The Ashes of Worlds - Kevin J. Anderson [210]
Through the soul-threads that connected them all, Daro’h pressed his conviction on them. With his mind, with his determination, he rallied the people. “We will go back to Mijistra!” Along the way, he decided they would bring together refugees from their camps, find the many displaced kiths that had scattered across the landscape.
Despite his recent confrontation with the faeros incarnate and the news that his mentor Tal O’nh had died aboard the flaming shipyards, Ridek’h was one of the first to volunteer to go. Nira’s four half-breed children also insisted on walking in the lead, beside Daro’h.
After several long and wearisome days, the company reached the blackened ruin of Mijistra. When the Prime Designate looked out at the expanse of shattered buildings and flattened rubble, the collective wave of despair from his people nearly caused him to waver. Those who had come with him could not see beyond the charred remnants of what had once been the glory of their ancient empire.
And Daro’h knew that he himself had caused this destruction to happen. I am responsible. He could not stop staring. It was the only way.
Though he had witnessed the original impact, Chief Scribe Ko’sh was devastated to gaze upon the aftermath. His facial lobes shimmered in a storm of violent hues, and at first he could not summon words, despite his lifetime of telling tales. “It is all gone. Every scrap of our history — of our soul!”
Daro’h said in a grave voice, “No. We are not gone. If you are a rememberer, then remember. You have a greater responsibility than ever before. So long as we live, we can re-create our past glory. We must show the faeros that we are not defeated.”
“But we are defeated!” Ko’sh cried.
Yazra’h struck the Chief Scribe across the face with a blow that knocked him to the ground. Ko’sh got to his knees, blinking, as her two Isix cats prowled around him, sensing prey.
Daro’h glowered at him. “I will not have the Saga say that we behaved as cowards, even in the face of great loss.”
From across the blasted landscape, more refugees arrived from villages and camps. They had sensed the Prime Designate’s call and followed him here, looking for answers. Daro’h intended to give them what they needed. Until his father returned, they were all his people. . . .
But when the storm of fireballs reappeared in the sky like an exploding globular cluster, he wondered if his followers were doomed after all. A rain of ellipsoidal fires streaked in smoldering paths overhead, thousands of fiery entities returning to Ildira along with faeros incarnate Rusa’h.
“Now they will annihilate us,” Ko’sh moaned. “We are out in the open, unprotected.”
Daro’h drew a deep breath, and the air felt hot in his lungs. He did not know how he could refute the Chief Scribe’s prediction.
But it quickly became apparent that these faeros had not come to exterminate the population, but to make a stand. The fireballs appeared to be in retreat — from Solar Navy warliners! And Roamer ships that streaked after them, firing small white projectiles. Whenever an artillery shell struck the faeros, an explosion of cold, white steam engulfed and smothered it.
Ridek’h let out a shout; Yazra’h looked as if she wanted to spring into the air to join the fight. The Ildirans who had followed him to the wreckage of Mijistra cried out with joy and relief.
Daro’h made his voice loud and clear. “Adar Zan’nh has returned!” The strands of thism strengthened as he felt his father’s nearness rejuvenating his spirit. “And the Mage-Imperator is with them.”
Rod’h and his siblings gazed upward. “And Osira’h. And our mother.”
Yazra’h shouted triumphantly at Chief Scribe Ko’sh, making him flinch. “We are not defeated!”
With a voice that held a wisdom far beyond his years, young Rod’h turned to Daro’h. “As Prime Designate, there is an important part of the battle you must wage here on the ground. Only you can do it — with us. Follow me.”
* * *
147
Sirix
To get out of the solar system, the black robot ships pushed their engines well beyond their design specifications.