Ghosts of Lyarra (46 page)

Her ears caught the beginning of the ceremony thanks to the coverage for the Imperial masses, and she watched from screen to screen as it all unfolded. For every second she watched the proceedings, there were two that she searched for Aen. It was the one part of the plan that she wasn’t told and the one part that remained a giant question mark. Lyxia hated going into a fight without knowing the whole plan; she truly hated surprises at times like
these.

When the Prophets appeared, her mind stopped wandering and began to focus on the stage. The screens faded away as she narrowed in to the garden scene in the distance; specifically the shrouded figures of grey. They felt like they were looking right at her, and she began to shrink down some more to ensure she was indeed out of sight. She felt them in her head and heard them whisper to
her.

“
He will need you more than you could ever know
.” The whispers cascaded in her mind. “
Though his power is great, his heart needs your love to keep on. Darkness shall shroud the sky and the light will fade, but it is you who will show him the
way
.”

The words made no sense; and as the sounds of the ceremony brought her back to the here and now, she tried in vain to hear the whispers once again. But the message had been sent, and they made their speech now to the crowd. Lyxia heard the priest ask Myril the questions before the strange and unexpected
happened.

A priest fell to his knees; the pillow holding the Imperial crown fell with a thud. Pillows weren’t heavy enough to make a sound like that; a sound that would carry the few hundred yards to be audible to her ears. Lyxia watched as another priest tried to lift it only to fail, and watched the eyes of the entire congregation narrow in on the crown that seemed to be made of stone
now.

But her eyes were drawn to the right of the stage and to the lagoon which until then had been calm and serene. Now however, the surface had been broken as something rose from beneath the tranquil waters. Water cascaded off a familiar shape that helped define it for her eyes; she watched as Aen rose from the depths to confront the ‘Queen of Nothing’ in the final confrontation. As he rose so did she, exposing herself from her hiding spot though no one’s eyes would see
her.

Lyxia watched as Myril slowly turned to see what approached, and the eyes of the crowd followed hers. Time felt like it slowed as it all began to unfold; at last she would see an end to the turmoil that had raged on for so long. And as it all began, her thoughts returned to the whispers of the Prophets and the warnings of dark days ahead. She wondered if this was the end, or just a new beginning; and she began to wonder if they would ever find peace to grow their
love.

—

Aen decided to interrupt the process in a way that would create a wave of confusion in the crowd. With a bit of concentration, he increased the gravitational pull on the pillow and the crown to make the weight unbearable for the priest holding it. He smiled as the man fell to his knees and the pillow fell. Gravity held it tight as neither the cushion nor the crown moved, and knew it was time to make his appearance as another priest tried in vain to lift the crown from where it now
lay.

Lifting himself from his hiding place, he felt the water stream off him as he cleared the surface. He heard his introduction of sorts by the Prophets and saw the terror in the eyes of Myril as he approached the stage. Step by step, he felt her shudder as the fear within her grew; but he could see the fire of defiance still burning deep within her. It wouldn’t be enough to just defeat her, Aen had to break her first and show the entire Empire what had deceived them for so
long.

Alarms flashed in his HUD as he was being targeted from multiple angles; her assassins had been placed in proper positions to provide cover from interventions such as this. And as much as they would be perfect to end any other threat, they would soon learn that Aen was far beyond anything they could ever prepare
for.

“How dare you!” Myril screamed at him as he mounted the back steps to the stage. “How dare you defile the sanctuary that is Havyiin? You have no right to this throne; and you will answer for your crimes with your
life!”

On command, a dozen shots rang out as bolts of plasma screamed towards him from all angles. Myril’s eyes looked on triumphantly as the rounds hit Aen, but soon realized that they had not done the damage they intended. Instead, she and all the others in attendance watched as he continued his pace towards her unimpeded; his chrome armor smoking and burning in places from the attack. Aen used the targeting computer in the suit to back track the trajectories to their sources, swiftly flicked his arms out and opened his palms and let the fireworks
begin.

Screams told the tale before eyes were averted to all directions. Assassin snipers erupted in flames and exploded as Aen burned them from the outside in to make a better show of it; his gaze never leaving his target of Myril the whole time. He was aware of the entire audience drawing out small arms to defend their leader, and chose to take appropriate and dramatic
action.

“You think I am some common miscreant that can be cast aside so easily?” He roared at her to instill the fear once more in her. “You think yourself my equal or even my superior? I am closer to the Gods than you can ever imagine and you all will show me the respect I
deserve.”

Aen increased gravity all around the crowd, causing all her minions - who scrambled to arm themselves - drop the weapons and fall to their knees. He stopped the wave of power just short of both the J’Karin delegation and Bryx’s group, leaving it plainly obvious to Myril at who stood against her now. For a second, he actually enjoyed the forced show of respect before he refocused on the task at hand. An entire Empire was watching this unfold and it was time for truths to be
told.

“Who are you?” Myril cried
out.

Reaching to his neck to disengage the clasps which kept the helmet pressurized and connected to the armor, he unsnapped them as they hissed. His fingers grasped the chrome helmet and lifted it away to reveal himself to all, for the first time since the battle of Earth. As he cast it aside, he heard her gasp and the crowd buzz with confusion. Now they knew the one behind the murder of Iana and the attacks against the Empire, but it raised more questions than it
answered.

“You?” she gasped. “You are
dead!”

“I can’t die.” Aen answered. “Or does my being hit by high speed plasma rounds and not being affected not clue you into that
fact?”

