The warrior twins who had been guarding the door followed after and took up similar positions by the door inside the chamber. Behind them came Jhor, whose downturned eyes were dark and troubled; she came to rest away from the group, close to the hologram. Finally, Sann entered alone; as bright as her young eyes were, they could conceal neither her weakened state from the Truth Surge, nor a sense of foreboding. The Twins closed the door on the thumping beats behind her, and a tense hush hovered in the chamber as the holographic lights flickered emerald ruby over the warriors’ anxious snowy faces.
“Where’s Onnd?” said Nira.
“Master Onnd went ahead to prepare,” said Sann, “She said I should begin.”
“You?!” said Jhor tersely.
Around the walls, warriors’ eyes darted between Sann and Jhor in the heavy silence.
Nira nodded slowly, then stepped out from behind the holograms, her gleaming silver eyes scanning the room.
“Well...,” she said, with a heaviness in her tone, “It’s time.”
Sann stepped towards the middle of the chamber, and spoke slowly: “Sisters. Warriors. It has come sooner than we expected — it will be today.”
The silence in the room became immediately unbreathable. Jhor looked to the floor and shook her head.
“Master Onnd has confirmed an imminent appearance by the High Priest. The time of our Truth is upon us! Onnd says we can no longer...”
Sann’s voice trailed off as Jhor, her head still bowed and shaking in disapproval, began to click a crescendo of tuts from her sparse lips.
“Sann, Sann, Sann, my dear,” came her dark whisper, “So much promise, yet so...young. You cannot yet see where this will lead us. I have said...”
“I think we’re all aware of what you think by now,” said Nira, stepping in between them, her eyes blazing.
Jhor narrowed her smoky eyes at her.
“We can’t just sit around waiting for false prophets,” continued Nira.
“How dare you, Nira!” hissed Jhor, “You do not share our beliefs.”
Nira’s eyes blazed up, then softened a little as she took a deep breath.
“You’re right, Jhor. I don’t. But I’m concerned that...”
“So why are you even here?!” spat Jhor suddenly, cutting her off.
Nira’s eyes flared up again to platinum white.
“Stop right there, Jhor!” said Nira firmly, yet respectfully, “You asked me for help. And I have given it. For years now.”
“For which we have paid dearly.”
“Well, you could pay better, to be honest, for the risks I take,” snapped Nira, before sweeping scarlet towards Jhor: “I sympathise with your cause. Truly. But this is my place. You want my help, we’ll do things my way, and...”
As Nira approached, Jhor lifted her staff very slightly. Nira stopped short, glared down at the staff in disbelief, then lifted her defiant, blazing gaze to pierce deep into Jhor’s smoky challenge. All breath in the room stopped short. Nira pressed in tight clenching her fury behind her teeth as she glared up at the warrior: “I don’t care how powerful you think you are, Jhor Hal — or would like to be — but if you ever so much as breathe at me in a way I don’t like...you’ll see something, Jhor, even you.”
Jhor lowered her staff and her eyes. Sann’s mouth curled up almost imperceptibly at one side.
“Besides,” continued Nira, softening her tone, “I need to know everything going on here, so I know what to deny later on. I have profits to consider.”
Some of the warriors sniggered secretly, dispersing some of the tension. Then Nira turned and addressed the warriors as one.
“My friends, this is not the time for doubt or indecision. That time has passed. This was the course of action you all voted on, and that’s why I’m here — to help you. It’s time to take a stand against the SYStem for your Truth!”
Nira looked around as the warriors took a breath as one, and pulled themselves up taller. Jhor backed away slightly.
Nira nodded and turned: “Sann.”
Sann steeled herself and stepped into the centre. The light of the holograms — the galaxy, the branch map, the circular city, and the temple — shimmered around her as she spoke.
“My sisters — Destiny’s Tree is rotten from the core,” she said with quiet authority, “We will cut it down, so it can grow afresh. We are no longer the branches. We are the roots of the new!"
The warriors around the room nodded quietly.
“We shall bring this age to a close! I’sta — prepare for the end!”
“I’sta!” came the spontaneous chorus, and the warriors lifted their staffs to Sann — all but Jhor, who kept her staff down as her dark eyes glared. Sann met her gaze — she held no anger, no fury, no forced austerity. Instead her look was defiantly pure and held Jhor’s glare without fear, without doubt. Slowly, Jhor looked down again and lifted her staff suppliantly.
Sann acknowledged Jhor’s declaration with no sense of victory; she simply offered her noble humbleness: “It will be an honour to fight by your side, Jhor.”
Jhor nodded, without meeting Sann’s eyes.
Sann turned and addressed the room again: “Outer circle, line the forum in preparation! Inner circle, we must wait here for Onnd to return.”
The Twins pulled open the door, allowing most of the warriors to file out from the chamber through the thumping beats of the bar towards the exit on the far side, leaving a smaller circle of warriors to tighten in around Sann, Nira and Jhor by the shimmering temple.
Next chapter — Grand Entrance
Sunday 13 February 2011
Share
