Issue 5: From Father to Son
I knew. Nearly from the start. For I was trapped within the void of Eliza’s shadow. So I could see the tapestry beyond her life as the Star-Spangled Banner. As for myself? The mantle was heavy but I have a purpose. One that I will not deny.—Alexander Dexter Murphy
A father is the final barrier between chaos and his family. –Lo’tarr Lanis
While Anna and I were helping Gwen reach a new level of understanding? My father was discovering another layer. Yes, he had experience. His battle sense outside of Eden. But more than that? He was a father as well. That role which so many overlook.—Sleeping in Starlight: Reflections of Convergence
Tessaract of Time
Hall of Echoes
I peered up into the endless starlit sky. My fingers stung. The cold was ever pervasive. Cliffs rose. I rested one palm against the rock. Warmth seeped into my fingers. I climbed. My muscles were stiff. My wedding band glowed. Lo’tarr was with me. He reached down, “Take my hand.” I found myself resting upon a small rock edge. Frost clung to the sides of the walls. I shivered. Rubbed my forearms to get the blood flowing.
Lo’tarr pulled me up, “Keep going.”
*****
Thomas Murphy followed the memory form of Lo’tarr. He watched as Lanis hung up his mining rig. The uniform was patched together with whatever they were able to salvage. Lo’tarr grunted. The sky above him was a darkened gray-green. The energy shield kept the atmo fed into the colony. Listed as Eternal Node 25.55. The Locals called it the Mulch. He didn’t care to look up the official designation. His life was bleak enough as it was.
White Lighting noted, “No wonder my father never talks of this.”
Lo’tarr tapped a metal pipe. A special sequence. A lean-faced woman opened the door. Tarnik exclaimed, “Aunt Alia!” Her pregnancy was obvious to anyone. Murphy’s hand passed through the wall. He peered into the metal compartment. It was a shipping container. All of them were. The Empire threw what refuse it had at the enslaved population.
White Lightning followed Murphy inside. A ring of three white circles dominated the wall. Lo’tarr said, “How much longer?” Alia clutched her abdomen. “Three months.” Tarnik saw the glint of metal before his father did. His aunt screamed as two armored men pushed his father to the floor plating. “The All-Seeing Eye requests your presence!”
*****
Lo’tarr hung from the manacles. His wrists were raw. Welts burned on his back. Still, he endured. Never saying a word. One thug shoved him to the side, rummaged through the table instruments, “Extra rations. Even though the Urraden’s provide all that is needed.”
The portly guard sneered. “Maybe I'll keep that sister of yours company once the deed is done!” Lo’tarr stared into the oblivion between spaces. He didn’t know if he was dreaming. Whispy threads coalesced about the young man’s face. Eyes as green as his own. The hair was a lighter brown. The Weave was bestowing a vision. His son. The garb was foreign but gave him an odd sense of hope.
Of what was. What would be.
Time stretched out towards the infinite.
*****
White Lightning’s hand passed through his father’s chest. “Is this a memory? Or….”
He pleaded, “Do not give in! You can’t! Dad!”
Lo’tarr’s pained expression softened, “A man endures.”
The guard grunted and aimed a kick at Lo’tarr’s abdomen. He screamed when Thomas Murphy caught the leg and yanked it. An explosive pop filled the chamber. Ankle broken the little troglodyte slithered away. Thomas said quietly, “Keep talking to your father. Do not let slumber take him. Events must play out as intended.”
Thomas watched as Lo’tarr followed his movements then the former slave said, “I ask only that you help my sister.”
White Lightning replied, “We will!” He walked through his father. Then froze as he filtered all the pain cascading through his back. His father’s back. Lo’tarr’s mind was open to him. Focus your energy on the bindings!
Lo’tarr grinned as the metal bent. Its atoms decayed as he focused on it.
Odd power.
His son said, “Yours. Ours. Mother needs you.”
