Shirah stepped forward, reigning in the situation before the commotion could become too great.
"Everyone please go to your homes. We'll resolve all of this once the council is assembled."
Reluctantly, the crowd followed the beacon's orders.
"Bring her into my lodge," Shirah said quietly to Riddick as the crowd dispersed, carefully framing the command as a benevolent suggestion.
Riddick scooped Jack up from the ground and carried her inside, despite her protests that she could walk on her own. Jasmine looked through the crowd until she spotted her sister. She had gone quiet and still, while the other Furyans milled around excitedly, or returned to their homes. Jasmine knew that look. When Shirah stirred and opened her eyes, Jasmine asked,
"You call to the elders?" Shirah nodded.
"We're still missing one, but we must hear this without him. We can't afford to wait. The others should be arriving soon." She looked toward her own lodge, biting her lip. "It galls my blood to be so kind, but she is important to Riddick. We cannot lose him, and we must know what this is about."
Jasmine shrugged, huffing a sigh through her nostrils.
"Well, I'll retire then. It's been a very long night for all of us. Call if you need me."
Shirah looked surprised.
"I thought you of all people would want to see this through. You've known Riddick since the start of the story. You should be there at the end as well." Despite Jasmine's offended and disgruntled expression, Shirah continued, "besides, you're the only Furyan he knows. I think he'll be more comfortable with you there."
Shirah turned and went into her tent as if the matter was concluded, but Jasmine remained outside, scanning the crowd. Among the last remaining onlookers, she saw Ava, but when she caught the woman's eye, Ava shrugged. In the commotion, Mattathias had apparently slipped away yet again. Jasmine sighed deeply, tooling with the fan hanging at her waist. Then she turned and went into the tent.
"That's some detour you took."
As Jasmine entered the lodge, she heard Riddick's deep voice scolding Jack. Before Jack or Jasmine could explain, Shirah interjected,
"Yes. What here was worth your life? Did you come for me?" The Furyan leader gave a soft laugh. "You can have another chance if you like, but I must warn you – the warrior who killed you but a moment ago is my sister, and I am just as deadly."
"She came for Kenevar's book," Jasmine responded before Jack could again do some ridiculously brash thing that would get her killed yet again.
"He's my grandfather. It's mine by rights. He wanted me to have it," the younger woman said angrily. The Elemental's face was flushed with the excitement of the moment and a little bit of youthful temper. She sat up from the couch, looking pointedly at Riddick.
Riddick blinked, leaning forward slightly.
"You might as well give it up, kid. You're not getting the book unless you tell her what's in it," he said, referring to Shirah.
Just then, the flaps of the tent parted as three Furyans came into the room. Shirah went to greet them. After a glance, Jasmine saw that they were members of the council of elders. She returned their nods of acknowledgment.
"You might need to let this go, Jack," Riddick said softly so only she could hear. "I don't think they'll just let you walk out of here with it – and I'm not too keen on fighting these people."
He frowned after that statement, thinking back to how the beast in him had calmed just at the sound of his mother's voice. He suddenly was more than ready to leave. This place was starting to have too much pull. Their conversation ended when Shirah cleared her throat. When Jack and Riddick looked up, she was holding Kenevar's leather bound journal. The elders took their seats, spreading out to loosely surround Jack's chair.
Jasmine sat as well, casting a furtive glance at her sister as Shirah unceremoniously tossed the book into Jack's lap. Riddick was hunkered down nearby, and he glanced at the book as Jack opened the cover.
"The only part of that book that interests us," Shirah stated as she slowly paced before Jack, "is the first entry. The rest of that journal is nothing but mundane quibbling about the day-to-day of your useless lives. The first entry though, is rather puzzling."
She paused as Jack looked at the first pages.
"It's not in your language." Shirah concluded, "It doesn't appear to be any language at all."
She came closer, dipping downward until she was face-to-face with the Elemental.
"You say you are his granddaughter. Decode that for us and we'll let Kenevar's worthless legacy live on in you. We'll even let you leave." Keeping her position, she turned her head to look Riddick in the eye. "If you refuse," she said to Jack while holding Riddick's gaze, "well…I'll be curious to see if our Alpha can work two miracles in one night."
She and Riddick regarded each other for a moment more. Jasmine frowned from her seat, then rose and took several steps toward the entrance. She didn't know what Shirah was playing at, but she was more than sure that they'd be fine without her presence. When she was certain that all of the attention was elsewhere, she slipped out into the night. She headed purposely for the woods. Let Shirah take care of Riddick – she had her own matter to settle.
Back in the tent, Jack sighed as she looked at the first entry in her grandfather's journal. Kenevar had been correct. She could read this code. It was a special game they'd played since she was a little girl. Even though she was long past childhood, he often still left notes for her that only she could read.
She bit her lip, drumming her fingertips upon the first page. She glanced at Riddick again. The look in his eyes was more than clear.
Read the damn book, Jackie.
Jack sighed and nodded. Squinting briefly as she deciphered the first characters, she began to read.
