The darkness cradles me, slowly swallowing my being, memories flow past me, allowing me to glimpse them one last time before I return to the endless void of the thereafter. I am grateful for them; they are the salve to the pain. I see many fond memories before me, played upon the surface of a portal of light, mostly of childhood.

I hear the words of the elder who raised me. They called him Sage Artemius, people of all tribes would come to him for blessings on their journeys. While he was alive the tribes had order, it was the only time my city did more than just survive, under his leadership we all thrived.

The memory of him plays before me, as my body breaks, the venom consuming me.

Looking into the portal of light, I am as I was, no more than twelve at the time. I sit upon a ledge with Artemius overlooking my city of patchwork metal. He is an elderly man, perhaps the oldest in all the tribes I have ever known.

This was a few days before he did the Jukora Talen-Ben. In the old tongue it means roughly - To walk and meet your gods. It is what my people do when they are reaching the end of their life, when the walk to a new ship has become too much. It is the last kindness they give to those they love, so they do not drag them to the grave as well.

“Kale, do you know the difference between a good man and a great man?” he asks, dragging on his old pipe, the smoke billowing in the air, he blows concentric rings that pass through each other.

“The size of his tribe?” I hear my younger self asking him.

He shakes his head, dragging on his pipe.

“How good he is with a blade?” I ask.

He shakes his head once more, this time with a chuckle, blowing out a ring of smoke.

“A good man seeks to protect his own honor and the honor of his tribe, following the principles they pass down to him.” He says pensively.

“And a great man?”

“A great man seeks to protect the honor of all. A great man will live by ideals that he crafts from the tribulations he experiences. A great man is unbeholden to the way of others, he carves his own path - no matter the cost to himself. A great man has the power to change destiny, a good man simply lives by what fate dictates.”

I see my younger self’s furrowed brow at his answer, not quite understanding what he meant.

“Which type of man do you strive to be?” he asks me, with kindness in his eyes, unlike any Kuwathi.

“A great man.” I say looking up to him.

“Even if that means you will experience great hardship?” he asks me.

“Yes.”

He ruffles the hair on my younger self and smiles. The memory begins to fade pulling me back to the pain. It is fire in my veins, every part of me feels the impending death. I try to reach out to the Sage, but the memory is gone now. More memories flow on the portal of light, of my friend Arrum, reaching down through the storm, defying fate and rescuing me. I see myself yelling up to him, while I am tangled in the cords of my parachute.

Adar Ulic Bekara - While there is life, there is will to keep it.

The words strike a chord in me, a ripple running through the dream world. The memory fades and I see Neeba, we are back to back in the field of death, two enemies becoming brothers, I feel regret for not forgiving him completely in my heart of hearts. He sought brotherhood with me, but I was distant and cold, even as a child, I would not give him my respect. The memories fade, replaced by the image of Nevari, his sister handing me the handkerchief. There is love in her eyes, my heart was too closed to feel it, too afraid of her father to embrace it. There is bitter regret here.

The memories shift now, regrets becoming its guide. I see the blue haired woman clutching the black box tightly in her grasp.

“Don’t let them get it - bring it to…” she says in the memory.

Still, I do not know who she meant. I see myself tending her wounds in the cavern, leaving her supplies for survival. It is strange though, as I look upon her face there is no regret in my heart that I helped her. Why am I thinking of her as I die? I see myself moving the hair from her face, seeing the Master’s implants in her temples and recoiling. She is strikingly beautiful, even through the soot and blood on her face she stirs my heart. Another ripple moves through the realm of dreams.

The memory pulls away, I feel my hand reaching towards her, regret for leaving her - without knowing her name first. I am pulled towards a memory that distorts the gravity of the darkness around me, causing the light to fold as the black box comes into view. Ripples begin to steadily appear from the portal of light containing the memory, a vibration around me. It was when I first looked at the box fully, I see myself cut my finger on one of the edges. A single drop of blood rolling into the box, a faint light flickers, something I hadn’t noticed.

Stolen story; please report.

The memory moves now to the last time I saw the box, but I see something strange, as the blood flows in, something else flows out from the box and into me. It flows into the source of the wound, speckles of light riding the path of the blood into my body. I try to look closer, but the center of the black box begins to burn brightly, rolling waves are coming from the portal of light containing the memory, the words inscribed in the center glowing fiercely.

Hail Thy Gods

The edges of the darkness around the memory warp further. I must be nearing death, this is my last memory… could it not have been of a loved one? The pain from the venom is rolling through my body now, coming in waves, the memories no longer enough to abate the pain. It is agony as my body is set ablaze by the venom, it will be over soon. So many regrets, so many questions unanswered. The realm of my dreams distorts wildly now sucking me into the abyss. Then I see it, the last memories, the being swathed in light pulling me from the muck of despair.

