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Episode 27: A Man Named Dietz
"What do you mean, Elisa?" Raymond Talan asked, his voice low. "What has happened?"
"He – we all saw a horrible display of his attempts to destroy the Eratite ship. He believes they are coming to kill us. But I cannot believe that. Why would they do that? How would they even know where we are?"
"They are coming here?" The Admiral's eyes grew wide.
"From the projections we've seen. Yes." Elisa replied, "Either here or to Iscandar, and there's no reason they would be going there."
Raymond didn't say anything for a while and Elisa looked at him with concern, "What is it?"
"Elisa, there's something you should know about that ship – something my son told me."
"Masterson? You've talked with him?" she said, "Where is he? Has he returned?" her eyes were bright with hope at the possibility that the one person who could possibly stop the Leader from going on with this crusade against this one ship might be here.
"He is still on patrol on the far outer edge of Gamilon's territory. He would not be able to make it back here for some time even if he were called back I'm afraid."
"Oh…" Elisa said, downcast, "I had hoped…" she began, looking away from the Admiral, down at her son's grave.
"I know…" the Admiral sighed, "I hoped that he would have been called back already, but I fear there is something else going on – something much darker than we could guess." He paused, "What exactly happened to cause you so much distress?"
"He – the Leader sent out an entity of some sort to devour the ship – a gas I think, but it behaved like no gas cloud I've ever seen. It looked like it was seeking out the ship – following it – like it had a will." She shivered, "But how could that be?"
Admiral Talan thought on her words then replied, "There is a way, but I pray I am wrong about it."
"What?" Elisa asked hesitantly, afraid of the answer, but just as afraid not to know what was going on.
"It did have a will; but that will was not natural, the only way that such a thing could be true is that another presence took the cloud as its host."
Elisa swallowed hard, the days with the rakabim and Leader Desslok's renegade band came back to her. There had been so many times when they had faced the forces of Hell itself – quite literally – but Masterson had always been at their side, telling them that all would be well and not to fear the great darkness that the Usurper's forces had often carried with them.
The zealots had borne that spirit of darkness with them as well, though they had had the power to wield it as they wished, summoning the shédiim to do their bidding and slaughter whatever enemy they might find.
Elisa remembered a time she had witnessed Masterson destroy one of the foul things with a mere name – the name of Mashiach.
"I never thought I would see the say that Leader Desslok would find himself in league with the very forces he sought to destroy when the Usurper reigned…" Elisa whispered, "If that is indeed what is happening, I cannot sit by and allow what happened before to happen again. Another king ruled by the darkness of the shédiim will destroy us all."
"I know." Raymond replied, "And I agree, but there is little we can do openly to stop it."
"Surely there are others who know at least a little of what is happening. Surely there are those who do not agree with it." Elisa said in indignation, "We cannot let this happen again."
"There are a few." Raymond replied in a near whisper, "I will let them know of your sympathies." He looked around, making sure no one was near them.
The graves were deserted.
He turned back to Elisa, "There is a man named Dietz."
"So what'd you all talk about up there?" Derek asked Nova as she waited for the computer to complete its calculations for the warp.
"Nothing you'd want to know about, I'm sure." She replied without a single look in his direction.
"Aw, come on. Just tell me a little bit. Mark wanted to know too. Was it about the warp?" he prodded.
"No." she replied simply, not saying anything more.
Just then the computer finished its work and relayed the information to her personal device. She looked through the information, making sure that nothing had gone wrong in the calculation. She didn't want to leave anything to chance on a warp. After all, this was still very new to them all – the computer included.
"Not even a clue?" Wildstar persisted.
Nova was getting impatient with his nagging, the stress of the encounter with the dark presence had put her a bit on edge.
"Alright, fine." She said sharply, looking up at him, "That was no gas cloud chasing us, Derek." She said frankly, then walked away, calculations in hand.
"Huh?" Derek said, taken aback both by her tone and her words. "Not a gas cloud?" he wondered. "What was it then…?"
The possibilities started to roll through his brain, but nothing made sense to him. He raced after Nova. "What do you mean?" he asked as he caught up to her, "What's got you so jumpy?"
