Chariots of Heaven by R.T. Edwins
The next few days passed without incident. Kira kept watching the news for any signs of rebellion but either the news wasn’t reporting it, or nothing was happening. In order to keep her mind off of the warning Aeria had brought back, Kira focused as hard as she could on her training.
Thanatos wasn’t able to dedicate as much time to training her as before, but each morning he would spend an hour or two showing her new techniques and sparring with her. She learned not only how to move the earth around her, but how to pull large portions of the ground up and throw them across the courtyard. After a few days she could manipulate the ground around her with such precision that she was able to build almost any structure from the dirt; all without lifting a finger.
Even her shockwaves were getting better. Now she could amass them more quickly, enabling her to shoot several of them in rapid succession. She finally understood what Aithos meant when he said she could very well destroy the whole palace. With enough time and concentration, she could amass a shockwave so large and so strong that it would crumble an entire building, not that she had tested that.
All of these abilities seemed to come naturally to her, the same way Druin’s fighting lessons always had. It wasn’t long before Kira was able to outperform Thanatos, which was no small feat given that he was Velion’s top general and had almost 200 years of experience.
Despite the demands of her rigorous training, the warning kept creeping back into her mind. She hadn’t told Kaya about it, which was unheard of. Ordinarily she never would have withheld such important information from her sister, but for some reason, she just couldn’t find the words. Kaya already had so much to think about as it was, between Master Yu-On’s lessons and her constant homesickness. It just didn’t seem fair to give her something else to worry about.
And so Kira trained, and trained, from dawn until dark. She was obsessed with her progress, working harder than she’d ever worked at anything before. When Kaya asked her why she was training so much, Kira told her that it was so she could be the best, but that was a lie. Secretly, Kira was worried. Worried that at any moment she might be called into battle. Worried that whoever had set Aeria up, might be coming for her. If they were, she wanted to be ready.
It wasn’t until two weeks had passed that Velion called the council together. Again Kira was summoned while Kaya was asked to stay in her chamber.
“Why can’t I come? This isn’t fair! First you get a space ship and armor, and now you keep getting called to meetings without me! I thought I was important too,” Kaya protested, standing in front of their apartment with her arms crossed in defiance.
“Kaya, don’t be like this. I know you want to come, and if it were up to me, I’d bring you along, but they specifically asked for you to stay here,” Kira tried to console her.
“Not fair! What’s so important about this meeting anyway?” Kaya demanded.
Kira sighed, “I don’t know, they didn’t say. I just know that I have to go, and if I don’t leave right now I’ll be late again!”
“I wish we had never come here! All I get to do is study and do homework! It’s not fair at all!” Kaya shouted, stomping off toward her room in a huff. Kira wanted to go console her, but there was no time. As upset as Kaya might be, she was nothing compared to the reproachful looks the council members gave when Kira was late.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can, I promise!” Kira called back as she left the apartment. A few minutes later she entered the council chamber and was grateful to not be the last to arrive. Only half of the council had shown up and Velion wasn’t there yet. Going to her normal spot Kira sat quietly, watching the others as they chatted with each other.
Aithos noticed her sitting quietly and decided to walk over to her. “I hear you are getting pretty good with your armor. I even heard you beat up on poor Thanatos yesterday morning?”
Kira blushed a little, “Well, it’s not really a fair fight, is it? I mean my armor allows me to do things that his doesn’t, so the odds were stacked in my favor.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure. Yes, the armor makes a difference, but Thanatos didn’t get to where he is by losing many battles, even against stronger opponents,” Aithos smiled broadly and put his hand on her head, messing up her hair.
Kira made a face, but she didn’t care. She didn’t really worry much about her appearance and having someone to talk to made the council more bearable. It took a while for her to feel comfortable around them, but she noticed that the longer she was around, the less resentful the others seemed to be towards her.
“Oh, I’ve been meaning to catch up with you. Do you remember the thing you asked me to do?” Aithos asked, lowering his voice and leaning in closer. “You will be glad to know that your father is in good health, and is doing very well with the transitions we’ve implemented.”
Kira’s heart nearly stopped in place. “Really?! You’ve seen him?” She asked, a little more loudly than she intended.
Hushing her, he continued, “I actually had a long conversation with him and another man named… Druin?”
“Yes. That’s my uncle!”
“Well, they were both quite pleased to know that you and Kaya were safe and sound. It seems they were quite worried about you after you left.”
