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A Dance Of Rapture
RIV
A day later, seventeen more War Hawks and capital vessels left for Katánē, parting with the Phantasm.
‘They need to return to secure as much of the planet as possible before my return,’ Killen informed his parents. Under their feet, the sheep rumbled as the behemoth entered hyperspace for the final lap of its journey to Eden II.
They’d taken a more circuitous route, so the Katánians and Edenites had time to discuss establishing diplomatic ties.
Now that was complete, left behind were Kaxim and Kione, their two WarHawk ships safe in the dreadnought’s gigantic hold.
Riding beside the mammoth Sable ship was the Kogun War Eagle, now belonging to Killen as the rightful heir to the Katánian throne.
It’d been purged of any crew deemed loyal to the old King, and they were sent back with the rest of the fleet to Katánē.
The remaining skeleton complement consisted of Krypós and Kestrel warriors trusted by the new army leaders, Kaxim and Kione.
Per Katánian tradition, the two men, now acting as the King’s Armorer and King’s Guard, would not leave Killen’s side. Not if they could help it.
The two Krypós commanders planned to remain with him as he attended his parents’ wedding on Eden II. After which, they’d escort him back to Katánapolis, where he would launch his rightful bid for the throne.
Meantime, they shared with Killen as much up-to-date insight on Katánē’s realities: its challenges, socio-political nuances, and the battles he’d have to face before he won over his people.
Killen reveled in the company of his new friends, which élisa made note of out loud.
‘Having lived most of his life a loner or just with me, the connections he’s making with these warriors are blowing his mind. He loves that they’re aligned with his values. Our son is thoughtful and cerebral, yet, under his calm demeanor, he has a driven passion for doing the right thing, which is why the Katánians’ plight calls to him. He desires to help his people, even though they might shun him. Or that he might end up hating their lords and elder society, and would consider their bloated parties and balls to be the lowest form of human misery. He longs to be a guardian to his people and bring change to Katánē. But I believe one of the journeys he might go on as Kíríga is accepting them as they are. A wild, fierce yet rigid culture rather than who he wants them to be.’
‘You’re skilled at reading people, my love,’ Riv noted as he draped an arm around his woman. They were seated in bleachers surrounding the Phantasm’s internal gym, where a series of sparring sessions were now being held.
The mock fights were a draw card for the crew to help pass away the hours of their flight back to Eden II.
élisa smiled. ‘It’s a leftover from wearing the hawkstone for the few years I had it. It’s also because I know my son so well. The challenge for me will be in letting him find his way in Katánē and allowing him to make mistakes, for he will make them. But I can’t be there to fix them any longer.’
Shouts and battle cries sounded from the arena as the two winged warriors thrilled the onlookers with their Katánian koya sāb?r fighting skills.
Riv jerked his chin in their direction. ‘Those two have fit right in with us. I’ve enjoyed exchanging wild war stories with them.’
His woman nodded. ‘They’re an intriguing pair. From my few conversations with him, Kaxim has a dark, dry humor. He uses it as a defense mechanism to mask his insecurities about his scars and lack of refinement.’
‘Tell me more about him,’ Riv murmured, his eyes tracking the Katánian sparring with his son.
His woman contemplated the man in question. ‘Kaxim is a gruff and rugged Krypós soldier with a rough exterior. As the Royal Armorer, he’s a real beast, a shoulder above the Hawk Hunters, fierce in battle but wary of those around him. He was once my father’s guard and is now seen as a traitor. He led the rebellion against the Kíríga and Kiama elders, which shows a zeal for justice. I predict he will clash with Killen’s more spiritual approach. However, spending time with our son may help to smooth out some of Kaxim’s rough edges.’
‘And Kione?’ Riv rasped, speaking of the lean, tall, elegant Katánian locked into a kapo battle with Kainan. Shouts came from the crew cheering on the newcomer as he matched the khosi strike for strike.
