The Four Faces of Rath
Will the Real Rath…
Chapter 4
IV
“
Max, if you ever had this dream, too, I want to know. I… need to know.”
Michael sat on the sofa with Maria at his side. Max and Liz sat together in an oversized Antarian “great chair” across from them. Liz looked at Max to see what he would say. Max looked down momentarily then looked into Michael’s eyes. Michael wasn’t sure if Max was just gathering his thoughts or if he was searching, perhaps for the real Michael, himself.
“Ironic,” Michael thought. For a long time since coming to Antar, he thought he totally knew who he was, but now… now with these new dreams… he wasn’t sure anymore.
“I’ve had dreams, too,” Max confessed, “…or something. I had one again last night that went further than any had before.”
Michael squirmed uneasily. Maria rubbed one hand soothingly over his arm and held his other hand in hers. Michael swallowed hard.
“I knew it. I did it, didn’t I?”
“Depends on what you think you did, I guess,” Max said matter-of-factly.
“I killed you… killed Zan. I killed Vilandra, Ava… everyone I loved.”
Liz looked at Max. “Tell him, Max. Tell him what you know. You have to.”
Max nodded.
“Michael, I don’t know how to tell you except to let you see it.”
Michael shook his head. “No! No, Max… I can’t! I… I’ve seen enough already.”
“You should,” Liz said. “It may answer some of your questions.”
“Have you ever done this before, Max,” Michael asked.
“No. But there always has to be a first time.”
Maria looked at Max then at Liz. “How does this work? You’re not going to do anything that might…”
“No, Maria,” Liz said. “It’s kind of like when Max and I kiss. I used to see stars and things.” Liz smiled and glanced at Max. “I still do. And he can make me see things about him… his feelings… his life.”
“I’m not kissing you, Max. I already killed you once… in our previous life. Don’t ask for trouble.”
Max smiled. “I see you’ve still got your sense of humor, Michael.”
“Who’s joking?”
Maria and Liz both giggled in spite of themselves. It was a serious situation, but they knew Michael. It was Michael who wasn’t sure.”
“Don’t worry, Michael. You don’t have to… you know… kiss.”
“Okay then,” Michael agreed cautiously. “Alright. How’s it done?”
“Touch my hand.”
“That’s all?”
“That’s all.”
Michael reached out and touched Max’s hand. He saw a flash, and without meaning to, he drew his hand back quickly.
“Are you ready for this, Michael,” Max asked.
Michael nodded and placed his hand back on the coffee table on top of Max’s again.
… … … … …A battle seemed to be raging around the palace. Zan was in the throne room. Ava, Vilandra, and the former regents, his mother and father, were also there.
“It won’t be long, Zan,” the elder regent, Zan’s father, said. “They’re coming. We should find a safer place than the throne room. They’ll come here first.”
Vilandra looked at Zan. “We can go through the gardens. We can escape there.”
“I don’t think that would be safe,” Ava said, shaking her head. “I think there are disloyal guards there… Kivar’s guards.”
“Not in the gardens,” Vilandra said. “I know.”
Zan looked at Vilandra. In his heart, he trusted her. At that moment, the doors to the throne room burst open, and a mob burst in. Suddenly, a familiar face appeared in the mob. It was Rath, carrying a Vorkian dagger, throwing himself over the top of the others to be in the front. Zan used the momentary distraction to get himself and the others into a closet then through a secret door in the back of the closet. From there, they escaped into the tunnels beneath the palace, and Vilandra led them toward the gardens. … … … … …
Michael drew his hand back. “I don’t want to see any more, Max. I’m a traitor. How can you even look at me? How can you stand to let me touch you?”
Max didn’t answer. He reached out and took Michael’s hand, placing it back on the table, then he placed his own hand firmly on top of it.
… … … … …Zan emerged from the tunnels behind Vilandra. He reached back to assist Ava and his mother and father. Then they ran through the gardens toward the place that Vilandra indicated. Suddenly, another individual stood in their path.
“Kivar!” Zan said, recognizing his enemy even in the dark of a moonless night.
“It’s alright,” Vilandra said. “He’s on our side.”
Zan looked at Vilandra then again at Kivar… and he knew.
“Vilandra, you’ve been deceived. Kivar is here only for one reason… to kill us.”
“No, Zan! Trust him! He has sworn to me, and I have done something terrible to save you all… I’ve agreed to be Kivar’s wife.”
“And Rath?” Zan asked.
“I love Rath… but… this had to be.”
“What does it matter,” the elder regent, Zan’s father, said. “Rath is a traitor. He was at the front of that mob trying to get at us. And now we know that Vilandra is a traitor, too. Neither of them is worthy of our pity.”
“No!” Vilandra shouted. “I did what I had to do. It was for you! And Rath did not betray you.”
“Explain what you mean,” Zan commanded Vilandra.
Kivar’s guards pointed their weapons at the royal group, and Kivar walked up and put one arm around Vilandra, drawing her to him. She started to speak, but Kivar placed his lips against hers, quieting her with a kiss. Then Vilandra felt the keen obsidian blade of an assassin’s dagger plunge deep into her side. Vilandra drew back in shock and looked at Kivar. She lifted her hand from her side. Her hand was covered with blood… her blood. Kivar stood smiling, as Vilandra collapsed, dying, on the path. In his hand, Kivar held a dagger dripping with Vilandra’s blood.