“Gee, I wonder why?” Kira replied sarcastically.
“Who knows?” Aithos played along. Looking around to make sure they weren’t being listened to he lowered his voice again, “I shouldn’t have done it, but I promised them that I’d let you and your sister return home for a short while to see them. If you want to go that is…”
Kira’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Really? Are you serious? I don’t know that Velion would like us going back.”
“Well, I thought the same thing, but your father was so insistent I couldn’t really say no. He said he had something very important to tell you. Any idea what it is?” Aithos inquired, looking around again to check for eavesdroppers. No one was listening, but Aeria was glaring at Kira the way she had been since the incident on Gaius 5. Kira made a face at her, which drove Aeria to break her gaze.
Kira looked back at Aithos. “He has something important to tell me? He didn’t say what it was?” Kira had no idea what her father wanted to tell her that would be so important.
“No, he refused to tell me, but he said the information could mean life and death,” Aithos frowned, looking somewhat concerned.
Kira sat back in her seat and folded her arms. Life and death? What could he possibly know that would make such a difference? she wondered to herself. “When can we go? How do we get there without anyone noticing?” Kira asked, trying to think of a way to escape.
“A truly ingenious plan, if I do say so myself. But now isn’t the time. I’ll let you know what you need to do, just keep an eye out,” Aithos grinned mischievously and turned to walk away. Kira thought about stopping him, but noticing the glare from Aeria again, she decided not to.
Kaya is going to freak out when I tell her! Kira thought as she tried to ignore Aeria’s disdainful look. The excitement of getting to see her family again made it difficult to sit still as the last few members filtered into the council chamber.
When Velion made his way to the center of the room, everyone took their seats except Thanatos, who was nowhere to be seen. That was unusual, as he had attended every meeting since Kira arrived. She looked around for him but there was no sign of him.
“My dear friends, I’ve called you here today because I have some disturbing news. As all of you are aware, there was an incident on Gaius 5 not long ago, but what most of you have yet to learn is that there is more to the story. The truth of the incident is that we were setup by an unknown third party who has access not only to our intelligence network, but also to some of our most deadly weapons.” Velion paused as the news swept across the room. Several of the members seemed stunned by the news, while others did not react. Velion continued, “I have spent the last several days gathering as much intelligence about the incident as I can, and
what I have surmised is that there is an unknown, but very well connected, branch of militants operating throughout the outer systems.”
“Which outer systems?” Pisus interrupted.
“I’m sorry to say it, but it appears to be all of them,” Velion replied. This news was taken much more seriously as the council members started murmuring to each other in alarmed tones. “It gets worse,” Velion interrupted, causing the room to go quiet again. “It seems that this militant group is planning several more of the same type of attack.”
“Why? Do we know their objective?” Pisus asked, looking deeply concerned.
“Unfortunately, no. Right now we can only guess, and our best guess is that they wish to incite a wide scale rebellion by making it look as though we are slaughtering our people when they disobey. They tried to do this by leaking images of Gaius 5 to the networks, but their plan failed when we suppressed the news.”
“Is there anything we can do?” Hera asked.
“We are working on that as we speak. I have ordered several divisions of the military to patrol the outer systems while our best agents try to infiltrate the organization,” Velion explained.
“Will that work?” Deimos chimed in.
“Honestly, it is hard to say. Whoever is running this organization has gone to great lengths to hide themselves and their operatives. What little we know indicates that this group is most likely run by someone in the higher castes, possibly even a Tythonian.” Velion shook his head.
“If it’s a Tythonian, then who could it be? Surely you aren’t suggesting it’s one of us!” Pisus protested.
“Right now I cannot say, but the evidence we have so far is that the man behind the Gaius 5 incident was well connected and wealthy. Based on his understanding of our intelligence network, it’s highly likely that he used to work for us,” Velion finished, looking tired.
“I hate to say it, but… there is someone who used to be part of this council that hasn’t been heard from in a very long time,” Pisus suggested warily.
“Oh, did you mean me, Brother?” An unfamiliar voice called out from behind Kira. She turned to see who it was and was surprised to find someone she had never seen before. A tall man with jet black hair came walking down the steps with a wide grin on his face. He was handsome but looked weathered, as if he’d been living in harsh conditions for many years. His eyes were dark brown and he squinted as he looked around the room. He was dressed in armor like Kira’s, except it was a dark grey color instead of silver and had a long black cloak hanging from the shoulders. “I’m glad to know how quickly my own brother is to suggest me a traitor!” he announced as he reached the bottom of the stairs.
