the zealotpker
02-11-2004, 06:09 PM
Prologue
Lyn Gano sat fidgeting in his chair, wishing he were doing something-anything-other than listening to the databot lecture on about Va’ur’lyi’uun history. Leave it to the historians to listen to some machine telling about something from the past, he thought. We should be working on improving our combat skills.
Lyn was the only Elite who had not yet reached adult-hood. Although he possessed the title, few looked to him for counsel, for he often acted rashly. He had spent his early life training as a warrior on his home planet of Tyu’waar’ii, but his psychic prowess had been discovered and he had been enrolled in the Va’ur’lyi’uun academy, which literally translated to ‘They who use minds.’ He could still remember the transfer from Tyu’waar’ii to Uun’yiur’qirh’tyu, the Va’ur’lyi’uun homeworld. He had always wondered how people could be transferred through space to Uun’yiur’qirh’tyu, and he had finally found out. His mind had joined the Ryhn’yiur’uun, the Circle of Minds, while his body was telepathically pulled across the void separating the planets. That had been his first trial as a Va’ur’lyi’uun. The Ryhn’yiur’uun was formed primarily of the Masters, and they gauged his skill by determining how much they had to assist him to keep him from slipping out of the Ryhn’yiur’uun. They had not had to help him at all.
“Lyn, please analyze what the databot has just told us,” Durassami, the Master Historian, snapped across the stone room.
“I, I-”
“Wasn’t paying attention?” Lyn’s teacher finished the sentence. “Focus on the task at hand, Lyn. You must learn to be patient and focus if you are to be trusted to complete missions and be conveyed the honor that befits your title.”
“But what does this have to do with being a Va’ur’lyi’uun? How will history lessons help us to restore our order?”
“If we do not learn of the past, we can never prepare for the future.”
“I…don’t understand.”
“Think about it this way. If you are fencing and an opponent uses a trick once to better you, then you will not let an error become a flaw and so will most likely not fall for the same trick again. The same is true here. There was obviously a flaw in the old order, or it would not have fallen so quickly. If we don’t learn what led to the fall of the old order, we will not be able to correct that flaw in our new order.”
“Yes, Teacher.” Lyn was a male human, with rough, darkish skin, like sand if it could be burned. His eyes held an inner fire, an impatience kindled by the blood of a long line of warriors running through his veins, turning them to ice. He had undergone brief training from his father in the fighting arts before electing to train at the Academy of the Minds to learn how to control his psychic abilities. Little had he known that he would be forced to control his impatience, as well.
He was by far one of the best physical and mental duelists at the Academy, second only to a small group of Elite, as well as most of the Masters. He practiced rigorously with every weapon he knew of, even with pipes and pieces of concrete, in case he should ever be caught without a weapon. Although he skipped over many aspects of his mental training, he, among other things, concentrated on developing the power to speed up and slow down time, and on using his psychic talent to augment his already powerful muscles. He had been hoping for some time that he would be picked by one of the Shadow Hunters to be an apprentice, but had not been even allowed to try because of his unpredictable temper, impatience, and overconfidence. He had not taken this well at first, but eventually submitted to another year of training. After all, he was only fifteen, hardly the normal age to become apprenticed.
The Shadow Hunters had been the most powerful asset of the old order. After its fall, however, little had been seen of them, but Lyn somehow knew that he would meet them before he became a Master.
Durassami sighed. “Perhaps Master Qreliun can help you to understand. He is visiting us today to teach us some new techniques.”
“You mean Master Dreth Qreliun?” Lyn exclaimed. “But he’s just some old hermit studying ancient artifacts and whatnot! How is he qualified to teach us technique?”
Durassami smiled. “You’d be surprised at what Master Qreliun has to teach you. In fact, he’s also going to be teaching your fencing class this week.”
Before Lyn could make an exclamation, Durassami added, “You had better get off to your technique class now, or you’ll miss the first lesson. Hurry along, now!”
“Yes, Master.” Lyn trotted along down the hall, obediently, albeit reluctantly.
Durassami sighed. “So much potential, but it must be contained,” she murmured to herself.
Lyn half turned. “Master?”
“Yes, Lyn?”
“How exactly did the old order collapse?”
Durassami fell silent for a moment, considering the question. “I will tell you that story another day,” she said at last. “But the biggest reason was that most of the members of the old order overestimated the potency of their powers.” As may well be your fall, too, Lyn, she thought.
Chapter 1
Lyn was in what had been a hangar during the days of the old order, and was still used as one in addition to staging technique lessons for Va’ur’lyi’uun students. Outside he could see the barren wastelands that were what was left of the once-glorious Va’ur’lyi’uun homeworld. The red landscape was occasionally broken by black spires and cliffs, as well as several decaying constructs and one or two other useable buildings.
“For those of you who don't know me, I am Master Dreth Qreliun. I have come back to the Academy of the Minds because what I am about to teach you will bring the mastery of your skills to a level that you haven’t even dreamed existed. This power, though, comes not without great risk, which is why I have come personally to oversee your instruction. Before I teach you to wield this power, I must be completely certain that you possess so much control over it and yourself that there is absolutely no chance that it will destroy or overcome you.”
Yeah, right, Lyn thought. Make everything seem ten times as dangerous as it is, and maybe someone will care what you have to say. Just not me.
Suddenly Lyn felt the familiar tingle of someone prying into his mind. He was about to attack the intruding presence when he realized that it had already withdrawn. He was amazed when he realized that he had only noticed the presence when it was withdrawing. Or had the intruder wanted to be noticed? He began to puzzle it over when Dreth interrupted his train of thought.
“Is there a problem, Lyn? I sense that you regard me dubiously.” Dreth sighed in resignation. “Very well, I suppose I must prove myself to you if I am to become your teacher. I hear that you are quite an experienced swordsman. Why don't we start fencing early and combine it with your technique lesson?”
From seemingly out of nowhere Dreth produced a large two-handed sword and tossed it to Lyn. "You may begin when you are ready, Lyn," he said in a challenging tone.