He knelt and rummaged through the meager medical stimulants. Meant to keep him awake through the pain. He popped a few pills in addition to the energy stims. He would crash but not before he took the boon of the Weave. The path was of pain. In the end? A Legacy. One that Urraden and its ilk could never take. He staggered out of the cell. Bodies littered the floor. The avenging spirit assisted his son. He hobbled towards the roof. Men like these always had a personal craft. Take one, then open the mining port. His son pulled his broken body along. What power dwelled within that young form?
The teen’s voice egged him on.
“Power that was given to me by you and mother. This place sickened your body and mind. Your soul is stronger. Keep moving.”
Images flashed. One stood out. He was lounging in a comfortable chair. His legs stretched out. A woman curled up next to him. A young boy reading from a book. One with leather bindings and paper. A baby girl curled on his chest. All was well. The metal of a wedding ring glinted within the flames dancing in an old-style stone fireplace.
His bloodline.
His eyes locked onto the guard loitering near the docking bay. His fist curled. Sparks of blue energy danced. His son lifted his arm. He could see the duel-layered image. This was the past, present, and future, all colliding. Providing the means to escape. A razor-thin line of blue energy shot out. The guard jerked and toppled over. His armor was built to withstand ballistics instead of energy. For none here possessed more than mining tools.
*****
A grove of dead trees surrounded the Twilight Crystal.
I reached out. Sharp pain brought me to my knees as I was sucked into its spiraling surface. Voices closed in, “What is your name?” Lo’tarr stared back at me. His chest was bare. His old scars were fresh. Open wounds on his back. He reached for me, “When we first met? I knew who you were.” The words flowed through me. Time was all around me. No accidents. The fabric of fate, honor, and love bound me to the mortal plane.
The name was on the tip of his tongue.
Lo’tarr said, “I dreamed of this moment countless nights stuck within that hell. Even if I wasn’t able to see your face clearly until the end.”
*****
Alia pulled her sons up the ramp. A wraith of pure energy snapped at the jailers. It had been years since she had seen her brother. His outer form was covered in scars. She could see it past the short sleeves of his stolen shirt. His hair hung in clumps. He pointed, “Strap them in!” The wraith boosted her towards the hatchway. As her fingers brushed it she beheld a tall man in gleaming golden armor. The helm covered his face.
A dark blue sash and cape completed the uniform.
He shouted, “GO!”
The image faded as the golden energy snapped back and sent half a dozen men flying. Lo’tarr raised the baton. Ignited the energy pack and tossed it to the gatehouse below. Alarms resounded throughout the facility. Electricity arced from the power cells. Mixed with the energy pack and superheated the entryway to the launch pads. The mining barge hissed as the main lifting mechanism kicked in. Lo’tarr took the controls. They weren’t out of this yet. The promise of his future hung in the silence between the stars as artificial atmo gave away to the black of the void.
Malkus said, “The mirror of the soul holds the key. From all mouths comes one name. A Traveller from beyond our borders.”
White Lightning spoke within Lo’tarr’s mind. “Her name. A Traveller! Not only from another body. Her mind and soul!” Lanis murmured, “As we search between the stars.”
*****
Tarnik gasped as water lapped at his feet. Murphy and his father hauled him up.
He shouted, “We did it!” The Hydra curled around them.
“The test is not yet completed!” White Lightning shivered as bitter cold ate through his demi suit. This was not normal weather. He was normally immune to such things. It gave him a greater appreciation for his father’s daring. To fight even when not clothed in an aura of invulnerability. His mother sat upon a purple crystal throne. Her eyes unseeing. He dashed across the snowscape. Each footfall was heavier than the last. His father was beside him the entire way. Their roles reversed.
Lo’tarr shouted, “Even Death will not part us! FIGHT!” The snow melted around Lo’tarr as he hauled himself up onto the edge of the dais. His palms burned as he climbed. He leaned in, whispering the name, the one chosen by the threads of fate.
He leaned his forehead against hers.
“So named…..”
*****
The crystal was clawing towards my chin. Voices rasped, “The name….”