** I, Kenevar Anselm, have broken our greatest law. I have tipped the balance. I have tipped the balance – yet the only remorse I feel is that I did not do more.
I was acting as an ambassador to the planet Furya. We had been hearing rumors of a great shift in the balance of power – a force so great that none could withstand it. As far as we were able to discern, the next greatest power, and the only one at our disposal, was that of Furya. Hence, I and the emissaries were sent forth to scout Furya's potential, to see if this people was indeed so great.
Our talks had barely begun when this army found us. We received no warning. Even our greatest mystics did not sense their coming. This force descended upon the planet like a firestorm, leaving time for none to prepare or react. Their soldiers were seasoned warriors who cut down all before them like wheat.
The Furyans are a powerful people, but with no time to prepare even they fell before this army. Amidst the chaos it was all I could do to gather my traveling companions and evacuate. We had brought one large ship and several small skiffs. There was more than enough room for those I'd brought, and more so, as with the ensuing battle some of us were separated from the group. I can only presume them to be dead.
What I confess now is to my everlasting shame. There is no deed great enough to erase what I have done. Our law reveres balance and The Great Scales require it. The greatest crime is to purposefully shift that balance, regardless of who it may favor. Yet, if I were a man of strength, I would have broken that law and never looked back.
As we fled, a Furyan elder found me and requested that I help some Furyans to escape. They were the helpless ones, invalids and children, only those who could not stand and fight. I denied the elder's request and left his people to die.
We left that planet in a large ship that could have held at least 70 more. Not a one of my companions blinked an eye. Even I was unmoved until we were too far away to be of any help.
As we flew toward home, there was a flash of light so bright that it lit the inside of our ship. All eyes turned back toward Furya, which was growing smaller and smaller in the distance, but we turned in time to see the light fading. I found myself unable to turn away.
I cannot say what drove my next actions – guilt, shame, the first flicker of courage – there is no way to know, but I found myself taking a skiff, despite the protest of every member of my entourage. I ordered them to continue toward Elementium, and I headed back to Furya.
When I landed, it was as if I were on another planet entirely. I was greeted by nothing but scorched and flattened earth, charred buildings, and bodies as far as I could see. I walked until I was tired, looking and listening for any signs of life. I found only one.
There was a mound, a pile of bodies carelessly thrown to the side. They were infants. I thought them all to be dead – until I saw the light. It was dim, but similar to the character of the light we'd seen from inside our ship. Upon investigation, I found one living male. Other little bodies lay on top of his, but the light guided me to him. His legs were charred, burnt nearly black, but he had a heartbeat, and it was strong.
He stirred when I touched him and gave a feeble cry. In that instant, I disregarded all the education, all the training I ever received. I would not allow The Great Scales to decide the fate of this baby. I wrapped him up in my cloak. I had returned too late and I saw no living Furyans who could take the boy, so I brought him into the skiff.
The child was so quiet, and as we flew away from Furya, the light on his chest grew dimmer and dimmer. At first, I feared that the boy was dying, but repeated checks assured me that his heart continued to beat.
I cannot say how long I flew, only that I knew this baby's best chance was to get as far away from his home planet as I could take him. We eventually landed on the night side of a planet in the Bascurro sector.
I was already a coward, so it was easy to add 'liar' to the list. I told the port authorities I was an Elemental priest stopping to visit a fellow cleric. With the infant being so quiet, he was no trouble to hide. Inter-pol was able to direct me to a friary, and I took the child there. I told the clergymen that I'd found the child in a garbage bin near a liquor establishment. The friars assumed he was an abused, abandoned baby. I did not bother to correct them.
I stayed in the friary that night, and left the next morning after getting an update from the medical personnel who'd taken the baby. His wounds are critical, but he appears to have a very strong will to live.
I have tipped the balance in his favor in more than one way. If luck serves him, he will survive. If he survives, he will never know who or what he is. He could not be safer.
Perhaps The Great Scales have not been compromised. One life for hundreds upon hundreds of deaths? And after what I have seen, it does not take a mystic to sense that more death is to come. Perhaps the universe itself will bear the consequences of our neutrality.
I can tell no one what I have done. Only this journal bears witness to my deed.**
There was utter silence as Jack read the last words and shut the journal. It was safe to say that everyone in the room was absolutely stunned.
Jasmine looked back briefly as she left Shirah's lodge, then shook her head to clear her thoughts. The warrior in her was intensely curious as to what they'd find in Kenevar's journal. Still, the past few hours had imparted a great deal of perspective.
There's more to this life than being a warrior. A hell of a lot more.
The Fury took a couple of steps backward before turning around completely and heading into the woods. Hopefully, she hadn't fucked up her chance to have a real life.
As the large boulder loomed up before her, Jasmine couldn't help but smile.
Predictable Mattì.
His slouched figure was clearly visible in the full moonlight.
She spoke when she was close enough.
"And you accuse me of running from my problems. At least I picked a place that was hard to find." She grinned at the thought, but Mattathias merely scowled.
"You were so busy with the Alpha earlier. I'm surprised you didn't send one of your messengers again," he grumbled.
