Malaran opened her eyes and saw her bedroom, the royal bedroom at her citadel, large with a huge four-post bed and antique furniture that House Ashoka had brought with them five centuries ago when they fled the destruction of the Core Worlds. Her ancestors had seized the citadels back then, the array of air-defense fortresses spread across the habitable continent on Nuevo. This particular citadel, Citadel Buonarroti, had been her home for the last five years. Father had gifted it to her when she had turned fifteen and graduated from the Order day-school near Father's Citadel Raphael. It was somewhat of an experiment, a royal household in half the facility and a Calistite priory in the other half. And Malaran tugged between the two worlds.
Malaran rubbed her cheek against the soft, silken sheets. Much nicer than those in the dormitory. It had been weeks since she had slept in the acolyte dormitory. Father had always insisted that she remain at least partly a princess and dutiful daughter of House Ashoka, part of the bargain with Order of Calista, but until a few weeks ago she spent most of her time as a lowly acolyte and rarely occupied the royal quarters. Then as the starship arrived, she had declined Invocation. She hadn't been ready to take that step.
After that, she technically was no longer a Calistite. But they still seemed to have plans for her. Both the Order and Aadi still seemed to scheme and plot her fate. Without any consideration at all for what she wanted. Aadi had even reassigned Leela, her only real friend.
Leela. Memories of the Crucible suddenly flooded into her, and she yanked her hands from beneath the sheets and stared at them. She remembered distinctly the agony of the fire as the red lightning burst her hands into flame, yet there was not a mark on her hands now. Had it all been just visions and hallucinations?
“Is there something wrong with your hands,” asked Kalima.
Malaran jolted and sat up straight. Kalima and two other women had been sitting on a bench and a chair. They all three stood. Malaran quickly glanced around the room to see if anyone else was there, then her eyes settled back on the trio. Kalima looked the same as ever, gray-haired, stern-faced with dark piercing eyes, and clad in a simple black robe. Her right sleeve hung loose where her arm should have been. She had lost it helping Malaran capture the Menelaus. Kalima had been her teacher and mentor for as long as Malaran could remember, first at the day-school near Father’s citadel and then here at Citadel Buonarroti. The recent events had increased Malaran’s respect for her and her affection for her. And she was the one who kept getting inside Malaran’s head and even convinced Malaran to go to the Crucible to complete the Rite of Ascension.
One of the others appeared to be an Elder too. She had a rounder face than Kalima and wore her gray hair longer, but she had the same look. Her black robe was not as simple, appearing lusher and included some fancy embroidery. Malaran didn’t remember seeing her before, but she couldn’t be sure since her attention was mainly focused on the third woman.
The third member of the trio had the piercing eyes of an Elder, in this case green, but like Qingniao there at the Crucible, she had an oddly youthful face paired with those eyes. She wore heavy make around her eyes that flowed into certain symbols painted high on her cheeks near her eyes, a form of war paint. Not only was her face oddly youthful like Qingniao’s, but it also seemed strikingly beautiful like hers as well, with short blond hair draped to one side and extending not past her ear, showing no hints of gray. Naturally blond hair was not common on Nuevo, but hair coloring fads came and went. She wore no dress either. Instead, she donned a black bodysuit favored by those in the Collegium Bellum, something like soldiers might wear, but her feminine form blatantly obvious. On her wrists, she wore the smart-metal bracelets very similar to ones that the Order had gifted Malaran.
“Your hands,” said Kalima. “Is something the matter?”
Malaran stopped staring at the youthful woman and glanced at her hands again. “There does not appear to be. I’m just a little disoriented.”
“There's little time for disorientation,” said the younger Calistite.
Malaran looked at her again. She had expected the Elders to lead the conversation. Then she suddenly realized that she was sitting in bed addressing the Elders. Malaran pulled her sheets back and put her feet on the floor, but before she could stand, Kalima gestured for her to remain sitting. She did feel a little wobbly, so maybe that was a good idea.
“This is Sacrator Jayana,” said Kalima nodding to the younger one, and then she nodded to the other. “And this is Prioress Devina.”