"I'm not 'jumpy.'" She retorted, then her tone softened, "I'm sorry, I just…" she sighed, "That gas cloud wasn't just some phenomena that we happened to run into." She looked over at her friend, "It was the spawn of Hell."
Derek looked at her like she'd lost her brain, "I'm sorry, what?" he asked, "You're telling me that was some kind of demon or something. I don't even know if I believe in that kind of thing or not."
"Well, believe it, Derek. They exist and they're after us." She replied with candor, "You can honestly tell me you didn't hear or see anything strange during that encounter?"
"Nope." He said shaking his head, "Not a thing – though it did get a little colder than normal. Like the temperature dropped when it got closer to us…" he thought about that for a moment, "Which I guess is rather strange considering we were going through a star…"
They were almost back to the bridge now.
"Okay, so it was little strange." He admitted, "But how did you come to the conclusion that some evil spirit is chasing us?"
"Because we heard it – felt it – saw it. I smelled it too." She said, looking sick.
"You mean you and Homer and Sandor and the rest?" he asked.
Nova nodded, still looking ill.
"How is that even possible?" he asked.
"Because there is more going on here than you know, Derek. I'm afraid this is something you can't understand."
"Oh, I get it, this has something to do with that 'faith' of yours or something like that." Derek rolled his eyes.
"It does." Nova said just as they arrived at the bridge and their conversation stopped abruptly as the door opened and they walked back into the ship's command center. "The calculations are ready for the warp, Captain." Nova said, sending the data over to Mark's terminal. "We can go as soon as the ship's ready to make the jump."
"Thank you, Miss Forrester." The Captain nodded to her.
Nova and Derek both returned to their stations without another word to each other.
Mark looked at Derek with a questioning look, like "Why were you out there with her?"
Derek just shrugged back and gave him a clueless look.
"Venture, begin the countdown for warp." The captain ordered and Mark's attention returned to where it was supposed to be.
He watched the screen as the numbers sped down from ten to zero.
They warped.
"So what was all that about?" Mark asked Derek over a late meal after they'd finished their warp and earned a little down time during shift-change.
"What?" Derek managed around a mouthful of food.
"That thing with Nova. You came in with her. I figured you were talking or something." Mark said.
Derek swallowed his food, "I asked her about what the Captain wanted her and the others for. I wasn't about the warp." He downed a gulp of what the cafeteria called "juice." It was more like bland sugar-water.
"So what was it?' Venture prodded, curious.
"Something to do with that gas cloud."
"What about it?" Mark asked, picking at what was left on his tray and making faces at some of it, much like his little brother Jordy would do with his brussel sprouts – back when they could get them, that is.
"Oh, they think it was some kind of demon or something."
Mark laughed, "A what? Are they serious? I respect the captain and all, but I have no idea how they got that out of what we saw."
Derek didn't answer for a second and Mark started to wonder what he was thinking, "You don't seriously think they could be right, do you?"
Derek stared at his tray, "I didn't think I did…" he replied, "But after thinking about it for the rest of the shift…" his voice trailed off, then he began again, "I mean, who's to say they're wrong?"
"Okay, just because you have some sort of crush on Nova –" Mark began.
"I do not." Derek denied. "I'm just saying that maybe there is something they can see other than what the instruments told us. What if there's something more out there besides just what was can touch and see?"
"Great, my buddy's going all philosophical on me." Mark rolled his eyes and shoved another bite of food in his mouth.
"I'm just trying to see the situation without taking sides." Derek said, "I can't say that what Nova said isn't true. I wasn't in her head when it happened."
"Okay, maybe not." Mark replied, "But are you going to believe everything she tells you from now on? And what about Royster down in the lab? Are you going to believe everything that comes out of his mouth too?"
"That's not what I said." Derek replied, "I just think that she might have been telling the truth – at least, what she thought was the truth."
Mark shrugged, "Okay. I can respect that. But I still think you need to be careful about believing her. She has some strange ideas about some stuff."
Derek chuckled, "Yeah, I know." He looked around and suddenly noticed their subject of conversation sitting on the other side of the mess hall eating with Homer.
