Savros found himself standing in the dark. In front of him: the pyramid. Looking up, it towered over him. It appeared to have been built of the same jet-black material as the Throne of Heaven, and the Kalibal are made from, fashioned into blocks, and stacked in layers on top of each other. Each layer got taller and narrower as it neared the peak.
The enormous doors, several paces in front of him, were small relative to the overall massiveness of the pyramid itself. He took a step forward, with Polly and Jaen at his side. All three of them took a step and were forced to their knees.
The gravity was higher than they were used to, and it had caught all of them off-guard. After a brief adjustment, the three of them were upright again and this time taking stronger, smaller, and deliberate steps towards the entrance.
Standing at the door, Savros wondered how they would get it open, but, taking another step, the double doors cracked open and then swung inward all the way open.
“Everyone doing alright?” Shin’s voice came through crystal clear.
“I’m good. It is beyond creepy out here though.” Polly looked around as she spoke.
“Me too, and I concur.” Said Jaen. Shining a light into the pyramid to no effect.
“That makes three of us.” Savros said, gazing into the pitch-black emptiness through the doorway.
He took another small step forward, then another, until, finally, he crossed the threshold of the doorway. As he stepped into the pyramid, silence fell over him. Looking around, he saw Polly and Jaen next to them but couldn’t hear anything. He thought his ear was ringing, but he couldn’t be sure until the tone in his ear suddenly dropped in pitch, and ambient light that seemed to emanate from everywhere or nowhere filled the interior of the pyramid.
They all gasped in the silence at the interior of the pyramid. None of them knew what to expect, but what they saw had them baffled. In place of a floor, there were steps, a mirror image of the ceiling. Two paces from the entrance, the floor stepped down. And then again, and again. Until all four walls tapered in and met at a point at the bottom.
Only the top half of the structure was visible. The bottom half-buried in the ground was the same as the top half, except pointing down.
They spread out slightly as they began going the only direction they could, down. Step by step, they slowly made their way to the bottom. When they were each in a corner, they could see the small platform at the bottom. Standing on the very bottom steps, they felt as if they were in a small room. Looking up, they could see a straight line connecting the point at the very top to this pedestal at the very bottom.
Taking the last step and approaching the pedestal, the silence was suddenly broken by a deep, soothing voice.
“Believe not the lies of old. Words in time twist and distort, their meaning lost. This power belongs to you all. It is your birthright, it belongs in the universe. You’ve all come so far, but the journey has not come to an end, and the struggle is far from over. Be brave, Be strong, trust your hearts. I give it back to you, use it well and continue the journey.”
Savros looked at the others, making sure they heard it as well. The looks on their faces told him they had heard everything he’d heard. He wasn’t sure what to do. Was Gah’Tak speaking to them? If he was the monster he was supposed to be and his cell was open, why would he sit inside it, talking to them?
He tried the intercom, “What should I do?”
No answer. He looked at them, and they were both looking at him. What else was there to do? He thought. He moved closer, examining the pedestal with more scrutiny. The top of it looked like the top of the altar at the Throne of Heaven, a hole the diameter of the Kalibal and carvings of snakes that matched the Kalibal itself.
He held it up to the others, getting final confirmation that it was still the plan. Polly nodded her approval. Jaen nodded as well. He nodded back at them and turned to face the pedestal. Bringing it over the pedestal, it began to glow along the deepest cuts of the carving. Outlining the snakes and making them appear almost animated. He rotated his wrist, looking at it from different angles.
As he moved it closer to the center, he could feel a vibration coming from the Kalibal. Having to fight the urge to run and hide, he had to take control of himself. He tried to pump himself up, thinking; he was here; he was doing this, so let’s do it, already!
Moving the end of the Kalibal over the hole, the moment it was properly aligned, it jerked from his hand, and about half of its length disappeared into the hole. The Kalibal glowed brighter and brighter until it was blinding. Shielding their eyes, the three of them stood there waiting and hoping they didn’t suddenly get killed.
The light faded away, and Savros cautiously moved his hands from his eyes and saw that the Kalibal had split into countless fibers, all glowing, stretching, and moving on their own, reaching up from the pedestal toward the point of light above them.