Lyn rushed at Dreth, mentally preparing himself for combat. Dreth stood still for a few seconds, and then produced a long sword, which he used to block Lyn’s attack, and Lyn barely had time to parry Dreth’s counterattack. Lyn, surprised at Dreth’s strength, began another attack, and this time Dreth produced a two-handed sword of his own to block with. At the last moment, Lyn jumped and did a mid-air somersault to land balancing his sword blade on Dreth’s. Using his leverage, Lyn aimed two roundhouse kicks at Dreth’s face, but Dreth somehow anticipated the move and used his psychic powers to create a “wall” of air around his face. Lyn’s assault glanced off of Dreth’s defenses, and Lyn fell backwards while Dreth simultaneously made a gesture with his hand that caused Lyn's sword to come to his hand.
Lyn barely managed to land upright, but saw Dreth rushing toward him and executed a series of complex aerial maneuvers that ended up with him doing a handstand on each of the swords. Dreth was apparently using his psychic powers again to augment his muscles so that he could hold each of the two-handed swords in one of his hands. Seeing Dreth's technique to block the kicks, Lyn did the same thing, but shielded his hands instead. Sensing Dreth’s surprise, who Lyn now realized was the one who had been and still was prying into his mind-Lyn must have subconsciously forced the connection to go both ways and could now pick up on Dreth’s emotions-he made a series of fake kicks and then used all of the power he had to push out with his mind to distract Dreth while wrenching away his lightsabers. Dreth easily blocked the psychic assault and managed to keep a grip on both of the swords, but Lyn had also managed to maintain a hold.
Dreth used this to his advantage and dropped down to the floor to execute a lightning fast right sweep that sent Lyn sprawling. Dreth psychically sent Lin flying towards the ceiling, but before he got there, Lyn managed to launch an attack of his own that tripped Dreth, and then he psychically controlled his fall-to accelerate straight down towards Dreth.
At the last second, Lyn went through an aerial somersault and a series of twists followed by another set of midair roundhouse kicks that connected three times before Dreth brought up his barrier again. Sensing that Dreth was shaken, Lyn pulled away the two swords and made a lightning fast volley against the now disarmed Dreth, connecting several times…
…with an invisible wall that Dreth had erected around himself with his mind. Dreth wrenched out two pieces of concrete from the hangar floor, again with his mind, and then launched an attack so powerful that it sent Lyn flying across the room. He then rushed toward Dreth, picking up speed and until he was nothing more than a blur, making the sound of a whip lashing through the air. He threw himself forward and attacked with all of his might, and Lyn realized that he had never stood a chance against Dreth. He desperately parried, but Dreth was too fast. With only one option left, he drew on his power to control time, trying to slow Dreth down and speed himself up. A faint aura of negative energy surrounding them, but Dreth only continued to move faster and faster. He made a stab too quickly for Lyn to parry, and Lyn watched as it drew inexorably closer to connecting with his body…
…the blade connected, and sent Lyn flying across the room, where he fainted…
…and then Dreth suddenly disappeared.
Chapter 2
Lyn woke up in the middle of a training room on a space station. He saw a drill sergeant directing a group of trainees, and unfamiliar constellations outside of the windows of the space station.
“About face! Come on, people, let’s move it!” the drill sergeant shouted at the trainees. “Right, 2, 3, 4…right, 2, 3, 4…right-”
The drill sergeant was cut off as a Shadow Hunter dropped into the training room though the ceiling and sliced him in half with a stroke from his weapon. Lyn was shocked! Why would a Shadow Hunter attack trainees? He also finally remembered that he should be surprised that a space station existed. He had never heard of anyone being in space, except when being transported to Ryhn’yiur’uun. Why had it taken him so long to realize something so obvious?
“Who is next?” snarled the Shadow Hunter as he whirled a strange rod that created an area devoid of light around it. He deftly blocked any direct laser shots from the trainees while letting any indirect shots glance off his armor. A battlebot stepped forward, sparks flying from its electromagnetically shielded body. The Shadow Hunter suddenly turned into a blur, and a horrible wrenching sound was heard as the battlebot imploded upon itself, and then the Shadow Hunter solidified again. Lyn was awestruck. What had happened to the Shadow Hunter and the battlebot?
Lyn suddenly remembered that lasers and battlebots shouldn’t exist either. Why was he missing such apparent anomalies?
“I am,” answered a robed figure that had suddenly appeared in front of the Shadow Hunter. Or was Lyn the robed figure? Things suddenly became confusing? Lasers were still being fired at the Shadow Hunter, but they all seemed to flow around the mysterious robed figure, and then continue on their original course.
“And who are you to challenge me?”
“I am Dreth Qreliun, Master of the Order of the Va’ur’lyi’uun, as well as the last opponent that you will ever face if you don’t back down now.” Lyn suddenly understood. This was where Dreth had gone when he disappeared, and Lyn was still linked to Dreth’s mind. This was why so much that would normally be apparent because of its absurdity was now unapparent because it seemed commonplace. But that raised even more questions. Why would such things be commonplace to Dreth?
“I think that you are mistaken, Ba’ur Shaa’a!
The Shadow hunter began to turn into a blur again, but so did Dreth. Suddenly everything else slowed down while the Shadow Hunter and Dreth circled each other, each waiting for the other to strike first. The Shadow Hunter grew tired of waiting. He lunged at Dreth, who somersaulted into the air and threw off his unwieldy outer robes to expose armor made of a metal Lyn had never seen before. Belatedly an alarm wailed warning that there was a group of enemies invading the military academy. The alarm sounded strangely warped. Dreth assumed a defensive stance and pulled out a weapon similar to the Shadow Hunter’s, but it radiated a faint greenish-blue luminescence. He parried all of the Shadow Hunter’s attacks and yelled to the trainees to flee the academy. Lyn wondered how the trainees would understand Dreth when he was moving at such speeds, as that was surely the reason why everything else seemed so sluggish.
Suddenly, more Shadow Hunter’s poured into the room, blocking any hope of escape. Dreth thought about using his psychic abilities to blow a hole in the wall, but realized that the academy was in orbit and surrounded by only vacuum and radiation, and thought better of it. He brainstormed furiously for a way out of this predicament, and found it in the academy’s water pipes. He used his mind to bring them to bear on the invading Shadow Hunters and then used his mind once again to break open the pipes, sending hundreds of gallons of water spilling out at his adversaries. He used the spare time to unhook an energy grenade from his utility belt and throw it at the distracted Shadow Hunters, moving it slightly from side to side whenever a Shadow Hunter tried to pick it up, and blocking out any attempts of the Shadow Hunters to move the grenade with their own psychic abilities. He silently counted down the time until it would take to explode, hoping that the Shadow Hunters would not recover in time, and that he had not miscalculated his throw.