From the memory I see the hand extend and place itself on my face, pushing back the darkness. The being in the memory turns now, looking towards me, not in the memory but as I am now, my heart quickens. The dream world is vibrating violently now, cracks of light beginning to form all around me as the being moves towards me in the present, walking through the portal of the memory. The words it says ring through the essence of my existence.

Ulima dom Sekar - Alakin dom Jukora

Forsaken by man - Chosen by the Gods

The dream world is raging in defiance against the intrusion, the being moves towards me still. Lightning streaks and thunder booms, the darkness tries to pull me harder, a storm of winds and energy all around me. The being is upon me now, it slowly raises its hand upwards and places it upon where I was stabbed. The area around the wound begins to glow with a blinding light and I feel a cooling calm flow through me, the venom and the darkness retreating from the light. The dream world shakes still, and I see the being looking towards the cracks as though it senses something coming. It turns to me once more, its words vibrating through me.

Adar Ul Pakar - Juk ta Ikor

There is something moving on the edge of my perception, moving towards us, bending the space around us like the being does. The being swathed in light turns towards what I sense and pushes me gently backwards. I am falling out of the dream, flashes of light and thunderous vibrations around me until there is suddenly nothing.

***

There are loud voices around me, I hear people arguing, cursing in the old tongue.

“He will die by my blade!” Arrum yells.

My eyes open slowly adjusting to the light, I am lying on the sandstone where I fell. My hand reaches to the wound, but it is gone. How is it gone, how am I alive, what is the being made of light? My mind has questions, but the voices pull me back to the task before me, I must stop this.

“You will not lay a hand on my brother!” A man yells.

“He is a Sekating rat, his death the only solution.” I hear Yuri saying.

“He killed the one that gave us victory, this must mean death.” Korra says.

“He was my Kada, only blood will end this.” Arrum says, I can hear his blade singing.

My mind is coming into focus now as I begin to stand, stumbling over towards where I hear Arrum’s voice, pushing through the crowd of people. I hear gasps and whispers as I move.

“Come then - meet your…” a voice begins but stops as a silence falls over the crowd.

Arrum takes advantage of the situation and moves towards the man who stabbed me. I grab his arm as he draws his blade, he tries to free it, but stops when he hears me speak.

“No - Kada.” I say to him. Bioluminescence swirls as my Kuwathi eyes glow brightly.

Turning slowly now, he looks at me, finally seeing me, his blade falling into my grasp. He does not speak for a moment, he is stunned.

“But - you were dead…” there is confusion in his eyes, he looks to where the wound was and then back to my eyes.

I move to the man who stabbed me, Arrum’s blade in my hand. His brother moves to block me, I put a hand softly on his shoulder, looking into his eyes, he is trembling. He steps back after a moment, his eyes having found an answer in mine. As I walk towards the man who tried to slay me, hands touch my shoulders, mouths utter prayers to their gods.

The man who stabbed me is kneeling on the ground, his face battered once again, by the hands of those around me. His eyes are wide as they take me in, his mouth opens to speak but words do not find him. Lowering down to my knees in front of him, now eye level, I stab the blade into the sandstone and pull him into an embrace.

“I have done wrong to you; you have done wrong to me. Let it end here.” I say to him, loud enough for the others to hear.

He pulls from the embrace, he does not understand, his eyes search me for meaning. I rise to my feet now, pulling him up with me. The room of people is still quiet, the only sound whispers. There is a serene calm washing over me, my mind becoming clear, a voice pushing to emerge from deep within me, a voice I allow to rise.

“When I look upon you. I do not see an enemy; I see someone who shares the blood of my people.”

The man’s eyes begin to soften at my words. There is a stirring in the room, eyes looking at me, searching for answers - ears all listening to my words seeking clarity. The voice that fills me and gives rise to words seeks to give it to them.

“Our enemies are the ones who put us here, the ones who make us spill the blood of our people. We die for their amusement. We are above this. It is not enough to simply survive, we as a people must thrive.”

There are tears beginning to well in the man’s eyes now, a faint glow filling the iris of each eye. I pick up the blade from the sandstone, turning from him moving towards Arrum, placing the blade in Arrum’s hand, looking at him when I speak next.

“We as a people must rise.”

I want to continue, but my head begins to spin causing me to stumble. I reach my hand to my nose, blood is flowing. Arrum catches me before I collapse, letting me lean on his shoulder. The others begin to whisper louder. I can see that my words have not fallen on deaf ears, perhaps there is hope for my people still.

Hearing a door open to my side, I look towards it, a squad of soldiers in their metal armors moves towards us now.

“Disperse and return to the pods.” One of them says.

They point their weapons and push people into their respective doorways to the pods. My eyes feel heavy, sleep calling me. I can see Arrum does not want to leave me and is trying to stay, his eyes look to fight the soldier’s orders.

“Be calm, Kada.” I tell him. His jaw clenches and he nods, letting me go and following the orders. I stumble to my pod, slumping down against the glass wall as the doors close, something feels wrong inside me, like I have been stretched thin.