Thicker Than Blood
Chapter 4
Casus Belli
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"Here they talked of revolution; here it was they lit the flame.
Here they sang about tomorrow, and tomorrow never came."
- Les Misérables, Empty Chairs at Empty Tables
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Timeless
There was one last hope, one slight chance for the balance to be righted, though it was dangerous, and if they failed the consequences would be catastrophic. Two very different forces on two very different worlds would make an attempt at the impossible.
I don't understand...
Neither did they.
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16,000 BC
In the times before Zeal Kingdom floated on the clouds like a lily on the water, in the times before Terra Continent was a waste of snow, before there were Earthbound and Enlightened, the people lived in tribes and hunted for their food and housed themselves in tents made of animal skins and made war with intelligent lizard-like creatures known as Reptites. On the day the leader of the humans met with the leader of the Reptites in the final, deciding battle a red star fell to the ground on the Reptites' fortress, destroying all those inside. And then things began to change. A cold wind swept through the jungles, killing the hot-blooded creatures and plants that lived there. The animals mutated, becoming strange and savage. The people began to change as well, gaining intelligence and magic. It began to snow, and then it never stopped. The people took to the caves. It was a great time for them. The land was changing, but they were changing as well and reveled in the power it brought them.
Three tribes emerged from the chaos. The strongest had magic, and used it for everything; hunting, building their homes, defending their people from the beasts that now roamed the snow wastes. Their power was incredible and unrivaled.
The other tribe had no magic, and grew stronger in a different manner. They were wise in the ways of the beasts, and nothing that they hunted ever escaped them. They knew the forests, the trees, the land, and lived in peaceful existence with the magic-users.
There was one other tribe, but they were very few in number, and dying out fast. They were the Seers, the Shamans from the days of old when the land was hot and her people simple. The red star that had changed the others had changed them as well. They no longer used bones and blood and fire to see the future. They dreamed it in the night, and the strongest among them saw visions even when awake. They, too, lived peacefully with the others. But the peace was not to last.
The oldest of the prophets had a dream, and in this dream he saw not only the future of the tribes, but the future of the planet itself. He saw a great demon, living in the earth's center and feeding on the strength of its peoples. He saw his tribe die out, and he saw the others become Enlightened and Earthbound. He saw the bloody war to oppress the Earthbound when the Enlightened rose their kingdom above the clouds, sealing away the sun. He saw the magic-users search for more and more power, discovering the demon in the earth and worshiping it as a god. And he saw this kingdom fall to ashes when the demon rose from the ocean to rain fire upon the land.
He was the Elder, and the strongest of his people, but the others also had the Seers' blood, and they caught some of his great vision. And while her mind was trapped in this web of chaos, a woman gave birth to a boy that was the son of a magic-user. This vision was what the child was born to, and it set fire to his blood, and being both prophet and magic-user he saw even more than the Elder, though he could not speak and had no way to tell them.
The prophets hurried to tell their fellow tribes of this vision, and were shocked when they were laughed at, and ignored.
"A demon rose out of the sea, and fire fell from heaven? You have been using the Dreamstone too long," Basilias, the leader of the magic-users sniggered at them. The chief of the hunters, Radicans, could not stop his bellowing laughter long enough to add anything.
The prophets, whose own numbers dwindled to the point of extinction, were forced to stay with the others, despite the scornful way they were now being treated. They were not strong enough to live on their own; they could not hunt, nor defend themselves if attacked by the beasts. But a plan was formed, when the boy who had been born to the Vision grew up and the Elder realized who he was.
"We have been given a chance to change the dark future shown to us," he rasped. The seven prophets and the child, all that were left, sat gathered around their fire in their cave. Without any magic-users the air was cold and they wrapped themselves in furs, hunching as close to the shallow flames as they dared. Beside the Elder, the boy whose name was Acies sat, eyes the color of fresh snow staring blankly into the fire. "Acies is going to live with them; the magic-users. We all know of his power in their arts. It is what the dreams say to do. He will become one of them, and train his children in our ways, and they will train theirs until this demon comes to the surface. And then, when our blood is weak in his veins and the magic-users blood is strong, our descendant will kill the demon."
"But Elder," spoke the only woman, Mona. "You are speaking of a time that is thousands of years from this day. How can we know Acies' descendants will do this thing?" There were murmurs of agreement from around the fire.
The Elder opened his mouth to reply, and coughed long and hard, until he could scarcely breathe. Beside him, Acies touched his arm and then the Elder gradually stilled. "It has been seen," he whispered when he could. "I have seen it. You are right, Mona, to be worried; there are shadows near the end, but our chances are good." He sat back to regain his breath and let the others consider his proposal.
"What else could we do? All our power is in visions."
"We can see, and act now to change that."
"This is the path we should take. I am sure of it."
"My visions have said the same. We must do what we can to change the future, even if we are alone in our wish to do so."
