Kalon

  Chapter Ninety-Two: Gar’Lat Nul Taac

  Galactic Quadrant: Darna Quadrant

  Ruling Government: Talum Merchant Federation

  Solar System: D-447

  Planet: Ora

  Location: The planet's surface

  The storm of ice and snow begins to settle, giving shape to the rest of the person who stands in the crater of their own making. My eyes travel upwards slowly, thick metal armor wraps the legs and the torso, their entire body is encased in it, the armor looks more sleek than the warriors that Dallus travelled with, yet thicker and more intimidating than the one he wore. The helmet opens and folds into the shoulders of the armor revealing the face of a tall woman. Perhaps the tallest I have ever seen. Short and neatly kept deep blue hair, darker than the chasms of ice deep beneath our feet. She has a scar that cuts across her eyebrow, a deadly gaze from her eyes bores through me, bluer than any I have seen before, like Etherium itself could be mined from them.

  Luna does not seem alarmed to see the woman, more like… relieved, my body relaxes a little, yet I am still cautious, calculating the best angle to dive and grab my blades. The shade of Luna’s hair is a lighter blue, compared to the woman’s, yet they look nothing alike, strange that they share the same color of hair. I can’t help but wonder if they are somehow related.

  The tall blue haired woman looks me up and down, her gaze landing on my groin, she tilts her head to the side for a moment, then looks toward Luna, a disarming grin sliding across her face.

  “Well…” she says, her voice is not soft, yet not harsh either, it booms authority and confidence.

  “Kotina…” Luna says, wrapping her tattered shirt around herself like a sheet and dropping the hilt of her sword to the ground and rushing toward her, throwing her arms around her, “You came…”

  “Of course I came,” the woman says, embracing her back, her eyes fall onto me again as she holds Luna, “When I got the notification that your credentials were used, I got worried. When I saw your beacon message, I was already in this system. There’s a lot of security checkpoints in this system now, they say a noble was killed, I was worried it was you.”

  My mind spins, remembering Luna has said her name before. I remember Fennec saying she was a Knight Commander and an Edict Holder. The tall woman, Kotina, she looks me up and down again, as though appraising my worth.

  “Strange aura around him,” Kotina says, looking me dead in the eyes.

  Aura? Looking at Luna, I see her face is flushed more than earlier, it strikes her cheeks as her eyes widen and she moves from Kotina, scooping up clothes and shoving them into my hands, putting her body in front of my naked frame.

  “Or should I say, the strange lack of an aura around him,” Kotina explains, moving towards us. The mountainous Maka she wielded before seems to settle on her frame now. The man Tavjac did something similar. Though I think he is stronger, fundamentally so. Regardless, the fact that I felt her power as she approached, is that because I broke another boundary? Yet another question.

  She comes towards me now. Every fiber of my being screams danger. Instinctually, I know she could slay me. Luna steps forward, outstretching her hand, blocking the woman.

  “Wait–Kotina hear me out.” Luna pleads, a worried look in her eyes.

  “Step aside,” Kotina says.

  “He’s saved my life more than once,” Luna pleads, “Do not harm him.”

  The air rushes and Kotina is upon me, my eyes blink as I try to roll backward, her grasp so firm I almost dislocate my shoulder pulling away. Her eyes do not speak danger though, only curiosity.

  “He is simply runeless, that is why you don’t see an aura.” Luna tells her, grabbing her arm and trying to wedge between us, her face looks frantic, like she thinks that Kotina might kill me.

  “Runeless still have auras, extremely faint, but present,” Kotina says, tilting her head at me again, “He is completely empty, like a void in the mana. Explain yourself,” Kotina demands.

  My eyes squint at her, I’ve never heard of auras but I think it must be something like the vision I get when I channel Netherium. Luna said that Kotina wouldn’t tell her what awaits in the higher boundaries… do the higher bounds see Maka then? What else can they do? More questions again.

  “Gar’Lat Nul Taac," I say.

  “She doesn’t speak Kuwathi,” Luna says, giving me a look.

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  Kotina’s expression tells me that she understood what I said though.

  “One cannot speak to what they do not know,” Kotina says, letting out a sigh, releasing my arm, “Or something like that, my Kuwathi is a little rusty.”

  “Close enough,” I admit, somewhat impressed. Looking at her appearance, she is not a master like Luna, her ears are not pointed, Arasha perhaps? The Sage told me there are many different people among the stars, she is taller than any Arasha I have met, but then again, I have known few.

  “Well, frag.” Kotina sighs, rolling her neck and turning her gaze to Luna who has relaxed a little now.

  “You got here sooner than I expected,” Luna says, pulling on her clothes, she gives me an eye, motioning to the clothes in my hand.

  Stepping away from Kotina, I dress, wary of her still. Her eyes watch me, much to Luna’s displeasure who tries to block her view.

  “There’s a strange smell in here,” Kotina says, coming closer again and sniffing near me, “Besides the smell of people rutting...”

  “Kotina, for frag’s sake, must you embarrass me?” Luna interrupts, flustered again.

  “It couldn’t be that though,” Kotina says pensively, giving me a passing glance, musing to herself, “Whatever. We need to get moving, lots of work to be done.”

  “Have you…” Luna pauses, weighing her words, “Spoken with Fennec yet?”

