The Dark Ones
Chapter 10
Kida smiled into the mirror and gently pushed away a stray hair. Butterflies leapt around in her stomach. I can't believe the day is actually here, she thought. She then smoothed her hair out for the eleven thousandth time that morning.
"Kida, will you relax?" Meera giggled. "Everything will be fine."
"I know it will," Kida sighed. "Oh, Meera, can you believe it? I'm actually getting married today! I thought this day would never come."
"I'm so happy for you Kida. You and Milo truly deserve happiness," Meera said. She chewed her lip thoughtfully. "The ceremony is going to be gorgeous," she continued. "It's written to be the most beautiful marriage ceremony on earth."
Kida thought about all this. She had never seen this ceremony. The last time it had been performed was at the wedding of Kashekim Nedakh and Maralana Yena– Kida's parents. Not long after their wedding, the ability to read the ancient scrolls upon which the ceremony was written had been lost to the Atlanteans...for six thousand years.
Meera's voice brought Kida back to reality. "You know, what makes the ceremony so pretty is the couple's love for each other. If they were not in love, it could never take place."
This made Kida smile again. She hoped that it was just as beautiful as her parents' wedding. Of course, things would be a little different. For instance, Atlantean custom said only the bride, the groom, and the scribe who performed the ceremony should be present. However, Milo had insisted on the surface world tradition of a bridal party. Oton would be Milo's best man, Meera would be Kida's maid of honor, Nakia and Lina would be bridesmaids, and little Alêa would be the flower girl. No other guests were invited.
"Come on, Kida! Time to go!" Nakia called, sticking her head in the bedroom door.
"Oh, Nakia, will you relax?" Kida said. "It's not like they can start without me!" Pausing to take one final look in the mirror, Kida hurried out the door.
Meanwhile, Milo was in the throne room, very nervously waiting for his bride to be. He paced back and forth, his stomach in his throat. Oton watched him, filled with mirth.
"I felt the same way, Milo, the day I married Lina. Don't worry, everything is going to be fine!" Oton chuckled.
"I know, I know, but I'm entitled to some nervousness, aren't I?" Milo sighed.
"You're going to have thousands of years of happiness together," Oton continued.
"Thousands of years..." Milo whispered. "Only a few years ago I would have laughed at you saying that. But I know that's only too true. I just can't imagine it. To me that's such an incredibly long time. What if... what if things... change? What if she doesn't love me anymore after a few thousand years?"
Oton frowned. "Milo, I know Kida pretty well. And you know her even better. You two have something special. Something that most people can only dream of."
"Really?" Milo asked.
"Tell me Milo, how do you feel about the Queen?"
"I love her more than my very life. I would do anything for her, absolutely anything," Milo said.
"I guarantee you, she feels the exact same way–and will for all eternity. You know it, she knows it, and all of Atlantis knows it," Oton said. Relief swept over Milo, and the butterflies flew away. Suddenly Milo felt ready to conquer the earth.
The door to the throne room opened.
The two knelt on a crystal platform nervously, facing each other, clasping one another's hands. A blue beam fell mysteriously from the sky, illuminating the couple. The scribe's voice pierced the mystic silence.
"O Spirits of Atlantis, mighty Mother Crystal, we so humbly ask You now to cast Your gaze on these Atlantean mortals and their pledges of love to one another. If You deem their vows worthy, then they will be joined into an unbreakable union of love for all eternity." There was a rumbling sound, like thunder. Kida's hands tensed, and Milo soothingly massaged them. The scribe spoke again. "Now, mortals, you must make your vows."
Milo went first. "Kida," he pushed a stray wisp of hair from her face, then clasped her hands again, gazing into her eyes and smiling, "My love for you is undying. As every day passes, I will love you more. I will love you in good times and bad, in health and in sickness, until death takes my last breath from me."
Kida lit up and made her vows. "Milo, from the day I first laid my eyes on you, I knew we were destined for each other. My love for you grows every moment. We will spend all eternity in each other's arms, enjoy our old age in each other's company," she smiled and repeated Milo's surface-world pledge, "In good times and in bad, in health and in sickness, until death claims us both."
"O mighty Heart of Atlantis, we now place the fate of these two with You," the scribe said when Kida had finished. The sky became dark and the blue beam surrounding the two grew even more vivid. A gentle, mysterious wind tousled their hair. The crystal pendants at their throats glowed and rose, drawn to each other like magnets. When they touched, the pendants grew brighter and brighter until they beamed white. The pendants began to revolve around each other, faster with each turn. Suddenly, the two crystals bonded with one another, forming one jewel. Just as quickly, a flash of blue lightning shot down from the Crystal and enveloped Milo and Kida, causing them to disappear into the light.
