***
It was time.
Chahzuu took a deep breath and scrambled up the incline. He moved quickly into the mouth of the grotto. All went as expected. He moved close to the left-hand side, hugging the wall and moved behind the falling water and stopped just inside.
He waited.
Nothing.
His senses stretched outward and he began to move, looking for the entrance to the chamber. He kept his hand in contact with the cavern wall.
The grotto seemed larger than from outside. Maybe that was just an illusion from having to move slowly in the dark.
He began to notice a subtle change in the quality of light. Complete darkness began to take on definition. Features of the bare rock became apparent as much by sight as by touch, and it grew lighter rather than darker. Then the grotto wall suddenly turned left.
He followed. The faint light grew brighter, details of the cavern, which had now narrowed to a cave, was just as it had been in his dream.
Several more paces ahead and the tunnel again curved toward the left, opening up into a broad chamber. Tiny pin-point sparkles glistened everywhere off the high, smooth walls providing a subdued glow of light emanating from the walls, eliminating shadows.
In the center of the chamber was a narrow stone pedestal about the height of his waist and flattened at the top. Upon it sat the object of his search. Its faint glow reached out to him.
The room was empty. Chahzuu stepped forward.
Directly above, the chamber roof opened to darkness lit by tiny points of light that winked and sparkled. He’d never seen the like.
He looked back to the pedestal. On it lay the Bhrusaala, the Stone. Chahzuu moved to stand over it.
As if sensing his presence, the small spherical crystal, small enough to fit in his palm, glowed with a warm, suffused light. Veins of gray appeared to wriggle just under the surface with an opacity that never changed, giving an appearance of movement, but as Chahzuu watched closely he could see, that in fact, they didn't move.
He reached forward to take up the Stone and start his journey . . .
“I wouldn’t touch that if I were you,” a voice echoed from the back of the expansive chamber.
Chahzuu glanced up in the direction of the sound. Nothing was there. His hand hovered above the Stone. From where had the voice come? Again, a difference in his dream!
A shadow, a darkness he hadn’t seen, started to form against the far wall. It coalesced into the silhouette of a man, moving closer.
Chahzuu’s eyes widened and his breath quickened. The image formed, solidified into . . . A Pale One! Now he had seen both!
This one was strikingly similar in appearance to the other he’d rescued, but something told him this was the one he dreaded. He had darker hair those intriguing black eyes – just like the other, though this one’s gaze clearly reflected malevolence. A patch of hair also surrounded this one’s chin and cheeks. The other's had been bare.
He was dressed in a sleeveless leather tunic belted at the waist leaving his chest bare, from which emanated a dark glowing – a shadow - that seemed to pulse from deep within the man’s heart. His tan breeches were tucked into calve-high boots that puffed the dust off the cavern floor as he strode forward.
“You don’t want that,” the intruder said, his voice as casual as his steps. “If you take it, it will kill you.”
Chahzuu remained silent, thinking. This was never in any dream! Either he had been deceived since he was a child or something had changed, rending the fabric of his destiny. Whichever it was, he knew he shouldn’t trust this man.
“Who are you?” Chahzuu asked. The man hesitated, tilting his head to one side, considering. “I have many names,” he replied. “The one I like best, however, is Nemesis.”
Chahzuu’s eyes widened.
“Ah,” the man said. “I see you recognize the word.”
Indeed he did. Chahzuu glared and the man’s lips curled into a tight smile.
“I've been waiting for you. We must talk.” The man strode forward until he stood on the opposite side of the pedestal. He glanced down at the still scintillating crystal. “You think that was meant for you?” the Pale One said, nodding to the Stone. “It is,” he said, “if not in the way you think.”
None of this should be happening! Chahzuu thought. He realized death stood right in front of him. All would be lost if he failed.
Chahzuu locked eyes with the Pale One. He snatched forth his hand, grasping for the Stone, realizing it must not fall to this being.
As fast as his grasp had been, he found his hand frozen a mere fraction above the crystal. Chahzuu tried to move but felt his whole body immobilized. He was still staring into the eyes of the Pale One.
The man’s features had darkened in concentration, and the shadow across his breast was pulsating.
Then the Pale One laughed. “You are as brave as I’d been told, though bravery means nothing to me.”
In horror Chazuu watched as the Pale One reached forward underneath his outstretched hand and took hold of the Stone. His heart sank. He'd failed before he'd even begun!
There was never even a chance! He cried in his mind. The Gods have cursed me. Where did I go wrong?
Chahzuu watched as Nemesis lifted his stone and held it against the shadow of his darkly pulsing breast. The pale glow of the Stone grew dark, changing until it filmed over, taking on a red sheen. The small veins running through transformed from grey to black seemingly writhing threads.
The Pale One laughed. “The Stone is not yours any longer. It's my tool . . . and weapon.” He laughed again, “The Guardians’ grand design has failed even before it begun. Now you, my friend, will give me everything you have and are.”
Chahzuu strained at the power holding him frozen. Nemesis stepped around the pedestal and held the changed Stone up to touch Chahzuu’s temple.
A blinding pain coursed through his body! A flash seared into every cell, pulling it apart, stripping his soul from his physical frame. Chahzuu would have screamed in fiery misery but was still held immobilized.
He fought the pain, fought the stripping of his soul. Found he hadn’t the strength. Felt his life’s essence being drained. His eyes flared wide. The dark pulsing at Nemesis’ breast churned a brilliant orange, deepening in hue to a flame red. It pulsed and grew as Chahzuu’s essence, his memories, his knowledge, was stripped and transferred through the Stone and somehow into Nemesis, giving him power, giving him knowledge -- of Chahzuu's people, his world, of the legends, the hope of his race and their mission as Pontu' Gi.
All flashed vividly through Chahzuu’s mind before being sucked away, leaving gashes of pain, of soul and spirit. He was being emptied.
Nemesis' eyes were closed, head back, drinking it in, being nourished by the ecstasy of pure spirit-power flowing through the Stone.
This must not be! Chahzuu was amazed he could still think through the pain. Death was near, but he must stop this! Nemesis will destroy his people. Destroy his world.
The Stone!
The end was an instant away. Chahzuu felt it.
He tried to hold back; to hold one last bit of himself, his last core, his final essence, and with all his fury, all his rage, thrust it forward in attack just as everything went dark.
Nemesis felt the surge and staggered back, hit with something he hadn’t expected. He shook his head, clearing his senses. The red glow about his breast diminished, cooling into the black pulsing that had been before, and then that slowly calmed to reveal his bare chest underneath the tunic.
Smiling, he let go his hold on Chahzuu, who collapsed to the cavern floor. “Thanks, animal.” Nemesis scowled at the lifeless figure. A blur of thoughts ran through his mind, coalescing, categorizing, settling.
“Yes! You’ve just handed me the one thing I’ve lacked. My weapon will now be the peo
ple’s own belief.” He hesitated, as if sifting through more memories wrenched from the body sprawled at his feet.
“And another is here?” he was confused by the images. It looked like him . . . but different. Maybe the animal was just confused. “I knew the Guardians would try something. Well I can deal easily enough with that!”
Nemesis grasped the now clear and seemingly lifeless Stone in his fist. Shaking his head, he let the spherical crystal roll from his fingers to the dirt cavern floor inches from the outstretched fingertips of the lifeless Chahzuu.
Nemesis strolled to the back of the chamber. Shadows gathered around, enveloping him in a darkness that immediately began to fade until he was gone with it.