10…the Shadow Hunters were still being propelled back by the flow of the water, but it was obvious that the emergency measures in the system would soon stop water flow to the broken pipe.
9…the water was definitely subsiding. A few Shadow Hunters had begun to regain their balance.
8…the water was only a trickle now, and the Shadow Hunters were now shooting lasers and shrapnel blasters at Dreth.
7…The lasers glanced off of Dreth’s armor, and he psychically sent the shrapnel blasts back at the Shadow Hunters, forcing them to dive for cover.
6…Dreth collected any leftover debris from the water pipe and thrust it at the Shadow Hunters, using his mind both times.
5…the Shadow Hunters hesitated slightly to cut the debris to shreds with their rods, and then they rushed towards Dreth.
4…Dreth pulled out another rod, using both at lightning fast speeds in an effort to fend off the Shadow Hunters for the remaining few seconds.
3…Dreth made a series of parries and thrusts that kept the Shadow Hunters at bay for another second, but he was soon forced to redouble his efforts.
2…Dreth was tiring and knew that he could not hold out much longer. He jumped over the Shadow Hunters and landed behind them, forcing them to turn to block his attack.
1…Dreth put away his two rods and ripped away a piece of the wall, which he threw at the shadow hunters, while simultaneously leaping backwards so fast that he was only a blur of motion and pushing the trainees back behind a command console. The Shadow Hunters took a few steps backwards to dodge out of the path of the bulkhead and hesitated for just a single second, but that was one second too long…
0…then the entire room lit up in a flash of brilliance…
Chapter 3
Lyn found himself surrounded by light. It was not just that the room he was in was brightly lit, but light was actually coalescing about him, and he felt strangely giddy. He did not have time to contemplate how he had gotten into this strange place, because he was suddenly pulled back to a reality he could comprehend.
He was in the room he had seen Dreth fight off the Shadow Hunters in. He quickly looked around and saw Dreth fighting off another group of Shadow Hunters, but as Dreth approached, he felt an unbearable tugging at his mind. Suddenly, he gasped at he felt his psychic powers being accessed by another entity, and saw an impossibly bright ray of energy shoot out from Dreth towards the Shadow hunters. Everything turned white, and then Lyn fainted again.
The last thought going through his mind was that he was right; he had seen the Shadow Hunters before becoming a Master.
Chapter 4
Lyn woke up. The first thing he noticed was that he was floating. Where am I? he thought.
He looked around. Below him, he saw a small red planet. He vaguely remembered it from his History classes, but couldn’t quite produce a name…
Mars. That was it. The planet was called Mars. Looking down at its desolate terrain, he wondered why early Humans had ever wanted to colonize a planet so obviously and utterly devoid of anything but an abundance of rocks and dust. It probably didn’t even have an atmosphere. But then, how was he breathing?
Then he remembered the space station. He looked around, and it was no where to be seen. What had happened to it?
“Don’t worry. Everyone else escaped. Without radiation shields, the space station overheated and evaporated.” It was Dreth’s voice. “They didn’t need to use radiation shields at first, but a terrible war caused their sun to begin releasing highly radioactive energy. This solar system is made even more barren by the fact that this radiation doesn’t penetrate through planets and does not go around them easily either. When we get to the dark side of Mars, it will be much colder. Fortunately for us, this planet has undergone little change in the past few millennia, so even outdated information on this planet will be accurate.”
“Then why are we still alive? And how did we get here from the Academy? Won’t the others worry about us?”
“It is time for them to learn the truth.”
Lyn’s eyes narrowed. He also noticed that it had been gradually becoming colder. They had begun to orbit to the dark side of Mars, out of the dangerous rays from this solar system’s sun, but also out of its warmth. Lyn remembered that it had been called the Sun, and that one of the plants had been called the Earth. It was no surprise that whatever civilization was so primitive that it lacked the creativity to even come up with proper names had died out millennia ago. “You still have not told me why we continue to live after the space station was vaporized.”
“I am drawing heat from all around us to keep us warm, and filtering out the air so that it doesn’t become stale. You are drawing radiation and anything else that might be dangerous away from us. The planet has decided to cooperate by providing us with energy.”
“Me? I’m not doing anything,” protested Lyn.
“Maybe you don’t think you are doing anything, but you are. My strength lies in using the strengths of others. My strength increases for every enemy rising against me, and it multiplies with every ally fighting with me.”
“Your strength?”
“Yes. Each of us has a particular aspect of our psychic talent that comes more naturally to us. With proper training, that area of strength will be much more powerful than it is for others.”
“What is my strength? And how can I develop it?”
“Your strength is similar to mine. I can absorb the strengths of others. You can absorb any type of energy, and it will enhance your psychic abilities, for a time. As for developing it, that is the reason why we are here. I told you that the planet is providing us with energy. Concentrate, and you will find that you are absorbing it sub-consciously.”
Lyn focused. After a few minutes, he found that Dreth was right, he was inadvertently absorbing energy from the planet. Then another thought struck him. How could the planet itself have a will? He had assumed that by “the planet” Dreth was referring to someone on the planet, but by Dreth’s other comments it would seem that they were the only living beings in this solar system.
“When you refer to “the planet,” do you actually mean the planet itself?” inquired Lyn.
“Why don’t I show you? That’s one of the reasons why I brought you here.”
All of a sudden, light was once again coalescing around Lyn. So I wasn’t dreaming when this happened last time, thought Lyn. Then space and time came back, and Lyn found himself on the surface of Mars.
“How do you do that?” Lyn asked Dreth.
“There are more forces in this dimension than those of the Va’ur’lyi’uun. But you’ll find out more about that later. For now, you are being trained in the ways of the Va’ur’lyi’uun, and it will remain that way until such time as I decide that you are ready to progress beyond that.