élisa leaned past her lover to study the Katánian. ‘He’s the more charismatic and chivalrous of the pair, with a kind heart. According to Kaxim, Kione commands great respect from his juniors and values his status and honor above all else. He is a member of the aristocracy as the son of one of the Kiama’s Krypós Elders, which adds legitimacy to his position. However, when he joined the rebellion of the Hawks, his family disowned him, bringing him shame. Kione is very wealthy, but he left his life of luxury behind to explore the military and seek something different. Despite this, he remains restless and unsure if he has found what he wants. Although he desires a settled life, his transient career with the Kain?s - the new rebel army - makes it difficult for him to find a meaningful relationship. Which leads him to pursue multiple women without any lasting connections.’
Riv grinned and leaned back, his eyes flicking with pride over his woman. ‘Fascinating. This entire encounter with your people is mind-blowing.’
‘Speaking of, Kisan’s story is still haunting me. How is he and his recovery going so far, love?’ élisa asked.
Riv sobered up. ‘He’s recovering. The Shard was able to separate his other entities from him, but from what Ki’Remi says, his mind and soul will take years to repair. Still, there is a glimmer of hope. Each Rider has been taking a day to spend time with him. On that note, I’d better pop up to the medbay. It’s my turn today.’
élisa leaned over and kissed her fiancé. ‘See you soon, handsome.’
He left with a smile on his lips, which he touched, still in awe of his luck at finding her.
In minutes, he was striding through the medical wing towards an opaque energy barrier that obscured the room within at the end of the expansive, white, and gleaming clinic.
He paused at the energized entryway and called out. ‘Kisan, it’s Riv.’
Silence fell for a moment, and then the energy divider rippled away without a sound.
Riv stepped into the room.
The bed was empty.
However, a silhouette sat hunched on the lounge before a screen.
Images flitted across the holo view, covering the breadth of the Sable Group’s enterprises and concerns over the years.
Mirage had compiled the showcase to aid Kisan in catching up on everything the Riders had achieved since they’d been torn apart.
He stared at the screen, eyes flicking, narrowing, and widening as he took in the data.
‘Must be overwhelming for you,’ Riv attempted.
The patient closed his eyes and kept them that way for a few seconds.
Opening them, he sliced his tired, worn-out gaze to Riv. ‘’Tis. I feel pulled in many different directions. It doesn’t help that the ghosts of my past keep haunting me. This all,’ he rasped, waving at the screen, ‘only confuses me more.’
Riv sucked his teeth. ‘A case of too much too soon?’
Kisan nodded, then turned his head again, looking even more defeated and strung out.
Riv crossed his arms over his expansive chest and studied him. ‘How about taking a break and walking with me? Have you seen anything more of the Phantasm?’
Kisan shook his head. ‘I’ve not left this infirmary the entire time. It serves me right, I suppose. Helps with getting prepared to live the rest of my life under lock and key.’
There was a surprising lack of bitterness in Kisan’s voice, like he’d come to terms with the horrific crimes he’d committed as Ankis.
‘But you’re not imprisoned here,’ Riv pointed out.
Kisan huffed. ‘That’s because if I made any wrong move, your AI would slice me apart. I know they’ve got eyes on me. I’d also lose the faith of all you brothers, which I’d like to avoid. Not when I spent an entire lifetime as a bitter and broken angel of vengeance. I should have remembered our initial brotherhood and oaths to always look out for each other. I lost trust, and I threw away years. Now that I’m back to being me, I can’t risk losing anything else.’
Riv uncrossed his hands, using them to gesture his commiseration. ‘I missed years, too, brother, with my woman. I understand the regret and sadness that comes with that. But more so with you, I’m freakin’ pissed off that we missed out on years together. But let’s make the most of what we have now. Care to take that walk now?’
Kisan eyed Riv for a long moment, then nodded.
Kisan was shivering from the ship’s air conditioning, his body still malnourished and weak.
Riv summoned an airchair and helped his friend into it.
He tucked blankets around his feet and helped his fellow Rider into a thick jacket.