She caught his eye and he couldn't stop watching her. He looked at her face as she talked with the comm officer. It was soft and kind, and her brown eyes gave off a sense of well-being that he had never seen in anyone else. She smiled and he noticed how much prettier she was when she was happy.
"Hey!" Mark kicked Derek's shin under the table, "You're staring."
"What?" Derek asked, clueless, "Oh…" he quickly tore his eyes away from Nova and looked back at his food.
"Don't have a crush on her, huh?" Mark huffed, "Tell me another one, Wildstar."
Derek didn't reply, just started eating slowly, feeling like he'd just seen something more wonderful than he ever had in those brown eyes – like a whole other world was there that he wasn't a part of. But he wanted to be.
Elisa stood outside a magnificent house, waiting for someone to answer her request to enter.
She looked around, making sure no one was around to see her enter the house. As she waited she wondered, "How did such a man as Gul Dietz ever garner such sympathy for the Eratites."
The thought led her back to what else Raymond Talan had revealed to her after he had told her about Dietz. The ship was not heading here to Gamilon. It was going to Iscandar. The Queen herself had offered the Eratites the gift of new life in the form of the Rophi Shamayim – the device that had once cured Iscandar of the devastation caused by the Cometines a hundred years ago. The device had lain dormant in the vault below the palace on Iscandar since then, but now the queen was going to give it to the Eratites.
It was such an unbelievable story - the princess Astra had taken a message all the way to Erats by herself to tell them of the hope they offered, and the Eratites had responded by building a great battleship and sending it out here to receive the great gift.
Who would have thought such a thing possible? And who would have thought that the Leader would have no idea that this plan was being executed right under his nose without him knowing even the slightest bit about it? It was a miracle of Adonai that Astra had gotten to Erats alone, even she would admit that. But the even greater miracle was that the Eratites had mustered enough strength to build such a ship as the one she'd seen.
She'd never seen anything like the strange thing. It was beautiful in a way – majestic – like it sailed through the stars carrying the sense of purpose of the entire planet of Erats. And maybe it did. There was something about it… Even in the short time she'd seen it she'd sensed it. There was something else about that ship, like it was being borne along by more than just its engines.
Just then the door to the house opened and a short, older woman invited her in.
"Come in, dear." She said, "I am Babette, the housekeeper; welcome to the Dietz household. You are Elisa?"
"Yes." Elisa nodded.
"We've been expecting you." The housekeeper motioned towards a door on the other side of the room, "The Admiral is waiting for you in there. I'll be in with some tea in a moment."
"Th – thank you." Elisa managed and walked slowly towards the indicated door. The room beyond looked homey, like a study or quaint living area – not at all what she'd expected the inside of the house to be like at all.
She passed through the doorway and immediately stopped. On a couch to her left sat a middle-aged man with an impressive scar over his left eye.
"Admiral." She bowed to the man.
"Please don't." he replied, "Here we are allies, not admiral and councilor."
Elisa smiled a little and moved to take a seat across from Dietz.
"Is your husband well these days?" he asked as she sat.
"I…" she stopped, thinking for the first time what Dommel would think of her being here, "haven't talked with him since he left for Balan. He's due home soon though. I hope he isn't sent back out, but I doubt I will get that wish." She said, downcast.
"I understand." Dietz nodded, "My own daughter has been dispatched to the same front. Melda was just home a couple of weeks ago though. Her ship just managed to return after their encounter with the Eratite ship. It's a miracle they made it back at all. That engagement was costly for our fleet. Colonel Gantz's force was hit hard."
"I know." Elisa said, "I just saw the remainder of the fleet this morning."
"This morning? They've returned?" Dietz asked, surprised.
"No… I did not see them in person…" she took a deep breath, "That is part of the reason I've come. Did Admiral Talan tell you what I said to him?"
"He did." Dietz nodded as Babette came in with the promised tea and two cups. He nodded his thanks to the housekeeper and she left them alone again.
Elisa reached for the cup that had been poured for her and Dietz picked up his own and took a slow sip.
"He said that you have come to see things as I and my friends have." Dietz offered.
Elisa nodded slowly, "The Leader… he brought us out of a great darkness – the rule of the Usurper. He saved what remained of Iscandar from that plague. He gave us back our home. But now… it seems he has succumbed to that darkness himself…" her eyes became glassy, "I never thought…" her voice trailed off.