“Thank you, Savros.” A long, deep laugh followed. “At long last, the universe is whole, and I am complete. In gratitude, I will aid you in your journey and be with you until your end.”
“Wait, what do you mean? What’s going on?” Savros reached out to the voice, his hand grasping at the air next to the Kalibal.
Everything stopped, time froze, he couldn’t move even his eyes. A sound became audible, and as it grew, time seemed to be returning. The sound suddenly split, becoming two distinct tones, one moving up the register, the other moving down. One continued rising higher; the other fell lower until they were so high and so low they were no longer registering to his ears. For a split second, he thought that it was over, then the lights went out.
The Kalibal began glowing again, and in the light, he saw his own arm up, still reaching for the voice. Another half-split-second later, the Kalibal let off a burst of energy unlike any other, and Savros was knocked back against the steps and lost consciousness.
Polly lightly smacking him in the face brought him around again. Savros opened his eyes to look at her, but something wasn’t right. He could barely see, and when he tried to speak, no sound came. He tried to move but couldn’t.
He opened his eyes again. Now he was sitting on a step, Polly sitting on one side, Jaen on the other. His vision still off, he looked down and saw his own hand and arm covered in strange burns. It looked like it was still burning. Embers floated upward and drifted off the burns, and under the charred black skin, he could see light. Was he on fire? Shouldn’t it hurt?
Opening his eyes again, Jaen was bending over him, trying to lift him from the step. When he realized what was going on, he tried to help, and eventually, she got him to his feet as Polly came around under his arm on the other side. They were helping him up the steps.
After the third step, they climbed, they all sat for a rest. Savros was beginning to get his bearings and wits again. As he sat there in the silence, he looked at his arm again. The charred and blackened skin was gone from most of his arm. He still couldn’t make sense of it. How could it heal that quickly? He wiped his arm off with his other hand, expecting it to erupt in pain. Instead, a plume of ash and embers lifted off into the air, and his hand was completely back to normal. He stared in disbelief. Checked with Polly and Jaen for a reaction. They looked every bit as stunned as he was. Jaen leaned over and wiped his face, and the haze lifted from his vision as another plume of ash and ember drifted into the surrounding void.
He hadn’t realized it, but his face must have been burned too. He wished just once he knew what was going on. As far as he could tell, they had completed the mission, and he was anxious to get back aboard the KaiStar and put some distance between them and this strange place.
Savros stood and slowly started making his way up the steps. Polly and Jaen followed, helping whenever he teetered or almost stumbled, and together they ascended from the pit of the pyramid. They stopped only to take a few breaths before making it back outside the pyramid.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Crossing the threshold, the background noise of the universe returned in stark contrast to the eerie silence inside. No one had even spoken yet, but just the underlying vibration was a huge comfort to them all.
As soon as they were all clear of the pyramid, they each teleported back onto the KaiStar without a word.
“What was that?” Standing on the bridge, Polly was the first to speak. As they deactivated their holo-suits. “Are you okay? I thought for sure the explosion killed you. It went off right in your face! And then you were all burned, but look at you now!”
“I know! I don’t know, I heard that creepy voice and then the Kalibal exploded in my face! Did you guys hear that voice? Both times? It sounded like the Kalibal was talking. So, was that it? Did we do it? Is Gah’Tak sealed away?” He was surprised by how good he felt when, a few minutes ago, inside the pyramid, he could barely move and thought he was dying.
“I guess we don’t really know if we were successful or not. And yes, I heard the voice too. I don’t understand whose voice it was, though. Gah’Tak, based on what we know, would never just relax in his cell and encourage us to seal it back up. I really don’t understand.” Jaen looked at Savros, “I also don’t understand what happened to you. Polly’s right. That was a massive explosion, and it was right in your face. We saw the burns and everything. But look at you, no trace of them!”
“I know! And I feel great too, like better than I’ve ever felt. I think we did it! I think we won!” He was smiling and rubbing his head.
“You might be right, we’re hear, we put the Kalibal in the pedestal and made it out, all with no sign of Gah’Tak. Shin, were there any changes out here?”
“No,” Shin sounded very confused by everything, “in fact, from out here you were only inside the structure for a moment. You walked in. There was an immediate blast of energy from the point of the pyramid and then you walked right back out. According to my instruments, it’s been just over two minutes since you teleported off the KaiStar.” He paused, letting his words sink in. “However, I gather from your conversation that much more than that happened.”