“Elders?” Malaran asked as she looked at Jayana hoping for some official clarification. Like Qingniao, Jayana seemed to be an Elder with a youthful face. It seemed strange that she had never seen one like this before, and then suddenly she meets two of them. And they happen to show up just as things go crazy. She still couldn't decide whether the insect creature at the Crucible had been a hallucination or not. She could have sworn her hands would have shown some sign of damage from the red lightning. The pain had been intense.
Jayana stared back a moment with her piecing green eyes, and then she said, “The Elders are the public face of the Order. Mine is not one of those faces… though I do not hold any lower status within the Order than my colleagues before you.” She paused for a moment as she looked Malaran up and down, and then she continued in a slightly different tone. “My face does not reflect my age nor my experience.”
Malaran puzzled over the way Jayana had spoken those last words. She thought she noticed a hint of disapproval in Kalima's expression.
"As an acolyte," said Jayana with her penetrating green eyes, "you've only seen a very small part of the Order. It may be time for you to learn more."
"Perhaps," said Devina with just a slight tinge of doubt in her voice.
Malaran felt a little overwhelmed at the moment trying to process everything, still trying to come to grips with her visions at the Crucible, and now Kalima was joined by two other Elders, one of whom seemed to be trying to talk her into going through with Invocation.
Kalima did not say a word, but Malaran could detect a very subtle sense of annoyance in her. Malaran had known Kalima most of her life and had learned to recognize at least a few things in her typically stoic expressions. Not many, but a few. She wondered though what bothered Kalima. It seemed like Jayana was encouraging her to go through Invocation, and that had seemed to be what Kalima wanted as well. Maybe she didn't like another interfering with her own recruiting? Maybe didn't like her methods?
Her eyes darted back to Jayana. That was it. Kalima had always challenged her, made her prove she had what it takes to be a Calistite. But Jayana attempted to entice her. Not only with this talk of 'only seeing a small part of the Order,' but with her very presence. Her face. The lure of staying young and beautiful for much longer than normal. But how long? Calistites from a very young age trained on how to manipulate their body chemistry -- to ignore the heat and cold, to ward of weariness, to boost immunity. Did the Elders take this even further and achieve rejuvenation? Surely they did not go as far to as violate the taboo, to alter the Death Code?
"How old are you?" Malaran asked Jayana, trying not to blurt it out.
A slight smile formed on Jayana's lips while Devina's face turned sour. Devina threw a dirty glance at Kalima before turning back to Malaran to say, "Your training has been severely lacking if you believe that is an appropriate question for an acolyte to ask, especially of a superior."
Malaran knew she maybe should have been more diplomatic, maybe just queried Kalima in private, but her mind raced trying to fit everything together. First Qingniao, and the insect creature, and then the visions, and now Jayana. She did nod her head in apology, though part of her didn't feel that apologetic. A part of her wanted to say, "But I am not in the Order anymore. I don't want to be part of your schemes." But instead, she said quietly, "Forgive me, Prioress. Forgive me, Sacrator."
Jayana still maintained a slight smile as she said, "I cannot share that knowledge with just anyone. The Order has its sec
rets. Perhaps soon you can share in these, though."
"Enough," said Kalima forcefully. "We’ve become sidetracked."
Jayana murmured quietly, "I have not."
Malaran held back a sigh. All the petty politics and internal squabbles had been a large issue in her eventually being turned off the Order and played a significant part in her decision not to go through Invocation when Kalima had first offered the choice that day she had looked upon the starship for the first time using Far-Sight. She had become even more reluctant after capturing the starship and seemed to be some chess piece that the Order and her brother King Aadi squabbled over.
"Tell us what happened at the Crucible," said Kalima as she gave an ever so slight glare at Jayana.
This time, Malaran did sigh. It was all a jumble in her head, all those visions or hallucinations or whatever they were. She thought she could tell the difference between what really happened and the visions that came later, but after looking at her hands, there remained some doubt. "At the end," she said, "I became overcame with visions, like the Sight had flooded over me. Or perhaps they were just hallucinations. But they make it a little difficult for me to trust my recollection." Especially when she recalled some insect monster appearing out of nowhere and setting her aflame with red lightning.
The three women did not say a word. No sign of impatience at least. Not yet. Their piercing eyes seemed to demand answers, though.
