Chapter 64 To Save a Loved One I get up, and scratch the crumbling wall of the office to distract the angry green-eyed man.

“Your walls seem rather thin and unreliable!”

“These “peaceful rallies” of Flingers are beginning to piss me off. This damage is more of a reflection of their volatile state of mind, than the thickness of our walls!” Fern rolls his eyes.

“… or the reason they are so volatile is because we are so unreliable! Just let their people out of prison, sir!” Levir can barely hold himself back. It is obvious whose side he is on, but he can’t reveal himself just yet.

“Shut up, just shut up! They are unnatural, they need to be changed into normal ederis! And if they do not want to, I will force them! This was the last “rally”. The next one will result in me taking over their settlements!”

Levir is frustrated at hearing that, but he says nothing.

“And you! What are you looking at! Go hunt Moro!” Fern orders me, like he owns me!

Oh, no, he didn’t!

But yes, he did. He stares me down until I fall to my knees and transform into the oeve. Most of my normal thinking vanishes, but in the back of my mind I know that hunting Moro will lead me to Lierance and the source of the radiation. Lierance will free me from Fern’s order, and, then, maybe, I can save this Lierance guy and take him to the surface from the catacombs. OK, sounds like a plan. A crazy one at that, but better than being a slave to Fern.

I run across the endless fields full of amazing plants and it seems that they are bathing in lingering sunlight, filtering through mist. I never did check if there is any sun here. But the light is dispersed, just like on Crumbling Rose. The memories of that planet came back now bright as ever.

Come to think of it, I missed a lot of mysteries and inconsistencies, while being too involved in my love affair with Zumi. Everyone hated Yasen, but he was the member of Brotherhood, considering his Rose necklace. And he was still against my and Zumi’s child. Go figure. Is that connected to their “secret experiment” here? Why can’t I get to the bottom of it?

That thought is lost in a split second, when a large brownish-green craft lands on the field nearby without making much sound. Funny, but I sense that the craft is not really a machine. It looks like a machine, but it is not. Levir walks out of it, and looks straight at me. I need to ignore him, and continue running, but something holds me back. While I wrestle with conflicting feelings, he comes closer and stretches his hand.

“In the name of the Rose, stop whatever you’re doing.” He says. “I had to follow you, sorry. There are really bad news and I need your help.”

“Might not be the best time. I’m not myself.” I growl, truly unsure if I can hold myself back and not blast Levir to smithereens with my energy. How did he find me here, anyway?!

“The battle ship you told us about does belong to Fern. He does not know that I know. Two hours ago Alare was taken hostage on that ship. The ship is full of weapons and… humans under Fern’s command. Those are ready to take over Lira. No ederi would go against Alare, so he found humans… All of that in secret. Fern thinks that if he took our Emperor, we’ll just crumble to our knees.”

What? Alare? He took my Alare?!

I guess the expression of flaming anger on my face is enough answer. Levir approaches me, and touches my third eye, the biosonar. It feels unpleasant, as if someone actually touched your eye, it’s very pupil. So I shake my head and with that my mind gets more clear. Ok, good. I need to become human… now!

“I understand you’re not yourself, and you can turn on me at any moment, but there is no time. We do not even know for sure if Alare was taken “hostage”. He might have been taken with a purpose of elimination. Then he might be already dead.”

“I thought he was immortal…” I mumble and feel myself melt back into my human form, right in time. His “Rose” spell sure works. Or is it something else? Oh well, we just don’t know for how long…

“Alare is not immortal. He is “frozen in time”, but he is nevertheless a biological organism that can be destroyed. The battleship is over the Eastern Continent. You must go there and free our Emperor, if he is still alive. You are the only one who can do it. Our craft is too big for a secret rescue mission, as you see, and flingers would be happy to help, but they are not fast enough.”

Levir pauses, glancing at his “craft”. The brownish thing has moved just now, I swear, and its surface is not smooth, as a metal would be. It is uneven in color and texture. And… It is looking at me? It is mesmerizing! I’m going nuts, really. I’m not myself, let’s not think about it.

Levir sighs and waits for my reply. I really need to run to Alare’s rescue, he is right. He is standing there, tense and upset. I’m taken by his captivating appearance. He has no eyes, but the device on his face flashes with expressions of pain and desperation. How is that possible?

“Um… Flingers are fast allright, too fast for ederis to see!” I say.

“No, the pasid-producers are not “flingers”. A flinger is that flying thing, the guy and what you saw in the sky. It is one organism. It breaks itself up for various activities, but it does not move very fast while in flight. They will back us up in case of a fight, but they are nearly useless in the task of getting to the battleship unnoticed. Please make up your mind quickly.”

The memory of Alare, his closeness and sweetness wash over me. He liked me, too, despite everyone calling me “the beast”. This thought warms up my heart. Perhaps, we could make a nice couple. He is in trouble, I have to help. But, there is someone else, who is in danger.

“Maybe it is better to save Lierance first. He is being blasted with radiation and the magnetic field as we speak. He can also permanently override Fern’s order in my mind. Without that we’re risking me forgetting everything and turning in midair to hunt Moro, and never reach the battleship.”

It seems that Levir gets filled with even more pain, and the craft behind him darkens in color as if according to his mood. Wow, I mean, what class of a ship is this, and why does it happen?

“Lierance” is not a person, Arte. It’s a vast system of a hundred thousand years old, fully grown into the catacombs. He is intelligent and he has a conscience, but it’s a “duhi”. We can’t extract it, we can’t protect it, he knows it, and he is prepared to die of exposure.”

Really? That’s not what I remember of Lierance, because he was a guy, and we had a great deal of lovemaking… Suddenly my stomach turns in knots, because I hear Salix’s voice in my head, loud and frightened. He begs me not to reveal it. OK, then.

“Then I must go.” I think of flight and take several deep breaths, then I’m satisfied seeing astonishment and admiration in Levir’s device of eyes, as my wings grow big and cast a shadow on everything around, including his craft.

“You are a fine specimen, a true genetic engineering feat, Tensartis. Too bad you’re being used for evil purposes. Please save our beloved Emperor. As for the order dominating your mind… We’ll just have to take our chances. Not in vain did Alare send the flingers to inject you with pasid. Now I see his intention, because I lost contact with him right after the rally of Unrest from the West… Maybe he was preparing you for this mission.”

OK, that fits. Alare is wise beyond understanding. He could have sensed he was going to get kidnapped, and he had to help me before I could help him…

I’m thrilled to take a running start, and then take to flight. The battleship is over the Eastern continent. The directions could not be more vague, but I do not need a street address to find anyone. That’s what I was made for – a sophisticated hound to chase anything or anyone I’m ordered to chase.

This time I catch and follow the energy trail of a man I fell in love with. No wings can save you from that fall. It is truly painful to just be separated from him. It is going to kill me to learn that he is already dead.

I try not to hate Fern, but it is not easy. Fern is screwing up everything, and he always gets between me and my beloved Alare. I’m going to regret this unbridled hatred later. Now I have a chance to save the man I love, and let’s concentrate on that.

The wind gets stronger the higher I ascend. I notice the tips of my wings tremble and bend in that wind. My wings are not of feathers, which is even funny to think of. My wings are all cartilage and skin. Thin and amethyst-colored. Just like the ones Kallitris had.

I remember how I loved to sit on his lap as a child, as he’d wrap those wings around himself and me, creating a semi-transparent, colorful “tent”. I killed my Kallitris. He left me no choice. Some things are better left forgotten, but the pasid is working through my body with the results unknown as of yet.

I brush off sadness and enjoy the flight.