"I know." He said, "You may not remember, but I was a part of that group – the rakabim*. My daughter was only twelve when it all began – when the Leader gathered us and we became his army."
"Wait – " a small memory suddenly surfaced, "You – your daughter played with Constance – the pale girl, the daughter of Garen Krenshaw's friend."
"I remember Constance." Dietz nodded, the chuckled, "Quite a child as I remember – very little tact she had, but she had the courage to say what she thought when it mattered."
Elisa smiled a little remembering the girl as she had been back then, "She did."
The space between the two grew silent, but this time was not an awkward one, instead it was filled with shared memories.
Elisa looked Dietz in the eye, "So you understand what I saw then and what I see now."
"I do." Dietz said simply, "I see, and I cannot allow it to happen – not without a fight."
"What can we do? How many others are there?"
"There are a few dozen right now." Dietz replied, "But that number will grow when we reveal more information about what's really been going on."
Elisa nodded, "Good. But back to the question, what can so few do against an entire empire?"
Dietz's eyes seemed to bore into her with purpose and he said, "We did it once. We can do it again."
At this, Elisa nodded, feeling hope well up inside her at the thought that they could do something to help the Eratites – to stop the brutal pursuit the Leader had taken up to slaughter the Eratites before they reached Iscandar and received the life-giving device they'd been offered.
"So where shall we start, Admiral?"
* Rakabim - a group of dragon-riders in Desslok's service during the rebellion against his brother, Deun the Usurper
Episode 28: Hotline
Night had fallen, and Starsha stood alone in her quarters. They seemed so large now that she was the only one who frequented them. At least when Astra was here she visited sometimes, but now… She just hoped her sister was alright and aboard that ship making the voyage to Iscandar.
Starsha turned to look out on the Sea of Iscandar as her father often had in days past. Moonlight shone atop the waves as they rippled along, kissing the beach and retreating over and over.
So much had happened since the Eratite ship set sail, and she had heard so little from Masterson during that time. She had begun to wonder if he was alright since he hadn't contacted her in weeks.
She had contemplated calling him, but decided not to in case her signal was intercepted by Gamilon. She paced back and forth in front of the grand window, wondering where that ship was right now. Since the core had not alerted her, she knew it was safe, but for how long? How long could they stay out of Gamilon's sights?
She looked up and saw her sister-world hanging there among the stars. It glittered golden-green, its scars becoming worse every passing week. She felt a wave of sadness role over her as she gazed upon it. She remembered when Desslok had come to Iscandar not more than a year ago. He had cleansed her world of the terrible plague, taking time away from his own sick world to save hers.
The day she'd met him she knew he was a man who, once he set his mind to a course never faltered in completing it, though the way be more grueling than anything he had ever experienced. He had gathered an army under impossible circumstances; he had freed his people from one who shared his blood – and his face. His own brother had terrorized the Gamilon people for years before Desslok had taken his brother's fist of iron and crushed it.
The Malha's forces had scattered, the terror had ended, only to give way to another. After the Usurper's exile Gamilon's diseased state had come to light. The Usurper had planted the death seed and now his brother sought a way to remedy it. Desslok had tried unsuccessfully to eradicate the plague from Gamilon's soil. Thankfully the strain that infected Gamilon wasn't deadly to the people, only their planet.
She and her sister had offered to help Desslok and his people find a new home, even help terra-form it if the need arose, but the Leader had declined. He thought it would take too long to accomplish such a feat as that. Starsha had wept bitterly when she'd discovered what course he had chosen.
Instead of taking a deserted world for his people he had chosen to continue with a plan his brother had set into motion years before. Deun had somehow found their ancient home – "the point of Creation" they had all come to call it – a planet called "Erats," "Earth" as the Eratites called it. He had planned to sterilize it – murder the entire population and move his own people there after he'd restored the world with the technology the Rophi Shamayim was based on.
Starsha's heart caught in her throat as she thought of it again.
She sighed, trying to hold back the tears.
She stared at Gamilon, thoughts of Desslok rushed through her mind. The memory of those deep green eyes staring into her own hazel ones flooded her soul every day. She prayed every time that vision came to her. She prayed that one day she would see light in those eyes.
