Kalvich had managed to infiltrate the Locum communications and was responsible for fooling the Locum Controller not to attack any further. Kate was too close and nothing must happen to her now. He was relieved when he finally received word she was safely on board the Sotoid ship.
Over the centuries, with his Trimadians conquering new worlds and wiping out would be enemies, he had felt his powers continually grow. His technologies were unsurpassed and with Crytaalic under control, thanks to the information passed to him by Marone, he would be unstoppable. The data he had been receiving of the experiments carried out to stop Crytaalic killing hosts and therefore expunging the Cathexistomes were nothing short of ingenious.
At first, Marone claimed they were his own in order to win favor with his Ruler. But Kalvich was not easily fooled. He knew Marone well. Kalvich threw him a bluff, “I had ordered Sataal to undertake the experiments and to report to me.”
Marone had replied that he was helping and supervising Sataal.
Kalvich disgustedly saw just how pathetic the Empyream master was.
But then Sataal’s blasphemous intention to expunge the Cathexistomes en masse from all Cantals was discovered.
And the traitor had run. They had traced him to Ahmadeus and at first, Kalvich agreed with Marone’s bounty but realized, spying on his movements was more feasible. There was a rumor of a rebel movement starting up and Kalvich did not want to alert them he was on to them.
The original bounty consisted of a lifetime supply of Zimmies along with a Zymergy powered ship offered to anyone for the live capture of Sataal.
Zimmies was an illegal recreational drug favored by the mining prisoners. They would risk their lives to get the drug smuggled to them. It was valued more than life itself, so dramatic was the addiction.
Kalvich knew a scientist of Sataal’s caliber would soon have the ability to formulate the destruction of the dreaded Locum or any despicable enemy. Equally, he could use the recipes that Sataal had created to stop any coup or treachery among the Trimadian ranks, which ironically was exactly the personal control Lord Marone desired.
Kalvich had given Talokta a supply of the Crytaalic weaponry encased safely in sheaths, but he would not quite go as far as to share the actual recipe. His known enemies would be under control, or wiped out. Yes, in the past the Locum had dealt his chosen kind savage blows with Crytaalic, but no more.
With all three stones, and Queen Leah by his side, nothing could stop him. After he had finished with her, she would be begging to be with him. He pictured her lovely face and felt his body reacting. Acting like a goddamn human! He laughed.
Initially, the only thing that could slow him down was the human threat. They would not want Leah to stray far. Kalvich knew, at least in the early stages, he could not attack Earth while he was trying to win Leah’s confidence. A fine line had to be observed. Of course, there were the gods. He knew they were always watching, yet they let him do so much. Perhaps this was all part of their goddamn experiment? He knew his parents loved him but hated what he had turned into. They could have stripped him of his immortal powers for what he did to Sidonio, not to mention several thousand races. But they had not interfered. Even when he ventured out of his fortress, they left him alone.
He did not realize that Zakaroid, the Elder God’s leader instructed his parents never to let their emotions rule. For their son, Kalvich was indeed part of the timeless equation that was to put Queen Leah to the test, but equally, she would have no knowledge of her role in the ultimate battle.
“Do not interfere.”
For now, Kalvich had left the god-world alone. He was waiting, biding his time. And certainly making them sweat.
Eons ago, Kalvich had affronted the other gods, and when he made his home world on Heliostronus, his power, unfortunately for the Elder Gods forced only to observe, seemed to rise exponentially. It seeped through his fortress and touched all the lives within. It was a dark evil place. It suited him perfectly.
For his Leah’s sake, he would make subtle changes.
The stone he possessed and protected was his one true communication device with the re awakening of his beloved. Cemel did not fool him over that one. As soon as Kate had touched her stone at “The Divine Universe,” that sent a powerful energy link (that caused poor Kate to faint) connecting her stone with Kalvich’s. The stone had alerted him to her presence by pulsing a deep red and gold, similar to the day she was born forty years ago. He had waited for this moment for over six thousand years.
Kalvich predicted close to her fortieth birthday she would have small snatches of visions caused by the reincarnation, even without her touching a stone. He initially could send messages to Kate and spy on her via the stones’ connection. However, he knew she would be slowly remembering what happened in her past, especially at night time when the sub consciousness came into play. The time to act was nigh. Now that Talokta had her on his ship, he had eased off his connections. He did not want her too influenced by them. Ideally, his goal was for her to come to him willingly. But he was prepared for anything. He would be successful, as long as the human Kate did not force Leah to choose a different path or, for that matter, the human race.
Free will is a funny thing.
Once Queen Leah reincarnates on Earth, she will need guidance to learn her powers and the stones will reveal her path. But if she is to gain and retain the ultimate in power, she must possess all three stones. The alchemist’s hidden coded words in his notes were like a mantra to him. When Kalvich questioned the old man, he took immense pleasure seeing the reaction that he had broken Cemel’s complex codes. However, when Cemel finally did speak to him, he simply stated, “The power lies with the decisions that Queen Leah makes, and it has to be by her free will only.”
This was the only other thing he would say on the matter. Like his nemesis, some key recipes of magic and science were inside the old man’s head.
Both sides could not read nor block each other’s thoughts. The stalemate had lasted six thousand years, and if Leah did not return…
Both Kalvich and Cemel, after all these centuries, were pining for the queen, but for very different reasons.
The alchemist, who was so old, he even had trouble remembering his exact age. However, he was granted immortality by the Elder Gods for his devotion and faithfulness to Leah and her people. This transaction took place when Kalvich’s guards had blasted him inside the Junghis Temple while trying to help Leah escape her captors. As Kalvich had forcefully ripped his mortal brother from Leah, Zakaroid permitted Sidonio’s forsaken powers and transferred them to Cemel. Maybe it was to balance the powers that were trying to influence the world. Only Zakaroid could answer that one, and who was going to question him?
Cemel had been Kalvich’s prisoner on the fortress base since Leah’s passing. He was treated well and quite respected, had basic free rein and was allowed to practice his potions and incantations. Oh, and when called to, provided entertainment and parlor tricks for Kalvich, the Verone Elite, any guests or dignitaries. It was pure degradation, but the one hope of having Leah back kept him positive. He was a firm believer in good over evil. He believed the gods had kept their faith in him by the rare gesture of bestowing him the gift of immortality. For he had to forsake all powers during the time he was amongst Leah’s royal family in the mortal world.
But immortality was two pronged, as sometimes, especially over the past thousand years, the wait for his queen to surface, brought him deep depression.
He was warned that if he ever tried to trick or turn against the Trimadians, Leah would be brought before him and killed. The alchemist would be left haunted with those memories.
Though immortal, Cemel’s powers were slowly failing him, and as time went past, his soul was being perpetually sapped by the evil that surrounded him. The more Cemel weakened, the more powerful Kalvich grew. He yearned for his queen so he could see the sunlight again, with him to guide her. She was the mortal’s last hope, and he knew he could
never fail her again.
“Always remember…” were the last words he had said to her before he was blasted. The hate for his nemesis almost equaled the personal dread that Leah made him curse her. The brief blessing he bestowed on her during their attempted escape was the result of his own brand of magic. He was confident she would reincarnate in the future, but when…no one knew.
One day, Kalvich would place him into a dimension that was feared by all immortals and worse than the release of death. But until Kalvich was sure of Leah’s loyalty, Cemel would remain in the land of the living.