Malaran cleared her throat and continued. "Before I even reached the Crucible, a woman appeared out of nowhere. One like Sacrator Jayana. A younger, beautiful face with eyes of an Elder. It might have been another hallucination, but it seemed real at the time."
Devina's face turned sour again, and Jayana actually looked surprised. Kalima just frowned. Each of the Elders managed to throw a subtle glare at Jayana.
"She claimed that she had left the Order long ago. She called herself Qingniao," said Malaran. She had to pause and take in the women's faces. The Order, especially the teachers, had mastered the stoic, even aloof expression that did not falter. Malaran had much experience over the years in trying to pick up the subtle cues that slipped out, but right now she did not need any of this experience. Even the newest young acolyte would be able to tell that these women were greatly disturbed by this information. Malaran wondered how they would react to the mention of the insect creature. Would these Calistites just decide she was delusional?
"What did she offer you?" asked Jayana abruptly.
"Offer me?" asked Malaran a little puzzled. "I don't recall any offers. Just some warnings. She said that the bubbles I created in the Void, 'enfolding the Void' she called it, had created ripples in the Void that had been detected by the Umpala. And even more unknown enemies." Malaran quickly glanced at Kalima. "Is that possible? Has the Order detected these ripples that she spoke of?"
The Calistites glanced at each other for a moment, and then Kalima answered. "We've been in contact with a Priestess on Wodin's World who claimed to have detected these ripples. She had been able to determine that they originated here on Nuevo."
On a few occasions during her training, Malaran had used the Oculus chamber and its advanced technology to reach out across the Void and touch minds with another Calisite in another chamber somewhere else on Nuevo. The rumor was that the Order periodically made contact with Priestesses on other refuge worlds, but Malaran didn't know what information was exchanged. From what she heard the refuge worlds all had low-tech civilizations and were constantly engaged in internal wars.
Malaran didn't know what to think about that news of the ripples. It did seem to support her belief that the encounter with Qingniao had been real and not a hallucination, but it meant that the Umpala surely would have detected the ripples and their origin too. And whatever other enemies might be out there.
"So the Umpala are probably on their way," said Malaran. Aadi's military advisers had been optimistic that the arrival of the Menelaus did not signal a new Umpala threat. They figured that the Umpala battle-shaman that had been hidden on the Menelaus must have been a renegade, and whatever schemes had been hatched did not involve the Umpala as a whole or even one of the individual clans. The military advisers were incredibly concerned about whatever the schemers had in mind and whatever other starships and resources they might still possess, but they saw a low probability of it involving the sky filling with hundreds or even dozens of Umpala warships anytime soon.
But the probability was quite high if the Umpala had detected the ripples. If nothing else, they would send ships to investigate. Malaran wondered if the Order had informed Aadi of this. The relationship between the House Ashoka and the Order of Calista had been even more strained since the capture of the Menelaus, each having their own ideas as to the best way to utilize the starship. Each having their own ideas as to the best way to utilize Malaran.
Malaran had a sinking feeling in her stomach, but the Calistites before her seemed rather nonchalant discussing the impending arrival of the Umpala.
Devina in fact quickly moved on. "This woman, Qingniao, she spoke of other enemies as well?"
Malaran shrugged her shoulders slightly. "She was vague and mysterious. Like a Calistite." Her pulse sped up slightly as she said those last words, wondering if she pushed her luck being so forward, but the Calistites didn't seem to notice. She continued, "Qingniao's exact words were 'lions, tigers, and bears.'" She took a deep breath and then said. "But I think I might have seen one of these other enemies. Maybe.” She glanced again at her hands. She focused her mind for an instant and tried to invoke True-Sight. Supposedly some of the Calistites could use the Sight to appraise medical trauma, and Malaran thought it was worth a try. Just to see.
She still felt a little woozy, so the Sight proved fleeting. Just a quick, very brief glimpse was all she could muster. But it was enough. She couldn't put it into words, but she could tell that something was different about her hands. They had suffered some kind of abuse. She had prevented the red lightning from consuming her hands, but the red lightning had left its mark, even if it wasn't visible to the naked eye.
So it had been real. She looked back at Kalima. “Yes. I did see one of these enemies. At least one had come to Nuevo. It came for me, there at the Crucible."