Then the light dimmed and faded away. The shimmering jewel once again became two crystal pendants and dropped back onto their owners' necks. Kida and Milo stared at each other, wide-eyed, awestruck.
"It is done. The Crystal has deemed you worthy. You now have an unbreakable bond, an eternal union. You entered as two; you shall depart as one," the scribe said, enthralled.
Milo pulled Kida into his arms and kissed her.
"Surface-world custom," Lina explained to her confused little daughter. Meera was sobbing blissful tears. Nakia grinned as she watched her friends embrace. For them, it was a new beginning...
Kida awoke to feel someone's arms around her. She opened her eyes and found that she was still captured in Milo's warm embrace, and that they were still trapped in Throck's cold dungeon.
"How long did I sleep?" she yawned.
"A few hours," Milo shrugged. "You needed it, though."
She smiled softly. "I dreamed about our wedding, Milo."
Milo grinned, tightening his arms about her. "Did you now?"
"Umm-hmm." She gave him a small kiss. He grinned wider, then said suddenly, "Kida, I've had some time to eavesdrop on our captors, and I learned some of their plans."
Kida became instantly serious. "What did you find out?" she asked, almost afraid to hear what he might say.
"He wants Atlantis still. And he wants you to be his queen."
"Yes, I've heard that," Kida interrupted, frowning. "Milo, you know I would never would betray my city, my people–or you."
"Yeah, I do know." Milo smiled and continued, "They have weapons and vehicles, like Atlantis, but different. Darker. Evil. I heard Orion say that they have some sort of power source–"
Kida gasped, suddenly remembering. "Milo! Their crystal– it's Rourke."
Milo's jaw dropped. "Rourke?! You mean–oh, no!" He took a deep breath as the weight of her words sank in. "Kida– they're planning to attack Atlantis at morning's first light. And they supposedly have a secret weapon, one even more powerful than the Stone Giants. If they catch Atlantis off guard..."
"...Then we're doomed!" Kida finished for him. "We have to warn them!" she said decisively.
"But how?" Milo inquired. "We're stuck here in this dungeon."
"I'm going to use the Crystal to send mind-pictures to Meera," Kida said.
"Will that work?" Milo asked, intrigued.
"I most certainly hope so," Kida replied. She brought her crystal pendant to her lips, then closed her eyes and placed it on her forehead. The jewel glowed supernaturally as it began to relay her message. Milo could only watch, awestruck, and pray that it reached Atlantis in time.
Back in Atlantis, "Queen" Meeranakash was doing quite a bit of worrying herself. She knew that she simply was not qualified to be a ruler, and with each passing hour, it was becoming more and more evident that this might become a permanent position.
Nakia wandered into the throne room to see a mob of citizens shouting demands at Meera, who was sitting on Kida's throne with a petrified look on her face. Nakia grimaced.
"That is enough!" she shouted forcefully. "Would you behave like this if Queen Kidagakash were here? The kings of our past would be ashamed to call you family if they could see the way you are acting now, like a group of animals!" The Atlanteans looked down at their feet and slowly headed out of the throne room.
"Oh, thank you, Nakia," Meera sighed. "I didn't know what to do. I don't think I can handle being queen for one more minute."
"Any word from Kida yet?" Nakia asked hopefully.
"No," Meera replied. "Nakia, I'm getting really worried. If Kida doesn't get back soon..."
High over their heads, the shimmering blue Heart of Atlantis suddenly turned fiery red. The disturbance brought a silence over the city. Vibrant scarlet search lights shot down from the sky. One fell on Meera and turned back to a cool aquamarine. Her own crystal pendant rose up, drawn to the Mother Crystal like a magnet. Meera's eyes glazed over and began glowing supernaturally. Nakia stared at her friend, filled with fear. "Meera!" she gasped.
"Kwahm tëredsenen, Nakia-toap," Meera said in an unnatural voice, warning her not to be afraid. She stepped directly into the center of the beams, and they revolved around her, seeming to absorb her. In the blue light, Meera could hear the voices of all those who came before her, whispers from the past. Amidst the chaos, one voice called to Meera. "Meera! It's Kida!"
"Kida?" Meera gasped, taking a step back. The world beneath her lurched and she nearly lost her balance. As if by magic, the Crystal steadied her and held her upright. Suddenly Meera felt as if she were no longer standing on the earth, but as if she were hovering amidst the clouds. Still, she could see nothing but blue light.