Stopping for a moment, he turned his gaze to Kira. With a soft smile he walked over to her and bent to one knee. Taking her hand in his he kissed it and said, “My dear Kira, I’m sorry I have not come to see you sooner. I’ve wanted to congratulate you on your appointment to the council, but I just haven’t had the time. I’m sure you will make an excellent ruler.”
Kira didn’t know what to say to this stranger, so all she could manage was a quiet, “Thank you…”
“Hadius has been working very closely with me over the past few days, Pisus. If it weren’t for him we wouldn’t have nearly as much information about the militants as we do,” Velion clarified. Hadius gave Kira an odd look and returned to his feet, turning to look at the council.
“And how is it he knows so much about them?” Pisus asked, looking skeptical.
“Have you already forgotten what my previous duties were? Was I not charged with running the intelligence network of the kingdom?” Hadius asked in a spiteful tone as he moved to stand next to Velion.
“And a fine job you’ve done! Where was your intelligence before Gaius 5?” Pisus jeered.
“A fair point, but as I had been relieved of my seat on the council, I was no longer charged with running the network, was I? A job that I believe fell to you, being second in command.” Hadius smiled wickedly. Pisus was clearly angered by the blow, but after receiving a reproving glare from Velion he chose not to respond.
“As Velion was saying, our intelligence suggests that the traitor is one of our own. Most likely a disgruntled military officer, heaven knows we have quite a few of those, don’t we?” Hadius laughed, but no one else seemed to find it funny. Kira couldn’t help but stare at the man. There was something… familiar about him. Something she couldn’t explain, but it was almost as if she had met him before.
“I have narrowed the list down to a possible twenty, but as most of these people haven’t been seen for many years, it will take some time to track them down. I will remain in close contact while I’m assisting in this endeavor,” Hadius finished.
Velion thanked him and announced, “That is all for now. There will be individual briefings later as the systems in question fall into several different jurisdictions, but the rest of you will be free to go. Please keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary; we can’t be sure the militants haven’t found their way on to Tython.”
As the room started to disperse, Kira couldn’t help but notice the way Hadius watched her leave. Again she was struck with the feeling that she’d met him before, but how could that be? In all her time on Tython she’d never once seen him and she surely hadn’t met him back on Earth. Deciding to worry about it later, Kira rushed back to her apartment to give Kaya the exciting news.
Thanatos wasn’t able to dedicate as much time to training her as before, but each morning he would spend an hour or two showing her new techniques and sparring with her. She learned not only how to move the earth around her, but how to pull large portions of the ground up and throw them across the courtyard. After a few days she could manipulate the ground around her with such precision that she was able to build almost any structure from the dirt; all without lifting a finger.
Even her shockwaves were getting better. Now she could amass them more quickly, enabling her to shoot several of them in rapid succession. She finally understood what Aithos meant when he said she could very well destroy the whole palace. With enough time and concentration, she could amass a shockwave so large and so strong that it would crumble an entire building, not that she had tested that.
All of these abilities seemed to come naturally to her, the same way Druin’s fighting lessons always had. It wasn’t long before Kira was able to outperform Thanatos, which was no small feat given that he was Velion’s top general and had almost 200 years of experience.
Despite the demands of her rigorous training, the warning kept creeping back into her mind. She hadn’t told Kaya about it, which was unheard of. Ordinarily she never would have withheld such important information from her sister, but for some reason, she just couldn’t find the words. Kaya already had so much to think about as it was, between Master Yu-On’s lessons and her constant homesickness. It just didn’t seem fair to give her something else to worry about.
And so Kira trained, and trained, from dawn until dark. She was obsessed with her progress, working harder than she’d ever worked at anything before. When Kaya asked her why she was training so much, Kira told her that it was so she could be the best, but that was a lie. Secretly, Kira was worried. Worried that at any moment she might be called into battle. Worried that whoever had set Aeria up, might be coming for her. If they were, she wanted to be ready.
It wasn’t until two weeks had passed that Velion called the council together. Again Kira was summoned while Kaya was asked to stay in her chamber.
“Why can’t I come? This isn’t fair! First you get a space ship and armor, and now you keep getting called to meetings without me! I thought I was important too,” Kaya protested, standing in front of their apartment with her arms crossed in defiance.
“Kaya, don’t be like this. I know you want to come, and if it were up to me, I’d bring you along, but they specifically asked for you to stay here,” Kira tried to console her.
