Ice Phoenix
Chapter 45 - The Voron cloud

“You’re focusing too hard. Relax your mind or you’ll end up breaking another glass.”

Too late. Master Drummik watched as the glass exploded on the table, and Terrana stomped around in frustration after witnessing her latest attempt at telekinesis fail miserably. Her eyes felt like two burning coals in her face, her brain felt like mush, and she was exhausted. They were four days into their voyage, and she felt as though she had been trapped on the ship forever.

An energy bar was thrust into her face and she looked up.

“Here, eat. We’ll stop here for today.”

Terrana scowled, but did not refuse the bar. Instead, she tore it up hungrily and swallowed it in three bites. A drink was also put her way and she gulped it down. Slowly, she began to feel her body return to normal; her eyes cooled down and the throbbing in her head waned.

Telekinesis sucked, or more accurately, distant-qi manipulation. ‘DQ’ or ‘duk’, as it was known among the students. She glanced at the shattered glass remorsefully. That had been her fiftieth. Even as she watched, Master Drummik effortlessly gathered the pieces together into a large metallic container and reduced them to a liquid before reshaping them into individual masterpieces. They were perfect replicas in weight, size, and appearance.

Terrana picked up one of the cooled glasses, twisting it under the light so that it sparkled.

“What would happen if I tried to duk a person?”

“I recommend that you don’t. Not unless you have an interest in anatomy. You’re focusing your qi in the wrong place, and you’re forcing it with your mind rather than just feeling the energy around you.”

That was Master Drummik’s way of telling her that she had just flunked his lesson. She scowled and put the glass down.

“I’m going to the observatory.”

“I’ll see you there soon.”

Terrana nodded and headed out of the padded training room, ignoring the tremors that had constantly plagued the ship ever since they had entered the Voron Cloud. One hundred and forty four hours had passed since they had penetrated the terrifying purple mass that hovered on the edge of Dartkala. Everyone had gathered together like a massive tumour to witness their historic moment, or what could have been the end of their existence. But the pendant held true to its powers; it protected the ship and everyone in it. The passengers of the Dark Star had given a collective sigh of relief when they realised the pendant had not let them down, but they also knew their successful journey was due to the astute management of Grandmaster Deitrux, who remained cooped up for most of the time on the bridge, with the captain and crew members.

As she negotiated the turns and chutes of the Dark Star, Terrana felt a tinge of sorrow thinking about the pendant. It had been her only memento of Puddy and home, and now it was no longer with her. Grandmaster Deitrux could not promise to return it to her either. She thought back to her conversation with him.

“Did you kill Nashim?”

“No. I sent him to another place instead. It is nearly impossible to defeat him, not when he can draw on the pendant’s power despite it being broken.”

“But you managed to steal back the tonien and the pendant, didn’t you?”

“Just the tonien. Nashim disappeared into the void with Namasar’s pendant.”

“The void? You sent him into the void while you were in the city fighting him?”

“Yes.”

“So where in the void is he?”

“To be honest, I don’t really know. Terrana ... try to stay out of the L-Masters’ way, okay? The less they know about you the better.”

“I understand. Grandmaster Deitrux, how long will we be in the cloud?”

“I don’t know that either. It could be days, months, or even years. No one has ever succeeded in penetrating this deep into the Voron Cloud.”

Terrana hadn’t liked the sound of that. They could die in the cloud before they ever found the Dream Walker! In the meantime, she had no idea whether her friends were still alive on Pa Gumpina. The ship’s communication system was down. While everyone had expected it to fail eventually because of the lack of satellite walls in the cloud, they had the fright of their lives when the Dark Star’s main engines also failed, but it had simply been the pendant overriding the ship’s power source.

The Dark Star was flying solely on pendant power, which caused a lot of tension between the Imeldors and L-Masters.

That an artefact of such immense power rested in the grandmaster’s hands aroused anxiety and envy in the others; it didn’t help that he spent most of his time away from them, sealed in on the ship’s bridge. The pendant generated a power incorporating electrical energy and a river of qi, its type never witnessed before. Whatever was not protected by it, was destroyed. It explained how they could travel through the cloud — the pendant’s power destroyed the purple matter that would otherwise have consumed them.

