The Brotherhood: Awakening Book II - 1. Chapter 1

The Brotherhood: Awakening

Chapter I

The Writer X

A world within a world. A dream within a nightmare.

That was my inescapable reality, a prison forged out of Brotherhood, loyalty, family, and…love. I would give anything to go back – back to that moment when I asked him for his Light.

Why did I ask him for his Light?

My fears…my insecurities drove me to it – drove me away from his embrace…his love. I would be with him now, wrapped in his warmth and radiance, but as it stands, all that seems like a fading memory.

What I wouldn’t give to be free.

I closed my eyes briefly and was taken back to a moment when I felt true freedom. Standing atop our bluff, I looked out into the dark waters of the Atlantic. The salt permeated the air, the wind forced my hair to perform a lively dance, and the waters crashing against the shore had all brought me so much peace. This is where it all started, after all. This is where I truly saw him for the first time.

I remember closing my eyes and smiling as I stepped off the ledge. The rumbling waves got louder in my ears as I got closer to the jagged rocks protruding from the watery surface. In an act that would disturb the stillness of the night, a fiery explosion erupted from my back that any onlooker would describe as two geysers of magma. Those pillars of liquid fire would flap and flap until their burn dissipated, and they took their proper from – two raven wings, as large and foreboding as the very night that surrounded me.

Feeling the mist on my face, I pulled up like a jetfighter on maneuvers and soared over the ocean’s surface. I was moving so fast that I displaced the water beneath me, sending the waves crashing back onto themselves as if they were fighting for dominance. The tips of my wings would dip no more than an inch into the water, causing two jet streams on either side of me.

It felt amazing.

I would go out so far until civilization melted away, and it was just me and the ocean. I shot up like a missile fired from beneath the surface with a simple, almost unnoticeable adjustment to my wings. Higher and higher, I climbed until I rocketed above the clouds, and the moonlight washed over me as it did with everything its light touched. Like the water below, the clouds formed their own luminescent sea that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Luminescent. Like him.

My dark wings, a beautiful contrast to the brilliance of the moon’s splendor, faded from my back like black smoke curling into the air.

I fell from Heaven.

Moving at speeds that would trouble and confuse any radar operator, I dove back towards Eiyr and watched as the water below got ever closer. There would be no fiery explosion. This time I crashed into the ocean with great force; I’m sure the column of water it created could be seen for miles. I allowed myself to sink deeper into the dark void that desperately wanted to claim me for its own. But again, just like flying high above the clouds, in that darkness, I found peace.

I found him.

The fire came again, emanating from me like a supernova, illuminating the dark waters as I flew up and out of the ocean, wreathed in flames like a phoenix reborn.

I had to stop. That moment was but a memory. Pining over what was, what could have been, was pointless, for there was no escaping my prison.

“Akuzio!” I heard someone yell. “Are you listening to me?”

That name, Akuzio, was still so foreign to me, considering Jacob is all I’ve ever known. But it was familiar enough to pull me back to reality.

“Akuzio!”

The name came again just as I opened my eyes. It officially forced that precious memory back into the recesses of my mind. The freedom was gone. “I can hear you just fine, Kaylec,” I insisted, never bothering to look in his direction.

Kaylec. My tormentor. My abuser. My would-be assassin when I was simply plain old “Jacob.” There was so much blame I could lay at his feet. So much anger and hatred, for he was the one who knocked over that first domino that led me down the path to demanding his Gift. I would have taken more time otherwise, and maybe things would have turned out differently.

Maybe.

“Are you sure about that?” Kaylec demanded, stepping in front of me so I could no longer avoid his gaze. His eyes were a black void with wisps of dark Askyli curling out from the sides. His white hair, usually long, free-flowing, and vibrant, was matted and covered in soot. The moonlight glistened off his naked chest and rippled down his abdomen until that perfect V shape disappeared into a pair of tattered jeans. “You don’t seem to be with us up here.” Pressing his volcanic glass-like nail against my forehead, he got uncomfortably close as if my lover was coming in for a kiss. “I need all of you here!”

