8. Trayem

Iwas right where I didn't want to be.

In a room full of enemies with Harper at my shoulder and the means to escape a short dash across the open space to the beaten-up shuttlecraft sitting outside.

Krial had never been patient and he never forgave easily. It was easier to squeeze blood from a stone. It became painfully obvious what was going to happen next.

There were a handful of potential outcomes and none ended well for Harper.

I peered at each of my sibling guards one after another. There was anger, resentment, and more than a little disappointment. The same look was in Tus's eyes.

He wasn't about to help me. Nor should he if he wanted to keep his head.

"Now we see where your loyalty lies," Krial said.

"I meant no disrespect," I said hesitantly.

Krial snorted.

"You deliberately broke my orders and dishonored not only me but your brothers and sisters."

Harper squeezed my hand and I drew some strength from it.

"This is not her doing," I said. "She didn't even know what the plan was. Punish me. Not her."

"No!" Harper said.

I squeezed her hand back and looked at her.

"Don't lie to him," I said. "You're innocent in all this."

"I knew exactly what I was doing!" Harper snapped.

Didn't she realize she was condemning herself to death talking this way? Didn't she understand she wasn't making the situation any better for herself? And that there might still be a way for her to escape from here alive?

"She doesn't know what she's saying," I said. "I admit she got under my skin. The way to end it and keep me on your guard is to send her far from here, somewhere I could never find her. I will never betray you again. I've served as a reliable member of your honor guard my entire life. Grant me this and I will be yours for the rest of my life."

Krial pursed his lips, considering it. It was possible he would engage in such an idea. He was a puppet master and enjoyed adding more strings. It would amuse him to see me struggle to come to terms with a situation of my own making.

Instead of giving me his answer, he turned to the little bundle in his arms.

The baby.

Our baby.

It lay quite happily in the curves of his large hands, a bottle of milk pressed to his lips. At least, I hoped it was milk. I wouldn't put it past him to fill the baby's bottle with poison. Krial needed for the baby to die so he could sever the link.

The baby suckled on it contentedly. Already some of the color of his flesh had returned while Krial had turned a little wrinkled and haggard. He still possessed the majority of the baby's youth but less than he had just a few short hours ago.

"I sometimes wonder what the children would have become if I let them live," Krial said. "Hundreds of aliens running around and doing their own thing. Most would have been forgotten. But there might have been one or two that might have actually done something with their lives. Of course, we'll never know for sure. Greatness takes time. Far more than a single lifetime in most cases. They unknowingly sacrificed their lives so I might live a great one."

Then he turned to face me.

"You were meant to protect me," he said. "Instead, you shamed me. You pursued your own selfish desires. You owe your very existence to me."

"You're right," I said, prostrating myself before him. "I am a worthless maggot, undeserving of your kindness. But please, release the girl. She means nothing. Take her far from here, to somewhere she will never return from. Back to her homeworld. They are a backward species and they still have not stepped into the cosmos. I will be your faithful servant for all time."

Krial stood and approached me. His toes were shriveled with long yellow nails. I didn't hesitate to kiss them.

"Do you know how I discovered your treachery?" Krial said. "It was the child. We share the bond, a deep link that only the gods understand. My species studied it for centuries and we never unlocked its mysterious secrets. The same as the link that connects two lovers. Another link we do not fully understand. I suspect we never will.

"I knew the baby had not yet perished. And its link, though faint, was not as faint as it ought to have been if it'd been dashed against the rocks below. The others told me they saw you drop the child, and yet, here it is. Still in one piece. How can this be so? And when I discovered the child tucked away inside the shuttlecraft, all became clear.

"The child you dropped into the precipice was not the child at all. It was a reflection of the child. It is your child and there is the possibility it inherited the same ability of all Miragians. To create reflections of itself. You drew out its reflection and dropped it into the precipice. The real child never left your arms."

I wet my lips with my tongue. He was right. No link with Krial had survived much more than a few minutes after he'd absorbed its youth. I had no idea if Krial could sense the baby was still alive out there or not. I had no choice and had to take the chance.

Krial stood over me, clutching the child close to his chest, and peered down with his black eyes. There wasn't a hint of compassion in them.

"Here's what I'm going to do," he said. "The child will be destroyed and I will draw what life remains from the girl. You will watch what your disloyalty has brought upon your loved ones. You will learn. And if I am in a merciful mood, I might allow you to continue serving me. If not, I will chain you up and force you to live every day alongside me, into infinity. I will reverse-Reave you and keep you alive so you might remember and be a reminder to your brothers and sisters. You will remember this day, and all the others you betrayed me and weep."

He turned on his heel and carried the baby back to the chair.

I rose to my knees.

"Master!" I begged. "Please don't do this! I beg you! Please! Punish me. Not the girl. Not the baby. Punish me. I deserve it."

Krial fell into his chair and hugged the baby closer.