  Kotina raises an eyebrow inquisitively. Luna’s expression changes to one of dread.

  “What the frag did you do pup?” Kotina sighs, pulling up her holopad and swiping through it, “We’ve got about ten minutes before my ship gets here.”

  “Might need longer than that,” Luna admits, giving her a weak smile.

  ***

  Twenty minutes later and we are soaring through the clouds again, I don’t think I will ever be used to the sensation of flying. The gravity actuators on this ship seem to be much better than the other ones. Looking around at the vessel we are on, I see it is unlike any of the other vehicles or ships I have seen, everything appears to focus on function rather than form. There are no flowing patterns or stylized designs on the craft, no emblems or crests, it is extremely practical.

  “So, let me get this straight, not only did you let him,” Kotina points at me, “Steal your mission’s most essential item, but then you decided it would be a good idea to travel with him after that, and now you’re…” she raises an eyebrow.

  “Kotina.” Luna growls, her face flushing again with a vein threatening to bulge.

  “Pretty brazen of you, honestly, do you know what your father would do if he found out?” Kotina asks, standing on a circular disc on the floor, she swipes a command on her holopad and the floor opens up, robotic arms begin disassembling her armor, removing it and stowing it beneath the floor. When it finishes, she is left in a thin black fabric that clings to her body, she is much fitter than I realized, every muscle in her body toned and bulging with purpose.

  Luna gives me a strange glance as she sees me studying Kotina, a look I don’t recognize from her. Strange.

  “It’s none of my father’s business,” she says, but her confidence does not finish with the words.

  “Right, good luck telling him that,” Kotina says, rolling her eyes, “So, where is that Cursed thing anyways?”

  “I’m getting there,” Luna sighs with an annoyed expression.

  ***

  Another twenty minutes pass, Luna doesn’t answer all of Kotina’s questions, at least it’s not just me that she doesn’t answer. She somehow manages to avoid telling her about my abilities, in a way that is slyer than I gave her credit for before. I also noticed that she has not mentioned Leora, her Goddess either. Does Kotina not know? Are their Gods different? So much that I don’t know about their ways.

  “Wait… wait,” Kotina says, pacing now, “You killed Dallus?”

  Luna nods, grabbing her arm and pulling it tight, a small shake in her leg and hand tells me it still haunts her.

  “House of fragging Draconis, that Dallus?”

  She nods again.

  “Heir a—fragging—pparent of House Draconis, from the Gallec Empire?” she breathes, looking at Luna strangely.

  Luna nods again, her shoulders hunching.

  “Well, slagging hells,” Kotina says, then suddenly bursts out with laughter, it is short lived though as her mind begins to turn, so too does her expression, “Wait, then that means it was probably them that attacked that Republic Vessel to get at you.”

  “Did Fennec not pass that information to my father?”

  “I don’t know, your father’s still in the Galenthy Beltway with the main force, communications have been shuttered the last five days,” Kotina says with a sigh, “Meanwhile, I’ve been stuck on Ravena Prime doing…”

  Ravena Prime? She turns towards me.

  “Wait, should we be talking about this in front of him?” she asks, then leaning forward, “How much does he already know?”

  “Little,” I say, looking at Luna, “She has a habit of never answering questions fully.”

  Kotina grins and nods, “Sounds like Luna, though it is probably for your benefit. Her father will likely order me to kill you once he finds out about you. If you value your life, you should probably make scarce at the next city before we leave the system. No one has technically told me to do it yet.”

  Though her demeanor is calm and somewhat jovial, there is no mistaking that she is warning me.

  “He’s coming with us,” Luna says adamantly.

  “Oh,” Kotina says with an eyebrow raise, “So, you want to watch him executed?”

  Luna’s jaw flexes at the remark, “He saved my life more than once, he will…”

  Kotina interrupts, “Which is why I’m not picking his brains out from my boot right now.”

  My first instinct about her was right, she is dangerous. My hands feel for my blades, making sure they are still there.

  “Have Fennec set him up with a nice life here or somewhere else, preferably somewhere I won’t know where to find him.”

  “I don’t think Fennec will be doing me any favors,” Luna admits, I do not think she is wrong either.

  There is a sinking feeling in my chest thinking about the words Kotina has said, in the cave when we gave in to the passion, I hadn’t thought about what would happen next. From the sounds of it though, there really is no future for us. The familiar feeling of bitterness rises. It always ends like this. She will discard me, just like Nevari did. I should take Kotina’s advice. The burning in my chest increases when Luna gives me a worried glance.

  “Where is that scoundrel anyways?” Kotina sighs, “And how much did he embezzle this time? I don’t know why your father puts up with him.”

  “He’s, well… I might have ejected him from an escape pod,” Luna begins, her brow furrowing as she tries to find the words.

  “You what?”

  “That was after I broke his jaw.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Well, he was pissing me off.”

  “Luna…” Kotina lets out a playful chuckle, “I shouldn’t say this, but I’m kind of proud.”

  Luna gives her a weak smile, straightening her shoulders a little bit. Though I don’t know Kotina well, I can tell that their bond is not weak. Beneath the banter there is caring. My eyes trace down to my hands, checking them again, still no Edict… am I really free? Did that man cure me of its affliction? Krotha still has not shown herself either. Something tells me that she will not remain silent forever. Once Kotina and Luna finish catching up, I need to get as much information as I can.