The Mirage on the Brink of Oblivion (The Epic of Aravinda Book 3)

Andrew M. Crusoe

First published 2016

In a spirit of goodwill, this work is released under a
Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license
. Cover contains elements originally by Shookooboo. Abundant gratitude goes out to my alpha reader & the entire beta-reader team. With your help, this pebble makes an even bigger wave.

Version K1–20160707

Released by
Aravinda Publishing

DEDICATION

For all who apply their power to create a better planet.

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PROLOGUE

Is what we’ve heard true? Was there once a civilization that had the power to manifest entire cities of pure energy?

Oh, yes. After Tavisi’s surface was bombarded, only a few remained on the planet, quickly driven underground. Yet in the aftermath of the attack, these survivors found that their world was different. In sleep, they found themselves rising out of their bodies, soon realizing that it was not a dream. Over time, they learned to control this state. Thus, a new world of pure mind began to grow, a world that could not be touched by their enemy.

You mean the Vakragha, don’t you?

Yes. Once the Vakragha recovered the second Chintamani stone, they revived the greatest military mind they ever produced, Durazha. Of course, it was only a matter of time before an overlord contacted her. With it, the overlord could bring any Vakragha back from death.

What chance did the free worlds have, then? What hope?

Don’t you remember? Asha used the stone before it was taken. The stone revealed to her that victory was possible, but only if they could bring the powers of the three stones to a hidden place where the Vakragha chose their fate. Yet only the Breath of Life, the third Chintamani stone, could reveal this hidden place.

What could happen if all three were brought together?

An excellent question! Yet to answer could spoil the story. Do you have any other inquiries before we begin?

Once again we begin on Tavisi, don’t we?

Yes, but not in the way you imagine.

CHAPTER
1

THE FIRST PHASE

Manu heard the ceremonial chimes
resound around him and opened his eyes.

A wave of excitement blended with fear as the line stepped forward in perfect synchronization. He glanced down to his thick tan robe before turning his gaze upward, smiling at the clear blue sky above. In the distance, he admired the snowy mountain range that ran along the edge of the sea, far below.

“Now is the moment of power,” he whispered to himself.

He had envisioned this day for months, down to the smallest detail; and now that he at last stood on the ceremonial platform that floated two klicks above the sea, he found it difficult to remain calm as his goal finally manifested into reality.

His gaze drifted over to the line he was standing in, populated with about a dozen other guardians, each wearing the same tan robe. The guardian ahead of him took another step forward, and he responded in kind, trying to focus on something other than the Empress.

Manu had seen the ceremonial platform seat hundreds of people, but today no one was in attendance except for him and his fellow guardians.

He took another step forward, another step closer to the Empress. He leaned to the side slightly, watching the guardian at the head of the line bow before the Empress, who was clothed in fine white silks and a hood that covered most of her face. From his current vantage point, Manu couldn’t distinguish any of her features.

They all stepped forward again.

The ceremony was progressing much faster than he had imagined it would. There was only one more guardian left between him and the Empress, and he struggled to keep calm.

He heard her voice now, speaking softly to the guardian ahead, but all Manu wanted to do was look at the glassy floor. A thumping sound filled his ears, and he breathed deeply to steady himself. He was next.

The guardian ahead bowed and walked off to his right, leaving Manu face to face with the Empress.

Gradually, Manu stepped forward and looked up.

Her white hood was so thick that he could only make out fragments of her face, which was delicate and as flawless as fresh fallen snow.

“Guardian Manu, you have been found pure of heart and strong of will,” she said, her voice utterly serene. Yet he also felt a strength behind her words. Her presence was profound, like an unshakable mountain, somehow quiet, yet evident in her power. “I offer you the honor to join the Royal Guard, with all of the power and responsibilities of that position. You shall be as a cell in the body of the Sovereignty, and as such, you must be willing to act for the highest good of our people. Do you make the solemn promise to act for this highest good?”

Manu studied her face which was framed in the bright light that radiated off from her white hood, so bright that he couldn’t discern if she had any hair on her head at all.

His gaze drifted over to her cheeks and nose. Her eyes radiated a pure peace, glimmering in a stunning bronze.

She blinked, seeming to break the trance, and he knelt before her, averting his gaze downward. “Yes, your Majesty. I accept this responsibility.”

“You are bound by oath.”

The Empress raised her left hand, which was holding the Dagger of Kirin, and touched its golden blade to his left shoulder, his right, and then the top of his head.

To Manu’s surprise, his tan robe washed out into a perfectly white garment.

“Rise, guardian, and take up your new weapon.”

