Spirit Unbreakable

Reniko walked down the hallway briskly. Technically she couldn’t be late, because she was in charge and nothing could begin without her, but she was late. She had slept in, a common occurrence these days as she had little time during the day to work on her research. She had started the analysis of the Rük blood they had acquired from the Rük two days previous last night.

She rushed into the doors of the anteroom that lead to the council chamber and paused. She really didn’t want to go in there, it had taken her all this time to form the council and she was afraid that after all her efforts, they would disband it. Everyone was intent to let Reniko lead this planet on her own, which to Reniko was highly illogical. She was one person and this was a planet with a population in the millions. It was reckless on their part to think she could do this on her own. Not to mention that only a year previous she hadn’t even been here. She extended the length of her delay as she smoothed out the wrinkles in her encumbering dress. She was used to being uncomfortable in her clothing being raised by an aristocrat household back on Earth, but somehow that made it even worse. She was leader of a world and still she wasn’t allowed to pick out her own clothing.

She shook the thought aside and focused on the task at hand. She had been doing a lot of research on Vespen’s past and had found old archives that showed how the balance of power had been laid out in the height of the Levanith Era. Reniko thought it was an ideal solution and had presented it to Malik and Orric. The council had been formed shortly after. Reniko made all the final decisions still, but now she discussed things with a council that represented all the species of Vespen, as well as all the inhabited continents. From there, the power trailed to Capital cities and to each ruler of the individual cities. It was a good start. This, however, was the council’s official first meeting.

Finally working up the nerve, Reniko pushed open the door only to hear familiar footsteps echoing down the hall behind her. She turned and smiled.

“Penumbra,” she said, as she walked over to the ebony coloured unicorn. She could see a smile forming in his deep brown eyes. “It’s been so long since I saw you. How is your family?” Penumbra had walked close enough to Reniko that she could embrace him and she did without hesitation, soothed by the comforting familiarity of a horse’s soft muzzle. She had grown up around horses. It was even more of delight to be in the presence of a unicorn, a species similar to horses but with a far greater intellect.

It’s been too long Reniko. Scintilla, Pallescere and Pellucidus are all doing well and are anxious to meet you. I am sorry I am late, I would have been here sooner, but it took a lot of convincing on Rimca’s part to get me here through the micro jump gate, Penumbra said, his voice a titillating echo heard only in Reniko’s mind.

Reniko stood up and laughed. “I was kind of leery about it myself. There are going to be a lot of changes around here in the next while. We can finally unlock the secrets that my people left behind. You have to admit, traveling to Sentralon is a lot nicer through the Microgates than it is on Teoko.

You can say that again. I guess we should get inside, everyone is waiting for us, Penumbra said.

“Well at least you are coming in with me. They can’t get mad at you for being late when you come in with the Wayann.”

Penumbra gave a mental chuckle and followed Reniko into the anteroom. There were a pair of guards inside and they opened the doors for Reniko as she stepped inside. Reniko gave them a nod and a nervous smile and entered the council room.

It was a large room, built on one of the outer walls of the castle so that it could accommodate the Teoko representatives – giant majestic creatures that Reniko knew must have given rise to the stories of dragons back on Earth.

Malik was sitting by an empty chair at the centre of the back wall of the room and the various council members were seated around him, making a circle that Reniko had to walk through. Penumbra took his place to one side of the room leaving Reniko to move into the centre alone. As she stepped into view, the council members all rose, including Malik, whom Reniko glared at with annoyance. Malik just smiled in return.

When Reniko reached her chair, she turned and sat, signalling the rest to be seated as well.

“I’m glad you could all join me here today. Thanks to our council member, Rimca, the Microgate makes this assembly more accessible. It’s much better to be here together with all of you, rather than talking with you through the communication network. Since this is our first meeting together, I thought it would be a good idea if everyone introduced themselves,” Reniko said trying to contain her nervousness. It was hard enough trying to be a leader among a few known friends, but there were a lot of faces that Reniko only had a passing familiarity with.

The introductions started on the left, with the humans seated there. Callum stood as representative, “Your Grace, I am Callum of Lrac, and with me are Thia of Onerdiswane and Gorez of Porsshash.” Reniko tried to conceal her smile at Callum’s introduction as she remembered that, though she knew him, some of the others gathered did not. Thia was a petite woman with deep brown skin, intricately styled black hair and dark brown eyes. She had an air of privilege around her that could only have been bred. She wondered if she had been a human ruler under the Rük’s oppression. Gorez although similar appearance to Thia with his dark skin and black hair, had the composure of one that cared intensely about the people he represented.