“As I’m sure you have figured out, we are now on the surface of Mars. The next facet of your training will involve surviving in vacuum, seeing as how we are currently in a vacuum. There are six major things you must do to survive in a vacuum. You must be able to draw heat around yourself, tap into a source of energy, protect yourself from radiation, keep oxygen around you, filter the carbon out of that oxygen, and decrease your body’s dependency on water. Here’s a couple of facts for you to remember. 95% of the already thin atmosphere of Mars is composed carbon dioxide. During the summer, the average temperature is only about 267 Kelvin. However, it is now the winter, and the average temperature is only 144 degrees Kelvin. Almost everything is frozen at this temperature. You will learn to stay warm in a vacuum by gathering heat around you. At 144 degrees Kelvin, you will probably live long enough for me to re-heat the air myself if you mess up, but it would be a bad idea to test that, so be sure that you can do this yourself. As I said, your specialty is the absorption of energy. Practice drawing heat energy in towards you. You will be strong in anything having to do with absorbing energy. Instead of absorbing it to fuel your psionic abilities, try to simply draw heat around you to warm your body. Once you can do it easily, I will stop providing heat for you, as a test to see if you can stay warm on your own.”
Lyn concentrated, but at first whenever he tried to draw heat around himself, he would absorb it, and his psychic strength would increase, causing him to absorb mean heat in a chain reaction. The first time this happened, Dreth had to stop him.
“Stop that! You’ll end up with more power than you control! Now do it again, and this time be careful.”
Lyn tried, and this time, although he still ended up absorbing the heat, he stopped himself before he went out of control. On his third try, he managed to absorb the heat without it transferring into psychic strength. After a few hours, he was sure that he could keep warm on his own.
“No, you can’t,” Dreth replied when Lyn told him this. “You are deceiving yourself. Do you think the amount of heat you are absorbing is enough to keep warm at only 144 Kelvin? That is only the average temperature. From what I recall, those indigenous to Tyu’waar’ii have the peculiar evolutionary trait of being able to process the high krypton content of the planet’s atmosphere without any ill effects. In fact, your entire respiratory system can filter out harmful substances to an extent, which is why you are not coughing from all of the dust on this planet. In the past, you have not had to worry much about cold temperatures, because another trait to those from Tyu’waar’ii is that they survive on a much lower amount of water, and so even at 273 Kelvin you can survive for about two days before you die. There is, however, an abnormally high level of krypton in your bloodstream, even after over a decade at the Academy, as evolution is not so easily cancelled out. This could prove fatal here. Krypton freezes at 117 Kelvin. On a cold night, it is very possible for the temperature to drop that far, and we are currently on the night side of Mars. Do not be so overconfident. It will one day be your downfall. Continue to practice warming yourself. I will tell you when you are ready. For now, I have something to show you. Follow me.”
After about a half hour of trekking, Lyn could make out a huge mountain in the distance.
“It’s a volcano,” Dreth commented. “In fact, it is the largest in the solar system. It stands over 124 furlongs tall, and is named Olympus Mons. The existence of such a landmark, along with the fact that Mars remained so unchanged over the millennia, is what made me first interested in the planet. You see, there-”
Dreth was cut off as a monstrously large sand storm came whipping towards them, and lifted them into the air. For what seemed like an eternity, but was in fact only a few minutes, they were whipped about in the storm, out of control. Dreth’s concentration slipped, and now Lyn was only slightly warmer than he would have normally been without Dreth warming them up. He was also becoming short of air. He knew he was fast approaching advanced hypothermia, and tried desperately to warm himself, but the wind-chill from the sandstorm kept him from acquiring any lasting heat. Soon the lack of oxygen caught up with him, and he slipped once again into unconsciousness.
Chapter 5
When Lyn came to, he found himself at the foot of Olympus Mons. He saw Dreth standing over him with a look of relief on his face.
“I wasn’t sure you were gonna make it out of that storm.” Dreth’s voice was strangely distant. He must still be deprived of oxygen. “Don’t worry, you have plenty of oxygen. Everything becomes distorted around here. This is what I was about to explain to you. Did it occur to you that it is impossible to have wind in a vacuum? There is something causing these abnormalities, and I aim to find out what it is. Unfortunately, I have been continuously thwarted. This warped place seems to have some sort of will, and it doesn’t like intruders. That is why I brought you along. With your powers, I was able to use the sandstorm to bring us to the foot of Olympus Mons, which seems to be the very source of whatever it is that we are looking for.”
“But why did you choose me, of all people?”
“Haven’t you figured it out yet? You have the most raw power of anyone at the Academy. And I have a feeling that the source of this twisted power is similar to your own strength. In fact, it may be the key to fully developing your powers. However, I don’t think that we will be left alone for long, so I recommend that we find whatever there is to find, and as quickly as possible. Look to your left. That is the entrance to a series of tunnels extending all throughout Olympus Mons. However, the source of the power is not far into the tunnel. I suggest that we take that route, as it is the most expedient one, and whatever is trying to keep us out obviously knows we are here already.”
They hurried in, and through the tunnel. They shortly found themselves in a cave. Dreth stiffened. Lyn looked around to see what it was that had caused Dreth to do that, and then he saw what Dreth had seen…
It was a Shadow Hunter.
“You didn’t really think you could get in that easily, did you?” The Shadow Hunter’s sinister voice echoed throughout the chamber. “I’d like to thank you for coming right where I wanted you. Now you have no Academy to run back to, and thanks to the nature of this place, you won’t be able to teleport out like you seem to like to do so much.”
Suddenly the one Shadow Hunter became an army of Shadow Hunters. Lyn blinked. There were now several Dreths, too, but not nearly as many as there were Shadow Hunters. Then Lyn spied a crystal near where the original Shadow hunter had stood.
The exterior of the crystal was sardius, but within that was onyx, and then gold. Within the gold was carnelian. The entire stone seemed to contain diffused energy, and energy swirled around it like vapor. It seemed to beckon to him.
One of the Dreths was giving him a command, but Lyn had not quite heard it over the commotion of battle. “What did you say?” he shouted.
“I said, ‘Concentrate on the crystal.’ Dreth, too, had to shout to be heard. “Concentrate on it, and try to control it. Do not worry about the battle. It will be won if you can succeed in this one task.”
Skeptical, but trusting in Dreth’s expertise, he prepared himself mentally. Something so obviously powerful wouldn’t be easy to gain dominion over. If there was one thing he had learned, it was that if something seemed too easy, it was. He knew that time was of the essence. Dreth couldn’t hold off against the army of Shadow Hunters forever.
He tried to probe the crystal, but it resisted him. He tried harder, and it still resisted. Lyn now realized that all of the aberrations on this planet had been caused by this one crystal. How could he control something he couldn’t even get his mind into? And what would happen to him once he gained access to the crystal? Lyn pushed these thoughts aside. Dreth was counting on him.
With one final effort, he succeeded, and plunged his mind into the depths of the crystal.