Manu stood and beheld her again. In her hand, she offered the Dagger of Kirin, its maroon hilt ornately engraved with sacred texts spiraling around its surface.

“Your Majesty, I am not worthy of such an honor.”

The Empress smiled. “My dear guardian, this weapon is abundant among the ranks you have joined. Each royal guard is bestowed the Dagger of Kirin. Use it wisely, Guardian Manu.”

He bowed again. “Yes, your Majesty.”

The dagger looked razor sharp, and Manu reached out to take it. Yet the moment he touched its handle, primal terror flooded his mind, unearthing a memory from far back into his past.

Sharp, sickeningly green beams of light poured out of an obsidian vessel just behind him, easily slicing through the drifting rocks around him. One nearly cut his ship in two, but all he could think about was his love as she raced ahead of him. Her ship was faster, but less maneuverable, and he noticed her struggle to navigate the chaotic pattern of the asteroids. He pushed his ship to its limits, trying to draw their fire away from his love. He screamed at them to follow him instead.

Not her. Please, not her.

Manu blinked rapidly and tried to push the memory aside, tried to ground himself in the present moment. It occurred to him that there were still a few guardians behind him, and he suddenly felt guilty. The Empress furrowed her eyebrows, still offering the dagger to him.

He took it and bowed to her. “Thank you, your Majesty.”

With as much composure as he could muster, Manu strode back down the middle aisle, over to a long row of chairs where a dozen new royal guards already sat.

He looked down and examined his new weapon.

Once again, the memory came back to him.

The image of a piercing beam of viridian-green light slicing through her ship flashed into his mind, and he held his breath. Why had he agreed to let her join him in such a dangerous mission? How could he have been so foolish to put her at risk?

Glittering fragments of crystal drifting through empty space filled his mind, and the terror of seeing her motionless body drift beside the shattered fragments flooded his senses. All he could think of was the sickly web of ice that had formed on her exposed skin.

That thought almost made him stop everything.

Stop feeling. Stop breathing.

He forced himself to take a deep breath and tried to ground himself in the present moment, pressing his eyes shut. He reflected on how many years it had been. Shouldn’t he be able to let it go by now? Yet the memories were still fresh in his mind.

He opened his eyes and thought he saw blood on the dagger resting in his lap.

No. I must control my thoughts.

But Manu couldn’t pull his eyes away. As he stared into the dagger, blood inexplicably dripped out of the space between the blade and the hilt, forming a small pool that collected on the top of the blade. Somehow, he felt it was the blood of his beloved.

He pressed his eyes shut and screamed within his mind.

Visualize the dagger clean! Visualize, and when you open your eyes, it will be.

Manu felt his heart racing in his chest.

The dagger is clean. The dagger is clean.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, resolute.

The dagger was spotless, and Manu inhaled deeply once more. He looked up and saw the Empress hand a dagger to the last guardian in line, and heaved a sigh of relief. At last, after so much diligent work, he had become a member of the Sovereignty’s Royal Guard.

At last, the first phase of his mission was complete.

CHAPTER
2

THE EMERALDINE WAVES

An inviting sea waited just below Jyana’s feet as she hung miraculously over the water, gliding through the air as if she weighed nothing at all. And curiously enough, this was not far from the truth. With her physical body sleeping deep underground, she was not bound by the same limitations she had in the physical world.

Floating just a few centimeters over the water, she was clad in a simple blue shirt and thin pants, her long black hair tumbling down her shoulders in waves. She was barefoot today, preferring to feel the faint sensations of the water more directly. And beside her, hanging in silence over the water, was an empty glass sphere perched atop a narrow pillar that reached beneath the surface.

Jyana studied the surface of the water for a moment.

This time she would find something. This time she would find hope. If she didn’t, the entire Sovereignty was facing the loss of several keystone species. And even though they lived deep under the sea where few ever saw them, Jyana knew how crucial they were. The incredible diversity of ocean creatures was beautiful to her, and more importantly, they were a part of the delicate, global web of life.

Jyana inhaled slowly for a moment before she finally dipped beneath the emeraldine waves. She passed by a school of blue alpa fish and continued downward. As she accelerated, the light grew dim. The waves appeared to ruffle her thin pants, although she knew this was, strictly speaking, impossible.

Soon, she was surrounded by utter darkness. She massaged the space just above and between her eyes, her unseen third eye, to help her adjust.

She inhaled deeply, and the outlines of the approaching seabed came into sharp relief below her. A field of cool-water coral was spread out for hundreds of meters in every direction, and she glided over the seabed without a sound.