“I’m here,” I insisted again as I slapped his hand away from my face. “I don’t understand why I need to be here in the first place. Especially here.” We were standing on our bluff, and Kaylec was not alone, for I was surrounded by several of my Skylarian brethren. “It looks like whatever happened here is over, and you have it well in hand. So why call for me?” I wasn’t even trying to hide my annoyance.

I felt the hand on my shoulder, warm and familiar before his words pierced through me.

“We lost Raz, Akuzio.”

I turned to face Sundryn and grabbed him by his arms. “What?” I asked in disbelief. “What are you talking about? Raz can’t be dead. I would have felt it!”

“Well, maybe if you had….”

“I don’t want to hear from you right now,” I shouted at Kaylec, glancing at him for a moment before turning my gaze back to Sundryn. “This can’t be right.”

He simply looked away from me and stared down at some random spot on the ground. His hair fell over his eyes, obscuring them from me completely. I reached for his face, pausing momentarily, thinking maybe I shouldn’t, but then I continued, extending my finger thru the white strands and hooking them behind his ear. When I saw the tear, I knew this wasn’t a mistake.

Yes, we can cry.

The tear was black with tiny filaments of dark energy sparking within. I caught it with the palm of my hand and watched as the tiny force within was released, and the tear evaporated into a wisp of smoke. I could feel the heat rising inside me in a torrent of rage at the news that Raz was gone.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

*****

My mind went back to Prague. It was there that Sundryn found me just hours before. I’d been in Prague most of the day, enjoying its historic landmarks and beautiful architecture. Traveling was something I always wanted to do. But school had to come first, and even though I begged my parents to let me study aboard, they would not allow it. There was a lot of talk about me being just sixteen years old and not trusting me to be so far away from home and on my own. I had dropped the argument quickly, knowing I’d have more leverage once I graduated high school and turned eighteen. But then I heard about The Brotherhood, and all thoughts of studying anywhere but KU went out the window.

And now that I had a pair of wings I could summon at will; there was never really a reason to wait. Anytime I found some free time, which was still rare, I would zip around the planet with no destination in mind and just land in some random spot around the world. Raz and Sundryn would tag along with me nine times out of ten, but not this night. I was alone in Prague.

It was around one or two in the morning, and I was still roaming the streets of the Vinohrady District. Even at such an hour, the streets buzzed as the bars and clubs emptied, and people poured out into the night. The locals seemed friendly, always offering a nod and a smile as they walked by. Maybe they felt bad for me, assuming I was just another dumb American lost in a strange city.

There was this one gay club that caught my eye. They were getting ready to close, but I decided to go in and take a seat anyway. The bartender didn’t seem to mind as he offered a kind smile and nod when he saw me but made no genuine attempt to engage as he continued to wipe down the counter. Most club-goers had departed, but several groups still scattered about the place, finishing their drinks and conversations.

“Oh, sorry,” this young guy said to me in Czech as he bumped into my chair. Yes, I understood him—one of the many benefits of being a Skai.

I simply nodded as his friend apologized on his behalf as well. As I said, they are amiable people. It looked like they were about to leave, but the guy who bumped into me gestured for his friend to sit at the booth opposite me. Even though they continued with their conversation, the guy was definitely giving me the “let’s go into the stall and fuck” look while he pretended to listen to whatever his friend was going on about. He was attractive, for sure. He had the whole blonde hair and blue eyes thing going for him. Unfortunately for him, I developed more of a taste for the brooding, black-haired type. That’s not to say a little fun in a grimy bathroom ever hurt anyone, at least not in a way a shot of penicillin couldn’t fix.

When he picked up his glass to finish his drink, I saw it. On his right hand was the unmistakable ring of The Brotherhood.

I laughed despite myself, absently massaging the finger my ring used to be on. A Brother was giving me “I want to fuck you” eyes! And that’s what they were. He wasn’t eyeing me up because I was Skai, and he was getting ready to do battle. Unless it was a duel between my cock and his mouth, but that’s beside the point. He had no idea what I was, and I was reasonably sure he was a human Brother because he was tipsy, and alcohol has no hold over El’odians.