To be concluded…
Lyn Gano sat fidgeting in his chair, wishing he were doing something-anything-other than listening to the databot lecture on about Va’ur’lyi’uun history. Leave it to the historians to listen to some machine telling about something from the past, he thought. We should be working on improving our combat skills.
Lyn was the only Elite who had not yet reached adult-hood. Although he possessed the title, few looked to him for counsel, for he often acted rashly. He had spent his early life training as a warrior on his home planet of Tyu’waar’ii, but his psychic prowess had been discovered and he had been enrolled in the Va’ur’lyi’uun academy, which literally translated to ‘They who use minds.’ He could still remember the transfer from Tyu’waar’ii to Uun’yiur’qirh’tyu, the Va’ur’lyi’uun homeworld. He had always wondered how people could be transferred through space to Uun’yiur’qirh’tyu, and he had finally found out. His mind had joined the Ryhn’yiur’uun, the Circle of Minds, while his body was telepathically pulled across the void separating the planets. That had been his first trial as a Va’ur’lyi’uun. The Ryhn’yiur’uun was formed primarily of the Masters, and they gauged his skill by determining how much they had to assist him to keep him from slipping out of the Ryhn’yiur’uun. They had not had to help him at all.
“Lyn, please analyze what the databot has just told us,” Durassami, the Master Historian, snapped across the stone room.
“I, I-”
“Wasn’t paying attention?” Lyn’s teacher finished the sentence. “Focus on the task at hand, Lyn. You must learn to be patient and focus if you are to be trusted to complete missions and be conveyed the honor that befits your title.”
“But what does this have to do with being a Va’ur’lyi’uun? How will history lessons help us to restore our order?”
“If we do not learn of the past, we can never prepare for the future.”
“I…don’t understand.”
“Think about it this way. If you are fencing and an opponent uses a trick once to better you, then you will not let an error become a flaw and so will most likely not fall for the same trick again. The same is true here. There was obviously a flaw in the old order, or it would not have fallen so quickly. If we don’t learn what led to the fall of the old order, we will not be able to correct that flaw in our new order.”
“Yes, Teacher.” Lyn was a male human, with rough, darkish skin, like sand if it could be burned. His eyes held an inner fire, an impatience kindled by the blood of a long line of warriors running through his veins, turning them to ice. He had undergone brief training from his father in the fighting arts before electing to train at the Academy of the Minds to learn how to control his psychic abilities. Little had he known that he would be forced to control his impatience, as well.
He was by far one of the best physical and mental duelists at the Academy, second only to a small group of Elite, as well as most of the Masters. He practiced rigorously with every weapon he knew of, even with pipes and pieces of concrete, in case he should ever be caught without a weapon. Although he skipped over many aspects of his mental training, he, among other things, concentrated on developing the power to speed up and slow down time, and on using his psychic talent to augment his already powerful muscles. He had been hoping for some time that he would be picked by one of the Shadow Hunters to be an apprentice, but had not been even allowed to try because of his unpredictable temper, impatience, and overconfidence. He had not taken this well at first, but eventually submitted to another year of training. After all, he was only fifteen, hardly the normal age to become apprenticed.
The Shadow Hunters had been the most powerful asset of the old order. After its fall, however, little had been seen of them, but Lyn somehow knew that he would meet them before he became a Master.
Durassami sighed. “Perhaps Master Qreliun can help you to understand. He is visiting us today to teach us some new techniques.”
“You mean Master Dreth Qreliun?” Lyn exclaimed. “But he’s just some old hermit studying ancient artifacts and whatnot! How is he qualified to teach us technique?”
Durassami smiled. “You’d be surprised at what Master Qreliun has to teach you. In fact, he’s also going to be teaching your fencing class this week.”
Before Lyn could make an exclamation, Durassami added, “You had better get off to your technique class now, or you’ll miss the first lesson. Hurry along, now!”
“Yes, Master.” Lyn trotted along down the hall, obediently, albeit reluctantly.
Durassami sighed. “So much potential, but it must be contained,” she murmured to herself.
Lyn half turned. “Master?”
“Yes, Lyn?”
“How exactly did the old order collapse?”
Durassami fell silent for a moment, considering the question. “I will tell you that story another day,” she said at last. “But the biggest reason was that most of the members of the old order overestimated the potency of their powers.” As may well be your fall, too, Lyn, she thought.
Chapter 1
Lyn was in what had been a hangar during the days of the old order, and was still used as one in addition to staging technique lessons for Va’ur’lyi’uun students. Outside he could see the barren wastelands that were what was left of the once-glorious Va’ur’lyi’uun homeworld. The red landscape was occasionally broken by black spires and cliffs, as well as several decaying constructs and one or two other useable buildings.
“For those of you who don't know me, I am Master Dreth Qreliun. I have come back to the Academy of the Minds because what I am about to teach you will bring the mastery of your skills to a level that you haven’t even dreamed existed. This power, though, comes not without great risk, which is why I have come personally to oversee your instruction. Before I teach you to wield this power, I must be completely certain that you possess so much control over it and yourself that there is absolutely no chance that it will destroy or overcome you.”
Yeah, right, Lyn thought. Make everything seem ten times as dangerous as it is, and maybe someone will care what you have to say. Just not me.
Suddenly Lyn felt the familiar tingle of someone prying into his mind. He was about to attack the intruding presence when he realized that it had already withdrawn. He was amazed when he realized that he had only noticed the presence when it was withdrawing. Or had the intruder wanted to be noticed? He began to puzzle it over when Dreth interrupted his train of thought.
“Is there a problem, Lyn? I sense that you regard me dubiously.” Dreth sighed in resignation. “Very well, I suppose I must prove myself to you if I am to become your teacher. I hear that you are quite an experienced swordsman. Why don't we start fencing early and combine it with your technique lesson?”
From seemingly out of nowhere Dreth produced a large two-handed sword and tossed it to Lyn. "You may begin when you are ready, Lyn," he said in a challenging tone.
Lyn rushed at Dreth, mentally preparing himself for combat. Dreth stood still for a few seconds, and then produced a long sword, which he used to block Lyn’s attack, and Lyn barely had time to parry Dreth’s counterattack. Lyn, surprised at Dreth’s strength, began another attack, and this time Dreth produced a two-handed sword of his own to block with. At the last moment, Lyn jumped and did a mid-air somersault to land balancing his sword blade on Dreth’s. Using his leverage, Lyn aimed two roundhouse kicks at Dreth’s face, but Dreth somehow anticipated the move and used his psychic powers to create a “wall” of air around his face. Lyn’s assault glanced off of Dreth’s defenses, and Lyn fell backwards while Dreth simultaneously made a gesture with his hand that caused Lyn's sword to come to his hand.