Something caught her eye, and she stopped, holding her position over a large tan patch of the stony coral. Most of the coral was partially or completely covered in sediment, but this patch was clean. Its many appendages reached upward, and each one was covered in tiny bronze polyps. Jyana glided down to the coral and carefully examined its interior. Two indra fish, patterned in a striking interplay of cyan and orange, were nestled within the coral’s arms. They were the first two she’d seen so far.

Their presence was comforting, but much more was missing.

She held her position, observing further, and was happily rewarded. Sitting behind one of the coral branches was a small golden crab with tiny black eyes embedded into its flat body.

Jyana brushed aside her long black hair and smiled at the Suvarnak crab, admiring its sharp golden pincers that were almost as long as its abdomen.

“Hi, little guy,” she said. “You know what, I haven’t seen any of your kind in weeks. Let’s see if we can find any of your friends. Don’t be afraid.”

From a small pocket, she pulled out a flat, rectangular device and raised it to the side of her head. When the thought-relay touched her temple, it glowed in white, and a grid of long wispy lines flashed over the entire seabed, faint but discernible. At the same time, a small hologram of current data appeared to her left.

Jyana pocketed the T-relay and studied the small hologram before setting her gaze out onto the new grid laid out before her. Carefully, she glided over the grid, scanning for the haloed outline of a match. The Suvarnak crab population had been suffering more than any other species, and it was crucial that she got an accurate measurement. As she went, she mentally added each new species she observed to the hologram beside her.

She reflected on how little interest people showed in the seafloor these days. So much more attention was paid to the big and beautiful creatures that still remained on the land and in the air, but without the sea, those creatures wouldn’t be able to exist in the first place. The shorebirds, among many other creatures, relied on the sea for survival. Although it was challenging for some citizens to picture, Jyana knew that every family of life, every species, even every
individual
organism, affected the intricate web of life in some way.

Of course, this assignment had given her a unique perspective on ocean life. In the past year, Jyana had gone from being an enthusiastic student of life to being a hands-on researcher. Ever since the crab population had declined, she’d never seen the reefs so dirty. Now that sediment strangled whole patches of coral, she feared for the health of the entire system.

Up ahead, she saw the signature outline of an individual crab that her T-relay had marked for her, and she zoomed up to it. The golden crab was crawling along the sandy seabed so slowly that she had to watch for a few seconds before seeing motion.

Jyana reflected on how challenging this research would be if she couldn’t leave her physical body. Thankfully, her people had long ago mastered the ability to project their consciousness outside of their physical bodies, providing them with unprecedented opportunities for exploration.

And for some unknown reason, her people found that when they left their physical bodies, even the flow of time changed. The etheric state was accelerated, making these creatures seem to move many times slower than they would if she were physical.

A scan confirmed that the crab was completely healthy. She even detected a faint glow, characteristic to such health; and with a second scan of her T-relay, she confirmed that no pathogens were present.

What’s going on here? If disease isn’t affecting them, and I can't detect any new predators in the area, then where are they all going?

This question plagued Jyana as she spent the next hour meticulously assessing reef health, conducting fish counts, and of course, recording the crab population. The strangest thing was, the crabs seemed to be declining faster than the other species.

After she had finished, she pulled the T-relay out of her pocket again, and a shimmering outline of a graph hung in the air in front of her. As she compared the data to her last survey, she felt her heart sink in her chest. This exact patch of coral had lost 5% of its population in the last seven days. To her friends, that might not sound like much, but Jyana knew better.

Still floating above the dark seafloor, she composed a quick abstract of her findings and touched the relay to her temple again. A ball of light shot out of the small device and zoomed up to the surface, with Jyana close behind.

When she reached the surface a short time later, she was disappointed to find the glass sphere over the surface of the water still empty. She told herself it was silly to expect a reaction to her findings in just a few minutes, but such silence had become a trend these days. She would perhaps get one or two colleagues interested, but it never got attention from the wider scientific community. Some days, she almost felt as if someone, or some
thing
, was blocking her research from spreading.

But how would they do that? Maybe I’m just not good at telling this story. After all, even true events need good storytellers. Still, the data should speak for itself. These species are suffering. If only I could have an audience with the Empress. I’m sure she would listen.

Jyana noticed that the sun still hung low in the sky, and for a moment she admired the cliffs that bordered the sea which stretched off into the distance. In her current state, the sunset was quite different, appearing with even more colors, wavering across the sky in long bizarre strands. She turned around, looked up to the rocky precipice above, and thought of Torin working in the shipping lanes far beyond. She should check on him. He would be happy to see her early for once.

And if anyone had been watching, they would have seen Jyana’s floating body pulse in brightness for a moment before accelerating to an incredible speed, appearing like a bolt of lightning that arced away to the rocky cliffs high above.