Читать книгу Seven Planets - Massimo Longo E Maria Grazia Gullo - Страница 6

Third Chapter

The creases on its skin were revealing the creature's eyes and mouth

Now it was Zàira who was in danger and the distance between them and the top of the hill seemed infinite. A white dome stood out against the landscape. It looked like a beehive covered in hexagonal mirrors that would reflect the blinding sunlight.

The closer they were getting to the monastery, the more peaceful they were feeling deep in their hearts.

Xam, who was utterly worn out by the weight of his friend, kept walking until they found themselves in front of an arch that led inside the temple.

As soon as they got inside, Zàira's body began floating away from Xam's arms, who did not oppose that force as he knew there was no danger.

She was being carried towards a long corridor until she disappeared.

Hundreds of thin columns were sustaining an immense transparent vault that was overlooking the entire Universe, as if the monastery were floating in the space. Ulica and Xam noticed a weird-shaped creature at the back of the aisle.

The cylindrical, grey-purple body was composed of a head and four other sections, each with two legs. What looked like a nose was shaped like a trumpet and took at least half of the face. It almost looked as if something and someone had pushed it outward. Finally, the creases on its skin were revealing the eyes and the mouth of the creature. The body was not taller than a bag full of flour.

"I can feel a positive energy. I apologise for dragging you in here, but what your companion did surprised me."

"What our companion did not surprise us. We are conscious of her generosity. We should have not involved those harmless creatures. We have wasted too much time wandering in the jungle, which allowed Mastigo to realise where we were headed. So, he led his guards to that mild and peaceful place. Such an unforgivable mistake of us." explained Ulica.

"It would have been impossible for the Tetramirs to get this far without dragging those poor creatures in a battle."

"How do you know who we are?"

Ulica Tried asking, but Xam stopped her abruptly as he instinctively reached for her forearm:

"Where is Zàira?" he asked to the monk, although he could feel that nothing bad was happening to his friend in that place.

"Do not worry. She's safe. She's recovering. She'll be reunited with us very soon."

That reply was vague, but he could still feel that feeling of peacefulness and well-being.

"How do you know who we are?" Ulica asked again, who wanted to understand who they were dealing with.

"My name is Rimei." uttered the creature, without even addressing the girl's question. "I'm here on a meditative retreat. Your souls and actions, even the beauty of the Eumenide whose name I don't recall." it looked as if it was chuckling being satisfied with its mischief. "have all have caught my attention, even after 300 years."

"Ulica." her sweet and delicate face was unimpressed with that compliment.

She was thin and tiny and was conscious of her looks and she did not hide it. The ethnicity to which she belonged was not inclined to courting, but they would not hide their opinions and emotions. They would reproduce like butterflies in a cocoon that carried the colour of the unborn child. Eumenides were in different colour, all in pastel shades.

Ulica belonged to one of the latest generations: they all been created genetically. On the planet an odd occurrence during that last big war had caused a change in the axis of the planet which resulted in environmental and magnetic imbalances, causing the extinction of the male population. Even the most expert geologist in the world could not find the reason behind this occurrence.

In order to avoid the extinction of the whole species, the Eumenides resorted to the multiplication in vitro of the male genes to be used for artificial fertilisation.

They would genetically create only the female embryos in order to prevent other males to born and therefore die. They were not willing to accept a defeat. They were searching in their DNA for the same gene that allowed them to survive and implant it in the male DNA. In this way it would be invulnerable to the new environmental traits.

"You have not told me yet how come you know who we are." insisted Ulica.

"Because I see many things. I have been waiting for your questions for a long time."

"What questions?" asked Xam, who looked confused as he was caressing his thick, black, curly beard.

"Your questions on the Kirvir." Ulica anticipated him. "What were you talking about before?" she asked to the monk. "What can you see?"

"I can see all that is happening on the planets, but unfortunately sometimes the information stays in me for a short amount of time.

"Define short."

"It depends. Sometimes they linger forever, some others fade away after a day or a couple of hours."

"What can you tell us about the Kirvir?" asked Xam.

"The Kirvir is everything: it surrounds us, it puts us together and sets us apart. If it is triggered, it turns into something else. It looks like it can be governed but the truth is that it is fleeing. It can be wise or extremely dangerous."

"You are not saying anything new to us." commented Ulica.

"There is nothing new to know. Everything is already surrounding us." replied the monk. "All you have to do is letting it carry you in the right direction."

"If you can actually see everything, then you already know our aim. Help us control it. It would restore the balance." stated Xam.

"It's obvious that it wants to help." underlined Ulica. "Or it would not have led us here. The issue here is how."

"Do not be hasty, dear. I have waited such a long time for this moment. It's been three hundred years since I talked to someone. Do not take this privilege away from me. Time is a dimension for all those creatures that do not belong to the Kirvir. After all, I gave this a lot of thought."

"But we live our time and we have a responsibility for those like us. The war is coming." claimed Xam.

"You will stay up here as long as it is necessary, if you do want answers to your questions. It is not up to me. It will be the Kirvir to assess how much time it needs to show you the way."

