Different Paths (29 page)

As the soldiers began to apply the paste, she
noted how their personalities influenced their application.

Sgt. Major Spenton, Odysseus and Ajax applied the
paste in such a similar manner that it had to be the standard application
pattern; a wide tiger stripe pattern that would break up their silhouette as
they moved through the occupied fortress. Hector’s patterns consisted of
several large X’s across his chest and face while he blackened in his legs and
arms.

Iaido, or Achilles as he was known as during this
time, was completely different from the rest. He took extra care when applying
the paste to his face. Leaving the edges and chin uncovered in such a pattern
that the paste looked like a skull. For the rest of his body, he haphazardly
smeared it all across his chest, arms and legs. Some areas heavy, some light
and some not touched at all. The effect was such a random pattern that it
seemed to mask his silhouette more effectively than anyone else, at least to
Talia’s eyes.

It wasn’t long before they were off, moving
through the Lemurian Fortress like shadows. They took extra care to avoid
confrontations as much as possible but whenever it was inevitable, they would
attack so swiftly and efficiently that they overwhelmed the lizards before an alarm
could be raised. With every encounter, the Myrmidons looted more weapons. Yet,
they continued to rely on captured swords and knives.

They became the silent killers….death incarnate.

It was at this point Talia realized why the Grand
Council of the Sylvan Empire truly feared the Terrans. Outnumbered and
outgunned, they were forging ahead. Determined to complete their mission or to
die in the attempt. She knew that no Sylvan would’ve even attempted this
mission… much less continue under these conditions. It was this tenacity, this
single minded focus on a goal which the Terrans showed, which frightened so many
Sylvans.

As they moved closer to the inner sanctum, the
Lemurian guards became more numerous and armed with more ornate weapons and
armor. After silently dispatching two lizards at an archway, Achilles signaled
a stop by holding up a clenched fist. All four Myrmidons dropped to firing
positions with guns at the ready.

Achilles stepped through the archway and studied
the huge spiral stairway. Carved of stone, every step seemed to be expertly
carved with glyphs and symbols. Talia couldn’t help but admire the handiwork
which had been expended to create such a practical work of art. She realized
that this had been what the soldiers had been looking for, the core of the
Lemurian Fortress and hopefully near their goal.

As Achilles returned to his companions, his hands
began to fly as he silently communicated his intentions to the rest of his
team. With a simple nod, Odysseus and Ajax broke off and wordlessly headed up
the staircase while the remaining three headed down. This stairway was
reasonably dark, lighted only with torches at regular intervals of fifty feet
or so. The flickering torchlight and large areas of darkness only aided the
Myrmidons’ infiltration. After a few minutes, Iaido signaled a stop as they
approached a brightly lit chamber.

Sneaking up to the opening, Achilles moved forward
to scout out the target and Talia found the first advantage of her perspective.
Although she was a guest in Iaido’s memories and was drawn along with them, she
found that she could move around to see things from a different point of view.
This was extremely weird. She could still feel the touch of his hand and the
quickness of his pulse but she found herself moving slightly ahead of the
soldiers to get her first good glimpse of the heart of the Lemurian Fortress.

The chamber was round. It was at least two hundred
meters across and twice that in height. The stairs ran along the wall until it
circled the room once before ending. The lighting of the room came from the
pool of lava which covered the entire floor. A stone walkway which crisscrossed
the room was suspended several feet above the molten rock. Although four other
passageways emptied into this room, there weren’t any guards visible.

Talia’s heart skipped a beat when she saw the
object sitting on a pedestal in the direct center of the room and she knew
instinctively that this was the artifact they had been sent to loot.

It was an orb of blackness that seemed to draw in
the light of the lava pool while still flickering with energy of its own. Even
though she was inside a memory, the orb seemed to pull on her spirit form. It
wasn’t logical nor was it practical but Talia felt the sudden trickle of fear
as the soldiers descended the stairs, drawing closer and closer to the
mysterious orb. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, the three soldiers moved
with a purpose toward the object of their quest. Just as Achilles was reaching
out to grab the flickering orb, several explosions rocked the fortress.