The Calistites exchanged mysterious glances once again.
"Are you sure?" asked Devina. "What was its nature?"
"It seems crazy." Malaran took another deep breath and looked Kalima in the eyes. She gave an almost imperceptible nod, a nod of encouragement. "It came for me disguised as my previous guardswoman, Leela. It looked just like her, until I invoked True-Sight. I detected the disguise, the illusion, but I did not see its true form until we engaged in combat."
"And what was its true form," asked Devina with a hint of eagerness in her voice.
Malaran didn't know how to say it without it sounding crazy, so she just said it. "It was a giant insect creature, somewhat humanoid. It spoke Universal. And it shot red lightning from its hands."
Jayana turned and walked for the door, not hurriedly, but purposefully. She spoke into a communicator on her forearm, speaking in the Calistite battle tongue. Malaran understood the basics and the general syntax, but the Order didn't teach all of the vocabulary until after Invocation.
Devina stood where she was, but she also began speaking into a communicator on her wrist. Malaran didn't understand any of it. It must have been "the Lingo," as it was called. The Order's secret language. None of that language was taught until after Invocation. Maybe not until a long time after Invocation.
Malaran stood from the bed. It didn't feel right just sitting there while the Calistites reacted so. She felt a little dizzy, but she could handle it. She looked at Kalima. "I take it you know of such creatures."
"A few of the most gifted among us have seen visions," said Kalima. "But the enemy is adept at hiding from the Sight. We had no idea that they had come to Nuevo." And then her tone changed ever so slightly. "This creature came for you, specifical
ly?"
Malaran nodded, and with a tinge of humor in her voice said, "It made some personal, rather rude comments about me. Right before it tried to incinerate me with the red lightning."
"And you prevailed," said Kalima softly.
Devina paused for a moment in her conversation to look at Malaran thoughtfully, and then she glanced away and continued speaking the Lingo into her wrist.
Kalima's words caused a brief burst of pride in Malaran. She had prevailed. She had defeated that demonic creature one-on-one.
"Did this creature say anything of consequence? Did you learn anything of value?" asked Kalima, her voice changing back to its authoritative self.
"It seemed to suggest that it came to Nuevo to test me. To see if I was the one they were looking for."
Devina paused and looked at her, and then said a few quick words into her wrist before ending her conversation with whoever was on the other end. Devina glanced at Kalima first and then said, "We will need a detailed account of everything that was said. And a detailed account of every second of your combat with the creature. Of how you were able to defeat it. Prepare a written account with every single detail you can remember."
Nodding her head, Malaran thought about all the visions the saw, the hallucinations. What would they think of those? "I saw many visions, hallucinations probably, there near the Crucible, after I defeated the creature. Should I detail those as well."
Devina nodded her head and said, "Everything you can remember."
Kalima said, "It is not uncommon for lowly acolytes to experience visions uncalled upon, there in the energies of the Crucible. Interpreting them may be a different matter."
"I think it would be difficult," agreed Malaran, "especially not being able to tell a hallucination from a true vision. In my visions, I saw Calista fall at Athene. That had to be a hallucination." Calista’s battle with the Umpala couldn't be a future possibility. It already happened five centuries ago.
Kalima looked at her for a moment before replying, but as usual, Malaran couldn’t read her expression that well. "It would not be strictly impossible to perceive Calista with Sight," said Kalima. "It is very rare, but there have been those who could use Past-Sight beyond their own personal experience."
Normally Malaran would be excited about possibly having a rare ability, but her other ability she had taken some pride in, enfolding the Void, possibly had doomed Nuevo. Possibly doomed mankind. The Umpala would be coming. Other enemies were already here.
Malaran thought of the vision of the Darkness, of the malevolent being she sensed. She took in another deep breath as she made sure her legs were steady. "There was another vision that was particularly disturbing," she said to Kalima and Devina. "A Darkness entering our galaxy."
A barely perceptible disturbance ran through Devina and Kalima. Not a jolt, but something. Devina glanced at Kalima and then took in a deep breath. "It has been a while since anyone has seen that vision. Sacrator Vika Yovenko of the Collegium Visum was the last. The enemy has become ever more adept at hiding from Sight."