Lyn barely managed to land upright, but saw Dreth rushing toward him and executed a series of complex aerial maneuvers that ended up with him doing a handstand on each of the swords. Dreth was apparently using his psychic powers again to augment his muscles so that he could hold each of the two-handed swords in one of his hands. Seeing Dreth's technique to block the kicks, Lyn did the same thing, but shielded his hands instead. Sensing Dreth’s surprise, who Lyn now realized was the one who had been and still was prying into his mind-Lyn must have subconsciously forced the connection to go both ways and could now pick up on Dreth’s emotions-he made a series of fake kicks and then used all of the power he had to push out with his mind to distract Dreth while wrenching away his lightsabers. Dreth easily blocked the psychic assault and managed to keep a grip on both of the swords, but Lyn had also managed to maintain a hold.
Dreth used this to his advantage and dropped down to the floor to execute a lightning fast right sweep that sent Lyn sprawling. Dreth psychically sent Lin flying towards the ceiling, but before he got there, Lyn managed to launch an attack of his own that tripped Dreth, and then he psychically controlled his fall-to accelerate straight down towards Dreth.
At the last second, Lyn went through an aerial somersault and a series of twists followed by another set of midair roundhouse kicks that connected three times before Dreth brought up his barrier again. Sensing that Dreth was shaken, Lyn pulled away the two swords and made a lightning fast volley against the now disarmed Dreth, connecting several times…
…with an invisible wall that Dreth had erected around himself with his mind. Dreth wrenched out two pieces of concrete from the hangar floor, again with his mind, and then launched an attack so powerful that it sent Lyn flying across the room. He then rushed toward Dreth, picking up speed and until he was nothing more than a blur, making the sound of a whip lashing through the air. He threw himself forward and attacked with all of his might, and Lyn realized that he had never stood a chance against Dreth. He desperately parried, but Dreth was too fast. With only one option left, he drew on his power to control time, trying to slow Dreth down and speed himself up. A faint aura of negative energy surrounding them, but Dreth only continued to move faster and faster. He made a stab too quickly for Lyn to parry, and Lyn watched as it drew inexorably closer to connecting with his body…
…the blade connected, and sent Lyn flying across the room, where he fainted…
…and then Dreth suddenly disappeared.
Chapter 2
Lyn woke up in the middle of a training room on a space station. He saw a drill sergeant directing a group of trainees, and unfamiliar constellations outside of the windows of the space station.
“About face! Come on, people, let’s move it!” the drill sergeant shouted at the trainees. “Right, 2, 3, 4…right, 2, 3, 4…right-”
The drill sergeant was cut off as a Shadow Hunter dropped into the training room though the ceiling and sliced him in half with a stroke from his weapon. Lyn was shocked! Why would a Shadow Hunter attack trainees? He also finally remembered that he should be surprised that a space station existed. He had never heard of anyone being in space, except when being transported to Ryhn’yiur’uun. Why had it taken him so long to realize something so obvious?
“Who is next?” snarled the Shadow Hunter as he whirled a strange rod that created an area devoid of light around it. He deftly blocked any direct laser shots from the trainees while letting any indirect shots glance off his armor. A battlebot stepped forward, sparks flying from its electromagnetically shielded body. The Shadow Hunter suddenly turned into a blur, and a horrible wrenching sound was heard as the battlebot imploded upon itself, and then the Shadow Hunter solidified again. Lyn was awestruck. What had happened to the Shadow Hunter and the battlebot?
Lyn suddenly remembered that lasers and battlebots shouldn’t exist either. Why was he missing such apparent anomalies?
“I am,” answered a robed figure that had suddenly appeared in front of the Shadow Hunter. Or was Lyn the robed figure? Things suddenly became confusing? Lasers were still being fired at the Shadow Hunter, but they all seemed to flow around the mysterious robed figure, and then continue on their original course.
“And who are you to challenge me?”
“I am Dreth Qreliun, Master of the Order of the Va’ur’lyi’uun, as well as the last opponent that you will ever face if you don’t back down now.” Lyn suddenly understood. This was where Dreth had gone when he disappeared, and Lyn was still linked to Dreth’s mind. This was why so much that would normally be apparent because of its absurdity was now unapparent because it seemed commonplace. But that raised even more questions. Why would such things be commonplace to Dreth?
“I think that you are mistaken, Ba’ur Shaa’a!
The Shadow hunter began to turn into a blur again, but so did Dreth. Suddenly everything else slowed down while the Shadow Hunter and Dreth circled each other, each waiting for the other to strike first. The Shadow Hunter grew tired of waiting. He lunged at Dreth, who somersaulted into the air and threw off his unwieldy outer robes to expose armor made of a metal Lyn had never seen before. Belatedly an alarm wailed warning that there was a group of enemies invading the military academy. The alarm sounded strangely warped. Dreth assumed a defensive stance and pulled out a weapon similar to the Shadow Hunter’s, but it radiated a faint greenish-blue luminescence. He parried all of the Shadow Hunter’s attacks and yelled to the trainees to flee the academy. Lyn wondered how the trainees would understand Dreth when he was moving at such speeds, as that was surely the reason why everything else seemed so sluggish.
Suddenly, more Shadow Hunter’s poured into the room, blocking any hope of escape. Dreth thought about using his psychic abilities to blow a hole in the wall, but realized that the academy was in orbit and surrounded by only vacuum and radiation, and thought better of it. He brainstormed furiously for a way out of this predicament, and found it in the academy’s water pipes. He used his mind to bring them to bear on the invading Shadow Hunters and then used his mind once again to break open the pipes, sending hundreds of gallons of water spilling out at his adversaries. He used the spare time to unhook an energy grenade from his utility belt and throw it at the distracted Shadow Hunters, moving it slightly from side to side whenever a Shadow Hunter tried to pick it up, and blocking out any attempts of the Shadow Hunters to move the grenade with their own psychic abilities. He silently counted down the time until it would take to explode, hoping that the Shadow Hunters would not recover in time, and that he had not miscalculated his throw.