She looked around, blinking away her sorrow. Her eyes caught something white across the room lying on a chair.
She squinted into the darkness, trying to figure out what it was. She took several steps towards it, then, realizing what it was she quickly went and picked it up.
Her Interface! Suddenly all the memories of Desslok's time here on Iscandar washed over her again and she knew what she had to do.
She slipped the glove-like apparatus onto her left hand, hoping that she would be able to do what she must.
The Interface came up and asked it its characteristic voice, "State your command."
"List available Interfaces." She said.
The thing took a moment to scan the network then chimed back with the answer she most wanted to hear, "Interface 3 is active. Do you wish to connect?"
"Yes." Starsha said softly, returning to the window and reaching out to touch the glass covering the world she hoped might still be renewed one day soon – the world whose ruler's fate she now realized she cared very much about.
Why else – she thought – would she had defended him to Alex? Why would she not have forgotten about him by now?
She waited for the other Interface to answer.
Desslok started awake, feeling as though something were there in the room watching him. The sensation had come more and more often as of late and his nights had become shorter and shorter as a result. Some nights he didn't even bother to sleep at all – just like the old days before he'd overthrown Deun.
The events of the day felt surreal: seeing the Eratite ship coming ever closer, trying unsuccessfully to stop them.
He stared into the darkness.
He'd long ago given up keeping a light lit to try to ward off whatever presence lingered in the shadows. Tonight was no different. He couldn't see it, and thankfully tonight he couldn't hear it either. The presence spoke no guttural words of death; neither did it utter its sick laugh. Tonight it merely watched.
The presence surrounded him, taking in his battle scars, his weary heart, his darkened soul.
But tonight there was something different in its gaze. It was as though it sensed something was about to happen, though what it was, he could not venture a guess. He only wished that, whatever it was, it would go ahead and happen.
The anxiety in the air was so thick he thought he might choke on it.
"And what has you so jumpy, my friend?" Desslok whispered into the darkness.
Just then he chanced to see a low glow emanating from beside his bed. He looked over at it, wondering what it was.
He reached down to pick the thing up and realized it was the Iscandarian Interface. Its glow was shining through its glass case.
He took the box and brought it up into his lap. The light somehow set him at ease. He opened the box and took out the item, then smoothly slid it onto his left hand.
Before he found out what the thing wanted of him he got out of bed and walked to the window. It stood floor to ceiling, wall to wall, the view uninhibited by anything but support braces for the enormous expanse.
He looked up and saw the one sight that could still grant him the vestige of a smile. Iscandar, in all its beauty still stood there in its stately grace, grazing down upon him, as though the Queen herself was looking at him this very moment.
He held out his hand to access the Interface.
"Interface four wishes to connect. Do you wish to accept the call?" the computer voice said.
"I do…" he replied quietly.
Almost immediately the face of Starsha appeared before him.
The instant her face appeared the heavy presence he could never shake lifted, as though Starsha had somehow frightened it away. Her eyes were sad.
"Starsha…" he said quietly, "How may I help you?"
She looked at his face, and though it was dark she could see him clearly… and the fact that he had just woken and wore no shirt. She fought her embarrassment, turning her eyes away for a moment, but as she did her gaze caught something, a scar – now faded – laid out across the top of his chest like a proud battle banner.
"You… got that during the rebellion…?" she looked pointedly at the badge of honor.
"Yes." He nodded, "In a fight with a shéd-wielder. He managed to get past my guard once – and only once. He died an instant after his blade dealt me this." He laid his other hand over the mark. "It is nothing." He said, "I have been given much worse. I still bear the marks from those ordeals."
Starsha felt sad in a way she never had before, "I am sorry for what you have suffered… for my sake."
Desslok looked into her eyes and his emerald gaze seemed to brighten, "I would have done whatever needed to be done… for you sake…. Starsha of Iscandar."
"And I would have done whatever was necessary to help your people find a new home…" Starsha replied softly, "I have heard what is happening, and I cannot let you destroy a world…" she felt his gaze sadden.
"You do not understand, Starsha." He replied, "They will die if I do not do this."