“Hell yeah it did! Inside it’s just steps leading down to a platform. When we got down there, we heard a voice saying don’t believe the lies and the power belongs to us. Anyway, Savros puts the Kalibal in the pedestal and the voice says, thank you and then blows up in his face! We thought he was dead, but when the light faded, there he was, and still breathing. Hey run a scan on him Shin, see if there’s anything showing up.” Polly winked and shrugged at Savros, “Couldn’t hurt.”
“Guess not.” He said.
“Other than a large amount of tryptic radiation coming off all of you, I don’t see anything abnormal with Savros or either of you.”
“Well, that’s a relief!” Jaen turned her seat to face the others before sitting down. “Okay guys, should we hang around and see if anything happens, or should we call it a win and head back?”
“Since we don’t have the Kalibal any more and nothing is happening here, I vote we call it.” Polly said, sitting in her seat facing Savros and Jaen. The two of them looked at him.
“I mean, yeah, we did it! Let’s get back to civilization!” Savros was excited and pumped. They’d saved the universe and defeated Gah’Tak before he even rose. As far as he was concerned, it was a complete success, an unmitigated victory.
“I agree, as well. There’s nothing more we can do here, and unless you want to go back into the pyramid, we should go.” Shin gave his vote as Savros casually slipped into his seat.
“Welp, it was a weird one, that’s for sure, but no way I’m going back in there and hey, at least we didn’t have to face Gah’Tak. Do either of you guys remember what the voice said the first time? I remember something like, ‘Don’t listen to old words and old lies. The power belongs to us and the struggle for it isn’t over.’ But I think there was more.”
“I thought it said something about—.” Jaen was cut off by Savros.
“Believe not the lies of old. Words in time twist and distort, their meaning lost. This power belongs to you all. It is your birthright, it belongs in the universe. You’ve all come so far, but the journey has not come to an end, and the struggle is far from over. Be brave, Be strong, trust your hearts. I give it back to you, use it well and continue the journey.” Savros quoted it exactly word for word, even somewhat capturing the tone, staring at a point off in the distance and not blinking.
Polly and Jaen gave each other quick, nervous glances. Looking back at Savros, he blinked and looked over at them, smiling.
“What?” He asked, noticing the look on their faces. “What’d I say?”
“You just quoted that voice we heard, even down to the creepiness. You sure you’re feeling okay?” Polly was giving him a scrupulous eye.
He laughed again, rubbing his head. “Yeah, I was just remembering what it said. It’s like I can still hear it in my head. Like the words are right there. It also laughed and said ‘Thank you, Savros. At long last, the universe is whole, and I am complete. In gratitude, I will aid you in your journey and be with you until your end.’” This time, he intentionally made his voice sound more like the one they had heard in the pyramid.
Jaen shivered, “Yeah, that was it. Why does it speak in riddles like that? It’s like listening to a prophecy.” She shook her head, “Anyone wanna take a guess at what any of that means?”
Whenever he thought about the words, he could hear the voice again in his head. The words themselves seemed benign, but something was gnawing at him. It was the laugh that kept running through his mind. ‘Why did the voice laugh and what did it mean about being with me until my end?’ he thought as the laugh echoed through his mind again.
“It’s possible that ‘the lies of old’ and ‘words twist and distort in time’ are refereeing to the prophecies. The ‘power’ likely refers to tryptic energy. But I do not know what struggles lie ahead, or where else the journey leads. Perhaps we’ll discover the answers when we get back to Living Space.”
“I still don’t like it that we have no way of knowing what we did. We could have made it in time and prevented a disaster or we could have made things worse. I guess we’ll just have to accept that we did our best, and leave it at that.” Jaen turned her seat halfway toward the screens, “Okay Shin. We’re ready. Take us home, please.”
“With pleasure, taking us out of grav-range of the planet.”
The view on the screen moved past the pyramid as KaiStar accelerated and began climbing away from the surface. A little later, Shin returned over the intercom, “Whoa, on the surface there was no discernible change, but up here the tryptic energy readings are off the chart!”
“What do you mean, of the chart? How high could it be?” Polly asked.
