Katie felt someone grab her gently. She shook the person off and shouted for Tyson again, though she was losing her voice. Tears poured down her face. She felt someone grab her again. Though she knew the person was saying something, she was unable to comprehend any of it.
“Tyson!” she cried out once more. The person pulled her back more forcefully this time. She turned around and saw Koran. He was trying to take her to the ship that had arrived for them.
“Tyson!” she choked again. Her voice was weak with tears and overuse. She looked back at the ship. Artemus was walking towards her.
Everything seemed quiet. Nothing felt real. Katie could see people talking but heard nothing. She didn’t hear the sound of the river flowing or the fires that still raged on in the city. She didn’t hear the cries of the surviving citizens that were being taken out one by one by Sabrina.
All that she could hear were Tyson’s last screams of agony before he disappeared.
Katie was barely aware that she was being steered onto the ship. She was sat down and soon found she was alone. It didn’t matter. Nothing did anymore.
24
The Shadow of the Universe
Queen Nayara and Ariah quickly swept through the city. Debris of demolished buildings littered the ground. No one stood in their way now. Nayara defeated the Chancellor and her army took the city. Her way forward was unobstructed.
“Are you prepared?” the Queen asked Ariah in her frigid tone. It barely sounded like a question.
“I am,” Ariah replied coolly. He retrieved a bow and three arrows in a quiver off of a fallen Oasi guard.
Nayara’s lip twitched. “Why would you need that?”
“I am always ready, my Queen,” responded Ariah.
“Hm.”
The Queen said no more. She led Ariah through the fragmented palace doors and across the entrance chamber. The palace was destroyed. The sun gleamed down overhead through the chunks of missing ceiling and the pillars that once boldly and grandly held up the palace were fractured along the crumbled tile.
Nayara led him up a staircase to the left. She pushed open a heavy door to reveal a narrow hall. Ariah followed his queen as she briskly walked down the hall. He could feel her excitement, and the further they went, he could feel it in himself.
They came to a steep staircase and descended into the dark depths. After some time, the stairs evened out into another long hallway. Ariah could barely see anything. He figured this was due to their passing through the mountain itself.
“Oscurilina is known as the Shadow of the Universe,” Nayara told Ariah. “She is the Sprite of Darkness and is loathed in every corner of our universe. She is notorious for her sheer malice and undiluted cruelty, having wiped out countless planets alone. Even the most powerful deities have failed to abolish her. Each time they get close, she has slid out of their clutches like a nefariously mocking wind.”
Ariah was slightly taken aback by Nayara’s sudden explanation. He wasn’t used to her talking much.
“What do you mean?”
“She has been the shadow behind every catastrophe in the galaxy and is every ruler’s worst nightmare. Even children’s tale dare not speak of her, for her name produces fear in those who hear it. That is why she has been trapped for eons.”
Something troubled Ariah, but he couldn’t quite tell what. “Could any fairy be that bad? I get that they are powerful and act as gods in our world. I just don’t get how they could be that strong.”
“Have you ever heard of Caldimaro?” The Queen almost sounded condescending.
“No.”
“How about Angormarda? Bendereq? Wadir-ni-merka?”
“No.”
“These names mean nothing. They serve only as examples of civilizations that existed years ago, and that Oscurilina has wiped out. Caldimaro was a constellation, a network of stars that served as the inter-galactic headquarters for multiple planets. It took only three minutes for Oscurilina to annihilate the entire constellation during one of their meetings. That created chaos between the alliances of those planets which further wiped out over half of them.
“Angormarda was a galaxy of sprites. Oscurilina lived there but left it after a while. She returned three years later to wipe out any remains of her past. This galaxy no longer exists. Bendereq was a large star. It contained the center of commerce for this half of the star system. Wadir-ni-merka was a large planet that with a snap of her fingers, she exploded in a rage of fury. It is now a speck that exists as the basic substance of gaseous planets.”
“Why did she come to this planet? We haven’t reached the level of intergalactic travel; we exist as a single identity,” asked Ariah.
“You have been to Earth,” Nayara replied after a moment.
“Don’t remind me,” said Ariah.
Nayara continued to walk down the hall. There were faint glowing pebbles along the walls that served as the only light.
“Why are we calling upon her? It sounds as if her only purpose is to destroy.”
“I intend to destroy this world,” the Queen replied harshly.
“But you envision a new civilization. That’s what makes the difference.”
The Queen said nothing, but after a while continued to explain Oscurilina’s history as if Ariah had said nothing. “She is ruthless and her name is considered a terrible curse. It was given to her after she eradicated all the light in the Heydenian sun. Her name means darkness.”
They entered a circular room that was well lit, compared to the hallway they had just passed through. This room had two entrances and was otherwise composed only of bookshelves that made up the walls and an altar in the center.
“How did she come into existence?” Ariah asked.
“Some planets are created with a womb in its core. If that womb survives