Now, Aen stood two feet away from her; glaring down her soul with his black hole eyes. Myril was not as tall as Iana, so Aen looked down upon her slightly from here. It was a dominating sight to see; Aen was sure there were a lot of outraged forces on his side that he was the one behind the death of the Empress. It was time to come clean at long last; it was time to unwind the tale of lies spun so tightly for so
long.

“Why would you kill her?” Myril asked as she cowered back towards the priests behind
her.

“Because she had become a symbol of weakness in a time of treachery.” He answered. “I saw your forces circling her, waiting to strike for the kill. I saw your plans and ideals before I could see you, knowing that letting her fall in the way you wished for was far less dignified than the death I could deal. I gave you all a world without hopes; without dreams. I took the very light you all began to take for granted and extinguished it. And in doing so I gave myself the time to see you behind the reins of it all so I could stand here now. I killed her so I could expose you for the manipulative wretch you
are.”

“I have done nothing of the sorts!” she shot back. “All I have done
is….”

“Leveraged your power, manipulated the entire Council to your will, and replaced those who would not with those more compliant.” He cut her off. “I have seen the empty prisons of Dyen; their cells cleared to reinforce the ranks of the Guild assassins. While the whole Empire fought over who should control me and my power, you shifted the blame of my death to Iana while you went about your dark
deeds.”

“Then you know that you are hopelessly outnumbered.” Myril spat back defiantly. “Inside the walls of the temple there are hundreds of thousands of Forgotten waiting to do my bidding. The entire Fleet has been reshaped and is now at my beck and call; before you stand the new age of the Lyarran Empire. Under my watch, we shall usher in a new order and all around you are the ones who will help make it happen. You are but one, we are
many!”

“You are not as many as you thought.” He warned. “And your precious plan was not as perfect as you
thought.”

Aen nodded to the monitors as all eyes fell upon multiple images of the temple on Ryas burning in the night with heaps of bodies strewn about her great walls. They watched in shock as other images were of the broken station of Thsin; the gaping emptiness in the ring where the central hub of Fleet Command had once stood. They all looked on as Ifierin and J’Karin cleaned up the carnage rained down upon both places as battles had ended before the commanders ever realized they
begun.

“The thing about a revolution,” Aen glared at her, “is that they are swift and violent. Your legions are gone; you are the master of all you see here and commander of none. I am not one, but one of many; and we have unmade all which you have
wrought.”

Myril’s eyes flashed to the crown and to the throne, then back to Aen. He could tell she was trying to leverage something; trying to prevent the inevitable by positioning herself as something more valuable. As he had played this moment in his head over and over, Aen had readied himself for anything she could say, but he let her speak none the less. All she could do was expose herself for the wretch she was even
more.

“It is the Throne of Light you seek?” she asked. “First you kill Iana, then defeat the next in line to fulfill the prophecy. I too have read the scriptures of insight where the Harbinger sits upon the throne as the Empress has fallen. If it is your destiny you seek, then I can offer my services to you as an
advisor.”

Turning his gaze to match hers; looking over at the crown sitting upon the cushion all alone on the stage. He glanced quickly back at her, then slowly strode the few steps over to where it lay and knelt down to pick it up. In his arrogance, he had made his first mistake by not only turning his back on her, but also breaking his concentration which held the crowd in check. For a brief moment, Aen’s hold on the crowd lessened, and in an audience of assassins it was all the lapse that was
needed.

Aen felt the sharp pain in his side as a bolt of plasma found its mark. Although it hurt, he continued with his minor task and carefully picked up the crown. As he turned back around, he could see two of the guards standing; one holding the sidearm still trained on his person and the other with his arm extended in full release of the dagger which struck his ribcage before falling to the ground. Aen had stood up so quick the dagger which had been intended to hit his head was deflected by his body armor; doing no damage whatsoever. He could see the strain on their faces and knew it had taken all they had to do that much and fight the increased pull of gravity. It was time for another demonstration of power, and this time it wasn’t going to be as
subtle.

He shook his head at them in displeasure, and with his empty hand he extended it outwards at shoulder level. His heart surged as he connected with the planet’s gravitational field; then localized the ground on which the helpless guards stood. Quickly, he pushed downwards with his extended hand and increased the gravity beneath the two assailants a hundred fold. The crowd was stunned as they watched as the two Guildsmen simply imploded like crushed beer cans with sickening cracking of breaking bones and sinew. Blood spatter was non-existent and the mess was contained to the area at their feet; gravity had been made so intense they were squished into messy piles of organic wreckage in
seconds.

With his point made, Aen released the rest of the crowd from his hold and turned his attention back to Myril who cowered backwards. Although they were free to move, the crowd and security within it did not rise; they simply watched in fear of retaliation of any hostile actions. Aen was in control now, though he knew he would hear about his actions when all was said and
done.

“This does not hold or sway upon me.” Aen said as he shook the crown at her. “It doesn’t call to me as it does you, and it doesn’t make me betray all I know just to wear it upon my brow. No Myril the deceiver, it is not the Throne of Light that I desire; I only wish to restore it to its rightful
glory.”

“That makes no sense!” she shot back at him. “How can you restore Iana to the throne when she is dead at your
hand?”

“
Not all is what it seems
.” The Prophets added. “
To save Iana from your treachery, the Harbinger was sent to kill the
Empress.”

“That still doesn’t make sense!” shouted
Myril.

“Then let me make it clearer for you.” A voice called out from the back of the
crowd.