Jasmine's smile fell a little when she saw how angry he still was.
"No," she spoke softly to calm him. "I needed to deliver this message personally."
Mattathias tilted his head. Something in her voice told him that this was important. He climbed down the rock face and she came closer until they were looking each other in the eye.
As they came into proximity, their marks emitted a soft light. Looking down at her own chest, Jasmine felt her heart rate increase, although this time it had nothing to do with an impending battle. When she looked up at him again, Mattathias was clearly confused. Jasmine laughed.
"Chrism men, Naveen men – you're both a little slow on the uptake." That did nothing to explain why she'd come, so Jasmine went for action instead. Grabbing his face with both of her hands, she kissed him until they were both out of breath. "Let me spell it out for you," she said between gulps of air, still cradling his face and resting her forehead against his. "I, Jasmine Kyder, warrior of the Lion clan and leader of the Furies have done a great thing and have earned the right to choose for myself. I choose you."
Mattathias did not speak for some time. Instead he reached up, wrapping his large hands around her wrists. For the next few moments, the two concentrated on breathing. Eventually though, Jasmine stepped back, waiting for his answer. He still held her arms, and now his thumbs casually rubbed the back of her wrists.
"Mattì," she finally said, "I know that I've made you wait, but Jehovah didn't grant me the same patience. Please – "
"You know," he said, interrupted her. "If you're really deciding to marry me, then the past four months have been for nothing - unless this was just foreplay..."
In a matter of seconds they were both laughing uncontrollably. As he smiled at her, it was like the weight of the world fell from Jasmine's shoulders. The release felt so good that a few tears slipped from her eyes. Then the mirth gave way completely to tears and Jasmine couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying.
Mattathias wrapped his arms around her without question. It had been several long months for them both. He asked for no explanation, simply providing the comfort he knew she needed.
"None of it matters, Beloved," he said quietly into her ear, "I know exactly what I'm getting into. I've just been waiting for you to figure out what you wanted."
"God, Mattì," Jasmine sniffed once she was able to recover herself. "Keep acting like that and you'll be way too good for me."
Silence seemed like the best course, so Mattathias simply extended his hand. When Jasmine took it, they began walking back to camp.
As Furyan guards waited outside of Shirah's tent, Riddick fumed,
"You said you'd let her go if she read the book. She read the fucking book."
Shirah shrugged,
"I tried to. Weren't you listening? She wants to go back the holding cell."
The Beacon gave an exasperated sigh as she fisted a hand in her long hair. She certainly regretted having heard the entry from the journal. Things had suddenly grown very complicated. If she had to find a bright side, though, at least Riddick was going to stay. His actions made it more than clear that he would not leave without the girl.
But what to do about Kenevar - or rather, what could be done that would be in everyone's best interests? Her visions had never betrayed her, and from the first one, she had felt an immeasurable pull to Riddick. When he'd first appeared in her visions, she had thought he was her lost brother, Orion and that he had somehow miraculously survived. Why else could she feel so connected to him? When the DNA tests had shown otherwise, though, there was but one explanation left.
She stepped outside the lodge to watch the guards lead Jack away. Riddick came outside as well, pacing a small swath of ground. Shirah glanced at him casually. He was like a caged beast- a caged wolf.
"You're supposed to be mine," she said defiantly, ignoring the perplexity and anger that crossed Riddick's face. "I know you felt it when I came to you on Crematoria. I saved your life," Shirah hissed.
Riddick scratched the back of his neck, appearing to ponder his answer.
"You didn't save me. Whatever it was you did to me, I was so wiped out that I would have laid out on that rock and fried if the Purifier hadn't dragged me into the hangar."
"That seems preferable to death by Necromonger," she spat in return, stalking a short distance away from him, "and I did know who the 'Purifier' was."
The two Alpha Furyans stared each other down for a long moment, then Shirah finally broke the silence.
"Had I not felt what I did, I would have no problem letting you leave – Alpha or no. We don't want someone who doesn't want us, but you have shown that you are capable of thinking of someone other than yourself. Try to think of your people – of our future."
She came a little closer, brushing against his arm.
"Our child could be the most powerful Furya has ever seen. I know you have history with the girl, but think of us. Think of your mother –"
"Don't you dare!" Riddick nearly yelled. "You're a hell of a person to put in charge. You're as selfish as I am."
"Then you do understand," the Beacon smiled, "we're a perfect match."
By the time the sun had risen, the last of the council of elders had arrived on the planet. The now complete council sat in Shirah's lodge. Kwoth, the head of the council had been briefed on the contents of Kenevar's journal, and he was equally shocked by the news.
They all sat, meditating upon their own thoughts before they launched into discussion. When they were ready, Shirah stood, drawing herself up to her full height.
"My fellow elders, there are only two choices here."
Though she obviously could not see through the walls of her tent, she looked West toward the holding cell where Jack and Kenevar sat. Then she looked North, toward Ava Chrism's tent, where Riddick had spent the night. Clearing her throat, she said,
"Do we allow a man his life for saving one life, or do we kill a man for enabling a thousand deaths?"