10…the Shadow Hunters were still being propelled back by the flow of the water, but it was obvious that the emergency measures in the system would soon stop water flow to the broken pipe.
9…the water was definitely subsiding. A few Shadow Hunters had begun to regain their balance.
8…the water was only a trickle now, and the Shadow Hunters were now shooting lasers and shrapnel blasters at Dreth.
7…The lasers glanced off of Dreth’s armor, and he psychically sent the shrapnel blasts back at the Shadow Hunters, forcing them to dive for cover.
6…Dreth collected any leftover debris from the water pipe and thrust it at the Shadow Hunters, using his mind both times.
5…the Shadow Hunters hesitated slightly to cut the debris to shreds with their rods, and then they rushed towards Dreth.
4…Dreth pulled out another rod, using both at lightning fast speeds in an effort to fend off the Shadow Hunters for the remaining few seconds.
3…Dreth made a series of parries and thrusts that kept the Shadow Hunters at bay for another second, but he was soon forced to redouble his efforts.
2…Dreth was tiring and knew that he could not hold out much longer. He jumped over the Shadow Hunters and landed behind them, forcing them to turn to block his attack.
1…Dreth put away his two rods and ripped away a piece of the wall, which he threw at the shadow hunters, while simultaneously leaping backwards so fast that he was only a blur of motion and pushing the trainees back behind a command console. The Shadow Hunters took a few steps backwards to dodge out of the path of the bulkhead and hesitated for just a single second, but that was one second too long…
0…then the entire room lit up in a flash of brilliance…
Chapter 3
Lyn found himself surrounded by light. It was not just that the room he was in was brightly lit, but light was actually coalescing about him, and he felt strangely giddy. He did not have time to contemplate how he had gotten into this strange place, because he was suddenly pulled back to a reality he could comprehend.
He was in the room he had seen Dreth fight off the Shadow Hunters in. He quickly looked around and saw Dreth fighting off another group of Shadow Hunters, but as Dreth approached, he felt an unbearable tugging at his mind. Suddenly, he gasped at he felt his psychic powers being accessed by another entity, and saw an impossibly bright ray of energy shoot out from Dreth towards the Shadow hunters. Everything turned white, and then Lyn fainted again.
The last thought going through his mind was that he was right; he had seen the Shadow Hunters before becoming a Master.
Chapter 4
Lyn woke up. The first thing he noticed was that he was floating. Where am I? he thought.
He looked around. Below him, he saw a small red planet. He vaguely remembered it from his History classes, but couldn’t quite produce a name…
Mars. That was it. The planet was called Mars. Looking down at its desolate terrain, he wondered why early Humans had ever wanted to colonize a planet so obviously and utterly devoid of anything but an abundance of rocks and dust. It probably didn’t even have an atmosphere. But then, how was he breathing?
Then he remembered the space station. He looked around, and it was no where to be seen. What had happened to it?
“Don’t worry. Everyone else escaped. Without radiation shields, the space station overheated and evaporated.” It was Dreth’s voice. “They didn’t need to use radiation shields at first, but a terrible war caused their sun to begin releasing highly radioactive energy. This solar system is made even more barren by the fact that this radiation doesn’t penetrate through planets and does not go around them easily either. When we get to the dark side of Mars, it will be much colder. Fortunately for us, this planet has undergone little change in the past few millennia, so even outdated information on this planet will be accurate.”
“Then why are we still alive? And how did we get here from the Academy? Won’t the others worry about us?”
“It is time for them to learn the truth.”
Lyn’s eyes narrowed. He also noticed that it had been gradually becoming colder. They had begun to orbit to the dark side of Mars, out of the dangerous rays from this solar system’s sun, but also out of its warmth. Lyn remembered that it had been called the Sun, and that one of the plants had been called the Earth. It was no surprise that whatever civilization was so primitive that it lacked the creativity to even come up with proper names had died out millennia ago. “You still have not told me why we continue to live after the space station was vaporized.”
“I am drawing heat from all around us to keep us warm, and filtering out the air so that it doesn’t become stale. You are drawing radiation and anything else that might be dangerous away from us. The planet has decided to cooperate by providing us with energy.”
“Me? I’m not doing anything,” protested Lyn.
“Maybe you don’t think you are doing anything, but you are. My strength lies in using the strengths of others. My strength increases for every enemy rising against me, and it multiplies with every ally fighting with me.”
“Your strength?”
“Yes. Each of us has a particular aspect of our psychic talent that comes more naturally to us. With proper training, that area of strength will be much more powerful than it is for others.”
“What is my strength? And how can I develop it?”
“Your strength is similar to mine. I can absorb the strengths of others. You can absorb any type of energy, and it will enhance your psychic abilities, for a time. As for developing it, that is the reason why we are here. I told you that the planet is providing us with energy. Concentrate, and you will find that you are absorbing it sub-consciously.”
Lyn focused. After a few minutes, he found that Dreth was right, he was inadvertently absorbing energy from the planet. Then another thought struck him. How could the planet itself have a will? He had assumed that by “the planet” Dreth was referring to someone on the planet, but by Dreth’s other comments it would seem that they were the only living beings in this solar system.
“When you refer to “the planet,” do you actually mean the planet itself?” inquired Lyn.
“Why don’t I show you? That’s one of the reasons why I brought you here.”
All of a sudden, light was once again coalescing around Lyn. So I wasn’t dreaming when this happened last time, thought Lyn. Then space and time came back, and Lyn found himself on the surface of Mars.
“How do you do that?” Lyn asked Dreth.
“There are more forces in this dimension than those of the Va’ur’lyi’uun. But you’ll find out more about that later. For now, you are being trained in the ways of the Va’ur’lyi’uun, and it will remain that way until such time as I decide that you are ready to progress beyond that.
“As I’m sure you have figured out, we are now on the surface of Mars. The next facet of your training will involve surviving in vacuum, seeing as how we are currently in a vacuum. There are six major things you must do to survive in a vacuum. You must be able to draw heat around yourself, tap into a source of energy, protect yourself from radiation, keep oxygen around you, filter the carbon out of that oxygen, and decrease your body’s dependency on water. Here’s a couple of facts for you to remember. 95% of the already thin atmosphere of Mars is composed carbon dioxide. During the summer, the average temperature is only about 267 Kelvin. However, it is now the winter, and the average temperature is only 144 degrees Kelvin. Almost everything is frozen at this temperature. You will learn to stay warm in a vacuum by gathering heat around you. At 144 degrees Kelvin, you will probably live long enough for me to re-heat the air myself if you mess up, but it would be a bad idea to test that, so be sure that you can do this yourself. As I said, your specialty is the absorption of energy. Practice drawing heat energy in towards you. You will be strong in anything having to do with absorbing energy. Instead of absorbing it to fuel your psionic abilities, try to simply draw heat around you to warm your body. Once you can do it easily, I will stop providing heat for you, as a test to see if you can stay warm on your own.”