"I can help you, Desslok, please. If you stop now all can be made right." She replied, her voice pleading. "There is no need to involve innocents."
He looked away from her and she thought she saw tears in his eyes for a moment, "Innocents have already died by the thousands since the beginning of this travesty…"
"But no more need die." She offered. "Please… You have the power to save them. Why will you not offer that life to them now?"
"Because I cannot." He said flatly, turning his eyes back to hers.
She shivered as she saw the deadness that had overshadowed those green orbs.
"I do not understand…" she replied quietly.
"I know." He replied sadly, the life returning to his eyes, "I am not able to explain I am afraid. Just know that I do this for my people… and for you…"
"What has happened, Desslok?" she asked, knowing now that something was dreadfully wrong.
The Leader did not answer, he merely stared at her, almost as if he were trapped in some other world trying desperately to get out.
An answer came to her, but she prayed she was wrong, "Desslok, have you made a pact with the shédim?"
She waited for an answer.
The man opened his mouth to answer, but stopped. He looked away again. Then he took a breath and looked her in the eye, "I am not like my brother. I will save whoever I can, but your life and the lives of my people are my first concern. If they are threatened, I will act as I must."
Starsha's eyes widened, "No…" she whispered nearly inaudibly, tears beginning to well up in her eyes and spill down her cheeks, "You cannot…"
"I have only done what I must." He replied just as quietly.
"They will destroy you, Desslok." Starsha said, her voice unsteady, "They will possess you and take your will. They will do terrible things in your name."
He stopped her, "Do not fear," he said with a sad smile, "I am told by the malakhim themselves that I am the 'anointed one,' and they cannot inhabit me as they please."
Starsha breathed in sharply, "Do not do this, Desslok, please, I beg of you!"
"I must go, my Queen. I thank you for the moment of relief from the darkness that now surrounds me. You have become my sanity in this world of madness I have found myself in…" Desslok's face suddenly disappeared from before her.
She did not know what to do – what to say. What could she say? Desslok's last words had gripped her heart, and they echoed there even now. She knew she would never forget those words; she only hoped that he would understand that there was but One source of healing for his shéd-blighted mind…
Right now the reigning emotion in her heart was fear – fear for this man's safety. There was no one to help him should he need it. She knew the servants of the shédim had had something to do with that.
"Father, do not let them take him as they did his brother; do not let this ransomed one go without giving him another chance to let You lighten his dark soul…" she let her tears fall silently as she reached out again to touch the world she had just spoken to. "If ever you need my help, I will do whatever I can – give you whatever I can to help you, even my life if it were needed…"
The thought then came to her - what was going on here? Was it not truly Deun's idea to destroy Erats? What she had just hears seemed to indicate that it was not. But had he known he was a pawn in a much bigger, horrible game? She could not know.
A soft blipping sound emanated from the front door of her apartments.
She let her hand drop to her side, "Enter." She said.
"Hey." Alex Wildstar's voice echoed through the room. "You sounded kind of sad. I thought I'd check on you." He said slowly, "Who were you talking to?" he asked in the best Iscandarian he could muster.
Starsha did not turn to face him, lest he see her tear-stained face. "A… friend."
Desslok stared up at Iscandar, wishing he could have spoken with its queen longer, but he didn't want whatever lay in the darkness to know too much about Starsha. He carefully removed the Interface and returned it to its case. It lay dark now that its message had been answered.
He started to set the box back where it had been, then thought better of it. Instead he placed it prominently on a nearby table where he knew he would see it should it come to life again.
He stepped away from the Iscandarian device and returned to bed. As he lay there trying to sleep he couldn't help but think of the woman he had just spoken with again.
He remembered their first meeting, over a year ago now. She was just as beautiful now as she had been then. He wished she had come to Gamilon with him then. If only she had been here… perhaps everything would have been different.
He looked around the dark room expecting to feel the oppressive darkness returning. Only then did he realize that his bleak companion had not returned.
A feeling of inexpressible relief rested on him instead and before he knew it he was asleep.
Miezella sat in her quarters raging over what she had just heard. "He spoke with her?" she spat the word. "How could you let him do such a thing?" she challenged the shéd who was now too afraid to return to the Leader's quarters for a while.