God, if he only knew who I was, or more importantly, whose bed I used to share, I think he would’ve shitted his pants. Rightfully so.

“You American?” a voice asked from behind.

“Excuse me?” I replied and watched as a different young, blue-eyed blonde came around and boldly took a seat at my table. I swear they must grow them in laboratories or something.

“You American?” he repeated.

Interesting question. Am I still American if I was born in Asevaya tens of millions of years ago and never even bothered to apply for a green card? “Yes and no,” I finally answered.

“Huh?”

“Nothing,” I laughed. “Yes, I’m an American.”

“Cool,” He smiled, and the dimples on his cheeks became more pronounced. He was cute. “I’m Marek.” He offered me his hand, and we exchanged a friendly, firm handshake.

“Jacob,” I said.

“I like Jacob,” he smiled, shaking his head as if this revelation had just come to him. “I have cousin name, Jacob.”

“It’s a solid name,” I told him in his native Czech. I could tell English was going to be a struggle for him. I commend him for his effort, but I wanted to make it easier for us.

Well, this just blew him away. “Cool! You speak Czech?”

“No, I just do a solid impression of someone who speaks the language,” I joked.

He laughed and pointed at me, “I like you.”

I shrugged as if to say, What’s not to like?

So impressed by my Czech, he found it hard to believe I was just visiting and not attending one of the local universities.

“You like coming to gay bars?” he asked, changing the subject to something other than my ability to speak the language.

“Most definitely,” I replied. “I like the overall vibe and people. Plus, the music is away on point.”

“Are you gay?”

I answered with a nod at first but followed it up with a verbal confirmation. I also wondered how different that answer would have been if I had taken another path.

“Very nice!” he exclaimed and gestured to the bartender for two drinks.

“No, please don’t,” I said. “They’re closing, and I don’t want to bother him. I should probably get going.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Marek insisted, dismissing my concerns with a wave of his hand. “He’s a friend of mine and doesn’t mind. He always lets me stay while he cleans up. It’s no problem.”

The Brother looked slightly disappointed, assuming I found my hookup for the night. He gave me one last look and a smile before telling his friend it was time to go. I watched them leave and couldn’t help but wonder if his friend was also a Brother, for I wasn’t ever able to glimpse a ring on his finger. That became my habit: checking out guys’ ring fingers to see if they wore the TBH ring.

The shots came. We toasted, and I downed the vodka with ease. Marek was impressed and ordered another round. Then another. If only he knew I could have drunk five gallons of vodka, nothing would’ve happened.

We continued to talk for another twenty minutes. Every so often, he’d get a text or send one off. He always apologized. He didn’t want me to think he was blowing me off. Marek fired one question after another about America. His non-stop interrogation of the States was dizzying. He was clearly a huge Shawn Mendes fan because he kept asking me if I knew him or ever ran into him. Why am I always asked if I know a Hollywood celebrity when I'm overseas? Do people think we have them all on speed dial? And the worst part was Shawn wasn’t even American. He’s Canadian. Granted, some would say it’s basically the same, but still.

“I should get going,” I said as I got out of my chair. “Your bartender friend looks like he wants to get out of here, and I think we’ve kept him long enough.”

“Okay, okay, but one more drink,” he insisted. “Please, just one more drink.”

Instead of calling for the drinks like he’d been doing, he rushed to the bar to order. Keeping his back to me, he would glance over his shoulder and waved as if he was afraid I’d disappear on him. Little did he know if I wanted to disappear, I really could. He returned a couple of minutes later with two more shots, but it wasn’t vodka; it was something I’d never heard of before. Marek warned me the drink was strong, but he thought I could handle it.

Yeah, I did too.

I downed it as quickly as I did the vodka. “Oh, there it is,” I nodded.

“Huh?” Marek never looked up from his phone as he continued to text.

“Nothing,” I said dismissively and thanked him for the drinks and his company. “It was nice meeting you, Marek.”