"So we agree with the Elder?"
"Yes."
The Elder nodded when their voices subsided. He'd known it would end this way. It was silent in the cave for a moment, apart from the screaming wind and crackling fire. Acies was staring into the flames, unaware of the eyes of the others on him. He shuddered suddenly, closing his eyes and drawing his blanket tighter around his body.
"What do you see, boy?" The Elder's voice was quiet. The others leaned forward expectantly.
"Darkness," Acies whispered, opening his white eyes and staring into the future. "I see darkness."
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7,000 AD
"Mother is dying."
At the sound of the familiar cold, flat voice, Laven took his hands away from the controls of the machine in front of him and turned around. His sister stood in the doorway, orange eyes downcast. She seemed more depressed than usual. Her fingers twisted a strand of her thick, blue hair around; a gesture of insecurity she carried from childhood. She wore a white tank top and loose black pants. He almost snapped at her for wearing human clothing instead of the usual battle armor, but caught himself in time. She didn't look well; her pale blue skin was paler than usual.
"Veil. You knew that."
"Yes. But I hadn't expected her to become so weak, Laven. She can scarcely control her hive." She gave a bitter laugh and came to sit in the chair beside his. "Though controlling them is hardly necessary. They really do love her."
"Of course they do. She is the Mother."
His sister sighed, the human gesture coming natural to her for all the time she spent with them. It was vaguely disturbing, that she was around them so much she was beginning to pick up their habits. All her free time now went to observing them. It was becoming an obsession. "I don't suppose you would understand, brother," she said coolly. After staring at him for a moment, she added, "They are regaining their memories."
Laven didn't know what to say to that. He didn't care about his Mother's hive; it was female's business. He'd tried it once, keeping a hive of humans, but found no pleasure in it. Their constantly chattering minds were annoying, and suppressing them into thoughtless drones wasted effort. He didn't understand what females saw in them.
"Have you fixed the sensors yet?" Veil extended a hand and the controls reached out to meet her. Her fingers flitted expertly over the keys and the holographic displays opened up in midair before her.
"Yes," Laven said. "I was waiting for you."
Veil sighed again, the gesture annoying Laven. She pushed the controls away and beckoned to another set, waiting patiently for them to cross the room to her. Her fingers settled over the keys, and after a moment the displays in front of her were replaced with different ones. They showed a grid filled with dots, and a blinking white line wandered randomly through them. It was the ships' starmap. Veil reached up and touched a section on the edge and the map scrolled down obediently. This new screen was also filled with dots, though there was no white line. His sister leaned back in her chair and sat still, vivid orange eyes staring vacantly at him.
"Sixty planets in this area that qualify," she said coldly. "Twelve significant times to search through." She paused. "Sensors show no indication of any Lav-"
Laven allowed his temper to surface and slammed himself back in his chair. "Damn that Lavos! We've looked through over half the 'system without any sign of him at all. Damn him." He slammed his body in the chair again, growling loudly.
"I'm sorry," Veil said quietly, still watching him.
"It isn't your fault," he growled at her, glaring hotly at the map. "I knew he couldn't be trusted. I just didn't think he'd flat out steal them. Didn't think he'd be so stupid."
Veil said nothing, staring at her brother and blinking -- another of her human's habits. Whatever her brother said, she knew that it was, in fact, her fault that Lavos had stolen their only chance for survival. Laven was just trying to be nice when he said otherwise. They both knew that.
"All those damned years," he snarled, "we worked our asses off and he just waltzes up here and steals them, just like that." He snapped his fingers, and Veil suppressed a smile.
Who is imitating humans now, brother?
"How much you want to bet he doesn't even know what he stole? That he took them just to piss us off." It was a rhetorical question. He didn't wait for an answer. "Damned bastard."
Veil waited patiently for his temper to cool. It was the same every time they entered a new galaxy. He would rant and rave for a while, she would pretend to listen, and then they would get to work.
It was tedious work. Methodically checking each and every planet in each and every year it existed, searching vainly for some sign Lavos had been there. The computer could not be programmed to do the task automatically, and the work was dull enough to almost put one to sleep. After a while, Laven's temper had risen again and he went off in search of some willing slave woman in either her or their Mother's hive. Veil worked alone for a while, then also grew tired and stood up, stretching. She padded silently to the window, leaning against it, flattening her palm to its cool surface and staring through her reflection at the planet currently under observation.
I'll find you, Veil promised fervently. You're the only hope for this universe, do you know that? And if Lavos thinks he can get away with this, well, we'll kick his ass together -- you, Laven and I. Brother or no brother, Lavos went too far when he took you from me, and it's about time someone told him that.
A loud beeping shook Veil from her thoughts. She turned around. Laven was reclining in his chair, shirtless and still breathing a little hard. Her brother was grinning. He looked rather pleased with himself. One glance at the holographic display in front of him told her why. On it were two words.
Subject Found.
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