"I had no choice, servant of my Master." It said in its strange language, "I did not know what he was doing until it was too late."
"Do not let him do it again." Miezella snarled, "It is far too dangerous to let her know anything. Why was he talking to her anyway?"
"She called him." The rumbling reply came.
Miezella huffed, "The nerve." And stuck her nose up in the air, "Who does she think she is?"
"She is Queen Starsha of Iscandar, servant of the Enemy – "
"I know, shéd!" Miezella bellowed in its general direction. "You needn't remind me of her associations. Does the Master know of this?"
"He does now." The shéd replied.
"And what does he say?" Miezella asked.
"He… says that you should watch him more closely." The spirit replied.
"Me?!" she exclaimed, outraged. "You are the ones the Malha asked to remain by his side day and night. And who is there now?" she asked, pointing in the general direction of the Leader's quarters, "No one! That's who! And all because you're afraid of one little woman!"
"I beg your pardon, fellow servant, but it not the woman whom I fear…" the air itself seemed to shiver in fear, "It was the Presence she bore…" the spirit's tone changed and it spoke quietly, "He was there…"
Miezella waited for the spirit to continue, quite angry.
"Once she appeared, I could not stay. I tried to remain, but the Presence took me and I could not resist its bidding. It made me go, otherwise I would still be there."
"Go back right now." Miezella seethed.
"I cannot." The spirit replied, stoking Miezella's anger all the more.
"And why not?" she demanded.
"I… was told not to… until the rising of the sun."
"And you can't just disobey?" she asked, not believing what she was hearing.
"My will is in the hands of the Enemy." It said, "I could not do as I wish, even if I tried to."
"You spirits are so troublesome." Miezella let out an irritated sigh. "Very well, I shall stand outside the door myself until it is light. As soon as your will is returned to you, go."
"Yes, fellow servant." The shéd replied, then it hesitantly asked, "May I stay here until I am released?"
"Afraid are we?" Miezella mocked.
"I am." It replied simply. "You should be too."
"Psht!" Miezella scoffed, "Afraid? No one but the Malha commands such a thing as fear from me, spirit." With that she left her quarters and ascended the many levels to the Leader's quarters. There were two guards standing outside the door as there always were no matter what time of day. The women stood alert as ever, looking around with care.
"I will take watch until morning." Miezella said as she approached the two women.
"We have no orders to cut our watch short." One of them said and the other agreed.
"I wish to ensure the Leader's safety myself tonight," Miezella said.
"We cannot leave our post, Councilor Celestella." The first woman said, then the second one added, "But if you wish to join us, we would be glad of the company."
Miezella inwardly sighed, "I suppose it's the best I'm going to get." She thought.
"Very well." Miezella said, "Then join you I shall."
She took up a post between the two women.
The watch was uncomfortable as she did not like standing for so long, but that was not the most disturbing element of the rest of her watch.
As she stood she could feel a strange prickling sensation always at her back. No matter how far she craned her neck she could never see what was causing the feeling. She gave up a few hours into the watch. Once she had the sense grew stronger and by the morning she felt as though her back were being burned off.
She cursed under her breath as she left the door when the first breath of dawn appeared. She felt like she had been leaning against a furnace all night.
She arrived back at her quarters, passing the freed shéd on her way back, glad it was again his job to stand watch.
Once the door to her quarters was sealed she rushed to the bedroom and peeled off her uniform, trying to sooth the burning pain on her back. It felt like the fire of a red star.
"Sister!" Mirenel exclaimed, having walked in on Celestella, "Your back! What happened?"
"What is it?" Miezella asked, a bolt of genuine fear choking her.
Mirenel took her sister's shoulder and steered her towards a mirror.
"Look," Mirenel said, pointing into the glass.
Miezella turned to look into the mirror and suddenly she knew that the dark spirit had been right to be afraid.
There on her back was seared a mark in the shape of an eight pointed star.
She understood, the warning more than clear.
There would be no stopping Starsha of Iscandar from contacting Desslok. She could not be touched by them. And if they tried to stop her… there would be dire consequences.
Their Enemy had made His move. Miezella shivered, knowing the Master would not take this well.