Locking the air-chair’s guidance console to his wrist comm, Riv led the way as they moved out of the medbay.
As they walked through the neat, clean, wide hallways, Kisan sat up a little, taking in his new surroundings. ‘This all rocks, brother,’ admiring the sleek build of the mighty gunship.
They tracked past crew members stepping out of one of the elevator shafts.
Riv led Kisan into it, and they rose, exiting at the lookout alcove on the top deck of the mighty ship.
He parked Kisan’s airchair inside it.
Kisan spent the next few minutes in silence, his eyes fixed on the extensive view, surrounded by 360-degree glass.
Riv settled in beside him, stretched out on a bench. He waited as Kisan anchored his gaze onto turbulence from deep within a gas giant in the distance, in the throes of creating a protostar.
In the opposite direction were massive celestial clusters containing tens and hundreds of thousands of stars, some young and nascent, others about to supernova.
‘See that star?’ Kisan said, his voice low and distant as he pointed toward a bright white entity.
Riv raised a brow. ‘The white dwarf?’
Kisan nodded. ‘It’s a lonely dying mass. Tis a lot like me. I feel my former life is ending, that I’m ejecting my false outer layers into space, and all that remains is my heated, raging core.’
‘What are you angry about?’
‘About the crats and their torture. Followed by dying through their hands, then being revived for even more torment. I felt abandoned and lost myself in pain instead of asking the right questions. I’m outraged by my actions in seeking revenge on my brothers. I’m appalled by all the people I harmed along the way. What I deserve is to explode in spectacular fashion and have nothing left of me except a black hole or nothing at all.’
Riv sat by his friend in silent communion, absorbing his words.
After a beat, he spoke up. ‘I see something new. I see how the white dwarf’s radiance causes the gases to glow. Creating unique and beautiful formations and a wide range of complicated and extraordinary shapes that can be seen and appreciated for millennia. I see illumination, color, and luminosity created from adversity. It would be best if you gave yourself a second chance, Kisan. And while you’ll also have to face up to your accusers and pay for your actions, you still have more to offer us and Eden II. In the way of wisdom and insight from all your experiences that might help someone else avoid the hell you went through. So maybe your hot core can fuel change and transformation instead of burning down your world.’
Kisan sat back in his chair, his fingers drumming on the handset, lost in contemplation. ‘ Fokk ,’ he murmured, ‘never would have believed that the Riders’ renegade could also be its most philosophical wise man with an old soul. Then again, you did love your poetry and wordplay as much as your swordplay.’
‘True. On that note, methinks this moment begs for a poem.’ Riv grunted as he pulled out the trusty booklet he always walked around with.
Kisan’s brow rose as he eyed the small book. ‘The Ancient Tome of Poems? The same one you lugged from Eden City decades ago?’
‘ Naam , with some serious repairs made to its pages that were falling apart.’ Riv flipped through it before stopping at the centre of the time. ‘This one’s for you.’
‘Dance for me, my time for going home is not yet,
I shall go home as the sun sets.
Dance for me, my time for uttering words is not yet.
I shall utter poems as the sun sets.
Dance for me, my time for sitting back is not yet
Let my feet fly until the sun sets
Dance for me, my time for no enjoyment is not yet
Give me a beer in the biggest drinking horn,
Dance for me, my eternal thirst is not yet
Let me drink until the sun sets
Dance for me, my light has not gone out yet
Let me live today and see tomorrow until the sun sets
Dance for me, my solemn end has not come yet
Let me indulge in foolishness until the sun sets.’
‘I hear you,’ Kisan said with a faint smile. ‘Read me more, brother, please.’
Riv inclined his head, warmed by his friend opening up to his beloved prose and its ability to sanity check.
As time wore on, and more stars and nebulas rolled past the view, he read from his booklet, his sonorous voice like a lush yet cool wind, lulling the whispers and mutterings of the long-gone ghouls in Kisan’s mind.