Then Kida appeared in the midst of it all. "Meera, I am well, as is Milo, but danger is approaching Atlantis. Behold." The blue light dimmed as images of another place, one Meera had never seen, filled her eyes. Images of evil, of a black city filled with suffering souls and screams of terror and pain. "Throck is alive and he is thriving. He lives in a city called Trokia." The image switched from scenes of city streets to a malformed, black, red, and blue lump that looked inexplicably familiar to Meera. "He has a mighty power source, an evil counterpart of the Heart of Atlantis."
Meera peered more closely at the lump. Her eyes filled with recognition. "Rourke!" she gasped. Kida continued, as if she could not hear what Meera was saying. "They intend to attack Atlantis at morning's first light, and they have an army to rival the Atlantean Armada. You must ready the city for battle. Milo and I will join you as soon as we can...if we can. Good luck, my dearest friend. Atlantis is depending on you."
Kida began fading into the light. "Wait!" Meera cried, but to no avail. Then she felt her feet touching the ground again, the light dimmed, and then the vision was gone. She was back in the throne room. Nakia rushed to her side, pale as a ghost.
"Meera, what on earth happened?" she demanded.
"I...saw Kida. She said..." Meera took a deep breath and pulled herself together. She called the captain of the guards to her. "Ready the Armada. The city is going to be attacked at morning's first light, and we must be prepared. Gather together our strongest weapons and our mightiest warriors. Have the troops ready for my inspection by a quarter from the mark," she instructed. Suddenly, Meera felt like the queen that only a few moments ago she had thought she never could be. The Trokians would rue the day they ever crossed the kingdom of Atlantis.
A sentry turned from the viewing globe in Throck's quarters. "Sir, I think you should see this," he said.
Throck gazed into the mystic orb, Orion peering over his shoulder. They could see a vision of the interior of a dungeon cell. Queen Kida was holding a crystal pendant to her forehead and whispering something. Milo Thatch was watching her with wide eyes. "They're warning Atlantis," Orion observed. "Now all of the city will know you're coming."
"No matter," Throck snickered, stepping away from the viewing globe and disappearing into another room. Orion remained, watching the two captured in the mystic bubble. The way Milo looked at Kida reminded him of the way that he had once looked at a woman, a woman even more beautiful than the queen. She was shorter, a bit plumper, with a face that shone like the sun that Orion had not seen since he was a very young man, but remembered so well...
Her name had been Meeranakash. She seemed to float down the street, with grace like a dancer. She always smiled, and brought joy to whomever she met. Orion had been in love with her since adolescence, but had never had the courage to say even supük. Whenever she would greet him, he froze in his tracks. Orion knew he could never have her; she was so high above him. But still, he had always dreamed.
Then, one day Orion met Throck, and his life was changed forever. Throck told Orion that he would get Meera to like him if Orion would help him. Orion willingly agreed, but all it got him was being exiled from his city and separation from the only woman he had ever cared about.
The very thought of it made Orion sick. He looked again at the viewing globe and the two lovers displayed within it. He was tired of being treated badly by a power-hungry madman. And he was furious at himself for allowing the kidnap and murder of innocent lives, the lives of his Queen and King. But worst of all was the fact that tomorrow Atlantis would be destroyed, and Meera would be the first to die.
Orion slammed his fist onto the table. "It's time I stopped letting other people control my life and I started making my own decisions," he said to himself. He knew what he was going to do, and he knew how he was going to do it.
"Well, I sent the message. I can only hope that Meera received it," Kida sighed.
Milo embraced her. "It's going to be okay, honey," he said.
"I know it will. We'll escape. Somehow," Kida whispered. "I just wish I only knew how."
There was a scratching sound over their heads. Instantly, Kida and Milo were on their feet, in fighting stances, ready to defend at a moment's notice. Then, the scratching stopped. "What was it?" Kida asked, her guard still up.
"Maybe it was a rat," Milo replied, but he was pretty sure it was less of a rodent and more of a rat of the Trokian guard variety.
Suddenly, a panel on the ceiling slid aside and a face appeared in it. Milo jumped in surprise; Kida whirled. "You!" she snarled. It was Orion.
"Apologies, Täneb-toat. I..." He trailed off, then sharply drew in his breath, steeling himself. "I'm going to help you escape." With that, Orion jumped into the cell, carrying a rope and a bundle of supplies.
"Why should we trust you?" Kida snarled.
Orion set his jaw and looked down. "Because...there was a time when I felt about someone the way Milo feels about you. I want to make up for my mistakes, if it's the last thing I do." He looked up, directly into Kida's eyes. "I know it's too late to save myself, but I can only hope that it is not too late to save you."
Kida furrowed her eyebrows. She knew she shouldn't trust him, but something inside her–could it be the Heart of Atlantis? –told her that he was telling the truth. She extended her hand to her new ally. "Lead the way, friend Orion."