“What are you talking about? The party isn’t over. You should come back to my place and hang out.”

“Oh, I couldn’t. I appreciate your generosity, but it would feel like I’m taking advantage of you at this point.”

Not wanting to take no for an answer, Marek followed me out and assured me it wouldn’t be any trouble at all. He’d welcome the company. My interest had peaked, so I played along and agreed to go. The gays do love their mating dance, and I thought I’d let him lead.

I smiled, remembering the first time I used “the gays.” I was back in that movie theater parking lot with him for a moment. Despite everything, it all seemed so simple back then. Why couldn’t things go back to just being simple? I also wondered if those five assholes ever made it back from Argentina.

“What is so funny?” Marek asked, pulling his phone out of his pocket to send a text.

“Nothing,” I said, absently rubbing my ring finger as the memory faded.

We arrived at his place in under ten minutes. His apartment was cozy, if not a bit on the small side. There was a tiny kitchen as you walked in with his bed right next to it, which appeared like it doubled as his living room. Marek quickly apologized for the mess and cleared some of his stuff off the bed so I could take a seat. The first thing I noticed was the Madonna poster he had behind his bed and the one of Shawn Mendes on his ceiling.

Okay.

He offered me another drink, but I respectfully declined. Looking at his watch, he then asked, “Want to watch some porn?”

I laughed, thinking Romeo has nothing on this hopeless romantic. “Yeah, sure, why not?”

“Nice!”

I never understood why people who live in such small ass apartments insist on having a 600” TV they have no business owning. But there we were, porn on the big screen as if we were watching giants fucking. It was cock and balls for days.

“Have you ever considered opening the curtains and charging for the drive-in movie experience?” I asked, gesturing to the closed windows. “I think you’d make a killing.”

Marek looked at me, confused, and then at his watch. “I don’t understand.”

“Never mind. It was just a thought.”

As time passed, Marek appeared more and more anxious. He kept checking his watch and bouncing his leg, which made the whole bed vibrate. “It’s good, right?” he inquired with a half-hearted smile as he gestured to the screen.

“Yeah,” I agreed, “it’s always nice to feel like you’re in the porn you’re watching.”

Again, he looked confused. “You must have a drink with me,” he insisted again. This time he was not taking no for an answer and got up to get the drinks before I could protest.

He returned with another shot of vodka, which I downed with ease, of course, and said, “Oh yeah, there we go….”

His nervousness did not subside. His piercing blue eyes, looking a little cloudy now, kept shifting from me to his watch to the giants on screen and back to his phone. I’m sure it didn’t help that his cell phone got a text every two minutes.

The door flew open, causing Marek to jump out of his skin. He was quick to apologize. Although, the apology was not meant for me but for the large muscle head charging toward him.

“What the fuck are you doing up here?” he demanded, pointing at Marek with his steel bat. “We’ve been waiting for over an hour.” You could see the veins pulsating in his neck as he shouted.

Another one of his friends, I guess, came into this tiny ass cramped apartment and closed the door. He didn’t say anything. He just stood there with his hands in his pockets.

“I’m sorry, Pavel.” Marek looked genuinely scared. “I don’t know what happened. I did everything like before, but nothing happened.”

“Don’t be mad at Marek,” I finally spoke, drawing Pavel’s attention for the first time. “Look, there was no way for him to know the drugs he put in my last two drinks wouldn’t affect me.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Pavel demanded thru clenched teeth, pointing his metal bat at my head.

“I’m the guy you wanted to rob tonight,” I answered matter-of-factly with my hand on my chest. “If anyone should be pissed, it should be me!”

Pavel took a step closer to me, the bat getting closer to my head. “Phone, wallet, jewelry. Now!”