Talia squeezed Iaido’s unseen hand with all her
might and dug in her fingernails as she tried to break the magic of the spell.

*   *   *   *   *

Iaido looked around. He was alone, surrounded by
the thick mist.

Gone were the lava pit and the rushing horde of
Lemurians. Looking down at his body, he noticed that the henna stripes were
also gone, only the faintest of markings could still be seen. As the mist
around him thickened, so did the sensation of the cold metal table in the
med-bay….

Iaido sat up. Once again he was back on the
Nemesis, sitting on the examination table. Glancing around, he spied Talia. She
was once again wearing her robe and was sitting in a nearby chair studying him.
Her emerald eyes seemed to bore through him as her gaze shifted from intense
scrutiny to wonder to curiosity and finally to worry.

Iaido cleared his throat. “Thank you.”

Since she hadn’t responded to his statement and
she seemed more upset than tired, he waited.

And waited.

And waited.

After several minutes she finally asked, “What
happened to the Orb? I know you didn’t touch it….but what happened to it?”

Iaido hopped off the table and moved over to the
beautiful Sylvan. Kneeling down, he could see the lines of worry in her face. He
placed both of his hands gently over top of her hands.

“You’re right; I never got a chance to touch it.
After the explosions, we found ourselves under attack by a horde of Lemurians.
Since the walkways weren’t very wide and the lizards seemed reluctant to use any
sort of range based weapons, we were able to hold our ground for the first few
waves of their attacks. When the Sgt. Major fell from a blow to the head, we
knew it was the beginning of the end. We had killed, injured or knocked into
the lava over three dozen lizards but on they came.”

Talia didn’t interrupt but let her mystical powers
flow back into Iaido through their connection of flesh searching for any taint
of the evil she knew that had been held inside the Orb.

Iaido shook his head slowly as he continued.
“Hector knew the mission as well as I did. We were expendable. Always were. The
only thing that mattered was the mission. We were tasked with recovering the
artifact from the Lemurians. In the event that was impossible, the fail safe
objective was to destroy the artifact. As I moved forward to cover the prone
body of my friend, Hector leapt up and grabbed the orb.”

Iaido paused and looked off into the distance.

“As soon as he touched the orb there was a
brilliant flash of light which only seemed to enrage the lizards further. They
immediately forgot about us and chased after my brother. The last time I saw
Hector, he was about to throw the orb into the lava when the leading Lemurians
tackled him. There was a brief struggle before they all fell into the lava;
Hector, the orb and the lizards.”

Looking back into Talia’s emerald green eyes, he
gave her a weak smile. “I found myself alone, injured, deep underground and far
behind enemy lines with an unconscious friend.”

“Do you know how you escaped?”

Iaido nodded. “Yes. First we…”

Pax interrupted. “Captain to the bridge.”

Iaido stood up and involuntarily looked at the
ceiling. “What is it Pax?”

“We are one hour from our exit from hyperspace.
You asked to be alerted at this time.”

Iaido nodded. “Aye, that I did. Alert all
crewmembers and have them report to battle stations in thirty minutes.”

“Aye, aye sir.”

Iaido turned back to Talia. “You are right. I know
most of what happened now. I am sure I’m missing a few things but with time it
will come back to me. Thank you.”

Talia nodded her head. “It pleases me that the
spirit walk was a success. Now, if you will excuse me I will get ready for our
upcoming encounter.”

As she began to move past him and out into the
passageway, Iaido tapped her lightly on the shoulder. “Is there something
special about that orb?”

Talia shrugged. “Perhaps…perhaps not. If we
survive the next few days, we will talk about this further after I have had
time to reflect on what we have seen.”

Iaido watched as she moved down to her quarters. He
was elated at discovering some of his past but totally confused by her remarks
and actions. However, she was correct in one thing. It was time to get ready
for battle. Everything else would have to wait.

