Chapter 25

TWENTY-FIVE

The Riests’ hut was dimly lit. The atmosphere was tense as the three Riests huddled over the journal pages. The air was thick with the smell of the fire and the soft rustle of turning pages. Turi and Ara stood near the fireplace, listening to the Riests’ discussion with bated breath. Their fate, and the fate of their people, hung in the balance.

“This cannot be true,” the eldest Riest declared, his voice heavy with disbelief. “The Axis is our savior, our protector. It has watched over us, protecting this land, this life.”

“But if what this log says is true, we have been deceived,” the youngest Riest countered, his voice urgent. “We are prisoners , put here generations ago as a result of some ancient dispute. Look at the fact that we are all assigned numbers at birth. The Axis decrees that we put these numbers on our babies’ necks. How is that just? We are being punished as a species.” He slapped a hand on the book. “Look at how the overseer describes us in the early days. We treated each other better. We treated our females better. Our ancestors would be disgusted with us.”

The Riests’ conversation dropped to hushed, urgent tones. Ara leaned closer to Turi, her shadowy form shifting slightly. “This could go either way,” she whispered. “That third Riest looks like he defers to the eldest one. Just so you know, I can be killed as easily as you.”

“You can? You didn’t tell me that.”

“You think because I look like shadow that weapons can’t harm me?” Ara shook her head. “Nope. We live long lives and hide very easily, but we are not immortal.”

Turi winced. Her heart pounded in her chest. The weight of responsibility pressed down on her as they waited for the Riests’ verdict.

Suddenly, a deafening explosion shattered the stillness, shaking the very foundation of the hut. Turi stumbled, catching herself against the wall as the building shuddered.

“What was that?” the youngest Riest exclaimed, his eyes wide with shock.

Turi and Ara exchanged a glance, then rushed to the door, following the Riests. They burst outside, eyes scanning the sky. A bright flash had momentarily illuminated the morning, followed by a plume of smoke and debris. The Axis’ communications array, the swirling vortex that had cast a malevolent eye over the settlements for centuries, was no more. Pieces rained down in the distance. The dark maelstrom was in the process of dispersing.

“The array… He destroyed it.” Turi’s heart raced. Tears blurred her vision. “Somehow, he did it.”

The Riests stood in stunned silence, their eyes fixed on the smoldering remnants of the array. The youngest Riest turned to look at Turi, his expression filled with disbelief and awe. “ Who did it?” he asked.

“The overseer,” she replied. “Ellion. He destroyed it to break the Axis’ control over us. Over you. This planet.”

Terians rushed from their homes, gazes turned skyward. Even females who had been locked inside stumbled into the light of day. A few dropped to their knees with cries of despair. No one noticed Turi and Ara. All attention was on the spectacle in the sky.

She turned to him. “Do you believe me now?”

The Riests exchanged nervous glances, their eyes flicking between Turi and the sky. The youngest Riest broke the silence, stepping forward with a determined look on his face. “I believe you,” he said, his voice filled with conviction. “What you say is true. The Axis has deceived us, making us think we’re free, when in fact, we’re inmates in a penal colony. It is time we accepted the truth.”

“Thank you,” Turi replied. “But what about the others?” She turned to the gathering crowd, her gaze sweeping over the sea of frightened faces. “Look at our people,” she said to the Riests. “They are scared and confused. They need to know the truth.”

Onis snorted, his eyes narrowing. “I’ve spent my life studying the Axis’ doctrines. You expect me to toss it away? You expect our people to give up our beliefs?”

The youngest Riest’s jaw tightened, his eyes flashing with determination. “I do,” he replied, his voice firm. “I’ve questioned some of the doctrines for a long time, to be honest. If that makes me unfit to be a Riest, then so be it. We must open our minds to the possibility that the truth is not what we thought, no matter how uncomfortable or frightening it may be.”