“Okay…a big no to that.” I gave him a dismissive hand gesture I’m sure he didn’t appreciate. “But really? This is what you guys do? You prey on unsuspecting gays and rob them?” I turned my attention to Marek. “And you…you’re not even gay! At least that’s what you tell yourself, but,” I paused to point at the ceiling and cocked my head, “that’s something you’ll have to unpack at some point. Trust me. Been there, done that. More importantly, do you guys realize that forces out there want to conquer you? Or worse yet, wipe you off the face of the planet completely? And then you have people like me trying to find a third option that we can all live with, but shit like this makes me seriously reconsider my position. You know what I’m saying?”

“You think you’re a funny guy?” Pavel said, nudging my head with the bat.

“Well,” I started but lingered on his question as if truly considering it, “I like to think so. I know someone who acted like he didn’t appreciate my humor, but deep down, I think….”

“Enough!”

Taking a step back, Pavel wound up like he was a batter going for the first pitch of the game, but before he could go for the home run, the door flew open with such force it was torn off its hinges. The door would have smashed into the one guy closest to it had it not been for the small kitchen counter. They all moved back a few steps, but there was nowhere for them to go.

“There you are!” Sundryn exclaimed. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

He walked towards us but couldn’t get out of the kitchen because the door was leaning in a way that blocked his path. I watched in wonder as he tried to figure out a way passed the door. Looking to the side, it appeared he was considering jumping over the counter to get across.

‘It’s just a door,” I said, confused. “Just move the door. Just move it. You just blasted it. Just do that again.” This was like a jigsaw puzzle he was struggling to solve.

“What is happening right now?” I rolled my eyes. “Just move the fucking door!”

Ultimately, he decided to duck down and crawl under the door.

I shook my head. “What are you doing here, Sunny?”

‘What the fuck is going on?” Pavel shouted, swinging the bat around like it was an extension of his arm.

Sunny’s eyes went dark as ribbons of Askyli appeared and wrapped around their necks, wrists, and ankles. Pavel and his silent friend were pinned to the ceiling while Marek was held against the wall behind his bed.

“Seriously? You can do all that, but a broken door is suddenly your Kryptonite?”

The three guys pinned to the walls were screaming their heads off. It was making it difficult to concentrate on anything else. Not to mention the porn still blasting in the background. Before I could act, Sunny muted their screams with a flick of his wrist. The utter terror in their faces was magnified tenfold.

“What are you going to do to them?” I asked.

“Kill them, obviously.”

I had to get up and move slightly as droplets of piss started falling from the ceiling. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“We can’t just let them go. They’ve seen what we can do.”

“And who are they going to tell?” I inquired, pointing behind me as if they were standing back there. “Do you really think they’ll run to the police and tell them how they lure in gay tourists and drug them in hopes of robbing them? And it was going so well until a little twink Asian boy came in this time and used magic on them?”

“Your points are not without merit,” he mused. “Fine, you can deal with them however you want,” he paused to look me dead in the eyes, “we need to go.” His voice was stern, which was unusual for Sunny. He’s upbeat most of the time. He reminds me a lot of CJ, which is probably why I liked him so much. “Kaylec sent me to bring you back.”

“I don’t answer to Kaylec. So, you can go back and tell him….”

“There was an attack, Jacob. We lost some of our brothers.”

The seriousness in his tone now made sense.

My heart sank.

“Don’t do it for Kaylec, do for them. Do it…”

“I’ll go back with you,” I interrupted.

“Okay. Do what you want with these assholes and meet me at the gateway.” Sunny turned to leave, but instead of struggling with the door again, he vanished in a swirl of black mist.

“That was another option you could’ve used before,” I shouted after him.

The dark ribbons holding the guys in place disappeared with Sunny. When they hit the ground, they ran over each other to get as far away from me as possible. It was a small space, so all they could do was cower in a corner. They did not dare run by me.

They watched, horrified as my pale white skin turned into a dark, platinum gray. My eyes disappeared into the darkest of voids. My hair, ordinarily short, grew out past my shoulders and was as white as the driven snow. But nothing could prepare them for the torrents of fire that exploded from my back and the flames that engulfed the ceiling yet burned nothing.

My transformation bought them to tears. Snot everywhere. The stench of piss and shit filled the room.

