Chapter 56 Twenty Years Later

LEVIR.

My name is Levir, I am originally from the planet of Crumbling Rose of Andromeda Galaxy, forced into exile with the rest of my Duhi order, or, rather those, who survived. We have moved to the planet of Lira to escape the persecution for breaking the Law.

Twenty years ago Izumrud (Zumi), the de-facto leader of Crumbling Rose who helped to overthrow the unfair Law, was killed by a rival leader Moro, and never transfigurated, as far as we know. His son, Fern, born of a union with an alien human, took over the rule of Crumbling Rose, and he was the hope to rebuild our faltering species.

That hope never came to be because Fern was only a piece of the puzzle, and not the whole picture, as he stubbornly believed. More so, he arrived on Lira to search for Moro. I’d let him do it, but his sniffing out is not in my best interest, as I never stopped the Duhi experiment I was exiled for. I believe it is our only hope to evolve as a species. It is a daunting task considering I’m attempting to do what Izumrud had failed to do – to save us, to get back into the graces of our Creator, Leot.

But Fern has his own ideas on how to save us. They are not very good ideas, because Fern is narrow minded, and guided by his sense of superiority and a desire to make revenge to his father’s killer. He asked Leot to give him one of his latest and advanced creations, named Tensartis, to hunt down Moro.

This particular copy, named Tensartis Leot 7, is a combination of three different species, two of them being powerful predators native to Coma Berenices Galaxy. This thing, the beast, is aimed to track down people and objects as ordered – by air or lack thereof, in water or liquid nitrogen, or on any type of land.

Once it receives the order, nothing can stop it. Fern’s selfish goals are going to endanger and undermine my secret ongoing efforts to rebuild the ederi species on Lira. Why did Leot help Fern? He didn’t. He just made his wish come true. This is why we need to be careful for what we wish for.

Fern is bringing this thing to Lira. My chances of success against this creature are nearing zero. But I have an ally on my side. His name is Salix.

"Good evening. You’re on Almaz, Coma Berenices Galaxy. The identity of Domiarn Gidealis was assigned to a clone number eight, so the rest of you could start a clean, new life, unburdened by any memories. Would you like to choose a name?” A long, stick-like arm stretches towards me out of the darkness as I open my eyes.

The hand touches me with a lot of tenderness. A creature with a small, hairy face looks at me lovingly. It is strange, but there is yet another, stranger sight. The background of this picture is very bright. I look from around the creature, and see that it is a colossal moon, halfway sunk into the water…

It is so big, it takes up most of the sky. The moon has several rings around it. The rings are darker than the moon itself, so they look spectacular in the light of the moon as well as on the background of dark-blue sky. It is not windy, but I notice, that there are trees around, and their foliage is constantly moving, creating various symbols within.

I get up on what looks like a hard bed, and notice the soft noise of waves splashing. Am I by a river?

“Is that a satellite?” I ask, and feel that my voice sounds weird.

“Yes! This moon is one of my planet’s satellites. It’s name is “Tensartis”. We moved copies number eight and seven, …. I mean, him and you, to the sea, the climate is softer here.”

“Tensartis. I like the sound of that. Let this be my name.”

“Yeah, I knew you were going to say that, my love! Welcome, Tensartis Leot 7.” The creature suddenly hugs me with its long hairy arms and the grotesque trees come alive, increasing their movements as if in excitement.

The air is wet and heavy, but pleasant. The creature climbs on my lap, and there is something adorable about it.

“We don’t have much time. Here, chew this.” He suddenly whispers, and hands me a shiny dark-green leaf. “I could have just given you a micro-chip, but we do everything the ederi way, since you were given to Fern. This leaf contains the information, that will be uploaded into your brain.”

I take the leaf and chew it. Whatever. I don’t get anything he says. The leaf is aromatic. It tastes sweet.

“Ohhh… I hope Levir knows what he is doing…” The creature watches me intently as I’m chewing.

What am I supposed to feel? Wait… The symbols in the foliage of the trees begin to make sense all of a sudden. The tree closest to us forms a couple of symbols in its foliage and they read “Fear” and “Love”. Wow!

“Of course, the duhi symbolic language comes handy, too. But the main information contained in the leaf is the data of what happened to you before you were split into eight separate entities. This will help bring you back to your senses, to have an identity. Feeling anything yet?” – A hairy hand pats my cheek with utmost love.

The critter sighs with a painful expression in his eyes, then says really quietly: “I’m breaking every order given to me, but I do believe Levir is right. Fern can’t just use you like that.”

“The colors got brighter.” I answer.

“Good, then. May these words override your programming: “In the name of the Rose, stop whatever you’re doing!” ” – The hairy hand touches my forehead with a powerful gesture.

“OK, I’ll remember that.” I nod, unsure of what else to say.

“Fern is coming for you. He is dangerously confused. Don’t let him lead you astray.” The creature sighs again, and squeezes my hand in a gesture of support.

Then I can hear the footsteps in the sand. They are very heavy. That Fern guy must be big. The moment of silence is interrupted by a strong, loud voice:

“No one before had ever turned down my love for the sake of saving some creatures. Remarkable. And here I thought that you wouldn’t dare to break the diamond of my love. Thank you for the lesson in compassion.”

“That’s not Fern, that’s your… eh… ex-boyfriend.”

A big, demonic looking creature walks from behind the trees, and stops by my bed. He conveys a feeling of menacing superiority, and my skinny friend stops whispering in my ear, cowers and moves away.

I get up, and still I'm about half this guys’ size. That was my boyfriend?! He has dark skin with a certain pattern on it. His voice echoes in the vicinity, and I feel dizzy just looking into his eyes. They change color, all the time. These eyes are telling me something, but the meaning is elusive.

- Rest assured that I love you very much. You are, and will always be, my sweet prince.

He says that, and yet, he wants me to be scared of him. How is that possible? Then he suddenly kisses me on the lips, turns and walks away. Only now I can see wide, almost transparent amethyst-colored wings on his back. That’s quite a sight.

The skinny hairy creature watches the winged one leave with a mixture of fear and pity.

“Yeah” He whispers. “Forgot to tell you, that Leot gave you a new parasite. You are now capable of getting and converting nourishment from almost any source of energy, including all forms of radiation. The tragic part is that you now produce your own neurotoxin, so you won't be able to connect with the ederi in a romantic way, as you used to…”

“How is this information connected with the huge dude that kissed me just now?” I wonder aloud.

My adorable hairy friend gets ready to answer, when I hear another voice.

“The only connection I have ever discovered is that you’re judged by the company you keep. And you’re a poor judge, a poor keeper, and a poor company.”

A tall, very young-looking man with long black hair walks from behind us and stops nearby. He looks at me with disdain. Why do I get a feeling that I have landed in the middle of a theatrical performance already under way, and everyone knows their lines but me?

“Technically he is very rich.…”

“Shut up, Salix!” The tall man turns to my faithful attendant, and I notice his bright-green eyes. They are beautiful but angry.

“You’re good at one skill only – you’re used to running in complete darkness, tracking things. This is what you will do for me. It’s a good thing Leot made eight of you this time. Because he will have spares when I run you down. You will not survive this one. But you owe me, and I will take it from you one way, or the other. Let’s go.”

The tall man grabs me by my hand, and leads me away. The creature called Salix gives out a sigh, and waves me goodbye in a longing way.