The Le’a’to representatives were next. Rimca stood for her small group, “I am Rimca of Corbasin and with me is Edessa of Waterfall Valley.” In contrast to Rimca’s widely curly auburn hair, Edessa’s hair was pin straight and blond. It nearly touched the floor. Rimca had cut her own hair short, finding it easier to contain the curls while she was working that way. Both Rimca and Edessa bore the ivory white skin that seemed to define their race. Their eyes were icy gems. Reniko could not recall seeing any Le’a’to with dark coloured eyes.

There were only two Le’a’to, since there were only two continents that they called home. The Le’a’to that sheltered behind the mountains on Mo’an Delar had thought they were the last of their kind until a scouting party had found a large group of Le’a’to sheltered in Waterfall Valley on Raet Serac. The two groups of Le’a’to had been happy to see one another. Reniko mirrored that joy since the Le’a’to were a dying race and finding new ones was a blessing on the species.

Next was Penumbra, who was the sole representative for the unicorns, those of whom only resided on Edonal Eclith in the Sortaia forest. His mind speech shocked most of those assembled.

Orric spoke for the two Teoko assembled. “I am Orric of Tordaskar and with me is Baoith of Savonly.” Reniko found comfort in Orric’s voice. She shared a special bond with the midnight blue Teoko. She had found out in a very difficult manner that she had a form of telepathy that the Teoko referred to as Engaging. It was a form of communication that the Teoko exclusively shared amongst themselves.

The Levanith had also shared this connection with the Teoko, which is why Reniko had the ability. At the time that she had discovered this talent, however, she had still believed she was a human. Thinking back to the ordeal, Reniko realized that might have been one of the clues that she was Levanith, at least for Orric. She had been blissfully unaware of her genetic heritage due to Dertrik ignoring his duty. She couldn’t blame Dertrik for not telling her. He didn’t want to burden her with all of this.

“We have been unable to make contact with the Teoko of the Underground City on Raet Serac,” he said. This comment jolted Reniko out of her revere.

“Can’t make contact? Do you think that all the Teoko on Raet Serac have been killed?” Reniko asked.

“Nothing like that, Wayann, it’s just that when we tried to contact the other Teoko they seemed rather reluctant to hear us out. They didn’t respond too kindly to the message that a Levanith had returned to the throne. They seemed rather content to spend the rest of their days in the Underground ignoring the rest of us above the earth,” Baoith replied.

“I don’t understand. Why would they harbour any animosity towards the Levanith?” Reniko quested, “unless my people had done something unjust to their kind in the past. But knowing the relationship that the Levanith in Tordaskar had with the Teoko there, I couldn’t see them doing that.”

“It’s nothing so drastic, your Grace. I think they just want to be left alone,” Orric replied. Reniko felt uncomfortable with him addressing her like that. They had gone through so much together and it felt wrong to hear him call her anything but Lyss.

“I think maybe I should go out there, to the Underground, and see if I can elicit a response. It’s been a long time since they have seen the Levanith here on Vespen; it could be that they just won’t believe it until they see it.”

“It’s worth a try,” Baoith said. Reniko could see the rest of the council nodding their head in agreement.

“If there are no objections?” Reniko gazed at those assembled. When she received no response, she took it as a favourable reply.

“Well, with that settled, is there anything else that anyone wishes to discuss?”

Reniko saw a worried expression cross Thia’s face and so she turned to the human.

“I made this council so that I could hear the voice of the people of Vespen. I can’t do that if everyone here chooses to remain silent,” Reniko said. She could see everyone reacting to her words and finally Thia found her voice.

“It’s just that the humans have been wondering about the Rük. It’s been almost a year and there doesn’t seem to be any change in their condition. If this continues, the inhabitants of Vespen are going to have more to worry about than just the Rük ruling them. There are more and more attacks as the days progress, we are in more fear for our lives than ever before,” Thia said.

Reniko sighed trying to regain her composure. She knew it would come to this. She also knew that it was her duty to address their concerns and try to make them understand her stand on the subject.

“I know that a lot of you are suffering because of what I have done to the Rük. I am not asking you to just sit idly by while the Rük kill your people. You must defend yourselves. I just don’t think that mass genocide is the answer to our predicament. I’m trying to find out what happened to the Rük with the death of Trokar, but it is going to take some time. I’m not trying to keep this shrouded in mystery, but a lot of what I am doing is new to this planet. Or rather, I am using the old technology of my people to find the answers. I have a report on all the research that I have been doing, and I encourage all of you to read it and to explore the archives both here and in Reflaydun. I feel strongly that killing them is not the answer. I’m sure that if your friends and family were affected with a disease such as this, you wouldn’t just take all those affected out and kill them, rather you would do all in your means to find a cure. Well, the Rük may not be your friends and family, but I did this to them and because of that it’s my responsibility to fix it. I hope you understand.”

“We trust your judgment, Wayann,” Gorez replied and the rest assembled nodded their heads in agreement.