The tonien added further complications to the situation, but at least Grandmaster Deitrux was able to project its mapping system across the training room. No surprise that it was also up on the bridge, where it rotated slowly in the air. The Ancient Ones had entrusted only Grandmaster Deitrux with the key, and they warned him to never leave it alone while activated. He soon discovered why. The tonien was set to auto self-destruct if he moved more than five metres away from it. That didn’t pose so much of a problem except that he couldn’t move the tonien while it was activated and, of course, being in the Voron Cloud meant that he could not afford to de-activate it. Such was the grandmaster’s predicament.

Terrana came to an elevator chute that would take her up to the fifth level of the observatory deck. Next to it was a studded wall, like those found in indoor rock-climbing stadiums, and a rope trellis. The wall and trellis went up to the fifth level also. Terrana didn’t question why they were there, it was obvious. She was restless anyway and she had to admit she missed Kampu training.

In fact, since being on board, she had thrown herself into as much physical training as possible — it tempered her grief for Baneyon. Robbed of the chance to grieve properly for him, she felt like a dry husk, ready to crumble at any moment. Soon, she had promised herself. Soon, she would honour him properly, but right now everyone’s life was in danger. She had to think of them first. She grabbed the rope and began pulling herself up.

When she finally reached the observatory deck, she crawled away from the edge of the wall, unwilling to leave any part of her limbs hanging over the side. The climb had exhausted her and she felt she no longer had any bones in her body. Her legs seemed like elastic, and she couldn’t guarantee that they wouldn’t just droop all the way to the bottom.

“That took you a while,” said Master Drummik, leaning against a column.

Terrana wondered whether her heart had a mind of its own as it hammered hard at her chest, screaming to be let out.

“On the contrary, I thought she did rather well,” said a female voice.

L-Master Eliksha Bakshur walked into the observatory, and Terrana glanced at her in surprise. While she knew that Eliksha was on the ship, Terrana had been trying to stay out of her way because she knew all the L-Masters were suspicious of her and wanted to replace out the real reason she was on board. They had first met in a café in Pophusia before she had started school at Minda Yerra, and even back then the woman had been trying to learn more about Terrana and even hinted that Baneyon had been trying to hide her from the L-Masters.

Terrana tried her best to act natural. Eliksha and the other L-Masters knew nothing of her powers and her relationship to the Dream Walker, and Terrana was determined to keep it that way.

Eliksha walked over and offered a hand, which Terrana accepted. She was pulled up with surprising strength and greeted by a kiss on each cheek.

“You always seem to be running off somewhere on this ship so, now we are face to face, I was hoping we could have a chat,” said Elisha, gazing at Terrana with piercing eyes.

“I didn’t want to get in your way,” Terrana lied glibly. “I know you have an important mission.”

Eliksha smiled. “Why would you be in my way? We’re on this ship together, we have no idea how long we’ll be living in it — company is something we could all do with.”

Terrana smiled back. “It can get boring on the ship.”

Eliksha’s expression turned serious. “I heard about Baneyon. I’m really sorry.”

Terrana tensed. No. Don’t bring him up! Don’t talk about him, please! It was Master Drummik’s cue to step in. “Terrana is still a little emotional, Eliksha. News of his death was a shock to her.”

Terrana was grateful that Master Drummik had subtly reminded her that she wasn’t supposed to have been on Si Ren Da. She was supposed to have learned of Baneyon’s death at Minda Yerra.

Eliksha laid a hand on her shoulder and lowered herself to Terrana’s level so their eyes met. “You can always talk to me, anytime, anywhere, Terrana. If you need to scream, or if you just need to be with someone and not have to say anything, come and see me, okay?”

Terrana nodded. It was nice of Eliksha to offer, but she didn’t think she’d be speaking to her anytime soon. The other chutes to the observatory lit up, and Master Drummik groaned inwardly as the remaining eight members of the sealing team walked in. Two of the members were Imeldors, and Master Drummik recognised Lady Skiss and Quempa. With only the grandmaster absent, all nine of the sealing team were now in the observatory.

“Well now, if this isn’t a surprise!” called out a rather yellow, slimy man. He was nearly as tall as Eliksha and possessed a full head of jelly blobs. His shoulders were broad, and he had two sets of powerful tentacles where his arms should have been. Terrana recognised him as L-Master Hadrick and she disliked him, although she didn’t know why. Perhaps the overpowering stench of his breath was one reason.