"I have made my decision," he said, turning his head away and waving his hand.

Tus stood over me.

"You should have used the black pill," he said softly. "I warned you."

I reached out a hand for Harper. Her eyes were swollen with fear and her lips quivered. I held her tight and felt that ball of pulsing golden light in the center of my chest.

"I'm sorry," I said to her.

"You tried," Harper said. "You couldn't have done any more than you did."

Krial had handed down the worst punishment I could imagine. It was painful enough to have to watch our baby die, for his lifeforce to be drained like a vial of medicine, but to see dear sweet Harper, the woman I had given my heart to, succumb to the same fate…

Overwhelming anger came over me, far stronger than any I had felt before. The sensation was dark as midnight and I knew right then, I was capable of anything.

Anything.

A red mist descended over my eyes and I drew heavily from that golden light, the source of my species' ability. A tiny worm of love wriggled across its surface and I seized it. A threat connected to the love I shared with Harper.

Tus grabbed Harper and yanked her from me. I lost my hold on her hand as she flailed and fought against Tus's powerful grip. He dragged her over to Krial, who would draw every last fiber of strength from her.

"No!" I bellowed.

Tus shut his eyes, a look of intense dismay etched into his features.

The rage overwhelmed me and, with hot tears in my eyes, I screamed. In a single blink, half a dozen reflections dotted the room. Perfect replicas of me, each one roaring at the top of their voices.

Annas snorted and shook her head.

"They're only reflections. They can't hurt us."

But I felt their solidity, the same way when I joined with Harper during our time together in my cell.

They drew their blades and, with none of the guards taking them seriously, buried their blades in each of the guards and one in Krial.

They clutched their hands to their necks and, gasping shock, their eyes bulged at the reflections that stabbed them.

Krial released his grip on Harper and bolted to his feet.

At the same time, Tus lost his grip on Harper, who bolted forward, reacting even faster than the others, and snatched the babe as it fell.

She turned and bolted for the distant door. There was little she could do to protect herself from these creatures in the room.

Only I could.

Annas and Rarr clamped a hand over the gashes in their necks and released me.

I skirted back, forcing a little distance between myself and the others.

Krial was the greatest threat. The others would instinctively move to protect him before coming after me. It was how we'd been taught.

The two reflections closest to Krial hacked at him with their blades.

Krial staggered back against the onslaught.

The other reflections couldn't hope to move faster than my siblings, so I had them hurl their blades at Krial's retreating back.

One knife missed. The other caught him in his upper thigh.

Krial staggered and collapsed beneath his weakened leg.

Annas hacked at a reflection, knocking him to the ground, beheading him with a single swing of her sword.

Rarr hacked the legs out from beneath his would-be assassin.

Tus was there to stab the remaining two reflections in the back and take them down with ease.

Krial was bleeding, weak, as he crawled along the floor.

The dead reflections winked out of existence.

More, I thought. I need more.

Another blink and three reflections fell from the ceiling, landing on the backs of Tus, Annas, and Rarr, stabbing and hacking.

Tus hurled his opponent from his shoulders and bolted toward me.

"Get Trayem!" he bellowed. "Get him and the others go with him!"

I swung a line of reflections up before me, a wall of stabbing knives.

The trouble with having so many reflections was control. They each required attention to maintain. I opted to force them to attack in the same movement. I only expected one to make contact with their targets.

It was a vicious and aggressive attack as the honor guard tore through my reflections one by one. The closer they got to me, the easier it was to hack them down. But I got in a few good blows and slowed their momentum.

Finally, they were upon me.

A last-ditch attempt to end this before it was too late, I hurled a single reflection at Krial, who lay on the floor directly opposite me.

The reflection's blade was razor-sharp and aimed directly at Krial's heart.

Krial's eyes widened but he was ready for the attack and knocked the blow to one side.

The blade sliced into the crook of his shoulder. He seized the reflection with his other hand and pulled him toward his face and breathed him in.

Reaving.

He was Reaving the reflection.

I had never seen it done before. I wasn't even sure what would happen until I felt that terrible black vortex sucking at my strength from across the room via my reflection.

I was linked to the reflections the same way Krial was linked to the baby, and although I never took damage when one of my reflections did, I felt the tug of his ability as he pulled at me harder and harder.

My body shook and the honor guard peered between me and Krial.

They stood back, letting Krial, our master, devour me.

I cast a hasty look out the window at the shuttlecraft. Its lights were on but it hadn't taken off yet.

Harper was waiting for me, I realized.

Go, you fool! I wanted to shout but I didn't have the strength.

My hands lost their youthful vibrance and the flesh grew sunken, the flesh turning thin and pallid. Liver spots formed on the back of my hands and the hair turned grey.

"No…" I said.

It was meant to be a strong cry but it came out a thin whisper.