She was sceptical that all those assembled truly meant that. Instead she feared they were just too afraid to contradict her judgment. If that was the case, they wouldn’t get anywhere with this council.

The meeting was long and arduous, and Reniko felt exhausted when it was over. There was a lot of rebuilding that needed to be done, and everyone had their opinion on the matter. Reniko was not one to disregard anyone’s thoughts and so spent until late that evening in open discussion with everyone present at the meeting. She was actually quite pleased with the progress that was achieved at the end of the meeting and left the room, Malik at her side, with a lighter mind.

“Well that went well,” Malik said as they headed down the corridor toward their waiting meal.

“Better than I expected,” Reniko replied. She put her hand to her face to stifle a yawn and soon Malik was mimicking her motion.

“I think that was more tiring than an entire day sparring with Dertrik,” Malik said.

Reniko nodded her head in agreement. “Where is Dertrik anyway?”

Malik shrugged. “I’m not his keeper. Besides, I was with you all day. Why? Do you need him for something?”

“Nothing special, it’s just when you mentioned sparring, it really made me want to do just that.”

Malik laughed. “It’s just like you to find yourself gaining energy from a spar rather than losing it.”

“To each their own,” Reniko replied, “but before that, I would like a bite to eat. That lunch break we had wasn’t nearly long enough.”

“You can say that again.”

Reniko didn’t have time that evening to even step near the medical lab, which frustrated her a lot. It was the only thing she truly wanted to work on, but the affairs of Vespen always took precedence. She was starting to think that it would be a good idea to get someone else trained on the research that she was doing. But that would take more of my time, more than if I just did it myself. The most annoying thing about the whole situation was that, the sooner she fixed this problem, the sooner it would help her people. Everything in its due time, Reniko thought trying to reassure herself, right now I need to talk to the Teoko on Raet Serac. Early the next morning, Reniko decided to do just that.

She got dressed in a simple outfit, a loose chemise and some leather riding pants, and headed down to the micro jump room. Rimca was there checking the calibrations. Reniko wondered if she ever left the room when she was not with her.

“Good morning, Rimca. I see you are hard at work again,” Reniko said and Rimca looked up from her work.

“I was just calibrating the machine to include a few more co-ordinates. A few of my scout teams got some more gates up and running,” Rimca said with a satisfied smirk.

“Any more on Raet Serac by any chance?” she asked.

“A few. Why?”

“Well Baoith brought up an urgent matter at the council meeting yesterday that I thought I should address immediately.”

“You mean the Teoko of the Underground City? I don’t have a gate running there and the closest one I have running is in Hollow Wood. I just got it activated, but it’s a twelve day ride from there, maybe you can shorten it a couple days with some hard riding, but I don’t think you should just up and leave like this. There are the council meetings to consider. Not to mention other affairs that need to be addressed, like the attacks on the smaller towns on Mo’an Delar. They aren’t fortified like some of the bigger cities and the Rük are preying on them ferociously.”

“I understand that Rimca, and now that the problem has been pointed out to me, I have dispatched my troops to the various affected areas. I’m sure the Ravvons will be able to handle any situations that arise. I can’t be in every place at once, that’s why I created the council.”

Rimca nodded. “I’m sorry. Sometimes I forget that you are not a goddess like the humans think you are.”

“So you think I could get there in nine or ten days?”

“With a good horse maybe, but I don’t think you should go alone. The Teoko at the Underground City didn’t sound all that friendly.”

“I think you’re right. I’ll ask Penumbra if he wouldn’t mind making the run with me. I think Dertrik would be a good choice on this occasion.”

“I wouldn’t mind coming if that’s okay with you. I would like to see if I can get the Microgate running at Underground City. My scout teams are a little leery about going there.”

“I don’t know if I could afford that, Rimca. I wanted Malik to come with me as well, but if he does, I have no one to be my voice at the council meetings. I need you and Orric to be that voice.”

Rimca nodded her head. “As you command, Your Grace.”

Reniko frowned at Rimca. “Don’t do that. Don’t just concede to me. You’re my friend Rimca, I hate when you treat me otherwise.”

“I am your friend, Reniko, but when it comes to matters that I don’t agree with, you are first and foremost my Wayann.”

Reniko sighed. “I’m sure it would be no trouble for me and Dertrik to have a look at the Microgate. It would be quicker for us to return if we did get it running.”

The comment seemed to brighten Rimca’s demeanour. “Well if that’s the case, I’ll go find Malik and Dertrik while you go and get Penumbra.” Rimca took Reniko to the controls of the Microgate and showed her what to do.

“It’s not as complicated as it seems, at least not after the co-ordinates have been calibrated. You just have to access the address and pick the one you want, Reflaydun takes care of the rest.”