Malaran tried to process all this information. She was somewhat surprised that they had shared what they had. Especially without a bunch more mystery and vague foreboding. One question did suddenly come to mind. "Is this insect creature and the Darkness the same enemy?"
Devina and Kalima did once again exchange mysterious glances, and then Devina said, "Perhaps." Malaran fought back a frown. She was hoping the Elders would continue to be less vague.
Kalima must have seen the disappointment in her and added, "We believe the insect creature and its kind are working in support of the Darkness, but we haven't been able to determine if they are simply allies of the Darkness or the true Enemy itself. We are concerned that the Enemy might have provoked or manipulated the Umpala into war against the Empire, and it's possible they are doing the same with these creatures."
"On the other hand," Devina added, "these insect creatures were first noticed in visions at about the same time the Darkness was noted, and they have seemed to be equally adept at hiding from Sight." She gave a barely perceptible shrug. "Opinion remains divided."
Malaran sat back on the bed. Her legs had started to shake. The Order knew so much, saw before them the doom of the galaxy, but they had apparently had kept it all secret. "What are we going to do?" she said hoarsely.
Devina let out a small breath, not quite a sigh. "The smart thing would be to load everyone of consequence onto the Menelaus and leave this planet. But the king, your brother, resists."
Malaran did wonder how much they had told Aadi, but the idea of fleeing the planet and leaving everyone else to fend for themselves didn't seem right. Only a few thousand people could leave on the starship. She looked up Devina. "I meant what are we going to do about the Darkness. We can't flee the galaxy."
Devina seemed to shrug once again though her shoulders did not appear to move. "Stuck here on a backward little planet with the Umpala storm bearing down on us, there is little that we can do."
"War will be waged against the Darkness," said Kalima. “But we must rebuild first.”
Malaran rubbed her hands together as she pondered what they said. She knew that her brother Aadi, High King of Nuevo, had his own vision for how best to utilize the Menelaus. And her, and the Anax-Hema, the genetic marker in her blood. He said that contingency plans had been made by the High Council centuries ago, but apparently Aadi and the Order disagreed upon what actions to take now. Aadi was reluctant to send the starship away without getting a better handle on the situation. It was still not clear what Heracles Xander, the false emperor, was really up to and if he had allies that would come looking for him. And Aadi said it would take time to get a new crew ready and to root out all of the false emperor's supporters.
The Order, on the other hand, seemed to think it best to leave Nuevo as soon as possible. Especially Malaran. The Anax-Hema was important to the contingency plans laid down centuries ago.
Malaran grew more and more annoyed every day being at the center of everyone’s plans with little say in what direction those plans would go.
And to make it worse, that insect creature had seemed to come for her specifically too. She seemed to be a part of everyone's schemes, including possibly the Enemy. The Darkness. She focused her eyes back on the Kalima and Devina. "If the Enemy has taken an interest in me, not just their proxies, then…" she trailed off, not sure what to say as different thoughts tugged her in different directions.
"Our task becomes more difficult, but the fact remains that we must leave this planet," said Devina as she seemed to stand taller, to perhaps emphasize the authority of her statements. "Whether more enemies remain hidden here on Nuevo or not, whether the Enemy moves against you or not, the Umpala are coming. They might not come in force to begin with, but they will come."
"We will protect you against any enemies already on the planet," said Kalima. "But if the skies fill with Umpala raiders, our options become very limited."
Malaran realized suddenly how much all this talk drew her towards the Order. She had asked what are we going to do about the Darkness. Devina had said that we must leave the planet. She wondered if this was intentional manipulation on Devina's and Kalima's part. She looked them both in the eye. "Would you still assist me even if I refuse Invocation once again?"
Devina seemed to smile slightly. "We believe someone such as yourself would benefit greatly from the tutelage offered by the Order of Calista. Many believe that this would best be achieved through formal indoctrination, but we will not refuse you our protection if you choose to decline Invocation." Devina glanced at Kalima. "We would also provide what tutelage we could, but it likely would not be quite as effective as what we could provide to a fully invested Initiate."
"Your path," said Kalima, "will likely take you beyond the Order. If you live that long. But the Order can help prepare you.”