“Miss Terrana and her ever so dour teacher Master Drummik. Have you come to admire the purple blandness?”

He waved his hand expansively at the void to prove his point. The entire observatory was made of special glass to allow passengers and Space enthusiasts the opportunity to observe and study what lay beyond, and it was fully equipped with scanners, telescopes, spectroscopes and other equipment that Terrana didn’t recognise.

“It was about time for us to conduct lessons in the observatory,” said Master Drummik. “While we’re here, we should learn everything we can.”

“Spoken like an educator,” scoffed L-Master Hadrick. “Do you intend to share your observations with the whole school upon your return? If there is anything to return to ...”

The only visible sign that Master Drummik was affected by Hadrick’s careless words was the white line that appeared over his lip. The L-Master continued, “It’s strange how only you and the girl were separated from the others. It’s almost as if you ran, and the girl was your excuse to board the Dark Star.”

Terrana stiffened at L-Master Hadrick’s bold implication. He was accusing Master Drummik of being a coward in front of everyone. She wanted to say something, to defend Master Drummik, but he caught her eye and the meaning on his face was clear. Don’t say anything. Terrana bit her lip in frustration.

“It is the educator who brings up the next generation,” said a different voice. A tall, insect-like lady approached. She wore a sleek, dark helmet over her head and a strange body-suit that seemed to repel the air around her.

“That may be so, Lakara, but educators must be careful about how they indoctrinate children. Master Drummik has taught the child that it is all right to run from an attack while abandoning the rest of the group. Particularly for a thirteenth-worlder, where this unbecoming trait runs riot, it will negatively reflect on her forever.”

“You’re being unfairly harsh on both Drummik and Terrana,” snapped Eliksha. “And as a man of dignity, shame on you for dragging her into this!”

“But I speak the truth,” said Hadrick, his eyes narrowing. “Allow me to demonstrate. Terrana, tell me, how do you feel being safe here on this ship while not knowing of your friends’ plights in Pa Gumpina? That you escaped UWIB’s directive to be exterminated with the rest of the population?”

“That is enough, Hadrick!” growled Master Drummik. But it was too late. Terrana’s hands clenched into fists.

“I feel that you should shut your mouth more often and apply what little intelligence you have to re-grow your haemorrhoid-sized brains.”

The observatory turned deathly quiet. Terrana continued her rant. “I feel grateful to Master Drummik for teaching me to have faith in the people I care for, and believing they are strong enough to overcome whatever hurdle life throws at them. I believe in the entire population of Pa Gumpina and that they will not give up the planet they call home without a fight. Master Drummik has also taught me to move forwards into the future because that is how we honour those who are left behind. So, if you really wanna know how I feel, I feel that you should replace the Dream Walker and seal him in for eternity so that the Valpuri will never reach him. Then my friends and the people of Pa Gumpina wouldn’t have been left behind for nothing.”

L-Master Hadrick stared at her for a couple of seconds before snorting. “A dramatic child living in a fantasy! But at least, a loyal student to you, Drummik. Is there anything she failed to learn?”

“Yes,” replied Master Drummik. “She’s failed to grasp the wisdom in remaining silent when necessary.” He spoke directly to Terrana next. “You do not argue with your elders. L-Master Hadrick has years on you in being a moron. Instead of listening to this pointless discourse, you and I will return to our lessons.”

Terrana kept a straight face even as she heard the sharp intake of breath from Hadrick. Master Drummik pushed past him and guided her by the shoulder towards the edge of the observatory, farthest away from the sealing team and, much to Terrana’s relief, a bad-breath-free zone.

She had seen the purple dust several times before, through the spectroscope, microscope, and telescope, not to mention the qi-wave reader, life scanners, and every other piece of equipment that had been hurriedly installed onto the ship for this once-in-a-lifetime journey into the Voron Cloud. This time, she just wanted to look out through the glass, to see the dust with her naked eye.

The dust flowed by like cigarette smoke, only much thicker and opaque. There were occasional tinges of yellow, as if someone had sprinkled gold dust into the cloud, and there were occasional gaps of emptiness which could have been a result of energy whorls. Strangely, Terrana felt at home in the observatory, pressed down under the cloud, wishing she could immerse herself in it. It was a new feeling, one she had not experienced before, and she realised with a start that she was starting to feel happy, exhilarated even, when she should have been miserable.