Rimca left and Reniko input the address to Savonly. Stepping through the gate, she found herself in the courtyard just outside of the city. Standing there, looking at Savonly brought back memories for Reniko. She hadn’t seen Savonly in a year and a half, not since Malik had dropped her on their doorstep unable to speak the native language. She was thankful that Milla had been able to speak Latin, or her trip to Vespen may have ended here, with the Rük still hunting her and oppressing Vespen. Things had changed a lot since then. The temple was no longer a temple, but instead was the new headquarters for the Edonal Eclith council and the unicorns that lived in the Sortaia forest made frequent trips to this city, now that the hidden entrance had been revealed.

As Reniko stood looking at the city, those citizens that saw her all bowed in respect to her. Although the temple was no longer training acolytes in the ways of goddess worship, those that had been trained found it hard to forget all that they had learned there, and so Reniko was now the object of their worship. It was one of the main reasons that Reniko had not ventured to Savonly sooner. She was saved from the stares of the onlookers moments later when Ima stepped out of the shadows of the city. Upon spotting Reniko, she smiled.

“I was wondering who would be visiting us at such an early hour,” Ima said. “I’m glad that an alarm was installed with that Microgate, it gives someone a chance to get ready for an unexpected visit from the Wayann. What brings you to Savonly, Mistress?”

“What is with all this formality, Ima?” Reniko said as she embraced her. “I never got to say thank-you for all you did at Sentralon when I wasn’t quite myself.”

Ima had a few tears in her eyes that she was trying to hide from Reniko. “It was the least I could do. I still find it hard not to treat you as a goddess, Mistress, I mean Reniko.” Ima corrected when she saw the frown forming on Reniko’s face.

“I don’t expect it to be easy, to suddenly have all you beliefs rearranged,” Reniko said.

“No, it is difficult, but easier when you know the truth.”

“Have you been in contact with Reflaydun here?” Reniko asked.

“The archive access was set up a couple of weeks ago. We have a lot of learning to do,” Ima said.

“How is Milla handling all of this?” Reniko asked.

“Better than everyone else put together. When she found out that you were Levanith, and therefore our goddess, it was like she expected it the entire time. She has been the one helping those affected the hardest to understand the truth.”

Reniko smiled. “I wondered if that was the case when I found out. It never made sense to me that Milla gave me Imako, not unless she suspected.”

“Well I have to admit, the resemblance you have to the goddess Shyla statue is undeniable. We weren’t looking for the goddess in human form and didn’t really notice it, but maybe Milla was and did.”

“Is Milla here? I would love to see her again,” Reniko asked.

“Unfortunately, no. There were some disputes that Milla had to resolve in Porsshash. She won’t be back for another couple of days.”

“Anything I can help with,” Reniko asked concerned.

“I’m sure you have more important things to do, than help resolve the work that you have assigned to others. What brought you to Savonly in the first place, Reniko?” Ima said, still having a hard time not addressing Reniko formally.

“Oh, I came to see if Penumbra was around,” Reniko said.

“I can help you there. Come on, I’ll show you to him,” Ima said. She started wandering to the fields that bordered the city. When they got closer to the fields, Reniko could see a few men out gathering crops. Penumbra was among them, along with a few other unicorns. They were helping to pull carts carrying the produce of the field. She was glad to see the various species of Vespen helping out one another.

“Pen,” Reniko called and ran to his side. “I’m surprised. You look just like another pack horse.”

Pen glared at Reniko. Humans must do manual labour. How am I different?

“I’m just teasing,” Reniko said patting her friend affectionately. “You have the strength and the stamina. It’s nice to see you helping out. I see you even convinced a few of your fellows to join you.” Reniko said as she saw the fields dotted with the black and white forms of other unicorns.

A lot has changed since you came, Reniko, Penumbra said. What brings you to Savonly, without an escort?

Reniko laughed. “Well first off, I think I can defend myself,” Reniko said pointing at Imako which was hanging from a sash on her hip, “and second, I have a favour to ask of you.”

Anything for the Wayann. Does this have to do with the council meeting yesterday?

“Actually it does. I am taking a convoy to the Underground City, but the closet Microgate is twelve days away. I thought it might be possible to cut the time down if we had your help and maybe a couple other unicorns.”

That should be no problem. Scintilla would be happy to volunteer and I think I can get Hyalus to come as well. He’s young and full of energy, and best of all, he is eager to meet you.

“Well, I guess that’s settled. We’ll leave later this afternoon if that’s possible for you,” Reniko saw Pen nod and gave her friend a hug. “I’ll see you then. I better get back before they all start worrying about me.” With a final wave, and a heartfelt goodbye to Ima, Reniko activated the Microgate and re-entered Sentralon. Malik and Dertrik were there waiting for her, as was Rimca.

“Everything arranged?” Dertrik asked.

“Sure is. Let’s pack,” Reniko said and the four of them headed to the lift and back into the heart of Sentralon.