“If the extrapolations are accurate everything within the scanners range is saturated with tryptic energy.”
“Wait, you mean there are abundant levels of tryptic energy again? Like we can all use magic? No fucking way! Did we bring magic back to the universe? I don’t feel it. Do you guys feel it?” Polly held out her hand and closed her eyes in concentration. They popped back open, and she closed her hand and sat on it. Staring wide-eyed at the screen.
“What? What happened?” Jaen asked her. Savros leaned forward, eager to hear her response. After a few moments, she shakily turned her head to face them.
She cleared her throat. “Um, well, I could definitely feel it. It happened so fast and was so strong, I think I almost blasted a hole in the bridge. That was way too much power.” She looked down at her hand. “What do you guys say to not trying to use magic until we are back on land somewhere?”
Savros laughed again. Had they really brought magic back after so many eons? He couldn’t even imagine it. It seemed surreal. He didn’t feel magical; he just felt good. “That’s probably a good idea. I’m in no rush to die in space.”
“Agreed.” Jaen and Shin said at the same time.
“Okay, we’ll be able to make it back to the edge of Living Space in a single jump, and from there, travel will be back to normal. Jumping in three, two one.”
The universe sped away from them. They all breathed a little easier as they began the journey back to Living Space.
They headed to the galley. Battling the extra gravity on the First World had left their stomachs empty and rumbling. And who knows what that blast did to them. He looked at his friends. Whether it was that blast of energy or just the feeling of victory cautiously creeping in, they were definitely in good spirits.
“So, we’ll stop at the Center and check-in. Make sure nothing else happened while we were gone. Then straight to Idyll Quies for a three-night celebration of relaxation! What do you think, Savirito? Sound like a plan?” Polly looked as happy about it as Jaen as they waited.
“Sounds like a hell of a plan! Beaches and sands and suns! After that pyramid, I’m ready for some nature and sunlight.” Savros sat down, opening his rat-pac. “It seems like no matter how many of these we eat, we always have more,” he said.
“Told you!” Polly laughed. “It’s like a never ending supply! Lucky us though, they come in handy.” She said, making her point by tearing another open.
“Really though, that one blunder back in the very beginning of our career was one of our best accidents.” Jaen said, waving a meat stick around. “How many times have these things saved us? Just like now.”
“Well, as great as these are,” Polly pointed at Jaen’s meat stick with her own, “the food on Idyll Quies better be the best tastin’, best smellin’ most delicious things ever, because I am ready for some real food and Shin set’s a pretty high bar for that already.
“I agree with you on that! Shin is one of the best cooks ever.” Savros said with a mouth full of not-Shin’s-cooking.
“Thanks you guys. I do try to serve a palatable meal.” Shin sounded pleased and amused. “However, I am certain you will find the skills of the chefs at Idyll Quies far superior.”
“Maybe if they’re magical chefs.” Polly stopped, realizing what she had said. “Do you guys think there will be magic food now?”
“What about magic clothes? I want shoes that let me fly!” Jaen’s eyes sparkled as the conversation turned to magic. “I wonder how much different everything will be now? I hope there will be tryptic versions of everything. Oh!” her eyes lit up even more, and she smacked Polly on the shoulder, “we can develop Tryptic shields!”
“Wait, couldn’t you just use magic to create a shield?” Savros was confused.
“Yeah, you could,” Polly seemed excited by Jaen’s idea, “we escorted an Az’Reign once that put a shield around KaiStar, but he had to maintain it. The tryptic sensor proves that we can mix tek and tryptic energy. It is just energy after all.”
“It seems like a lot of things will be different. I guess there’s no way to hide what we did. If tryptic energy is everywhere, people are gonna figure it out, anyway.”
“Oh, shit, that’s true! We’re the hero’s that returned magic to the people. They’ll probably write songs about us and everything!” Polly laughed.
“Who knows, maybe EdenFire will make dolls of us, and little kids will play with miniature KaiStars.” Jaen laughed fondly at the idea.
Savros smiled. It felt good to see the looks of happiness and peace on their faces. They had stuck behind him from the moment they met him, and it had put them through a lot, but here they were, on the other side, moving on and ready for a brand new chapter.
“Landing jump in three, two, one. Engaging drives.”