She heard a familiar cry in the darkness and a thrill rushed through her. It couldn’t be, could it? But it was! There they were, rocketing through the cloud, twice the size of doves with delicate frosted feathers and wispy tails. The ice-phoenixes of Dartkala!

Her head filled with the humming of a billion thoughts, held back by a net so that her mind would not explode.

Little one. We meet again.

Terrana blinked in surprise. As before, they were speaking to her.

Do you know me?

We recognise all those born of Dartkala.

Born of Dartkala ... so, I’m really feiyed?

We do not recognise the word.

I am human but born of Dartkala. Is that possible?

Humans are not born of Dartkala, little one. And those who are born of Dartkala are not always born in Dartkala.

Terrana sighed. She didn’t like it when they were cryptic.

Are you showing yourselves to me for a reason, or were you just passing by?

We were passing by. We sensed your entry. You are not yet ready to enter Dartkala. We must watch.

I have so many things to ask you. Please tell me, what’s my true form?

Your form has not been decided.

So you don’t know.

No.

The last time, you referred to me and another — two young ones in the void. Kazu, my cat, he was the other one, wasn’t he? What is he?

He ... is special. He is pure. You must protect him.

I don’t understand, you know what he is, but you don’t know what I am? What is Kazu, anyway?

He is ... an old one. The cloud ends. We will leave.

“Wait!” Terrana shouted. But the ice-phoenixes vanished, and there wasn’t even a blinding white light to mark their exit like the previous time.

“Terrana! What is it? Why are you shouting?” Master Drummik looked worried, his hand on her shoulder.

“Master Drummik, the ice-phoenixes were here! Didn’t you see them?”

“No, Terrana, there’s only purple dust. There are no ice-phoenixes.”

“They were just there. Flying through the cloud!”

“The child is delusional!” snorted L-Master Hadrick. He and the others had edged closer after hearing Terrana’s talk about the ice-phoenixes.

Terrana glanced at him angrily. “I’m not! I’ve seen them before on Dartkala’s Arrow. I know what they look like and I saw them here!”

“She could be right,” said Eliksha. “This is the Voron Cloud. For all we know, this could be the ice-phoenixes’ home!”

“They don’t have a home!” scoffed Hadrick. “Really, Drummik, it is not wise to bring a thirteenth-worlder child up here. Hallucination is a sign of paranoia, which she’s displaying already. Their minds are just not equipped to process all this information.”

“That’s because my mind is suffering a breakdown from being exposed to your spectrum wave of unwanted self-opinions!” snapped Terrana. A tingling sensation raced down her back and she looked out the glass. She sensed what was happening. “We’re about to break through the cloud!” she exclaimed.

The adults looked out, seeing only an endless sea of purple.

“What makes you say that, Terrana?” asked Eliksha.

“I can feel it.”

Everyone cast uneasy glances towards Master Drummik, their thoughts clear. Perhaps Hadrick is correct. The girl is hallucinating.

Master Drummik ignored them and kicked himself for not dragging Terrana away earlier. Whether she was right or not, he didn’t want her displaying any signs of her feiyed power to the others.

A single thought from the grandmaster, pure and strong, cut into his consciousness. There’s not much you could have done, Drummik. And, unfortunately, Terrana is correct. We are about to break through the cloud.

Grandmaster Deitrux! Is the tonien telling you this?

I can feel it.

You are not serious, are you?

I am! Can’t you feel it, Drummik?

Master Drummik couldn’t answer. Something strange was happening along the glass of the observatory. Multiple flare bombs of red light splattered across the observatory, releasing colourful liquid worms that wriggled along the glass before vanishing into the cloud. It was as though the ship had met a strange rainstorm in the midst of the purple mass.

Even the energy of the pendant failed to expel this strange new phenomenon, and Master Drummik realised they were no longer in the Voron Cloud. In fact, the purple mass had thinned drastically, only to be replaced by the ‘rain storm.’ The ship shuddered, and suddenly millions of stars appeared in the dark void.

The power went out. Everyone felt a strange reversal of qi, and static danced along their skin as the pendant relinquished its hold, leaving it up to the ship’s engines to kick back in. Their feet left the floor, and they floated in silence, not uttering a single word as they gazed out at a new frontier. They were completely overcome by emotion. This was a place that had not been visited for five thousand years. Some of the Imeldors and L-Masters would have fallen to their knees had the gravity-lock been functioning.