With my finger pointing at Pavel, I stepped towards them, my onyx nail catching the last flicker of light from the fires that were now wings. “This thing you’re doing with the gays ends here and now. If I hear of a gay person losing pocket change, I’m coming for the three of you. Is that clear?”

Their words were caught in their throats.

“Is that clear?” My voice made the room shake.

They managed to mumble something incoherent I took as confirmation we had an agreement. As I backed away from them, swirls of Askyli surrounded me as I prepared to make my exit and disappear. I was not concerned that these morons would tell anyone what they saw that day. And even if they did, who in their right mind would ever believe them?

I stopped myself from teleporting to approach them again. “And Marek, I need you to get a smaller TV.” I pointed at the screen with guys still fucking. “That’s just ridiculous. You have no business owning a TV that big living in this tiny apartment! It’s all about proportion. Do better…”

And with that, I was gone.

I appeared next to Sunny, who had already shed his human form. “Are you ready?” he asked as he prepared to activate the gateway.

The Brotherhood uses mirrors to travel across Earth. We use what we call gateways. They are a series of hotspots around the world imbued with Skylarian Askyli that are interconnected with one another, much like a spiderweb. My people created this network over the last few thousand years. You have but to think of the gateway you want to connect with, and the web does the rest. But to use it effectively, you must know precisely where every single gateway is located, and there are hundreds.

It’s a problem for me.

We stood in a small clearing, surrounded by thick foliage and tall trees—a perfect out-of-the-way area to hide one of our gateways. Several stone slabs of various shapes and sizes scattered about looked much like the remnants of a lost civilization.

The Askyli swirled around Sunny’s fingers before he fired it at one of the slabs. It jumped from one stone to the next within seconds until they were all pulsating with our very essence. The stones flew off the ground and connected to one other in an intricate dance until a perfect archway was formed. The dark energy was discharged towards the center of the arch, and the portal that would take us back home opened.

*****

“I wasn’t allowed,” Sundryn finally replied, breaking me out of my trance.

I almost asked him who wouldn’t allow it, but that answer was staring me in the face. I charged, but Sundryn was quick to grab my arm.

“Why?” I demanded of Kaylec.

“I wanted you to hear it from me, here and now, so you could use your anger to do what needs to be done. Bring him!”

Sundryn looked away as he released me and whispered, “Akuzio…I’m sorry.”

Two Skai materialized not twenty feet in front of me with a third held between them. But this was no Skai. It was a Nave bound with dark chains that radiated with our power, trapping him.

I took a step towards this fallen El’odian and then another, but with each step came a heaviness that threatened to bury me in place. I was finally able to drop to one knee in front of him; my hand trembled as I cleared the black hair away from his face. In the end, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

Kaylec quickly rushed over and aggressively grabbed a fist full of his hair, forcing the prisoner to look up at me. “Take a good look, Akuzio!” Kaylec shouted. “He’s the reason Razual is dead!”

I knew it was him, but I wasn’t ready for those silvery orbs to swallow me whole. I wanted to touch and hold him, but I was frozen in place. Even if I wasn’t, I was surrounded by my Skylarian brothers, so offering a helping hand to the “enemy” would not have played well.

“Q…,” I whispered.

He was beaten. The cuts on his face were like tiny fissures seeping out Avani. I would never have believed I’d see Q in such a state.

Despite all that, I saw his smile when his eyes locked with mine.

Kaylec raised his hand, and the dark chains obeyed, lifting Q off the ground until he hovered before us. “It falls to you now to end it, Akuzio.”

I couldn’t begin to comprehend the gravity of what Kaylec was asking me to do. “Have you…”

As I looked at Q, floating there…broken…I struggled to find the words. “Have you lost your mind, Kaylec?” Again, I had to force myself to stop as Q struggled to open his eyes. They meet mine. I don’t know how long I stared at him, but I continued when I sensed Kaylec was about to speak. “Do you have any idea of the absolute shit storm you’d bring down if…”

“I don’t care!” Kaylec shouted like a mad dog. “He killed our brothers.”