Lyn concentrated, but at first whenever he tried to draw heat around himself, he would absorb it, and his psychic strength would increase, causing him to absorb mean heat in a chain reaction. The first time this happened, Dreth had to stop him.
“Stop that! You’ll end up with more power than you control! Now do it again, and this time be careful.”
Lyn tried, and this time, although he still ended up absorbing the heat, he stopped himself before he went out of control. On his third try, he managed to absorb the heat without it transferring into psychic strength. After a few hours, he was sure that he could keep warm on his own.
“No, you can’t,” Dreth replied when Lyn told him this. “You are deceiving yourself. Do you think the amount of heat you are absorbing is enough to keep warm at only 144 Kelvin? That is only the average temperature. From what I recall, those indigenous to Tyu’waar’ii have the peculiar evolutionary trait of being able to process the high krypton content of the planet’s atmosphere without any ill effects. In fact, your entire respiratory system can filter out harmful substances to an extent, which is why you are not coughing from all of the dust on this planet. In the past, you have not had to worry much about cold temperatures, because another trait to those from Tyu’waar’ii is that they survive on a much lower amount of water, and so even at 273 Kelvin you can survive for about two days before you die. There is, however, an abnormally high level of krypton in your bloodstream, even after over a decade at the Academy, as evolution is not so easily cancelled out. This could prove fatal here. Krypton freezes at 117 Kelvin. On a cold night, it is very possible for the temperature to drop that far, and we are currently on the night side of Mars. Do not be so overconfident. It will one day be your downfall. Continue to practice warming yourself. I will tell you when you are ready. For now, I have something to show you. Follow me.”
After about a half hour of trekking, Lyn could make out a huge mountain in the distance.
“It’s a volcano,” Dreth commented. “In fact, it is the largest in the solar system. It stands over 124 furlongs tall, and is named Olympus Mons. The existence of such a landmark, along with the fact that Mars remained so unchanged over the millennia, is what made me first interested in the planet. You see, there-”
Dreth was cut off as a monstrously large sand storm came whipping towards them, and lifted them into the air. For what seemed like an eternity, but was in fact only a few minutes, they were whipped about in the storm, out of control. Dreth’s concentration slipped, and now Lyn was only slightly warmer than he would have normally been without Dreth warming them up. He was also becoming short of air. He knew he was fast approaching advanced hypothermia, and tried desperately to warm himself, but the wind-chill from the sandstorm kept him from acquiring any lasting heat. Soon the lack of oxygen caught up with him, and he slipped once again into unconsciousness.
Chapter 5
When Lyn came to, he found himself at the foot of Olympus Mons. He saw Dreth standing over him with a look of relief on his face.
“I wasn’t sure you were gonna make it out of that storm.” Dreth’s voice was strangely distant. He must still be deprived of oxygen. “Don’t worry, you have plenty of oxygen. Everything becomes distorted around here. This is what I was about to explain to you. Did it occur to you that it is impossible to have wind in a vacuum? There is something causing these abnormalities, and I aim to find out what it is. Unfortunately, I have been continuously thwarted. This warped place seems to have some sort of will, and it doesn’t like intruders. That is why I brought you along. With your powers, I was able to use the sandstorm to bring us to the foot of Olympus Mons, which seems to be the very source of whatever it is that we are looking for.”
“But why did you choose me, of all people?”
“Haven’t you figured it out yet? You have the most raw power of anyone at the Academy. And I have a feeling that the source of this twisted power is similar to your own strength. In fact, it may be the key to fully developing your powers. However, I don’t think that we will be left alone for long, so I recommend that we find whatever there is to find, and as quickly as possible. Look to your left. That is the entrance to a series of tunnels extending all throughout Olympus Mons. However, the source of the power is not far into the tunnel. I suggest that we take that route, as it is the most expedient one, and whatever is trying to keep us out obviously knows we are here already.”
They hurried in, and through the tunnel. They shortly found themselves in a cave. Dreth stiffened. Lyn looked around to see what it was that had caused Dreth to do that, and then he saw what Dreth had seen…
It was a Shadow Hunter.
“You didn’t really think you could get in that easily, did you?” The Shadow Hunter’s sinister voice echoed throughout the chamber. “I’d like to thank you for coming right where I wanted you. Now you have no Academy to run back to, and thanks to the nature of this place, you won’t be able to teleport out like you seem to like to do so much.”
Suddenly the one Shadow Hunter became an army of Shadow Hunters. Lyn blinked. There were now several Dreths, too, but not nearly as many as there were Shadow Hunters. Then Lyn spied a crystal near where the original Shadow hunter had stood.
The exterior of the crystal was sardius, but within that was onyx, and then gold. Within the gold was carnelian. The entire stone seemed to contain diffused energy, and energy swirled around it like vapor. It seemed to beckon to him.
One of the Dreths was giving him a command, but Lyn had not quite heard it over the commotion of battle. “What did you say?” he shouted.
“I said, ‘Concentrate on the crystal.’ Dreth, too, had to shout to be heard. “Concentrate on it, and try to control it. Do not worry about the battle. It will be won if you can succeed in this one task.”
Skeptical, but trusting in Dreth’s expertise, he prepared himself mentally. Something so obviously powerful wouldn’t be easy to gain dominion over. If there was one thing he had learned, it was that if something seemed too easy, it was. He knew that time was of the essence. Dreth couldn’t hold off against the army of Shadow Hunters forever.
He tried to probe the crystal, but it resisted him. He tried harder, and it still resisted. Lyn now realized that all of the aberrations on this planet had been caused by this one crystal. How could he control something he couldn’t even get his mind into? And what would happen to him once he gained access to the crystal? Lyn pushed these thoughts aside. Dreth was counting on him.
With one final effort, he succeeded, and plunged his mind into the depths of the crystal.
To be concluded…