After a few minutes, or at least that is what the Tetramirs felt, they spotted Zàira appear from a long, illuminated corridor.

Xam quickly walked toward her, trying to hide his emotions.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her.

"What happened?" asked Zàira.

"You've been hurt. Don't you remember?" said Xam, giving her his arm as a support.

"I'm fine. Do not worry." assured the Orian, accepting his help. "Yes, I do remember. But where are we?"

"We're inside the monastery. On the floating island."

"How did we get up here?"

"Your gesture impressed the monk, who brought us here in a whirl."

"Then, Xam carried you up to the monastery." added Ulica.

"Thank you." replied Zàira staring right into Xam's eyes, who awkwardly looked away. "It seems as if it's been months since I got shot in my back."

"Exactly." Rimei intervened boldly. "You were fixed and cured in the time chamber so that we could accelerate the healing process. You will only feel a few months older than you actually you are."

"Thanks." said Zàira, who was always a woman of few words.

Ulica took the floor:

"Tell us more about the Kirvir, as in the energy that is triggered during planet alignments. We could play it into our hands to avoid conquest wars during alignments."

"Managing the Kirvir is not easy. But before talking about this, I have to talk to you about the wisemen." the monk began talking. "The wisemen that were seeking peace like you." They gathered here to understand its functioning. Each of them knew a particular secret and by joining their forces, they managed to rebuild the behaviour of all those phenomena through which the Kirvir arise. And they did that by writing them down on a parchment."

So Xam, who was surprised, asked:

"So, the parchment does not have any magic power?"

"Precisely". continued Rimei. "But it is essential to know how to guide the Kirvir and the creature that manages to use it. It's existed since the beginning of time. Its essence is mild and unaware. Nothing can destroy it. It can dissolve and reborn and it tends to rely on a keeper. It is known as Tersal. Furthermore, there are six more objects with which the creature can interact. The reason for which the Kirvir is so powerful during alignments is because of its proximity of all the elements to the Tersal.

The wisemen began their quest for these objects. They found themselves on the six planets of the solar system. Once they had them tracked down, the wisemen tried translating into reality what they had written on parchment, but they were stopped by one of the cruellest alignment wars of that time. Hence, after realising that a reunification would be impossible, each of them hid their own object in their own planet so that it would not fall into enemy hands. As you know, some or even all planets of our solar system, when completing their orbits, might cyclically end up on the same line. This causes partial or total alignments. The more planets involved, the stronger the Kirvir influence, the odder physical phenomena and the stronger the effects on the inhabitants’ emotional stability. Clearly, there is going to be a peak during total alignment. The proximity to the planets linked to these phenomena has stirred souls and triggered interracial wars. As the time was passing by, the integrity of many people had developed by creating the ideas of peace, stability and every race's right to grow up according to their own customs and traditions. That facilitated the creation of the Coalition that you represent. Only Carimea and Medusa have decided to stay out of it: the first one is inhabited by predators, the latter because is dominated by a greedy race that has founded its prosperity on blood and exploitment.

"Where is the parchment?" asked Ulica.

"I don't know where it is. But I can tell who was the last one who owned it. His name is Wof."

"Wof, the Sixth Planet hero?" asked Xam.

"Yes."

"Do you know him personally?" asked Ulica to Xam.

"He was my captain when I began fighting against the regime. He was captured during one of the most legendary battles. He managed to strategically hold back the Anics with just a couple of soldiers. This allowed our troops to redeploy and win a battle that already seemed to be lost."

"From our last information we know that he is held on the Enas Moon." said Ulica. "Hopefully he is still here. Ruegra makes sure he is transferred every once in a while, to prevent him from being freed. He is one of his worst enemies."

"Freeing him is not gonna be easy." commented Zàira.

"What can you tell us about the creature?" asked Ulica.

"I don't know where the Tersal is. It will reveal itself to you during your stay on the island as long as your hearts are pure. But I can give you more information on the objects. They are everyday objects. Inside each of them, there is a gem. These gems come from one bigger stone that used to represent the Kirvir in all its force. The gem was divided at the beginning of times in order to avoid that such concentration of power could fall into the hands of one single person. Each one of these objects was worshipped for a long time. The study on their real powers, however, was not deepened since they would change or even disappear based on the proximity or distance among planets, and they were forgotten over time. Anyway, they were looked after by those who were devoted to them.

"Can you not give us anything more precise?" asked Ulica.

"It's evening already. It's better if we all have some rest. Follow the points of lights, they will show you the way to your bedrooms."

Three points of light rose from the top of its upper limbs and placed themselves in front of each of them.

The three companions were led to separate rooms. They were the cells for the monks. The walls were entirely painted in white and furnished only with a bed and a small writing desk. At the top of the arched ceiling, a hexagonal window was bringing the light into the room.

Ulica sat at the desk and pulled out her laptop from her wrist. She switched it on and placed it on the desk. The keyboard was projected onto the surface of the desk and the screen on the wall. She began her research.

Xam plunged on the bed and fell asleep straight away as he was worn out, whilst Zàira prayed before going to bed.