“Not fair! What’s so important about this meeting anyway?” Kaya demanded.
Kira sighed, “I don’t know, they didn’t say. I just know that I have to go, and if I don’t leave right now I’ll be late again!”
“I wish we had never come here! All I get to do is study and do homework! It’s not fair at all!” Kaya shouted, stomping off toward her room in a huff. Kira wanted to go console her, but there was no time. As upset as Kaya might be, she was nothing compared to the reproachful looks the council members gave when Kira was late.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can, I promise!” Kira called back as she left the apartment. A few minutes later she entered the council chamber and was grateful to not be the last to arrive. Only half of the council had shown up and Velion wasn’t there yet. Going to her normal spot Kira sat quietly, watching the others as they chatted with each other.
Aithos noticed her sitting quietly and decided to walk over to her. “I hear you are getting pretty good with your armor. I even heard you beat up on poor Thanatos yesterday morning?”
Kira blushed a little, “Well, it’s not really a fair fight, is it? I mean my armor allows me to do things that his doesn’t, so the odds were stacked in my favor.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure. Yes, the armor makes a difference, but Thanatos didn’t get to where he is by losing many battles, even against stronger opponents,” Aithos smiled broadly and put his hand on her head, messing up her hair.
Kira made a face, but she didn’t care. She didn’t really worry much about her appearance and having someone to talk to made the council more bearable. It took a while for her to feel comfortable around them, but she noticed that the longer she was around, the less resentful the others seemed to be towards her.
“Oh, I’ve been meaning to catch up with you. Do you remember the thing you asked me to do?” Aithos asked, lowering his voice and leaning in closer. “You will be glad to know that your father is in good health, and is doing very well with the transitions we’ve implemented.”
Kira’s heart nearly stopped in place. “Really?! You’ve seen him?” She asked, a little more loudly than she intended.
Hushing her, he continued, “I actually had a long conversation with him and another man named… Druin?”
“Yes. That’s my uncle!”
“Well, they were both quite pleased to know that you and Kaya were safe and sound. It seems they were quite worried about you after you left.”
“Gee, I wonder why?” Kira replied sarcastically.
“Who knows?” Aithos played along. Looking around to make sure they weren’t being listened to he lowered his voice again, “I shouldn’t have done it, but I promised them that I’d let you and your sister return home for a short while to see them. If you want to go that is…”
Kira’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Really? Are you serious? I don’t know that Velion would like us going back.”
“Well, I thought the same thing, but your father was so insistent I couldn’t really say no. He said he had something very important to tell you. Any idea what it is?” Aithos inquired, looking around again to check for eavesdroppers. No one was listening, but Aeria was glaring at Kira the way she had been since the incident on Gaius 5. Kira made a face at her, which drove Aeria to break her gaze.
Kira looked back at Aithos. “He has something important to tell me? He didn’t say what it was?” Kira had no idea what her father wanted to tell her that would be so important.
“No, he refused to tell me, but he said the information could mean life and death,” Aithos frowned, looking somewhat concerned.
Kira sat back in her seat and folded her arms. Life and death? What could he possibly know that would make such a difference? she wondered to herself. “When can we go? How do we get there without anyone noticing?” Kira asked, trying to think of a way to escape.
“A truly ingenious plan, if I do say so myself. But now isn’t the time. I’ll let you know what you need to do, just keep an eye out,” Aithos grinned mischievously and turned to walk away. Kira thought about stopping him, but noticing the glare from Aeria again, she decided not to.
Kaya is going to freak out when I tell her! Kira thought as she tried to ignore Aeria’s disdainful look. The excitement of getting to see her family again made it difficult to sit still as the last few members filtered into the council chamber.
When Velion made his way to the center of the room, everyone took their seats except Thanatos, who was nowhere to be seen. That was unusual, as he had attended every meeting since Kira arrived. She looked around for him but there was no sign of him.
“My dear friends, I’ve called you here today because I have some disturbing news. As all of you are aware, there was an incident on Gaius 5 not long ago, but what most of you have yet to learn is that there is more to the story. The truth of the incident is that we were setup by an unknown third party who has access not only to our intelligence network, but also to some of our most deadly weapons.” Velion paused as the news swept across the room. Several of the members seemed stunned by the news, while others did not react. Velion continued, “I have spent the last several days gathering as much intelligence about the incident as I can, and
“Which outer systems?” Pisus interrupted.