It was like that throughout the entire ship. Crew members and UWIB representatives sobbed and clutched their various limbs in dumbfounded reverence, feeling as if they had just uncovered Dartkala’s soul. They had made history this day, and their names would be remembered for generations to come.

The only person not feeling the historical life-shattering moment was Terrana. The void — In-Between, Space, or Dartkala — was just an infinite vacuum to her that she had recently come to learn of after her family’s death. Everything she experienced was new, and this part of the In-Between looked no different than the other side of the cloud to her.

The ship shuddered and coughed, her engines ploughing back to life. The Dark Star no longer required the pendant to propel it through the In-Between, and it carried on as if nothing had happened, mindless of the painful yelps of her passengers as they suddenly met the ship’s internal gravity.

The ceiling of the observatory was flooded with charts, planets, stars, galaxies, solar systems, and even black holes. It was endless, and everyone gazed upwards, gaping in awe.

“Amazing,” Eliksha said, awestruck. “The ancients of Olden Kartath even mapped this side of the cloud. Just what kind of explorers were they?”

“Damn good ones,” said Lakara. “To think they could always cross the cloud, knowing where to go. The knowledge they possess is probably vast beyond belief. I even suspect that they came through the cloud to settle on Olden Kartath.”

“You think they are from this side of the cloud?” asked Master Drummik in surprise.

“Anything is possible,” replied Lakara. “Step one of our mission has been successful — we survived the Voron Cloud. Now for step two. Locate the gate that will take us to the Dream Walker.”

“I take that as my cue then.” Grandmaster Deitrux’s voice poured into the room, startling everyone. An area of the map zoomed into focus on the glass, and everyone saw a tiny blue dot sitting in darkness amongst the stars.

“That dot you see is the Dream Walker’s location. To reach it, we need to pass through four gates. It will take around two hours to reach the first gate. I do not know how long we will remain within each gate — the Ancients did not say. We could reach the Dream Walker in twelve hours or twelve days, I don’t know. But you should start preparing.”

The meaning of his words sobered them immediately, and the atmosphere changed. No longer caught up in petty quarrels, the members of the sealing team were now focused on the job at hand — confronting and sealing the biggest threat that the Ancients of Olden Kartath had concealed from them.

Master Drummik tugged Terrana away from the others, and they silently left the observatory. Terrana knew what was coming — she was going to be put into sleep stasis and hidden in a sleep sphere. The grandmaster had explained it to her like this:

“It was never our intention to bring you into the void, but the circumstances were dire. By placing you into sleep stasis, all your thoughts, your electrical energy, your very existence will be shielded from the Dream Walker. You will be safe.”

It didn’t take them long to reach the cold, pale room filled with white spheres, capable of accommodating a person. They walked to the farthest one and Master Drummik drew a line across it with his finger. It opened into a perfect half, and Terrana stared at the cold, gel lining inside. She shuddered.

“Must I be sealed in?” The thought of being frozen in the sphere, trapped without dreams and at the mercy of the ship’s computer, terrified her. If something went wrong, she’d be trapped in there forever, or at least until the ship lost power. Then she’d probably suffocate.

“You can unlock it from the inside should you awake,” said Master Drummik. “The spheres have their own life support system separate from the ship’s power source. You’ll be all right.”

However, looking at the sphere, she didn’t feel reassured. If the ship was to be torn apart, and somehow her sphere survived a nuclear blast, she could be sent tumbling into Space where she would never awake but would grow old and die. Or even worse, she’d awaken.

“You’re over-thinking, Terrana. It’ll be all right. I won’t be far from you.”

With a sigh, Terrana removed her boots and reluctantly stepped into the sphere. The gel lining was squishy and cold, and it seeped between her toes.

“Yuck!”

She eased the rest of her body into the sphere and she found herself curling into a foetus position without wanting to do so. The gel had all but covered her shoulders, and Master Drummik prepared to shut the top of the sphere.

“I’ll wake you when we are back at Minda Yerra,” he said with a forced smile. She was unable to smile back, and with a final click of doom, the top of the sphere came down. The gel took over at a slightly slower rate than the darkness and the panicked feeling of suffocating.