I attempted to pull the reflection back to me, to cut Krial off, but it was no use. His grip was so tight I couldn't tear it free.

The life drained from me, normally unnoticed as the hands of the clock ticked by but now it hit me all at once. It was excruciating, my skin writhing in revolt as it aged prematurely.

I raised a hand to cast another reflection at the demon on the other side of the room.

If I focused, if I could concentrate just long enough, I could finish the job while Krial was distracted, attacking him from behind and slit his throat.

I felt the reflection leave me, weak and thin though it was and—

Annas pressed her boot to my forearm, breaking the connection between me and my newly-formed reflection. It died before it was even fully formed.

I was too weak to fight back. Too much of my strength had been drained already. I was turning into a husk of the Miragian I once was.

I peered out the window at the shuttlecraft and thought of Harper and the baby. I let myself believe they would fly from this place and never return, that they would find somewhere safe, far from their place, and live out their lives in happiness and peace.

"Grgh!"

Krial's Reaving stopped abruptly.

Was he done with me?

Had he had enough?

Was I empty?

My joints were swollen and ached with what I suspected was acute arthritis. My joints crunched and struggled to move under their own power. My muscles were no longer strong and fully formed. They were thin and weak and barely managed to operate under their own steam.

I could barely lift my head, so I arched my eyeballs up to peer at the creature on the other side of the room, the shimmering golden blade of my reflection now buried deep in Krial's throat.

It faded away like dust as an invisible wind swept the reflection out of existence, along with the blade, disappearing in the feminine but strong hand of its wielder.

Harper.

She saved me. But I doubted the moment would last long.

"No!" Annas said.

She sprinted across the room to Krial and held his body in her arms.

Harper edged toward me, keeping a close eye on Rarr and Tus, who rounded the room on the other side toward our fallen master.

"Get up," Harper said.

I tried but was too weak to move under my own strength.

She slid under my arm and lifted me like I weighed nothing at all.

She carried me across the room, my feet making one footstep for every three of Harper's.

We got halfway to the door before Annas lowered Krial's lifeless body and let out a blood-curdling scream. She ran at us.

With Harper's arms full of me and no weapon to hand, we were goners.

But Annas never reached us.

Tus stood between us and blocked our sister.

"It's over, Annas," he said.

Tears streamed from Annas' eyes and she could barely bring herself to look at us.

"It's over," Tus repeated, placing a hand on her shoulder.

He kept himself turned to one side, I noticed, in case he had to defend himself against her attack.

"He will torment us no longer," Tus said. "Especially you."

Annas let out a cry and clutched her stomach with her hands. She dropped her sword and it clattered to the floor.

She was the eldest of us, the most brainwashed and the most abused. We never had love for our foster father. We knew what he was but we were too afraid to speak up or fight back. His hold on us was absolute.

And now he was gone.

Annas threw her arms around Tus and buried her face into his bloodied armor. Rarr did the same on the other side, his huge bulging arms enveloping them both.

Tus cocked his head to one side and caught my eye.

"Go," he said.

I felt uneasy leaving them behind. They were all the family I'd ever known. and I wondered if I would ever see them again.

I cast one glance back at Krial, one of the last of his kind—if not the last—and he had already turned to dust as that same invisible wind swept across him and disintegrated his body, turning even his bones to dust.

Harper carried me across the outstretched arm of the shuttlecraft launch pad. A stiff wind knocked us stumbling to one side and almost pitched us over the edge to the writhing sand dunes below.

I limped half a dozen steps toward the shuttlecraft before my bones cracked and snapped into place, the muscles reforming. I grunted at the pain and became too heavy for Harper to carry.

I eased her back and moved under my own strength as we crossed the final few yards to the shuttlecraft. I was almost my old self by the time I reached the shuttlecraft's open hatch door.

I braced myself with a hand to its sturdy outer shell and peered back at the supervisor's windows and the only trio of family members I had ever known.

Tus waved a hand and watched as we climbed aboard.

We might have had our differences but I wished them all the best in the future. They deserved it after everything we'd been through.

I slapped a hand on the controls and the hatch door drew shut.

Harper checked on the baby that sat nestled in a drawer she'd removed from the wall and placed a folded-up blanket beneath him as a cushion.

His skin was shiny with health and his fat flabby limbs flailed weakly with exhaustion.

I knew how he felt.

Harper sat in the co-pilot seat.

"You said you knew somewhere we could go?" she said.

I fell into the seat beside her. I gave Computer the coordinates to the one planet I had ever fallen in love with and the ship prepared for takeoff.

"Things are going to get a lot better now," I said.

"They'd better," Harper said with a small smile. "Or you'll be in trouble."

The ship took off and raced up into the sky, the igniting embers of a new morning giving way to the darkness of space and the infinite flickering lights of the universe spread before us.

I reached over and took Harper by the hand.

My rescuer, my love, my savior.

My fated mate.