Lo’tarr’s voice broke through.
“Saira.”
The old word for Traveller.
Tears fell. “….and we shall walk together.”
A purple pearl filled in the remaining slot. The world exploded in fire. My wings brushed my son, husband, and the Edenite known as Thomas Murphy. His armor reflected the might of the Weave. A disciple of the Void Man. The masculine aspect of the Weave. Truth burned behind my eyes. Time was an endless Ouroborous.
I shouted, ///|:|:|\\\!
Amethyst and silver armor flowed over my arms and legs. My chest grew heavy as a resplendent breastplate formed. Highlighted with gold. A purple sash flowed around my hips. I imagine Eliza would get a kick out of this. A Purple Defender? Two Icath purred behind me. The royal pair of Leopards. The ones that had saved Sul’sandra’s uncle. M’tak.
They bowed. “Greetings to the newly christened.”
Their jewels pulsed in time with my pearl.
“There’s a set for each of us isn’t there…..”
The Icath nodded. “Quite!”
Lo’tarr studied the Icath, “Where and when my wife goes, I will follow.”
White Lighting pounded his chest, “Me too!”
The Tesseract dissolved. The void of space surrounded us and the fleet once more.
Viper’s armada formed into an extended V formation. Judgement shouted over the coms, <<Shift Formation! Shell aspect!>> I brought my scythe around. It gleamed. Purple barriers formed around the Arcane Fleet as Unity forces launched explosive pods. Dexter Murphy materialized. <<We must hold until my sister can free Gwen.>>
Elysium was the only place still strong enough to defang such a soul curse.
Thomas shouted, <<The Wall Endures!>>
Defenders bled through the Weave. The Battle was only beginning.
*****
Viper snapped, “X’mil! Take the Kal’nara!”
The Typherian smiled, “As you wish it.” He did not care for glory. Only for the stars to run red with Ayeer blood. He shook his head. It still stung. What had happened? They jumped in. The enemy had been in position. The Banner’s ship had jumped away. Like the coward it was. Additional alarms resounded within the fleet. “Shield World! Arcane Shield World Detected!” X’mil dashed for the combat bay.
The song of the blighted world made his teeth hum.
“Infernal goodness.” He spat on the floor. Hounds the size of horses dashed towards him. Blood in their eyes. He made a sigil with his left hand. They froze. The fires within their eyes promised pain beyond all measure. “Time to eat my sweets!” He kicked one viciously when it tried to bite his hand. “Save that for the Banner and her delicious meaty friends!” The bay doors opened. They could survive within the void. He laughed as the void prickled his skin before the dark enchantments prevented his lungs from exploding. “Oh, J’ino. How I have missed you.” He listened to the reports. Her husband was among the defenders.
He would bring Thomas Murphy’s ring finger to J’ino.
He licked his dueling knives. His saliva coated them with noxious poisons.
“She always underestimated me.”
A spider-shaped droid dropped from the cielding. Its robotic voice asked, “I am Unit F5-338. What are your orders?!” Its middle section gleamed dark green under the floodlights. Blackened legs morphed into deadly claws.
*****
E’ratha listened to X’mil prattle on. He still possessed that sick obsession with J’ino. She was to track that one down exclusively. Like Star would ever let that thing near her mother. E’ratha mused what a pairing like that would look like between Hilary Brookes and her mind-addled cousin. Nothing good. She smirked at her own jokes. They were all horrid but some held the crown. Like Unity. Filled to the brim with those that hated their Progenitors.
She clung to X’mil’s back as he barreled out of the launch bays. Armed with only an Exo combat suit. He was insane. Dark Shaman marks riddled his body. The All-Father’s work. No matter. She would use him just like before. Everyone thought she was dead anyway. A ruined mechanical husk in the midst of an old Breach War battlefield. She would endure. If only to see Unity fall. It had made her body into a factory. They would all pay.
Starting with her dear cousin.
Mordred had promised.
Issue 4: Here
Issue 6: Here
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