellowed.

Uway exited the tent, his face leaking the grimy content of
whatever had been thrown. A subordinate quickly rushed to his aid, offering him
a silky piece of linen to clean his face. Uway did so gracefully, shooting his
soldiers a glare.

“There is nothing to witness here,” he demanded.

“You believe that you are mightier than me, brother!” Adais
cried, stumbling from the tent.

I nearly shrunk back in horror by the sight of him. There
was a deep ache in my chest as I stared upon the Meridian.

His knees were rooted in the earth. Violet tresses whipped
the bandage wrapped tight over his eyes, expressing the wrath those wounded
eyes could not. His glare blazed straight through that dark cloth and shattered
the light of day. Never before had I witnessed such a twisted, forlorn and
hideous display of beauty.

His lips parted, softly and slowly, as if to kiss the air.
“Far too pompous and prudish to face me brother?” he hissed in Hedai. “Too
smitten with thyself, thy glory and thy glamorous prestige!” Adais stumbled to
a stand. His rich robes fell from his chest and pooled beneath him. I gasped.

Before me, and before the horrified stares of his people,
stood Adais, reaching out for his brother with a violent and desperate hand.
The other had been stolen, robbed, cut off just below the bend of the elbow.

“What do make of this brother?” Adais cried, gesturing to
his ghastly wound. “Have I become all the more incompetent in your eyes? And
why not! I cannot see! Nor can I wield my sword, protect and guide my people!”

“Calm yourself brother!” Uway snapped.

“You, brother, were always the most favored, by our father
and our people… the strongest, the most fair, the most pleasing to look upon…
the precious and desired Erinome enamored by the mention of thy name! Why not
I, brother?!”

Uway faced the horizon, blatantly dishonoring him. “You
vowed to me Adais that you would cease to pursue him without my company. See
now what he has done!”

“If the opportunity was present, you would have left me
behind in the shadows!”

“So you tell yourself!” Uway defended. He spun around in
rage. “But what you say is a lie! Never would I shoulder such a burden without
you, Adais! You are my brother! You are my blood!”

Adais shriveled to his knees, and in one hand, gripped the
locks of his hair. His fingers bore deep, as if to tear his misery free from
his flesh. “And now what worth do I hold. I am unfit to fight, unfit to lead...
I cannot face Desura this way... broken... weak...
shalde
...”

I could feel the heart of the Levíí shatter. His pain was
shared, and not only by his people. I understood pain. Because pain and I were
one. I knew pain as I knew death. And so I understood the Meridian’s longing
for that death, for a final ending to his agony.

Uway knelt before him, bringing their foreheads together in
a gentle touch. A pulse of energy burst from the Levíí.

“Your eyes shall heal,” Uway promised. He caressed his
brother’s wound, nurturing the sore area that bled through the bandage. A touch
of blue and the arm was healed.

“As for this... it shall not be the end of you, brother.”

He gripped his brother’s hand, breathing a sigh of relief
when the Meridian responded.

“You shall wield your sword once again, Adais... have faith
brother... Kurios will not forsake you.”

Uway helped the Meridian back to his tent, leaving his
people in silence. There was a sudden hand on my shoulder, and I turned, facing
Luna.

“Allow me to situate you for the night,” he offered.

I nodded and followed after him.

He led me back down the hills to an empty tent. The inside
retained a refined elegance. It was comfort suited for nobility.

Luna lit a lantern near the tent’s entrance. The fire casted
a rosy light over the drapes.

“Is it safe to light it in here?” I asked.

Luna passed his hand through the delicate flames.
“Particularly safe,” he assured. “I shall see if there might be a dressing set
that will bring more comfort to you.”

I looked down at my suit, tattered and torn from battle.
“Thank you,” I said. Luna nodded, gracefully exiting the tent. He returned
moments later with a casual Meridian gown and a shining set of shoes. I dressed
in private as he waited for me to finish. The trimmed falls of the skirt were
made of a white leather that skimmed the bare of my legs. Pearly beads lined
the edges of the top where the curves of my sides were exposed. The garment was
masterfully woven and was considered typical feminine wear, but I felt strange
within it.

“Follow me,” Luna said. He led me to the falls and I sat
down beside them.

“
Shalde
,” I said suddenly.

Luna turned to me with a questioning look. “
Shalde
?”
he asked.

“What does it mean?”

Luna nodded in understanding, his eyes trailing the water.
There was silence until he spoke again. “It means disgrace.”

“Disgrace,” I whispered. It was such a powerful word. I
thought of Adais, how he had called himself a disgrace. The word 
shalde
 was
foreign to me, but hearing it uttered so brokenly from his lips still struck
me. Perhaps because I too knew disgrace. I have seen within myself time and
again, and it was as Uway had said. There was a darkness in me I could not
relent. And it was not there by force. It was there from the beginning.
Something I had welcomed with my very own heart.

I looked to Luna. I wanted to know more. “
Igle
?”

Luna dipped his hand into the lagoon and drank the water
from his palm. As he did, the markings among his body flared, rivaling the
shine of the water.

“
Igle
,” he whispered, “is the meaning for one of
another, one unknown, one unexplained.”

“And
hai’ek
?” I asked.

He glanced at me. “One of great evil.” He said this with an
old pain in his words.

“You’ve been called that name before,” I said.

“I have been called by many names,” he replied.

“Why? What makes you so different from them?” I wondered,
nodding toward the other Meridian.

Luna looked to the stars. “The disparities of this world are
perhaps the most spectacular wonders I ever did see. It is the belief that we
must all be one of the same, in a single way that defiles that beauty.” Luna
turned to me. “You wish to know why I am unlike the rest?”

I nodded.

“Because it has been made so. I am who I am.”

Those words were familiar, and I found myself desperate to
remember where I had first heard them.

I reached into the lagoon then timidly sipped the gathered
water as Luna had done. He watched me curiously, raising a brow when I looked
to him.

“What?”

“Your lips shine,” he chuckled. I tried rubbing them free of
the glow but to no avail. “It shall fade by the morning.”

We were silent again, and I thought about the name
hai’ek
,
the name of my people. Were they my people, ARTIKA and its army of slaves? I
was thinking like a Meridian.
My people
… sounded too heavy, like I had
inherited something. But perhaps I had. All of their greed and shame. Did I not
carry it with me, and in the eyes of these blessed beings, did they not see it?
I imagined they did. Because even though I had tried, I could not break the
chains of the past. Those chains of fate were mine to bear now and could never
be forgotten.

Luna escorted me back to the tent. I slid beneath the thin
bed sheets and listened to the soothing hum of the planet. As the moments
passed, the
valdor
retired to their tents, and the quiet returned.

I stood alone, waist-deep in an ocean of blood. A ring of
bodies surrounded me, each lost soul submerged beneath the waters. They were
lifeless, their solid faces drifting afloat. I knew those faces. I knew them
well. They were the souls I had stolen and killed. They whispered my name:
“Celeste. Celeste. Celeste.” It was like a song, and I found myself lured by
the sound, driven by the dark until I was snagged beneath the waters. Then I
was drowning, clawing, thrashing, dying, sinking further and further into the
deep, until I was robbed of breath and the steady, feeble beat of life.