“Is it our brothers you’re concerned about or the revenge you’ve been seeking for so many centuries?”

“You attacked us first,” Q finally spoke; his voice was weak, barely above a whisper.

My words got caught in my throat for a moment. “Find Zenial,” I said to no one in particular. When no one moved, I looked at Sundryn and shouted, “Find Zenial!”

“No!” Kaylec countered. With a twist of his hand, the chains tightened around Q, forcing him to wail in pain and thrash against his prison.

I winced at the sight of him.

“Stay where you are, Sundryn, and watch as your beloved friend betrays his kind for the likes of him,” Kaylec hissed in Q’s direction as he forced the chains to squeeze even tighter. “He’ll prove I’ve been right all along. He’s no Skai.”

“I am Skai!” I shouted back and, in my rage, I summoned my eiyrlin blade.

“Prove it,” Kaylec demanded, “but not with your weapon.” With his other hand, he summoned his dagger and infused the eiyrlin crystal with his Askyli. After licking the blade, he threw it in front of my feet.

Allowing my weapon to curl away in smoke, I pulled his blade to my hand with a simple twist of my wrist. I looked at Kaylec before locking eyes with Q.

“Don’t do this,” Q pleaded as I took several steps toward him. “I…”

“There’s something I need to know,” I interjected and looked up at him so our eyes could meet. “That night, I asked you to go away with me on this very bluff. To leave all this behind and just run away.” Dropping my gaze to the ground, I paused before looking back at him. “You never gave me your answer because the Great Mother intervened. I guess I need to know, would you have done it? Would you have left with me?”

“None of that matters!” Kaylec screamed.

He was completely losing his mind, but I didn’t care. No one else existed at that moment. It was just the two of us.

Q looked into my eyes and smiled. “Yes,” he answered as an explosion of white light emanating from his body like a solar flare.

My brethren had to shield their eyes from his brilliance, but not me.

This was home.

With both blades in hand, he sliced through the two Skai that brought him there before anyone could react. A third fell before Kaylec was finally able to summon his blade. Q swung at his neck; Kaylec could barely raise his sword in time to prevent his head from separating from his body.

I was frozen.

These are my people.

That was my Q.

It wasn’t until Sundryn charged into the melee with weapons drawn that I was finally able to force myself to act. Creating an energy whip, I used it to catch Sundryn by the wrist and yanked him back. Tripping him as he stumbled backward, I forced him to the ground. “Stay down!” I ordered. “You have no idea what you’re up against.”

“Those are our brothers!” Sundryn protested, struggling to free himself from my hold. “We can’t just watch and do nothing as they are slaughtered! Help them!” His eyes widened, and I knew what was coming.

Luckily, I reacted quickly and used Kaylec’s blade to parry Q’s sword before it met Sundryn’s skull. “Not him,” I shouted and got up to meet him. “He’s no threat to you.”

Q appeared surprised at first, but eventually, he did back down. I looked past him and saw several of my brothers crumble into dust. Kaylec was dragging himself away from the scene, a dark mist pouring out of his side from an open wound infused with Q’s Anavi, preventing it from healing.

One of Q’s swords vanished as he offered me his hand. “Come with me, Akuzio,” he said softly, the warmth of his smile ever-present. “Leave this place with me. Come home.”

Taking his hand, I looked down at Sundryn one last time. Dark tears fell from his eyes. He said nothing, but his face was begging me to stay. Q pulled me away from him, “I’m sorry,” I whispered as I pulled Q towards me.

His smile was still warm, but only for a moment. I felt his knees buckle. It was now my dark tears rolling down my face. The power of Kaylec’s blade, still in my hand, coursed thru Q like rivers of tar.

“Why?” he asked, the light in his eyes fading.

“I am Skai.”

I felt him crumble away into fine, white crystalline sand in my arms. The grief of what I had done overwhelmed me as I dropped to my knees and watched what was left of my beloved slip thru my fingers.

I collapsed completely, realizing yet again one inescapable truth. I would forever be trapped in a world within a world, a dream within a nightmare.