Chapter 24

Talia did her best to control her movements and act
casual as she moved down the corridor to her small cabin. Once inside, she
immediately sealed the door and collapsed on her bunk. She sat and stared
unseeing at the bulkhead above her as she thought about everything she had
learned.

‘An Orb…they found a Shadow Orb. By the Living
Stars, the Lemurians had one hidden all these millennia.’

Sitting up, her eyes fell on the bag which
contained her meager belongings. She quickly rummaged through it until she
found an ornately carved ebony box. Inside it held her two most prized
possessions, her grandmother’s tarot cards and a small clear gem.

Holding up the gem, she watched as the lights
reflected off its multi-faceted sides. Talia knew that this gem was old; it was
in fact her oldest possession. Even older than the tiara her mother had given
her on her Day of Ascension. The tiara had been passed down from mother to
daughter for nearly two millennia and served to announce her House. However,
the soul gem was older and bestowed certain other benefits.

She removed her tiara and unfastened the emerald
she normally wore as its headstone. The emerald was her birthstone and served
to enhance her mystical powers. With great care, she inserted the soul gem in
the same slot and snapped it into place with a satisfying click. Replacing the
tiara, Talia leaned back in her chair and began the ancient chant which was
taught to her when she was but a child and felt herself fall into the magic of
the gem.

As always, she was always amazed at combination of
science and magic involved in this simple gem. By its use, she had the means to
access the entire history of her people. It was connected in some mystical way
to the Great Library of Sylvanis and allowed the user access to all of its
files and histories, modern or ancient. It would also allow the wielder to
communicate with anyone in the Great Library, which had its own advantages.

As Talia moved through the seemingly endless
shelves of scrolls and books, she ignored the other inhabitants of the library.
On the thirteenth landing and near the back of the library, she found the
section which contained the oldest of records of her people; the histories of
the Shadow Wars and the Exodus from Terra. She scrutinized the scroll labels
for a moment before she pulled one down and after a quick scan, threw it down
in disgust and grabbed another. Since she was in a virtual reality of the Great
Library, the scrolls just disappeared and reappeared in their proper spot.
However, her misuse of the sacred documents alerted one of the librarians.

When Talia threw down the next scroll, the
librarian appeared slightly behind her with a scowl. Since Talia’s back was to
her, the librarian cleared her throat and said, “Pardon me ma’am but you should
not mishandle the sacred documents. Continue this action and I will be forced
to ban you from the Great Library.”

When Talia threw down the next document, the
librarian reached out and touched her shoulder.

“That’s enough; you will cease this action and
depart, or I will…” As Talia turned to faced her, whatever the librarian was
going to say next died in her throat as she got her first good look at her.
Immediately, the librarian lowered her gaze and bowed her head slightly. “I’m
sorry ma’am, I didn’t recognize you.”

Talia ignored the apology. “Where are the
histories of the Shadow Wars? The earliest scrolls would be the best.”

The librarian, who was Talia’s senior by several
decades, continued to apologize but moved to a nearby shelf and lifted down a
large scroll of bamboo shoots. Setting it on a long table, she gently unrolled
it from the bottom as was the custom with such a scroll.

“If you are searching for anything in particular,
I may be able to help if you would just….”

Talia stepped in front of the librarian and
quickly scanned the ancient scroll. Not finding what she wanted in the unrolled
section, she pushed the upper section causing the scroll to unroll the length
of the table and caused the librarian to clear her throat once again. Talia
glanced up, totally surprised to find the elderly sylvan still standing there.

“If you want to help, send me your most talented
Medium.”

Seeing the librarian hesitate Talia added, “Now!”

As the librarian scurried off, Talia perused over
the ancient scroll and felt the growing chill of fear throughout her soul. It
wasn’t long before a young man approached her table.

With a low bow he asked, “Excuse me ma’am but I
believe you requested my services?”