“I’m sorry to say it, but it appears to be all of them,” Velion replied. This news was taken much more seriously as the council members started murmuring to each other in alarmed tones. “It gets worse,” Velion interrupted, causing the room to go quiet again. “It seems that this militant group is planning several more of the same type of attack.”
“Why? Do we know their objective?” Pisus asked, looking deeply concerned.
“Unfortunately, no. Right now we can only guess, and our best guess is that they wish to incite a wide scale rebellion by making it look as though we are slaughtering our people when they disobey. They tried to do this by leaking images of Gaius 5 to the networks, but their plan failed when we suppressed the news.”
“Is there anything we can do?” Hera asked.
“We are working on that as we speak. I have ordered several divisions of the military to patrol the outer systems while our best agents try to infiltrate the organization,” Velion explained.
“Will that work?” Deimos chimed in.
“Honestly, it is hard to say. Whoever is running this organization has gone to great lengths to hide themselves and their operatives. What little we know indicates that this group is most likely run by someone in the higher castes, possibly even a Tythonian.” Velion shook his head.
“If it’s a Tythonian, then who could it be? Surely you aren’t suggesting it’s one of us!” Pisus protested.
“Right now I cannot say, but the evidence we have so far is that the man behind the Gaius 5 incident was well connected and wealthy. Based on his understanding of our intelligence network, it’s highly likely that he used to work for us,” Velion finished, looking tired.
“I hate to say it, but… there is someone who used to be part of this council that hasn’t been heard from in a very long time,” Pisus suggested warily.
“Oh, did you mean me, Brother?” An unfamiliar voice called out from behind Kira. She turned to see who it was and was surprised to find someone she had never seen before. A tall man with jet black hair came walking down the steps with a wide grin on his face. He was handsome but looked weathered, as if he’d been living in harsh conditions for many years. His eyes were dark brown and he squinted as he looked around the room. He was dressed in armor like Kira’s, except it was a dark grey color instead of silver and had a long black cloak hanging from the shoulders. “I’m glad to know how quickly my own brother is to suggest me a traitor!” he announced as he reached the bottom of the stairs.
Stopping for a moment, he turned his gaze to Kira. With a soft smile he walked over to her and bent to one knee. Taking her hand in his he kissed it and said, “My dear Kira, I’m sorry I have not come to see you sooner. I’ve wanted to congratulate you on your appointment to the council, but I just haven’t had the time. I’m sure you will make an excellent ruler.”
Kira didn’t know what to say to this stranger, so all she could manage was a quiet, “Thank you…”
“Hadius has been working very closely with me over the past few days, Pisus. If it weren’t for him we wouldn’t have nearly as much information about the militants as we do,” Velion clarified. Hadius gave Kira an odd look and returned to his feet, turning to look at the council.
“And how is it he knows so much about them?” Pisus asked, looking skeptical.
“Have you already forgotten what my previous duties were? Was I not charged with running the intelligence network of the kingdom?” Hadius asked in a spiteful tone as he moved to stand next to Velion.
“And a fine job you’ve done! Where was your intelligence before Gaius 5?” Pisus jeered.
“A fair point, but as I had been relieved of my seat on the council, I was no longer charged with running the network, was I? A job that I believe fell to you, being second in command.” Hadius smiled wickedly. Pisus was clearly angered by the blow, but after receiving a reproving glare from Velion he chose not to respond.
“As Velion was saying, our intelligence suggests that the traitor is one of our own. Most likely a disgruntled military officer, heaven knows we have quite a few of those, don’t we?” Hadius laughed, but no one else seemed to find it funny. Kira couldn’t help but stare at the man. There was something… familiar about him. Something she couldn’t explain, but it was almost as if she had met him before.
“I have narrowed the list down to a possible twenty, but as most of these people haven’t been seen for many years, it will take some time to track them down. I will remain in close contact while I’m assisting in this endeavor,” Hadius finished.
Velion thanked him and announced, “That is all for now. There will be individual briefings later as the systems in question fall into several different jurisdictions, but the rest of you will be free to go. Please keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary; we can’t be sure the militants haven’t found their way on to Tython.”
As the room started to disperse, Kira couldn’t help but notice the way Hadius watched her leave. Again she was struck with the feeling that she’d met him before, but how could that be? In all her time on Tython she’d never once seen him and she surely hadn’t met him back on Earth. Deciding to worry about it later, Kira rushed back to her apartment to give Kaya the exciting news.