Onis’ expression hardened, but before he could reply, the youngest Riest turned to the crowd, holding up the journal. “People of the settlement,” he called out, his voice carrying across the square. “We have been deceived. The Axis is not divine. It is an interstellar conglomerate that profits from imprisoning entire species, including ours. They have lied to us.”

A hushed murmur rippled through the crowd, a mix of disbelief and fear. The youngest Riest’s gaze swept over the sea of faces, his expression filled with a fierce determination. “I have read the truth in this journal, written by the overseer centuries ago,” he continued, his voice growing stronger with each word. “It documents our people’s arrival here and the Axis’ deception. The overseer has risked everything to reveal this truth to us. That…” He pointed to the wreckage in the sky, “is not the Axis itself, but a communications array. It is time we knew the truth and fought for our freedom.”

“Where is the overseer, then?” someone shouted. “Why isn’t he here to explain this?”

“He’s the one who destroyed that array,” Turi said, stepping forward. Beside her, Ara’s shadowy form shifted to a pool at Turi’s feet, disguising herself as a shadow. “And he has learned that he is every bit a prisoner as we are.”

“Who are you to speak for him?” shouted a voice. Turi recognized it as her brother, Seggiat. “You gave up a respectable life to be the overseer’s whore!”

“ Respectable? Is binding a female’s legs together so she won’t run from a bondmate she didn’t choose, respectable, brother?” Anger flared in Turi’s gut. “I am Ellion’s mate . I love him, and he loves me.”

The crowd erupted into chaos, a swirling mix of voices and emotions. Some called out in support, urging the Riests to share the journal’s contents. Others shouted in anger, accusing the youngest Riest of blasphemy and demanding his immediate imprisonment. The eldest Riest and the third, quiet one stood frozen, their faces unreadable masks.

Turi watched the scene unfold, trying to keep her breath steady and her body from shaking. This was by far the riskiest thing she’d done and she was well aware that multiple lives were on the line, including Ara and the young Riest’s. Convincing the Terians of the truth would be a difficult, if not impossible, task, but she also knew that they had to try.

As the chaos settled, the youngest Riest stepped forward once more, his gaze fixed on the crowd. “I understand your fear,” he said, his voice steady. “I understand your doubt. But I ask you to listen, to open your minds to the possibility that what you have been taught, what we ourselves have enforced, is not our way. This book shows a different view of the Terian people. The future of our people depends on it.”

A hush fell over the crowd, a heavy weight of silence as the Terians considered the Riest’s words. Turi held her breath, hands tight fists as she looked at the faces. All of them were familiar. All of them were twisted in conflict and dismay.

Suddenly, a voice rang out from the crowd, clear and strong. “I want to hear the truth.” It was a female. Her voice was loud and clear and achingly familiar.

“Mother…” Turi said breathlessly. She locked eyes with the resilient female who had endured so much.

“I want to know what is in that journal.” Her mother stepped forward, chin tilted up at the same determined angle that Turi’s was. “This…” She pulled up the bottom of her skirt to reveal hobbles between her ankles. “Is not our way. It is the Axis’ way.” She jabbed a finger toward the sky where the last of the Axis’ array fell away. “And it’s time we’re done with it.”

As she spoke the words, the gray swirl of clouds finished dispersing and the light of the closest star, Purrik, shone down on the settlement, bathing the people in the first true, unfiltered light they’d ever seen. Turi watched the faces around her turn to the sky, eyes closed as breaths of awe and wonder filled the square. She did the same, breathing in the warmth. Even in the cold season, the light made her skin feel like it was being bathed in nourishment.

When the Terians looked back to the Riests, their expressions had changed. More voices joined her mother’s in a growing chorus of support. “Yes, let us hear the truth,” one called out. “Show us the journal,” others demanded. “We deserve to know what has been hidden from us.”

The youngest Riest nodded, a smile on his lips. “Very well,” he said, his voice filled with a sense of triumph. “I will read it aloud, and you will hear the truth with your own ears. You will decide for yourselves what to believe.”

As the Riest began to read, the eldest Riest put his hands over his face and wept.