“Sculpting symbols hidden in the skies,” he said, his voice rising in pitch and verve with each syllable, “Awaiting One so Ephaïl may rise! This is not simply a life-map, but...but by Ephaïl Himself, it’s a map-map!”
The chaotically curling planets continued drifting through the room, their rainbow hues glimmering across the surface of the nebula.
“A map. How wonderful,” said Nira, her words grating against her tone, “We already had a map! So, look...before you...”
“Wait,” said Jhor suddenly, carefully studying the system’s ebb and flow, “Something is wrong here.”
“I agree.” Onnd’s whisper cut through the room. “Sann — is this right now?”
“No...,” began Sann.
“Nice try, kid,” said Nira gruffly and turned to Onnd, “Now can we get rid of them?!”
“It’s not right now,” continued Sann, “But it’s right...soon! Or could be — one possible outcome as the star destabilises.”
Nira turned back to Kai; she looked him up and down. Still unimpressed, she continued, “Those planets still aren’t aligning.”
“And with the star about to die,” added Jhor with a dark grin, “they never will.”
The fiery orb drifted slowly towards Nira as she stood with her arms crossed. Kai cocked his head and studied the invisible orbital threads as the sun approached, then stepped into and through the ruby glow towards Nira. Stopping beside her, as the sun continued on behind, Kai smiled shyly, then looked back at the approaching planets.
His breathing slowed, then all but stopped; one corner of his shy smile curled up cheekily.
As celestial bodies writhed through errant courses to the light to flee the fingers of the distant dark — some curling upwards to the left as others dove away reversed — Kai lifted his left hand, opened out his palm towards the centre of the room and with a heartbeat flicked the planetary system into a subtle tilt. He crouched down, pulling the disc with him — the black hole rose to the ceiling, the sun set behind him. He looked up at Nira, and silently invited her to follow.
Her diamond glare seared through his audacity for a moment, then softened to fiery sapphire as she rolled her eyes upwards. Reluctantly, cooly, she crouched down beside him.
With a twist of his wrist, the planets lurched into accelerated orbits in front of Kai and Nira. Behind them, the sun flailed from crimson to bloodied gold, dying throes brushing fire around their shoulders. The racing bodies quivered through their fraying orbits as gravity collapsed, drifting from ancient, dysfunctional ways into the unknown.
Then, slowly, Nira’s gleaming eyes widened.
The system began to tear itself apart, and as the dying star swelled up, and endless blackness readied its insatiable gullet for the spoils, the rainbow of planets slowed, drifted out, spun round and slotted in beyond all mortal wisdom to something unforeseen, something flowing in the laws of death, not life.
Upon the tilting disc, fanning out from the ruby star, the planets formed themselves into irregular lines, a pyramid upon the plane — first one, then two, then three in perfectly imperfect lines, an ordered disarray of ranks, planetary pawns to shield their final sibling, a gas giant brushing up against the vast nebula at the centre of the system.
His gleaming birth
Again Shen’s arms blazed into the air: “The one, the two, the three! It’s the prophecy! See?! I told you. I told you all!”
An all-but imperceptible smile flickered over Nira’s lips; she clenched it away at once, peering around the room to see if it had been noticed. Kai looked to her and offered his smile in return — then faded.
dimming prime
Turning back to gaze deep into the nebula, Kai stretched out his finger, pointing into its hidden heart.
within the towering peaks
Kai stared into the nebula as it drifted towards him, tiny glints of diamond punctuating its surface.
to split the clouds
“But there’s nothing in the nebula,” spat Jhor, “It’s been scanned and scoured a billion times.”
Kai looked to Nira again; he swallowed hard then took a deep breath as though about to speak — suddenly the convulsing sun behind them exploded into a silent supernova. Kai bowed his head; his hand fell and the images stopped, then began to seep backwards in time, back to where the universe held them now.
Nira nodded in unsurprised disappointment and got up. Embarrassment rippled over Kai’s face and twisted into soundless anger.
“He’s already shown himself, you fools!” cried Shen furiously, “It is the prophecy! Believe, or else...”
Without warning, the room twisted tensely still; all faces turned suddenly to Sann — an eerie emerald gleam blinked from the data surface and reflected off her shock.
“Sann?” whispered Onnd across the chamber.
“It’s true,” she began, her voice almost quivering, “The orbits will reach this irregular alignment as the star dies. But it’s the life-map that...that...”
“What is it?” said Nira, exactly as Onnd said, “Who is it?”
“It...it’s thousands, millions of different life forms spliced together as one,” she said, then looked towards Kai: “But one of them...is his.”
Shen turned back to the nebula glinting ecstatically: “The twilit end and blazing dawn bled into One. It’s Him!”
Next chapter — Detachment
Sunday 14 August 2011
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