Zan took Ava by the hand and tried to flee with her along a side path, as the elder regents attempted to flee in the opposite direction. None got very far. Nyykto and his guards stepped out of the darkness in front of Zan and Ava. Zan pushed Ava behind him and threw a blast of power in Nyykto’s direction. It hit two of his guards, incinerating them. Then, suddenly, Zan was hit from behind.
He awoke lying on the path in the gardens. As he tried to sit up, he noticed Ava lying beside him, her white dress stained with her own blood. She was dead. Nearby lay his parents, and near them, Vilandra.
“Hello, Zan,” Nyykto said sarcastically. “It’s so nice to see you again.”
“I’m sure,” Zan said. “Where’s your master, Kivar?”
“He had other things to attend to. So he left me in charge.”
“Why did you have to kill Ava? Why Vilandra? They were no threat to Kivar.”
“Ah, quite the opposite, my deposed king. Vilandra thought that by forming an alliance with Kivar, she would cause him to become careless. She thought she could get the royal family to a safehouse in the country, and they could regroup later and save her from Kivar. Kivar is no fool. He’s had her followed for months now. He knows all her plans. And by the way, the protectors and royal guards at the safehouse… all dead.”
Nyykto smiled a nauseating smile.
“And Ava! Well, she was the Queen after all. We couldn’t have anyone trying to reclaim the throne, could we?”
“But she was no threat to you.”
“Maybe… maybe not. Doesn’t matter now, does it?”
“How did you get Rath to betray the kingdom?”
Nyykto reared his head back and laughed. “Rath? On our side? You must have damaged your brain when you fell. Oh wait… that’s right, there’s nothing there to damage is there? But not to worry, Rath’s demise is already planned.”
“I saw Rath throw himself over the top of a mob of traitors coming to kill us so that he could be in the front,” Zan said. “He was carrying a Vorkian assassin’s dagger.”
Nyykto laughed again. “I guess I should feel sorry for those fools… but I don’t. Rath threw himself over the top of them to get in front so he could protect you. Fact is, he slew thirty of them… well, thirty-three if you count… but really none of them were worth counting. Idiots! Pathetic, weak idiots! Rath slew them all without even getting a scratch.”
Nyykto sighed dramatically. “I” (He emphasized this word) “…had to do the job myself.”
“What did you do to Rath?”
“Nothing yet… well, nothing much.”
“What did you do?”
“I just extracted a little information that we needed from his head… and put a few ideas into it to replace them. Wouldn’t want it to be totally empty, would we?”
Zan cringed. He knew the procedure Nyykto used to extract information from his enemies’ heads. It wasn’t pleasant to experience… or to watch.
“Rath would never have let you do that. What did you do… attack him from a hiding place?”
Nyykto scowled. “What does it matter? I did it. That’s what matters. But if you want to talk to him… he should be here very soon. Oh, I’m sorry! That’s right! You won’t be able to talk to him. You’ll be dead… like lovely Ava here.” Nyykto started to kick Ava’s lifeless body, and Zan jumped at Nyykto, momentarily breaking free of the guards that were restraining him. He almost reached Nyykto before being hit again from behind, sending his head swimming.
“Ah, chivalry! It’s good to see it’s not dead. Now me? I have no use for it myself. I take what I want. I have no time for such drivel. But enough. Rath will be here soon, and I want him to find you… dead. You remember those ideas I put into his head? Well, he’s going to believe that
he killed you… and Ava… and Vilandra… and the elders.” Nyykto struck swiftly at Zan with a Vorkian assassins’ dagger. Zan easily evaded the thrust, even with his head still swimming from the last blow one of the guards had given him from behind. Nyykto was not the greatest or the most brilliant “soldier” in the kingdom. He was, however, treacherous… so much so that it would have been a mistake to underestimate him ever. But bravery and fighting skills were not his strong suits. Another blow from a guard behind sent Zan spinning, and Nyykto took advantage of the opportunity to plunge his dagger into Zan’s back. Zan watched the world spin, as he dropped to the path below, mortally wounded. Seeing Rath approaching, Nyykto and his guards quickly fled from the scene.
Rath approached the body of his beloved Vilandra. Then he turned, with a dazed expression, to the body of his king. Rath looked at the dagger in his hand, already stained with the blood of thirty-three of Kivar’s soldiers. As Zan took his last ragged breath of life, Rath opened his hand slowly, allowing the dagger to drop to the ground, lifted his eyes to the sky, and cried.… … … … …
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Michael pulled his hand back. “I didn’t do it! I didn’t do it,” he almost shouted with relief.
Maria held him tightly and kissed him on the cheek. “I always knew it, Michael. You could never hurt the ones you loved. It’s just not you.”
“It was Nyykto… Nicholas!”
Maria nodded. “I know. I saw it.”
Michael looked at Maria. “You saw it?”
“I was holding your other hand.”
Michael smiled slowly and kissed Maria on the lips.
“I didn’t do it!”
tbc